Teen – Page 40 – Mom Read It

gaming, geek, geek culture, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Geek Mystery – The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss

Posted on October 29, 2015October 28, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss, by Max Wirestone (Oct. 2015, Red Hook Books), $20, ISBN: 978-0316385978

Recommended for ages 14+

Geeks finally have a Jessica Fletcher to call their own (That’s the detective from the old TV show, Murder, She Wrote – ask your parents, kids)! Meet Dahlia Moss – twenty-something geek girl who doesn’t make the best life decisions. She’s unemployed, unattached, and broke, living off her eccentric roommate for the time being. When Charice, her roommate, throws another one of her crazy parties, Dahlia finds herself being hired for private detective work by one of the guests, Jonah – it seems that someone stole a valuable artifact from him through his MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game – think World of Warcraft, for any uninitiated reading this). Dahlia has zero detecting experience, but she does speak geek, and Jonah flashes a lot of money her way, so she takes the case. The plot only thickens when Jonah turns up dead shortly after. Now, Dahlia’s determined to find the artifact, the killer, and quite possibly, a new boyfriend. Let’s hope her decision-making abilities improve!

Told in the first person from Dahlia’s point of view, this is an often hilarious, readable, fun, whodunit. We’ve got a new heroine for the geek age in Dahlia Moss, who’s self-conscious, sarcastic, and fluent in fandom. If you love a good mystery – heck, even if you don’t, but love science fiction, gaming, fantasy, or any kind of fandom, this is a great book for you. Wirestone is a librarian, and if there’s one thing I know about our people, the Geek is strong with us. She humorously captures the strange bedfellows that online gaming makes of us all, and manages to weave together a smartly layered mystery and a love of all things quirky and geek. Dahlia Moss herself is wonderfully left of center and will appeal to anyone whose square peg just won’t fit into that round hole, no matter how hard we try.

Teens and college students will get a kick out of this book and likely try to figure out how their own social groups match up to Dahlia and her friends. Here’s hoping we get some more Dahlia adventures in the future!

Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

This is Where it Ends Giveaway

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Marieke Nijkamp’s brilliant look inside a school shooting, This is Where it Ends, isn’t in stores until January, but you can win an advance copy from Sourcebooks NOW through November 1 – this Saturday!

Check out their Tumblr and enter the giveaway for a chance to win an advance copy of the book, plus a chalkboard and chalk. Once you’ve read the book, take to the chalkboard and let us know how it made you feel! Snap a photo and share on your Tumblr, Twitter, and other social media networks, and use the tags #thisiswhereitends #sourcebooksfire.

This is a great opportunity to check out a new book AND let people know what you think! Enter the giveaway before it’s too late!

Realistic Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

Blog Tour: Jeannie Waudby’s One of Us

Posted on October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

In the midst of political and ideological conflict, things are rarely as black and white as they appear to be. This is especially true now, in our post 9/11-society – a society that Jeannie Waudby’s One of Us taps into for her story.

“…how can you face a danger you can’t see? A person who looks like any other person, but who secretly wants to kill you and everyone like you?”

After a terrorist attack during uprising called The Strife orphaned her at the age of two, K has been alone. She was raised by her grandmother until she, too, died when K was 10, and now, at 15, is a ward of the state, living in a halfway house and flunking out of school. She survives a bomb blast – another terrorist attack, like the one that killed her parents – and is saved by Oskar, whom she thinks is a cop. She learns that The Brotherhood, an insurgent group that lives and moves among her society, is behind the blast. Oskar recruits K as an informant. Her mission is to infiltrate The Brotherhood and report back to Oskar and his people. It should be that easy.

It’s never that easy. As K lives among a group of Brotherhood students, she begins to question everything she’s been brought up to believe and discovers that every side has its own secrets. What is she willing to do to keep her new friends safe?

