Fire is the exciting prequel to Kristin Cashore’s Graceling.  I am a huge fan of Graceling and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one! Fire lives up to Graceling beautifully!  The only character in both books in Leck, only in Fire he is a young child instead of a king.  The first chapter gives us King Leck’s much anticipated background story. 

Fire is the last of her kind.  She is a human monster.  There are monster versions of all kinds of animals.  She was the only child of the human monster, Cansrel, a dangerous man who used his powers for his own greed and pleasure.  Besides her unnatural beauty and hair the color of fire, she has the ability to enter and control the minds of those near her.  Now Cansrel is dead.  She lives in the estate of Lord Archer, both her lover and protector.  Human monsters have a hard time surviving.  Monster preditors such as raptors and leopards hunger for their flesh more than any other human.  She must be guarded at all times.  Fire is uncomfortable with her mind control powers, and keeps her hair covered whenever she leaves her home.  The very sight of her can be so shocking to humans, they can’t control themselves around her.  They either want her for their own or want to kill her. 

Fire is summoned to King’s City to use her powers against the king’s enemies, making her question how she lives, who she should love and what she should do with her powers.

Although the characters are different from Graceling, the book has the same feel and excitment.  I love that Kristin Cashore has created another strong female character for teens!  She tells us just enough of what a “monster” is and lets is fill in the blanks with our own imagination.  How I picture Fire may be very different how another reader will imagine her.  The introduction to the child version of Leck is brilliantly creepy!  I really can’t wait for book three, Bitterblue.

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

What makes Fire monsterous?  What about Cansrel?

Does she have a right to probe and control people’s minds?  Would you want that power?

Fire does not want to have children.  She wants the monster line to end.  Is she right?  If you were her, what would you do?

If the teens have read Graceling, talk about the character of King Leck as both a king in Graceling and a child in Fire.

Discuss Fire’s relationship with Archer. 

Discuss Fire’s secret involving her father.

Do you see Fire as a strong female character? 

Compare her with other female characters in young adult fiction.

Fire uses music to comfort herself.  Do you have a similar talent that makes you happy?

After reading Eternal I was hoping for more fallen angel fantasy. Lauren Kate is writing a new series about just that. The first book is called, Fallen. All her life, Luce has been tormented by shadows that seem to follow her everywhere. It kind of reminds me of the movie, “The Sixth Sense.” She’s sent to reform school because a mysterious fire killed a boy she liked. She’s implicated in the crime even though she can’t remember what happened.

At school Luce meets Daniel. Not only is he supernaturally gorgeous, Luce feels a familiar longing, making her believe they have met before. Although Cam, another attractive boy, is clearly interested in her, Luce only wants Daniel, the boy whose interest runs both hot and cold. Daniel tries to keep Luce at a distance, telling her the truth would kill her as it has many times before. The first chapter is fantastic! But I was disappointed that it took so long in the rest of the book to get back to the supernatural. But this won’t stop teens from loving it anyway!

Unfortunately Daniel falls into that familiar theme of “boy is mean to girl” so “girl becomes obsessed with boy.” We never find out what really caused the fire that killed Luce’s friend. It also seems strange that Luce and Daniel are able to go off into the woods. I would think a reform school would have more security. The cover is fantastic! It is dark, dramatic and beautiful! Teens will love it!

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

What is appealing about fallen angels vs. vampires and other characters in fantasy?

What do you think caused the fire that killed the boy?

Why do you think the “boys are mean and girls love them anyway” is so popular in teen books?

Talk about Luce’s shadows. What do you think they mean?

This is a fun collection of short stories involving popular authors of young adult fantasy.  Sarah Mlynowski of Bras and Broomsticks tells a story about two girls going on a cruise.  They are scoping out guys so one of them can lose their virginity.  The two girls befriend another girl who warns them about a string of vampire attacks on cruise ships.  Bodies are found overboard drained of blood.  When Kristin finds the guy of her dreams  and they are finally alone, we find out she has a secret of her own.  Virginity has an entirely different meaning to these girls.

Claudia Gray, the author of the Evernight series, takes on a witches vacation filled with rivelry.  Every year this coven gets together to work magic.  Her mom’s coven from college and their families meet and the men in the family really have no idea that their wives and daughters are witches.  Cicely hates Kathleen.  The two have been rivals since they were little kids.  When Kathleen brings a new boyfriend on vacation, Cecily suspects the boyfriend has been bewitched.  Now Cecily must decide whether to risk performing powerful magic beyond her years.

Maureen Johnson of 13 Little Blue Envelopes fame writes about two sisters, the French countryside and a strange curse.  When people hear a story about the French Revolution they are compelled to commite murder. 

