Adult Fiction Pick: Creatures

Creatures
by Crissy Van Meter
Algonquin Books
2020
256 pages
ISBN: 9871616208592

Creatures is a introspective study of a broken family: a mother who follows her own arrow wherever it may lead, many times far away from her young daughter, a father who knows more about creatures of the ocean than he does his own precious creature: an impressionable, quiet, often lonely daughter who craves her father's attention and love. Evangeline worships her father, an alcoholic, druggie who provides weed and coke for most of their island. The island itself, Winter Island, just off the coast of Northern California, often battered by storms and forgotten by time.

Growing up, Evie parents herself, going hungry and sometimes homeless, crashing at millionaires' homes, hanging out with Playboy bunnies, and pro athletes when they take an island rental or camping in a tent when her dad loses everything.

The book opens before Evangeline's wedding. Her groom is out at sea and a storm threatens his return and even his life. A whale has beached itself and lies rotting on the beach. That whale becomes a symbol of everything that is wrong with Evie and her mother. Her mother shows up with no notice and pretends to care about Evie's wedding. Evie grits her teeth as she tiptoes around her mother in order to create no waves.

The story is told going back and forth in time to child Evie and her dad's failures and abysmal parenting, and how it has affected Evie's lack of emotion. She cannot feel anything at all. Things that would break another person, Evie treats with no human emotion. It is interesting to see a character who appears stoic but is the most tragic person in the entire book.

Recommended for those who enjoy a character study and those who love tangled family relationships. There is no one in Evie's life who is able to help or save her from herself. Creatures is a sad, yet beautiful, book. The cover art is spectacular!

Adult book clubs may find much to talk about in this book, if they can pour more wine.

MG Contemporary: The Disaster Days

The Disaster Days
by Rebecca Behrens
Sourcebooks Young Readers
2019
292 pages
ISBN: 9781492673316

Hannah Steele ives on Pelling Island, a small island near the coast of Washington. It's quiet and quaint with picturesque views and friendly neighbors--neighbors who live half a mile away. Hannah's having a not so great day after her best friend begins to ghost her, clearly having a much better time with new friend Marley. Hannah is hurt and betrayed, but has to go about her afternoon as though nothing is wrong. Asking her bus driver to drop her off at the Matlock's house, Hannah is ready for her babysitting job.

It's a normal day on a small, quaint, quiet island. No need to worry about a tween girl in charge of two younger children. Then, an earthquake hits and the house is turned upside down. Terrified, the kids huddle together with the pet hamster and wait for the shaking to stop. Once it does, they discover that Internet and television is down. They are all alone without communication to the outside world and no adults nearby. Hannah will have to rely on her own strength and calmness to keep the kids' safe.

Zoe has been badly injured and is losing a lot of blood. It's all up to Hannah to figure a way out and find help for Zoe.

A quick read that should satisfy reluctant readers. Recommended grade 5 and up.

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

Middle Grade Pick: Caterpillar Summer

Caterpillar Summer
by Gillian McDunn
Bloomsbury
2019
304 pages
ISBN: 9781681197432

Available: April 2, 2019

Caterpillar Summer captures a poignant and honest portrayal of a sibling relationship in which the older sibling must take on the parent role. Cat has never had time to be a kid. She's always taken care of special needs Chicken and talked him out of his "meltdowns." In fact, Cat is the only one who can control him. Chicken needs constant supervision as he is prone to wander off and get lost.

When the siblings have to spend three weeks with their grandparents for the first time in EVER, Cat finally has a summer where she can explore on her own. As she discovers more about the rift between her mother and her grandparents, Cat wonders why the adults can't just fix their differences. She may have to become the CATalyst to heal her own family.

A treasure for middle grade readers who love a story of family ties and sweet sibling relationships. This book is suitable for all school, One School, One Book reads and classroom reads. It would be a great choice for a summer reading book as well.

Recommended grade 4 (good readers), grade 5 and up.

YA Pick: A Map For Wrecked Girls (Guest Reviewer Oscar Porras)

A Map for Wrecked Girls
by Jessica Taylor
Dial Books
2017
368 pages
ISBN: 9780735228115

"An exciting, high-stakes adventure." --School Library Journal 

Guest Review by Oscar Porras, library media specialist,  at Ysleta Middle School in El Paso, Texas. Follow Oscar on Twitter @oporras_LMS

A Map for Wrecked Girls is a gripping gem that YA readers will fall in love with. Emma narrates the story of her life both before and after she is shipwrecked with her sister Henri (Henrietta) and a boy named Alex who will change their lives.

