The 4th Stall, by Chris Rylander

What if a mafia was operating right out of your school bathroom?  Mac and his right-hand man Vince have a tidy operation going in the wing of the school that no one ever really frequents.  Their main objective?  Tickets to the Cubs game.  Their main problem?  It’s the one week where everyone has come to Mac with problems that might be too big for him to handle, and one of them is the school syndicate’s impending takeover by a local high school dropout.  Mac has some tough lessons to learn about biting off more than he can chew. 

I would recommend the The Fourth Stall to readers 12 and up.  The story deals with some serious situations.  What I like about it is that the main character is forced to make hard choices about what he’s doing and consider the ethical aspects of his decisions.  Boys may go in for this book more than girls, but I am always supportive of a person reading outside of his or her “comfort” zone.

All These Things I've Done, by Gabrielle Zevin

What if we lived in a time when caffeine and anything made with caffeine was illegal contraband?  Heaven forbid-I could not live without my tea and chocolate!!!  But this is the setting for our story: a world where the crime lords smuggle caffeinated food items from place to place.  Anya Balanchine is the teenage daughter of the Russian mafia’s now-dead boss, and she is trying to live as normal a life as possible in addition to taking care of her two siblings and passing high school.  But sometimes relatives just don’t leave well enough alone, especially when she is the perceived heir to the Balanchine legacy, and she finds herself entangled in her extended family’s doings.  Throw in the interesting new boy at school whose father happens to be the new assistant District Attorney (and intent on dismantling the big caffeine criminal organizations), and you’ve got yourself a quirky, fun read!  For ages 15 and up.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte & Jane, by April Lindner

Okay, here is the deal: read the original Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte first before you read April Lindner’s re-imagining of the story.  I first read Jane Eyre when I was 12 years old, and I LOVED it.  It was one of those days when I was done with all my library books and needed something new to read, and had to raid my mom’s and dad’s bookcase.  I did not have any problems understanding the language or the plot, and when I read it again a few years later for English class, I understood what was going on even better the second time.  I loved it!  In my mind, it's one of the greatest love stories ever told.  Jane by April Linder takes place in the 20^th century and substitutes a rock star for Mr. Rochester (appropriate, I think, since the original Mr. Rochester is a VIP in his own right) and is pretty much the same story, but for a teenage audience (15 and up).  It’s still a fun book, though, and what I would call a “beach read”.  

Flush, by Carl Hiaasen

I loved Hiaasen’s Hoot when I read it several years ago, and I recommend it just as much as Flush (which is not a sequel to Hoot).  Adults may be familiar with his earlier mysteries, but Hiaasen has since branched into children’s literature.  

Flush is the story of a family and how they deal with the father’s well-meaning but legally questionable attempts to make things right where they are wrong.  We meet Noah at the beginning as he is waiting to meet his father in a visitor’s room…at the local jail.  This is not an unusual occurrence, but this is the first time it is for a more weighty reason: Noah’s father has sunken a casino boat because he believes that the owner is dumping sewage into a protected area of the Florida Keys.  Unfortunately, he does not have substantial evidence that this is the case.  Noah’s father is a strong believer in doing the right thing, but he doesn’t always like to do things by the book.  It is more efficient, after all, to do things himself rather than try and get the law involved.  Noah and his sister become involved in helping prove their dad correct and have enough adventurous experiences and humorous interludes to fill a book (pun intended!).  Along the way, they learn a lot about how there are many different ways of doing the right thing and they don’t all have to end in an orange jumpsuit.  

I loved reading Flush; it’s great for kids 10 and up.  Adults may enjoy it too, and if you’re a Carl Hiaasen fan don’t hesitate to read his books for young readers!  There’s nothing wrong with grown-ups reading kids’ books: I do it every day, and meet many other adults and parents who also do so.  A good story is a good story, is what I always say.

The Book of Blood and Shadow, by Robin Wasserman

Warning: If you don't want to read a long negative book review, well, this is that.  However, if you want to find out why I don't think this book is very good, you should check my review out.  

Here’s the thing about this book: after reading it, I can gauge what reading audience will probably enjoy it.  I was looking forward to reading it because I had not read a mystery á la The Da Vinci Code in a while and the premise seemed interesting. 

It ended up being one of the worst books I read this year.  It was very disappointing; and yes, I read the whole book.  I got invested in it enough that I decided to power through and read to the end.

There are several problems with the story and the characters, and they are interrelated.  I will focus on what I think are the major ones.  From the beginning, it is established that Nora, the main character, is a high school senior and accomplished Latin translator who lives with her parents, neither of whom seem to take a significant interest in her upbringing, due mainly to the death of her older brother several years earlier.  She is a part-time volunteer research assistant at the nearby university along with one of her best friends and her boyfriend.  Her other best friend is also a high school senior.  Unfortunately, these characters were portrayed so one-dimensionally that I didn’t really get a sense of them as people; they seemed more like props to keep the story and the mystery going.  When the author did attempt to infuse some life into the characters, it felt awkward and confusing.  I did not see why I should care about any of the characters and what they were doing.  Even though one of them is murdered (this is not quite a spoiler, since Nora mentions it within the first few chapters), I got the impression that Nora was more concerned about mitigating her own implied guilt in the event rather than genuine anger and sadness about the death.  It is hard to tell what everyone’s motivations are, and nobody grows or undergoes some other kind of transformation by the end of the story.