One of Us isn’t afraid to show readers that things aren’t always what they seem. The good guys aren’t always good, the bad guys aren’t always bad, and people will use other people as pawns in a game to get what they want, no matter who gets hurt in the process. In a day and age where we tend to make snap judgements about groups of people based on ideology, religion, or appearance, One of Us is essential reading that reminds us – demands, in fact – that we think before we act.

The characters are solidly constructed and likable, the situations they’re put in tense and real. It’s a gripping read from start to finish, and the plot twists left me with clenched fists and jaw until I finished the book. This one’s going on the shelves at my library, and I’m giving my copy to my teenage son tonight. Don’t miss this book – it’s an opportunity to open up some incredible conversations with the teens and young adults in your life.

Don’t miss your chance to win your own copy of One of Us! Enter a Rafflecopter giveaway from Running Press now!

Book Info: One of Us, by Jeannie Waudby (Oct. 2015, Running Press Teens), $16.95, ISBN: 978-0-7624-5799-1

Recommended for ages 13+

Fantasy, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Book Blitz: The Girl and the Gargoyle (The Girl and the Raven #2) by Pauline Gruber!

Posted on October 27, 2015October 27, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dating a gargoyle is great, until his family gets involved…

The Girl and the Gargoyle (The Girl and the Raven #2) by Pauline Gruber

Release Date: 06/23/15

Summary from Goodreads:

Being half-witch/half-demon and dating Marcus, a gargoyle and demon enemy, is complicated enough for Lucy. She can almost tolerate Jude, her demon father, forcing her to undergo combat training. But when Marcus’s long-lost family returns to Chicago, her world begins to crumble. Marcus’s mother wants him to leave to join the gargoyle clan; his father wants him to help kill Jude. There’s one major problem with this: if Jude dies, Lucy dies.

Marcus will do whatever it takes to save Lucy and her father. Meanwhile Lucy has her own plan and with the aid of a surprise newcomer, seeks help from the most unlikely—and dangerous—source.

Excerpt:

“What are you?” The words come out like a sigh.

He takes his time answering, but when he finally speaks, the velvety softness of his voice turns husky, sending a delicious shiver through me. “I’m the creature who spends his nights on the rooftop, protecting you from evil.”

Buy Links:
Amazon│B&N│iBooks│Kobo│Smashwords

Playlist

Here is a link to the playlist on Spotify for The Girl and the Raven and The Girl and the Gargoyle: https://open.spotify.com/user/gruberp/playlist/0TQkg1W6fq8xmpoIqdvF1t

The playlist includes:

Everlong – acoustic version, by Foo Fighters
Hero/Heroine, by Boys Like Girls
Take Me (As You Found Me), by Anberlin
Your Guardian Angel, by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Little Death, by +44
Running Up That Hill, by Placebo
Tomorrow Comes Today, by Gorillaz
Franklin, by Paramore
Velvet, by The Big Pink
Walking With A Ghost, by Tegan and Sara
Magic, by Coldplay
Electric Feel, by MGMT

Book One:

About the Author

Pauline Gruber is a self-professed music junkie, cat wrangler, and travel nut. She went to Paris in the 90’s where she discovered a love of three things: croissants, old cathedrals, and gargoyles. Deciding that the paranormal world could use a new kind of hero, Pauline translated her fascination with the protective gargoyle into a suspenseful love story. She is the author of the young adult series, The Girl and the Raven, The Girl and the Gargoyle and the forthcoming novel, The Girl and the Demon. By day, Pauline is a legal assistant for a Chicago law firm, where she steals identities and incorporates them into her books. If you tell anyone, she’ll deny, deny, deny. Pauline lives outside of Chicago with her precocious black cats.

Author Links:

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Adventure, Espionage, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Marvel YA gives us Black Widow: Forever Red

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Black Widow: Forever Red, by Margaret Stohl (Oct. 2015, Disney Book Group), $17.99, ISBN: 9781484726433

Recommended for ages 12+

After releasing two YA/new adult romances centering on the X-Men’s Rogue and She-Hulk in 2013, Disney/Marvel upped the ante by tapping YA phenom Margaret Stohl (writer of the Icons series, and co-writer of the Beautiful Creatures series with Kami Garcia) to give readers a story about Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, assassin extraordinaire, and Avenger.