Before the wreck, Henri and Emma live in San Francisco. Their father left the family to begin a new life with his girlfriend. The sisters'  lives are upended and their relationship falls apart. They travel to Puerto Rico with their mother who is attending a conference there. The three teens are shipwrecked together and forced to survive the island and each other. The two sisters must confront their past as they struggle to see a future. This is a book of survival, growth, personal demons and forgiveness.

Readers who are drawn to romance, thrillers and survival stories will love A Map for Wrecked Girls.


Highly recommended for grade 9 and up.

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

Book Club Pick: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
by Gabrielle Zevin
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2014
258 pages
ISBN: 9781616203214

Available April 1, 2014

From the author's website:

“Funny, tender, and moving, it reminds us all exactly why we read and why we love.”—Starred, Library Journal

“In this sweet, uplifting homage to bookstores, Zevin perfectly captures the joy of connecting people and books . . . Filled with interesting characters, a deep knowledge of bookselling, wonderful critiques of classic titles, and very funny depictions of book clubs and author events, this will prove irresistible to book lovers everywhere.” —Booklist

“Surprisingly expansive… Zevin is a deft writer, clever and witty, and her affection for the book business is obvious.” —Publishers Weekly

“Sometimes funny, sometimes true to life and always entertaining . . . A likable literary love story about selling books and finding love.” —Kirkus Reviews

“I don’t appreciate the position I’m in with The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I resent the skill and verve that Ms. Z. shows in this quirky, punchy novel. I don’t like that it’s so readable, so appealing. I disdain its damnable charm, its succinctness, its crisp, clear tone! AAAUGH! . . . VERDICT: This lightning fast read is super-enjoyable; hide it inside a Popular Mechanics.” —Library Journal‘s Books for Dudes blog


From the publisher's The Algonquin Reader, Volume 3, issue 1, says Zevin:

"The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, my eighth novel, is about a bookstore and a bookseller and a stolen manuscript and a girl abandoned in a poorly stocked children's section. You must already know how this is going to end--I've already told you I come from a family who believed that no child left in a bookstore ever came to any harm."

Blogger's Review:



The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is THAT book that will stick with you for years to come, nay not years,  decades to come. It is everything that a novel should be! Zevin's carefully crafted prose and dynamic word choice  is evocative of  F. Scott Fitzgerald's finest writing.

Widower A.J. Fikry owns a small book shop on Alice Island just off the coast of Cape Cod. Fikry's wife Nic died in a car accident a year prior, and he mourns her death daily. His small book shop's proceeds are slipping; summer people buy a few books but they do not have A.J.'s  refined  and somewhat pompous taste in literature.

One morning a bleary eyed, hungover  Fikry discovers he's been robbed! His priceless manuscript of Tamerlane has been filched, and his early  retirement is now out of the question. A strange but not unwelcome discovery left in the children's section of the book shop  changes Fikry's life forever.

What does it mean to love and be loved? Can a persnickety pessimist find love again? What does it take to heal a broken man?

This novel reminds readers that life is short, true friends are priceless, blessings are numbered, and when something unexpected happens, revel in happiness, and let go of  sorrows.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is about the relationship a writer has with the reader of his carefully crafted story and that  sense of fulfillment that a reader takes away from a story. Zevin's characters honor books and reading and truly commit themselves to fine writing. Any reader who loves books and lives for books will find a treasure trove of gems  in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

This novel will break publishing records and is likely to be around for a very long time. Rights have been sold in 20 different countries, and book stores may have trouble keeping up with demand for this title. My top three books of all time has just changed. The top three of all time are: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Life Among Giants. If I could only read those three books for the rest of my life, it would be more than enough to keep me happy.

So highly recommended that I'm shouting it from the rooftop: Buy this book! It will change your life.
Highly, highly recommended for mature readers and adults. Adult situations. Life situations.

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)

Classic Gothic Tale with a New Twist: Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters

Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters
by Suzanne Weyn
Scholastic
2013
250 pages

Twins Giselle and Ingrid discover that they are heirs to a fortune--their mad father, Dr. Frankenstein was so tormented, he shunned his famly and friends--dying alone but leaving the girls a castle on a small island and a large inheritance. The girls travel to the island north of Scotland, seeing their inheritance for the first time. They stand aghast at the condition of the castle. It has fallen to ruin, but Giselle intends to bring it back to its formal glory. Ingrid--always the scientific one--discovers her father's journals dating back to his early university years. She reads one after another--obsessed with knowing more about her father's work and his state of mind.

Ingrid is attracted to their eccentric reclusive sickly neighbor, too, and Giselle worries about their strange friendship. Ingrid thirsts for knowledge and for education, but being a product of her times (1815)...when women did not go to university...she has to sneak around and disguise herself as a man in order to attend anatomy lectures. Her friend Anthony "borrows" an anatomy book for her to study.

