Editorial Review

Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: "You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue."

Grace is the last matriarch of the Cahills, the world's most powerful family. Everyone from Napoleon to Houdini is related to the Cahills, yet the source of the family power is lost. 39 clues hidden around the world will reveal the family's secret, but no one has been able to assemble them. Now the clues race is on, and young Amy and Dan must decide what's important: hunting clues or uncovering what REALLY happened to their parents.

The 39 Clues is Scholastic's groundbreaking new series, spanning10 adrenaline-charged books, 350 trading cards, and an online game where readers play a part in the story and compete for over $100,000 in prizes.

The 39 Clues books set the story, and the cards, website and game allow kids to participate in it. Kids visit the website - the39clues.com - and discover they are lost members of the Cahill family. They set up online accounts where they can compete against other kids and against Cahill characters to find all 39 clues. Through the website, kids can track their points and clues, manage their card collections, dig through the Cahill archives for secrets, and "travel" the world to collect Cahill artifacts, interview characters, and hunt down clues. Collecting cards helps: Each card is a piece of evidence containing information on a Cahill, a clue, or a family secret.

Every kid is a winner - we'll give away prizes through the books, the website and the cards, including a grand prize of $10,000!

... Read more

Reviews

Nothing wrong with a smart marketing strategy
There's already a review that is negative about this series for being a blatant marketing scheme. While I was a bit put off at first by the whole book series/trading cards, now that we've bought the book and a few card packs, I'm a huge fan. Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series helped ignite my 10-year old son's passion for reading. He's now half-way through Maze of Bones, and thoroughly enjoying it. He's noted on the calendar the date the next book will be released. I have to admit I'm reviewing the book without having read it myself yet, but based on the number of times my son has read me excerpts, I'd say it is succeeding with the target audience.

As for the trading cards, well, 10-year old boys love trading cards - Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, and so on. These cards are different though. They have puzzles on them that the reader has to solve. They're not that tough - they seem simplistic to me as an adult - but for my son, they're challenging enough that he feels a sense of accomplishment when he solves them, but not so challenging that he's had to enlist parental help very often. The web site provides hints. We did have a problem entering one card. We sent e-mail to support and the problem was quickly fixed. I was pleased when my son noticed a clue hidden in the book. I believe the puzzles have him looking at the books much more analytically.

I'm hoping (as is Scholastic) that by including different authors in the series, my son will be encouraged to read other books by these authors as well. I see this as a win-win situation. Anything that gets kids to read is OK by me.

I think this is a brilliant marketing move on Scholastic's part. I try to teach my kids to be informed consumers, and understand when they are being manipulated. Everything is about branding and marketing in our culture, and here is a case where someone got it right, and is marketing a quality product in a very effective manner. Kudos to Scholastic for coming up with such a unique and engrossing series!

An addictive new series
I was reminded of both The Da Vinci Code and the Harry Potter books as I read Maze of Bones. First of all, it's an addictive read. Second, it is a mystery with multiple clues involving famous people, like Dan Brown's book. Last, like J.K. Rowling's famous books, it is about a group of people separated into four different branches, or houses; and about children saving the world.

The plot involves the diverse, far-flung Cahill family, which has been the most powerful family in history. Anyone important in history was probably a Cahill, including Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte and, especially, Benjamin Franklin. The source of the Cahill's power has been lost over time. The 39 Clues is about the search for that source, by a group of Cahill relatives vying against each other to find the answer. The clues are found all over the world.

Penniless orphans Amy and Dan Cahill enlist the help of their teenage au pair, Nellie, to find the solution to the mystery. The kids seem like real people, and you root for them against their mostly despicable relatives. Amy is a painfully shy, stuttering 14-year-old; Dan is a precocious 11-year-old who loves collecting things. Although they often fight, the siblings help each other during the many dangerous adventures collecting the clues.

Maze of Bones is the first of 10 books in this new Scholastic series, which also has an elaborate supplemental contest where readers can try to come up with the answers to the clues themselves. The book comes with six game cards that you can use to get clues online. There are 350 cards in total, so the series is also a card-collecting game for kids.

But if you just want to read Maze of Bones, it's certainly worthwhile. It's fast-paced, full of fascinating people and has an interesting mystery. I recommend it, and look forward to the second book.

Can't Wait For the Next Book!!!
My son devoured this book!!! For a child that hates to read, he read the book in one weekend and exclaimed, "I can't wait for the next book!" What music to my ears!!! My son read the book, entered his trading cards on line, worked out the puzzles and had a ball!! I wish all books would thrill and excite him the way that this one did!! Kudos!!!

My 10 year old Loves The 39 Clues Series
Got Book 1 for my 10 year old daughter. She read the entire book in days, joined the website, and talks about these a lot. She keeps asking me to get her all 39 books - she really loves this series. Previously loved the Daisy Meadows books and still likes Nancy Drew. Hope the next few in the series come out Soon. I love to encourage her reading, and this book brings in educational subjects including travel and history. We highly recommend this book.

Fascinating First Book in an Intriguing Series of Ten . . . You Don't Need Any Game Cards to Have Fun
I decided to wait until I had read the second book in the series, One False Note, to review The Maze of Bones. I wanted to see how well the books work without the trading cards, Web site, and contest.

Imagine that the Wizard of Oz had been written as a ten part book where you could read what happens to Dorothy and Toto along with clues to help get them home . . . with an opportunity to win a cash prize for solving the clues before anyone else. It would have been a nice publicity stunt, but the pleasure of reading about Dorothy's adventures would have been no less.

The 39 Clues provides a similar opportunity to my imaginary alternative to The Wizard of Oz. The series is a cross between The Amazing Race, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Survivor . . . constructed as a competition for youngsters.

As the book opens, an elderly woman, Grace Cahill, is dying. She instructs her attorney to employ "the alternate will." At her funeral, a handful of the 400 Cahill relatives who attend are invited by ticket to attend a reading of the will. During the reading, each person is given five minutes to choose between taking one million dollars or competing in a contest to solve 39 clues in order to become the heir to the Cahill destiny and become the most powerful people on Earth. They may compete as individuals or as teams. Most people take the money and leave.

Orphans Amy (fourteen) and Dan (eleven) Cahill are pressured by their great Aunt Beatrice (their grandmother Grace's sister) to take the money. She is also their guardian and says she will turn them over to the state to live in foster homes if they don't take the money. The two decide that they want to compete, having a chance to honor their grandmother's faith in them and their parents' memory. Naturally, the siblings form a team, but how will they compete without any money and adults to help them?

Within minutes the competition takes a potentially lethal turn as it becomes obvious that some of the Cahills will stop at nothing to win the competition.

In the rest of the book you'll get to know Amy and Dan better, meet their au pair, Nellie Gomez, and travel to Boston, Philadelphia, and across the Atlantic to Europe. An important American turns out to be important to solving the first clue, and you'll read a lot about that person.

Youngsters will like it that children are the stars of the book (and the contest) with adults playing a supporting role. Parents will be happy that the book contains a lot of interesting historical, biographical, and geographical information in a format that makes learning fun.

The book's main weakness is that it doesn't do much to develop the characters of Amy and Dan before the contest begins. As a result, you'll root for them as underdogs and wish them well . . . but you won't identify with them as closely as if you knew a lot more about them (as Roald Dahl did by introducing the Buckets in detail before launching the golden ticket contest).

The writing is otherwise quite good, and you'll find yourself slipping rather easily into the adventure fantasy (despite many details in the story that don't quite work in real life). I liked the excitement of The Maze of Bones better than the more intellectual focus of One False Note. The two books are rewarding for different reasons.

Don't expect, however, that the writing is the same or that the characters behave in the same way. As with any multiple-author series, there will be shifts from book to book.

To me, the only thing better than a good mystery . . . is a longer good mystery. With the prospect of ten books to keep me entertained, I'm looking forward to reading all ten.

I did look at the game cards and only found two that related to the first story. Those two didn't add much to my understanding of the book. The others seemed to relate to future stories, so they did give me a sense of the future story line. That part was nice.

I haven't tried the online site for playing the games because I'm not interested in the contest, but if that is something you enjoy, please do take a look.

I'm sure the focus will shift more towards the game in 2010 as the book series ends. But until then, you can just have lots of fun with the books!

If you like this story, I also encourage you to ask your relatives about your family's history. You might find that your relatives are connected to some pretty famous events and places. Wouldn't that be fun?

A Fun Adventure. Reveiwed by the Book Junkie
The first in a series of 10 books, "Maze of Bones" is the beginning of an adventure for the Cahill family. After the death of the family matriarch, Grace, the four branches of the Cahill family are called on to solve the 39 clues. The group who accomplishes this first will become the most powerful people on Earth. No one expects Amy and Dan, 14 and 11 respectively, to get far. They turn out to be cleverer than the others think, though--which puts them in danger from their competitors. From Philadelphia to Paris to Tokyo to Seoul to Cairo, Amy and Dan fight to stay ahead of the game without turning to deceit or violence like their distant relatives.

A bit like a YA version of Indiana Jones or (or National Treasure, if you prefer a more contemporary reference), the 39 Clues books are fun, exciting, and filled with enough tension to keep you turning pages. I can't wait for the rest of the series to come out so I can find out what happens!

Sure it's a marketing strategy...but hey, it's a good story too
I ordered this for my son for Christmas. It arrived yesterday and it just sat there...enticing me. So I started to read just a bit to see what the hoopla was all about and lo and behold, I got sucked into the story.

I have absolutely no problem with the cards being part of it. My son collects cards from different things--why should this be any different than his Pokemon collection? He'll be reading...bonus #1....he gets to collect cards...bonus #2...and it's online as well...big bonus! ... Read more

Editorial Review

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Reviews

This book deserves more than 5
I am not going to tell the plot of this book yet again, Amazon and some other reviewers have done it quite well...I will tell you that this is an astounding book, a beautiful book, and a book that I know I will read again and again......
I read a lot, two to three books a week, my family makes fun that I "love" so many that I read...but in the past few years there have only been a handful of books that when I finish reading the book I sit and try to think of who I can send a copy to, who can I share this wonderful experience with. A book that when I finish, I want to go back to the beginning and start over.
I am a little sorry it is listed as a young adult book, I feel that if the bookstores put it in the young adult section, so many people will be missing out on a wonderful experience. Yet it is important that younger readers, high school readers, read this book too. When I was growing up, I remember reading Diary of Anne Frank, and the feelings I had when I read it...and understanding the importance of everyone reading that book. Well, this book is that important, this book is a must read.
I am going to go back and read this author's other book, I don't know how it can measure up to this one, but if it is half as good, I am in for a treat.

Astounding
Very rarely a book comes out that steals my breath away. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak is a revelation. Narrated by Death, this story follows Leisel as she steals books in Nazi Germany while she and her best friend Rudy discover the power of words, language and friendship. Zusak's writing is mesmerizing; it's sarcastic, emotional, sophisticated and wondrous.

If you only read one book this year, read this one. Share it with your friends and family. I don't expect to read anything better this year, or next year either.

Magnificent Story
Liesel Meminger is a Book Thief, living with a foster family in Germany during World War Two. Torn from everything she's known, her foster father shows her the power of words as the two of them share late night reading sessions of The Grave Digger's Handbook. Her love of books ties her to others, including the mayor's wife and Max, the Jew the family hides in the basement.

My own words escape me as I try to recount the beauty of this book in a short review. Rarely have I read a book as moving, as profound, as this one. Narrated by Death, this story is one that crawls under your skin and reverberates your soul with its images of Nazi Germany, friendship, and loss. The images stirred through Death's telling are so vivid, so wonderful, so tragic. Zusak has a masterful command of language and I was astounded by the way his words brought Liesel and her world to life. We follow Liesel over the years as she learns the true meaning of family through her caring new Papa and her friendships with Max and Rudy, the boy next door who idolizes Jesse Owens.

Just a small list of images that will stay with me forever:

+Liesel reading to the neighbors sitting terrified in a basement waiting for the bombs to fall around them
+A snowball fight in a basement
+Mama arriving at school to "yell" at Liesel
+A boy with candlelit hair standing up to a Nazi Youth Leader
+Death gathering up the souls of children softly
+The story of a Word Shaker
+An accordian player accepting a cigarette as payment


There are not enough words within me to express the beauty of this book. It will move you to laughter and tears, often at the same time. This one is a keeper that I will revisit frequently in the future. It has changed my soul. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

The Word Shaker
THE BOOK THIEF is a beautiful and carefully worded story, following four years in the life of young Liesel Meminger, a poor German girl who finds herself separated from her six-year-old brother (who dies) and her mother and father (taken away by the Nazi's for being a communist), and fostered to Rosa and Hans Hubermann.

Arriving at the Hubermann's, nine-years-old and already burdened with great loss, Liesel forges a deep bond with her Papa, Hans - a man with a many-roomed heart - who sits with her at night when her nightmares force her awake with screams. It is during these nights that Hans teaches her to read, and they begin with the first book she ever "stole": The Grave-Diggers Handbook, a book that fell out of the pocket of a fourteen-year-old grave digger who dug the grave for her brother. Like a kitten who finds comfort at the teat of a sow after losing its mother, Liesel begins to find comfort in words.

The story is narrated by no less a personage than Death, although this Death is sans hooded-skull and scythe. Indeed, we learn little more about Death than he is not what we perceive him to be in our Halloween imitations, and very good at his job. Given the setting for this story, we are guaranteed of the chance to evaluate Death's job performance.

Zusak writes with a deft, poetic hand, his descriptions unconventional and mesmerizing. Rosa Hubermann is "a small wardrobe with a coat hung over it". A woman's mouth has teeth that elbow each other for room. A boy: "His tie is a pendulum, long dead in its clock." These images jump from the page and give us a clearer picture of what we're seeing than if Zusak had spent hours describing the tiniest detail of Rosa Hubermann's body.

Along the way, Liesel shares her interest in words, and in no place is that felt more potently than in her relationship with Max Vandenburg, a Jew who her parents hide in their basement. Max arrives nearly dead, and the much younger Liesel finds herself captivated by him. When the cold in the basement pushes Max to the brink of death, they move him to Liesel's room for (I believe) eight days, where Liesel brings him small mementos and reads to him while he fights for life (and once against Death itself!). In turn, Max writes for her - and these books-within-a-book are more touching and meaningful, more full of love and hope while not betraying the slightest hint of over-dramatization, than anything I've come across in years. Indeed, if this story had been only about Liesel's relationship with Max, it would have been an enormous success. It may also have been more widely read - I suspect that the length of the book and the immediacy present in Max's story but not as equally present in other sections, put some people off.

Before I read the book, I looked at the negative reviews (of which there are four). One review commented that the book felt like "work". Reading Hawthorne can be work, too, but I always feel the better for having read him.

Powerful, moving, and remarkable
"A human doesn't have a heart like mine. The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both."

So muses the narrator of Markus Zusak's powerful and moving new novel, THE BOOK THIEF. As you might guess, this is no ordinary narrator. The contemplative first person guiding you through this book is Death, an at-once fitting and ironic vanguard for a tale that both celebrates the power of words and agonizes over the consequences of their use.

Set against the tragedy-stained canvas of World War II, Death tells the story of young Liesel Meminger (the eponymous book thief) growing up in Nazi Germany under the watchful eye of a staunch foster mother and kindly foster father who teaches her to read. She attends meetings of the BDM, a youth group aimed at indoctrinating young girls into Hitler's ideology. She plays soccer with the boys on her street, holding her own in any disputes that arise. And all the while, the dreams of her dead brother haunt and goad her into a fascination with reading and words that inevitably leads to her life of crime.

It is a meeting with Max Vandenburg, a 24-year-old Jewish man being hidden in Liesel's basement by her compassionate foster parents, that alters the course of Liesel's life. Max, too, is haunted by nightmares of a family he lost in the harrowing aftermath of Kristallnacht. Together, Max and Liesel discover a shared love of words that leads to a decisive understanding about the role words play in both bravery and cowardice. Each, in their own way, sets out to use this knowledge to shape the world around them.

While other writers have employed Death as a narrator, Zusak makes his own indelible mark on the technique in the dimensions he gives to the character. Death is simultaneously dispassionate about his work and the impact it can have while striving to understand humanity's resilience. Death boasts an omniscience of what will happen in life but also a naivety about what can happen in the human heart.

In the ultimate expression of his dichotomous theme, Zusak creates a touching love letter to books and writing, framed in arguably the most horrific period in human history. But his greatest triumph is delivering a reminder that no writer enters this world quietly. Writers are born of eruptions and detonations, and the truly exceptional ones, like Zusak, continue to channel these explosive energies to craft a truly remarkable book that will be admired for generations.

--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey [...]

Amazing and Transforming for Any Age
I just finished this book last night and said to myself, "I should really read it again before I try to make comment" but, no, I want to share my reactions as spontaneously as possible.

There are hundreds of books in my house, but there is one bookshelf upstairs in a back bedroom which holds those special books: you know, the ones that have made such a profound impact on who you are and how you see the world that they are put aside in a place of honor. This will be one of those books for me.

This book is for adults, but it is also for teenagers. I think it is doing younger people a dis-service to think they could not relate to this book because the narrative style is challenging, the subject matter is doleful and/or because there are too many pages (oh, for heaven's sake!). Young people who like to read and like to think and like to feel will love this book as much as older folks like me. There is no need to dummy things down or sugarcoat them, especially when there is such a compelling story to be told.

One of the most powerful aspects of the book for me was the number of surprises. The book was not what I thought it would be and I was constantly astonished by:

1. the amazing stories that Max told and were re-created with tender illustrations inserted into the body of the book

2. the treatment of the German people as human beings, rather than "nasty Nazis" a la 1940's Hollywood. Although I like to see a "nasty Nazi" get his comeuppance as much as the next person, I found the lack of stereotypes in this book quite refreshing.

3. the imaginative use of language - it's just plain poetical at times. You get stopped short and have to read bits out loud because they are so darned beautiful and/or original.

4. the character Death, who is our guide and narrator. He has seen a lot in all the thousands of years of his existence, but he has never seen anything like the story of the book thief. And neither have I. And neither will you.

As some other reviewers have recommended, I will be sure to read other titles by this author.

An Old Story Made New Again
How rare the times that we read something entirely new and unique! It has been said that there are no new stories to tell, and I will not argue that. There really are only a few novel plots, although it is in our endless variations that we set ourselves apart as writers and word-artists, perhaps also as readers, in the manner and voice in which we tell the story. This is true for Markus Zusak in his creative storytelling of "The Book Thief."

The story is one of the oldest ones told: the narrator is mankind's friend/nemesis, Death, ancient as Time itself, and the scenes Death (not without compassion and not without wry humor) narrates for us are those of human suffering and endurance, an eventual overcoming of conflicts and obstacles, a story of love pitted against hate, of the victory of the best in all of us over the worst in any of us. Zusak's main characters are a 9-year old girl, Liesel Meminger, her companion and young partner in crime, Rudy, and a Jewish refugee named Max hiding in the basement of the house where she lives, herself something of a refugee in Nazi Germany during WWII. A wide range of secondary characters fill in all gaps and keep us reading with fascination, e.g. Liesel's adoptive family, especially her cruel and ascerbic foster mother, Rosa, who on occasion cracks to show a bit of humanity; the mayor's deeply depressed wife, who quietly allows Liesel to "steal" her books; Liesel's young comrades in thievery, and many more.

It is hard to pinpoint what it is, precisely, that makes Zusak's work so unique. But I knew it, felt it, instantly, page one, first line. Voice, yes. Style. A few experimental approaches in his storytelling, such as illustrations inserted in the novel with all errors present, just as Max wrote the text and drew the pictures for his young friend, Liesel. Death's narration is unique, too, with occasional bolded quotes that give just the right amount of distance. There are many such details that all come together to form a story worth reading, worth hearing, worth understanding. It is the story of Liesel, a spunky little book thief, who does far more than steal good books. Liesel steals hearts. In our smallest, we often find our greatest heroes.

Highly recommended.

Beautiful.
This book is beautiful.

Following on the heels of I AM THE MESSENGER, nominated for best young adult book at the 2006 L.A. Times Book Festival, Markus Zusak's THE BOOK THIEF is an astounding piece of literature. Originally published in Australia as mainstream fiction and arguably not young adult, the novel works surprisingly well both ways. Adults will relish the story's beauty and magnitude, and while the first third of the novel may be a tad too slow for teens, the persistent ones will connect with young Liesel's tragic experiences in Nazi Germany.

Zusak's novel, set in a small town outside Munich during World War II, chronicles the story of Liesel Meminger, a German girl taken into Hans Huberman's household as a foster child. As likeable as she is well-developed, it's amazing to watch a young girl like that remain so strong in the face of human tragedy, impossible hatred, and adolescent love.

The twist is that Death is the one telling Liesel's story. From the very beginning, he wants us to trust him. "I most definitely can be cheerful," he tells us. "I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me." An interesting character, to say the least. But what does Death think about our wars? Our famines? Our day-to-day lives? We may not often think about such things, but he does. It's his job to see the world as it is. Infinite in color. And fear.

John Green, author of the award-winning LOOKING FOR ALASKA, said that this is the novel he wished he'd have written. I must wholeheartedly agree. While the story is painful and lovely, the images are fresh and lasting, the words, poetic and stirring. This story pays tribute to the simple power of words, to their ability to change our minds, destroy our lives, move our souls, recount our memories, and yes, heal our world.

Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

haunting tale
During World War II near Munich, Germany, nine years old Liesel Meminger finds a tome The Gravedigger's Handbook while attending her younger brother's funeral. Unable to resist she takes the book with her. However, she is unable to read the book until fate steps in. Her father is missing and her mother cannot afford her upkeep so she gives Liesel in care to foster parents, acerbic Rosa Hubermann and her kindhearted spouse Hans, who owes a Jew his life.

Hans helps Liesel cope with her nightmares and teaches his ward to read. His chance to pay the war debt to the Jewish soldier who saved his life finally occurs when the man's son, the artist Max, arrives at his house seeking shelter. As Max paints over pages of the Mein Kampf, Leisel steals books from Nazi burnings and begins to write about living at a time of misery caused by fellow humans. If the Nazis catch either one, Death will be a welcome guest.

This is a complex book in which the narrator Death tells the tale of Liesel and Max. Interestingly Death is a cynic when it comes to human behavior especially kindness towards others; the apparition recognizes that his best suppliers of goods are people who in spite of their Golden Rule ramble contain homicidal tendencies rationalized by an ism of some sort. The fascinating asides to the readers are brilliant as they enable the audience to understand the cast he looks upon adding to his collection, but especially Death itself. Give yourself plenty of time, over a week or more, as Markus Zusak has written one of the most haunting tales of the human condition in several years.

Harriet Klausner
... Read more

Editorial Review

Three children whirl back in time through an enchanted potter’s wheel into the reality of evacuation in 1940s Britain . . . Whirl of the Wheel pulls feisty Connie, her brother Charlie-Mouse, and school pest Malcolm into dangers on the homefront and towards a military operations secret that will save their home. The children hit trouble when Malcolm fails to return to the present day. This fast-moving adventure will keep you guessing . . .

Age group: 8+ ... Read more

Reviews

Imaginative and Thoughtful
This time travel tale takes three youngsters back to World War II Britain in a fast moving adventure through time via the motion of a potter's wheel. About to lose their beloved home, Connie and her brother Charlie-Mouse, inadvertently accompanied by their least favorite person, Malcolm, face danger trying to prevent the historic dwelling from being destroyed and find themselves in search of a military secret that could prevent the disaster. Particularly well done are the letters to a mother in war-time London from a daughter separated from her parents, and the strong character of viewpoint Connie, who gets around most of the time in a wheelchair, (treated without sentiment) making a most admirable young heroine. Likable characters, strong sense of place, a well plotted novel that makes a fun and thoughtful read.

An enchanting tale well told
Catherine Condie's tale of three young people and their time travel adventure from the rural vicar's house at Claybridge, England back in time to World War II and back again using a local potter's wheel as entry point to the past. It's all to save their house from being torn down by a greedy speculator who wants to turn the property into a housing development. But Connie and her brother Charlie Mouse and an accidental traveler who adds a bit of mystery to this enchanting adventure. Very well-written.

An enchanting tale well told
Catherine Condie's tale of three young people and their time travel adventure from the rural vicar's house at Claybridge, England back in time to World War II and back again using a local potter's wheel as entry point to the past. It's all to save their house from being torn down by a greedy speculator who wants to turn the property into a housing development. But Connie and her brother Charlie Mouse and an accidental traveler who adds a bit of mystery to this enchanting adventure. Very well-written. ... Read more

Editorial Review

THIS JUST IN! Amy and Dan Cahill were spotted on a train, hot on the trail of one of 39 Clues hidden around the world. BUT WAIT! Police report a break-in at an elite hotel, and the suspects ALSO sound suspiciously like Amy and Dan. UPDATE! Amy and Dan have been seen in a car . . . no, in a speedboat chase . . . and HOLD EVERYTHING! They're being chased by an angry mob?!?

