Teen Pick: Devine Intervention (Guest Review)

Devine Intervention
by Martha Brockenbrough
Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic Books)
2012
304 pages

Blogger's Note: This review is courtesy of my BFF in publishing and fellow reviewer/writer Leslie Rush. Leslie is a high school teacher with a voracious appetite for ya novels.



From the first page welcoming the reader to the Soul Rehabilitation Program for Nefarious Teens (Deceased), or SRPNT, Devine Intervention is hilarious and heartfelt. Readers will relate to Jerome as he struggles to navigate his way through the afterlife.

Jerome is a hapless, teenaged, not-quite-an-angel, assigned to a soul rehab program. Apparently the lower levels of Hell were getting overcrowded, so Heaven devised this last-chance redemption for newly dead teens---kind of a heavenly First Offenders Program. Jerome is supposed to be a guardian angel, but he's not very good at it. Having lost his "Guardian Angel Handbook: Soul Rehab-Edition," he's pretty much "winging it" (yes, pun intended)... acting on instincts which are for the most part, lousy. He hasn't got much in the way of Heavenly support, other than the bureaucrat angel sponsors who run the program, and a fellow rehab member, a borderline psycho frenemy named Howard.

Jerome didn't have much support when he was alive, either; his mother abandoned him and his father when Jerome was very young, and Dad has descended into a defensive world of alcohol and despair. Before he died, Jerome had nobody but his friend Mike. His adventures with Mike not only got him killed---Jerome walks around in the afterlife with an unfortunate arrow sticking out of his forehead---but also initiated the sad, thoughtless act that left Jerome teetering on the brink of eternal damnation.

Jerome has been charged with guarding the soul of Heidi Devine since she was born. Heidi is 16 now, on the basketball team and a talented artist, with a secret. Her secret is the voice in her head, the voice who warns her of danger, tells her terrible jokes, and softly sings "Freebird" to her when she is down. Heidi is pretty sure she is crazy, but lives her life telling no one about this constant companion.

After a horrific day of epic failure, Heidi suffers a terrible, fatal accident. Jerome tries valiantly to rescue her, but as usual, things don't work out so well for him, and he and Heidi find themselves in a desperate, literally death-defying race with the clock to keep her soul from disintegrating permanently and to keep Jerome out of Hell. Complicating matters are the missing handbook, grieving friends and family members, a zippy little dog, and the lurking, nefarious Howard. As the conclusion draws near,readers may think they know how matters will turn out, but a nice plot twist resolves the story in an unexpected, satisfying way.

Brockenbough has a keen ear for teen boy thoughts and dialogue. Mild sexual references, mild violence, no profanity, just substitute cusswords (they are angels, after all).

Highly recommended for both boys and girls grades 7 and up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensations for this review. The guest reviewer did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Paranormal Pick: Blessed

Blessed
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Candlewick Press
2011
454 pages

Fans of Smith's earlier books Tantalize and Eternal will leap at the chance to read this exciting new ya paranormal novel. It melds vampires, werewolves, mythology and angels together. Doesn't every new vampire deserve a guardian angel?

Quincie runs her family's restaurant in downtown Austin. Its campy vampire theme and menu attract the city's foodies, musicians and local weirdos. Austin, Texas, with its real-life bat colony near the river is the perfect setting for Sanguini's and a vampire uprising.

Newly almost-turned Quincie is in the fight for her eternal soul when she hires a new chef and unbelievably handsome waiter Zachery. Zachery has other talents, too; he wields a mighty angelic sword and is the only one who can help save Quincie's eternal soul.

Brad, the evil vampire, desires to rule the entire world: human and vampire, and he's about to take over. Quincie, Zachery, and her wolf friends are the only ones able to stop him.

Get ready for a showdown! This novel is a real page-turner. Paranormal fans will devour it.

Recommended for high school collections. Some mature material.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Click here for Blessed book trailer

Paranormal Pick: Angelfire

Angelfire
by Courtney Allison Moulton
Harper Collins, 2011
464 pages
Available March 9, 2011

Part romance, part girl super-hero, part paranormal, part Biblical allusion, Angelfire is a fast-paced read sure to resonate with fans of Twilight and Maximum Ride.

Ellie has weird nightmares and premonitions about fighting monsters and demons with swords of angelfire. When she keeps running into an interesting older and sexy guy named Will, she realizes it's not an accident. Will tells her that they have a past together--and it's not any every day, ordinary, ho-hum past. Ellie has been reborn AGAIN and is the Preliator, the one hope of the human race to conquer those evil demons sent to destroy us. Will is her Guardian, sworn to protect her no matter what.

This revelation would be surprising and hard to handle for anyone, but for Ellie, who is best friends with Landon, a boy she has known since childhood (at least in this current lifetime), how does she juggle her human friends, her fueding parents, her hot, sexy guardian who she is falling in love with, her nightly lessons and training in demon-killing, fighting evil, saving humankind, and still trying to pass her high school classes?

If Ellie and Will fail, Ellie's soul will forever die and humans will be no more.

Recommended grades 9-up. Underage drinking and party scenes may not be suitable for younger readers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this galley from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Paranormal Romance Pick: Angel Burn

Angel Burn
by L.A. Weatherly
Candlewick, 2011
page count undetermined
Due out May 24, 2011

What if Angels aren't sent from the heavens to help humans? What if they have a more sinister and devious plan for humankind?

The first in a planned romantic trilogy, Angel Burn catches fire. Whether running for their lives, fighting evil angels, outsmarting old friends who are now enemies, fleeing the CIA, or digging up secrets, Willow and Alex are likeable characters young adult readers will latch onto.

Willow is unique. She has the gift of knowing other people's fates, their pasts and futures, their pain and their promise. It takes just one touch for her to see what is likely to unfold. When Willow sees Beth's future, she warns Beth that her new religion and church of choice, The Church of Angels, is hurting her. Willow sees danger and violence in Beth's future.

Alex is a trained AK, or Angel Killer, hired by the CIA in a secret program to hunt and kill Angels who have been proven to feed off the humans, leaving them with "Angel Burn," an untreatable sickness which will destroy them. If the CIA can't stop the Angels, humankind will cease to exist.

The Church of Angels is becoming more powerful as humans flock like sheep to its doors. Then Alex gets his next hit--an Angel in Pawtucket, New York.

When Alex breaks into the house, he sees a ethereally beautiful teen-age girl asleep, but he knows this is no ordinary Angel--she is something else entirely, and he is drawn to her. He leaves without hitting his target.

Later, Alex and Willow are thrown together and forced to flee--they know they have to disappear from the Angels and the CIA.

Can an Angel Killer like Alex rely on Willow, who is half-Angel and his hit? Can Willow trust Alex, the man sent to kill her?

Exciting, well-paced, and suspenseful, Angel Burn is a sure hit.

Recommended grades 9-up. Language.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the galley from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.