Hilarious High School Pick: Don't You Wish

Don't You Wish
by Roxanne St. Claire
Delacourte Press
2012
360 pages

I almost missed this one! Don't be foolish...go...no RUN...to your favorite bookstore or with a few clicks of the mouse, grab up this sweet read.

Annie Nutter is an invisible. She is a normal high school girl...not popular, not cool, not beautiful, and certainly not rich. Annie and her BFF Lizzie dream of the day when Shane Matthews might speak to them or notice them. When Shane finally speaks to Annie, it's a cruel joke.

When Annie's mom sees her old flame in a magazine spread, she realizes that she could have married the man who is now a billionaire plastic surgeon who lives in a mansion featured in Architectural Digest. Instead, she's married to Annie's father, a hopeless inventor who has more ideas than money. Annie questions her mother and wonders what her life would have been like if her mom had married the other man--her old college flame. Through some sort of magical weird twist in the universe, Annie wakes up in another life. She lives in Star Island, Florida, the pampered, bratty daughter of her mother in real life and her new, billionaire father (Mom's old flame).

Annie is now Ayla Monroe. She is the "it" girl at her snooty school and is surrounded by a circle of vicious harpies who shoplift, curse, and break all the rules they can. Annie is mortified and will not steal anything. She has to pretend to be "Ayla," and she can't imagine why these pampered princesses feel the need to steal just for stealing's sake.

Ayla (Annie) is being pushed into losing her virginity to hot boyfriend Ryder on prom night. Annie meets quiet, science geek Charlie and is intrigued. Charlie wonders why rich girl Ayla Monroe is now speaking to him, and Ayla's inner circle is wondering why she's acting so weird and talking to all the nobodies.

Ayla/Annie has the chance to choose which life to live. What will she do? What if she can save a life if she makes the right choice. What will Ayla do? What will Annie do?

Highly recommended grade 9-up. Profanity and talk about losing virginity place this book at the high school level, and it's too bad. So much is cool about Don't You Wish, I only wish the author would have made it middle school-worthy. It's a clever, funny book and Annie is a character girls will not forget.

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)

Ghostly Pick: The Watcher in the Shadows

The Watcher in the Shadows
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Little, Brown and Company
2013
262 pages

See what the author says about his young adult books

Master storyteller Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind, The Prince of Mist) has done it again! The Watcher in the Shadows is that rare and beautiful book that will captivate young readers. It has all the elements a reader craves: a dark mystery, an eccentric inventor who lives in a strange mansion--Cravenmoore--so aptly named--it's a dark name, a gothic name. The mansion is full of whimsical inventions but some are truly terrifying. The setting: the rugged coast of Normandy. The characters: Irene Sauville, a fourteen year old girl who moves to Normandy with her widowed mother and younger brother Dorian. Irene's mother, Simone takes the position of manager of Cravenmoore for the strange and quirky inventor Lazarus Jann (even the name Lazarus is creepy--in the Bible, Lazarus rose from the dead).

Irene meets a local boy named Ismael who shows her the town and takes her sailing. They are smitten with one another and soon are inseparable. Lazarus tells young Dorian a strange story of a man who makes a deal with the devil, so to speak. The man and his shadow are separated and his shadow runs rampant on a murdering spree. The shadow is a doppelganger (a copy) of the man. Dorian likes spending time with the strange inventor even though some of his automatons (robots) scare him.

When a murder occurs near Cravenmoore, villagers begin to spread rumors. Ismael and Irene  investigate and soon find danger everywhere they turn. The kids will need to act fast if they want to save their own lives and Irene's mother and brother. What evil invention has Lazarus brought to life? And why is it intent on killing them? What is the strange fascination Lazarus has for Simone? What secrets are hidden in the secret rooms of Cravenmoore?

Richly imagined, finely tuned, fast paced and fun, The Watcher in the Shadows delivers.

Highly, highly recommended grade 5-up. A must read for lovers of ghost stories and gothic literature.

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)

Almost Overlooked: Hidden Gem: The Prince of Mist

The Prince of Mist
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Little Brown and Company
first published in Spanish 1993
2011 U.S. paperback edition
214 pages with Questions and Answers

I almost overlooked this little gem. Shopping at the Scholastic warehouse, I was drawn to the cover--the spooky figure coming out of the mist, the lonely lighthouse, the water beyond and the text on the cover, "A mysterious house harbors an unimaginable secret..." But what really made up my mind: when I saw the author was Carlos Ruiz Zafon--I was hooked. Zafon wrote my favorite book in the entire world--the mesmerizing The Shadow of the Wind--It is my #1 book of all time--so beautiful and poetic. I wish I read Spanish, so that I could enjoy his prose in his native tongue. The Shadow of the Wind is beautifully written in its English translation; it sings itself off the page; I can only imagine how beautiful it must be in Ruiz's native language.

The Prince of Mist is one of Zafon's earlier works when he was writing for children and young adults. The writing is just as beautiful as his adult prose. My favorite passage from the book is right before Roland falls asleep, he's remembering swimming with Alicia, "That night, Roland fell asleep in the arms of a vision that would stay with him for the rest of his life: Alicia, draped in moonlight, dipping her white skin into a sea of silver." Zafon, a masterful and gifted storyteller, writes prose that is poetic and enduring.

Max and his family move into a creepy old beachhouse near the shore far away from the winds of war (World War II). Mr. Carver is a watchmaker (shades of steampunk) and inventor who tinkers with anything mechanical. Max makes friends with an older boy Roland and soon Max, his older sister Alicia and Roland become beach buddies. Roland and Alicia become much more in a short time.

Weird noises and things that go bump in the night occur; Max finds a creepy, old, overgrown garden of circus statues. The ringleader is an evil grimacing clown that Max swears moves each time he looks away from it.

Roland and Max dive near the Orpheus, a wrecked ship, and Max swears he sees the clown underwater. He nearly drowns but manages to swims to shore. He tells Roland what he saw and Roland shares a secret: his grandfather is the only passenger to survive that shipwreck and now he's the lighthouse keeper.

Younger sister Irina falls down the stairs after having the fright of her life and she's rushed to the hospital by the ambulance with her parents. This leaves Max and Alicia alone in the creepy house with an evil presence.

As the mystery unfolds, the reader hears the tale of The Prince of Mist from Roland's grandfather who first met him as a boy. The evil being seems to follow his grandfather and the boys believe the Prince is about to make another appearance.

Any reader who loves a mystery, a shadowy and creepy setting, well-drawn characters, and a fabulous story will love The Prince of Mist.

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. No language. Only kissing.