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A Librarian Reads Gemini Bites

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Gemini Bites by Patrick Ryan

Judy and Kyle Renneker are fraternal twins who live in the middle of a family of nine. Everyone in the family competes against each other just to survive. If you want the biggest helping of dinner you need to make sure you are first in line. If you want an amazing present for Christmas you better start dropping hints in July. That is how life has always been in the Renneker family. But since Judy and Kyle are twins they compete against each other more than any other member of the family and it always seems that Judy wins. When Kyle came out as gay to his family Judy came out as a born again Christian. She is always one-upping her twin.

Then one night Judy and Kyle’s parents make an announcement. The family will have another member soon. Garret Johnson, the son of a friend of their father’s, will be staying with them for the rest of the school year. Garrett’s parents are moving to California but want him to have the stability of staying at one school for his junior year of high school. At first Judy and Kyle are concerned that their home will have one more person squeezed into it, but soon Judy notices that Kyle has an interest in Garret. Now she sees Garret as an opportunity to compete with her brother for a boyfriend.

But Garrett has his own plans. He makes it no secret to Judy and Kyle that he is a vampire. Garrett even has a Van Helsing type stalker at school who has vowed to destroy him. Judy and Kyle aren’t sure what to make of any of this but can’t deny being intrigued. So who will win in this love triangle? Judy? Kyle? Or the vampire?

Gemini Bites is a very funny, yet realistic, story of sibling rivalry gone haywire. Highly recommended for those looking for a quick, fun read about family, romance and vampires. It is appropriate for ages 16 and up due to a few scenes involving physical intimacy.

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A Librarian Reads Putting Makeup On Dead People

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Putting Makeup On Dead People by Jen Violi

Donna’s father died four years ago; right before she started high school. Soon after her older brother left for college. Donna, her mother, and her little sister have all been dealing with their grief in different ways over the course of Donna’s high school years. After her father passed Donna became quiet and reclusive. She believes it is better to feel nothing than experience grief any longer. She has friends but doesn’t say much. She focuses on school and tries to get through each day. But on the inside she misses her father; so much that it socially paralyzes her. Donna will soon graduate high school and then she will be forced out of the cocoon she has built for herself.

Donna’s metamorphosis starts when she attends a funeral for a school mate who tragically died. The funeral is held at the same funeral home that held her father’s. She can’t help but notice how peaceful the corpse looks in the coffin and how well the makeup makes the deceased look dignified. As she gets up to get some air she notices a greeter who wasn’t at her father’s funeral. After chatting with him she discovers he is actually the mortician and is filling in for his brother. She compliments him on his work as she leaves.

She keeps thinking of the mortician the rest of the day, and how he helps prepare the dead to say their last goodbye. She begins to like the idea of helping people with their grief more and more. Soon she makes a choice to apply to mortuary school and intern at the funeral home over the summer after she graduates. What Donna doesn’t expect is that her new direction will help shatter her cocoon of solitude. Her mother objects and wants her to attend the same college as her brother. Donna will not let it go and applies to mortuary school anyway and this begins a feud with her mother.

What started as a simple decision that has brought her peace has now torn apart her relationship with her mother. Donna’s life is turned upside down and she begins divesting herself of her mother’s influence. Can Donna get her life back under control? Can her relationship with her mother be repaired? Can two grieving people who depended on each other for so long find lives on their own? Donna is about to start living life rather than just watch it go by. But life isn’t always unicorns and rainbows. There is always death, waiting for everyone, and perhaps our attitude about death can tell us a lot about our attitude about life.

Putting Makeup On Dead People is an excellent book. It hits the right mix of humor, self-discovery, family drama, and of course death. I highly recommend this book, but it is appropriate for ages 16 and up due to portrayals of physical intimacy and drinking.

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A Librarian Reads The Girl Is Murder

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

In a few short months Iris Anderson’s life has turned tragic. First her father loses part of his leg in the attack on Pearl Harbor that forces America’s entry into World War II. Then before her father arrives home her mother commits suicide.

Her father copes by moving Iris out of the Upper East Side of New York to the poorer Lower East Side. He works as a private investigator but his skills as a sleuth have diminished since he now walks on a prosthesis. He can barely pay the bills. Iris herself faces difficulties because she has changed schools. Instead of the private all girl school she is used to she now attends a public school. No one wants to be her friend because of her upper class background. And she doesn’t want to keep her old friends from her private school because they now look down upon her for being poor;  even though one, Grace, keeps calling to talk to her.

