There Will Be Bears by Ryan Gebhart

Here's another review from this year's Sequoyah Intermediate Book List, There Will Be Bears by Ryan Gebhart.

If you like or appreciate hunting, this is the book for you!  This book will be a hit for boys looking for realistic fiction.  Tyson is determined to go elk hunting and prove his manhood.  His grandfather Gene is definitely an outdoors man, and has been promising Tyson when he turns 13 they will go hunting together.

But the plot thickens as news about a bear on the prowl, attacking campers.  Then Gene is forced to move to a nursing home where he can receive regular dialysis for his kidneys.  Even though Tyson's parents are trying to make the best of it, Tyson and his grandfather scheme up a plan for hunting action.

Will Tyson get to kill his first elk?  How dangerous can it be with an angry bear on the loose?  I'm not going to spoil it for anyone!

Definitely recommend for middle schoolers.  It's a quick and enjoyable read for those loving the sport of hunting.

Faceless by Alyssa Sheinmel

Finally review for today, but I still have more to come...

Faceless by Alyssa Sheinmel is another book I selected to review for the secondary librarians.  This one is a nice little realistic fiction to have in your collection.

It starts off with a simply early morning run, but it quickly goes wrong with a pop up storm.  Maisie is right by a power line struck by lightning.  The sparks rain down and basically melts her face off.

Maisie is lucky to be so close to home.  She also lucky enough to be in city with a fantastic hospital for burn victims, who just happens to have the best doctor for face transplants.  Her luck continues when a young lady with similar genes dies in an automobile crash and she's a body donor.  Maisie ends up complaining throughout the book about how everyone keeps telling her how lucky she is.  In fact, it kind of got on my nerves!  Just hang in there because she does finally realize the perks of being able to live her life, even with a face transplant.  Don't get me wrong - I get the fact it would be absolutely horrible to have your face completely destroyed, get a face transplant based on the fact someone else had to die, and then try to live a "normal" life.  The story does take an uphill turn when Maisie goes to group therapy.  Basically boils down to the philosophy - when you think you've got it bad, somebody else has it even worse.

I believe the true heroes of this book were Maisie's best friend, Serena, and her boyfriend, Chirag.  These two teens are fantastic and real throughout the entire book, even when Maisie is whining.  I would recommend this book just on the basis of these two kind souls.  Perfect models for how to be a good person to those you care about.

The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine

What a dramatic change - going from a cute realistic book to an edge of your seat dystopia novel!

The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine is one I'm reviewing for the secondary librarians.  It caught my eye on the list, and, when I read the description blurb, I decided to go for it.

I have to be honest that it's a little slow and strange in the beginning.  There's the whole Motherlake thing, with a queen called Valtia, who changes each time she dies.  The main character, Elli, doesn't do anything - this includes getting dressed and walking - all in preparation for her to become the next Valtia.  On top of all this, there are powers of fire and ice.  Some of it gets a little graphic, especially when the queen is dying.  Whew - it's a lot to take in!

It's soon discovered by the priests Elli might not be the Valtia everyone was waiting for.  She must escape and finds herself on the outskirts.  Enter the next character, Oskar, who helps Elli and takes her to his family.  They live in a cave along with other families.  Elli soon learns to survive and work hard.  Meanwhile, the priests are still trying to locate the true Valtia - the survival of the people depends on the Valtia's balance of powers with fire and ice.  There's plenty of action, and it does get intense in spots.  I thought there was an odd fascination with nudity, but maybe that's just me.  I mean, if you're going to play with fire, then there's a good chance clothes will burn off!

I did hang in there, and it does get good.  In fact, it gets pretty great.  I can't really say too much without giving it all away, but it does end with a bit of a cliffhanger possibly opening it up for a sequel - which I would definitely read.  I would recommend for high school and mature middle schoolers because of the intensity, nudity, and slight sexual reference.  Oskar and Elli do sleep together, but just for the ice power thing - apparently she can take some of it away without hurting herself - that's all I'm going to say because I don't want to ruin it for you!

A Million Ways Home by Dianna Dorisi Winget

I'm going to being playing catch up with a ton of book reviews because it's summer... even though I've been reading like crazy, it's a little hard to sit down at the computer and type up posts.  Here we go!

First up is A Million Ways Home by Dianna Dorisi Winget.  Cute realistic fiction, especially for the younger crowd in middle school.  It has drama - the main character Poppy witnesses a murder.  She's also having to deal with her grandmother's stroke.  It's just Poppy and her grandmother, since her parents died earlier, so while her grandmother's in the hospital Poppy has to live in the orphanage.  This means the book has some meat to it and will keep the reader rooting for its main character.

There are some positive elements woven throughout, such as the police officer who takes a special interest in Poppy's case.  She makes new friends, including a dog.  The German shepherd is considered a dangerous animal, but Poppy is determined to save the day.

I would recommend this book for upper elementary and beginning middle school readers.  The characters are real and develop together.  It's predictable, but sometimes we need that in life.

Shuffle, Repeat by Jen Klein

Summer reading continues on... Next on my review list is Shuffle, Repeat by Jen Klein.  Cute romance, and even though you know pretty much how it's going to end you still can't help rooting for the couple.  

Oliver and June's mothers are best friends, and so the two have basically grown up together.  Their personalities are total opposite, and they have avoided each other until now, their senior year.  The mothers decide Oliver will drive June, who refuses to learn how, every day to school.  At first the ride is extremely awkward for the two until Oliver comes up with a plan - when one proves the other wrong, he/she gets to select a song of their choice to listen to.  They create a playlist - with total opposite music genres - but it helps them relax and pretty soon they're actually enjoying hanging out with each other.  

There's some drama moments, as with any romance novel.  I liked how it was divided into the four seasons.  I would recommend for high school, maybe mature middle schoolers, due to the party scenes, language and sexual innuendos.  I hadn't realized until I got to the end, the author Jen Klein writes for Grey's Anatomy - very cool!