When there's a Clue on the line, anything can happen.

... Read more

Reviews

11 yr old son loved - loved - loved this book
First let me tell you that my son for the most part hates reading. Getting him to read was comparable to getting him to brush his teeth (11 yr old boy, need I say more). He is dyslexic therefore his reading avoidance is somewhat understandable. He loved this book. In fact, once he started reading, he was reluctant to stop. He really didn't get into the website, although he likes games; however, he did enjoy the plot and enjoys writings by Rick Riordan.

My 10 year old loves 39 Clues
After finishing the Harry Potter series my son and I didn't know what to read next. We got the first 39 clues and my son just loved it. It's not the writing and plot quality of HP but just enough suspense and mystery for a 10 year old boy!

service was excellent
The product was on time and arrived in the condition that was stated in the ad. Very pleased. ... Read more

Editorial Review

ATTENTION! Amy and Dan Cahill have been located once again, this time in the company of the notoriously unreliable Alistair Oh. Could they have been foolish enough to make an alliance?

Spies report that Amy and Dan seem to be tracking the life of one of the most powerful fighters the world has ever known. If this fearsome warrior was a Cahill, his secrets are sure to be well-guarded . . . and the price to uncover them just might be lethal.

... Read more

Reviews

Best in the series so far!
I love every book in the "39 Clues" series, but this is THE BEST! It's a cool story and funny too. I couldn't put it down and read it in one day. Now my friends are taking turns reading it. I am 12 and love spy books - I am going to look for more books by Peter Lerangis.

Combine with the audiobook for a good read-along with your kid
I don't have time to read the actual text like my 8 year old. However, I am able to buy the audiobook and read along with him since they come unabridged. It is very interesting how the authors tell the story using modern references while still teaching the reader about History. Having the same narrator throughout the series is the best part.

The first two audio books offered short glimpses into Grace Cahill's early life before the hunt; each audio book has information not available in the regular book.

Either product comes with the same trading cards. I didn't bother to purchase the card packs but the ones inside offer some more puzzles for enhanced story details. Very good series.

Chock Full of Mystery, Action, Reversals of Fortune, and Clues
If you just discovered this book because it's a best seller, you owe it to yourself to go back and read the first two books in the 39 Clues series, The Maze of Bones and One False Note, before starting this one so you'll know the background to this story and the contest to be the first to find all 39 clues.

Peter Lerangis takes the story in some new directions by changing the nature of cooperation among the various Cahills as they search for more clues. I found that adjusting the behaviors and attitudes added depth to the story so that it seemed more real.

As the book opens, Amy, Dan, their au pair Nellie, and their cat, Saladin, are racing to catch a plane to Japan. Amy and Dan are fighting over whether the swords that Dan packed in the luggage will survive security. When the youngsters are pulled out of line at the last minute, Amy and Dan fear the worst. But something even worse is about to happen!

And all this occurs by page 11.

More complications quickly ensue and Amy and Dan continue their trip while worrying that Nellie and Saladin may be in danger. Along the way, they get some unexpected help from another Cahill relative whom they have grown to distrust based on his habit of disappearing just as their lives are about to be snuffed out. While with this relative, they learn a lot about another part of the family line that connects into Japan.

The search for the next clue takes them into two very dangerous places where any number of things can (and will) go wrong.

The second great strength of this story is that it has lots of action, and reversals occur very quickly and completely . . . at the most opportune moments.

I find myself looking forward to each new book with increased interest. There's a pattern here, but it's a pleasant one. Dan acts like a jerk, but his remarkable memory helps turn up clues and their meanings when setbacks occur. Amy keeps a level head and helps avoid silly mistakes. The other relatives jump in and out of the story to display their character flaws.

I keep thinking of the Amazing Race as I read one of these books, but it's clear that the search for the 39 clues is ever so much more exciting than that often-predictable story of waiting in airports and sitting on long plane flights before making a brief dash for the next clue on the Amazing Race.

This story also leaves more mysteries up in the air than it resolves. As a result, I found myself more intrigued at the end than in the beginning. That's a well-planned plot!

Enjoy the dash for the third clue!!

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Amy and Dan have been waylaid at the airport en route to Japan. Instead of boarding the plane, they're taken to a room for a random search.

Meanwhile, Natalie and Ian Kabra board the plane in their place. Nellie, their au pair, has already boarded. Unsure of the next step, Amy and Dan leave the airport and find a car waiting for them. Uncle Alistair wants to work with them again, but can they trust him?

Together they head to Japan using Uncle Alistair's private jet. When they arrive in Japan, they meet up with Nellie and the Kabras. In order to find the clues, Amy and Dan know they have to compromise and make alliances, but they do not know who to trust.

Are their lives once again in danger while searching for the next clue?

THE SWORD THIEF is the third book in THE 39 CLUES series (each written by a different author - so far). I'm addicted to this series, and while a different person pens each book, they each contain so much action that it's almost impossible to differentiate between the writers.

This series has a fabulous online component, too, that you must check out if you haven't yet.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Best Books Ever!
My 10 year old son has a hard time finding books that capture his attention. He LOVED these books!!! He will sit for an hour and read...then go log on the website to plug in his clues. Highly recommended them! He can't wait until the next one comes out!

A great book from a series that has captured the imagination of the Tween Market.
This is the third in a series of adventures. The books are a combination of Indiana Jones, Around the World in 80 Days, Limmony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, and a good Agatha Christie style mystery.
The books follow the adventures of a brother & sister as they attempt to win a challenge laid down by the only loving relative they ever knew after the death of their parents.

My 9 year daughter, who is an avid reader, loves the series and we are already awaiting the next book in June with great anticipation. I would say the age range would run from 9 - 13 or so, & like the Harry Potter stories, each book leaves the reader looking for the next adventure.

a great series"!
My daughter finished this book in one sitting and can't wait for the next one in the series.

Thumbs up
The book arrived in a timely manner packaged securely. The story itself is a little slower paced than the first two and has more description of physical surroundings. Still, the adventure continues following Amy and Dan, and the next twist in their search for the family treasure. Exciting read. ... Read more

Editorial Review

"The Jesus Storybook Bible" tells the story beneath all the stories in the Bible. At the center of the story is a baby, the child upon whom everything will depend. Every story whispers his name. From Noah to Moses to the great King David - every story points to him. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle - the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the story unfolds, children will pick up the clues and piece together the puzzle. A Bible like no other, "The Jesus Storybook Bible" invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures, to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God's great story of salvation - and at the center of their story too. ... Read more

Reviews

Your Family Needs This!, July 11, 2007
I love every aspect of this Bible. The illustrations by Jago are both charming and intriguing. There are about fifty stories, a good balance. The text itself is exactly what I want my children to hear, theologically. I love this line from the very first chapter. "The Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done." AMEN.

The subtitle is "Every Story Whispers His Name" and indeed, every story does. "No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story... You see, the best thing about this Story is -- it's true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them."

She goes on to say that the center of the story is a baby who is like the missing piece to a puzzle that makes all the other pieces fit together, and to reveal the beautiful picture. She stays true to this aim, pointing to Christ with every story, helping children to see the whispers of redemption through it all. If you buy just one Children's Story Bible, I'd commend this one to you.

Brilliant idea - let down by the drawings and some inaccuracies, December 23, 2007
As I pastor I've just finished preaching an overview of the bible - I'm passionate about gettting people to see the big picture. So I was really excited to see this for children. The idea is superb, the tying every story to Jesus is magnificent. Our 4 year old daughter has started seeing the connections already. And that excites me. I love how it fits every story in with the plot-line of the bible.

However I have a couple of caveats.

Since children get so much from imagery I was really disappointed with the artwork. The quality is great, but the content very poor, and underscores misconceptions of the bible, actually making the bible look less believable. Noah's ark is shown balancing precariously on the pinnacle of the mountain, as well as being that silly shape that it is often drawn - nothing like the proportions given in the bible. Jericho is a five house town - not much of a conquest there. Goliath is make to look like a gruesome ogre of fairytale proportions. The people of Israel coming to the Red Sea look like a small Sunday school outing rather than 1.5 million people making the exodus. I could go on. For me, the pictures undermine the very thing the words are seeking to do - they push the stories into the realm of fairy tales.

(A far better set of illustrations are by Gail Schoonmaker in the The Big Picture Story Bible written by David Helm.)

The other caveat is that sometimes Lloyd-Jones is a little loose to the story, making up things that aren't in the passage. For example - Jesus being bathed in a golden light at his baptism, there being three wise men, Jesus winking at the boy who brought the 5 loaves and saying "watch this" and others. It's little things like she says Jacob had to wait 7 years to marry Rachel instead of just a week, like God creating by saying "Hello Light", like using "Papa" for Father - a word which doesn't carry the same connotations as Abba. Like the feeding of the '5000 people', rather than 5000 men, plus a lot more women and children. Like Jesus playing games with children. Like Zacchaeus being so small that he had to take a flying leap to get up into his chair for breakfast.

In one sense they're small things, and it is in the style of other children's books. And therein lies the problem - the bible isn't another children's book. It's true in every detail - so when it comes to a Children's version of the Bible, it should be true in every detail. We owe that to our kids.

I'd prefer not to have to edit the story as I tell it. Growing up, we had the Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos read to us. Time and time again when we thought she was stretching the text, when we looked up our bibles we found she was exactly right. Since we read it so many times, a vast quantity of accurate bible knowledge was imbibed. That's what I look for in a children's bible.

Having said all that - the links to Jesus often make you stop and praise God for Jesus. We've read it following on from the aforementioned Big Picture Story Bible - which I would heartily recommend. And that's probably the best way - read it along with other children's bibles and correct it as you go.

Looking forward to the revised edition of this potentially tremendous asset.

Amazing, March 1, 2007
This is the Bible storybook I have always hoped would be written, though I didn't realize it until I read it. I LOVE THIS BOOK! And so do my 8 year old, my 6 year old, my 5 year old, and my 3 year old.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing this. My favorite line so far: The Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done. Amen. Our children are capable of hearing this and this book tells it to them in a way they can certainly understand.

Hard To Get Better Than This, March 9, 2007
In Sally Lloyd-Jones' unique, kid-friendly style, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells 43 Bible stories from the book of Genesis through Revelation. But this book is more than a mere collection of Bible stories. Each story in some way relates to Jesus and who he is, giving children the big picture of what God is all about.

What I Like: Sally Lloyd-Jones has a unique gift for writing for children. Her sense of humor is spinkled throughout - and does not detract from the importance of the Bible's message. I also appreciate the author's clear understanding that parents must help children understand that Bible stories are different from fairy tales. As she says: "You see, the best thing about this story is--it's true. It takes the whole Bible to tell this story. And at the center of the story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle--the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture." The illustrations by award-winning artist Jago are also engaging, colorful, and often look beyond the obvious.


What I Dislike: Nothing.


Overall Rating: Excellent.


Age Appeal: 4 - 8.

Kristina, Editor at "Christian Children's Book Review"

The Gold Standard for Children's Bibles, May 8, 2007
Sally Lloyd Jones' version of the the Bible is the one I wish I'd had when my own children were growing up. It has it all, including action, drama, pathos, humor, poetic language AND an awareness of how the Old Testament prefigures the New, leading us to Jesus and his message of hope and redemption. I love it, read it myself for comfort and encouragement, and am truly grateful that I found it in time to read to my grandchildren.

This is the children's Bible I've been waiting 30 years for!, March 1, 2007
For the last 30 years, when I've read Bible storybooks to my own children or others, and now my grandchildren, I've winced, usually at the moralistic finger-wagging tone. I kept thinking I'd write one someday, but now I don't have to! This is it - a captivating story that truly does point to Jesus on every page. My six-year-old grandson loves this Bible. I'm spreading the news to anyone I know who has, or who works with, young children. And I'll especially promote it with women who are just coming to faith themselves, because as they read this to their children, it will whet their appetites to open the Scriptures for themselves.

The BEST children's Bible, February 16, 2007
I am a Sunday School teacher, and the father of a beautiful 4 year old girl. We have probably ten children's Bibles around the house, and all of them have something special about them...
But this is simply the BEST children's Bible I have ever seen (my little girl loves it too.)
Every story is wonderfully told with a heartwarming sense of humor. The illustrations are truly cute (without crossing the line into sugar-coated.)
Best of all is that every story (from the Old and New Testaments) refer in some way to the Lord Jesus, and show how the story fits in with Him... whether it be a shadow of His future coming or directly referencing bloodlines, etc. IE that king David was a good shepherd, but later would come a greater shepherd to save the whole world.
Just can't rave about this children's Bible enough!
I'll be buying one for every child in my Sunday School class... and nieces and nephews... and neighbor children... a few in the car just in case...
Jesus IS Lord!!!! <><

At Last!, February 22, 2007
Finally someone has gotten it right -- a book for children that presents the bible as a wonderful love letter from God, filled with grace rather than "be good/do good so God will love you" stories. You'll want to buy 4 or 5 copies to give away once you've read it, and when you start reading it, you'll be hard pressed to put it down, for every story truly does "whisper His name." It reads like an adventure book, or a mystery really. The artwork is phenomenal and totally engaging. The author has a knack with humor that children and adults alike will love. I'm giving it to my adult friends as well as children! Thank you Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago!

Theology suited for the younger set, December 17, 2007
I really like this book. My daughters, ages 5 and 7, enjoyed reading it, and I love the way it shows how the Old Testament points toward Jesus. In fact, there were a few "a-ha! I get it!" moments from ME, as well...you know a kids book is good when an adult can get something out of it as well!

I also liked that the illustrations are charming without being cutesy. Too many kids' Bible storybooks have really cheesy art.

A must have for any serious Christian, April 19, 2007
As a father I am so pleased that a childrens Bible story book has been written that for the most part is dead on accurate. My kids enjoy the book and I enjoy sharing the time with them. As a follower of Christ, I cannot tell you how much I enjoy reading this book because its every page drips with the gospel. The author in every story brings you back to the central message of the Bible as a whole which is Jesus Christ. Buy it!!! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Tessa Gray descends into Victorian London's dark underworld to search for her missing brother, with the mysterious Shadowhunters as her only allies. ... Read more

Reviews

Another strong beginning, August 31, 2010
When Tessa Gray arrives in London on a ship from New York, she's eager to see her brother, Nate. But before she can find him, she's intercepted by two women, known as the Dark Sisters, who kidnap her and force her to learn how to use the strange magical powers she never knew she had, all the while promising her that she is lucky, and she will soon meet the sinister Magister. Terrified and confused, Tessa is rescued by two young Shadowhunters, Will and Jem, and is taken to the London Institute, where she learns that her powers are just the beginning of a strange, magical world she never knew existed, full of wonder, but also full of hate, prejudice, and danger...and Tessa is in the center of it.

Clockwork Angel, the first in Cassandra Clare's new Infernal Devices trilogy, is a descriptive and elaborate book and a strong start to what is sure to be another knock-out trilogy. It takes about thirty pages or so before the book, which is set in the Victorian era, to reach familiar ground readers might be looking for, but once it does, the book unfolds quickly and smoothly. The times dictate that the mannerisms are a bit more refined in the characters, but Clare manages to sneak in plenty of humor and fun alongside the darker and riskier action scenes. There are a plethora of excellent new characters readers are introduced to, and each one is very realistic, and many have their secrets and mysteries--for Tessa, it is her heritage, and Will and Jem both have hazy backgrounds that are bound to become bigger issues later on.

One conflict that Clare portrays quite well was the struggle for the women Shadowhunters to be proper young ladies and women that society demands while balancing the Shadowhunters' need for strong fighters. Two characters, Jessamine and Charlotte, while on opposite ends of the controversy, both have to deal with it in their own way, and it's an issue that sets Clockwork Angel apart from Clare's previous work while at the same time making the setting more believable.

The idea of a clockwork army is brilliant, and the forethought and plotting that went into the book is impressive. There are plenty of intriguing mysteries and labyrinthine twists toward the end that will leave the reader far from where they were at the beginning of the book. Clare's talent for writing well-developed and entertaining characters and her fearlessness when it comes to creating dramatic, complicated conclusions to her books will garner Clockwork Angel plenty of attention and will leave readers impatient for the sequel.

Pretty damn good., September 1, 2010
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare is an really good read.I stayed up until 2 am on the day I bought it because I was totally sucked in. The setting of Victorian London is really atmospheric and well written, for anyone who loved the mortal instruments but doesnt read books set in this era, dont worry. It's really great.

In regards to the characters in this book, I was both dissappointed and relieved. They are all VERY similar to those in the mortal instruments trilogy. Will is Jace with brown hair, Jem is kind of a straight Alec and Jessamine is isabel, and then there is Nate who is basically sebastian but without demon blood. I actally liked Tessa more than I did Clary, she was really likeable and felt more real to me. I am glad in some ways that the author stuck to a formula of characters that definately worked for her with mortal instruments, but also I just felt a little cheated. I loved the mortal insturments characters so much I dont have much love left over for characters that are so damn similar.

The clockwork monsters we're really quite scary, certainly far more frightening than their creator and master who I was really disappointed in. Magnus Bane is as always totally fabulous and I really love the witty banter between the two main characters. Tessa's humour is dry and clever, very funny. There is a joke in there about a seven fingered dwarf named Nigel that cracked me up like there is no tomorrow.

All in all I would absolutely, one-hundred-percent recommend this book to people who enjoyed the mortal instruments trilogy or the fantasy YA genre, for me it just wasnt as good as the earlier books, though to be fair, that is an exceedingly tall order.

Why write a new book if you can't create new characters, September 13, 2010
I liked this author's previous books. She did take some risks with her story line but overall Mortal Instruments were quite creative and interesting to read. I was looking forward to this book since I was under the impression that there will be no more Mortal Instrument follow-up focusing on the original characters. Apparently that decision is changed and she will continue with two more books. In general if the author was not planning to write more books in a series and changes his/her mind after, those books do not turn out very well organized but we shall see what happens. When it comes to this book: the good side is, it is well written and again interesting to read. But at the end, it was Clary and Jace`s story taking place at a different time/location with different names. Their personalities are the same, their conversations are the same... I am disappointed because of the lack of character creativity but the story was interesting. That's why I am giving this book 2 stars... Wait for the paperback and don't waste your money. If you get too desperate, open one of the previous books and read any chapter and imagine it takes place in old London...

The same mistakes made, yet again., October 16, 2010
The following review has some spoilers.

Sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray moves to London after the death of her Aunt so that she may live with her brother, Nathaniel. Problem is, when she gets to London she isn't greeted by Nathaniel but is instead picked up by two women who call themselves the Dark Sisters. They force her to uncover her shape-shifting power, but soon after she is rescued by William Herondale, a Shadowhunter. She then learns of the world of the Nephilim and of Downworlders and her new place in it. This is all somehow tied to the disappearance of her brother, whom Tessa is now determined to rescue from whatever danger he may have been thrown in to.

First, and foremost, it must be said that Tessa and Will are basically Clary and Jace with different names and different clothes. Tessa is just as boring and obnoxious as Clary is and Will is just as much of an irritating jerk as Jace is in all the same ways that Jace is- actually, scratch that, he's much worse than Jace is. There is nothing, nothing whatsoever that makes me feel like there's any difference between Jace and Will specifically. You could take lines from one, give it to the other, and I would not be able to tell you that those lines did not belong to that character. *They are exactly the same.* You know what particularly sucks about that? I hated Jace in City of Bones, so naturally I've hated Will the entire time that I read Clockwork Angel. If I was at least re-reading a good and entertaining character, I may have been able to forgive Cassandra Claire, but alas, I cannot.

Secondly, yet again, Claire has managed to write pages and pages of filler nonsense that made this book way bigger than it needed to be in order to tell the full story. There were several instances in which I wondered why I should care that Charlotte had a hard time getting two carriages instead of just one from the Institute. What use is this kind of information in forwarding the plot? Why is almost half a page dedicated to this nonsense? Why do several pages of this book have this very same problem? If I had a red pen, I could've crossed out paragraphs of information and none of the story would have been lost.

I have to go back to the issue of Claire's characters though. While I will not say that Jessamine is an exact copy of Isabel, I will say that she's the same formula for a character. Jessamine has issues with being a Shadowhunter, while Isabel is comfortable with her life as one, but aside from this they serve the same purpose: they're hot chicks with superficial personalities that exist to show you that even though Tessa (Clary) isn't a drop-dead gorgeous babe, she is still way better than Jessamine and thus more desirable for male leads such as Will. She had interesting moments here and there, but in the end, she turned out to be pretty disappointing. I don't enjoy books where the other girls that are around the same age as the protagonist are written off as bitches, I prefer it when the protagonist makes genuine relationships with other girls, because that's something I can relate to, and even if I couldn't, that's still something I would *want* to relate to.

Speaking of relationships, you know what really annoys me? I'm supposed to have this understanding throughout the book that Will and Tessa are falling for each other, yet there's nothing in the books that makes me feel like their should be a reason for their feelings. Why does Tessa feel anything for a guy that flips moods with her from one day to another, or a guy that has a sarcastic reply to anything and everything, or a guy that is outright snobbish and rude no matter who he's talking to or what he's talking about?

"Will cared for her, she was sure of it. Yes, he had been rude to her almost since he had met her, but then, that happened in novels all the time." (p. 454)

I agree, Tessa, and I am deeply sick of it. The above quote is followed by a comparison to Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship, and how he had been rude to her before he proposed. The difference here is that Darcy doesn't try to be an ass on purpose, and once he realizes he's been an ass, he tries to change his asshaterriness. Will is an ass entirely on purpose. The entire time, to everyone, and although part of the ending shows us he's got this sweet, chocolate center to him, he *still* likes to put on the image of being a complete ass afterwards. It is not romantic, it is not sweet, it isn't heartbreaking to think that he's got ~deep secrets~ and an oh-so haunting past. I don't care what his excuse for his behavior turns out to be (because it's obvious Claire is setting us up for a moment of "Oh so that explains why he was always so mean! Well I can totally forgive him now!") the stuff he says and does is just too much. The description of this book says, "Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length... everyone, that is, but Tessa." Um.. Last I checked, he kept her away as well, except that she wouldn't stop badgering him with inappropriately personal questions because she found him so damn physically attractive and alluring. They share nothing throughout the book, not even their enjoyment of literature, because you can't really enjoy literature with someone if they spend half their time trying not to show you how much they enjoy literature. They're rude to each other, and Will especially said some horrible things throughout this book. If anything, they should be enemies by now. I just don't understand why YA has developed this trend in which the male leads are complete jerks and the girls just *can't* stay away from them. Give me Harry Potters, Ron Weasleys, Peeta Mellarks, Seths (from Wicked Lovely) but please, for the love of God, don't give me any more William Herondales. Guys like him suck.

Moving on.

Name-dropping classic book titles does not warm me up to your characters. No matter how many times you do it. It does not give them personalities to have them quote A Tale of Two Cities, so stop it. Please find better ways of developing personalities.

The dialogue. Oh God the dialogue! In this book and in her first book all of her dialogue was awkward and contrived. You could start a new scene, and it would be as though nothing happened while you, the reader, were gone because the dialogue would soon give you an unnatural summary of recent events. Nothing felt natural, no one said things that I felt someone in real life would naturally say. People still kept setting each other up for one-liners. Awkward statements were made with no indication that the author had made it awkward on purpose. Everyone always feels the need to stop in the middle of an action scene, or a suspenseful scene, and say something witty. Example:

"She's dead," said Jem.
"Are you certain?" Will could not take his eyes off the woman's face. She was pale, but
not with a corpse's pallor, and her hands lay folded in her lap, the fingers softly curved,
not stiff with the rigor of death. He moved closer to her and placed a hand on her arm. It
was rigid and cold beneath his fingers. "Well, she's not responding to my advances," he
observed more brightly than he felt, "so she must be dead."
"Or she's a woman of good taste and sense." (p. 130)

Yeah, so you find what you think to be a dead body, so what's the natural reaction to that? Why, talking about women's tastes in relation to your good looks, of course! What other reaction *could* there be to a dead body?

People also often tell me that they enjoy Claire's world-building, but I have to disagree, because her dialogue is another reason why I can't feel like she builds her world well at all. Prepare for a bit of more nitpicking. Example:

Will leaned back against the wall. "Did that order of misericord blades come in,
Thomas? I've been running into a certain amount of Shax demons lately, and I need
something narrow that can pierce armored carapaces."

