High School Pick: Stand Off

Stand Off (Sequel to Winger)
by Andrew Smith
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division
2015
416 pages
ISBN: 9781481418294

Available September 8, 2015

Andrew Smith's earlier book Winger was gut-wrenching, heart breaking, soul saddening, and grief-bound , so much so, that I worried about  Ryan Dean West. He is that kid you can't help but love. That kid you root for and want to befriend. Could Ryan Dean lose a best friend and go on? Could he pick up the pieces and be whole again? Thank goodness I was not the only reader who had questions about Ryan Dean. The answers lie in Stand Off. Ryan Dean is back at Pine Mountain as a senior  and Annie is now his actual girlfriend. Ryan misses Joey greatly. He has not yet come to terms with his loss and he suffers from guilt and anxiety attacks. He worries that NATE (Next Accidental Terrible Experience)  will follow him around forever.

That would be bad enough but the headmaster decides to send in 12-year old student Sam Abernathy to become Ryan Dean's new roomie.  Ryan Dean can't believe it! A twelve year old?! The headmaster thought that Ryan Dean would get along and guide Sam since Ryan Dean came to the school a few years back at the same age. Sam suffers from claustrophobia and insists that the window be open at all times---even in freezing weather! And he watches cooking shows non-stop! Ryan Dean struggles with Sam's cheerful Disney outlook and chirpy squirrel-y voice. And when Sam becomes the manager for the rugby team, Ryan Dean can't escape the happy-go-lucky kid at all.

Annie finds Ryan Dean's rants silly and mean. She asks him to be nice to Sam. She reminds him that when he came to Pine Mountain he was the youngest and smallest boy there. Ryan Dean slowly...ever so slowly warms up to Sam.

Sometimes friendship takes awhile and sometimes friends have been there all along. Ryan Dean re-evaluates his relationships with his teammates and Sam. Growing up is difficult and graduating is scary, but Ryan Dean begins to realize how lucky he is.

I loved Stand Off. Sequels usually can't compare to the first book, but Andrew Smith has another winner on his hands. Ryan Dean is my FAVORITE YA protagonist of all time and I'll say it again: Watch out, Holden Caulfield!

If you don't know Andrew Smith, what are you waiting for? 100 Sideways Miles and Grasshopper Jungle are also sublime reads.

Highly, highly recommended for fans of Andrew Smith. I'm sure his fan club is growing by the nanosecond. Grade 9-up. Amazon has age 12-up and grade 7-up in "product details."

WARNING: profanity, Ryan Dean thinks of sex A LOT, mature content make this book suitable for grade 9-up in my opinion.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC 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)

Series Pick: The Fallout

The Fallout
(sequel to The Compound)
by S.A. Bodeen
Feiwel and Friends
2013
326 pages
ISBN: 9780312650117

At the end of The Compound (which was a stand alone book, more on that later), Eli, his mother and siblings escape the Compound, an underground, fully-sustainable home, actually more prison than home where his father locked them up years earlier to escape the aftermath of nuclear war.

The Compound is destroyed, Eli and his family saved except for his father who dies with the Compound, and now lives that were once locked away must  live under the watchful eye of the public. Eli is at first  happy to see his identical twin brother Eddy, but soon realizes Eddy is jealous and mad that so many years were ripped away from him and their father.

Picking up the pieces of his broken life, Eli learns that his father's company is being run by shady, greedy adults and all is not as it appears. Secrets are being kept, futures decided, experiments performed, and lives are in danger. Eli needs to know who is behind the deception--and fast!

Whatever secrets YK Industries holds, they are willing to do anything to keep them. The relationship between brothers is tested throughout the book. When they are faced with a foe bigger and more dangerous, will they have each other's back?

Somehow Bodeen makes the most implausible plausible. The science behind Eli's dad's experiments make sense, even his reasoning seems nearly normal, but the family dynamic is hard to swallow. That was the only fault in the story for me. Would Eddy blindly follow a father who escaped a certain death, but who knowingly left his own son to perish? Would Lexie love a man who showed her no regard?

The Compound was meant to tell the story--the entire story, but Bodeen kept getting the same question over and over from teen fans: What happened next? They wanted to know. It got the writer thinking about what happened. Yes, the Compound is destroyed, but what happened to Eli? What happened to his father's company and billions? What happened to the family? What happened to the little kids who had never seen outside before? The Fallout answers the fans' questions.

Recommended for fans of Bodeen (and who isn't?) and those who read The Compound (and again, who didn't).
Grade 7-up. Some mature content and scientific experiments run amok. No profanity.

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)

Zombie Pick: Unfed (sequel to Undead)

Unfed
by Kirsty McKay
Chicken House
288 pages
2013
Available September 2013

Read an excerpt and see more

The blood spattered cover says it all! This is serious zombie gore and teens will love the sequel to last year's Undead. Kirsty McKay is the Libba Bray of zombie comedy and a truly infectious author.

Bobby barely survived last year's zombie invasion (Undead) and now she finds herself in a crazy hospital surrounded by Scotland's hungry hordes of ravenous flesh eaters. She doesn't know where Smitty is or if he's okay or not. He was infected, but Bobby made sure she injected him with what she hopes is the zombie antidote. Bobby must escape the hospital and begins to figure out how. That's when she is reunited with geekster Pete and snarktastic Alice. The three of them must break a tough code, find Smitty, reunite with Bobby's mom, escape the hospital, and fight to stay alive! And these zombies aren't last year's stupid, slow zombies. These zombies are learning to work together and are learning to communicate--which isn't good news for the humans.