The main story centers on a teen, Ava Orlova, rescued from the infamous Red Room that created Black Widow. Left to languish in a S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse for years, she escaped and lived on her own in New York until she met Alex Manor – a boy who had been showing up in her dreams – at a fencing competition in New Jersey. When Agent Romanov – the Black Widow – appears on the scene with the news that Ava’s being hunted by her brutal Red Room instructor, Ivan Somodoroff, who has plans for her – and Black Widow, too. As the three go on the run, we learn that Ava and Alex have more to them than meets the eye; we also peel back some of the mystery wrapped around one of the most mysterious of Avengers.

I loved this book. I love Margaret Stohl’s writing style, and she nails Black Widow’s cool, detached exterior, matched with a deep well of memories and emotions inside. We’ve got a similar character in Ava, who’s learning to control her emotions and frustrations, channeling her past into creating a persona of her own. Poor Alex, who’s been dragged along for the ride, finds himself getting answers to questions he’s never known to ask. Both Ava and Black Widow have wonderfully sarcastic tones in their words and even their actions, and Ms. Stohl manages to subtly shift the tone from an agitated adolescent to a battle-tested Avenger with ease. The debriefing sessions between the Department of Defense and the Black Widow break up heavier scenes in the story and move the pacing and narrative along. We also get some cameo appearances from other figures in the Avengers series that provide familiarity and some humor, and they made my Marvel fangirl heart beat that much faster.

I’m thrilled that Natasha Romanov gets to star in her own novel: the “Where’s Natasha” online movement showed merchandisers that women and girls DO read comics and consume pop culture, and we WANT our female superheroes on t-shirts, notebooks, action figures, and perhaps most importantly, in our stories. I would love to read a story about Natasha’s Red Room experiences, or even her assassin days, before S.H.I.E.L.D. Hey, Marvel, I know a really good author with a great YA track record… oh, and so do you.

Non-Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Uncategorized, Women's History

Radioactive! The story of two women scientists and how they changed the world.

Posted on October 14, 2015September 18, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Radioactive!: How Irène Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World, by Winifred Conkling (Jan. 2016, Algonquin Young Readers), $17.95, ISBN: 9781616204150

Recommended for ages 12+

Most of us know who Marie Curie was: the scientist who pioneered the study of radioactivity. But how many know that her daughter, Irène, was an accomplished scientist in her own right, whose studies on radioactivity, physics, and the transmutation of elements earned her a Nobel prize, shared with her husband? Have you heard of Lise Meitner, the physicist whose work in physics – often published in conjunction with her friend and research partner, Otto Hahn – led to the discovery of nuclear fission? She was passed over for a Nobel for several reasons, not the least of which involved her being straight-up robbed by a partner who took credit for much of her work during the World War II years, when she was exiled in Sweden.

Radioactive! tells the stories of these two very important women and their historical research. We learn Irène’s story from the beginning, as the daughter of celebrated scientist, Marie Curie. She worked by her mother’s side, operating an x-ray machine on World War I battlefields, eventually going on to further her mother’s work in radioactivity along with her chemist husband, Pierre Joliot. We learn about Lise Meitner, whose work put her in competition with Curie many times, but experienced more sexism and prejudice than Curie ever did. When Hitler rose to power in the 1930s, her Jewish heritage created problems at her research position, where former colleagues turned against her and demanded she resign; she was eventually forced her to flee Austria for Sweden or end up in a concentration camp. Although she continued to consult with Hahn on their nuclear fission research, he took credit for her work and took home the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944.

I’ve been looking for biographies on women in science for my tweens and teens, and this certainly fits the bill. There are photographs throughout the book, and Ms. Conkling provides strong backgrounds on both Curie and Mietner, making them live again, making the reader care about them, and explaining physics, fission, and radioactive science in terms that we can all wrap our heads around. A valuable addition to libraries and classrooms, and a great book for anyone who wants to inspire the next generation of scientists – female OR male.

