Devil’s Kiss

My latest read is Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda. This book was an uncomfortable book for me to read simply because of the subject matter. Religion plays a big part in this book, and many of the events of the book sort of flew in the face of everything I’ve ever been taught as a Christian. That being said, the book was a good one with a strong plot and sympathetic characters.

Bilqis SanGreal is the youngest and only female member of the Knights Templar, a group of warriors charged with protecting the world from the Unholy. Life, as you may imagine, is no picnic for Billi. In addition to attending “normal” school, where she has to dodge questions about bruises, cuts, and other injuries, she must endure rigorous training to prepare her for her battles against creatures who wish to spread evil and fear in the world.

Billi’s only real friend is Kay who has just returned from his year-long training as Templar Oracle in Jerusalem. Billi is a little bitter that Kay never tried to contact her during the past year. She also notices some changes in Kay that she’s none too pleased with. Where is the boy she used to call her best friend? And who is this new guy, Mike, who seems to be ready to take Kay’s place in Billi’s life? (Hint: Mike is not who–or what–he seems.)

As Billi deals with many changes in her life, she struggles with her place as a Templar. Does she want to spend the rest of her life battling the Unholy? She knows her lifespan is drastically reduced if she remains.

As events unfold, it becomes clearer and clearer that Billi’s destiny lies with the Knights Templar. It is up to her to fight against one who would unleash the Tenth Plague on the firstborn of London. Can she do it? Will she be able to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life, to save millions?

I highly recommend this book to fantasy fans, especially those who like their fantasy with religious undertones. If you like Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments trilogy, Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda may be the book for you.

If you would like more information on the Knights Templar, the website below is a good place to start.

http://www.templarhistory.com/

The Dying Breath

Before I begin writing about The Dying Breath, let me say that you need to read Alane Ferguson’s other three forensic mysteries before you start on this one.  In order, they are The Christopher Killer, The Angel of Death, and The Circle of Blood.  The events of The Dying Breath will make almost no sense if you haven’t read the previous three books.  This final volume of Cameryn Mahoney’s story includes many pieces from the preceding books, and the picture won’t be clear without all of the puzzle pieces.

In The Dying Breath, Cameryn is the target and obsession of her ex-boyfriend and psychopath, Kyle O’Neil.  He’ll do almost anything to get to her, including killing indiscriminately and threatening those she loves the most.  Cameryn is tired of being a victim, and she will do all she can to protect herself and those she loves. 

Cameryn must use her knowledge of forensics, her wits, faith, and sheer dumb luck to escape Kyle’s clutches.  He always seems to be one step ahead of her, but Cameryn knows she has to find a way to escape Kyle’s madness.  Can she do it without endangering those around her?   Will Cameryn’s knowledge be enough to save her?  Read The Dying Breath by Alane Ferguson to find out.

As a side note, I must say that I am thrilled that I will get to meet Alane Ferguson at the South Carolina Association of School Librarians conference this year!  I can’t wait to talk to this amazing author and hear what she has to say about young adult literature.

The Last Olympian

Well, I’ve finally finished The Last Olympian, the fifth and final book in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.  It took me a while to finish this one, partly because I didn’t want the series to be over and partly because I was scared of what would happen.  Things didn’t unfold the way I expected, but that made the story even richer.

In The Last Olympian, Percy Jackson is about to turn sixteen.  For most kids, this might not be a big deal, but Percy is dealing with a prophecy saying that he’ll either save or destroy the world on his sixteenth birthday.  No pressure.  He’s facing war with the dreaded Titan lord Kronos, and the gods are battling the vicious monster Typhon, who is storming his way toward Mount Olympus.  The situation seems hopeless most of the time, but Percy has faith that good will triumph over evil.

Percy and his friends know that the fate of Western Civilization rests in their young hands.  Are they strong enough to battle the Titans and their powerful armies of monsters?  Will hope survive against all odds?  And just who is the last Olympian?  Read The Last Olympian to find out if a bunch of half-blood teenagers can save the world.