Will is asking Thomas, a man who presumably has trained and lived with them for a long time, about misericord as though Thomas would not naturally understand why he would need them. Normal dialogue between people doesn't require explanations like this. If he were explaining to a curious Tessa, then that might work, but that wasn`t what he was doing. If he said, "Did that order of misericord come in Thomas?" and Thomas said, "No, it did not- why did you order those anyway?" then Will could say, "I've been running into a certain amount of Shax demons lately." Thomas should, having lived in their world for a while now, understand what a Shax demon is and therefore require no further explanation about armored carapaces. A chef would not say to another chef, "Did the order of large kitchen knives come in yet? I've had large pieces of meat to work with lately and I need something that can cut through all that thick meat and bone." It is unnecessary because people who know each other and live in the same environment don't need to go through these extra explanations, unless someone asks. There should be a mutual understanding as there would be in real life. This is why I can't be like, "Oh this is great world-building!" because at the time I'm thinking, "People don't talk like that!" And perhaps if this had only been one instance of awkward dialogue I might've been able to forgive Claire, but it isn't. I'm not, however, going to bore you by bringing up examples of all the other instances in which dialogue is just wrong, because that would take forever and probably wouldn't be much fun for me.

Then there's the issue of Shadowhunters and the villains. The Shadowhunters, as usual, have too many runes that easily allow them to deal with problems throughout their missions. Example:

They seemed to thread with the pattern of his veins, as if his blood ran through the Marks, too. "For swiftness, night vision, angelic power, to heal quickly," he read out loud. (p. 105)

Newsflash, Claire, if your heroes have an unnecessary amount of helpful tools on their side, then it makes it very hard for me to believe that they're ever really in danger. Also, it's hard to believe that old, "powerful" vampires like de Quincey are much of a threat if a seventeen year-old Shadowhunter can put up a decent fight. As for your other villain, why is it that I so easily guessed he was going to disappear at the last minute? How did I know he was going to make an easy escape? Was it because you did just about the exact same thing in City of Bones?

Finally, I dislike books that are so very obviously trying to set up a sequel. It's bad enough that I think this novel was filled with paragraphs and paragraphs of pointless information, it only makes it worse to leave so many questions unanswered. Not that I'm dying to know the answers now, I just think it's bad form. If she had let this book stand on its own, maybe, just *maybe* I would have liked it a bit more, but unfortunately, that's not what happened.

Meh., September 9, 2010
First, I'd like to say that this is not a bad story. Overall, this book kept me turning the pages. But I was disappointed in three things:
1. Flat characters, almost all around. For instance, who's Charlotte? What's her history in a nutshell...in other words, why should we think of her as more than a school-marmish annoyance? Henry annoyed the crap out of me. He seemed little more than a bumbling automaton himself. Why does Charlotte, and the Clave in general, put up with such an apparently inept blockhead (and not endearingly so)? Tessa was all but completely cardboard. I saw very little redeeming characteristics, she was annoying, you never learn enough about her as a person to relate to her. She's uppity, shallow, and petulantly childish. Why on earth would Jem and Will care about her one way or the other?
Speaking of which, Jem is the only guy out of the two main male interests with any kind of character. He's good, kind, genuinely concerned, and honest. Will is just...well, mean. He pouts, throws tantrums, preens, and constantly talks up what a "bad boy" he is. I guess some girls are drawn to that, but in order for me to go along with a female character's infatuation with a guy, he's got to be genuine and good underneath. In other words, it takes more than good looks and repeated hints that there's "more to Will than meets the eye" for me to feel anything other than uncomfortable with him. And the hints need to be resolved at some point. There was too little of Will's story revealed in this book. I know there's a sequel coming, but seriously...give us SOMEthing. I know sexy/tortured/brooding is in, but we need to know WHY he is the way he is in order to understand and appreciate him, let alone care about what happens to him and whether or not he gets the girl.
2. There are waaaay too many odd details pointed out for no apparent reason. For instance, why are we made to note the green jewel/necklace that Jem is wearing? It apparently meant nothing. What's the story of Tessa's angel necklace? What is it, exactly? Where did it come from? What's the deal with the apparently special globe owned by the two evil sisters in the beginning that they never let Tessa see? Is there a reason the grey cat with the green eyes is given such focus near the end? I kept thinking it would be special or relevant somehow since such pains are taken to save it when the Institute is obviously in peril and there's not a moment to lose. But no, it's apparently just your typical animal rescue. These types of things are all over the book and I was constantly thinking "okay, that's going to mean something down the road" and then....it never did.
3. Overkill on the ambiguously good/bad theme. Too many characters were made out to be good and turned out bad. Or made themselves out to be bad when we're supposed to believe they're actually good (Will, various vampires). Jessamine...what the heck? Good? Bad? Accepting of her Nephilim identity or not? She defies it throughout the book, but uses it with a vengeance in the end. We need to be able to trust SOMEbody! After so many twists, you're just going to get nauseated.

Admittedly, this is my first book by Cassandra Clare and there was great potential for a good story here. As I mentioned before, it was a page-turner for me overall and I read it in a day and a half. But I got to the end and just shrugged.

Quick & light but too similar to her other books, 2.5 stars, October 28, 2010
In Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, Book 1), Tessa Gray comes to London to meet her brother after a ticket is sent to her in America. When her brother doesn't appear and two women called the Dark Sisters abduct her instead, Tessa finds herself drawn into the city's magical underworld for the misuse of powers she never knew she had. Later freed by the Shadowhunters, including the caustic and beautiful Will, Tessa begins to learn her place in their world as she continues her search for her brother. All the while, the Shadowhunters must fight increasingly dangerous and suspicious enemies, including ones that still want Tessa for themselves.

Like in her City of Bones (Mortal Instruments) (MI) series, Clare has created an easy, quick, and sometimes entertaining read in CLOCKWORK ANGEL. Tessa was a likable protagonist, who's battling between Victorian norms and her own wishes to be more outspoken. Secondary characters, like Sophie, Thomas, and Charlotte, were interesting and sometimes more complex than the main characters. Favorite characters from MI appeared, including Magnus Bane, and readers get to learn their history. Some interesting plot twists emerged as things picked up near the end. This novel also contained the tightest, least flowery language I've ever read by the author.

The main downfall of the book, however, was that it felt entirely too similar to her previous books. The set-up is nearly the same: three young Shadowhunters at an Institute and a new girl - a girl who is quiet and na�ve and something she never knew - now thrust into a world she didn't know existed. A main villain emerges and his nefarious plan will undoubtedly span across the trilogy. There's even a question of unclear parentage among one of the characters. Characters from MI are interchangeable with these new ones, with Will obviously a stand-in for Jace and Tessa so like Clary. Instead of Jem (the other young, male Shadowhunter ) being too much like Alec or Simon from MI, the relationship between Will and Jem was uncannily similar to the Ryves brothers in Rees Brennan's The Demon's Lexicon trilogy. Pacing lagged significantly for the first 300 pages, and repetitive language patterns emerged that one can recognize from her other books. The steampunk elements felt unnecessary and underdeveloped, and there were contradictions in this mythology. Many plot points were left unexplained, and a cliffhanger ending results. Even with this cliffhanger, a sense of predictability looms regarding certain relationships and events. The sense of setting and time also failed, in that I never felt the characters were truly in Victorian England based on their interactions and language.

Though I found CLOCKWORK ANGEL to be unoriginal and predictable, I'm sure that many fans of Clare and the MI series will love it nonetheless. In the coming two books, I hope Clare brings more originality to her characterization and plot and a better sense of time and place to make for a more enjoyable read.

Twists so predictible your eyes may roll out of your head, October 19, 2010
Clockwork Angel is not a terrible book. The writing is clean and moves quickly. The characters are well fleshed out and aside from being severely emo, are believable enough. The plot is better than it has to be, though it is largely a collection of recycled tropes from other, better, supernatural tweener fiction.

Cassandra Clare is an adequate writer, though at times she does tend to reach deep into the thesaurus to produce inexplicably obscure word choices (On the second page of chapter 1, a girl's room is described as having "... and porcelain jug for her ablutions" Really? "Ablutions" instead of "baths"?).

Word choices aside, the book crisply advances through the now-familiar narrative of surprisingly-chaste-fish-out-of-water-girl who falls for emotionally-unavailable-but-quite-studly-supernatural-boy. There are some ancillary characters as well, each with their own unrequited love interest. There does not seem to be any couple in this book who share a reciprocal love interest, unless you count the one crossover character who is apparently not-quite-gay-yet in this series.

As for the action of the storyline, the less said the better. The main character has a power, but she very rarely uses it and its advantages and limitations are not very well explained at any rate. Enemies bring up some pretty legitimate and compelling arguments on racism, but the book does not explore these at all.

Then there are "twists" in this book. If you are paying even the slightest bit of attention you will see them coming less than a quarter of the way through the book. What follows after that is another 300 pages of inevitability very much akin to the sensation you get when you watch a blonde co-ed stumble off into the woods with her drunken boyfriend in a slasher movie. You just want to reach into the pages and slap the main characters, and you really wonder how they survived in such a dangerous world this long.


But for all that, it's a light read of popcorn romance that will keep you entertained on a short flight or a day at the beach. Total read time is in the 4 to 5 hour range (473 pages with a generous font size).

Nothing new or exciting., October 16, 2010
It almost feels as though Cassandra Clare re-wrote her first book and sold it to us as a brand new story. The characters, William and Tessa especially, resemble characters from City of Bones too closely to be able to really tell them apart. These characters aren't even good characters to begin with. Tessa is boring, and Will- well, Will makes it really difficult to enjoy the book at all. He's mean beyond mean, and I know Clare wants us to think he's doing it all for a good reason, but I'm just not buying it.

Clare's writing also hasn't managed to improve at all since her first book. Actually, she has less similes, but that doesn't make it all that much better. She needs to go back and edit a lot of unnecessary information out and fix sentences that are too awkwardly worded.

After trudging through nearly 500 pages of this novel, I am left neither curious nor satisfied, just simply tired. I would not recommend this book to anyone, it just isn't worth the time spent on it.

Disappointing, September 10, 2010
I had been looking forward to reading the prequel to The Mortal Instruments, especially hearing that there were steampunk elements in it, but there wasn't much. I was even more excited after watching the video interview with the author on Amazon speaking about how she had done so much research on the Victorian period for this book. She mentions how much more formal people were then, but these characters did not seem authentic to the time period. Having a character say "Oh dear" or call someone "poppet" now and again just doesn't cut it. Several characters also seem identical to characters in The Mortal Instruments series: Will is Jace, Tessa is Clary, Jessamine is Isabel. I kept reading hoping that I would get hooked sooner or later, but it just didn't happen and I was relieved when I was done with the book... even though nothing is really answered and is left open so you'll have to buy the next volume. I was put off that the steampunk and Victorian aspects of this book that would make it different really weren't there. Instead I trudged through a less-engaging version of The Mortal Instruments where the ordinary-but-not-so-ordinary girl falls in love with a guy who is constantly sarcastic, rude, and cocky, yet has moments of violent passion and then turns the girl away.

Not bad, but I wanted it to stand on its own more, September 29, 2010
Even though I'm not as devoted as many other Cassandra Clare/Mortal Instruments fans out there, I still had to check out the first book in Clare's prequel series, Clockwork Angel. While I did read and enjoy The Mortal Instruments, I could take it or leave it. In fact, I was a little worried when I heard about the prequel series, because I wasn't sure there would be much of anything of interest to talk about.

My worries were somewhat founded. In Clockwork Angel, young American Tessa goes to England to find her brother, but ends up as the prisoner of the Dark Sisters. Tessa finds that she has the unusual ability to shapeshift into another person, and that a mysterious man who runs the Dark Sisters called the Magister wants to make Tessa's power his own -no matter what Tessa wants. After running away, Tessa encounters the Shadowhunters. In exchange for her help, they promise to help her find her brother. Nothing, of course, is that easy, as Tessa must figure out how to fit in with the other Shadowhunters, make sense of her strange ability, and decide who she loves: James or Will.

Clare brings her vivid mortal instruments world back to life in Clockwork Angel, with the same writing skill fans are used to. Though the idea is interesting, Clare manages to make it boring. Unlike in The Mortal Instruments, it seemed like all of the characters just kept dragging their feet, especially in the middle, like they didn't know what to do. It also drove me nuts that Clare seemed to do the bare minimum here in the area of originality. Though it was nice to visit the same world again, there really wasn't much that was new or different. Not only did the setting suffer from this, but the characters did too. There were so many repeats and so few new faces that I wonder why Clare didn't just adapt this into a Mortal Instruments novel.

Overall, Clockwork angel just didn't intrigue me as much as the Mortal Instruments books did, and the lack of something new and original made it difficult to get involved in the book. Fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments while probably enjoy Clockwork Angel, and will most likely be hooked for the entire Infernal Devices series, but I just wasn't excited about it. I was hoping for something a little more original that this, maybe with some new characters. ... Read more

Editorial Review

BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.
 
PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.
 
Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
 
Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light, artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart. ... Read more

Reviews

There Are All Kinds of Revolutions, October 1, 2010

"I will not last much longer...", November 16, 2010

Gulped this down in one sitting..., November 3, 2010

Wonderful glimpses of history and music, December 20, 2010

Stunning, December 17, 2010
Revolution is a stunning book and a testament to the power of good historical fiction. This story of two young girls, separated by centuries but joined by their own overwhelming grief is one that will resonate not only for its emotional power but also for the light it shines on a tragic time in France's history. This will no doubt inspire many young readers to pursue further information about the French Revolution as it brings to life a time period full of betrayal, murder, intrigue, poverty and greed. No sentiment is spared as the author describes the deprivations felt by the French people and the gruesome be-headings common to the time.

The characters here are fully developed and rich. Their pain is a palpable thing that permeates these pages. The parallels drawn by the author between contemporary rich girl Andi, and Alexandre, the playmate to the prince are effective and further serve to hook the reader into not only caring for Andi but also draws the reader into Alexandre's story of a time where murder is the rule of the day and hunger is a constant condition.

The writing is for the most part seamless, and if there were a couple of occasions where coincidences were a bit too convenient and a plot device was a bit too evident, they pale in comparison to the overall effort shown in a plot that was beautifully constructed and very well paced. The ending does take a rather surprising but not unwelcome twist that will no doubt bother some. I felt it was very appropriate and placed the perfect end note to a book that did a fine job of examining grief and hope, beauty and death, and the power of the human spirit to enact it's own revolution.

This will no doubt be appearing on many award lists and is a solid recommend for older teens and adult fans of historical fiction, or simply fiction with a more literary bent. This is a fabulous read and not to be missed. Recommended.

REVIEW for Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, December 15, 2010
First, let me say that this is the first book by Jennifer Donnelly that I have read. So, I was able to read it with a fresh mind, no expectations and not compare it her previous YA offering, A Northern Light.

That being said, I can say that I pretty much loved almost everything about this book. I mean that. Revolution has angst, rebellion, a fabulous mystery, solid scholarly research and the most fantastic playlist I've ever read in any book. The main protagonist, Andi, is still dealing with her brother's death that happened two years earlier. Her mom has gone a bit crazy, and her dad couldn't deal and basically left Andi and her mom. Andi starts doing what a lot of angry teenagers do when they are depressed: she starts ditching school and ignoring her schoolwork. Big Papa finds out, comes in, stamps out some quick decisions, and makes Andi come with him to Paris so she can get away and catch up on schoolwork while he conducts some heavy duty scientific research. That is a very basic introduction to the story - it is a lot more involved, but this story is so beautifully written, I truly don't want to ruin the experience for anyone.

Andi might be one of the most intelligent characters I've ever read. Also one of the most tormented. She's brutal and makes the most sarcastic, clever, but caustic observations I've read in quite a while. Consider:

"Orla McBride is a cancer survivor and wrote about it for her college apps and got into Harvard early admission. Chemo and hair loss and throwing up pieces of your stomach beat the usual extracurricular hands down. Vijay only got waitlisted, so he still has to go to class."
Pg. 6

This might make me a sick puppy, but it was her comments like this that made me simultaneously laugh out loud and make my jaw drop. I've read a few reviews that said this was teenaged angst on overload. I most firmly disagree. We're mot talking about normal adolescent pain. We're talking traveling-up-your-spine, splicing-your-soul, you-can-only-see-one-way-out pain. It ain't pretty. Some people do notice and try to help, but really, Andi only wants her mom, and that lady is too busy trying to have an emotional connection with two dimensional versions of her deceased son to notice her living daughter. If you have no frame-of-reference for Andi's anguished mental state, then yes, it might be easy to dismiss her anger, depression and suicidal wishes as melodramatic moodiness. However, if you ever have been affected by depression or watched someone you love go through it, you might be more sympathetic to Andi's attitude and issues. Being a teenager has nothing to do with it. Andi has been through some serious stuff, and its taken its toll.

Andi also comes from a background that has produced a worldly, cynical and extremely well-educated person. Some people may find this pretentious. I didn't. Any comments she made about her and her classmates' superiority were dripping with sarcasm. She certainly knows that she and her cohorts have the best of everything. Again, Andi has a very sharp-tongued and caustic observation style regarding her family, peers and overall place in the U.S. social and wealth hierarchy. It's really not referenced much in the story by Andi, but just the mere fact of where she goes to school, that she simply jets off to Paris with her father. . . you are very aware that she is a `rich girl' and an extraordinarily privileged individual. Trust me, Donnelly meant for you to be aware of this.

I don't want to go through the book in detail. I will say that Andi stumbles onto a mystery in Paris when she finds the diary of a poor girl named Alexandrine Paradis, who lived during the French Revolution. Andi becomes obsessed with what happened to her, and their pain parallels the other's, regardless of their very different backgrounds. Alexandrine's fate becomes intertwined in Andi's own, and you become as interested in what becomes of Alexandrine as you do Andi - I particularly liked that Andi found herself wrapped up in this character of history as she read her diary while I was doing the same with Andi. At some point, you do start wondering if both Andi and Alexandrine are going mad, or if each's conscience is speaking to them through subconscious, uncanny ways. More than a few times, I wondered if Alex and Andi were/are the same person.

There is so much layering in this book that I could not possibly go through it all without ruining some things for you. I will say that is there is a significant amount of debate about whether history is fact or narrative, and about what makes people what they are. The way the history is woven through the modern story is absolutely marvelous and at no point did I feel jarred from one setting to the other - it felt like a smooth road in and out of two different times. The only thing part I had trouble getting into is a part I can't mention - it's too pivotal a part of the story! It borders on the supernatural, and you are never quite sure if it really happened or not. It works, but it took a moment to accept. You'll know what I mean when you get there.

Other points about the story I liked: the entire story is absolutely steeped in music - the history of it, the structure of it and the listening to it. It's amazing, and I am sorely tempted to keep the book for a few days extra and pay the library fines just so I can go through it, collect all the songs and make a Revolution playlist. I also appreciated how much work went into establishing the historical context of the French Revolution - I've read a few recent histories of that time, and Donnelly's writing is spot on. Also included in the story are references to the feelings of marginalization being felt by the same French communities that Virgil is from.

I recommend this book. It was a brutal, take-no-prisoners sort of read. I wish I could go into more detail as I normally do, but that would be cheating you out the experience of reading this book and discovering all its layers yourself. The mystery, the music, the history, the family tension, the developing romance, the question over what is truth and the personal battle that Andi fights with her own grief. . . this story is simply a lovely, living thing.

Music, adventure and heart, December 12, 2010

Amazing, December 11, 2010
I don't normally write reviews, but I use them quite a lot so I felt I had to weigh in on this book only so more people will read it. It was amazing, intense, and full of such depth of knowledge. It is completely different from Jennifer Donnelly's other books- set mostly in modern time with a disaffected teenager, and I felt like it was darker as well. There were parts where I HAD to keep reading because what was happening was so good, and parts where I laughed out loud partly as a release from all that tension! The author does an excellent job and I would highly recommend anyone to read this book, it had such a story to it that it kept me engrossed and reading far into the night.

What Were They Thinking?, December 1, 2010
What Were They Thinking?
Never should have been put in the youth category. A phenomenal, textured book, it deserves a much broader audience. There's a terrific plot, characters (the City of Paris past and present is one such character), and has another spunky, if depressed, heroine. It's a page turner- stayed up to the wee small hours reading it through. As an added bonus, the author intertwines classical and modern music though out the book so that even I want to rush out and buy Hip Hop.
I've read and liked other of Donnelly's books but find this head and shoulders above the others.

Sensational Mystery, Historical Fiction...Adults and Teens Alike Will Love It, November 29, 2010

Editorial Review

The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers.

Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.

Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead. ... Read more

Reviews

Westerfeld does it again!, October 7, 2010
I stumbled upon this series after finding and devouring his Uglies series. Levathian was an awesome book, and I loved the concept of evolved animalesques versus the mechanical technologies of the world. Scott Westerfeld has a knack at bringing so many aspects of life now into question in his novels.

While Leviathan was great at introducing us to its alternative steam-punk culture, Behemoth helps develop the characters of Prince *ArchDuke* Alek and middy *MR. Sharp* Deryn. I especially enjoyed seeing Deryn growing up with new responsibilities, challenged loyalties, and blossoming love. It is also very amusing when another strong female character Lilit is added to create a convoluted yet innocent love triangle between the three main figures.

One thing I was a little disappointed in was the fact that this book was not based in the mind-blowing evolving world of the Darwinists. Reading about the complex eco-culture of the Leviathan gave me a huge thrill as to the possibilities of our own future. But I guess this is to be expected. Leviathan is devoted to the world of the Darwinists, it is only fair that Behemoth is immersed in Clanker-land, a place with its own technological wonders.

All I can say Behemoth has got me extremely excited for book three. And unfortunately Behemoth has JUST come out, so it's going to be a really long wait.

PS. did I mention this series is gorgeously illustrated? My Kindle does not do the graphics justice but even there the fantastical details are extremely alluring.

TURKISH DELIGHTS, October 8, 2010
[NO SPOILERS]

For those that have read the first book, BEHEMOTH brings the whale-airship Leviathan to a wonderful location to serve as a backdrop for the plot:

Istanbul.

Scott Westerfeld even went to Istanbul to get a feel for the city in preparation of this book. Having been to Istanbul myself, I felt he captured the essence of the city without making one feel like they're reading an over-detailed travelogue.

In a nutshell, the book deals again with Deryn/Dylan, Prince Alek and his retinue, Dr. Barlow and a few new faces, to include one that forms the third point of an interesting "Bermuda Triangle" of sorts.
Not much new is revealed about Deryn/Dylan and Alek, the two main characters, but the two draw closer in their friendship as they work together against the Clanker threats that surround them . . . and one particularly annoying journalist--American, of course.

The non-human elements are just as fascinating this time around as they were in LEVIATHAN, although this time they focus more on the Clankers as they are, after all, in enemy territory. But just to be clear, there are SOME new Darwinist creations, just not many of them.

The plot moves at a nice pace--although I'm a slow reader I finished this book in about two days and the last 200 pages I read in one sitting.

Of course, an Alternative History book like this one wouldn't be what it is without a little homage to the real history, which is briefly but sufficiently detailed in the AFTERWORD. It's truly amazing how authors can find little historical details and transform them into new magnificent stories!

Finally there is the wonderful artwork of Keith Thompson. Once again his artwork never fails to capture what is occurring on the page next to it. Reading these books is like flipping through the HOLY BIBLE or THE DIVINE COMEDY and finding the brilliant black-and-white artwork of GUSTAVE DORE gracing the pages.

As for complaints, I only have a few nitpicky ones . . .

--The hardback cover art needs to match the hardback cover for the first book.
--The binding could be of better quality--it's just glue.
--The impact of some of the artwork is diminished by the fact that the crease between the pages gets in the way.

Despite that, this is still an easy 5-star title.

It was nice to be back on board.

Intrigue in Istanbul (not Constantinople), October 5, 2010
If Leviathan was setting up World War One with mechs and genetically engineered creatures, Behemoth was expanding upon the political ramifications. The book primarily centers on the political machinations between the Darwinist English and the Clanker Germans vying for the favor of the kind-of-sort-of Clanker Ottoman Turks in Istanbul. In the middle of this is Alek, son of the nobles whose assassination lit off the whole mess, and Deryn/Dylan the crossdressing girl serving on the English airship Leviathan and crushing over Alek.

I'm pretty sure that this could fall into the category of middle book syndrome for some people, but it didn't happen for me. I felt that the ending was a good spot to take a break. I also really like how the story is shifting locations from one aspect of the "war to end all wars" to another. I'm already decently familiar with the Western Front and it's nice to the see the scene shifting into more interesting and unfamiliar territory. Alek gets himself involved with some of the politicking using the time honored, traditional method of displaced nobles everywhere: revolution and rebellion.

The pace of action is pretty quick and there are quite a few new people introduced. It has a quite a bit of backroom dealing going on and the action doesn't get in the way of character development. Instead each big conflict is used to highlight an internal conflict as well, from Alek's and Deryn's differing reactions to the loss of a parent to what role each of them see themselves filling in the war. I especially want to see how Alek's suspicion that he could help end war the plays out.

The plotting was pretty good and made sense to me. Alek's decision to start taking an active role in events happening around him made him into less of a lost little princeling whose actions are dictated by his father's last wishes or Wildcount Volger. It was a nice little bit of character growth. I liked him more for it. I would even go so far as to say that Alek is changing from a lost and frightened kid into someone who could be a leader. I hope his instinct for people doesn't fail him and his ability to trust at all is a nice contrast to Volger's constant state of suspicion.

