Magical Pick: House of Ivy & Sorrow

House of Ivy & Sorrow
by Natalie Whipple
HarperTeen
2014
362 pages
ISBN: 9780062120182

Magical, mesmerizing, melodious, and macabre, House of Ivy & Sorrow is a witchy, devilish good book!

Seventeen  year old Josephine Hemlock lives with her grandmother in a little house under the bridge guarded by magic. There are only two doors in and they are hidden to the outside world. Magic keeps Jo and her grandmother safe from the outside world and away from other witching families. Jo's mother Carmina died years ago, and her grandmother casts a number of spells to keep Jo safe. When a stranger from the past shows up, he brings an evil danger with him.

Jo's friend Kat witnesses her magic and it is agreed that the two girls be bound together with a binding spell. This will keep both of them from harm, they hope.  The evil is getting stronger and the girls are in a race against time to find something...anything in the Hemlock history that will help explain who might be after Jo.

Digging into a witch family's history is a arduous task. As they uncover ancestor after ancestor, new questions surface. How long can Jo keep her friend safe from danger? A witch can never love or marry; does it make sense for Jo to date swoon worthy and nice guy Winn knowing that she can never experience lasting  love?

Cover design with trailing ivy is repeated on chapter numbers and on page numbers throughout the book. I like the idea that magic exists in all things and that witches learn to control energy. The witches in this book aren't the sunshine-y witches of Bewitched; these witches mean business and they're not afraid of eye of newt or wing of bat.

Recommended grade 7-up. Some kissing. Magic. Spells.

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

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

YA Pick: Midwinter Blood

Midwinterblood
by Marcus Sedgewick
Roaring Brook Press
2013
262 pages

Magical, mysterious, macabre, and mesmerizing, Midwinterblood tells seven stories that are intertwined with the quiet island of Blessed and its strange curse. Powerful and commanding storytelling by Marcus Sedgewick will have readers completely enraptured by his captivating spell.

Journalist Eric Seven travels to a remote Scandinavian island for a story. The islanders, it is said, live forever and never age, but there are not children anywhere. Eric falls for the enigmatic Merle, a woman who seems so familiar, yet he knows he has never seen her before...or has he? Tor, the island's leader, allows Eric to stay and finds a cottage for his use. As Eric explores the island, he is sure he has been there before. Everything is new and strange, yet feels old and familiar. Eric is bone tired and soon dreams haunt his sleep, and a painting hides the secret of the island.

Other stories revolve around the painting and the island. The story of a plane wreck and a pilot. The story of an archeologist who discovers ancient bones from the Viking era. The story of a painter, the story of a vampire, the story of brothers who both loved the same woman, the story of children sired by another, and the story of the island's curse.

Midwinterblood is a beautifully crafted novel that showcases Sedgewick's talent as a storyteller and a magician--he is able to weave separate stories of each individual into the larger story of the island and of lives relived. Love is stronger than the bonds of time and stronger still than the evil curse. The island cannot hold true love prisoner and eventually the right individual will arrive and change the island forever.

Highly, highly recommended grade 7-up. Average readers may struggle with the concept of the seven stories, but good readers will love this novel. Midwinterblood will surely be on everyone's must reads and favorites lists and is likely to be nominated for many state's awards.

Some violence.

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

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Tween Pick: Twice Upon a Time

Twice Upon a Time
by James Riley
Aladdin
2013
340 pages

Simply hilarious hijinks and playful, pun-y dialog with snarky insight and in-your-face sarcasm, James Riley's characters shine! May, Jack and Phillip are in search of May's true identity. She won't believe the evil Queen is her real grandmother; there has to be some other explanation. Traveling through a normal fairy tale would be easy; if only May's  adventures were  really like the ones in a book. May's fairy tale is entirely different. Mermaids aren't friendly, the big bad wolf is hungry, and fairies are evil. The Land of Never is full of overweight, middle-aged, clueless ninnies--not imaginative, playful children who never grow up.

The wolf says the Queen wants the intruders alive and unhurt, but,"...if you resist, I could just tell her that it wasn't possible, that I was forced to bite off an arm here or there." After escaping the wolf and some goblins, the three find themselves in the Land of Never, where no one ever grows up--oh, people age, but they just  never grow up. Middle aged adults act like happy children who want to play make believe and swim in the chocolate river. May tells them to stop their inane singing and to stop acting like kids and they run off. Next adventure, rescuing  Peter from the friendliest pirates in history.

After a run-in with Bluebeard and evil Mer-people, May hears about her family's secret. Jack's heart is broken and he leaves for the next adventure. The series promises to have a fun ending; pick up Once Upon: The End to complete the series.

A must-have for fans of fractured fairy tales and fairy tale inspired books, Twice Upon a Time is fun entertainment at its best and is sure to leave readers laughing.