The castle hides secrets and Ingrid finds the key to her father's laboratory. What will Ingrid do in the name of love? Where is the monster that her father created and then spent his life escaping? What dark secrets does Giselle herself hide?

Fans will love this Gothic horror/love story. I was rooting for sister Giselle and disturbed by Ingrid. Plot twists then had me thinking differently.

Suzanne Weyn is a masterful storyteller who handles an old story with ease. The plot is told from each twin's viewpoint as each sister writes her diary entries. The cover has Gothic appeal and will have teens clamoring for their own copy.

Highly, highly recommended grade 7-up. No language. Romance, a few kisses, gruesome laboratory.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library from the Scholastic Book Fair. This title is on middle school book fairs. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Adventure Pick: Stranded

Stranded
by Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts
Scholastic
2013
176 pages

What happens when a smooth sailboat experience becomes dangerous and life threatening? Four kids who don't know each other and don't like each other are thrown together when their parents marry. The parents send the four on a sailboat adventure with their uncle Dexter and his first mate Jim. When the weather turns rough, their uncle tells the kids to go below in the cabin.

The storm is too much for the boat and soon Dexter and Jim are launching the life raft. Jim and Dexter are swept away with the raft and kids have to weather the storm alone with no power and no mainsail. Eventually the kids are washed onto a rocky outcropping on an uninhabited island (shades of "Survivor")!



Forced to work together, the four soon realize they only have each other. They are able to contact their parents and tell them approximately where they are--the Coast Guard is searching for them, but the search area is 500 miles wide. The kids set up a signal fire in case they see planes and learn to trap rain water for drinking water. They salvage what they can from the sailboat.

Jim and Dexter are rescued but the kids are running out of hope. When a huge wave takes the sailboat out to sea, they realize that they will have to survive with nothing but each other.

Jane is the most remarkable character of the four children. She's smart, outspoken, and fearless. She's only nine years old, but she's the brains in this mixed family.

Highly recommended grade 5-up. Anyone who likes action and adventure is sure to like this book.

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

The Raft

The Raft
by S.A. Bodeen
Scholastic
2012
231 pages

2013 Tayshas Reading List (Texas)
Nominee for the 2013 ALA Quick Picks and 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults


Taut and gripping, The Raft will capture teen readers and take them on a scary adventure at sea. Imagine being all alone on a raft with no food or water stranded somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and afraid every minute.

Robie knows a lot about the Pacific and marine life. She's lives on Midway, a small atoll in the Pacific Ocean, where her parents are research biologists. She hops flights on small supply planes to Hawaii to visit her aunt all the time. She's in Hawaii with her aunt when her aunt has to leave the island for business. She agrees to let Robie stay at her apartment if her friend Bobbi checks up on her on a daily basis. Bobbi calls later and cancels and suddenly Robie is alone in Hawaii. A run-in with a local bum frightens Robie and she decides to hop a supply plane home to Midway.

Almost home, the plane experiences engine failure and they have to land at sea. Max, the new co-pilot, helps Robie exit the plane and into the life raft. He's been hurt and he sleeps most of the time. Days and nights pass. Hunger and thrist become unbearable. On top of it all, there seems to be a hole in the raft. Robie keeps bailing water to no avail. She knows she'll have to put Max in the water in order to fix the raft and save them both. She carefully puts him into a life vest and puts him in the water.

After many days, Robie spots land. It's a small island but she's not sure which one it is. She wakes up on the beach after a rough landing. The island is uninhabited but at least Robie is on dry land.

No one knows where she is and no one will be looking for her. She found the plane's manifest in Max's travel bag. Everything on the plane is listed on it except for her name. No one will know she was ever on that plane. She didn't call her parents on Midway before leaving Hawaii because phone communication is almost always down.

Can a 16 year old girl survive with no supplies whatsoever? Can she nurse Max back to health? Will they ever be rescued?

A shocking twist--that readers will never see coming--delivers a knock-out punch near the ending of the story.

Readers will admire Robie's tenacity and grit. She faces uncommon odds and beats them. She is a true surivivor and would undoubedly "outwit, outplay, and outlast" any other contestant of television's "Survivor."

Highly, highly recommended grade 7-up. No language. Some "ick" factor when Robie is forced to eat raw meat to survive and when she clubs a seal--the seal is woulnded and in pain, so Robie is forced to do the only humane thing she can think of.

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)

Horror Pick: The Madman's Daughter --A Must Read!