Cassandra Clare, author of City Of Bones & City Of Ashes,  writes about a family that vacations next to an ancient witch.  The villa staff’s warnings are not enough to keep two curious teens from approaching her beach house.

The story that was truely terrifying was saved for last.  Libba Bray, author of A Great And Terrible Beauty,  scared me to death with her “Nowhere Is Safe.”  A group of teens backpack through Europe and decide to go off the beaten path near Budepest for a little adventure.  They go to small village for a festival with a dark history.  They find ghosts, a frightening history of devil worship and a terrifying evil shrouded in mist and dense forests.  I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep after reading this one!

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

How is reading a collection of short stories different than a full novel?  Which did you like better?

Talk about which stories were your favorites?

Did you think the students in Nowhere Is Safe were brave or stupid?

Talk about superstitions and how legends can shape the way we think.

Desperate circumstances can make people do horrible things.  Talk about what would make a village sacrifice their own children.

 The first few chapters are a very realistic and emotional retelling of the events of September 11th through the eyes of three teens, Claire, Peter and Jasper. I won’t lie to you, these pages are tough to read. They brought back a lot of emotion of the day. This is a good opportunity for teens who may have been too young to remember much of the details. They can see the events through the eyes of characters their own age. Claire is in school and rushes to find her little brother while they wait for their mother to get them. Peter is waiting outside for a record store to open and bares witness to the attack. Jasper sleeps through the most of the attack. The three characters were at a party together just the night before. Jasper and Peter flirted, but a connection is not made until much later. Claire meets Jasper on a nighttime walk to ground zero where they find they are kindred spirits, searching for answers. The three become a source of hope and deep friendship as they navigate through the year after the attacks.

David Levithan’s discription of the days events is very authentic both in detail and emotion. He forces us to ask difficult questions. He portrays the important politics of the time without evoking fear. He reminds us we share humanity with the entire world, and the post 9/11 events should bring us together instead of tearing us apart. I love how he portrays homosexual teens. They are just like any other teen, searching for love and acceptance. They are friends with straight teens like it is no big deal. And it shouldn’t be a big deal. I read through chapters of this book with tears in my eyes. I am so thankful David Levithan had the courage to write this important book!

 Ideas for discussing with teens:

Many teens may be too young to remember details about the September 11th attacks.  Talk about what they do remember.  As an adult facilitator, add your personal recollections.

If they do remember, talk about how their world changed that day.

Music, specifically U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind album, helps Peter and Claire cope.  Talk about how music helps you cope with difficult times in your life. 

Have the lyrics to U2’s song “One” on hand to discuss.  Take turns reading it out loud.    The title of the book comes from the lyrics.

How does tragedy bring people closer together?

Claire says she feels survivors must breathe in the dust of the dead, and do things the dust cannot do.  Discuss.

Talk about when Clarire says, “The hitch is you can’t find a common humanity just because you have a common enemy.  You have to find a common humanity because you believe that it’s true.”

The characters talk about the different between “drowning” & “the swim of things”.  Discuss.

17-year-old Miranda has a guardian angel named Zachary.  He watches her night and day.  When she and a friend are lured into a cemetery by a vampire, Zachary displays his radiance to stop her from falling into a fresh grave.  Revealing yourself to humans is taboo.  Zachary is punished by losing his wings.  He is charged by God to fix his mistake if he ever wants into heaven again.  Zachary’s radiance caught the attention of an old vampire who makes Miranda into a vampire princess, treating her as his own daughter.  Miranda finds herself no longer an average teen, but a high society vampire on the cover of magazines and celebrated at lavish parties, and who feeds off humans without batting an eye.  Zachary, distraught over his fallen status, searches for her in attempts to save her and kill the old vampire Miranda calls, Father.  Zachary answers an ad to become her personal assistant.  (Many high society vampires use humans as servants.)  Miranda becomes equally frustrated and enthralled by him at the same time.  Zachary finds out in the end his mission is not what he thought, and now he must choose between what he wants, as he falls in love with Miranda, and saving her soul.

I really loved this book!  Smith’s writing is much better than what you will find in most vampire fantasy books.  That angels are making a big presence in fantasy writing is very exciting to me.  They are beautiful and immortal, like vampires with without the blood lust.  They are not your Sunday School angels.  They have flaws and forbidden romance between angels and humans are becoming a common theme. 

Smith creates a dark and violent vampire world where the vampires treat humans like cattle.  Their wealth is immense and they live in castle like structures.  Dracula is mentioned often in this book with subtle references to the classic.  In fact, Father, holds the title of The Dracula.  He is not the original, but a leader in the vampire community.  These are not your nice, vegan Twilight vampires, but blood thirsty, keep humans as slaves, vampires. 