(By the way, when I read the acknowledgements at the end of the book, Rick Riordan indicated that this was the first Camp Half-Blood series.  You know what that means, readers.  More fun with Greek mythology is on the way!  Also, don’t forget The Lightning Thief will hit theaters on February 12th.  Don’t miss it!)

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Yay for my 100th post here on Knight Reader! Thanks to all who take the time to read my thoughts on young adult literature. Now, for my latest…

I have now finished book four of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and it totally lived up to the expectations set by the previous three books.  I plan to start book five, The Last Olympian, tomorrow.  (I would start it tonight, but I’ve found that these books make me have nightmares about fighting big, scary monsters.)

As The Battle of the Labyrinth begins, Percy is attending orientation at yet another high school.  As one would expect, things don’t go well.  He is attacked by demon cheerleaders and is forced to flee a fiery mess.  How will he explain this one to his mom?

The forces of Titan lord Kronos are growing more powerful, and Percy and his friends must venture into the mysterious labyrinth to find some way to save Camp Half-Blood, Mount Olympus, and the world as they know it.  This quest is not without its perils.  Percy and the gang encounter hideous monsters, legions of ghosts, old enemies, new friends, and a few gods and goddesses.  Who can they trust?  It is unclear who is working for Kronos and who is on the side of the Olympians.

As war between the Titans and the Olympians looms ever nearer, Percy and friends  must work to rally all who seek to save Olympus.  Can they do it?  Will they even survive that long? 

For those of you who choose to read it, I hope you enjoy The Battle of the Labyrinth as much as I did.  As for me, onward to The Last Olympian!

The Titan’s Curse

I just finished The Titan’s Curse, book three in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, and I must say that these books are freakin’ awesome! I am obsessed with this series, and I plan to start reading book four, The Battle of the Labyrinth, as soon as I finish this post.

In The Titan’s Curse, Percy continues to fight against Luke and the return of the evil Titan lord Kronos. He is joined by Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, two newly discovered Half-Bloods, and the goddess Artemis and her Hunters. After hearing a particularly disturbing prophecy from the Oracle, Percy knows that things are only going to get worse before they get better.

Things get worse pretty quickly. Artemis and Annabeth are missing, and Percy and crew plan to save them. Of course, they battle lots of bad, bad monsters along the way, encounter a creature that could change the fate of Mount Olympus and their lives forever, and continue to deal with their father issues. Will they be able to rescue Artemis and Annabeth before all hope is lost, or will Kronos use them to move one step closer to destroying all of Western civilization? Read The Titan’s Curse to find out!

The Sea of Monsters

I’m now addicted to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. I just finished book two, The Sea of Monsters, and I think it was even better than The Lightning Thief. It was action-packed from start to finish, and I even teared up in a couple of places. I cannot wait to start book three, The Titan’s Curse.

In The Sea of Monsters, Percy Jackson is about to end a pretty uneventful year at this year’s boarding school…or so he thinks. One horrible game of dodgeball later, and Percy is fleeing from monsters once again. He also learns the sad news that a mysterious poison has nearly destroyed his beloved Camp Half-Blood, his sole safe haven as the son of Poseidon.

Percy, Annabeth (daughter of Athena), and Tyson (a newcomer to Percy’s life who isn’t exactly what he seems) go on a quest to find the one thing that can save Camp Half-Blood: the Golden Fleece. Along the way, they run into your average, run-of-the-mill, terrifying monsters and dead Confederates, reunite with an old foe, and find help in the unlikeliest of places. They’ve also got to save Grover, Percy’s satyr friend, from marriage to a Cyclops.

The Sea of Monsters is a thrilling, often funny, tale of bravery, loyalty, and an ongoing quest to save the world from unspeakable evil. What will become of Percy and his friends? I’ll leave it for you to find out. Happy reading!

The Lightning Thief

Happy New Year to followers of Knight Reader (all…both of you). I’ve been taking a short break from YA literature, but I am slowly getting back into the swing of things.