The Madman's Daughter
by Megan Shepherd
Balzer + Bray
2013
432 pages

Available January 29, 2013

Author Megan Shepherd takes on the classic The Island of Dr. Moreau giving it a sexy Gothic YA romance spin and knocks it out of the park!

Juliet Moreau works as a cleaning girl at the university's medical school. Her infamous father has fled London when his grisly experiments and medical ethics are questioned, leaving Juliet and her mother to fend for themselves. Juliet has always wondered whether her father is innocent or not and aims to clear her family name.

Following a clue, Juliet discovers her childhood friend Montgomery is in London. She begs him to take her with him to a faraway island. She has no future in London and no way to attract a good marriage. He reluctantly agrees to take her with him back to the island. After weeks at sea, they find a nearly dead man on a small boat and bring him on board. Juliet is strangely attracted to both Montgomery and her new friend--mysterious castaway Edward.

Juliet is thrilled to see her father alive, but he does not share her enthusiasm. His island is creepy and dangerous--full of weird creatures and plants. Even the natives are strange and quiet, following Dr. Moreau's rules and commandments.

Her father has continued his work in medicine away from medical ethics and manmade laws. Montgomery acts as his assistant and Juliet makes it her business to figure out just what is really going on in her father's workshop. When she finds answers that she doesn't want to believe, Juliet will have to make life changing decisions.

Henri Moreau is an evil genius with a God complex. He believes in his research above all else and will take human life if it gives him scientific answers. Everything in Juliet's life has been a lie; her father has controlled her very existence. Juliet plans to escape the island and her father if it's the last thing she ever does.

The Madman's Daughter delivers the perfect suspenseful tale. Shepherd's carefully controlled pacing, the creepy, humid wild island setting, hot and smoldering Montgomery, dangerous and mysterious bad boy Edward, spunky and wild child Juliet, Gothic appeal, rich romance, and horrible experiments make this YA novel a gem. This one's going to be HUGE!

This is a planned trilogy and the ending sets up the story flawlessly for book two. Film rights have already been sold to Paramount, so look for the YA movie in the near future.

Highly, highly recommended grade 9-up. The medical experiments done by the doctor are quite disgusting. There are some steamy kisses and embraces.

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)

Fantasy Pick: The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Steifvater
Scholastic Press
2011
416 pages

Magical, lyrical, beautiful, and romantic, The Scorpio Races is unlike any other young adult novel. The prose sings itself off the page--Stiefvater is at her poetic best in this novel, her voice has never been stronger nor her writing more fierce and taut. The island setting is not only beautiful but dangerously alluring. The setting, in fact, is a character in this novel and controls both the tight plot and the threateningly ominous tone.

The Scorpio Races happen every year in November in Thisby, a small coastal town known for its brutal winter weather, battering storms from the sea, and for breeding the best horses money can buy. Some of the horses are real prizes--you see, every autumn, horses climb out of the surf, leave the sea, and run on the beach. If you're "lucky" enough to catch a capall (water horse), you will have to be very lucky to train him and keep him. They--the capaill uise--water horses--are wild and predatory, sly and cunning, huge and beastlike, but they run faster than the wind, and that is why men in Thisby long to race them and why they lay their hard earned money down to bet on which rider and horse will survive and win the race. People come from the mainland and all the way from America to see the races and to buy race horses from Benjamin Malvern, the richest breeder and landowner on the island.

Sean is a part of the island itself. He lives for the sea and the capaill--he was born to train horses like his father before him. His father was lost to the sea because of the races and now Sean works for Malvern in the stables. He knows the danger but never lets his guard down when it comes to one of the wild horses. He will ride a red capall named Corr in the races.

Puck (Kate Connelly is her given name) is a bit of a tomboy who is being raised along with her quirky brother Finn by her older serious brother Gabe. Puck rides her farm mare Dove and decides that she could win the Scorpio Races on Dove's back. She enters her name on the list to save her family's home--Mr. Malvern will foreclose on their property unless Puck wins the race. The whole town decides that she must be crazy--ride a little "pony" in a race with vicious capaill? A girl thinks she can beat men? A girl with no training on the back of a farm horse?

Puck won't back down even though men try to twist the rules to say that only men can race--it doesn't say that in the rules--it says "riders." Sean comes to her defense. He sees Puck training Dove and offers to ride with her and give her pointers. Puck decides she likes/dislikes Sean as much as he does her, but she's pig-headed and stubborn; she wants to prove she is a great rider, so she agrees. When both riders go to the beach where some wild water horses are training, Puck is afraid but won't admit it. They see a man killed by a water horse, and Puck regrets signing up.

