Leviathan

Leiathan by Scott Westerfeld

This book has been getting alot of buzz out there, but unfortunately it hasn't made it to the top of my reading pile. So I'm hoping one of my great readers will offer to take it home and give me a honest review.
But for now I'll give you what I know about it.
It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists emply fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.
Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With the great war brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way... taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical around-the-world adventure. One that will change both of their lives forever.

Here's the book trailer

Scumble

Scumble by Ingrid Law

Loved it!

Ledger kale always dreamed of the awesome magical power he's get when he turned thriteen- the day when folks in his family inherit an extraordinary talent called a savvy. But Ledge's dreams are soon in pieces. And so are the toaster, the televison, and the wipers on the family minivan. After the Kales decide it's safe to head to a family wedding in Wyoming, Ledge's savvy grows. Worse, there's an outside witness to his monumental mess: thirteen year old Sarah Jane Cabot, eagle-eyed reporter and daughter of the local businessman. Now Ledge has to stop Sarah Jane from turning savvies into headlines, stop her father from getting too close to Uncle Autry's astonishing ranch, and scumble his savvy into control before he causes everything to fall apart.

Starting nine years after his cousin Mibs's Savvy journey, Ledge's story brings characters both fresh and familiar to the legendary Wild West for another rollicking, riveting, fantastical adventure.

here's the trailer and an audio clip

Into the Gauntlet

Into the Gauntlet - Book 10 - 39 Clues by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Wow! this series has been so great, mystery, intrigue, world travel, famous people throughout history, a quirky brother and sister team with their crazy nanny, and a twisted family tree, and a very serious prize that they are all after. Book 10 did not let me down, it reminded me of previous adventures and clues through the series as welll as plotting the route for this one.

Here's the write up:
Fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, Dan, have had enough. Not only do they have to find the 39 Clues first, they're expected to reunite thier backstabbing family-the same people who killed their parents. But Amy and Dan haven't survived explosions and assassination attempts for nothing. They have a plan to finish the Clue hunt on thier own terms. Too bad there's a final- fatal secret the Madrigals haven't told them. A secret that could cost Amy and Dan - and the world - everything...

So I thought this was going to be the end of the series, but I think they have left the door open for these characters to go further - hint it has to do with the prize.

The Saint of Dragons

The Saint of Dragons by Jason Hightman

I had one of my reviewers take this home over the summer, when she returned it to me, she commented that she had to fight with other members of her family as they all wanted to be first to read it. I think she won but I bet the others were sneaking a peak when she set it down. So if that's not enough of a reason for me to be taking it home before library classes start I don't know what is. So I took it home with me tonight and am already on page 60, and so far I love how it's started.

Here's the write up from the back cover.

You've been taught to believe they are dead. Figments of an ancient imagination. but one lonely schoolboy is about to have a rude awakening. Dragons are real. And they have... evolved.

Simon St. George has been living at the Lighthouse School since he was two years old, so it comes as a bit of a surprise when suddenly two men show up, both claiming to be his father. It's an even bigger shock to discover that he's actually descended from Saint George - dragon killer and all-round knight in shining armour - and that he's expected to carry on the family business.

In a moment, Simon is swept away from his lonely, predictable life, and thrown into the jaws of an adventure that threatens to swallow him whole. For dragons are alive, evil, and could be causing trouble in your neighbourhood this very day...

Read On

The Conspiracy of Kings

The Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

Sophos, under the guidance of yet another tutor, practices his swordplay and strategizes escape scenarios should his father's villa come under attack. How would he save his mother? His sisters? Himself? Could he reach the horses in time? Where would he go? But nothing prepares hime for the day armed men, silent as thieves, swarm the villa courtyard ready to kill, to capture, to kidnap. Sophos, the heir tot he throne of Sounis, disappears without a trace.

In Attolia, Eugenides, the new and unlikely king, has never stopped wondering what happened to Sophos. Nor has the Queen of Eddis. They send spies. They pay informants. They appeal to the gods. But as time goes by, it becomes less and less certain that they will ever see their friend alive again.

Across the small peninsula battles are fought, bribes are offered, and conspiracies are set in motion. Darkening the horizon, the Mede Empire threatens, always, from across the sea. And Sophos, anonymous and alone, bides his time. Sophos, drawing on his memories of Gen, Pol, the magus - and Eddis- sets out on an adventure that will all of their lives forever.

