Fashion Kitty and the B.O.Y.S. (Ball of Yellow String)

Fashion Kitty and the B.O.Y.S. (Ball of Yellow String) by Charise Mericle Harper (NY: Disney Hyperion, 2011). Reviewed from e-galley provided by publisher via netgalley.com.

In this exciting installment of the Fashion Kitty series, Kiki Kittie's superhero alias Fashion Kitty attracts the jealous wrath of the mean-spirited Leon Lambaster the III, who hatches a vicious plan to entrap her. Kiki is transformed into her superhero alterego after a stack of fashion magazines knocks her unconscious on her birthday. Suddenly she can sense fashion emergencies and must fly off to save the unwitting victims. Leon knows her modus operandi and uses it to lay his trap. He's from a family of inventors of yellow objects, most of which don't work very well. One of them is a ball of slimy yellow string that sticks to anyone who handles it unless that person is wearing special gloves. The idea is to spray the string with special supersticky spray, tie it in a not, then spray it with 6-hour spray that will keep the knot in place for six hours. Unfortunately, the spray lasts six days, so it's no good....until Leon decides to use it to make a net to catch Fashion Kitty. He's mad because all the other kitties like Fashion Kitty so much. His own family has constructed a statue of Fashion Kitty out of marshmallows. Leon decides to hide the t-shirts for the t-shirt fashion show at school. This gets Fashion Kitty's attention and she flies in to save the day but gets caught in the slimy net. Luckily, Leon's nice twin Lester realizes the danger Fashion Kitty is in and distracts Leon, who then gets tangled in the string himself and can't spray the net. Fashion Kitty uses her x-ray vision to melt Leon under a pile of marshmallows, then the net dissolves and she escapes. Hurray!

I love Fashion Kitty, and so do lower elementary students, especially girls. Fashion Kitty packs the power of fashion with a fun story and cute graphic novel elements that entice even the most reluctant readers. Highly recommended for ages 6 & up.

Frost

Frost by Wendy Delsol (Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2011). Reviewed from Kindle ARC provided by publisher via netgalley.com.

In Stork, Katla moves from California to Minnesota and discovers she's part of a mystical union of women (aka Storks) with special soul-gathering and -dispersing powers. She also meets and falls in love with Jack, a descendent of Jack Frost, gifted with his own weather-controlling powers. Now that's a power couple. As Frost begins, Katla wishes for a white Christmas and Jack overdoes it with a snow storm so powerful it attracts the attention of world-renowned (and drop-dead gorgeous) climatologist Brigid Fonnkana, who expeditiously arrives from Greenland and installs herself in the lab of Katla's mother's fiance, Stanley. More dauntingly, Jack quickly becomes wrapped up in the research as well and seems to be pulling away from Kat in favor of Brigid. Soon, Jack is spending less and less time with Kat and more and more time in the lab--with Brigid. Then he gets invited to go on a special expedition to the North Pole with Brigid and a select group of researchers. In the meantime, Kat feels jealous of Brigid but is also wrapped up in her own activities, like dancing in the school production of The Snow Queen, helping her bed-ridden, pregnant mother, and heading the Storks while the usual leader, Hulda, is mysteriously ill. Still, she feels there's something off about Brigid's attention to Jack, and she ends up heading to Iceland with her grandfather while Jack becomes lost with Brigid in the frigid north.

Frost continues the excellent blending of Norse legends, magic, fairy tales, and romance established in Stork. The frigid landscape forms the perfect backdrop for the story, and the ordinary venues such as Kat's grandfather's store and the high school play make the extraordinary scenes of Iceland and beyond all the more amazing. Kat is a lively, engaging heroine with an authentic teen voice and a lot of pluck. Whether she's worrying about her guy, dissing Brigid, or fretting over her outfit, Kat is funny, real, and likable. The story delivers excitement and adventure as well as some mystery as Katla uses her powers to rescue Jack from the clutches of evil. Recommended for ages 12 & up.

Demonglass

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkin (NY: Hyperion, 2011).

This fabulous sequel to Hex Hall has the indomitable Sophie Mercer, who has recently discovered she's a demon, traveling to London for the summer to live with her father, also a demon. Sophie is sort of sad to leave Hex Hall, the juvie for Prodigium (literally monsters, but encompassing magical creatures of all sorts--shapeshifters, fairies, witches, warlocks, etc.) she got sent to for some over-the-top magic. There she meets--and crushes on--Archer Cross. Their first kiss would have been great if Sophie hadn't actually seen that Archer bore the mark of the secret society sworn to kill all Prodigium! After other events involving her demon great-grandmother, Sophie believes that she should go through the Removal--a grueling, life-threatening process that would strip away her powers--so that she won't kill anyone since that's what demons are made to do. Her father does not want her to go through this procedure because he needs Sophie with her powers intact to help him battle unknown enemies who appear to be summoning demons and attempting to undermine the Council for Prodigium, of which he's head. Even as she's coming to terms with all of this, Archer shows up. What should Sophie do? Well, we don't find out everything in this novel because of the cliffhanger ending! Yikes!