The way the characters are able to follow the clues, so to speak, to unravel the mystery, is also unclear.  Though everyone is supposed to be really smart and knowledgeable about different languages and cultures and history, I was not convinced of it, mainly because the characters were already poorly drawn and not well developed.  It does not always make sense how the characters arrive at their conclusions and so neatly go from place to place and always find a document or a message or a key person essential to the mystery. 

Finally, there are a few significant “reveals” toward the end of the book that do not make sense in the context of this story because the author does not establish at the beginning that these kinds of events could happen in this world or that yes, there is a more than 90% possibility that these characters might actually be more than they say they are.  These “reveals” are written too hastily.  I literally groaned aloud at Starbucks (my boyfriend gave me a sympathetic look; he understands because sometimes he has to watch bad movies in order to see why good movies are so good).   

Here is why I think Twilight is a better book (and we’re not talking about writing quality; it’s strictly style and content): 1) Though Bella and Nora are both self-pitying and can be very insufferable, Bella is more fleshed out and believable as a character within a story and not as a device to move the story forward; 2) people and events within the Twilight universe make sense in the context of the universe because Stephenie Meyer establishes that these people could exist and these events could occur within this universe; and 3) Meyer constructs and paces the story consistently and logically.  True, I would go cross-eyed at Bella’s pages and pages of Edward-longing, but at least it made sense for her character.  Parts of Blood and Shadow are plain boring and unnecessary.  The author’s writing style is meandering: it seems as if the author is still trying to figure out what her writing style is by the end of the book. 

All in all, The Book of Blood and Shadow consists of a lot of pages that tell a story of not much.  I will not stop you from reading it if your curiosity wins out.  To be perfectly honest, though, there are better books out there. 

The Sandman Volume 2: The Doll's House, by Neil Gaiman et al

I believe the Sandman Volume 2: The Doll’s House, by Neil Gaiman, is much darker than the first Sandman book. It is still a good read though; while I have not read many DC universe comics, I think that Gaiman’s contribution with the Sandman character gave the DC universe a different feel. The personifications of Dream, Death, et al., feel more universal because such beings appear in many tales from around the world. The Doll’s House is not for the fainthearted, and it is definitely for mature readers. I look forward to progressing with the series.

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick, by Joe Schreiber

Okay, so I was not sure what to expect when I read Joe Schreiber's Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick, but I enjoyed reading it all the same. This is a good book for a teenage boy reluctant reader (15 or 16 and up). Perry's family has been hosting a foreign exchange student during his last year of high school, and as a last gesture of kindness before she leaves to go back home, Mom makes Perry take her to the prom. However, Perry soon learns that Gobija is not quite the person she seemed to be.... It's a fast-paced read, with short chapters and lots of action. It is humorous, but it gets intense really fast.

Nightmares and Fairytales, Volume 2, by Serena Valentino

SO the definition of this graphic novel is "scarily cute", or maybe "cutely scary". Nightmares and Fairytales: Beautiful Beasts, by Serena Valentino, is about a rag doll named Annabelle. Annabelle tells stories to her current owner Gwen of her past owners, and several of those stories happen to be re-imaginings of tales such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Red Riding Hood". Some stories are darker than others, so if you're into that, this is the book for you. I would say ages 13 and up is an appropriate reading audience age threshold.

Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage

Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage, is set in a small town in North Carolina, and gives us a brief glimpse into the life of Mo LoBeau, 11 years old and rising 6th grader. Oh, and by the way, it's a murder mystery set in the summertime. I really enjoyed reading it. I especially loved the relationships Mo has with her adoptive family, friends, and neighbours.  Mo is a crackup: she's full of spunk and a tomboy.  For ages 10 (possibly a more emotionally mature 10) to 11 and up.

Shadows on the Moon, by Zoe Marriott

Shadows on the Moon, by Zoe Marriott, is a darker retelling of Cinderella set in a made-up part of Japan. Not quite a heavy read, but Suzume's story is emotionally charged. I would say 15 and up, or a mature 13/14, is the ideal age range for a reader.

Y The Last Man: Unmanned, by Brian K. Vaughan et al

I read Volume One of Y: The Last Man: Unmanned, and I have also read Volume 2: Cycles and Volume 3: One Small Step. So far, so good! The first book pretty much sets up the story and introduces us to some very important characters. I don't want to go into it too much for those who haven't read it: I myself did not really know what to expect. All I heard was that the series was and is good. Sometimes, I prefer to let the story unfold as I read.  This is definitely a series for mature readers.

Monster Volume 1, by Naoki Urasawa

This is just a picture of the first one, but this is an 18-volume manga series by Naoki Urasawa. I have finished the entire series. It's a really well-written and well-drawn mystery/thriller set in Germany, about a Japanese doctor who becomes entangled in a serial-murder case. Highly recommended!!

Ruby Red, by Kerstin Gier

Ruby Red is about a girl who has the time-traveling gene. Really good summertime read! Translated from the German, this is the first of three books (which have already been written and released in Europe). I am looking forward to the U.S. release of the second installment!