A terrible storm reaches the island and water horses come ashore and off the beach up the hills towards homes. Puck and Finn escape with Dove and must leave their house. Sean saves Corr from a certain death and vows to beat Mutt Malvern (his boss's evil son) in the race. An American horse owner named George Holly becomes friendly with Sean and offers him a job in America training horses, but Sean is in love with the island and knows he could never leave Corr.

The race begins and it's terrifying, exciting, and brutal. Pages will turn at a heart-thumping pace in a race where one second can change everything in life, one movement, one twitch, one blink of an eye.

Magically entertaining, exciting and fast-paced, wretchedly horrifying at times, The Scorpio Races will haunt readers for days and weeks after finishing it. If Steven Spielberg gets his hands on this novel, the movie will be Hollywood magic! The capaill uise deserve to be brought to the silver screen by someone who can do them justice and Spielberg is my pick. Are you listening, Steven?

Blogger's Note: I almost missed this book. I had noticed it on the Scholastic Book Fair but passed on it due to the cover--I know, just like the kids--I judged the book by its cover! The cover did not appeal to me nor the premise of horses or racing, but when it showed up again and again on librarians' lists of best books for 2011, I found a copy and gave it a try. I was hooked! I enjoyed the Shiver trilogy and love Stiefvater's earlier work, but a book about horses just did not grab me.

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. This novel is not be missed! Some language--it is a horse racing town, after all. Language much worse can all be heard on prime time television. Violence and death in the race.

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

Ghostly Pick: Unraveling Isobel--A Must-Read

Unraveling Isobel
by Eileen Cook
Simon Pulse
2012
304 pages (according to publisher's website)

Available January 3, 2012 (date from publisher's website)

Read Chapter One here

Clever, creepy, creative, and seductive, Unraveling Isobel is my new favorite ya title. Full of Gothic appeal and details--a creepy, moss-covered mansion fallen into disrepair bulging with dusty antiques hand-crafted by dead ancestors, portraits of said dead ancestors peering down from its ancient walls, a step-father who reeks of disdain and old money, a mother who is so in love with wacktastic step-father that she can't even see what a horse's patooty he is, and a hot and sexy step-brother--all part of Isobel's new life.

Her mother met Richard, the new step-father, on the Internet and married him after only three months of dating. She moves Isobel to a small island off the coast of Washington state--it's Isobel's senior year and she can't believe how ignorant and self-serving her mother is acting. She doesn't care that Isobel has to leave her home, her school, and all her friends. She wants only her own happiness with not a care for her daughter.

Weird things happen the first night at the mansion. A ghost of a child appears to Isobel and she finds a puddle of sea water on the window seat of her room with a bit of slimy seaweed. Isobel knows that Richard's first wife and young daughter drowned last year. She suspects that Evie is trying to reach out to her, but can't figure out what the child-ghost is trying to tell her. Isobel enlists the help of Nathaniel, her hot step-brother. Soon, there's passionate and scintillating sparks whenever they're together.

At school, mean, but popular girl, Nicole befriends Isobel--but she has an ulterior motive. By being friends with Isobel, she gets to see Nathaniel--who she has had her eyes on for some time.

Evie appears to Isobel and Isobel really isn't afraid of her--she's more afraid that she may be going a little crazy; her dad suffers from schizophrenia, after all. She knows that it is an genetic disorder and can sometimes be passed on to the next generation. Is Evie for real, or is Isobel "losing" it?

Isobel visits the library to get some answers about the girl's drowning and befriends one of the librarians, Mandy. She helps Isobel find articles about the mansion and tells her about two girls who vanished there some years ago. They were never found, but Isobel discovers their secrets.

Unraveling Isobel is delightful gothic romance. Isobel has a great teenage voice dripping with sarcasm, hyperbole, and funny metaphors. It is a clever ghost story--as enthralling as it is entertaining. I was spellbound and speechless when Mandy's true identity becomes known! This is a must read for fans of gothic romance, ghost stories, and anyone who enjoys a vulnerable, yet strong, heroine.

There are two things I have some trouble with: One is the depiction of the older librarian--so typical of the old-school librarian--nearly Nazi-like behavior and demeanor--an old lady who likes things tidy and silent. We all know today's librarians are much more fun (if I do say so myself). Secondly, the cover does not have much teen appeal. Girls may not pick up this book unless they hear about if from a friend or a blog.

Highly, highly recommended grades 9-up. Some language, some kissing. Isobel call's her new step-dad "Dick" since his name is Richard and he truly lives up to his nickname. Isobel knows her mother and new step-father are having a passionate romance, but she can't stomach imagining her own mother ever having sex. Pretty funny stuff-sheer teen-age angst.

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