I liked Hex Hall a lot, so I couldn't wait to read Demonglass, which turned out to be even better than its predecessor. I loved the way Hawkins developed Sophie's relationship with her father, and the English setting (the country estate and London) is spectacular. There's not so much romance in this novel as in the first, largely because Archer isn't around as much until the very end. But what this story lacks in romance, it makes up for in exciting plot movement as Sophie explores her magical powers and her feelings about them. There's also a mystery to solve and more magical journeys. This novel has by far the best cliffhanger I've encountered in a long time! If you like your paranormal romances punched up a notch with spine-tingling action, this is a good read for you. Recommended for teens, 13 & up. Mild sexual situations, alcohol.

Starcrossed

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (NY: HarperTeen, 2011).

Shy Helen Hamilton leads an isolated life on Nantucket with her dad. She keeps to herself except for her long-time friend Claire and a few others--the ones who don't think she's weird. She feels weird most of the time, too tall, too strong, too everything. She just wants to hide. Then a new family moves onto the island and suddenly things get even weirder. Helen is having vivid dreams about blood-weeping crones out in a desert and is hearing incessant murmurs and noise. Worse, she makes a fool of herself at school when she tries to strangle new boy Lucas Delos, and she can't even explain why she hates him so much since she had never set eyes on him. Her usual defenses are breaking down and her isolated life no longer seems possible as she has to decipher the meaning of the dreams and Lucas's crucial role in her destiny, a destiny she had no idea she would have to face so soon.

Angelini spins an excellent tale, rife with romance of epic proportions. There are a few loose ends that bothered me, however. First, Helen has no clue that she's beautiful, which seems pretty impossible. She's supposed to have the most beautiful face in the world, yet she needs Lucas (among others) to point it out. And she thinks the other kids at her school consider her ugly? Nonsensical. Second, Helen and Lucas solve the issue of the muttering fates a bit too readily, to the point where the decree of the Fates seems too easily dismissed. Hello, Fate is supposed to be unavoidable, as in not something that can be changed. Helen and Lucas can't get around some of their fate, but once they manage the first bit, it seems more likely they'll find another loophole (in the sequel, no doubt). Third, Helen has a necklace given to her by her mother that she's worn all her life, and all of a sudden she notices that everyone sees it as something different. Unlikely! There are some details about Helen's mother that are irksome as well, but for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I won't go into them. In any event, they didn't spoil the novel for me; I enjoyed the story a lot, especially the romance between Helen and Lucas. Yes, it's somewhat cliched, but it's still a thrill ride, and they have to battle all sorts of obstacles. This is an excellent choice for fans of Riordan's Percy Jackson series who want their mythology mixed with a bit more love and lust. Recommended for ages 13 & up.

Where She Went

Where She Went by Gayle Forman (NY: Dutton, 2011).

It's been three years since Mia broke up with Adam, and he's still suffering. She has fully recovered from the accident that killed her whole family and nearly killed her, too. Adam begged her to wake up from her post-accident coma (as documented in the gripping If I Stay), even promising to let her go if that's what she wants. They're an unlikely couple to begin with--she's a classical cellist on her way to Julliard, he's a heavy metal guitarist in an up-and-coming rock band. He helps her recover, but then she drops him without explanation right after she moves to New York. At first Adam retreats from everything, but then he channels his pain into a bunch of songs that rocket him and his band into the rock-and-roll stratosphere. Despite his instafame, and all the accouterments, Adam feels cut off and alone, often lashing out at his manager and bandmates, or even strangers, like reporters who want the inside scoop on his wild life with his celebrity girlfriend. By chance, Adam is in New York the night of Mia's first concert in Carnegie Hall. They're both about to launch huge tours, but they have one night to settle things. Can Adam get the closure he needs? Or does he need something different? And what will Mia have to say? Together, Adam and Mia travel around New York on an emotional odyssey.

Forman's sequel to If I Stay hums with raw emotion. Adam's grief is palpable in his every word and action. Forman deftly shows how close to the edge of self-destruction Adam is dwelling after the break-up and even three years later. This is easily the high point of the novel, its truly powerful foundation. Adam has tried to avoid his pain to an extent through sex, drugs, and antisocial behavior. Yes, he has a girlfriend, but even he recognizes that it's more about his public image than a true connection. He still misses Mia every single day. Since the novel is more about Adam than Mia, it's somewhat understandable that Mia is less developed in this novel, but this makes the second half of the novel somewhat lacking, especially compared to the power of the first half. In the end, every reader will have to judge for him or herself if Mia's reasons for her actions are adequate for the amount of grief she caused Adam. I'm still not sure, but this novel is definitely worth reading. Recommended for older teens. Sex, drugs, alcohol, language.