Deryn/Dylan also improved for me this time around. Rather than being slightly annoying, she managed to start having conflicts between her crushing on Alek and her sworn duty to ship and country, thus becoming more interesting. Also, the introduction of Lilit gives a splendid foil to Deryn, as Lilit is every bit as capable as she but not trying to hide her gender. I rather like Lilit's parting shot to Deryn. I thought the reactions on both sides really funny.

After this installment I eagerly await the next one all the more.

What Miss Kelley Is Reading: [...], October 9, 2010
Behemoth picks up where Leviathan left off: Alek, son of Archduke Ferdinand and potential secret heir to the throne, and Deryn, a girl masquerading as a boy in order to join the war effort, are aboard the airship/whale Leviathan, headed for Istanbul (Constantinople). Though one is a Clanker and the other a Darwinist, the two have struck up a friendship, and as Deryn reflects early in the book: "The Germans were still hunting Alek, trying to finish the job they'd started on his parents. Someone had to be on his side. . . ". Throughout the book, which is filled with action and adventure, their friendship grows. Deryn is called upon to save her ship more than once, and Alek is forced to pick a side in the political upheaval in Istanbul. The pair have adventures both alone and together, and I, for one, can't wait for the third book.

My one reservation about Leviathan was that it was very slow to start; Behemoth has no such problem. The action starts on page one, and though there are still incredible machines and impossible creatures, there is less exposition in this book than in the first. Fans of the first book will love this sequel, and I encourage those who might not have loved Leviathan to give Behemoth a shot.

Behemoth - whatchYAreading.net, November 28, 2010
I was so excited to read Behemoth, that when I held the ARC in my hands at Comic Con, I seriously considered running off with it. Christine had, apparently, planned out an escape route for us. Alas, I didn't get to keep the ARC (legally or otherwise) but I was able to gaze lovingly at the artwork every time we passed the Simon and Schuster booth. I love everything about these books. From the accurate historic facts, to the steampunk machines, to the crazy genetic-smooshing science (genetic-smooshing being the technical term, of course). I love the artwork, the writing, the cover (though I liked the original cover better) and, most of all, I love the writing.

Leviathan and Behemoth are the only books that I've read recently where I enjoyed the switching of point of views. It was always done smoothly and at points where the switch felt right. Scott Westerfeld always does a good job of showing you what needs to be shown from both point of views without ever repeating himself or having there be weird overlap.

The Leviathan series is, at its simplest, a steampunk retelling of World War I. Sure, Scott has taken some liberties with historic fact but the core motivations, alliances, and manipulations are still there. And the war is being told through the eyes of two young teenagers from opposite sides of the war.

What I love most about this book, and its predecessor is how it is faithful to WWI while still creating its own unique, fictional plot. The reader still gets a sense that it is a useless war, fought only so politicians could show their supremecy over one another. I also enjoy that, while there is a slight bias against the Germans, we see people from all over Europe for and against the war.

My previous review of Leviathan covers all the things that I love about Alek and Deryn, so instead I'm going to talk about a few other things.

Firstly, cross dressing. Deryn is still posing as a boy in the British Air Force, still a midshipman on the airship Leviathan. And I love all the wonderful things done with this. The number of characters that refer to her, sarcastically, as Mr. Sharp is funny and surprising. I especially loved the last one. I love how Deryn is of two minds all the time as well. She wants to continue being disguised, and she wants to reveal she is a girl. This resulted in two of my most favourite scenes in this book. The being when Deryn, confidently and wonderfully, realizes that Alek could love her if he knew. She isn't shy or self-conscience about it. She just knows. And she makes an informed, intelligent decision based on that realization and I loved her so much for it. The second scene was later on and used one of my much loved, sarcastic, Mr. Sharp's. I'm not going to say what it was for fear of spoiling it, but let's just say that Mr. Westerfeld managed to do a thousand things with one little scene and I laughed out loud. It was just perfect.

The second thing I wanted to talk about, intrigue and politics.So many different levels of it. The global level of what's going on what country wants what in the war, the personal level of Alek and his heritage, and the weird science level of...what is that creature following Alek around everywhere? And why does he even have it? He's a Clanker not a Darwinist. So many things to think about.

Everything was just so perfectly balanced. The action, the intrigue, the character moments. I was never bored or wanting something else to happen. A perfect cast of characters mixed with the perfect balance of fact and fiction.

And, and, and, and!!!!!! Reading this book totally helped me with a crossword answer one time. I LEARNED things. You can too!

So...yeah. I loved it.

Barking Magnificent!, October 17, 2010
It's been a while since I read Leviathan, so it took me a bit to remember everything I needed to know about the Darwinists, the Clankers, Alek and of course Deryn Sharp. Soon I was sucked right back into the author's alternate universe full of amazing machines and fabricated beasties. Leviathan was my introduction to the Steampunk genre and I have been a devoted fan ever since. Behemoth more than lived up to my expectations! The author does a wonderful job of pacing the novel so the reader barely has time to catch their breath amongst all the action. While this novel is a little light on the character development, it is hardly noticeable. I felt like I was falling back in with old friends who were just a bit too busy to have a long conversation since they really had an entire war to stop, thank you very much.

Most of the action takes place on the ground this time instead of on the Leviathan, but that in no way decreases the fun. Deryn and Alek are in Istanbul, a place at the center of the war between the Clankers and the Darwinists and it's up to our heroes to pretty much outwit everyone in order to stop the war. There's high intrigue, daring feats and even just a bit of unlikely romance. Westerfeld's Istanbul is so richly imagined that I was able to fully visualize all of it's exotic peoples and machines. The illustrations by Keith Thompson are wonderful and really add to the reading experience.

This is an exciting read that effectively carries on the story which began in Leviathan. The good news is that there's plenty of room left at the end of this one for another installment. The bad news is we have to wait so long to read it. This is a great series with loads of appeal for any kid grade 7 and up, especially fans of action/adventure and sci-fi. Adults will find much to enjoy here too, so don't pass this one by! Recommended.

Better Than the First, October 16, 2010
Usually middle books in a trilogy are just getting one place to another, but Westerfeld has made Behemoth an adventure in itself. The stakes continue to grow as Alek must start to command his own fate and Deryn/Dylan slinks ever closer to having her secret found out. Set squarely in Constantinople/Istanbul for most of the action, the reader is treated to an amalgamation of Clanker and Darwinist agendas that are as much at odds as they are balanced. The even writing makes this one easy book to gobble up while also being visually treated to the artistic stylings of Keith Thompson.

On top of the action, the characters feelings about their situations pervades more than in the first volume of the trilogy, but in an informative manner. Deryn, at odds with her desire to tell Alek that she's a girl, is growingly forced to confront the fact she's not like the rest of the crew on the Leviathan. And Alek, finally starting to find himself in a position to act in the war, must assume some level of leadership even if the people he's trying to influence aren't exactly cooperating as he'd like. And the eggs from the first book? Well, you'll find out soon enough, but that one's a nice little surprise that's still going to play out in the next book by the look of things.

A really solid volume that, in this reviewers opinion, is the rare example of a middle book in a trilogy being better than the first. Westerfeld is really hitting his stride and I, for one, cannot wait for the final volume. Very highly recommended for fans of steampunk, alternate history, and good reading.

Just as good as Leviathan, November 11, 2010
Behemoth is the sequel to Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, an alternate history of World War I, filled with steampunk machines, biological monster-machines and exotic locations.

After being taken as a British prisoner of war, young Alek, heir to the Hapsburg empire, is taken to Istanbul, capital of the declining Ottoman Empire. Though the country has thus far been neutral in the war, both sides have begun to woe the sultan. When the Leviathan is attacked, Alek and his escorts must survive in Istanbul, which is crawling with Germans. I exotic Istanbul, Alek and co. join an underground revolutionary organization dedicated to overthrowing the Sultan in order to protect themselves and find their way back to the Leviathan. Chalked full of high-octane adventure and tones of political intrigue, readers will get caught up in Alek's story.

Behemoth is just as good as, if not better, than Leviathan. Westerfeld's phenomenal prose shines through and the lush detail with which he paints his exciting world is amazing. With exciting adventure, truly unique visuals and great characters, Behemoth is a must-read. Can't wait for the next book.

from Missprint DOT wordpress DOT com, November 5, 2010
Deryn is a girl posing as a boy and serving in the British Air Services aboard the Leviathan as it heads to the capital of the Ottoman Empire on a secret mission.

Alek, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, is also aboard the Leviathan posing as a commoner among his men. Together these Clankers and Darwinists have forged an uneasy alliance born out of necessity. But when war comes to the airship, everything changes.

The year is 1914. The British Darwinists and their fabricated beasties have declared war against Austria-Hungary and their Clanker war machines. The rest of the world sits, waiting, on the brink of war.

As the threat of war looms closer, Alek finds himself running out of options. He can't stay aboard the Leviathan any longer and risk becoming a prisoner of war. But can he ask his only friend, Dylan Sharp, to commit treason by helping him escape?

Deryn knows that Alek has to leave the airship. She knows the he should go. But no matter what she tells herself Deryn doesn't want him to go. How can the one person who trusts her completely also be the one she can't share her biggest secret with?

Alek and Deryn should be on opposite sides of this conflict but instead they have become fast friends. As the two make their way through the mysterious and dangerous city of Istanbul they just might find a way to stop this war in its tracks in Behemoth (2010) by Scott Westerfeld with illustrations by Keith Thompson.

Behemoth is the sequel to Leviathan. It's also the second book in Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy.

This book is filled with everything that made Leviathan great and then some. Westerfeld's reimagined world is just as vivid and compelling as before. The action is just as exciting. There is alternate history. There is steampunk. There are beasties, walkers and a lot of people making insinuations by saying "Mr. Sharp" repeatedly.* There will be humor. Oh, and those mysterious eggs from Leviathan? They totally hatch in Behemoth.

Deryn's secret continues to weigh heavily, especially when it comes to Alek. Meanwhile Alek, almost literally, has the weight of the world on his shoulders as he works to find a way to end the war. Westerfeld also spends more time on a lot of favorite secondary characters (including Dr. Barlow and Count Volger, my personal favorites) and world building as we see an Istanbul very unlike the one we know and learn more about familiar characters. The scope and detail Westerfeld brings to this book (and which Thompson brings to his delightful illustrations) is truly astounding.

Behemoth is an excellent addition to a wonderful trilogy, possibly even better than the first in the trilogy. This is a book that really exceeds all expectations and will leave readers eagerly waiting for Goliath, the forthcoming conclusion to a stunning trilogy.

Possible Pairings: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Flight of the Phoenix by R. L. LaFevers with illustrations by Kelly Murphy, Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, Firefly (television series) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (graphic novel and movie), The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (television series), Serenity (movie)

*Sometimes one line can really make a book. Believe it or not, "Mr. Sharp." might be the line of this book.

Awesome book, but I think it should have had a different title!, October 18, 2010
Behemoth starts about two days later still on the Leviathan heading for Istanbul. But, on the way there they encounter two German ships that have a Tesla cannon and are ready for the Leviathan! The Leviathan gets an unexpected jolt and everything seems to go down hill from there for Deryn and Alek. The war continues on with more countries entering and Alek finds himself among the enemy on the Leviathan with the British on the other side of the war and Alek must find a way to escape but nothing goes to plan!

Great book, but I don't think it should have been called Behemoth. Since the Behemoth only makes a small appearance in the book. I think it should have been called Bovril! But, maybe the Behemoth will be more prominent in the next book.

This book does answer some questions from the previous book, but not thoroughly. The question of what is in the egg is semi-answered in my opinion. You find out what is in it but not exactly what it is capable of. Also, there is Deryn situation, and whether or not to tell Alek she is a she. That is an ongoing problem for Deryn and it gets a little more complicated for her as well. I love the things Deryn says, she calls herself a "daft lassie mooning at a village dance" when she relates to her problem. She is quite funny.

There are some new characters that pop up in the book. They are not on the Leviathan for that long so they have some on ground friends as the book progresses. But, still all the old favorites are still there.

And of course, the book ends with you wanting more. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Reviews

Jefferson, December 2, 2010
Great to read some about a president who was a thinker and had the right ideas about our country. The politicians back then were people who actually cared about our country and the long-term stabiltiy of it instead of what was in it for them! They were smart enough to know what was good for the country would be good for them instead of getting what was good for them at the expense of the country. If some of our current politicians were alive back then, they would have been wearing red coats. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated". Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life. An ALA Notable Book. A "School Library Journal" Best Book of the Year. Teacher's Guide. BDD Online-Teacher's Resource Center. ... Read more

Reviews

A Must-Read Regardless of Your Age, January 9, 2003
First I should say that I work in a bookstore. Since I hadn't read a young adult book in nearly 30 years, I decided to read a few to learn what to recommend to customers. The first one I picked up was `Number the Stars.' It blew me away.

Lowry has written an incredibly moving account of the Jews in World War II Denmark. Annemarie Johansen worries what might happen to her Jewish friend Ellen Rosen as the Nazis capture and "relocate" all Jews. During this time, Annemarie learns about the power of evil, the strength of family, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship. Lowry does a masterful job of showing how Annemarie grows up before our very eyes in the way she interacts with her little sister Kirsti, her friend Ellen, and the ever present Nazi officers. Annemarie learns several lessons throughout the book that she'll never forget. We won't forget them either.

This is an incredibly moving book. There are very few books that absolutely everyone should read. This is one of them.

137 pages

a must read book, March 30, 2000
This story is set in Denmark in 1943, during World War II. During that time Denmark was under Nazi occupation. The story tells about the life of two very close friends, Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen, and their families. Living in Denmark during that time was very difficult. Nazi soldiers were on every street corner. There were food shortages and they were required to darken their windows every evening. One day, the Jewish families received word that the Germans were going to relocate all the Jews in Denmark. Since the Rosens were Jewish, Mr. and Mrs. Rosen were takin into hinding. Ellen went to live with the Johansens and pretended to be a part of the Johansen family. A few days later, Mrs. Johansen took her two daughters and Ellen to visit Uncle Henrik. The rest of the story is about the tremendous courage of Annemarie, Mrs. Johansen, Uncle Henrik, and Peter Neilsen and the trouble they endured to help their friends. I really enjoyed this book. It was very moving, suspenseful, and sad. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I highly recommend reading this book.

An undeniable classic, January 5, 2004
Though I was a child when this book was first published, somehow I managed to avoid reading any Lois Lowry until 2003 (much to the shock of my friends). It was worth the wait. This story departs from the usual World War Two fiction genre by placing the story in a unique setting with a different perspective. Everything occurs in Denmark, and we see the story unfold through the eyes of young Annemarie Johansen. Though she is not directly threatened by the actions of the Nazis that have invaded her peaceful country, her best friend Ellen Rosen is. Annemarie must use her head to save her friend from the concentration camps while endangering herself. I was impressed with the fact that the threat presented by the Germans in this book was made real without relying on gory details. In this way, Lowry has created a book about the Holocaust that is appropriate for juvenile readers. Be warned: There is no perfectly happy ending at the end of this story (the reader is not absolutely certain that the Rosenbergs have escaped and are coming back) but it should satisfy most children. Well worth a read.

Every kid I know that has read this book loves it., November 29, 1998
This book is about a young girl named Annemarie, her family and their role in helping Jewish families escape the Germans during World War II. The Nazi soldiers invaded and took control of Denmark and its Danes. Ellen is Annemarie's best friend and is Jewish. Ellen and her family, the Rosens, must leave Denmark to go to Sweden where will be safe from the Nazi soldiers. There they will be safe because Sweden chose not to enter the war. Annemarie is sent on an important mission to deliver an important package to her Uncle Henrick. This package will determine if Ellen and her family will live to ever see their friends and homeland again. When the war finally ends after a devastating five years, Annemarie finds out about the real truth of her sister, Lise's death. Anna Marie is a bright, bold and brave girl. She is ten years old in the beginning of the book and twelve years at the end. She is a tall, thin and long legged girl with blond hair. Annemarie's best friend, Ellen, is a Jewish girl about her same age. Ellen is a very proper young lady. She is timid and quite fearful because of the Nazis and what she has heard they do to Jewish people. Ellen is also a short and stubby girl who wears her curly black hair in pigtails. Kirsti, who is Annemarie's young sister, is spoiled, self-centered, stubborn and very sociable. She is a typical seven year old! Annemarie's mom and Ellen's mom are great at worrying. Mr. Rosen, Ellen's dad, gets aggravated easily by the smallest things and is a teacher at the elementary school where the girls attend. Annemarie's dad is cautious and always acts so serious. Peter, Lise's fiance, is a brave and courageous man with red hair who works with the Resistance. My favorite part of Number the Stars is when Ellen pretends to be Annemarie's sister and the soldiers break into Annemarie's apartment. Annemarie tore the necklace, a "Star of David", from Ellen's neck so that the German soldiers wouldn't think that she is Jewish. I loved this book because it was always exciting and I never lost interest. Annemarie and her mom were incredibly brave. I could imagine how frightened Annemarie was when she had to carry the "special package" for her mother. She had to stay calm while German soldiers and their dogs questioned her on what she was doing and where she was going. She somehow knew that getting this "package" to her uncle would save many lives. I think that if I had to do what Annemarie did I would still be scared out of my wits. This book makes you appreciate your freedom even if you do have to clean up your room once in a while.

Lives in the Balance, December 11, 2002
This book provides a wonderful opportunity for both kids and parents to read a good story together and study history from a children's perspective.

I always enjoyed reading historical novels, even as a kid, and my daughter, who isn't real crazy about reading, is beginning to change her mind because this story speaks to her. That it takes place in a country she never heard of before isn't relevant.

This is no fairy tale-it's the story of two Danish families, friends before the war, one Jewish and one Christian, who fight the effects of the German invasion of their country and the subsequent attempt to eliminate the Jewish population.

Through the pages of this book, we are given the story of the Rosens and the Johansens, who, on the eve of the Jewish New Year in 1943, wisely act to avert tragedy. The Rosens are blessed by the knowledge that the Nazis are beginning to move in and not paralyzed by fear into inaction. The Johansens are blessed by the knowledge that, as Danes, they could do nothing less but protect their friends and fellow Danes.

There are some scary moments, certainly, but not so frightening that children should avoid this book. Some books can be read without parents nearby; this one I recommend be read either by or with parents because some explanation of history is helpful.

One of the aspects of this book that I particularly liked was how it helps children to think and spot upcoming events.

At one point, for example, there's a reference to the Star of David necklace worn by one of the children. As the German soldiers barge into the Johansen home where the Jewish girl is hiding in plain sight, my daughter exclaimed that someone should hide the necklace before the soldiers find it. That's exactly what happens-the girls remove the necklace and the Germans are, temporarily, fooled into leaving them alone.

Luckily, the Johansens know that they've been granted a only a temporary reprieve, and so the rest of the story tells of Ellen Rosen's escape, along with most of the rest of Denmark's Jews, to Sweden and safety.

There are just enough ordinary details--the annoying younger sister, life in the shadow of a past tragedy--to leaven the story about the Nazis.

While the characters are fictional, the story, of course, is not, and so it is a great way for children to feel, rather than just hear, about the lives of people who fall victim to brutality and what individuals can do to combat evil.

I can't think of a better lesson for children to learn. Or grownups.

This is an important book for every child to read., November 24, 1999
I am studying to be an elementary teacher, and I read this book for a children's literature class. This book was very well written because it vividly shares the reality of life during the Holocaust while protecting young children from many of the details that might be too frightening for them. This book is unique because it gives a child's perspective of the Holocaust, detailing how living circumstances changed and how friends were taken away. I think that every child should read this book because children need to understand that the Holocaust was real and was not just some event in history. We should never forget the tragedy it was.

Number the Stars, February 17, 2000
Remarkable, intense and suspenseful are just three of millions of words that describe this book. The book has a groundbreaking plot and keeps you in suspense after every chapter. Read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. This story depicts a struggle between a brave girl named, Annemarie, trying to help her best friend, a courageous girl, Ellen, a Jewish neighbor. This touching book takes place in the year 1943 when Annemarie and Ellen are fighting for freedom from the Nazi soldiers in Copenhagen, Denmark. When the soldiers invade Annemarie's house, Ellen was disguised as Lise,Annemarie's older sister. Will the soldiers find out who Ellen really is? Lois Lowry wrote very simply, but is very well organized. She keeps you in suspense after every chapter. Read this book and you will find yourself sitting at the edge of your seat. Will Annmarie help Ellen and her family escape the Nazi soldiers?

Should be required reading for all!, December 28, 2001
Lois Lowry is the well known author of childrens and young adult books which include titles such as The Giver and the Anastasia series. In the book, Number the Stars, winner of the prestigious Newberry Award, the author presents her readers with a thought provoking tale filled with memorable characters and plot which readers can think about long after they've closed the book.

This story begins in Amsterdam as the Nazis begin to occupy Holland. Life as it once was for this city will never be the same again especially for the two families portrayed here.
Ww first meet two young girls of separate families as they walk home from school. One girl is Christian, the other Jewish and they have always been the very best of friends. When they are questioned by two Nazi soldiers they are reluctant to tell their parents for fear they will worry. But also fearing what might happen to all of them, they eventually describe the incident to them. The parents, fully realizing that the situation is getting worse and worse for Jews and other minority groups, begin to make plans to insure the the safety of the Jewish family. Not only will these plans and decisions test their friendships but will alter the course of their lives.

Written primarily for children, this is a wonderful book which succeeds in presenting primarily school age children with some of thr ramifications of World War II and the plight of those persectuted by the Nazis. It also describes to readers at any age the role of courage and acts of extraordinary kindness during these dark days of the Nazi Occupation and World War II. By describing the plight of two families from Amsterdam, the reader is caught up in these tumultuous times and feels as though they are living next door to these people. While many books, both fiction and non-fiction have been written about this period in history and for all age groups, Lowry first presents the subject matter in a calm manner but one where emotions mount as one turns the pages. And certainly the book allows us a glimpse of how ordinary people risked their own lives to save others. As I closed the book I prayed for the safety of both families as if this was happening today. I do hope that they were reunited and finally the Jewish star could be returned to its rightful owner.

Friend No Matter What, October 9, 2001
The story is about Annemarie Johansen and her Jewish friend, Ellen, both 10 years old, who live in Copenhagen, Denmark. The time is World War II and the Nazis are invading Jewish homes and sending the people to concentration camps, and to their death.

Ellen's life is saved by Annemarie and her family who are Christians. Ellen takes Lise's identity, Annemarie's sister who had died, and this way, she escapes the Nazis. Another family also saves Ellen's family, who hides them until they escape to Sweden. The tragic part is when Ellen has to leave Copenhagen and join her family not knowing if she will see her dear friend, Annemarie, again.

I recommend this book because it is well written and suspenseful, but especially because young readers, like me, hear a lot about World War II and the sad stories about death and destruction, but we might not know the stories about those courageous people in Denmark and other occupied countries who risked their lives to save others.

A Lovingly Crafted Story, August 15, 2001
This is a good historical book for children. The story is set in Occupied Denmark and told through the eyes of Annemarie Johansen, a 10-year-old girl who has to help save her Jewish friend Ellen. This novel humbly, simply and unsensationally honors the anonymous heroes and heroines of WWII.

However there are some elements and developments in the story that readers in Annemarie's age bracket may not understand. For example, at one point in the story, Annemarie discovers that sometimes it is okay to lie to your friends, in order to protect them. I'm sure that readers of this book will not grow up as quickly or as soon. In fact, readers and Annemarie may begin on the same level at the start of the novel, only to have Annemarie outpace them to maturity at the end.

There are also many beautiful but subtle nuances in the storytelling that may be confusing to young readers, such as Lois Lowry's many flashbacks and asides.

Moreover, readers who expect the kind of action and suspense found in "The Giver", another Newbery Award-winning book by Lowry, will be disappointed. They may find the plot boring and Annemarie passive. The reason for this is that Annemarie is not in the middle of the action, the way her friend Ellen is, but really on the sidelines. This is a story told by an introspective, sensitive observer. What it lacks in thrills and excitement it makes up for in depth. Children who have read "The Giver" and have felt what it is like to be the one who has to leave, can read "Number the Stars" and know what it is like to be the one left behind. ... Read more

Editorial Review

At a time when society conforms to the strictest rules and most proper etiquette, sixteen-year-old Camille Kennecott and her guardian, Dr. Bennett, live a most unconventional life. They hunt werewolves.

When unwitting victim, Nathaniel Strider, wanders into one of their full moon pursuits, Camille and Dr. Bennett believe they have found a specimen for their study. Finding a scientific key to unlocking the mystery of lycanthropy would end their late night excursions. Yet beneath the irresistible exterior, Nathaniel is transforming into a flesh-tearing monster, and as each experiment fails, Camille loses another inch of her soul to him. In a month’s time, she must face the prospect of destroying the boy who has stolen her heart.