Winifred Conkling is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction for young readers, including Passenger on the Pearl: The True Story of Emily Edmonson’s Flight from Slavery and the middle-grade novel Sylvia and Aki, winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Literature Award and the Tomás Rivera Award. Her author website provides teacher guides for her books. There is no guide up for Radioactive yet, but I’m sure there will be one closer to the book’s publication date.

Fiction, Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Return to the Dark House… If you DARE.

Posted on October 12, 2015October 11, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Return to the Dark House, by Laurie Faria Stolarz (July 2015, Hyperion), $17.99, ISBN: 978-142318173-6

Recommended for ages 12+

There’s always a sequel. Survivor Girl has to come back.

In last year’s Welcome to the Dark House, we met a group of contestants that agreed to appear on a reality show in the hopes of getting their big break in horror. Well, they did… sort of. In Return to the Dark House, we meet Ivy – the Survivor Girl – who’s still tormented by the events that took place at the Dark House, Parker, who she left behind, and more importantly, what the killer knew about her life.

But the killer’s not done with Ivy yet. He wants his sequel.

Ivy’s frustrated with what she sees as a lack of interest in her case by the police and even her guardian parents, Apple and Core. When messages and texts start showing up, Ivy decides to take matters into her own hands, joining forces with Taylor: the girl who ran away from the Dark House before it all began. But can she trust Taylor? Can she trust anyone?

I LOVED Welcome to the Dark House. It blended the ’80s slasher flicks that I grew up with into a reality TV environment that kids today have grown up with. Return to the Dark House reminds me a bit of the Scream movie series, with its meta-references to horror tropes and scream queens, and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. Never humorous like Scream, Return to the Dark House is straight-up skin-crawling as we follow Ivy’s narrative and see her putting the pieces of her shattered life together. Taylor is one of those characters you kind of want to thump on the head, asking, “can someone be that vapid?” and then you remember from other books and movies that yes, yes someone can. Feelings for Taylor will start out sympathetic only to plummet into frustration and suspicion, and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to play out.

If you love horror, and haven’t read this book already, make this part of your Halloween season reading. It’s a worthy sequel that makes you hope for the almighty horror trilogy.

Fantasy, Horror, Teen, Tween Reads

Once Upon a Zombie – these aren’t the fairy tales you’re used to!

Posted on October 11, 2015October 11, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Once Upon a Zombie: Book One – The Color of Fear, by Billy Phillips and Jenny Nissenson (Oct. 2015, The Toon Studio Press), $17.95, ISBN: 9781935668343

Recommended for ages 12+

Caitlin Fletcher and her wonderkid sister, Natalie, have moved to London with their dad to try and start their lives over. Caitlin’s and Natalie’s mom disappeared four years ago, and Caitlin suffers from severe anxiety, and starting over at a new school, where the mean girls have no qualms about letting Caitlin know she doesn’t measure up, is causing more anxiety than ever. The one bright spot is Jack, the super-cute boy at school who’s been friendly to her and invites her to a school dance, but a phone mixup lands Caitlin alone, in a cemetery, where she falls down the proverbial rabbit hole and lands in a fairy tale universe! The only drawback is, in this universe, all of the inhabitants are blood-eyed zombies, living under a strange curse. The fairy tale princesses we all know and love – Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty – have been sent to find Caitlin, because she holds the key to restoring order in their world and saving her own. But how is Caitlin, who’s two steps away from a panic attack, supposed to save an entire world, let alone herself?

Where do kids go after Goosebumps? Right here. This first book in a new series is a great way to ease younger horror fans into the zombie genre. The horror is slightly ramped up, with gorier descriptions of the living dead princesses and inhabitants of the fairy tale world, and there are allusions to zombies doing what zombies do best – Cinderella has to be yelled at to stop sniffing at Caitlin on a few occasions – but we’re not leaping into full-on gore and horror just yet. The secondary characters are familiar; we’ve grown up with them and heard about them for generations, so readers will get a kick out of this latest twist on the fractured fairy tale genre. There’s just enough romance to keep middle school girls happy, especially if they like their adventure light on the romance and heavy on the action.

