Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

As worker-tenants on a tobacco farm in 1960, 15-year-old Ivy Hart lives with her faltering, temperamental grandmother, mentally slow yet breathtakingly beautiful 17-year-old sister, young nephew “Baby” William, and her own epilepsy. Jane Forrester, an idealistic social worker, whose status-conscious doctor-husband isn’t convinced his wife should hold a job, feels smothered by the social niceties of the early ’60s South and starts to question the boundaries and mutual respect in her own marriage. When Jane becomes Ivy’s family’s social worker, she encounters the state program that seeks to sterilize “mental defectives,” among others with supposedly undesirable characteristics. Through every choice she makes from then on, Jane triggers an inescapable series of events that thrusts everything either she or Ivy ever held to be true into a harsh light, binding them together in ways they do not immediately comprehend or appreciate.

I enjoyed this book. I find the authors writing style very engaging and similar to Jodi Picoult

Inferno by Dan Brown

I have a been a big Dan Brown fan for years. I was very excited to read the latest adventure for Robert Langdon. I found the book to be good but not as great as his other novels. Dan Brown does make me want to follow everywhere Robert Langdon goes and I found myself very interested in Italy and Turkey to see the sites for myself after he described them so beautifully.

Amazon Review

The threat of world overpopulation is the latest assignment for Brown's art historian and accidental sleuth Robert Langdon. Awakening in a Florence hospital with no memory of the preceding 36 hours, Langdon and an attractive attending physician with an oversized intellect are immediately pursued by an ominous underground organization and the Italian police. Detailed tours of Florence, Venice, and Istanbul mean to establish setting, but instead bog down the story and border on showoffmanship. Relying on a deceased villain's trail of clues threaded through the text of Dante's The Divine Comedy, the duo attempt to unravel the events leading up to Langdon's amnesia and thwart a global genocide scheme. Suspension of disbelief is required as miraculous coincidences pile upon pure luck. Near the three-quarters point everything established gets upended and Brown, hoping to draw us in deeper, nearly drives us out. Though the prose is fast-paced and sharp, the burdensome dialogue only serves plot and back story, and is interspersed with unfortunate attempts at folksy humor. It's hard not to appreciate a present day mega-selling thriller that attempts a refresher course in Italian literature and European history. But the real mystery is in the book's denouement and how Brown can possibly bring his hero back for more.

Most Talkative by Andy Cohen

I am a fan of Bravo and found this book to be delightful. I laughed, I cried, and I learned about producing televison. For any Bravo fans out there I recommend this book. Andy Cohen is hilarious and a quick fast read about how he became the King of Bravo.

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

I have been a big fan of Curtis Sittenfeld from "American Wife" and "Prep". I was very excited to read this novel. While I did not love it as much as her past work I did enjoy the book a lot. I find her engaging and a wonderful story teller.

Amazon Summary
Twin sisters Kate Tucker and Violet Schramm are at the heart of Sittenfeld’s (American Wife, 2008) latest novel, which opens with a modest earthquake striking St. Louis. In the aftermath, Violet goes on television predicting that a much larger quake will hit the area, much to her sister’s horror. Kate has spent her life trying to shove aside the psychic abilities she and her sister share, choosing the safe confines of marriage and motherhood over nurturing her gifts the way Violet has. Violet’s prediction becomes national news, thrusting her into the spotlight and causing a mild panic in St. Louis. Kate finds herself under intense scrutiny as well, from acquaintances and even friends, including her husband’s colleague Courtney, a scientist who finds Violet’s prediction absurd. Sittenfeld alternates between the present and the past, revealing the Schramm sisters’ fraught childhood and complex relationship. A late-in-the-game twist makes the final pages fly, but the real strength of this moving story is Sittenfeld’s nuanced examination of the strength of familial bonds, whether they are between sisters or spouses.

If I ever get out of here by Eric Gansworth

Amazon Review
Lewis Blake inhabits two separate universes: the reservation where he lives in poverty with his mother and uncle, and school, where the fact that he is American Indian (and his sardonic sense of humor) has made him an outcast and a victim of bullying. The seventh grader has begun to accept his status until a new kid shows up in his class. George Haddonfield grew up on air force bases around the world and doesn't seem to know or care about the divisions between the reservation kids and everyone else. Although Lewis and George bond over their shared love of the Beatles, George's friendly overtures to visit are constantly rebuffed by Lewis, who isn't sure if their tentative friendship will be able to withstand the jarring differences between George's home and his own. Can a love of rock and roll overcome all? Lewis's relationships with his mother, his uncle, and even his peers ring true and draw readers deep into his world. Life on the reservation is so vividly depicted that scenes set elsewhere, such as the air force base where George lives, feel a little flatly drawn in comparison. Nonetheless, the overall tenor and wry humor of this novel more than make up for its weaknesses

My Review
I thought this was a nice read. I would mark this as a read a like to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I think all students would like this book as realistic fiction and a good discussion to address bullying and how to handle yourself. Lewis is a great character with a lot of heart. You won't be disappointed with this book.

Sylo by D.J. MacHale

Review
I picked this book up at the book fair and bought it for the Library because of the author reviews on the back. I liked all of the authors who wrote positive reviews so thought I would give it a try. I enjoyed the book and found it to be fast paced and engaging. I think this book is similar to Maze Runner or Gone as there are so many questions remaining for the reader. I liked the book but I also have a difficult time when I don't understand everything that is happening. I think students will enjoy this book as they continue to question who is good, who is bad and who really is SYLO.

Amazon Review
MacHale's current-day dystopic series opener begins with a mysterious death and gets stranger from there. On Pemberwick Island off the coast of Maine, Tucker Pierce, 14,  is vaulted onto his high school football team's starting lineup after a star player falls dead at the end of a game. To clear their heads, Tucker and his friend Quinn Carr take a late-night bike ride on the road that runs around the island's perimeter only to encounter a shadowy flying object that emits strange music that then explodes over the water. Within a few days, a stranger to the island offers Tucker a “supplement” called “the Ruby” that makes him feel superhuman. Then a military force wearing red camo uniforms with a patch bearing the word “SYLO” takes control of the island, and the president announces a quarantine until the CDC can identify and neutralize the “Pemberwick virus.” Tucker and Quinn don't know what to make of events or who to trust as martial law takes over. In desperation, the teens make plans with Tori Sleeper, a lobsterman's daughter, to use her dad's two boats to escape the island. MacHale pens some terrific and unique action scenes, but they never overwhelm the story as the characters face one quandary, riddle, or dilemma after another in unraveling the mystery of what is happening. The shocking ending will leave readers hungry for the next installment.

White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick

Review
I was not crazy about this book. The story is told from three different perspectives: Ferelith, The Priest and the Narrator. At the beginning of the book I found it confusing who was narrating and who the characters were. The plot line I found the most odd was The Priests. I thought the author did a nice job wrapping the story up but the beginning was too confusing for me to give this book a positive recommendation. I would put this in a gothic/fantasy/realistic fiction category. Very different than other popular YA titles out right now.

School Library Journal

Some secrets are better left buried; some secrets are so frightening they might make angels weep and the devil crow.

 

Thought provoking as well as intensely scary, White Crow unfolds in three voices. There's Rebecca, who has come to a small, seaside village to spend the summer, and there's Ferelith, who offers to show Rebecca the secrets of the town...but at a price. Finally, there's a priest whose descent into darkness illuminates the girls' frightening story. White Crow is as beautifully written as it is horrifically gripping.