Excerpt:

Ashamed at my cowardice, I trudged back toward the main road, staring down at my feet as they landed on each stone. Each step grew heavier and heavier with dejection. Suddenly, my boots left the ground completely as someone grabbed both my arms, dragged me round to the alleyway, and slammed me up against the wall. My eyes snapped shut as my head landed with a sharp thud against the rough brick, vibrating my skull with pain.

“Why are you followin’ me?”

My eyes shot open, and I was looking directly into the brown eyes of Nathaniel Strider. He shook me, and my head hit the wall again with only the crushed brim of my hat for protection. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. I winced as his powerful grip tightened on my arms. His face was close to mine.

Voices came from the end of the dark passage. I turned my head to see if help was near. A small boy stood in a recess, holding a thin toddler in his arms. The lad’s bare feet looked blue against the icy, wet pavement. Hesitantly, I returned my attention to my captor.

“Who sent you?” One hand released me, and he shoved the hat from my head. His eyes narrowed. “Bloody hell,” he said and harshly pinched my breast. “A girl in trousers.”

I screamed and moved to hammer him with my fist, but before I could land one punch, he had both my wrists in one hand and pinned above my head.

Anger helped me find my tongue. “What do you mean who sent me? Who would be out looking for a lowly thief like yourself? Scotland Yard has finer thieves to chase.” I met his angry gaze with one of my own and realized, too late, the mistake I’d made. His hold nearly crushed my wrist bones. “You’re hurting me. Please, let go,” I pleaded. “Your strength, you have not learned to control…” My words trailed off. His eyes never left my face. I could no longer hold back the tears. They left hot streaks on my cheeks. “Please, let go, and I’ll explain.”

He released his hold, and as my arms collapsed, my knees followed. Strider caught me but with a gentler grip. I rubbed feeling back into my hands.

His long, black lashes fluttered down as he brazenly reviewed the rest of me. He straightened and placed a hand on either side of my head, effectively trapping me against the wall. “Explain.”

His nearness made my head spin. I swallowed. “I—I came to tell you, you are in grave trouble.”

Strider squinted hard at me then threw his head back with laughter. Obviously assuming I wouldn’t run, he dropped his hands and crossed his arms over his chest. “Lass, I must tell you,” a crooked smile punctuated his words, “I am always in grave trouble.”




... Read more

Reviews

Surprisingly good, October 15, 2010
As much as I hate to admit it, I bought this book because the cover was well done. I rarely buy books with no reviews (I'm apparently the first) but I couldn't resist the combination of beautiful cover art, young adult paranormal romance, and the one dollar price. Since it was only a dollar my expectations weren't particularly high, but I was impressed and delighted by this novel. The heroine is likable as is the roguish and charming hero. I thought it was a little unlikely that a 16 year old girl would have such a sound head on her shoulders, but other than that it was very good. There are some good kissing scenes but it is also very clean, which I appreciate.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a tasty bit of paranormal romance. Well done!

A good book for $.99, December 23, 2010

Sorry to all you Twilight fans out there, but I am so sick of the whole paranormal romance topic. Ever since that book came out we've been beaten over the head with stories of vampire love triangles and packs of buff werewolves ripping each other apart over a supposed-to-be-perfect girl. That's why I was surprised that I picked up Camille by Tess Oliver. When I saw the price, I figured I'd give it a try.


I am happy to say that it was well worth the shot.

The pros:
The thing about Camille was that it didn't focus on a pack of werewolves fighting over a girl. Thank God it didn't. Instead, it was about a girl (named Camille) who falls in love with a boy (named Strider) who has been bitten by a werewolf. Strider now has a month until he turns into a werewolf himself, and kills everything in his path. Unless Camille and her friend/gaurdian Dr. Bennet find a good cure for Strider by then, they'll be forced to kill him (did I mention that they're werewolf hunters?). Overall, this was a really good twist on the topic, and the fact that the book took place in Old England was even better.


The writng of this book was gorgeous, with discriptive language that made you feel like you were there. I'm glad that Tess Oliver didn't rely on just her topic to make the story good. She has some real talent.


I loved that Strider wasn't some super-powerful god in this book. He was scared of his future, was beaten as a child, and live his entire life on the streets. He wasn't perfect either, and I liked that. I absolutely can't stand perfect mary-sue characters.


The cons:
Although Camille was a good character as well as a non-perfect one, she did seem a little too old for her age. I guess that's understandable, being that she grew up killing murderous beasts, but still. It would have been nice to see her loosen up a bit and act sixteen.


I wish there more characters in the book. Not main characters, but secondary characters that I could fall in love with or hate to pieces. In this book it seemed as if the only people in London were Camille, Strider, Emily, and Dr. Bennet, and I couldn't particularly connect with any of them.


Overall, this book was well worth a second glance, and definately worth $.99. Give it a shot.
KindleObsession

Books like this: If you liked Camille, try The Sisters Red. It also has that werewolf-hunter topic, but this time its the Big Bad Wolf that has to fear Little Red Riding Hood. It's a great twist on the familiar fairytale.

Great YA Paranormal Romance, November 15, 2010
I think Tess Oliver is a very talanted author & I hope to see more from her in the future. This is the second book, Safe Landing being the 1st, that I have read of hers & I really enjoyed it. I really felt what the characters where feeling & the way she describes things make you feel like you are there with the characters. This story was well written with very few errors in editing. That is one thing that drives me crazy. There were hardly any until about the last three chapters of the book. And they were minimal. The story is about a girl who hunts for werewolves with her guardian, her fathers best friend. They track them & kill them before they can hurt or kill too many people. Well, the last one she hunted & killed bit a boy, well teenager(18-19). And she tries to save him along with John her guardian. And in trying to save him they fall in love & they don't know if it's enough to save him from the monster that he is becoming. You will have to read it to see how it turns out. I highly recommend it.

Camille, October 19, 2010
I liked this book. It didn't have a whole lot about werewolves in it, but it had alot of flirting between the main characters. I would have liked a little bit more.... something in the story. Maybe if the author put Nathaniels point of view in every few chapters it might have evened things out a little :) great read for not even a dollar :D ... Read more

Editorial Review

Set during the Civil War, against a backdrop of grand estates, unimaginable riches, and deadly secrets, three teenagers in Mystic Falls, Virginia enter a torrid love triangle that will span eternity.

Brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore are inseparable until they meet Katherine, a stunning, mysterious woman who turns their world upside down. Siblings turned rivals, the Salvatores compete for Katherine's affection, only to discover that her sumptuous silk dresses and glittering gems hide a terrible secret: Katherine is a vampire. And she is intent on turning them into vampires so they can live together-forever.

Based on the popular CW TV show inspired by the bestselling novels, Stefan's Diaries reveals the truth about what really happened between Stefan, Damon, and Katherine—and how the Vampire Diaries love triangle began.

Reviews

Follows the Vampire Diaries TV Show as a Backstory, November 3, 2010
If you've followed the tv show Vampire Diaries, you'll be familiar with all the events in this book. It is Stefan's diary, but it starts where he gets engaged to a girl his father wants him to marry to secure his social standing in town. Then Katherine shows up, and Stefan can only think of Katherine. She is enchanting. At Stefan's engagement dinner, his betrothed is suddenly killed by a vampire, which alarms Stefan's vampire-hunting father and Jonathan Gilbert, Sheriff Forbes, Mayor Lockwood. But this opens the door for Stefan to have a love affair with Katherine. Damon had returned from fighting in the army, and he has his eyes on Katherine, too. Katherine enchants both brothers, but she claims to love Stefan. Then if you've watched the show, then the rest of the book is the familiar story of the vampires being found by Jonathan's compass during the vampire siege, Katherine being tricked into ingesting vervain when she bites Stefan and was dragged out to the vampire cart, muzzled, and with 23 other vampires, dies in a fire at the church. Stefan and Damon are shot while trying to rescue Katherine, dies, and finds out they've both been turned into vampires. I felt like this book is a companion recap of the show itself, but what does make it interesting was Stefan's viewpoint, and how different Damon seems before he turned into a vampire. If you love the show and want a companion book on it, this one will be a good souvenir. It is nothing at all like L.J. Smith's original Vampire Diaries series, but you must know this is the TV Show version of what has already played out in the flashback to when the Salvatore Brothers meet Katherine Pierce episode.

The other books in the TV Show series will probably have more original storyline since it will be the stories of Stefan before he meets Elena.

Origins, December 12, 2010
Being a huge fan of all of L.J. Smith's books, including The Vampire Diaries series, I was eager to discover how another writer would interpret the world she inspired. If you think this will be just like the other Vampire Diaries books, know that it is one hundred percent based off of the television show. The only similarity to the books are the names, as it is with the show. That said, I still enjoyed it tremendously.

Stefan is telling the story in this series, and I enjoyed hearing his voice retell the story of his past. I easily fell into the story he was narrating, and enjoyed seeing the world through his eyes. He does counter himself a bit, which got to me after a while, however. The rest of the characters were very well written, and I felt as though they were taken from screen to page perfectly.

Though we do not know who actually wrote this book, they did a great job. Unlike Smith's writing, this story wasn't bogged down with description and detail, which I quite liked. I do adore L.J. Smith's writing style, but she can load on a bit too much description at times. With this book, you get just enough description and feel as though you are living the story.

I had the unique experience of someone who doesn't watch the show. Sure, I've seen a few episodes, but I don't tune in every week, eyes bulging at the screen with every twist and turn the story creates. That said, I didn't know too much about how this book differentiates from the show's plot.

I really enjoyed reading this book, as it takes you into the past of Stefan, Damon, and Katherine. While it is nothing like the books I adore, I know that fans of the television show and book series alike should take a chance on this book, even if it does deter from the story we have become so accustomed to. I'm counting the days until the next Stefan's Diaries book is release, which thankfully is very soon.

Story: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Originality: 3/5
Writing: 5/5
Ending: 5/5
Cover: 3/5

Do not buy the Audio Book-Wait to borrow book from friend., November 5, 2010
I rarely review and I felt inclined to say that do not buy the audio book whatever you do. It will ruin the experience for you. When I read the first seven chapters online I knew this was no piece of great literature but it did have my attention. Therefore I was in a hurry to read this and get some behind the scenes tidbits on my favorite TV show. When I saw the price for the 275 pageish book I was taken aback that is why I went for the audio book it was only a dollar more, and sometimes I can take more feeling from an audio book, and audio makes the experience last longer (I knew this would be read in a matter of a few hours). I may have had a better experience if the reader was not so dry and passionless he was terrible. Perhaps the worst I have ever heard, and I have listened to some bad readers. I think he ruined the book for me. My mistake though. Putting the reader aside nothing in this book held my attention past the first free seven chapters. Most everything in the book we already knew. The only side story that was a bonus was how Pearl and Anna were changed but by this time in the book it was no great revelation. I wish perhaps it would have been a bit spicier than it was. I will however say this is better than the second trilogy LJ wrote. I think perhaps if I ever come across the book to read perhaps it may change my attitude on the story as a whole. To me the book was copied line from line from the show. I am usually easy to please not sure what happened here.

I am trying not to rate this to low because of the audio book experience. All around I was disappointed in this book with the lack of behind the scenes stories that so could have been there. We could have so gotten a better look at Katherine, Pearl, Ana, and All the characters that were around town then. By the way I don't even think Stefan sounds like himself putting aside that yes he is really actually only 17. I would wait for the library or borrow from a friend for the next installment. Perhaps those will be better. I just so thought they could of added extra drama in that we did not know that the tv show could not fit in. Just a few of those scenes and it could have turned this book around big time.

Stefan's Diaries, December 8, 2010
Don't get me wrong, I love Vampire Diaries--both the tv show and the books by L.J. Smith--but this book wasn't quite as good as I was expecting. There's nothing new here--the story parallels the flashbacks from the tv show. I didn't really gain any new understanding of Stefan from reading this like I hoped I would. That being said it's an entertaining read and if you're a fan of Vampire Diaries you'll enjoy it, but if you watch the tv series you already know how it ends so there's no suspense here.


Pros:

-Damon. He's not in the book much but his brief appearances make the read worthwhile. We actually get to see how his and Stefan's relationship was before they were vampires. It was interesting seeing this side of him.



Cons:

-The details in this book follow the tv series rather than L.J. Smith's other books, which means they contradict her other books. This threw me off a bit at first. For example, characters who were introduced in the tv show such as Pearl & Anna but were non-existent in the books show up here. This may annoy detail-oriented readers.

-I love Stefan to death but in this book I'm sad to say he got on my nerves. He came across as so wimpy and depressing, letting his father walk all over him. I just wanted to smack him and say speak up for once already! Maybe that was the point but this side of his character still irritated me.
Also, his 'love' for Katherine bothered me. It felt more like lust to me, because he kept going on about how beautiful she was, but he only mentioned what qualities he liked in her I think once. And the smallest things would come up and in an instant he'd jump to conclusions be like "oh she's a monster how could I have ever thought I loved her?" In my opinion if you TRULY love someone you don't waver back and forth like that. You KNOW that you love them.

-I'm confused as to why Katherine was portrayed as so sweet and innocent in this book. I was expecting to see more of her mind games, but nope.

-There's hardly anything about Damon's and Katherine's relationship, which leaves a lot of open, unanswered questions: What was the extent of their relationship? Was she sleeping with both brothers? Why did she give Damon her blood too?



Read this book if you're looking for something entertaining, but don't expect anything new. Hopefully the next two in this series will give a new perspective on these characters.

Stefan's Diaries Vol. 1 was interesting to read, but nothing new., November 5, 2010
While this book provides some new information about Katherine that you wouldn't have guessed if you have been watching the show, it doesn't really provide the interesting backstory that I would have hoped for. I really enjoy the show and I have read several chapters of the L.J. Smith Vampire Diaries (The Awakening). It's very hard for me to believe the time setting in this novel because the language that is used isn't historical. I definitely enjoy pretty much anything labeled "The Vampire Diaries" though, so I think that's why this was interesting to me. If you were planning on buying this and you haven't watched the show, I would recommend reading the L.J. Smith novels first and watching the show on TV before you read this. I think this was written for the hardcore fans. I DO recommend the show and the L.J. Smith novels though!

A good companion to the show, November 2, 2010
Okay so if you're new to Vampire Diaries? This is the book based on tv show that is based on the book series. Got that? No? Allow me to explain.

LJ Smith wrote the original Vampire Diaries series (which she is still writing as of the time I am posting this review). Then they go and make a tv show based on those characters (on the air as of the time I am posting). This book, if you just glance at it states she is one of the authors on the listing, but really if you look closer it's just based on her characters. Also based both on the cover and a reading of the book it's clearly targeted at the people who love the show specifically more than the fans of the books. In fact if you've watched the show, it will seem eerily familiar as it sticks fairly true to the Stefan backstory as presented to us thus far in the show.

If you've been keeping up with the more recent LJ Smith Vampire Diary books, you'll definitely feel the difference both in that this is written by others and that it's meant to be a companion piece to the show instead of the book series. It has a slightly darker more adult tone than the book series and doesn't feel as shall we say "out there" as some of the LJ Smith ones have felt recently.

If you're a fan of the series I don't think you'll be disappointed though you won't feel as though there is anything new here if you've been watching the show. The second Stefan diary sounds a bit more promising in that department. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Now in paperback, the New York Times bestselling launch of Westerfeld's masterful series that SLJ reviewd as "sure to become a classic." ... Read more

Reviews

Fantastic Youth Steampunk, October 6, 2009

In an alternate history, Europe is headed towards a Word War. The Germanic Clankers, with their advanced machinery, face off against the British Darwinists, with their crossbred animals. The Darwinists have a new weapon, the Leviathan, a flying whale ship. Deryn Sharp is new to the service and is on the Leviathan for her first assignment. But only males are allowed to be in the service, so she must hide her identity from everyone, and disguise herself as a boy.

Meanwhile, Prince Aleksandar Ferdinand is woken in the middle of the night and forced to flee his home. With only a small group of men, Aleksandar faces foes at every turn. When the Leviathan lands near Aleksandar, he meets young Deryn, and their fates intertwine.

In this latest young adult novel from Scott Westerfeld, he has created an alternate history in a steampunk version of World War I. It's a fantastic world of elaborate machines and bizarre, unnatural animals. In addition to the unique world and fascinating story, the characters are just as absorbing and are the driving force behind the story. Aleksandar is spoiled, but very bright and capable. And Deryn is brave, talented, and humble. The two are from different worlds and seems as if the reader is viewing to drastically different stories, until the two worlds collide.

There is no lack of suspense and action in this steampunk adventure. As a growing niche in the science fiction genre, this novel is sure to be popular amidst youth and adults alike. With events culminating in a climactic ending, there is room left open for a sequel, which I certainly am hoping for. It's a fun, fresh and decidedly unique tale. Don't miss this one.

A Steampunk and WWI mashup!, October 13, 2009
(I am reviewing a hardcover UK edition provided by the publisher)

How do you get a 15-year old boy to do exactly what you want him to do? Ask him if he's too scared to do it. At least, that's how two men under his father's service manage to convince Aleksander Ferdinand--heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne--to leave the safety of his rooms, abandon his mock battle toys, and put his Cyklop Stormwalker lessons to practical use in the middle of the night to drive his fencing and driving instructors, and a handful of other men loyal to the throne as far away from home as possible. Leviathan is Steampunk, you see, and the nature of the genre is providing readers with an alternate history--in this case, it's the summer of 1914 and Eastern Europe is rife with tension. What Alek doesn't know is his parents have been assassinated in Serbia, poisoned in an attempt at provocation; someone certainly wants war.

This war, however, won't be waged with mustard gas or in trenches; Aleksander's Great War is one split down the middle of two factions: the Clankers and the Darwinists. The Clankers depend on mechanics and steam power, man-made machines with legs that mimic animals and firepower that rivals the creative weaponry and biotechnology of their rivals. The Darwinists are inspired by Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution. In Leviathan, the mystery of DNA --brought forward a few decades for the sake of plot--has been discovered and manipulated to create crossbreeds of animals and huge, living dirigibles as part of their military power.

The Leviathan is one of these airships--one of the biggest--in which a young girl, Deryn Sharp, manages to serve aboard after an accident during her practical entrance exams leaves her stranded among its crew. Stranded isn't the word Deryn--or Dylan as she's known to her new crew members--would use; blessed is more like it. She's looked forward to this day for as long as she can remember, but being a girl hasn't made it easy. Women aren't allowed to joined the military, but Deryn's brother--already an airshipman--has helped her study and perfect her disguise as Dylan, the boy. Their ruse has worked so far, but Deryn is in for more than she ever could have expected. Before the Leviathan can return Deryn, Alek's parents are killed and war declarations start cropping up across Eastern Europe, summoning the huge airship to a highly secretive mission that involves a thylacine, a zookeeper, talking lizards, and a batch of eggs.

Leviathan is funny and creative--Scott Westerfeld has imagined a world out of the depths of evolutionary history. As he writes in the Afterword, "Leviathan is as much about possible futures as alternate pasts. It looks ahead to when machines will look like living creatures and living creatures can be fabricated like machines" (p.439). Not to run away with the possibilities of what seems to be a technologically evolved society, Westerfeld has tempered those advancements with the realities of social politics as they existed at the beginning of the 20th Century: women can't vote or join the military; the divide between the aristocracy and the general public has never been more clear; distrust runs high for all technology based on ignorance and gross misunderstanding, religious and personal belief. To be fair, technophobia still exists, but in the case of the Darwinists versus the Clankers, personal preference and biased ideals over the dominant technological advancements are strong enough to start one of the most vicious wars in history.

In the middle of it all there is Deryn and Alek, 15-year old vulnerable sweethearts who only want to do what's right. Both are very new to the ways of the worlds they've been thrust into: Deryn, the floating home of the airshipmen; Alek, the politics of being the heir to an empire. In their youthful exuberance, it's encouraging to see their idealism isn't jaded by attitudes of those in charge who, in their age and experience, have turned more pragmatic than hopeful. Unfortunately, the innocence of youth keeps getting them into trouble with their more experienced, cautious, and suspicious adult counterparts. The friendship they develop is really quite endearing against the politics surrounding them, determined to drive them apart. It's touching and very understandable that two children, who represent so much of what each side stands for, are able to set aside their differences and begin to learn from each other. Deryn teases Alek about his irrational fears and disgusts over the conglomeration of living bodies that make up the Leviathan; Alek makes sure Deryn sees the advantage of machines. In between their banter is the truth of the situation: the survival of everything dear to them depends on teamwork; biotechnology is as necessary as gears, metalwork, and engines. Cooperation is the key to success.

My favorite character had to be Dr. Barlow. She's sharp and intelligent, British, and far removed (in belief) from the petty squabbles that would deny the advances of any science to any country for the sake of political advantage. She's a true scientist, but also a humanist and becomes a confidant to Alek and Deryn, entrusting them with the secret of her mission. Westerfeld's writing lends itself more to this type of commentary than anything else. He examines our world from a different perspective, but arrives at an interesting conclusion: does it really matter what advances are made, in any form, for any society, if those advances are greedily kept to a select few countries or people? What are the repercussions of keeping others ignorant on purpose? Does it really matter which group of people have the advantage or is it more a question of how it's used?

He wrestles with duty against morals, juxtaposing the order of the military against the plight of mercy. As Deryn finds out, doing one's duty can have its consequences; sometimes it's up to us to make the hard calls when we start to believe that the rules were sometimes meant to be broken. I like the socio-political commentary that comes with Westerfeld's book, the engines that drive his SF novels and project them as much into our past as into our near future. His themes reverberate widely and remind us to consider which is most to our advantage: helping just ourselves or helping both ourselves and others?

Interesting and unique story that is slow to get off the ground, November 25, 2009
I liked the story but it just seemed to take forever to get off the ground (no pun intended). Of the two separate stories, I felt Deryn's was way more interesting, Alek came across to me as annoying, stupid, and illogical at times and I had to force myself to read through his parts of the story. Deryn was much more likable and thus easier to read about. Once the two parts came together, I thought the story flowed much better and was an easier read.
The details on the Darwinist creations, and they way they work together to form a sort of ecology was very interesting and made me want to read more to learn more about this world they live in.
All in all, a decent story, almost prologue like, that will leave you wanting to read the next book.

This book is just too young for my taste, January 31, 2010
Like many of my friends, I've been looking forward to getting my hands on "Leviathan" for a while. It is so sad that after such a long wait I can't give this book more than 3 stars. And if I am being honest, I added the third star for fabulous cover art and excellent illustrations (1 or 2 per chapter!). My low rating doesn't mean however that I would recommend NOT to read this book. I simply didn't care for it personally, for several reasons.

First, this book seems to be mistakenly classified as young adult fiction. To me it read more like a children's book, middle school maximum. For a book about 15-16 year olds, Daryn and Alek were written awfully young. By the way their thought process, their behavior and motivations were portrayed, you'd think they were 11-12 years old, they were even drawn by the illustrator as pre-teens. I can enjoy some books written for this age group, such as first 2 Harry Potter books or "His Dark Materials," but the world of "Leviathan" just didn't hold my attention.

Secondly, the book was extremely heavy on descriptions of various machinery and fabricated animals. I know, this is the core of the book - a war between Clankers and Darwinists - but I hoped this concept would be presented in a more interesting manner. Just reading about how the zeppelins are constructed or how to operate an airship made out of a combination of creatures bored me to death.

And lastly, for a book that was supposed to offer an "alternative history," the "alternativeness" was pretty thin and didn't go beyond war machines. The rest was pretty much taken from real history - we were not offered anything new in terms of government structure, social order, belief system, etc. It is possible however that Westerfeld will explore these avenues in later books in the series.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from giving this book a shot. But if you are like me and prefer books for older teens, have no interest in mechanics and war battles, like to have a little bit of teen romance in your stories, you can safely skip this book.

It's worthy of one read at least. Try the library first., February 14, 2010
Interesting premise, a biologically advanced Great Britain, a mechanically advanced Prussia. Not quite young adult but middle school at most. Still an engaging story and I heard enough about it to sacrifice some money. The use of illustrations in the story is an interesting throwback to earlier times when it was common to sprinkle woodcuts and engravings throughout the text. I don't regret buying it but loaned it out when done.

Three stars for having such promise. Another star might be forthcoming if the next book in the series is truly at a YA level.

Do You Oil Your War Machines? Or Do You Feed Them?, October 21, 2009
There were three things that made me excited for Leviathan, the concepts of: alternate history World War I, mechanical weapons vs genetically engineered living ones, and the classic idea of a girl dressing as a boy to enter a profession otherwise barred to her. What I ended up getting was a book I can easily say is one of my favourite releases of 2009.

