Review of Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

I have to confess, I put off reading this because I thought, “Oh, no, another paranormal romance book,” so I was pleasantly surprised when I finally gave in and started it.  I really enjoyed it!  It’s not about vampires, werewolves or other spirits; it’s about angels.  Clara has just recently started to have the vision, the vision that will tell her what her purpose is.  “All angel-bloods have purposes of different types –some are messengers, some witnesses, some meant to comfort, some just doing things that cause other things to happen –but guardian has a nice ring to it  It feels particularly angelic.”  She sees a bit more of the vision each time she has it, and her mom quizzes her carefully to try to tease out enough information so she can help Clara fulfill her purpose.  Despite her mom’s close attention to the development of Clara’s angelic qualities, she is strangely reticent on sharing her own history and information about angels in general.  It’s not until Clara finds out her new friend Angela (at the school Clara goes to now that her mom moved them to Wyoming where she thinks Clara needs to be for her purpose) is an angel, too, that Clara starts to get some real facts about her own kind, including Black Wings, or fallen angels.  Well, you knew there had to be a good vs evil battle, right?  I think my favorite thing is the description of Clara when she kisses the boy she cares about and experiences glory –“…then I realize that it’s too bright in there, too bright for the shady dark of the barn, and the light’s coming from me, radiating off me in waves.  I’m in glory.”  Even though this is the first book of a planned trilogy, it’s not too much of a cliff-hanger.  Review by Stacy Church

Review of The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

It’s hard to find any word other than inspirational to describe Van Draanen’s book about a 16-year-old runner whose leg has to be amputated after her track team’s bus is involved in a terrible accident.  Jessica goes through all the stages you would expect a teen (or anyone else) to go through, but the author moves the story along, focusing just the right amount on the difficulties she faces.  Her parents are just as devastated as she is, but they manage to hide from Jessica the financial trouble they are in because of the school’s attempt to deflect responsibility. After Jessica goes back to school, her track coach shows her YouTube videos of runners with prosthetic legs, and she begins to think that maybe she can run again after all.  The cost is prohibitive, but the team is determined to raise the money, and even convinces Jessica to let herself be photographed in shorts, showing her temporary prosthesis, which looks like a pipe.  There’s a side story of Jessica becoming friends with a girl in her math class who has cerebral palsy  Jessica has always looked right through her before, but now that she has to share her table in the back of the room, realizes that she is a smart, funny math genius.  Like everything else in the book, this could come off as cliched, but Van Draanen pulls it off.  This is a great story of how someone’s life can go on after a terrible tragedy, and in fact can be even better than before.  Review by Stacy Church

Review of Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel

Here I am writing reviews of two horror books in a row, when I don’t usually like horror.  Well, this one is a graphic novel, so there’s more to appeal to me than with the usual horror story.  I found this book really charming.  The story begins with Frank Gallows, a sort of has-been ghost catcher who tracks down ghosts who have snuck back to earth from the afterlife, accidentally zapping Garth Hale into the ghost world when he was trying to capture a living dinosaur skeleton.  Frank zaps both of them, and Garth names the dinosaur “skinny” and rides him around the afterlife trying to escape other marauding dinosaurs, and eventually the evil Vaugner who has taken over the rule of the afterlife with the help of some giant bugs.  Ok, it sounds ridiculous, and the story is much too confusing to try to explain, but the artwork is great, there’s romance, suspense, lots of gory fights and killing…what more could you ask for in a graphic novel?  Review by Stacy Church

Review of Three Quarters Dead by Richard Peck

I’m not usually a big fan of horror books, but this one really was “chilling and compulsively readable” as the inside flap says. Kerry Williamson has always felt she was invisible at school, but it never mattered to her until this year, sophomore year, because her best friend went off to boarding school.  Now she has lunch by herself every day, watching the three most popular girls (Tanya, Natalie and Makenzie) and listening in on their conversations, until the day they invite her to sit with them.  Now, most girls who have such a true perspective on their own position in the social hierarchy would be suspicious enough to protect themselves, but Kerry lets herself be drawn into their circle, even when they involve her in a plot on Halloween to play a creepy “prank” on another girl at school by breaking into her house and leaving a bloody baby doll on her pillow.  It’s all downhill from there, and you can’t stop reading until finally you find yourself in the middle of a scene where Kerry is roller-skating with a bunch of dead girls in an apartment in New York City, dressed in bizarre prom outfits (“Tanya’s billowing skirts. Natalie’s peekaboo black bra and red satin dress. Makenzie in lace and leg warmers”) If you like horror, you’ll definitely like this one, and you’ll probably like it even if horror isn’t your usual cup of tea.  Review by Stacy Church

Want To Read More Novels about Basketball?

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The Perfect Shot by Elaine Marie Alphin

In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais

On the Devil's Court by Carl Deuker

Night Hoops by Carl Deuker

Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper

Jump Ball: A Basketball Season in Poems by Mel Glenn

Rebound by Bob Krech

Hoops by Walter Dean Myers

Slam! by Walter Dean Myers

Game by Walter Dean Myers

Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña

Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws by Janette Rallison

The Hoopster by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Black and White by Paul Volponi

Rucker Park Setup by Paul Volponi

Playing without the Ball: A Novel in Four Quarters by Rich Wallace

Review of The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

I have to say I’m not sure how I feel about this one.  I liked the beginning: Jessamine keeps a diary of her lonely life with her father in a remote cottage in Northumberland.  Her father, Thomas Luxton, isn’t a doctor, or a butcher (what he calls surgeons), but when people are sick, they send for him  He is called an apothecary, but he considers himself a gardener, nevermind that many of the plants he grows are poisonous.  In fact, he has a special walled garden that’s kept locked, which is full of all varieties of poisonous plants.  Jessamine’s life changes when the local owner of an insane asylum drops off a strange, orphaned teenaged boy who’s accused of curing the inmates of their madness.  It’s hard to believe that in that time period (late 18th century?) Jessamine’s father would have left her alone in the cottage for days at a time with a boy her own age, but it’s more believable when you realize later in the story that he has nefarious plans for them.  Thomas Luxton would give anything to learn ancient secrets of healing plants that have been lost through the ages, and it appears that the foundling boy, Weed, somehow has that knowledge.  The story gets pretty wild, but it’s certainly suspenseful.  I would have to call this a fantasy since the plants talk to weed, and Prince Oleander, the Prince of Poison, is masterminding it all.  Review by Stacy Church

Review of Trash by Andy Mulligan

I loved this book!  The story is told in a number of different voices, as each person tells of their involvement and contribution to the development of the drama.  Behala is a rubbish-town, populated by dumpsite boys (and adults).  People live in boxes, stacked up high; of course no one has running water or toilets.  Dumpsite boys spend their days (and often their nights, too) picking through the trash, looking for plastic, paper, tin cans, cloth or rags.  There’s a Mission School, and even though most of the kids have to work instead of attend, Father Julliard and Olivia try to watch out for them, giving them the occasional bit of money or food.  The day everything changed started with Gardo and Raphael finding something unusual –a small leather bag containing a wallet, a folded-up map and a key.  They’re just happy to have the money, but when the police come to Behala questioning everyone about whether anyone has found anything unusual, they start to realize that there’s more to the story than just some lost money.  The boys can’t let it go until they find out what it’s all about, and they enlist the help of a boy named Rat who’s shunned by pretty much everyone in Behala to help them hide what they found.  There’s murder, political corruption, embezzlement, and a code that can only be cracked by visiting a dying man in prison.  It’s a great story, and uplifting to read about boys growing up such crushing poverty displaying such heart and courage.  Review by Stacy Church