As the kids run, swim, fall, drive, and basically super-spy 007 James Bond-like escape, Bobby and new guy Russ try to break the code left behind by Bobby's mother. They've made more enemies than just the undead. There's tons of alive soldiers out to get them, and Bobby is dying to know why. Two companies are fighting for the secret formula developed by Bobby's mother, but who will win? And who will be alive to care?


Zombies, zombies, everywhere: zombinos, zombie goats, zombie cows, Scotland will never be the same.

Hilarious and over-the top, tongue-in-cheek zombie wise cracks, mean teen chic, snarky put-downs, and outrageous escapes from the jaws of death (pun intended) will keep teens reading into the wee hours. This one is unputdownable and fun. Think Shaun of the Dead crossed with A Bad Day for Voodoo, and infected ( again, pun intended) with Stephen King with a serious sense of teen humor. This is the most fun you can have reading a book.

Seriously, highly, highly recommended and contagious (yep, pun intended) grade 9 and up. Some language and tons of gore.



FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the arc 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)

Funny Pick: The Quck Fix

The Quick Fix
By Jack D. Ferraiolo
Amulet
2012
291 pages

Spunky, funny, clever, and quirky, The Big Fix is a hilarious mix of middle school angst and super-sleuthing. Matt Stevens is back on the job doing what he does best: solving mysteries. Pretty cheerleader Melissa hires Matt to follow her basketball star boyfriend and try to figure out what he’s up to. She doesn’t suspect he’s cheating, but he’s clearly worried about something, and he gave her a certain something to hold onto and hide for him.

Vinny, a fat, brutal middle school scumbag thug, also hires Matt to find a certain something. Matt is confused. Is Vinny looking for the “thing” that Melissa was asked to hold? Vinny has quite a crime enterprise with his candy sales and gambling ring. He uses his “muscle” to force Matt into working for him.

Matt is a sarcastic wit with biting charm and a keen vocabulary to match. Vinny, try as he might, cannot keep up with Matt’s adept brain power. The worst thing that could happen for Matt is if Vinny or one of his thugs puts Matt on the “Outs”—basically kids on the “Outs” become social outcasts and whispers of their former selves. Adult supervision is non-existent at Matt’s middle school, so he’s going to have to watch out for himself.

As he gets closer to the truth and solving the cases, danger lurks everywhere. Just what is going on and who is calling the shots?

Highly, highly recommended grades 6-up. Reluctant readers will enjoy this one! You do not have to read the first book The Big Splash first, but readers will enjoy both books. If you know a reluctant reader, buy both books for him/her for Christmas.

Don’t forget I have 5 FREE copies up for grabs. Scroll down the blog. Deadline for comments is December 18, 2012.

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)

Book Giveaway: The Quick Fix--Middle School Pick

The Quick Fix
by Jack D. Ferraiolo

I have 5 copies of this very funny, in-your-face middle school crime noir.

Matt Stevens, middle school Private Eye, is on his newest case and he's about to make a whole bunch of enemies. Maybe the case goes deeper than just his school--could Matt find secrets from his own past? The deeper he digs, the weirder his case gets!

To enter: post a comment on the blog and include your first name, city, state, and email contact. Deadline for posts is December 17 at noon MST. Winners will be chosen randomly by Randomizer. Winners will be notified by email on December 17. Please check your email on that date. Winners will have 24 hours to contact me with their mailing address information. Books will ship from New York courtesy of Abrams and Laura--thanks, Laura!

More about the book:

From the publisher's website:

"In this much-anticipated sequel to The Big Splash, junior high detective Matt Stevens is back on the case, bringing us another hilarious middle school noir.
When the star of the basketball team is blackmailed, it’s up to Matt, the lone voice for justice in a morass of middle school corruption, to figure out who’s behind the scheme. Is it eighth-grade crime lord Vinny “Mr. Biggs” Biggio, who has made his name peddling forged hall passes and leading a crew of social assassins who send enemies to the Outs with a humiliating squirt-gun blast below the belt? Or is it his lieutenant and Matt’s former best friend, Kevin? Or a pair of scheming twins who sell Pixy Stix to sugar-addicted classmates? One thing’s for sure: There won’t be a quick fix for the trouble at this middle school." (Abrams website)

Start posting and good luck! Pamela

YA Pick

The Red Pyramid ( Kane Chronicles, Book One)

by Rick Riordan.

Disney, Hyperion Books, 2010.

516 pages.

Following on the heels of tremendous success with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan takes on the Egyptian gods. Not quite as fun or popular as their Greek counterparts, the gods from Egypt are darker and meaner. They may become as popular as the Greeks in the capable hands of storyteller Riordan.

The Red Pyramid is a fun, non-stop adventure with tongue-in-cheek humor and puns. Riordan makes fun of many of the foreign sounding names, like Djehuti, whom the main character, Carter, pronounces "Ja-hooty." Titles of chapters are also part of the joke. Chapter 35, for instance, is titled "Men Ask For Directions (& Other Signs of the Apocalypse). There are funny characters like an baboon who plays basketball and wears a Lakers jersey.

Carter and Sadie Kane are siblings whose parents are Egyptologists and who the kids learn later are descended from the original Pharoh families. The Kane children have special abilities like magic and are protected by a cat named Muffin, who turns out to be the ancient goddess Bast. Other gods help Carter and Sadie along the way, too. Hey, it's not easy saving the world!

The novel itself is dedicated "to all my librarian friends, champions of books..." Riordan remembers all the book talks and reviews fellow librarians have done in the past helping his books become best-sellers. For that, he is commended!

The Red Pyramid will excite those who read the Percy Jackson series. It, too, will be several installments--probably six books--and who knows, maybe a movie???

Recommended for YA collections grades 6-h.s. If you liked The Lightning Thief and its sequels, this book is for you!