Where do I start? I guess with the characters. Our two viewpoint characters, Alek and Dylan, are two brave and intelligent young people who do their best to keep their heads on their shoulders even when everything is going to hell in a hand-basket around them. They are not perfect, but they are strong-willed and determined, and their developing bickering-laced friendship is a delight to read.

The secondary characters are also a joy to read. Alek's tutors/guardians are fun to read, but the character that shone for me is Dr Barlow. Fiercely intelligent and incredibly perceptive (as well as very British), she is very much the scientist, but also has a heart, allowing her to act as confidant to our two leads. Any scene where she shows up was a blast, especially when it comes to reactions to her traveling companion - a thylacine.

Characters aside, I loved the world of Leviathan. Westerfeld does an amazing job at setting the scene and showing us the differences between our world and the world of Leviathan without bogging us down in copious backstory and information. There is incredible imagination here, and logic amongst the fantasy - with the creations (or rather, fabrications, to use the in-universe term) are amazing to read and think about, and to wonder what else exists in this universe thanks to the Darwinists. Plus there is enough information concerning the background of the war that younger readers unfamiliar with the origins of World War I should be able to grasp the backstory without having to wander off to Wikipedia.

The last thing that really makes Leviathan, though, is the artwork. Keith Thompson's renderings of characters, machines and fabrications are absolutely stunning and make for a wonderful addition to the book. There's not much else I can say except "Holy cow, look at the space whale!"

I just have one complaint: I have to wait until October 2010 for Behemoth, the sequel?

The most imaginative read of 2010, July 13, 2010
Before Leviathan, steampunk was obscure to me, nothing more than an undefined sub-genre lurking in the background. Now, this fantastical novel, featuring two heroic protagonists and a living whale airship, has awakened me to the wonders of steampunk fiction, a science fiction/speculative book set in the past, usually in the nineteenth century. Scott Westerfeld exceeded all my expectations by crafting a world interlaced with history and futuristic science, teaching me about the confusions of World War I while sparking ideas about the possibilities of creating artificial life. The alternate history timeline, brimming advances in evolutionary science, one of my favorite things in the world, will rouse the imaginations of readers of all ages.

My most beloved books drip with setting, the plot taking place in vivid or unusual locations. The majority of Leviathan's plot unfolds in a highly unique setting, aboard the Darwinists' massive, hydrogen fueled whale airship, from which the book gets its namesake. It's obvious from the meticulous, facinating descriptions of the airship that Scott Westerfeld knows and loves what he's writing about. The tidbits of military terminology will engross both adults and children alike. While not aboard the Leviathan whale airship, the settings are still rich and stunning; journeying through the frigid, desolate Alps, or soaring through the vast skies of early nineteenth century London. The intricate illustrations, though sometimes slightly childish, assist my imagination in picturing the impossible. Without them, it would be hard for me to visualize correctly a giant soaring, breathing whale airship, complete with balconies and verandas. I might struggle to picture the giant walkers that Alek and his loyal crew men journeyed in. With at least one per chapter, the illustrations appear with frequency and give me flashes of nostalgia, as they remind me of those classic old adventure books that I used to read in my younger days.

Told through the alternating two viewpoints of Deryn and Alek, this book's plot drives on with a fast pace, since action is constantly happening to at least one of the narrators. When they meet in the middle of the book, the plot starts to flow even more smoothly, the two perspectives melding into an even more interesting tale. Imagination, not emotion, has always been Scott Westerfeld's aptitude, so I wasn't surprised to find that the character's emotions do not run very deep. However, the characters are still complex. Both the protagonists have their flaws, though end up being likable. Known to the crew as Dylan, Deryn Sharp, a daring airman with an even more daring secret, is cocky and very real. Aleksander Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, can be slightly illogical and arrogant at times, exposing himself and his crew of men to danger on numerous occasions, though eventually develops into a likable person. The two build an endearing relationship, setting aside their differences to become trusting friends. Their endless bickering is entertaining, reminding me of Ron and Hermione's relationship in Harry Potter.

Like every good book, readers can learn important things from Leviathan. The stark contrast between the Austro-Hungarian Clankers, who build huge, steam-powered machines for weaponry, and the British Darwinists, who evolve animals for battle purposes, shows a perfect example of two very different cultures, each who finds the other to be very strange. At first, Alek, heir to a Clanker driven empire, recoils at the sight of living Darwinist beasties, finding them to be very disgusting and scary. When Deryn takes him into the Leviathan airship for the first time, Alek exclaims, "This is... disgusting! We're inside an animal!" Deryn laughs and retorts, "Aye, but the skins of your zeppelins are made of cattle gut. That's like being inside an animal, isn't it? And so's wearing a leather jacket!...[B]eing inside a dead animal is much more awful, if you think about it. You Clankers really are an odd bunch." On the other hand, Deryn, a Darwinist, shudders at the thought of manmade, heartless Clanker machines. However, they both come to realize that each group has a lot to learn the other's fortes. In order to achieve their goal, Deryn and Alek must cooperate and use a combination of Darwinist and Clanker technology. This shows that combining the strengths of different cultural groups is a vital idea for a successful modern world, where diversity has never been more important than before.

Overall, Leviathan is an astoundingly hearty and refreshing read that will fuel the daydreams of readers of all ages. With the crisp writing, engaging plot, likable characters, and pure imagination, readers will immerse themselves in this book. It ends satisfyingly, while maintaining enough mystery so that readers will be excited for the sequel Behemoth, releasing in October, 2010. It's one of the books I'm the most excited for this year; I can't wait to dive back into Deryn and Alek's world of Clanker contraptions and Darwinist beasts. Leviathan definitely makes me want to read more steampunk novels!

I Still Can't Get Over the Gaint Flying Whale, May 1, 2010
This book was beautiful. No, not in the writing, in the presentation. I lovvvvve pictures. I would stare at the illustrations, and kept turning back to look at the map inside the cover. Even the pages were nice and snow white- especially rare since I got this book at the library. Presentation wise, I give this book an A. However, things aren't that simple.

I like steampunk. It fascinates me, and if not for my extreme dislike for the feel of metal, I would love to live in a steampunk setting. Leviathan is no normal steampunk. It contains fabulous fabricated creatures right out of man's imagination. Messenger lizards, floating giant jellyfish, six-legged hydrogen sniffing dogs, and best of all- a humungous flying whale. That's right.

Scott Westerfeld's imagination will never cease to amaze me.

Then there is the more traditional eight-legged walkers and zepplins, you know the usual. These machines are created by the Clankers-Germany and Austria-Hungary, enemy of the Darwsinists- England and France. Both sides have reasons to distrust each other. The Clankers find the fabricated creatures unGodly and the Darwinists don't believe in the reliance on machines. Then World War I happens, and that's where the story starts.

Aleksander is a prince from Austria Hungary and is on the run from the people responsible for the murder of his parents. Deryn Sharp is a girl disguised as a soldier aboard the Leviathan (the aforementioned flying whale). Of course these two main characters are very different, but there is no story unless fate drags them together.

Then some action happens and the story ends openly for a sequel. I was a bit annoyed with that actually. I knew it was going to be a series, I just didn't expect such a cliffhanger. As for the action- there was plenty of it. It was confusing truthfully, and I would have been completley lost if not for the nifty illustrations.

While I preferred Alek as a character, Deryn's story was much more interesting. Both characters, however, where written very young. I couldn't picture them as 15 year olds, but rather as pre-teens around the age of 12. That just seemed to fit their actions better and it suited the middle-school level writing. For being actioned filled, it went slow for me. I just couldn't get the motivation to read it.

If you are expecting romance (as I was), prepare to be disappointed. There was hints of it, of course, but Alek doesn't even Deryn is a girl by the end. I have a feeling any romance in this book will be drawn out verrrrrry slowly.

Overall, its not what I expected. It was an adventure novel for middle-school boys essentially. The pictures were my favorite part. As was the concept of a flying whale with people walking around in it (kinda biblical, ain't it?).

I will most likely read the sequel and have only one demand....

I WANNA MOVIE!!!

Can't Wait for Behemoth to come out in October!, August 16, 2010
I'm a huge fan of Scott Westerfeld, from his Uglies series to the Midnighters series. And he keeps on getting better and better! This time, we get to go back in time to an alternate world that's a World War 1 / Steampunk mash-up. The steampunk element gives Keith Thompson an opportunity to show off his talents with beautiful black-and-white sketches.

The alternate reality in Leviathan is amazingly fascinating. As Westerfeld explains in his author's note, the basic events in the novel are based on history - there was a real Archduke of Austria/Hungary whose assassination precipitated the 1st World War in Europe. But for the rest of the novel, Westerfeld pretty much goes off into a tangent of his own making. The world in Leviathan is divided into the `Clankers' - people with highly advanced machine technology / engineering versus the `Darwinists' - people who have mastered DNA manipulation such that they are able to create bizarre crossbred species called `beasties' or fabricated animals. It is an incredible world wherein there are Stormwalkers (tanks that walk instead of roll - think of steampunk versions of the Imperial Walkers from `Empire Strikes Back') and the Leviathan (a whale that serves as a living airplane) amongst other delights.

These two groups are natural enemies, but an alliance is formed from necessity between a group of `Clankers' - 15-year-old young prince-in-hiding Alek and his loyal band of men and `Darwinists' - 15-year-old Deryn/Dylan (who is masquerading as a boy soldier) and the British Air Service aboard the Leviathan.

Westerfeld has always had a nice touch with young girls as characters. Deryn is no different, she is spirited, spunky and endlessly resourceful, and yes, can be annoying at times with her over-achiever Type-A personality. Another strong female character, the scientist/diplomat Dr. Bowler, serves as a good counter-weight to all the testosterone aboard the Leviathan.

Meanwhile, my 14-year-old self would have had a huge crush on the young prince Aleksandar who has had to grow up really fast due to the total upheaval in his life. Aleksandar shows a lot of growth, going from a much coddled, sheltered, spoilt prince to a level-headed strong young soldier.

I love that at its heart, take away the sci-fi elements, this is an old-fashioned adventure story. There's non-stop action and battle scenes to satisfy anyone, and I was pretty much hooked from the first chapter (where Alek makes his escape from the palace) to the last chapter (where - oops - okay, I won't spoil it!). Suffice it to say that I am highly recommending this book to both the young and old, and I can't wait for Behemoth to come out!

Readable, but very derivative, June 13, 2010
The author's "Uglies" and "Midnighters" series are visionary, and "Uglies" especially is an extraordinary imagining of a fully realized dystopian future. This book, the first in a yet-to-be-named series, is not in the same class. If you closed your eyes and just listened, you could swear that the author was Philip Reeve. The book reads like a cross between "Larklight" and "Mortal Engines," with some of the fantastic creatures of the "Edge Chronicles" thrown in. It does have the advantage of conveying some of the basic facts relating to the start of World War I, and it is very readable, but from the author of "Uglies" this was still disappointing. ... Read more

Editorial Review

In this compelling sequel to Chains, a National Book Award Finalist and winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson shifts perspective from Isabel to Curzon and brings to the page the tale of what it takes for runaway slaves to forge their own paths in a world of obstacles—and in the midst of the American Revolution.

The Patriot Army was shaped and strengthened by the desperate circumstances of the Valley Forge winter. This is where Curzon the boy becomes Curzon the young man. In addition to the hardships of soldiering, he lives with the fear of discovery, for he is an escaped slave passing for free. And then there is Isabel, who is also at Valley Forge—against her will. She and Curzon have to sort out the tangled threads of their friendship while figuring out what stands between the two of them and true freedom. ... Read more

Reviews

a terrific historical thriller, October 21, 2010
If by some chance you missed Chains, you'll want to read it before delving into this sequel--the second volume of a planned trilogy. Chains, set at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, focuses on the story of Isabel, a 13-year old slave owned by a prominent New York City family who support the British. Isabel meets another slave, Curzon, with ties to the Patriots, and becomes a spy for the Patriot cause--with the hopes of obtaining her freedom.

In Forge, the story begins where Chains ends, with Isabel and Curzon escaping to freedom, but the focus of the story quickly changes from Isabel to Curzon. The two have separated again, with Isabel running away to try to find her sister and Curzon finding himself in the middle of the Battle of Saratoga, then enlisting in the Patriot army. The irony of a slave fighting for the freedom of others does not escape Curzon, who attempts to argue his case with his friend and fellow soldier Eben. Curzon questions whether bad laws deserve to be broken, but Eben is frustrated by Curzon's logic. "Two slaves running away from their rightful master," he says," is not the same as America wanting to be free of England. Not the same at all."

But when the army arrives at the winter encampment at Valley Forge, white and black soldiers alike are unprepared to deal with the conditions there: about 12,000 soldiers with no barracks, bitter cold, and no meat. The author begins each chapter with a quote from a contemporary source, many of which are increasingly desperate reports from General Washington to the Continental Congress on the need for supplies of all kinds, from food to shoes to clothing. Most days rations consisted of nothing but firecake, a mix of flour and water that tasted like ashes and dirt, and was "hard enough to break rat's teeth." Anderson so successfully evokes conditions at the camp that we groan along with the men at their terrible conditions. But the men manage to find a little humor in their situation..no food means "we've got nothing to fart with." A special treat for Christmas is a piece of chewy pigskin to chew on (I'm assuming like the pigs ears people buy now for our dogs).

Through all the hardship Curzon manages to keep secret that he is really an escaped slave, but he can't stop thinking about Isabel and what might have become of her. Fate is to bring them together again at Valley Forge. While General Washington and Baron von Steuben try to forge the raggedy American volunteers into real troops, Curzon and Isabel try to forge their way to a new relationship...are they more than friends or an ever-bickering brother-sister pair? And can they in turn forge their way to a life of freedom along with the Patriot army?

This book equals Chains in its ability to bring the complex world of Revolutionary America to life--a world in which some struggled for freedom while others were condemned to a life of slavery. What will happen to Curzon and Isabel? We won't know until the last volume in the trilogy comes out next year.

While the main characters in the story are fictional, Anderson integrates their story seamlessly around real-life figures such as Washington, Nathaniel Greene, Charles Wilson Peale, and others, and in an afterword explains clearly which characters are "real" and which are fictional, as well as additional historical explanations. For example, she explains how black Americans fought for both the Patriots and the British. The appendix also provides a wealth of suggestions for future reading.

But don't call her book historical fiction. The author believes historical fiction gets a bum rap from kids. Please, she begs teachers and librarians, in her blog, call her books "HISTORICAL THRILLERS." The phrase historical fiction, she says, makes kids bolt for the exit or writhe on the floor in agony because between Johnny Tremain and the excruciating boredom of history class, they think all things historical are worse than chewing on barbed wire." I think the "thriller" label is justified for Forge, as it is for Chains--I had a hard time putting the book down, and literally gasped with shock at times as I turned the pages. Put this in the hands of young readers, please, and kudos to Anderson for another page turning thriller (with some non-excruciating history thrown in).

Forging Connections in So Many Ways, November 4, 2010
I fell in love with strong Isabel in Laurie Halse Anderson's first book, Chains. She is a compelling, original character that, although her status as a slave, didn't accept things as they were. Living in New York City, she befriends another boy in a prison named Curzon, who together escapes to a better life. The sequel, "Forge", picks up the story, with a shift in narrators, and tells an equally compelling story of American independence mixed with slavery.

Escapaing together, Isabel quickly ditches Curzon to find her only surviving family member, younger sister Ruth. Curzon quickly finds himself enveloped once again in the fight for liberty, enmeshing himself with a group of patriots, some more accepting of his skin color than others. Bad timing. The Continental army is spending a very cold winter at Valley Forge. Everyone fights off cold, near starvation, thievery and infighting, until a surprise twist whisks Curzon away into a new set of complications I honestly didn't see coming.

For those of you like myself that adore Isabel, and may have been put off with a change in narrators, I encourage you to not to give up hope. Anderson's book is definitely Curzon's story. It ends up being interesting to view Isabel through this lad's eyes. You get quite a different sense of her, which I truly appreciate. In some ways, Isabel becomes more alive this way, more rounded, more real.

It all comes down to Halse's writing style. Brisk, extremely well researched without dwelling in period details or language that would leave the reader lost, the story moves along at a great pace. Short chapters lend themselves to building tension and drama, and make it ideal for a read aloud. The kids will relate to Curzon right away; his reduced status, in the eyes of some, make him a smart, "cheer"-able underdog. While I didn't think this at first, it was a great move to have Curzon pick up this part of the story.

In all, this series of books is a brilliant twist on an all-too-familiar story. Having African-American characters participate in a battle for freedom, in which their own freedom is non-existent, speaks volumes to the unexplored in children's literature racial conflict that is a compelling paradox to our American Revolution. In Halse's deft and skilled writing hands, it ultimately is a winner of a book all around.

Readers will likely relish its sensitive storytelling as well as its gutsy depictions, November 1, 2010
When Laurie Halse Anderson's novel CHAINS was published in 2008, it became a finalist for the National Book Award and won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. The book introduced young people to an important --- and often overlooked --- chapter in American history, as Anderson told the story of the dawn of the American Revolution through the eyes of a young slave girl.

Anderson now continues this work in FORGE, the second book of what will eventually be a trilogy. Here the narrative shifts gears from Isabel to her friend Curzon, a fellow runaway who becomes separated from Isabel but finds safety --- of a sort --- when he enlists as a soldier fighting on the American side during the Revolutionary War. As one of the few black soldiers, he is disrespected --- and worse --- by some of his peers and his officers. With his customary courage, hard work and loyalty, however, Curzon gains the respect and even the friendship of many of his fellow soldiers.

All the young men's fortitude is brutally tested, however, when they are told to report to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the winter of 1777 and 1778. As Curzon and his comrades struggle just to survive, Anderson vividly brings to life the horrifying details of life in Valley Forge, unflinchingly documenting the hardships that most high school history books just gloss over. From surviving days without food to digging trenches in frozen ground to trudging through snowdrifts in just a pair of wet, stinking socks, Curzon's story, and that of all the men, will both repulse readers and remind them of the soldiers' remarkable fortitude and bravery.

Besides being a compelling, unfailingly realistic account of the winter at Valley Forge, though, FORGE's story also serves as a powerful metaphor: "This camp is a forge for the army," remarks one character. "It's testing our qualities. Instead of heat and hammer, our trials are cold and hunger. Question is, what are we made of?"

What indeed? Curzon finds himself asking this question and others when his past as a runaway slave starts to catch up with him. By all accounts, he should be freed; he has kept his part of a bargain that he made months earlier. But he doesn't have paperwork showing he's been freed, and if he's revealed as a runaway, hunger and cold will be the least of his problems. One beloved but complicated relationship from his past also resurfaces when he encounters Isabel once more and must deal not only with their shared and separate histories but also with his evolving feelings toward her.

Once again, in FORGE, Laurie Halse Anderson has managed to compose a historical novel that feels both entirely true to its period and completely contemporary. Curzon's voice rings true as that of an 18th-century young man, but its sophisticated narration and storytelling style introduce contemporary perspectives seamlessly in ways that will not only allow readers to reflect on their own times but also to reconsider their understanding of and approach to history. With its extensive historical notes and glossary, FORGE (like CHAINS) would be an ideal classroom companion to more traditional history-book fare, one that readers will likely relish as much for its sensitive storytelling as for its gutsy depictions.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Loved "Chains"; Really, really love "Forge"., December 20, 2010
Imagine the soldier's moment of fear in single combat when he doesn't know whether he will be shot before he can kill the enemy loading his gun just a few feet away. Laurie Halse Anderson does a remarkable job of describing this gripping scene and of conveying other visceral details of cold, exhaustion, hunger, loss, boredom and destitution among the rebel army at Valley Forge in 1777.

The soldier's experience does not overshadow Anderson's central storyline, however, which focuses on the experience of two teenaged slaves in the American colonies. As in "Chains", She continues to challenge readers to consider that the so-called fight for freedom never included freedom for enslaved African-Americans. The details of hardship, abuse and humiliation inflicted on Curzon and Isabel by their greedy and ambitious owner build and build until we can bear them no more, and we inwardly cheer on each small step the characters take toward escape.

I liked this book more than "Chains," although I very much enjoyed the first book. I found the details of the Valley Forge experience more compelling than the details of where the pump was located or how windows were constructed in old New York City.

I also disagree with reviewers who say that "Chains" absolutely must be read before "Forge". Although some details of the relationship between the two main characters might be spoiled if "Forge" is read first, I believe the second book stands well on its own. It is not necessary to know about the first part of Isabel and Curzon's history to make sense of this second installment. And those hard-to-reach middle school boys might be more tempted to read about a soldier than they would be to read about a slave in the home of a rich Colonial family. But students who love the second book will definitely go back to read the first book on their own.

As a teacher, I like the inclusion of primary source material at the beginning of each chapter, Anderson's clear and well-written prose, and the metaphors around birds, windows, stones, seeds and the ongoing symbolism of chains and forges. For an interdisciplinary unit, students could research the life of Elizabeth Freeman, a slave in Massachusetts whose real-life experience has things in common with Isabel's initial situation.

There is a lot to like in both books. I look forward to the third volume!

Wanted more of Isabel's story, November 8, 2010
I waited a year for this sequel to be published, to read more of the adventures of Isabel, the main character in Chains. Imagine my disappointment when Isabel leaves the story on the first page of the first chapter, then does not reappear for 170 pages ! I was invested in HER story, not Curzon's, and to call this a sequel to Chains is to use the word "sequel" very loosely. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Catch a fallen star . . .

Tristran thorn promised to bring back a fallen star. So he sets out on a journey to fulfill the request of his beloved, the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester—and stumbles into the enchanted realm that lies beyond the wall of his English country town. Rich with adventure and magic, Stardust is one of master storyteller Neil Gaiman's most beloved tales, and the inspiration for the hit movie.

Reviews

Shimmering "Stardust", June 18, 2007
Fairy tales tend to lose their sparkle when they're made into books for adults.

But Neil Gaiman creates his own sparkling fairy tale in "Stardust," an entrancing fantasy tale that never loses its magic. With beautiful prose, likable characters, and a mesh of the grotesque and the ethereal, this is Gaiman's reworking of fairy tales -- with a slight wink to the readers.

Years ago, Dunstan Thorn fell in love with a beautiful slave from across the Wall. Nine months later, he got a baby boy on his doorstep. His son Tristan grows up unaware of his heritage, and longs for the beautiful, frosty Victoria Forester. When she rejects him, he makes a rash promise -- he'll pursue a fallen star over the Wall and bring it back to her, if she gives him her hand.

But when he finds the star, he learns that it is a beautiful young girl, a daughter of the moon named Yvaine. The dying Lord of Stormheld threw a gem to the distance and accidently knocked her from the sky. Now his sons are trying to get the gem back, since the one who gets the gem will be the next Lord. What is more, an ancient witch is pursuing the star, determined to cut out her heart so she and her sisters can be young again. To protect the lovely star, Tristan is called on to be a hero, and to learn who he really is...

Few fantasy stories are as well-done as "Stardust." Gaiman mixes humor, romance, grisly realism and airy-fairiness in a tight little plot. It only really picks up two-thirds of the way into the book, but what a trip it is. It slides rather than explodes to a conclusion, where everything slips into place and all the loose ends are neatly tied together, in a way that makes perfect sense.

His writing is a mix of beautiful details and fast-moving plot. Gaiman frequently pauses to describe the creepy Stormhelm, where murdered ghosts watch their brothers compete, to the beautiful forests of Faerie where little sprites mock people. Some scenes -- like a unicorn's skewering a witch -- are breathtakingly vivid.

Everybody loves an everyman hero, and despite his mystery background, Tristan definitely qualifies. He's a little goofy and a lot clueless, but his earnestness makes him likable. Yvaine is a bit off-kilter in a good way, sharp-tongued and a little naive, but a good match for Tristan. And supporting characters like the evil Septimus and youth-hungry witch are solidly written; even Victoria is shown in a new light.

This particular edition is graced with Charles Vess's exquisite illustrations -- delicate, colourful, ethereal, full of little details and shadowy corners. He captures every shred of the magic that Gaiman's words are able to conjure, and a little bit more than that.

The beautiful adult fairy-tale "Stardust" is an entrancing read, wonderfully written and full of intriguing characters. An outstanding, timeless story, and sure to enchant readers. (Yes, even the ones who don't like unicorns)

Enchanting, Effervescent, Read in one gulp!, April 8, 2001
"Stardust" won the Mythpoeic Award for best adult fairy tale. After all, fairy tales are not just for kids. And they're not for wimpy adults, either. Just read "The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales" by Maria Tatar if you don't believe me. "Stardust" has some pretty Grimm stuff in it too, however the only people who might not enjoy it are those who take Unicorns very very seriously. Or are extremely fond of billy goats.

Gaiman's story begins and ends with a fair that will remind you of Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market":

"Backwards up the mossy glen/ Turned and trooped the goblin men,/ With their shrill repeated cry,/ "Come buy, come buy.".../ One set his basket down,/ One reared his plate;/ One began to weave a crown/ Of tendrils, leaves, and rough nuts brown/ (Men sell not such in any town);/ One heaved the golden weight Of dish and fruit to offer her:/ "Come buy, come buy," was still their cry."

