“Flawless girls” Anna-Marie McLemore

Rated 2 stars ** ARC. ebook. Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan Publishing). To be published May 24, 2024.

For years Isla, an intersex teen, has been tormented by her peers. She’s also tormented herself, wanting to be like her beautiful sister Renata. After spending most of her life trying to fit in, she and Renata enroll at the Alarie House. At this prestigious finishing school Isla is sure she’ll become a perfect girl. What she doesn’t know is that it’s also where monsters and nightmares live.

I was not a fan of the book, as there were too many fantastical things going on that distracted me. This is a book English teachers would want to tear up for its symbolism, leaving some readers like me scratching our heads in puzzlement that such symbolism existed where we saw only words and phrases.

I will leave it up to my readers, ages 16 and older, to decide if they want to read it or not.

 I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

“Path lit by lightning: The life of Jim Thorpe” David Maraniss

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Simon & Schuster. To be published August 9, 2022. (Includes “Notes,” and “Selected bibliography.”)

Jim Thorpe was born during a time when Native Americans struggled to hold onto their culture and land while their children were uprooted and sent to government boarding schools. Thorpe was sent to the Carlisle Indian School, where leadership believed “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” was justification for its evils of assimilation into the White world. Excelling at football and track Jim was chosen to represent the United States at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, where he won gold in the pentathlon and decathlon and set a decathlon world record.

Though he was the greatest athlete in the world, Jim’s awards and trophies were taken and his records erased when it was revealed he played semi professional baseball during breaks from school. As a result he spent his life working menial jobs, playing sports for small change, and hoping for a coaching job that never materialized. “A man has to keep hustling” Thorpe often said, but died a poor man.

Sympathetic to Thorpe’s plight and other Native Americans, Maraniss’ well-researched biography draws on rich primary source materials to supply information on Thorpe as well as important figures and events of the time. One hundred and ten years after Jim Thorpe’s victories plans are still under way to restore his records because, though the IOC finally gave medals to his family in 1983, Thorpe’s results are still not part of the Olympic record.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“My dearest darkness” Kayla Cottingham

Rated 5 stars ***** Sourcebooks Fire. 2022. 350 p.

Finch desperately wanted a scholarship to attend the music program at Ulallume Academy, a prestigious boarding school. Her exquisite piano playing was enough to eventually get her in, but it was a bitter pill to swallow because her supportive parents drowned when their car went off a bridge after an eight-eyed stag appeared in their path. Finch had also been trapped, but miraculously survived with a drastically changed appearance.

Soon after arriving on campus Finch felt a strange pull leading her towards Ulallume’s forbidden tunnels, where a dark void appears and a voice pleads for release. Finch has no idea Nerosi, the woman she releases, is really a wicked monster with plans to kill everyone in the world.

This sapphic and sinister book will draw in fans of mysterious, deadly creatures that will haunt their dreams.

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

“Omar rising” Aisha Saeed

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House). 212 p.

Omar works hard with his studies, and has been accepted into the prestigious Ghalib Academy for Boys boarding school. He lives with his mother who works as a servant, so having a scholarship to attend this school means he can buy them a real home and have a real future. The whole village is excited that one of their own has achieved this honor so, with their bright hopes, Omar arrives at Ghalib.

Once there he makes friends with other scholarship kids, and some of the rich boys, but soon finds the workload to be more than he can handle. Things get worse when he finds out the school has different standards for those who didn’t pay for their education. As scholarship kids they must maintain an A+ average, complete 5 hours of service work on campus, and are not allowed to join extracurricular clubs during their first year.

Omar is extremely disappointed because he had been looking forward to joining the soccer team and Astronomy club. However he knows he can’t afford to lose his scholarship, so he and his friends spend all their time studying and working to pull up their grades. Soon they find out, despite their hard work, they won’t be able to achieve the A+ average required of them. He and another friend will have to leave school at the end of the semester.

Omar is devastated. As he works on a collage titled “Stubbornly optimistic,” he ponders the unfairness of a system the school set up that causes scholarship kids to fail. Over the years many poor students have been forced to leave, and now Omar is going to be one of them. However, he is not going to leave without a fight. He and his friends have worked hard so, with the help of the rest of the student body, Omar decides to stand up for what’s right.

Omar’s resilience and search for justice will win over young readers.

Highly recommended for ages 10-14.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Drowning with others” Linda Keir

Rated 2 stars ** ebook. Lake Union Publishing. 2019.

Andi was a senior at her prestigious boarding school where she and Ian were the IT couple. She always thought he was The One, until she found someone else. She didn’t know her new love would haunt her memories for twenty years.

Ian was desperately in love, and couldn’t figure out why Andi broke up with him. When he found out, he was extremely jealous. All he could think about was how to make him pay for taking Andi away.

Cassidy was a legacy at Glenlake Academy, where members of her family had attended for over 100 years. When a twenty-year-old former teacher’s skeleton was found on campus, her teacher decided to use the case to teach his students about investigative journalism. Her excitement about being a journalist slowly changed to fear as she realized her parents had been seniors the year the man disappeared, and had ties to the murdered teacher. As clues begin to mount, Ian and Andi will have to come to terms with what happened 20 years ago while Cassidy will have to decide if truth is really all it’s cracked up to be.