Smith has also written Tantalize and her new book combining characters from both Tantalize and Eternal is called Blessed.  Blessed will be released in 2011.

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Talk about how Miranda changed from being an average teen to a celebrity.  What did that do to her personality?  Which would you rather be?

If appropriate, you can discuss angels in biblical terms.  How do they differ from what is represented here with the archangels?  Talk about heaven and hell.  What are their thoughts on both?

Can vampires be redeemed?  Where do you think the story will go from here?

Fallen angels vs. vampires?  Which will make the better series?

I love fairy tale retellings!  Jessica Day George’s Princess of the Midnight Ball is a fun, edgy version of the Brother’s Grimm’s Twelve Dancing Princesses. Young soldier, Galen just finished fighting a war and is returning to a home he’s never known.  His parents are long gone so he travels to seek kindness and employment from his Uncle’s family.  He has a talent for knitting.  Which when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.  You are in the army, you want socks or a scarf, you better know how to knit.  On the road he encounters a strange old woman who gives him two balls of special yarn and an invisibility cloak.  She tells him he will need this when he’s in the palace.  Of course he has no idea what she is talking about.  His purpose becomes clear as he takes a job working beside his Uncle in the King’s gardens.  Strange rumors circle around his twelve daughters.  Each morning they leave their room exhausted with their shoes worn through.  No one sees them leave and no one hears a peep coming from their rooms.  The King becomes desperate.  He invites princes from around the world to solve the mystery.  Not one succeeds and one by one they all die from terrible accidents.   Galen thinks he might know what’s going on and with the help of the old woman’s gifts; he tries to save the princesses.

This story is told from Galen’s male perspective, which makes for an interesting change.  George beautifully describes both the underworld and the King’s gardens.  I love the way the princesses are not wimpy, instead they help Galen save themselves.  I also love that Galen’s knitting is a big part of the plot.  This skill is what helps him solve the problem, locking the evil down below.

Some ideas for discussion with teens:

Talk about the differences between the original 12 Dancing Princesses and this retelling.

Talk about how Galen knits.  Why does it seem weird that a boy would knit? Talk about how this skill helps him win in the end.

Talk about the stronger princesses, why is this so rare?

I picked up Aimee Friedman’s Sea Change after a friend remarked that this could be the new Twilight.  Supernatural romance is very popular right now.  We’ve seen vampires, faeries, werewolves.  This time the creatures in question are merfolk.  Miranda is meeting her mother on an island to sort out her eccentric grandmother’s estate.  Her mother was long estranged from her grandmother, making the decision to leave the family’s summer home on Selkie Island to her quite a surprise.  Miranda’s mother hails from Savannah’s high society.  During Miranda’s ferry ride to the island, she is warned about the creatures that inhabit the island.  Selkie Island is the summer playground to the Savannah’s rich upper crust.  The locals live in Fisherman’s Village, a place where the wealthy stay away.  The local gossip girl type gang befriends her but she’d rather read about science (marine biology to be exact) than wear high fashion and flirt with boys.  She meets Leo at the local museum.  He is not like any boy she’s ever known before.  He loves sea life too, but he’s a local which complicates things.  Miranda also has a birth defect that keeps her shy about showing her feet.  She was born with webbing between her toes.  The webbing was removed, but the scars make her self conscious.  

I really liked the fact that Miranda is a brilliant girl who is interested in science.  You don’t see a lot of that in teen romance books.  I also liked the way the girls were portrayed.  They were selfish and spoiled, but never mean.  In fact, they genuinely liked Miranda and wanted her to spend time with them.  This was also a welcomed change.  They never come out and say, “Leo is a merman”.  The author drops subtle hints and lets the reader decide.  The first chapter felt a little contrived, when the older seaman was warning Miranda.  But after that, I really enjoyed the book!

 Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Talk about legends of selkies and merfolk.

Miranda is a brilliant student.  Discuss why smart girls usually not portrayed in teen romances.

Discuss how the society girls were spoiled, but not mean.  Why do you think the author changed this stereotype?  Do you think it is realistic?

Leo is also a really nice person.  Is he realistic?  Why do nice guys rarely make an appearance in teen supernatural romance?