It had been awhile since I had read the other books in this series, so for a while I stumbled around with the characters and plot, but eventually got pulled in. Who to trust? Such a great question and it has played so heavily in both this book and Mockingjay. Who can you believe? Do you go with your gut or second guess the guesser? If I haven't yet turned you on to this series now is a great time to start - it begins with The Thief.

Here's the trailer.

Here's the trailer for The Thief.

Mockingjay

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Against the odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she has made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this trilling final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year. (from the inside cover.)

This is a hard one to blog about, I'm feeling overwhelmed! WOW what a rollercoaster ride. I feel like if I write anything it will be giving you a spoiler. It's taken me days to digest this book. It's dark, it's brutal, it's a bit gory but then so is war.

Fellow blogger Kathy Mahoney has written a terrific summary without giving anything away.--

It started as a game. It turned into a battle. In the wake of the spectacular failure of the Quarter Quell to crush the growing dissent amoung the citizen of Panem, The Capitol has declared open war on the Districts....

to check out the rest of her blog post visit: hiplibrariansbookblog.blog-city.com

Here's the trailer.

Teen Read Awards

Indigo (Chapters) has just announced it first annual Teens Read Awards. The awards were launched to encourage Canadians between the ages of 12-18 to selected their favourite titles across a number of categories; including best book to flick, best lip lock, best new writer, best hero, best villian, best hottie. Participants are eligible to win , gift cards, movie tickets or even a Kobo ereader.

Sound fun.
Here's the link
http://www2.teenreadawards.ca/

Read On.

The Old Country

The Old Country by Mordicai Gerstein

This is storytelling at it's finest, with vivid detail that leaves you feeling like you've just gotten lost in an enchanted wood and witnessed some very peculiar things, talking animals, fairies elves and the like, a goose who can lay golden eggs and a young girl on a mission to set things right.

I loved it!

Here's the summary:

The Old Country is a novel of singular insight and imagination set in a land where "every winter was a hundred years and every spring a miracle... where the water was like music and the music was like water... where all the fairy tales come from, where there was magic - and there was war." There, Gisella stares a moment too long into the eyes of a fox, and she and the fox exchange shape. Gisella's quest to get her girl-body back takes her on a journey across a war-ravaged country that has lost its shape. She encounters sprites, talking animals, a chicken that lays a golden egg, a court with a spider for a judge -- and bloodshed, destruction and questions of power and justice. Finally, looking into the eyes of a fox once more, she faces a strange and startling choice about her own nature.

The Old Country is at once timeless and contemporary - a tale that draws on a wealth of storytelling tradition and dramatizes the question of what it is to be human. Part adventure story, part fable; exciting, beautifully told, rich in humor and wisdom, it is the work of an artist and storyteller at the height of his powers.

Stealing Heaven

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

From the book -

I can pry the molding off a window without making a sound. I can drive a car, climb into a house, deal with growling dogs. I know exactly how much your average 19th century tea service weighs and how many pieces it has.

For silver i learned to read, write, work numbers. For silver I learned the names of every plantation from Virginia to Florida. I can tell you which ones we've visited, which ones we want to, which ones we never will. I can tell you how to find someone's house no matter where it is. I can tell you what to do if there is silver inside.

The story of my life can be told in silver; in chocolate mills, serving spoons, and services for twelve. The story of my life has nothing to do with me. The story of my life is things. Thins that aren't mine, that won't ever be mine. It's all I've ever known.

I wish it wasn't.

This was one of my first picks for summer reading, I took it with me to the lake, and it was perfect, captivating charcters that you feel for. You can't help wanting something good/different to happen for Dani, you know she's good - it's just the way she's been brought up. Butwe all know, it's hard to change.

If you're a Sarah Dessen fan and are looking for something similar in the realistic fiction genre try some of Elizabeth Scott's books I think you'll like them.

Bog Child

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

This book totally got me caught up in it. I got caught up by the many differnent strands of it, the bog child (herself), then tensions in Ireland, with its hunger strikers, the friendship of Fergus and a young police officer from Wales, the budding romance between Fergus and Cora (the archeaologist's daughter), a family that is being torn apart by its involvement with the IRA.

Here's the summary from the cover:
In 1981, the height of Irelands "Troubles", eighteen year old Fergus is distracted from his upcoming A-level exams by his imprisoned brothers hunger strike, the stress of being a courier for Sinn Fein, and of a murdered girl whose body he discovered in a bog.

This is a sophisicated mystery, that once it grabs you won't let go.
Read On