S'Mother

S'Mother: The Story of a Man, His Mom, and the Thousands of Altogether Insane Letters She's Mailed to Him by Adam Chester (NY: Abrams Image, 2011). Reviewed from Kindle ARC and e-galley, both provided by publisher via netgalley.com.

This hilarious memoir is kind of the mom version of $#*! My Dad Says, in that Adam Chester preserves the crazy letters his mother has sent him since he moved away to go to college. Chester's mom, Joan, happens to be a lot less vulgar than Halpern's dad, but just as funny! There are non sequiturs galore, and the Chester's book includes plenty of scans of the letters--in case you can't believe some of the stuff she's written, or just to showcase the wackiness of some of the letters. (As a side note, the scans were not readable on my Kindle!)

Chester lost his dad at age 8, and as he says in his Foreword, his mom should've come with a warning label about her crazy-making potential. This is true. It's easy to laugh at Joan's insane missives, but hard to imagine living with this deluge of madness. This memoir is largely restricted to her letters and their immediate context, but there must be some wacky stories, too, about Joan's interference in Adam's life when he was a kid, beyond the few completely hilarious tales provided in the foreword. After his dad died, Chester and his mother moved to Florida. Joan cut Adam off from all his paternal relatives, saying they hated her and were crazy. She also gave him dire warnings about her own relatives, like her mother and half-brother Michael (also deemed crazy). She starts writing letters to him after he moves to California for college. The topics range all over the place, but Joan has a few themes. One of them is death, specifically her death, and associated topics, like life insurance policies. She has some off-the-wall pet names for Adam, too, including poppy-seed, pussy cat, and dolly poo-poo.

One of my favorite non sequiturs appears in two points appended to a letter about miscellaneous financial and personal issues. "1. Don't drink rain-water. 2. There's a resistant form of gonorrhea going around--Use a condom" (p. 56). Yikes! Can you imagine getting letters like that? Chester claims he has hundreds. He stopped reading them, but saved them all.

Despite the crazy-making potential, Chester clearly loves his mother dearly, and she's very much a part of his life. She has to be considering that she lives only 20 minutes away from him, but even aside from that--she's still writing letters! Chester includes a few of his own musical career highlights, but keeps the focus on his mother's engaging, if wacko, letters. Highly recommended for adult audiences!

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson (NY: Lerner Publishing Group, 2011); reviewed from Kindle e-galley supplied by publisher via netgalley.com.

In one of 16-year-old Alison's first memories, she's begging her mother to keep making the pretty gold stars, for that is what Alison sees when her mother is clanking utensils together in the kitchen. Her mother's horrified response and admonition to never, ever tell anyone what she sees, lets Alison know that there's something wrong with her, something she can't reveal to anyone else. She can see colors for numbers, objects, and noises, and experiences tastes for shapes and names. Lately, she can sense a bitterness when someone is lying to her. Worse, if she herself lies, she becomes violently nauseated. And when she wakes up in a psychiatric ward, she initially encounters some lies, or at least half-truths, about the tough time she's had the past couple of weeks that she's been there. Not that she remembers. But the police thinks she should remember something about a missing girl, Tori Beauregard. Apparently, before her mental breakdown, she confessed to killing Tori. But how could that be? Alison had little if anything to do with the popular kids at school, and Tori was one of the most popular girls in her class.

As Alison's memory slowly returns, she recalls talking to Tori on the afternoon of her disappearance. But all she remembers is that Tori suddenly disintegrated before her very eyes. Which is impossible. So impossible she must've driven herself crazy enough to confess to a murder and land herself in the loony bin. She doesn't want to talk to her shrink about any of this, not Tori, not the extraordinary colors and sounds that fill her world. Then a different psychiatrist, Sebastian Faraday, shows up who gives a name to her condition--synesthesia--and tells her that she's not crazy or a freak, she's a gifted person who can help him.

Ultraviolet is a highly unusual novel--it starts out paranormal but then veers into science fiction and fantasy. Allison's journey is developed skillfully, and her time in the mental hospital is particularly well developed with an interesting cast of characters. Anderson does a wonderful job of describing Allison's sensory condition of seeing, hearing, and even tasting ordinary objects so that it sounds both beautiful and frightening. The same is true for the psychiatric hospital, itself both interesting and terrifying with its group of troubled teens. Allison's relationships with her mother, best friend, fellow inmates, and psychiatrists are realistic and well done. Particularly interesting is the quasiromance between herself and Sebastian. Once the science fiction aspect of the story takes over, there's plenty of action, so this really is a novel with something for everyone! Recommended for ages 14 & up. Intense and sexual situations.