As Laura of "Goblin Market"-fame learned, it is better not to sample the merchandise at such Unseelie gatherings. Dunstan Thorn, who "was not romantic" learns this lesson too, when nine months after the "Stardust" fair, a baby is abandoned at the boundary between Faerie and the English village of Wall with his name pinned to its blanket. Thus begins the story of Tristan Thorn who is raised as a proper Victorian lad until age seventeen. Unlike his father, Tristan is romantic and at the bequest of the most beautiful girl in Wall, he sets out on a quest through the Land of Faerie to fetch her a fallen star. Not just any fallen star, but the one Tristan and Victoria both saw on the night she refused to kiss him.

"Stardust" is stuffed with stock fairy tale creatures who have been blown loose from their moorings and brought to life in the most wildly imaginative way. Some of them make only token appearances, but all are memorable. Two of the most poignant are the boy who is turned into a billy goat, and a billy goat, turned into a boy. There are three truly evil witches, and one who is only so-so wicked. There are....well, read the book. Even if you aren't drinking while you read it, you'll feel drunk by the time you finish.

If ever there was a book that could be labeled, 'Drink me!', "Stardust" is that book.

P.S. The cover has nothing to do with the story

Fairy Tale for Grown-ups, June 5, 2002
I loved reading fairy tales when I was a child, and I love reading them to my child now. Harry Potter is the closest I've found to a fairy tale that grown-ups will enjoy, but with this book (and others by this author) I've found a delicious fairy tale for the hungry adult reader.

This truly is a fairy tale for grown-ups. It begins, "There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire. And while that is, as beginnings go, not entirely novel (for every tale about every young man there ever was or will be could start in a similar manner) there was much about this young man and what happened to him that was unusual, although even he never knew the whole tale of it."

There's a bit more to the story than that, and it isn't quite as simple as we're led to believe. Young Tristan Thorn from the village of Wall sets out with a mission and a certain amount of mystery about himself (that we're let into early on, if we pay just the slightest bit of attention).

Like Gaiman's hero in Neverwhere, Tristan is a good-hearted young man with the best of intentions. He promises to leave the village of Wall, where he has lived his whole life, to bring back a fallen star for the woman he loves -- in exchange, she will grant whatever he wants (which is, of course, marriage as he is a charming Prince type guy, the kind you find in fairy tales.)

What seems a somewhat simple adventure twists and turns into much more. Medevial times, fairies, unicorns, the moon, bad people (male and female) lead our hero on an exciting adventure and in the end he gets what he doesn't even know he wants.

This is a gentle fairy tale for adults by an excellent storyteller.

I was not a Gaiman fan, did not know who he was..., January 9, 2000
I picked this book up at the airport, never having heard of Neil Gaiman. I wanted something mindless to read through a long flight and did not hold high hopes of great enjoyment. To my great delight I was wrong! What a surprise, what a great find. The writing is effortless, the style seems so easy, until suddenly you find yourself in the middle of a wonderful complexity of plot and character. Characters are imaginative and memorable, the story, although a "fairy tale"is unique and irresistable.I am so delighted to have found this author. I am not a comic book fan, but intend to read everything he has written. This is intelligent,humorous, magical stuff. We could do with more like this.We do not have to be children to enter worlds of magic and imagination. How wonderful that someone like Gaiman knows and honours this for us. Read this and remember enchantment and wonder. Treat yourself!

WARNING: SOME EDITIONS MISSING ILLUSTRATIONS!!!, December 6, 2004
First, let me say that this story is beautifully written and can probably be enjoyed fully with one's imagination to serve as illustrator.

HOWEVER, this book was originally published by DC Comics as a picture book and absolutely stunning illustration was provided by Charles Vess. Vess has a long and prolific history of illustrating many of Gaiman's comix. It is a REAL SHAME not to purchase a copy with those illustrations. BE CAREFUL -- this website doesn't do such a terrific job of making clear which edition is which. The original is on this site in the edition published by DC Comics with the full title "STARDUST: Being a Romance Within the Realms of Faerie." It's hard to tell for sure if any other editions here have the Vess illustrations. The trade paperback edition definitely has NO ILLUSTRATION AT ALL.

a fairy tale gone terribly wrong to make an exotic story, June 13, 2000
At first when I read the summary on the book jacket, I thought it would be like one of those old, cheesy Victorian romance fantasies that drag on and on about love and lace. I put it back onto the shelf. A few weeks later, I picked it up and checked it out, and couldn't put it down. It began slowly, but described the setting with intriciate, and interesting, detail. The verbs and adjectives screamed 'read on, read on.' I was so intrigued by the reality of the Faerie market and the interconnecting stories. What I loved most about this book was its wit. Tristran Thorn is the perfect bewildered hero, and the star is a kickass original heroine. The several 'bad guys' have their own feelings and thoughts, and I thought the Lord of Stormhold and his sons was humorous. Every aspect of this book was creative, which is surprising for something that is so alike to a fairy tale. If you liked this book at all, read 'Neverwhere'; it's unlike 'Stardust,' but with the same wit and style.

An old fashioned Fairy Tale without the PC nonsense, March 24, 2004
Okay, maybe not the kind of Fairy Tale you would read to your very young children, but after delving through horror and dark fantasy, I found Stardust to be a refreshing, childlike break; minus the hangover of feeling like I was exposed to an excess of sugar and cotton candy. After all, Fairy tales used to be a bit brutal in their own right, and taking away all of the blood and violence in order to conform to today's "Politically Correct" standards also takes away from the lesson to be learned. IMHO.

This tale is told with a simple exuberance, yet manages to hold up under the scrutiny of all us die hard Neil Gaiman fans, showing us that he has the talent to lead us along gentler slopes of the same deadly peaks and chasms he has taken us to in his other works. His playfulness shows through in Stardust as a novel, the way his chapbooks "Wolves In The Walls" and "The Day I Swapped My Dad For 2 Goldfish" did with his graphic novels.

Tristin Thorn lives in the English town of Wall, right next to, well, the Wall. There is only one way through the Wall, a gap which is constantly guarded by the village folk of Wall; not to keep people from coming in, but to keep the inhabitants of Wall from crossing over into the land of Faerie. Once every nine years there is a huge fair within the field beyond the gap, and only then do the peoples from each of the lands mingle. Tristin is not aware that half of his lineage is from across the Wall, and when the day comes that he watches a falling star with the girl he wishes to marry, and promises to bring her back that very same star, his father Dunstan helps him to cross the gap into Faerie.

Over in Faerie, it is time for the Lord of Stormhold to die, and pass along his Reign to one of his sons. Unable to determine which of his surviving sons is worthy, the old Lord tosses the Power of Stormhold (a topaz set in an amulet) up into the air and tells his sons that whoever finds the amulet will rule after him. This won't be easy for the offspring of the old Lord, for already four of his seven sons were dead, killed off by the living brothers in order to eliminate their claim to Stormhold.

Also in Faerie live the Lilim, three ancient women who have lived on and on for forever, revitalizing their youth by eating the hearts from fallen stars. When the star falls, one of the ancient crones makes herself young again and sets out after the star.

Tristin is helped along in his quest by some, and treated rudely by others, but always manages to get along by determination and, surprisingly, innocence. When he is transported by a magic candle to where the star had fallen, he is shocked to see that the Fallen Star is a girl, and she has a broken leg to boot.

The adventures of Tristin in his journey back to The Wall and the market within the field are magical, fantastical, and sometimes just a tiny bit scary. Though the plot really does have a transparent ending, it still does not take away from the total enjoyment of Tristin's adventures and the predicaments he falls in and out of. All of the main characters coalesce in the ending, but the side characters we meet along the way are just as fleshed out and real to me as Tristin, Yvaine the Star, and Madame Semele with her mysterious bird.

Go ahead and step through the Gap with Tristin, you won't be sorry you tagged along. Enjoy!

Skip the novel, get the "comic" collection, September 4, 2000
The three stars is specifically for the novel edition. The story deserves four; while not perfect, it is an excellent story in traditional Victorian style. Gaiman's characters are familiar - we've met some of them, the rest we wish we could meet. The story is well-rooted in folklore, and has some fine vivid moments.

So I don't know why Neil decided (After having orginally conceived the project with Charles Vess and finished it beautifully as a painted book) to market this as a plain, unillustrated book. Charles Vess' illustrations (watercolours, painted full pages and partial pages beside the text, not the standard comic layout of multiple panels and word bubbles) were bright, sometimes breathtaking, sometimes merely very fine. Gaiman's text is identical - I believe I found two sentences different between the two. (A side note; the reason I know this is that a friend gave me the impression he had expanded the text at first, which would give him an excuse for marketing the novel. And so, when I saw a phrase I didn't remember, I looked it up. To my disappointment, it was there, and it was only my memory playing tricks.)

So why take a collaborative, beautiful project, full of fine art as well as gentle cheerful prose, and cut out half of the work?

Because adults don't read illustrated books (Never mind the number of different people who've illustrated Tolkien and Peter S. Beagle). Adults don't read comics (Another fallacy), which is how the illustrated edition is marketed.

Since when are adults less sophisticated than children? Since when are adults unable to appreciate art?

Go into a comic store. Find the Stardust collection with Vess' illustrations. Then appreciate a perfectly melded work, done by not one but two highly skilled artists - Gaiman with elegant words, Vess with colour and character.

The Master does it again, September 29, 2000
Neil Gaiman is amazing. The ease with which he moves from on genre to another makes you wonder if there is any style he can't write. While everything he does has somewhat the same feel, it seems each work is completely independent from another.

The first thing I read by Gaiman was the Sandam series and then his novel, Neverwhere. Stardust in no way disappointed me. Gaiman is a true storyteller. The world he creates is so complete that it seems like the places described could be right outside of any city. This book takes on even more of a fantasy twist than Neverwhere. The story centers around Tristran, a boy from the city of Wall. He sets off on a journey to find a jewell that would surely win the heart of the one he wants, but along the way his journey takes on added dimensions he never imagined and quickly changes his life.

I think that even for people who are not huge fans of fantasy, the adept manner in which Gaiman spins this tale will win anyone over. I can't say enough how talented Gaiman is at telling a story.

An intelligent, stirring Fae tale, October 17, 2001
This book is one of the gentlest pieces of work I have seen from Neil Gaiman; while he calls it "A Romance within the Realms of Faerie" in some ways, it is a fairy tale.

If you have never read anything by Neil Gaiman, this is a fine place to start, and I feel lucky to introduce him to you. His work rises from a gorgeous whimsy which alternates between the breathtakingly beautiful and the heart-twistingly dark. His writing is excellent on a minute level, word by word, image by image, and his characters are plausible, compelling, and real.

If you have, be prepared for more of the same. This book is a delight, very pleasing in itself, with no unsatisfied feelings left at the end. In fact, the moment I finished it, I picked it up again, to read aloud to my boyfriend.

The lush and beautiful watercolors of Charles Vess are a beautiful complement to the story (in fact, I could not imagine it without them, as I've never read the unillustrated version). They capture the depth of the world, the ephemeral quality of the reality, and the changing palette of good and evil, beauty and horror very well. (in short, don't buy the one without pictures if you can buy the one with them!) Vess's illustrations serve to make even more delightfully immersive a book that will already swallow you for hours on end. ... Read more

Reviews

Every Girl Needs a Dream, January 25, 2001
My mother first bought me Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea when I was 12. I fell immediately in love with the books, and begged her to buy me the rest. And slowly, bit by bit, my collection of books grew. The main character, Anne, though having lived in the late 19th century, is so wonderful, that I felt a kinship with her. I not only own the complete collection of books, but both of the movies too. Recently, they made a new movie, but I wasn't able to get into. It so varied from the origional books (Colleen Dewhurst is dead, and so they had to rearrange things), that I couldn't watch but 10 minutes of it without getting upset (I pointed out 15 different mistakes). But, I still love the original stories. My book collection of the Anne stories has made 5 moves with me (in 9 years) and are becomming so worn that soon, I will have to buy a new collection. I still read them, you see. I turn 22 soon and have a husband and toddler son. You just don't outgrow them. And they are perfect for any woman or girl, of any age.

Read by a Mom :), January 31, 2005
Yes, I'm 37 years old and decided finally it was time for me to read these books! I kept searching for books to read and this set always comes up. I just finished book 1 (Anne of Green Gables)..Now I'm on 2. Ann of Green Gables is about a VERY talkative little girl who is adopted by what seems to be at first a cold, proper, prudish, mother who wanted a boy and also a country husband of few words. Anne is opposite of both these people. Very outgoing, not shy, not afraid to voice her opinion, and is really really into her own imagination. She is very much a red head. She opens the hearts and minds to these prudish parents who become loving and kind to her. They realize that not only did they save Anne's life, but she in fact, saved thiers. It's a sweet story with lots of funny parts. Anne is constantly getting into these situations that are embarresing. Never you mind, she is so strong willed that she manages to get her own self out of it. I love the fact that she doesn't rely on her parents to get her out of her problems.
Even though she wore even me out with all that talking she does (We all have at least 1 child like this) , you can't help but warm up to her. She is also a drama queen. I guess they even existed in early 1900's right? I enjoyed the story very much and am now on the second book which after only 6 chapters has me really excited. So far the second books is very funny.
I would recommend this book to readers typically at least 10 years old and up.

Anne of Green Gables, April 26, 2005
"I hate you! I hate you - I hate you!"
"How dare you call me skinny and ugly? How dare you say I'm freckled and red-headed? You are a rude, impolite, unfeeling woman!" said Anne Shirley to Mrs. Rachel Lynd, the town's busybody, one day in a village called Avonlea.

Anne is an imaginative, overly dramatic girl of eleven, who has just been adopted by Marilla Cuthbert, an old lonely woman, and her kind brother, Mathew Cuthbert. Anne of Green Gables is set on Prince Edward's Island in Canada.

I enjoyed the book because of the humour tied in with the story, and how well I got to know the characters because of the wonderful character descriptions. Overall, I would highly recommend this book as both a gift idea and for reading yourself!

Anne of Avonlea, January 5, 2008
Can Anne make it as a teacher? In Anne of Avonlea the second book in the series by L M Montgomery Anne is an orphan growing up. She has gone through school and hopes to become a teacher. The only problem is she is teaching her old schoolmates. Anne and her friend Diana go through numerous adventures. My favorite is when Anne accidentally sells her neighbors cow thinking that it is her own. The book is a quick read and takes place on Prince Edwards Island a long time ago. I enjoyed how the book tells about how Anne and her neighbor, Mr.Harrison, have a growing friendship. Anne goes over every now and then despite Mr.Harrison's rude bird, Ginger. The part that I disliked the most was Dora. There is no point in having her there she doesn't do anything she is too shy. The author is really into details and is good at expressing the emotions of various characters. The genre of the book i think is realistic fiction because everything about the book seems real because it could all actually happen.Anyone interested in history would really enjoy this book because it is good at explaining how things were done back then.

Anne of Green Gables the Ups and Downs, May 17, 2006
Anne of Green Gables was an amazing story. The way Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote makes you really knw the characters,and you feel what the characters are feeling .Along with this we have the great description of the beautiful province of Prince Edward Island. You can almost feel the wind in your hair and smell the ocean. you can almost see the wonderous white Way of Delight that Lucy Maud Montgomery described so clearly.
This book take s you through many exciting adventures with Anne ,the poor orphan girl who absolutely hates her looks but always has a way to imagine them differently. She had traveled from home to home when finally she comes to mathew and Marilla. Anne's wide imagination takes her through many adventures. She causes a lot of mischeif which really shakes the people of Avonlea. Anne goes from strange new girl to the girl who the people of Avonlea admire. This makes the book fun and makes you want to read more. the one thing I don't like about this book is the sad ending. this book touched my heart and I believe it will touch yours too.

A great book!!!!!, February 8, 2006


What do you get when you combine a redheaded girl, a firey temper, and a wonderful imagination? Anne Shirley, from L.M. Montgomery's book, Anne of Green Gables! It's a great book set in the 1880's, in a little Canadian town called Avonlea. Anne gets into many problems, like when a boy teased her, and she in turn took her slate and hit him over the head with it, or the time when she accidentally intoxicated her best friend Diana at a tea party. All in all, it's a great book, because of the lively friendly character, Anne. If you like using your imagination, but it sometimes gets you in trouble, you should read this book!

Fall in Love with Anne and Green Gables, December 26, 2004
This boxed set captures the life of Anne Shirley, a spirited red head orphan who is adopted by the elderly Cuthbert siblings. With the odds against her, Anne's temper and spunk makes Anne into the heroine of Green Gables. A beloved classic, Anne of Green Gables brings you back to a simpler romantic time with a heroine who sees life as a glass half filled.

What a touching and interesting book!, October 14, 2002
After looking at the cover and the title of the book�� Anne of Green Gables��, there were a few questions came into my mind. Is it Anne is the main character of the book? The woman on the cover made me ask myself ��Is the story is the same as the cartoon which I watched before.
I found that it is the most touching and interesting that I��ve ever read. Firstly, it made me to introspect and teach me a lesson to value the thing that I have. Secondly, it also made me understand why the orphan wants desperately to be adopted by others. Thirdly, the story about her and friends recall my childhood memory. Finally, if you read the book, you will find this book addicting the few first chapters.
The story was started by a mistake which changed the life of Anne Shirley, Marilla Cuthbert and Matthew as long the people in Avonlea. Marilla Cuthbert and his brother Matthew wanted to adopt a boy to help him with the chores on their farm. After they sent word to town to have the orphanage sends them a boy. However they got a skinny, freckle-faced eleven-year-old girl called Anne Shirley. After Anne came to Green Gables, she changed many people��s temperament, such as Matthew became board-minded. This book is also about Anne��s imagination and her friends. I like this book very much because some of the plots are touching. For example, when Marilla have eye defect, Anne gave up the scholarship and the idea of going to college and intended to study home and teach because she couldn��t leave Marilla alone in trouble. And the story about her and her friends is so realistic that made me to recall the memory of childhood. So I think this book is not just for child, it is also suitable for adults. Don't miss this touching and interesting book!

Editorial Review

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. ... Read more

Reviews

interesting, with a new twist, November 19, 2009

An excellent read, September 30, 2009

Forbidden Love, October 7, 2009

S.U.M.P.T.U.O.U.S, October 7, 2009

Romeo & Juliet with witchcraft, November 19, 2009

One of the very best books I've read in 2009!, November 10, 2009
I have read several books this year that I really loved---but this one stood out above even those. It would actually be easier to say what I didn't like about Beautiful Creatures, but I'm pretty sure Amazon frowns on completely blank reviews. :)



If you've read any of the other reviews here you have an idea of the basic plot, so I'm going to jump straight in with the superlatives.



Things I adore about Beautiful Creatures:

1. The Writing Style: It is so smooth, fluid, and consistent that it's hard to believe it was written by two authors. It doesn't have that disjointed feeling where it's obvious one section was written by Author 1 and the next section was written by the Author 2. (I wasn't surprised when I learned that the authors work together the whole time.) My favorite thing about the style was that it was poetic and full of meaning without having that `purple prose' quality. The writing never felt forced.

2. The Characters: I love characters that are not only real, but really likable---and Beautiful Creatures has them in abundance. I liked how depth was given even to the villains. I may not have l agreed with what they did, but I could tell where they were coming from, and that made them more real.

Link was a great character and I loved that he was steadfast in his friendship with Ethan. I get so annoyed when (supposed) friends in books don't have any loyalty.

Ethan's dad was not physically in the book much, but his grief was palpable and understandable. He was always at the edge of Ethan's thoughts---so much so that you felt like you knew him. One of the most poignant scenes of the book takes place in his office, and it made me cry like a baby.

Also, the secondary characters like the Sisters (Ethan's great-aunts) are incredibly fun, but if I listed all the characters I liked it would take forever, so I'll move onto what I loved about the main characters. They are both so fully realized, it's amazing. The conflicting feelings they experience are extremely realistic. Like how Lena's dislike of the cookie-cutter cheerleaders wars against Lena's own need to be liked and to fit in. Often you have characters who are outsiders but they're so `cool and tough' that they don't care that no one likes them. I just don't buy that. I think Lena's portrayal is much more accurate---she doesn't want to be like the other girls, but she wants to be accepted by them. And both Ethan's claustrophobia about living in Gatlin and his fear of losing his friends and the place he's carved for himself in the school are completely understandable. Ethan's choice to stick by Lena is made even more touching because of this inner struggle.

3. The Atmosphere: The southern setting is both beautiful and spooky, and the descriptions are so vivid they leap right off the page. Reading Beautiful Creatures is like being in a lucid dream. If you want to be truly transported to another place, this is the book to read.

4. The Romance: I love that the romance was given a chance to develop. By the time Lena and Ethan got together, there was no doubt in my mind that they were actually in love. It is much more satisfying when the characters have actually shown why they care about each other instead of just telling us how in love they are.



And finally, the one thing I didn't like: The book ended---and I so didn't want it to! But I take solace in the fact that there is going to be a sequel. And hey, I can always read it again. In fact, I already am.

An Amazing, Creative Novel, November 7, 2009
Beautiful Creatures is a compelling story that grabs your attention and sucking you into the lives of Ethan, Lena and others who live in Gatlin. Though I do not normal enjoy paranormal novels, I was intrigued to keep reading and dive in to this amazing world. Kami and Margaret are inspiring writers, who have written an amazing and charming novel. A 5 star must read!

Beautiful Story, October 4, 2009

beautiful creatures, September 28, 2009

Beautifully Epic, November 25, 2009
Quick & Dirty: A wonderfully epic read that will keep you guessing.

Opening Sentence: There were only two kinds of people in our town.

The Review:

Beautiful Creatures is a beautifully crafted story with lush details. The book is so descriptive and engaging that I felt like Gatlin was a real place. There's no doubt that this is a well written novel. Garcia and Stohl spent a lot of time world building and incorporating mythology.

The story is told through Ethan's point of view, which is a nice change of pace. Ethan came across as a very likable character. He's still dealing with a death in the family and is having a hard time accepting the fact that his father has isolated himself. Ethan appears to cope fairly well with the pressures of a small town and doesn't back down when he decides that he wants to be with Lena. Ethan feels that Gatlin is a dead end and he can't wait to leave the small-minded town behind. Lena is the new mysterious girl in town that doesn't quite please the locals. Lena just wants to have a normal life and struggles to deal with her abilities. As Lena counts down to when her fate will be decided, she fears that she will now lose the boy that she has fallen in love with. Lena's family also plays a role in the intrigue and mystery behind the events that unfold. Even the secondary characters are richly drawn and well developed. The love story between Ethan and Lena is pretty vanilla in many ways. Their relationship could be cheesy one moment and then all encompassing the next. The historical flashbacks help set the tone for current events while also filling in the blanks on other key characters.

Overall, I liked the book. The paranormal mythology is certainly interesting and the historical elements are intricately woven into the story. It's an enjoyable read and the size of the book shouldn't deter you from giving it a read. This book definitely sets the stage for the sequel.

Notable Scene:

I can't remember how I got to Ravenwood, but I know I nearly drove off the road a few times. My eyes could barely focus. Lena was in such intense pain, our connection so close, that I nearly blacked out just from feeling it through her.

FTC Advisory: Little, Brown provided me with an ARC of Beautiful Creatures. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review. In addition, I don't receive affiliate fees for anything purchased via links from my site. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties.

Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star. . . .

Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined—and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will.

The only person Cordelia can trust is ­Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.

Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the ­illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls' fortunes will rise and fall—together and apart. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe comes an epic new series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.

Reviews

Just as good as The Luxe series, if not better!, October 14, 2010
I had super high hopes for this book. I absolutely loved The Luxe series AND I love reading about the time of Prohibition and speakeasies and all that, so this book sounded perfect to me. And it was! It is! It's so good - Bright Young Things didn't disappoint me at all.

The descriptions inspire just as extravagant images as The Luxe series did, if not more so. I loved how the story effortlessly switched from point of view to point of view. I thought I would get at least a little bit confused, but it was really well-done and obvious who's story we were hearing from.

The three leading ladies - Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty - were all very unique characters and I loved how none of them really resembled each other. They all had their own personalities, and their own faults. I couldn't pick a favourite. Letty and Cordelia's friendship really hurt me and made me want to shake them both, but I'm glad that they each had their own story line. It made for a more exciting book than the alternative would have.

I didn't really like any of the guys introduced in Bright Young Things. No, that's not true. I liked Thom. And Charlie, kind of... I don't know. You'll just have to see for yourself! I definitely liked the guys in The Luxe series more, but these guys were just as handsome, but also infuriating. But it makes sense, because of the time period I guess. In The Luxe series, everyone was more uptight and proper, but in Bright Young Things, it's a period of more freedom. So I get it, really. But I still love my Luxe men!