Then one day a boy from her school, Tom,  suddenly goes missing. Her father is hired to track the young man down. Iris decides to secretly help her father’s investigation out by infiltrating Tom’s gang of friends, who are called the Rainbows because they wear zoot suits and like to dance in Harlem.

But can she live with the lies she must tell to her would be friends? Will she be able to deal with the classism,  racism, and bigotry that her new friends endure everyday? Can Iris help find one boy in a world where young men are killed everyday in a horrendous war?

The Girl is Murder is a good mystery novel that captures a place and time extremely well. There is lots of Fifties era lingo and Iris is a compelling character who is discovering who she really is while dealing with a horrible loss. Plus the novel leaves open the possibility of a sequel or a series. Recommended to mystery and historical fiction fans. The book is appropriate for ages 14 and up.

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Season of Secrets: A Review by Emily

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Season of Secrets by Sally Nicholls

4 Stars

In Season of Secrets, Molly Brooke and her older sister, Hannah, live with their grandparents. Their mother has passed away and their father needs time to find a good job and get things straight.

Not far from her grandma’s house, Molly has found a man who was hurt badly by a hunt. She learns that he thrives in summer because he is the god of summer. And the man that hunted him was the Holly King, the supernatural being that thrives in winter. Winter is, in fact, drawing near and Molly’s man is growing weaker by the minute. She visits him often in an old abandoned barn until winter arrives and he disappears.

Meanwhile, Molly and Hannah’s father visits them and Hannah is having a hard time coping with all that has happened lately. She disobeys her grandparents and father a lot. At school, Molly and Hannah meet new friends. In the spring, Molly is invited to Emily’s birthday party. Emily was such a shy girl but she turns out to be a very fun person. Also, spring is when Molly’s man comes back.

It is the man’s turn to hunt and defeat the Holly King so that summer may come. He takes Molly along and they soon are victorious. Summer comes and brings Molly’s birthday. She has her family there (including her dad) along with Emily and another friend from school named Alexander. They play a game of tag. During the game, Molly meets with her man one last time. He is in the woods and she, the god, and all the trees sway and dance. Molly returns to the game.
So, in the end, Molly’s father finds a job and will soon be taking them back to their home with him. The girls are happy to be with their dad, but I think they will also miss their grandparents because they stayed there for so long.

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A Librarian Reads Forbidden

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Lochan and Maya are eldest of five siblings. Lochan is seventeen and is close to graduating high school. Maya is a year behind him. When they were young their father abandoned their family and ever since then their mother has relied more and more on alcohol. Lochan has tried to be the man of the house and look after his three younger siblings. He relies heavily on Maya for help and as a team they are pretty successful. Unfortunately their mother has started a dating a new guy and she is drinking and partying now more than ever. Their mother would usually only be gone for a night or two, but has now ceased coming home at all. Lochan and Maya are thrust into the roles of parents for their younger siblings now more than ever.

Lochan and Maya are suffering from many symptoms of abandonment and child abuse: guilt, depression, confusion, and an overwhelming sense of responsibility; that they can keep their family together through sheer force of will. They also suffer from one more symptom: the need for a escape, a place where their hopes and dreams of a better life can run wild. Unfortunately they have no time for themselves. On top of their own schoolwork they need to help the younger siblings with theirs. They need to cook, to clean, buy groceries, and get the kids to bed on time.

All the realities of parenthood weigh heavily on their shoulders. At least they have each other as best friends to see them through. But recently there has been lingering glances, and the holding of hands. If Lochan and Maya are acting like the family’s parents, why can’t they be the parents? They begin to feel their only release from the pressures of life is each other and soon they believe they are falling in love with one another. They know that incest is a taboo and illegal, but their hormones and life situation seem to be forcing them into each others’ arms. They also know that their love won’t end well and that there won’t be a happy ending, but their love is the only escape from their lives they have.

As readers we know that Lochan and Maya are doomed from the start, but sometimes people have to learn the hard way that you cannot do everything by yourself, and that by clinging to the pieces of a broken home you only make things worse. Through all of the troubles Lochan and Maya face as they try to stay afloat in life you know they have the best of intentions. But in the world good intentions are not always enough and sometimes they can have disastrous results. Lochan and Maya start down a road of tragedy, forbidden by their responsibilities and depression to find any other way out.

Forbidden is a very well written book that is about the effects of children being left to fend on their own. Within that context it also deals with the taboo of incest, but is mostly used as a plot twist to depict how out of hand life becomes for their family.Readers who come from rough home lives may identify with Lochan and Maya’s feelings of guilt and responsibility. The book does have frequent swearing and a few depictions of physical intimacy. It is appropriate for mature readers 16 and up.

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