Highly, highly recommeded grade 5-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensationf or this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Hilarious Romp: A Bad Day for Voodoo

A Bad Day for Voodoo
By Jeff Strand
Sourcebooks Fire (Sourcebooks)
2012
251 pages

Darkly entertaining, ghastly yet inspiring, hysterically macabre, this is one ya novel I will never forget. I don’t believe I’ve ever laughed so hard while trying to read at the same time. Tears were soon streaming down my face as I attempted to focus on the hilarious, raucous, and wickedly entertaining A Bad Day For Voodoo. Jeff Strand is funnier than any prime-time sit-com ever recorded. His dialog is dead on and full of teen snark and venom.

Best friends Tyler and Adam hate their history teacher Mr. Click. Tyler is mad because he studied for a test he aced, yet Mr. Click gives him a zero and accuses him of cheating. Tyler didn’t copy any answers; another student copied off him. Best friend Adam figures they can get even and his answer to a mean history teacher is to visit a voodoo store in a seedy part of town and purchase a voodoo doll of Mr. Click. He presents the weird doll to Tyler, who is astonished and at a loss of words. I mean, who does that? Who buys a voodoo doll?

Adam encourages Tyler to just give it a try. Maybe the voodoo won’t work at all. Then there’s no harm done. Tyler puts a pin in the doll’s knee the next day in class and Mr. Click’s leg shoots off, bleeding and all. The class is terrified. The police and an ambulance are called. The boys are freaked out and Tyler hides the doll. Everything would have been just fine (well, not for Mr. Click) if Adam had left it at that. He’s afraid that Tyler will rat him out to the police, so he buys a voodoo doll of Tyler as insurance. The kids are joined by Tyler’s girlfriend Kelley as they try to race against the clock to get back to the voodoo shop and try to turn the curse around.

The rest of the novel involves a car jacking, a band of not-so-bright car thieves, four murders, one death, a careening car chase, a crazy taxi driver hyped up on Red Bull, a strange family with even stranger beliefs, one zombie fight, a gunshot wound, a pizza cutter wound, a car crash, one case of grand theft auto, a bleeding ear and two missing toes…oh, and about a zillion laughs! Who knew violence and mayhem could be so much fun?

When the boys are fighting off Zombie Mr. Click (he has escaped the morgue—oh, did I mention he died?-- and now he is a zombie with his leg attached, well, sort of, attached), Zombie Click is trying to fight Adam… Tyler tells the story, ”He (Click) pounced on top of him…so I grabbed the back of Mr. Click’s gown and tried to pull him away. The gown tore. This was officially the worst day ever.”

What’s worse than a zombie eating your friend’s face? Worse than a crazed zombie attack? Seeing your teacher as a naked zombie, of course!

If you mixed equal parts of Joan Rivers’ spot on one-liners, the comedic brilliance of Larry the Cable Guy, and the comic insight of Will Rogers, you might come close to Jeff Strand’s writing. A Bad Day For Voodoo reminded me of the movie “Adventures in Babysitting.” The kids have to travel around in dangerous parts of town where they meet more than their fair share of urban problems.


Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. This is a no-brainer: Don’t miss this book! You’ll be sorry you did. No language, in fact, when Tyler cusses he does so by saying: s-word, f-word, etc. No sex. Zombie violence. Hilarious gun-fight between the ring of car thieves.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

YA Pick

Ruined

by Paula Morris

Scholastic, 2009.

309 pages

Rebecca hates the idea of leaving her friends in New York City for a semester in filthy post-Katrina New Orleans attending a snooty boarding school full of the city's richest families. She hates living with her weird Aunt Claudia who reads tarot cards for tourists in the Bourbon Street district and seems to know an awful lot about voodoo legends and curses.

The prep school kids are cliquish and rude to Rebecca and consider her an outcast. Only one boy, Anton Grey, talks to her, but he is careful not to let his other "friends" know that he is nice to Rebecca. Once Rebecca follows Anton and his friends into the Lafayette Cemetery and stays hidden from view. As she is leaving, she stumbles upon a young girl named Lisette. Lisette is easy to talk to and tells Rebecca all about the history of New Orleans and the rich families who live near the cemetery. There's only one problem: Rebecca is the only one who can see Lisette--because Lisette is a ghost.

Rebecca and Lisette try to discover the reason that Lisette is not at rest. They also are thrown into danger when an old Haitian voodoo curse threatens Rebecca's life.

Part ghost story, part high school clique novel, Ruined is an entertaining read that will appeal to mystery and gothic readers who have a penchant for dark and gloomy places and mysterious happenings in the Big Easy (New Orleans). Recommended for YA collections grades 7-up.