#3 Shelter by Harlan Coben

I spent a long weekend this January in Phoenix, AZ.  I was there to attend a conference for work about what is new in YA literature.  I've been going to this conference annually since I started working as a librarian and I look forward to it every year.  The presenter is Patti Tjomsland and she is amazing!  I have actually travelled from PA to FL, VA, and now AZ to see her present!

My mom went with me and we made a girls' weekend out of it.  We spent some time hiking and just relaxing.  One of the places we went to was Tempe Marketplace, a beautiful open-air mall that had live music each night of the weekend.  We actually ended up at the Marketplace twice because the day we tried to go to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens there was a marathon and every road we tried to take was blocked for the race, so we gave up and headed to the Marketplace, simply because we knew we could get there!  We both grabbed a book to sit by one of the fantastic fireplaces situated throughout....

 



At several different junctures, Mom needed to get up and move around....while I sat glued to my seat to finish this story!  Mickey has witnessed his father's death and since his mom has been sent to rehab after spiraling down after her husband's death....and now Mickey is living with his Uncle Myron, much to his chagrin and dismay.  Right before school starts, Mickey goes to a meeting at his new school for all new students.  There he meets Ashley, who he quickly falls for.  They spend the next few weeks getting to know each other, until the day Ashley just disappears.  Being tired of losing so many people in his life, Mickey isn't about to let her go that quickly.  He goes to great lengths to find out what has happened to Ashley.  There are all kinds of twists and turns in this story that I didn't see coming.  There is a second book in this series, Seconds Away, and I can't wait to read it!!  Fortunately, my library has a copy of the second title.....but it is checked out, so it may be a while before I get the chance to read it.  But read it, I will!

Happy Reading!!!

#40--Borderline by Allan Stratton

The weather today when I left school was wet, dreary, and downright miserable.  Which made me want to curl up with a good book.

Sami Sabiri is first-generation Iranian-American.  His father fled his homeland as a child and grew up in Canada.  Sami's dad is strict and has high expectations for his son.  Expectations that Sami doesn't find all that easy to live up to.  He is the only Muslim student at his private school, which he refers to as Academy Hell because of the bullying he goes through at the hands of Eddy, a football player with a father who covers a multitude of sins with his checkbook.

Sami's dad has invited him on a trip to Toronto that will be combined with a business trip, a nice father-son getaway.  But at the last minute, he has to cancel the plans for Sami to join him.  Not only does this make Sami mad, but it also makes him suspicious that maybe his dad is having an affair. 

Several nights after his father returns from Toronto, Sami is webcam-chatting with his two best friends, Marty and Andy (who lives across the street).  Andy reports to Sami that there are people dressed in black, with dogs, outside Sami's house.  Sami goes to investigate, thinking that Eddy and his cronies have actually followed through with their threats toward him.  Instead, the FBI bursts into the house and hauls Dr. Sabiri out of the house in handcuffs and separates Sami and his mom for hours, questioning them, and destroys their house and much of their belongings.

It takes a while for the Sabiris and their lawyer to find out where Dr. Sabiri is being held and what the charges are.  In the meantime, the arrest of a research director (Dr. Sabiri) at a lab that stores anthrax, smallpox, and other viruses and linked to an alleged terrorist group, the Brotherhood of Martyrs, is all over the news.  The only person linked to the terrorist cell who was not arrested was the alleged leader, Tariq Hasan.  Despite their strained relationship, Sami takes it upon himself to try to prove his father's innocence, at any cost.

This story had me hooked from the very beginning and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.  There were a few surprises in store that I didn't see coming, which is always a refreshing change.  This is definitely going on my list of recommendations for my students.  It is a ripped-from-the-headlines story that will hopefully make them think.

Happy Reading!!!

#29--They Almost Always Come Home by Cynthia Ruchti

During the summer I always have great aspirations to getting lots of reading done....as is evidenced by the piles of books I pack anytime I go anywhere.  However, life, and this year, the Olympics, gets in the way. 

I finished They Almost Always Come Home several months ago, but never posted it....so, here goes....

The story opens with Libby fretting over whether dead people wear shoes....it seems like a waste since no one will see them, but "no outfit is complete without shoes".  Every time her husband goes away on one of his Canadian wilderness trips, Libby tends to over-dramatize if he is even the tiniest bit late....but Greg has never been this late before, and he has never been in the wilderness alone...

When he doesn't return home within a few days of the anticipated time, Libby files a missing persons report....and waits, and waits, and waits.  Her father-in-law, Frank, and her best friend, Jenika (Jen), are there by her side.  During her agonizing wait for Greg, Libby waffles between wishing she had left Greg before his trip, to wishing he were home again and by her side.  Part of her indecision lies in the fact that their daughter died a few years ago, and then everything changed. 

Jen is convinced that God wants Libby and Jen to find Greg....Libby's not so sure about that.  She is convinced that Greg is either dead or he has found a convenient way to leave her.  The fourth day after filing the missing persons report, Frank announces that he wants to go up to Canada to take a look around...hoping to see something the authorities missed, or to find "his boy".  Much to his chagrin, Libby and Jen insist on tagging along--two inexperienced and anti-outdoors women--to the wilderness of Canada.  And they only have one week to find him.

Along the way, Jen, Libby and Frank come across clues that indicate they are on the right trail....empty sunflower seeds, Greg's paddle that he made in high school wood shop.  And Libby also has one of Greg's journals that she reads at night while questioning God the whole time.

Two-thirds of the way into the book, the perspective switches to Greg's side of the story.  I don't want to give anything away....but I loved his side of the story just as much as Libby's and the ending was fantastic as well. 

Christian fiction can sometimes come across as preachy or trite, but this one doesn't.  Will definitely be checking out her future works.

Happy Reading!!

#26--Girl, Stolen by April Henry

At the end of every school year I check out a bunch of books that have sounded really good during the year that I haven't had a chance to read.  So, before I left the building on Friday, I checked out my summer reads and today I got started on them.

Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of her stepmom's car while waiting for her prescription to be filled to help get rid of her pneumonia.  Within just a few minutes of leaving the car, the door opens and slams shut and the car is started and then moving.  Pretty quickly, without looking, Cheyenne knows that it isn't her stepmother, Danielle, driving the car--and that the car is being stolen, with her in it.  Cheyenne isn't sure how she is going to survive because, not only is she sick, but she is also blind and without her trusty guide dog, Phantom.

Griffin didn't mean to kidnap Cheyenne.  He simply saw the fancy Escalade, with keys dangling from the ignition, as an easy target.  He didn't realize that there was someone in the back seat, until it was too late.  He knows that he will pay for his impulsiveness when his dad, Roy, finds out what he has done.  Roy runs a chop shop and has committed petty crimes, and taught Griffin to do the same, along with his two employees, TJ and Jimbo.  While watching the evening news, Roy discovers that Cheyenne's father is the president of Nike, and he hatches a plan to ask for a hefty ransom for Cheyenne's return. 

Told with alternating narration between Cheyenne and Griffin, this is a quick, easy read, that had me on pins and needles, wondering what was going to happen to Cheyenne and Griffin, with a great twist at the end!  I will be definitely be adding this one to my list of possible book talks for next year!

Happy Reading!!