A few months ago, I saw the trailer for The Lightning Thief.  I must say that I was intrigued.  I had not read the book (or any of the sequels, of course) since the series, in my opinion, was geared more toward middle school readers.  After seeing the movie trailer, however, I decided to read this series simply because I wanted to see the movie.  (I’m one of those annoying people who must read the book before seeing the movie it’s based on.)  Anyhoo, I just finished reading Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, and I no longer think this series is just for middle school readers.  This series is perfect for any readers who are into fantasy, heroes, Greek mythology, quests, and all that other fun stuff.

Percy Jackson is on the verge of being kicked out of yet another boarding school.  He can’t seem to behave, his dyslexia and ADHD don’t make school easy, and his pre-algebra teacher has just turned into a monster.  I know some people think their math teachers are monsters.  (Quick shout out to my mom, an eighth-grade math teacher.)  Well, Percy’s teacher actually is.  She’s a Fury right out of the Underworld, and she does her best to destroy Percy while on a field trip.

Well, she doesn’t succeed.  (That would make for a very short and disappointing book, wouldn’t it?)  This little incident, does, however, help to open Percy’s eyes.  He soon discovers that the myths he’s learned about ancient Greece aren’t myths at all.  In fact, he’s the son of a god himself, and he’s got some pretty big problems ahead of him.  Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and everyone thinks Percy stole it.  Percy knows that’s not true, but how can he prove it?

Percy and his friends set out on a quest to find the stolen lightning bolt and return it to Zeus before the summer solstice.  As you can imagine, things get in their way.  Percy must deal with a father he’s never really met, hoards of monsters on his heels, treachery from an unlikely source, a perilous journey to the Underworld, and an evil that even the gods will not speak of.  Exciting, yes?  Read Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief to experience Percy’s action-packed journey and see if he is successful in his quest to restore peace to Olympus.

Just for your information, the movie version of The Lightning Thief comes out on February 12th.  For more information, go to http://www.percyjacksonthemovie.com/.  For more information on Rick Riordan and the entire Percy Jackson series, go to http://www.rickriordan.com/.  Enjoy!

The Smile

What is the most famous smile in the world?  Only one comes to mind–the Mona Lisa.  I think it’s reasonably fair to assume that most people know what this painting looks like, but no one really knows the story behind it.  Leonardo da Vinci never put a date or name on this painting, so much of what we know about the piece is pure speculation.  In Donna Jo Napoli’s The Smile, speculation goes a step further.  Napoli takes what she knows about the history of Florence, Italy, and interweaves these events into an entirely plausible story about the girl who was the inspiration/model for one of the most renowned paintings the world has ever seen.

Elisabetta is a young girl of noble birth growing up in Florence, Italy.  She knows that she will one day be betrothed to one of the nobles in the city.  Her greatest hope is to marry a young man she truly loves.  One day, a friend of her father’s, local artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, introduces Elisabetta to young Giuliano de Medici, a son of the most powerful family in Florence, and she feels that she has at last found the love of her life.  Giuliano calls her Monna Lisa and professes his love for her.  Fate, though, can be cruel, and a series of events take place that seem to conspire to keep these two young people apart.  The Medici family is soon reviled in Florence and is exiled. 

Elisabetta does not know how to cope in this new and terrifying world.  War threatens constantly.  She rarely hears from Giuliano, and she does not where to turn.  Is their love doomed before it even has a chance to begin?  How can she keep her smile, the thing Giuliano first loved about her, when the life she knew seems to be crumbling before her eyes?  Read Donna Jo Napoli’s The Smile to find out what could have happened to the girl behind the world’s most famous smile.

I truly enjoyed this book, especially since I was able to see the da Vinci exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta just last week.  As I was reading, I was able to say to myself, “I’ve seen those pieces,” when the characters were talking about da Vinci’s sketches of horses or other figures.  Although I’ve never actually seen the Mona Lisa, I would love to someday.   I would also like to visit Florence to really experience the city in which most of this book’s events take place. 