Mia is now a senior in high school in Oregon.  She is a gifted musician and hopes her talent at the cello will lead her to Julliard.  Her mom and dad are unconventional.  Her dad is a former punk rocker and her mom is a self proclaimed tough feminist chick!  They both are surprised when Mia develops a taste and talent for classical music.  Mia also has a boyfriend, named Adam whose band is up and coming.  They were an unlikely match.  At school they are called groovy and the geek. Mia is struggling to admit to Adam that she may go across the country to college and that worry occupies much of her mind.  During a rare Oregon snow day, her family decides to take a drive to visit some friends.  As Mia drifts off to sleep she is jarred away by the accident that throws her from the car.  She discovers her parents are killed.  While searching for her little brother she comes across her own severely injured body.  As the paramedics take her away and med flight her to a hospital she follows her body through surgery and the post operative coma where her grandparents, aunts and uncles sit in vigil.  At this point the only choice weighing on Mia’s mind is should she stay or simply drift away.  While Mia watches doctors try to save her life we are taken in a series of flashbacks to her life with her loving family and her relationship with her rock star boyfriend, Adam. 

The character development in this story is beautiful.  I became attached to Mia’s wonderful and quirky family.  The relationship she has with her parents is loving and respectful.  I became attached to these characters which makes it all the more painful knowing they are dead.  Mia’s relationship with Adam is not without problems.  However, their relationship is based on respect and a mutual love of music.  There is a scene where she and Adam first become intimate that is so original and beautiful.   Adam is never rude or mean to Mia.  He treats her with kindness.  It is a nice change of pace from many romances found in young adult books.

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Talk about the relationship Mia has with her parents.  Why does it seem to work so well?

Discuss the theme toward the end talks about how living is much harder than dying. 

Talk about the tough decision Mia has to make about college and Adam.

Talk about her relationship with Adam.  How is it different from other characters in books you read?  How is it alike or different than your own relationships?

The sound of the cello brings Mia back.  Talk about what is most important to you and what would bring you back.

 I had high expectations for the sequel to The Hunger Games and Suzanne Collins delivered!  Catching Fire was incredible!  I enjoyed every page.  Katniss is back in District 12 in her new huge house in Victor’s Village.  She still hunts to feed her friend’s families.  After a cold few months with a very hurt Peeta, Katniss must convince the Capitol that they are still in love.  The President himself makes a visit to Katniss’s home to prove to her how much he is willing to punish her.  Peeta and Katniss begin their victor’s tour of the districts and can feel the unrest along the way.  Peeta’s bold act of generosity in District 11 fuels a revolt that spreads throughout the other districts.  In order to squash the rebellion the Capitol changes the rules for the next Hunger Games, punishing Peeta and Katniss far more than they could have imagined.  The plot twists are so unexpected and imaginative, making this sequel as good if not better than the first book.  Peeta becomes a brilliant character, taking risks disguised as kindness.   Does District 13 still exist underground?  We get some glimpses that show us all is not as it seems.  Katniss becomes the icon of hope in the districts.   But will she have to become a martyr to save countless others?  My only complaint is that I have to wait so long for the third book.

  Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Talk about the stark different in the frivolity of the Capitol with their tattoos, feather and tinted skin compared to the people starving in the districts.  Compare that to the world we live in.

Talk about the wedding/mockingjay dress Katniss’s designer made for her.  Talk about Cinna’s sacrifice and how art can speak louder than words.

Should Peeta have lied about Katniss being pregnant?

Talk about risking your life to make life better for others.  Peeta’s gesture to share with the families of District 11 helps to start a revolt.  Would you take the risks Katniss takes?

Talk about what it would mean if Katniss were a martyr.

Who would you choose, Gale or Peeta?

What are your theories about District 13?

 Thomas awakes in a dark moving box. He doesn’t know where he is and all of his memories are gone. The box opens up into a glade with strange teenagers. They must run the maze and find a way to escape. They have no idea who is doing this to them or why. The boys set up a farm-like community in the center of the maze where they survive while others called “runners” try to solve the maze and get everyone home. Each night the maze doors close as the electronic walls shift and change. Frightening animal/machine monsters called grievers patrol the maze corridors each night making certain death for anyone who gets stuck out there after the doors close. Thomas has a strong urge to run the mazes and memorials are just beyond his grasp. One day a girl is sent up to the maze. She and Thomas share a talent. But does this girl signal the end or the beginning?

I had trouble putting this book down! It is a fast paced read. Teens that like books full of action will enjoy this one! I have one complaint. Chuck seems so annoying and then all the sudden he’s Thomas’s symbol for all that’s good in the world. There needed to be a moment or event that linked the two. The change in attitude didn’t work for me. The slang reminded my of Battlestar Galactica and the use of “frak” instead of the other four-lettered “f word.” I can’t decide if I liked that or not.

Some ideas for discussing with teens:

Talk about the glader’s made up slang. Talk about how teens today use slang.

Talk about how the teens keep order by banishing people into the maze.

The teens are treated like lab rats. Who has the right to do this? Do humans have a right to do this to animals?

Is it justified in a time of apocalypse to help the human race survive?

Each teen has a purpose that helps the group survive. Which job would you want?

What do you think it means for the gladers to have a B team in another maze?