Related to the book and mentioned in the story is the site, UnexplainableNews.com, a tabloid site the kids love checking out and aspire writing for. Direct your readers here (and check it out yourself) for some fun “news videos” on the zombie sightings happening all over the world that garner mention in the book.

Once Upon a Zombie is good fun for readers who love things that go bump in the night, but are ready to be just slightly more scared. Shelve it with a display of Monster High books!

Fantasy, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Spotlight On: The Protector Project!

Posted on October 9, 2015October 6, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Protector Project by Jenna Lincoln

Release Date: 6/15/15 Boroughs Publishing Group

Summary from Goodreads:

Teen soldier Mara de la Luz is about to find out what makes her so special that some would kidnap and kill her—and others, willingly die for her. ENDLESS CARNAGE. ENDLESS QUESTIONS. Mara is a 16-year-old soldier who’s spent years fighting a war that’s lasted generations. Wide-eyed children, some just turned thirteen, rarely survive their first fights despite her best efforts to train and lead them.

What she thinks she wants is to uncover the root causes of the war between the Protectors and the masked Gaishan, maybe find a way to end it. But what she really wants is a future—for herself and the others—beyond the battlefield. Then she’s injured in combat, and when an enemy fighter not only heals her wounds but reveals his face, she sees the promise of all she desires. This cunning teen Gaishan has answers to her questions, but first she must commit treason and travel beyond the boundaries of her world. She must brave a place where everything rests on the point of a blade: her loyalties, her friends, her heart.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon│Kobo Books│Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Jenna Lincoln loves to read, write, and talk about reading and writing. She spent many happy years as a language arts teacher doing just those things. After dabbling in Firefly and Supernatural fan fiction,Jenna got serious about building her own imaginary world, big enough to get lost in for a long, long time.

When she comes back to reality, Jenna enjoys her home in beautiful Colorado with her husband and two daughters.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

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Book Tour Organized by:

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Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

A Tale of Light & Shadow – Good, old-fashioned adventure and romance!

Posted on October 8, 2015October 7, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Tale of Light & Shadow, by Jacob Gowans (2014, Shadow Mountain), $9.99 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1609079819

Recommended for ages 12+

The world of Atolas is a world where emperors and kings rule the land. Wealth determines one’s place in society, and social stations carry more weight with some of the populace than with others. Isabelle and Henry have grown up side by side and have fallen in love. Henry, a prosperous carpenter, wants to marry Isabelle, whose wealth is in name alone, but her father won’t allow it. When her father turns to a terrible way to get Isabelle out of the way and get to her mother’s gold, Henry comes to her rescue – and their group, including their siblings, Henry’s childhood friend, Ruther, and Henry’s apprentice, Brandol – find themselves on the run from the Emperor’s guard. There are rough times ahead for Isabelle, Henry, and their group. There will be betrayals, secrets, and a hard journey to freedom for them all.

I really enjoyed this book, the first in a new series by author Jacob Gowans. It reminds me of an old-school adventure, with the young lovers in peril, the hidden betrayer, an epic journey both in body and in spirit – each of the characters in the group goes through emotional upheaval through the course of the book – and a thread of magic that promises to grow stronger as we progress through the series. I love this book because it’s the kind of book I can give to my more conservative teens, my teens who love a good romance, and my teens who love an epic fantasy. It’s a relatively clean book – there’s some battle violence and references to concubines – but it’s within acceptable levels for teen reading. Fans of older movies will be drawn into the sprawling lands and hero’s journey that lays ahead. The ending of the book promises a sequel that will pick up where this first book leaves off.

Speaking of that second book, guess what’s next on my night table? So get ready, check out A Tale of Light and Shadow, and get yourselves up to speed for the next book in the series, Secrets of Neverak.