I think The Smile would be an excellent book for any reader interested in art and the possible stories behind the masterpieces.

Marcelo in the Real World

Marcelo Sandoval is being taken out of his comfort zone this summer.  Instead of working with ponies at Paterson school, he will be working in the mailroom at this father’s law firm.  This may not seem like a big deal, but it’s huge for Marcelo.  Marcelo is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum.  (His “cognitive disorder” is most closely likened to Asperger’s syndrome.)  He is not comfortable in new and unpredictable situations, he likes to have every detail planned, and he often does not understand figures of speech that others take for granted.  His father thinks Marcelo needs to learn what it’s like to live in the “real world.”  Although he may be right, Marcelo is not happy with the decision.

Marcelo eventually learns to accept his role at the law firm.  He must if he wishes to go to school at Paterson next year.  He enjoys working with Jasmine, his supervisor in the mailroom.  She is patient with him, and they become friends with each other. 

One day, while working with a file for an upcoming case, Marcelo discovers a picture of a girl with half her face destroyed.  He and Jasmine work to find the story of this girl and what it has to do with his father’s law firm.  Marcelo’s world is rocked to the core when he learns the truth and how his father played a part in this girl’s suffering.  What will Marcelo do with this information?  Will he help this girl even though it may hurt his father?  He knows he must do what is right, but he’s not sure what “right” really means.  Is it even possible for Marcelo to step so far out of his comfort zone to help a girl he doesn’t even know?  I’ll leave that for you to discover…

In this post, I’ve tried to give a little glimpse of Francisco X. Stork’s Marcelo in the Real World, and I feel like I’ve failed to paint a picture of what this book is really like.  It is an engrossing novel that allows readers to see the thought processes of someone who may not think in the ways we consider “normal.”  I found Marcelo to be a fascinating character, and I loved seeing how he developed throughout the course of this book.  At some points, I thought that more people could stand to think like Marcelo.  Oftentimes, we make life too complicated.  If we just stop and think before we speak or act, there may be far fewer problems in the world.  Marcelo is definitely a character to be admired, and I highly recommend this book to any and all readers.

Flygirl

In Sherri L. Smith’s Flygirl, readers are introduced to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, a group of female pilots that served during World War II.  Ida Mae Jones is determined to become one of these pilots.  Only when she’s in the air does she feel truly free.  There’s one major problem, though.  WASP doesn’t accept African American pilots.  Ida Mae is determined that this will not stop her, and she decides to “pass” as a white woman in her quest to become a pilot.

Ida Mae, or Jonesy as her new friends call her, does just what she set out to do.  She becomes a pilot in the service of the U.S. Army.  She feels like she’s really doing something to help the war effort, but she is torn because she must hide her true self in order to do what she loves.  She can never tell anyone that she’s just pretending to be white.  If anyone finds out, her entire future is over, and her very life could be in jeopardy.  Will she ever get to really be herself, or will she spend the rest of her life hiding?  Can she ever be free outside of an airplane?  Read Flygirl to find out.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed Flygirl.  I’m not usually a fan of historical fiction, but this book captivated me from the very beginning.  (I am a feminist, so that might help to explain it.)  I didn’t know much about the female pilots during WWII, so this story enlightened me a bit.  While reading, I was mad at the injustices that Ida Mae endured, both as a woman and as an African American, just so she could do what she was born to do.  I can almost understand pretending to be someone you’re not so that you can do what you love.  Almost.  I honestly don’t know if I could give up my family or my identity for anything, but I’ve never been put in that situation, so I don’t really know what I would do. 

I think Flygirl would be excellent supplemental reading for social studies classes studying World War II.  This would be an excellent resource to introduce students to the role of women in the war effort.  Most people have heard of Rosie the Riveter, but this book may give them another glimpse of how women sacrificed and made military contributions during World War II.