The plot of Bright Young Things was awesomeeeeee. I didn't get bored at all while reading this book. Like I said, I love the time of Prohibition and Bright Young Things was an excellent look on the social and political ongoings of the time period. I loved having the three different views on New York City. And, agh! The last couple of chapters are seriously intense. I need the second book in the series now, please!

This book truly had it all - an interesting beginning, beautiful girls and handsome men, bright lights and a big city, romance, mystery, drama, temptation of the forbidden, secret tunnels, and an explosive ending.

Promising Start, October 17, 2010
Bright Young Things is a promising start to Anna Godbersen's new series. Set During the final summer of the free-wheeling and tumultuous Roaring Twenties, BYT follows the lives three young ladies, Cordelia, Letty, and Astrid. Cordelia, and Letty, are newly arrived Midwestern transplants who have very different motivations for fleeing home. Astrid is a young flapper with a seemingly picture perfect life. The novel follows them as they navigate the larger than life backdrop of New York in the Jazz Age. Bright Young Things was a very enjoyable book. Well drawn, complex, characters mesh well with the vivid re-creation of New York during this infamous period, with all of its thrills and dangers. The plot of the novel was well paced and sustained and filled with intrigue.I am eagerly awaiting the sequel to see where the lives of our three heroines go from here.

juicy YA fiction set in the Roaring 20's, November 5, 2010
Anna Godbersen, author of the bestselling Luxe series, turns her attention to the glittering world of the Roaring 20's in her newest release, Bright Young Things, the first volume in a new series.

Bright Young Things concentrates on the interlocking stories of three attractive but very different young women, dubbed on the series website "the flapper, the heiress, and the starlet." Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey run away together from their stifling Ohio town to the excitement of New York City. Letty, a talented singer, dreams of being discovered and having her name in lights, while Cordelia wants to find the father she has never met, an infamous but charismatic gangster and bootlegger. Cordelia and Letty go their separate ways soon after arriving in New York, but don't worry--twists and turns in the plot that I will not divulge here will bring them together again before the end of the book.

Cordelia's gangster father is delighted when his long-lost daughter walks into his life, and she is quickly enveloped in a life of country clubs, extravagant parties attended by "socialites in feather boas...,gold diggers and gamblers, bankers and bootleggers (what was the difference, really?)", and luxury she could never even have imagined back in Ohio. Meanwhile Letty gets a job as a cigarette girl, struggling to break into show business. Alas, her small town innocence makes life even more difficult in the big city, and she must leave her naivete behind her to succeed.

Cordelia, in the meantime, meets the glamourous Astrid Donal, girlfriend of Cordelia's newfound brother Charlie, who attempts to educate her in the ways of this exciting and dangerous new world she has entered. In a Romeo and Juliet-like twist, Cordelia meets Thom, an incredibly attractive young man--the son of her father's mortal enemy, and soon she is enmeshed in a forbidden romance. Godbersen's next volume in the series comes out in 2011, and she leaves us hanging as all three of our young women pursue dangerous paths to their ultimate destiny (which we won't know until the series concludes!)

Godbersen is a master at appealing to her teenage audience. This new series is filled with the intrigue, romance, and great clothes of the Luxe franchise. She fills her book with juicy descriptions of this colorful Roaring Twenties period, from luxurious Long Island estates covered with "impossibly green lawns" to seedy boarding houses, to smoky speakeasies filled with flappers. The book is further complemented by photo essays on each of the main characters on the lively website for her books. Godbersen's many fans are sure to enjoy this newest series, and it's a good purchase for YA collections at libraries and schools.

Flappers n' mobsters oh my!, December 7, 2010
I wasn't a big fan of the Luxe Series. In fact I wanted to beat my head against a wall and throw the books into the trash. They were not historically accurate. The girls in the previous series were too busy bed hopping in my opinion. However when I learned Ms. Godbersen was writing about the 1920s I had to buy the book.

I'm glad I did. The issues I had with the previous series aren't in this new novel. The author gets it right. As a reader I felt like I was transported back into the high society of the 1920s.

Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are best friends in their small Ohio town. They have known each other for their entire lives. But both dream of something more. They decide to run away to New York City without telling their families.

Once in NYC their lives take very different turns. Cordelia and Letty have a fight which severs their friendship and both girls go their separate ways. Cordelia finds herself young, beautiful and rich. She is in the presence of bootleggers(prohibition is going on) and gangsters. Letty isn't as lucky with her fortune and becomes a cigarette girl selling trinkets in a bar. But Letty dreams of becoming a singer, and one day she'll make it, she hopes.

The story alternates chapters between the friends, although I would have to say the story focuses more on Cordelia. While the Luxe series was filled with backstabbing and gossiping there isn't much of that in this novel. It's a good story about young girls trying to find out who they are during 1929. Along the way they encounter death, love, hard times and new friends.

Teens who enjoyed the Luxe series should enjoy this novel as well. I'm interested to see where the author takes the characters. This is 1929...so does this mean we will see the Great Depression in future books? I hope so, but I'll have to wait and see.

Even better than The Luxe?, November 2, 2010
After delighting young readers with a charming, yet deliciously scandalous trip to the Gilded Age, author Anna Godberson takes readers to the roaring twenties, a world of jazz, booze and nightclubs -a dangerous lifestyle that ensnares many fine young ladies into a dark world filled with glitz, glamor and money. Godberson's Bright Young Things follows the adventures of three young women in 1929, all of them bright, full of dreams, opportunity and inspiration -all of them young and all of them naive, curious little things...

Young Cordelia and her friend Letty live in small-town Ohio, but have dreams of going to the glittering world of New York City and exploring the romantic dreams that unfold in such a city. After Cordelia was forced into a marriage with a local boy, the two girls run away on a late night train to New York. Once there, the two begin to make their way, but follow different paths. Cordelia finds her way to the home of wealthy bootlegger Darius Grey, where she discovers that she is Darius' long-lost illegitimate daughter, and he welcomes her into his family, his home and the wealthy upper class of New York, where Cordelia gets swept up in the games the rich play. Letty, on the other hand, gets a job as a cigarette girl and tries to make her way as a singer which, unfortunately, isn't as easy as it sounds. Then, there's Astrid, the conniving girlfriend of Cordelia's new brother Charlie, who seems to be from a family with secrets. The three try their fortunes in the big city. Some stars rise, some stars fall...

Bright Young Things is an absolutely engaging and exciting novel that paints an amazing picture of jazz age America with fully dimensional characters that readers want to cheer for -even the manipulative characters are interesting to read about. Though somewhat similar to The Luxe, this series will appeal to Godberson fans and fans of Gossip Girl, but with the exciting glamor of the twenties. In fact, I really liked how the cover art echoes The Luxe series -it's equally as eye-catching and captivating. I'm actually watching the new HBO series Boardwalk Empire right now, which also takes place in the twenties, so the book seemed to the echo the show, and I found myself building interesting historical connections between the two (even though one takes place in 1920 and the other in 1929). Is there a rush on the twenties? Who knows, but I can't get enough of it.

Godberson's writing and storytelling skills have definitely improved since since The Luxe series, and the maturity is apparent here. Bright Young Things could be even better than The Luxe. As soon as I finished the last page of Bright Young Things, I was scouring the Internet for release dates for the next installment, Beautiful Days. Godberson can't write fast enough!

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS has all the intrigue of The Luxe, but less melodrama, November 1, 2010
Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey are best friends from the same Ohio town. Letty is from a religious family that still wears mourning for her mother, who died long ago. Cordelia is an orphan being raised by a rigid aunt. When Cordelia is roped into a shotgun wedding after being caught necking in the nude at the town swimming hole, the two escape their drab Midwestern lives for the bright lights of New York City. They arrive in Manhattan with dreams of fame and fortune, but neither of them are prepared for what the city actually has to offer. From Manhattan clubs to downtown boarding houses, from the bridges of Brooklyn to estates on Long Island, BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS is a new series from The Luxe author Anna Godbersen, set in the last wild summer before the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929.

Letty dreams of becoming a showbiz sensation and has a golden voice to take her there. But she doesn't realize that the city teems with other women willing to do just about anything to get their big break. Her religious family would disown her if they saw her working in short skirts and high heels as a cigarette girl in a speakeasy. Coming under the sway of a sleazy Broadway promoter, Letty has to decide if she has what it takes to be a star and how far she's willing to go to make her dreams come true.

Cordelia has always been the more adventurous of the two. She has come to the city looking for her father, the notorious Darius Grey. He's a famed bootlegger who's made his fortune running illegal liquor and won his infamy with lavish parties to promote the fast lifestyle favored by the city's bright young things. Grey accepts her as his daughter, but Cordelia quickly comes to question her part in the bargain. Sure, she's living in the lap of luxury, but being the daughter of a kingpin means she's under constant surveillance. Worse, the man she fell for in her first few weeks in the city is the son of a rival bootlegger. Every time she sneaks out to see him, her life could be in danger.

The two girls --- separated early in the story --- are joined by a cast of colorful characters, whether it's Letty's showgirl roommates who give her advice on how to make a living as an up-and-coming actress, or Astrid Donal, the socialite who befriends Cordelia and shows her around Long Island's most elite estates. Astrid has problems of her own. Despite the appearance of being a stylish and liberated flapper, she's desperately in love with Cordelia's bootlegging brother, Charlie. The two lovers live in a state of constant jealousy. Meanwhile, Astrid's mother is carrying on with a stable boy. Her third marriage is ending, and if mother or daughter doesn't find someone to bankroll or marry soon, their extravagant lifestyle will quickly unravel.

Godbersen's previous series, The Luxe, was set in Gilded Age New York, an era where privilege and breeding were everything. BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS is set in the Roaring Twenties, where the boundaries of race, sex and money are beginning to blur. New-money bootleggers rub elbows with old-money socialites. A downtown club might have gangsters, heiresses and authors all dancing to the new sounds of jazz. And if two girls from Ohio are thrown into the mix, no one knows or cares where they came from as long as they are up for a good time.

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS has all the intrigue of The Luxe, but less melodrama. Whereas The Luxe got much of its punch from the secrets characters kept, BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS seems built on who can command attention through more outrageous behavior. A focus on fashion and romance returns, but so far the series does not contain a character as flashy and provocative as The Luxe's Penelope Hayes. Nevertheless, there is plenty of action here to keep the reader entertained, and Godbersen's choice to set the book before the economic collapse that caused the Great Depression ensures that the characters will be facing plenty of conflict soon.

In Britain, the term "bright young things" was applied to the devil-may-care party culture that developed after World War I. The war's devastating toll on the youth population also generated the phrase "the lost generation" because some towns had their entire population of young men killed in the war. The "bright young things" were the center of the celebrity culture of their day with newspapers following their antics. But their gaiety was often seen as forced and destructive --- a manic response to the loss of so many young lives in the trenches. In the United States, things were much lighter and looser. Despite the challenges that face the characters, a breezy tone of unprecedented freedom and opportunity marks Godbersen's latest series.

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS is not a stand-alone title. It ends with a cliffhanger where each of the three girls face a major decision about their lives. Will Astrid accept an offer for marriage? Can Letty pick herself up again after finding herself broke, unemployed and homeless? How will Cordelia handle becoming heiress to Darius Grey's fortune and bootlegging operations? Readers will have to wait for the next book in the series to find out.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

Bright Start to the New Series, October 24, 2010
Bright Young Things is the first book in Anna Godbersen's new series set New York during the summer of 1929. Full of gossipy drama, Bright Young Things is just what we've come to expect from Godbersen, following in the tradition of The Luxe series. Anyone who enjoyed that series (and I certainly did), will find just as much to enjoy in this one.

BYT opens with small town girls Cordelia Grey and Letty Haubstadt hopping a train for the bright lights of the big city; each has a past she is more than eager to leave far behind. Once they arrive, however, of course things don't go smoothly, and their situations diverge when they have an argument that causes them to split. Letty takes on the new last name Larkspur and aims for the spotlight as a singer, but she soon finds that just surviving is going to be work. Cordelia is determined to find her long lost father, whom she believes is the famous bootlegger Darius Grey; needless to say, her poor beginnings take a major upturn when she does indeed discover that her father wants her back in his life. Along the way, she becomes friends with the popular and beautiful ingenue Astrid Donal, who is the girlfriend of Cordelia's newly found brother Charlie. Swept off her feet by the dashing young Thom Hale, Cordelia's entry into society turns her family upside down and puts everyone in danger. And no one's life will ever be the same again.

This book is a fast read and it's just the sort of story that carries you away into another time period, into the lives of people you could never be. These girls aren't necessarily blameless in what happens; they're definitely real characters making mistakes and feeling betrayed. The main thing is that you'll feel as though Cordelia, Letty, and Astrid are your friends and you'll want to be there every step of the way with them as they face their trials. Loved it and cannot wait for the next one! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Berlin 1942
When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences. ... Read more

Reviews

This one stands apart, for many reasons, should be on anyone's "must read" list, February 10, 2008
I've read many books that fall into the "Holocaust literature" category. This one may actually be a book that is written in a style that COULD be read by a child but should be read by adults. Whether it is suitable for children depends on how sensitive your child is- and how well you think he or she could handle some very graphic details. They aren't "graphic" in the sense of being spelled out in detail but the reader's imagination can fill in the blanks. At age 9, this book would have been far too intense for me - and the main character in this one, Bruno, is age 9.

The author used a technique which was brilliant, taking readers into the mind and thoughts of a child whose father work for the "Fury" (the Fuhrer) and who is sent to live in Out-With (Auschwitz), on the safe side of the fence, in an actual home.

The novel is labeled "a fable" and I think this was a wise choice by both author and publisher. After all, no one knows exactly how a 9 year old son of a German officer would think and young Bruno seems remarkably naive sometimes. But just as light sets off shadows more vividly, I think his exaggerated innocence allows readers to experience the horrors of Auschwitz that much more. For that reason, I don't think the accuracy of Bruno's character is all that important. The effect on the reader (THIS reader, anyway) is profound and deep.

After moving to Out-With (Auschitz) Bruno meets a boy "on the other side of the fence", one who is the same age, a lad named Schmuel. At first Bruno is envious of the boy who gets to wear striped pajamas all day and who seems to have lots of companions.

On Bruno's side there are few playmates and he doesn't realize that he has so much compared to Schmuel. There is a sudden twist in this tale and I can't write about that. I will say it is the one reason adults should read this book before sharing it with children.

The book isn't quite like any other of this type I've read, not even The Diary of Anne Frank. Each chapter has a simple headline (Bruno Makes a Discovery, Bruno Tells a Perfectly Reasonable Lie) that reads like something a child could write. So do the words of each chapter and I think the child's voice should speak to both the child and adult residing in readers. It certainly did for me!

You'll be haunted by this one. If you get the edition with a Reading Guide included, you will find all sorts of extra features, includng an interview with the author, John Boyne.

Well Done!, May 2, 2008
Books about the Holocaust are never easy to read. Some are downright terrifying and some make the reader nauseous. This book however approaches this period in history from a new and interesting angle and tells a tale of what might have happened, and in doing so opens up these stories to a whole new generation of readers. The book was originally marketed as a children's book, and then remarketed as adult fiction because of the content. The author claims it is just a book, and soon it will be a major motion picture due out in the fall of 2008.

This is the story of two boys who lose everything they hold dear, yet the reality of their loss is completely different. Bruno's life is changed when his father is given a new job and they move from their five-story home in Berlin to a new home in the country that is only three stories tall. He has lost his 3 best friends in life, and his home with the banister and the attic window that looks out over all of Berlin. His new bedroom window looks over small huts in a fenced-in area where everyone wears striped pajamas. One day while being rebellious and doing what he should never do, he walks along the fence and meets a boy with whom he shares a birthday. Shmuel and Bruno meet most days and sit on the opposite sides of the fence and talk. As their friendship grows Bruno's youthful innocence is challenged.

The novel is told in the third person narrative, but told from a nine-year- old's perspective. Though the reader knows that the story takes place at Auschwitz, Bruno cannot pronounce it, and misunderstood the name from the beginning. Yet in not naming the place the author leaves the story as a much broader tale.

This book is extremely well-written; it takes the reader to a place and time we should never forget, and it reminds us of the human element in all stories. John Boyne has written a book that could become required reading for all school children, and maybe all adults should read it also, lest we forget. So pick it up and walk with Bruno and Shmuel as they develop a growing friendship just sitting and talking through a barbed- wire-topped chain link fence.

(First Published in Imprint 2008-05-02.)

To give a synopsis would truly spoil the book..., December 18, 2005
When I picked up the book...something about the colour of the stripes, something about the hue of the colours looked familiar...in a morbid way...and I wasn't sure if I'd want to read it. What intrigued me as well though, was that within the jacket of the book, it said basically that they could not give us an idea of what the novel was about...

I understand why. There SHOULD NOT be a synopsis on this book because you'd regret reading one. If by the first two sentences in Chapter 4 (they're VERY short chapters) you don't know what the novel is about, I'd be surprised. The story that follows needs no description as you are being dragged deeper gradually, even though wondering all the while, "ermm...and so...?"

This novel is indeed about a nine-year-old boy who walks up to a fence. Boyne writes using a voice with an air of innocence that successfully works to punctuate the harsh reality of the "situation/predicament" which is, essentially, what the story is. The ending will send you rereading the last part of the book again, and perhaps again. I read this book in one sitting. Once you've finished...you will be thinking about this one for a while...

Sadly the central figure is too implausible, May 11, 2007
The subtitle of this book is `A Fable', and so I suppose we are not meant to look for too much realism in this Holocaust story. Possibly (so one review suggests) written for children, its subject matter is grim enough; but its tone, especially at the beginning, put me off: it is faux-naive and painfully arch; and there are too many unbelievable aspects of it. The central character is nine-year old Bruno. The first false note is struck when Bruno learns that `the Fury' has big things in mind for his father, who is a high-ranking member of the SS and is in fact being posted, with his family, from Berlin to become the Commandant at Auschwitz. Of course it is ludicrous that a nine-year old in Nazi Germany would have misheard - not just once but persistently - `the Fury' for the F�hrer or `Out-With' for Auschwitz (the puns don't work in German anyway). In 1943 a little German boy, especially one whose father was in the SS, would have been in the Pimpfen, the section of the Hitler Youth for six to ten year olds, where he would already have learnt to worship the F�hrer; he would have learnt the notion of the Fatherland, which in this novel seems to puzzle him; he would most likely have followed the campaigns of the German army on maps and would have known (as he doesn't) where Poland was; and he would already have become familiar, at least in the abstract, with the concept of Untermenschen - instead of which he doesn't even know what a Jew is, and, when his sister mentions the word, he asks her whether he and she were Jews! He had lived in the Commandant's house at Auschwitz for a whole year - and we are to believe that he had never heard the word!

Some parts of the book are a little more credible. A child would probably not have known what it was dangerous to say (though I have to say that, as a nine-year old myself in Nazi Germany, I did have a pretty good sense of that.) Many Germans, and especially children, would not have known of the horrors of the concentration camps and would have been as uncomprehending as Bruno was of what they saw: the ghost-like creatures on the other side of the barbed wire fence which separated the camp from the neat garden of the Commandant's house.

Bruno hates his new home. For one thing, there are no other children for him to play with. And then one day Bruno disobeys orders and goes `exploring' along the fence and at the far end and on the other side of it he meets Shmuel - the boy (of exactly the same age as Bruno) in the striped pyjamas - who is sitting there all on his own, and they meet in that spot and talk regularly thereafter for a year. Shmuel understands the difference between their situations well enough, but Bruno is impossibly naive and obtuse in picking up the meaning of what his new friend is telling him, though something tells him that he should not tell his family of these meetings. He remains innocent until the end.

Of course the heart of the author is in the right place; and he does convey the horror of the camps; but I could not suspend my disbelief in Bruno - and without that ability, the book did not work for me either as a fable or as a credible story, and so I have some reservation about this flawed way of dealing with the Holocaust.

Fable or not, an evocative piece of literature, May 19, 2007
While there has been much debate over the credibility of the historical facts in the story, I don't find this of particular personal relevance. The book tells the story of 9-year-old Bruno who lives in high society Berlin. Seen through his eyes, the reader is taken into a world that Bruno cannot make sense of (his father wears a uniform, they have the "Fury" over for dinner, and they unexpectedly move to "Out-With") and that he can only comprehend in the way a child can. While 9 might be a little old for a child to be this naive, the point of the story is to bring us into a subject matter that will always be difficult to understand. By putting us on the other side of the fence, on the side where the Nazi party and their children live, we are brought into a world that is scary for young Bruno although not nearly as scary as it is for his friend Shmuel, the title character on the other side of the fence.

To analyze the historical inconsistencies doesn't appeal to me as, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I didn't feel like the book did a disservice by placing Bruno with his father rather than in the Hitler Juden. The book is remarakably touching and simple, yet contains some beautiful sentences evocative of a writer who successfully gets to the heart of human evil and cruelty. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about the Holocaust, whether young or old, whose tale of a friendship speaks volumes about the what we as humans choose not to see.

Deceptively simple, May 5, 2007
"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" is told from the viewpoint of Bruno, a 9 year old boy who moves with his parents and older sister to Auschwitz where his father is the commander. Bruno and his sister are sheltered from the realities of where they are and what goes on behind the barbed wire fence - in part by their parents and in part by naievity stemming from their privileged upbringing.

Bruno is lonely and imagines that the children behind the fence are lucky because at least they have other children to play with. He secretly befriends a little Jewish boy called Shmuel who lives within the concentration camp. They have daily conversations across the fence. As time passes, Bruno gets more curious about what life is like on the other side of the fence and why Shmuel always looks so miserable. Shmuel tries to explain how it is to Bruno, but Bruno's sheltered life has not given him any points of reference by which to understand what Shmuel is saying. Some of these conversations are painful to read as Shmuel is suffering so badly, yet Bruno is so self-absorbed and oblivious to what is happening.

I found it hard to believe that a child of Bruno's age could be so unaware of what was taking place in Nazi Germany. He seemed to have never noticed Jews wearing the Stars of David on the streets, nor even to have heard the word Jew until he hears it from Shmuel. He meets Adolf Hitler and is underwhelmed by him. Given that his father is a high-ranking official in the Nazi regime this seems unlikely and it somewhat undermined the book's credibility for me.

Nevertheless, it is an absorbing book to read. The ending is brutal. Throughout the book you know that this story cannot end happily and you are steeling yourself for various outcomes. Having said that, I didn't see the one that came and it hit me with force.

This is a quick and easy book to read, but I don't think I will forget it easily.

A Story Through The Eyes Of An Innocent 9 Year Old Child Amidst Unspeakable Horror, November 6, 2006
My Number One Reading Consultant John from Matilda's book store in Mount Waverley recommended this book to me without giving any hint of what the story was about which I am grateful for since the book speaks for itself. It is about a 9 year old German boy named Bruno who has to move from Berlin to the countryside because his Father has a new position . Brunos sees a fence and buildings and a lot of people wearing what he calls "striped pyjamas" but he does not realize that he is caught in the middle of the Holocaust of Word War Two at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and the one friend that he makes is of the Jewish Race.This book has a lot of significance for me because my Mother grew up in Germany at the time when this book is set and she has told me that like Bruno a large percentage of grown up German people were unaware of the horrors that Jews in Wartime Germany had to endure. This book is told with the Innocence of Youth and yet is dark and compelling at the same time. This book was so rivetting that I finished it in one afternoon sitting. Thanks again John for yet another great book.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, November 18, 2007
This new book on the Holocaust would make an excellent book for any class where Holocaust is being taught for the first time. The book begins from the point of view, not of the Jews, but from the point of view of the son of a high Nazi official who has come to be the commandant of Auschwitz. The son, left on his own, and knowing nothing about what his father does, begins out of loneliness to go for walks. He finds the camp and becomes friends with a boy wearing "striped pajamas." The ending of the book left me with the word "Wow" and the need to start discussions with adults and students alike.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, November 29, 2006
I am not a big word user, and I'm not telling the whole story again, as some do, but this is a book that I could not put down. It touched my heart, having two small boys myself, I can see and feel deeply how this book can teach children and adults the horrors of the Holocaust, we should NEVER forget!

Horrific Beauty, November 1, 2007
There's nothing simple about this tale. Many criticize Bruno's unrealistic naivete. This boy is nine years old: what is our excuse? This fable extends beyond the Holocaust. We too are blind to the injustices around us, and Boyne's book chillingly depicts this.

Bruno's not so different from many who destroy others to protect themselves. Yet, despite his flaws, he's human enough to love, to reach out to another. He is ignorant of his effect on another reaching out for him; nevertheless, he reaches for the hand of one in need. In doing so, he sacrifices a part of himself.

This story alternates between being beautiful and unnerving. Despite the devasting ending, one knows this must be the result. When we take from others, we kill our own souls. I have recommended this book to everyone--even to those reluctant readers. It is unforgettable. ... Read more