Told through flashbacks and multiple points of view, “Drowning with others” is yet another book that caters to the rich at the expense of those with less fortunes. Though I know this is a normal occurrence in the lives of people whose Starbucks tab is more than I make in a year, reading about it is something I try to avoid. It did have some good moments but, overall, I wasn’t thrilled.

Thought I wasn’t a fan, I will leave it up to you to decide whether you want to read it or not.

“The Nine” Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg

Rated 3 stars *** ebook. She Writes Press. 2019.

For many years Hannah couldn’t have children. When she finally had Sam she devoted every minute to him, often neglecting her husband in the process. Hannah wanted Sam to attend the best schools so, when the opportunity arose to enroll him in an exclusive boarding school, she persuaded her husband that this was for the best. So off Sam went to Dunning Academy.

While at Dunning Sam becomes involved in a secret society called “The Nine.” The Nine were created when the Academy started to diversity the student body and to admit girls, but Sam was assured all they did now was play tricks on the Administration. One night, while exploring one of Dunning’s many underground tunnels, Sam discovered someone was secretly videotaping girls in the shower. He trusts Jason, Head of the Nine, with the information but soon learns the hard way that trusting the Nine as a regular student is never the same as trusting the Nine when you’re rich.

This novel shows how, once again, money can talk anyone out of trouble. All it does is remind me of the impenetrable gap between the haves and have-nots, and tells me that no matter what the have-nots do, they can never, ever catch up.

Though I wasn’t a big fan I’ll leave it up to readers ages 18 and older to decide if they want to read it or not.

“Plain bad heroines” Emily M. Danforth

Rated 2 stars ** ARC. ebook. Published October 20, 2020. HarperCollins.

In 1902 it was scandalous for women to be in love but twelve-year-old Clara and Flo defy everyone, secretly spending time together at The Brookhants School for Girls, memorizing delicious tidbits of Mary MacLane’s tantalizing book that showed them how to know each other better. Neither expected to die a horrible death. One hundred years later their deaths would form the plot of a movie that would star a young lesbian star, causing the horrors of 1902 to be brought to life again.

I wasn’t a fan of this book. There was too much back and forth between the characters and the years kept jumping around so much it was hard to figure out what what was going on. However I will leave it up to you Adult readers to decide if you want to read it or not.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Oligarchy” by Scarlett Thomas

1 star * ARC. ebook. Publisher’s Group West (Ingram). To be published November 7, 2019.

A bunch of rich girls are in a boarding school somewhere in England, where they rule the school. They spend all their time thinking about ways to avoid eating, measuring nonexistent body fat, and weighing themselves since almost all of them are anorexic. The tepid storyline of “Oligarchy” goes on and on with anorexia as its main theme, jumping disjointedly and dispiritedly from character to character.

I did NOT like this book, but forced myself to keep going because I had to review it. If you want a book that endlessly repeats the same problems, without any solutions, then this is for you. I’m unhappy I wasted so much time slogging through it, but will leave it up to teens aged 15 and older to decide if you want to read it or not.

I received an advance copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

 

 

“The bronze key” by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Rated 5 stars ***** 2016. Magisterium. Book #3. Scholastic. 249 p.

Callum is back at school in the Magisterium for his Bronze year after his encounter with Master Joseph in “The copper gauntlet.” All his classmates and the Masters think he and his friends are heroes for killing Constantine, not realizing Constantine has been dead for years but his soul lives in Call.

The Masters believe there is a spy in the Magisterium and, soon, a series of accidents proves someone is trying to kill him. Despite warnings from Master Rufus not to attempt any actions on their own, Call, Aaron, Tamara and Jasper start plotting ways to catch the spy. Unfortunately events take a terrible turn, and Call finds himself in the middle of his worst nightmare.

I could not put this book down, and know my students will be just as enthralled. If it weren’t already 12:25 in the morning I’d be starting book #4 “The silver mask” right now! I’ll have to wait until the real morning to start reading. Don’t wait! Go grab this series ASAP, and start reading. You won’t be sorry.

Highly recommended for ages 10-14.

“The copper gauntlet” by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Rated 5 stars ***** 2015. Magisterium. Book #2. Scholastic. 264 p.

When we left twelve-year-old Callum Hunt in book #1 “The iron trial,” he’d found out that he was possessed by the soul of the Enemy of all Mages, Constantine Madden. Somehow, during the Cold Massacre when Call’s mother had been killed, Constantine had invaded the body of the real baby Callum, killing his soul so Constantine’s could live.

Call suspects his father knows the truth about him so, when he finds a prison in his basement and written plans to have his soul removed through a strange device, he believes his father wants to kill him. Later, while at the Magisterium, he discovers the device he’d seen in the plan is called an Alkahest and his father is accused of stealing it. The Masters plan to kill his father because of this traitorous act, but Call is determined to save him.

He sneaks away from the Magisterium with his friends and Jasper, an annoying classmate who was going to tattle on them, to find his father. Pursued by the Masters, the four of them manage to survive attacks by magical creatures and Master Joseph, the Enemy’s Second-in-Command. With time running out Call will have to make a difficult decision that could cost him his life.

This series is very interesting, and has so many twists and turns it will be sure to keep even the most reluctant reader interested. I can’t wait to start book #3 “The bronze key.”

Highly recommended for ages 10-14.