“Only the Good Spy Young” (Gallagher Girls Book 4) by Ally Carter. We love this series around here. It’s a private Girls’ High School… for spies. Lots of fun.
“The Clockwork Three” by Matthew Kirby. Fun, MG steampunk-ish, a little magic, a little friendship-conquers-overwhelming-odds. Try it.
“The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate” by Jacqueline Kelly. Oh, I loved this one. Want to start it over right away. Nudged up against questions of Darwin vs. Genesis, but really it was a feminist question – can I be a grown up lady and still be an inquisitive scientist? (If the evolution question concerns you, as far as Creation goes, fear not. This is evolution at its best and truest: Things (and people) change to survive in their environments.)
“The Red Pyramid: Kane Chronicles #1” by Rick Riordan. This is the new Egyptian gods series ala Percy Jackson. Loved the voices of the siblings, especially the Brit sister – I totally heard her gum-smacking Londoner sarcasm in my head. I found I cared a little less about the gods and their concerns than the ones in the Olympians series. But fun, even so. There’s salsa. No, really.
“Cry, the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton. I’ve read this before. For a pre-Apartheid drama, it is very quiet, almost poetic. The style is lyrical rather than shocking, and I love that. I’m in process of watching the 1995 James Earl Jones film version (but it’s taking me a lot of time to watch it because I put it on for 10-15 minutes at a time while I lift weights). Made me want to reread “The Power of One.” And also learn to copy an Afrikaans accent. Love that.
“These is My Words” by Nancy Turner. Oh. How have I waited so long? This is excellent historical fiction. And I love journal stories. Her perspective is just skewed enough to make Sarah a truly likeable character. And there’s a great loves-me/loves-me-not aspect, which is darn hard to write.
“Bruiser” by Neal Shusterman. Have we read Shusterman? We should. He’s creepy-awesome. My current fave scary book is his “Unwind.” But Bruiser was fascinating. Great voices – multiple narrators. And an interesting look at what reads as an atonement story (empath style, not necessarily Christian style, but still… totally Christian style). Very powerful/painful. But uplifting and interesting in the “how much do I want to know?” question.
(8) Comments for this blog
True story, by Jayne:
I was reorganizing my bookshelves recently and as I restocked (I like to pretend I’m a librarian) These Is My Words, I wondered if you had ever read it. I really did. Because I know you appreciate a good book and it’s one of my favorites. So glad you have!
I read a lot of Meg Cabot this month.
These Is My Words is so beautiful. I really enjoyed that one.
I need to expand my reading horizons again, I’ve gotten rather narrow these last few months. I’m feeling all inspired suddenly and in desperate need of a library…
Woo hoo! I’m starting to read 30 books for my class. I’m putting some of those on my list. =) Thanks Becca!
The spy one sounds fun! I want to read so bad it hurts!
Where do you find such a diverse reading selection? I love to read, but I have this horrible fear of diving into a book that is boring/risque/evil/poorly written. So I find myself rereading those I can trust. Yeah, I’m getting desperate for something new! Thanks for listing (and telling about) what you read 🙂
You just added to my TBR pile by about…six books. I’ve read the Red Pyramid one but the others sound delicious, too!