Great Monologues review

Great Monologues for Young Actors, Volume III

edited by Craig Slaight and Jack Sharrar

Smith and Kraus

2009

A fresh and challenging collection, ideal for classroom or practical use, this eclectic volume offers more than 50 speeches. A few of them contain language that ventures into mature territory, but most teens will find everything here very accessible. The brief but fantastic introduction includes intelligent advice on how to best make use of the material and to handle auditions professionally. A helpful appendix gives contact information for copyright permissions to those seeking to produce paid performances, but all of the speeches are royalty-free for auditions or study. With selections culled from playwrights such as Shakespeare and Shaw, Beth Henley and Christopher Durang, as well as from exceptional new talents, this is a volume that theater professionals and librarians will definitely want to have.


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
This review originally appeared in School Library Journal.

Pigeon rides the train...

Unable to drive a bus, what's a pigeon to do? Ride the train, I guess. I love how he politely hops off at his stop.

Fragile Eternity review

Fragile Eternity

by Melissa Marr

Harper Collins

2009

The third in a planned series of five books about the intersection of the mortal and faery realms, I was pleased to see this book return to Aislinn's perspective.  Having defeated the Winter Queen's curse, she has transformed from awkward high-schooler into the faery Summer Queen, taking her place beside her faery king consort, Keenan.  Meanwhile, her all-too-human boyfriend Seth is unfortunately no longer able to bear her burning touch.  Keenan faces a similar problem with his former lover, the Winter Girl, Donia, who has now taken the deposed Winter Queen's place.

In truth, I found Aislinn so very changed by all she had experienced in Wicked Lovely, at times I almost forgot that she was the same character.  Gone is the shy, fearful girl with second sight.  This new Aislinn might be somewhat new to her role as the Summer Queen, but that doesn't stop her from being outspoken and attempting to bully her new faery subjects into submission.

Plenty of political machinations follow, with the Summer and Winter Courts now in accord, and Winter's influence ebbing, the Dark Court (featured in Ink Exchange) is in trouble.  Bananach, a faery patron of War, has long affiliated herself with the Dark Court, but sensing trouble, she goes to her sister, Sorcha, the Queen of the High Court to make threats.

With Keenan's and Aislinn's attraction growing as the summer season waxes, frustrated Seth decides the only solution is to become a faery himself.  Hoping to sow further strife, Bananach brings him before the reclusive High Queen, who agrees to grant him immortality, as long as he agrees to spend part of the year with her.  Much to my surprise, the two of them develop a mother-son relationship, with Sorcha feeling fiercely protective of Seth.  What she fails to tell him is that a few days in her realm equal months on the mortal plane.  When Seth finally returns to Aislinn, he is mortified to discover that nearly half a year, she's finally given up on him, and has begun to settle down with Keenan. 

Readers should definitely start at the beginning of the series, with Wicked Lovely.  This book, the middle of the quintet, shares many characteristics typical of a second book in a trilogy; a complex backstory which requires coming to the book with a firm foundation in the world that Marr has built, a complicated web of romance and intrigue with less plot advancement, and a cliffhanger ending which leaves much unresolved.  Fans of urban fantasy, or teens who want a break from vampire books will find this alternate take on immortality interesting.

The first three in the series are all available in paperback.  The newest, Radiant Shadows, was just released in hardcover.

I borrowed this book from my public library.

Mad Treasure Hunt review

Judy Moody and Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt

by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Candlewick

2009

It's a pirate-themed holiday for Judy and younger brother Stink as the Moody family makes their way to historic Ocracoke Island, home of legendary pirate Blackbeard. Stepping off the ferry, the siblings enthusiastically tackle a scavenger hunt organized by "Scurvy Sam," a.k.a. Cap'n Weevil. Solving each riddle leads to "pieces of eight" given by locals playing along with the contest. 

As Judy and Stink race around the island, two other kids seem to be hot on their heels. With a bit of ingenuity and perseverance, the Moodys manage to outwit their competition. Their joy in victory is tempered by the realization that the other kids who have been trying hard have inadvertently led them to the answers on a number of their clues. They decide to include them on their prize trip -- a sail around the bay on a real pirate ship. With a mix of pirate slang, silly jokes, Morse code, and tantalizing puzzles, enlivened with full-color cartoons throughout, this book will make for a humorous summer read.


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Catching Fire review

Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins
Scholastic
2009

In a way, I'm glad I didn't get to this book as quickly as I meant to. That means there's less time to wait until the sequel comes out!

Catching Fire picks right up where The Hunger Games left off. Katniss has just won the cruel and terrible "Most Dangerous Game" style competition that the despotic leaders of Panem have devised to keep the peasantry in the twelve districts both entertained and subdued. She saves her fellow district member Peeta with a desperate gambit, pretending to be in love with him so the audience of the Games will take pity on them and spare them both. Katniss is just starting to realize that she doesn't get to go back to life as normal. She's now living in "The Winner's Village" and she and Peeta are expected to keep up appearances. Her erstwhile love interest Gale has been re-cast by the media as her "cousin." Still, she manages to sneak off and see Gale at least once a week.

One thing that really got my attention is when Katniss is pulled in for a secret meeting with evil President Snow. Katniss is intimidated by his vague threat that something horrible will happen to her family unless she can keep up the charade. As he leaves, Katniss can smell blood on his breath. I wondered if we are meant to interpret that scene figuratively or literally. If it's the latter case, then why is the president drinking blood? Just because he's totally psycho?

The 75th anniversary of Panem's Hunger Games means that a new twist is employed, and it's decided that the tributes shall be drawn from the pool of former champions, so Katniss and Peeta are sent back to compete again. This time, the game is set on a deadly clockwork island, with each section of the island timed to unleash a different danger every hour. Finnick, a former winner from one of the other districts makes an unlikely ally, as Katniss decides to use her time in the arena to secure Peeta's safety. Peeta, of course, is trying to do the same for Katniss, even upping the stakes by telling people that she is pregnant, as a way of trying to create more sympathy for her. As the Districts begin to rally around Katniss, they inevitably begin to rebel against the harsh regime they've suffered under.

In Catching Fire, Collins repeats the success that she had with The Hunger Games, taking an unlikely blend of violence and romance and somehow, making it work.   One thing that I love about Katniss is how dense she can be. She's an athlete, a hunter and a young woman of action. She's not a thinker or an intellectual, and many of the political machinations that the other characters are engaged in are frankly, beyond her. This middle volume of the trilogy seems to make a strong case for a genuine romance with Peeta - he's a decent and wonderful person, who truly cares for Katniss. As the book ends, and Katniss is rescued by rebels from the long-lost "District 13" she is reunited with Gale, and I predict that the third book will give Gale plenty of face-time to try and sway readers back to his camp. For all of the excitement of readers who are cheering for either "Team Peeta" or "Team Gale" there is a third option - Katniss, in her heart of hearts, doesn't really want to be with anyone. An underlying theme of the books is "freedom" and as much as I root for Peeta, I think ultimately, Katniss wants to be "free" from any relationship.  With an abrupt and cliffhanger ending, and a few months to wait yet for the finale, many readers will be eager to see how things will play out.

I borrowed this book.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Margaret Wise Brown

Found this video courtesy of www.earlyword.com.

On-line Book Club

I've discovered this neat on-line book club... DearReader.com. Well, it's new to me, but has been around for quite a while. They'll e-mail you the first few chapters of a newly published book, and then you can sign on to their message boards to discuss with like-minded people.

They've got a number of different genres featured, mystery, romance, non-fiction, business titles, science-fiction, classics, and more, as well as a separate book club for teens. Check it out!