Waiting on Wednesday (August 25, 2010)
We can't believe this is the last Wednesday of August. Summer, where have you gone? We each have a pick this week for one book we're really looking forward to reading. One is a Middle Grade mystery, another is an intriguing YA mystery which has to be solved by the girl who has been murdered, and the last has some awesome elements to it--assassins, pirates, kidnapping, Venice and a boy vampire.
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (January 1, 2011)
Book summary: Phoebe Stone, author of the sleeper hit DEEP DOWN POPULAR, is back with a middle-grade code-breaking mystery full of romance and excitement. Think CHASING VERMEER meets THE SECRET GARDEN!
Felicity's glamorous parents have a secret. When they leave her with distant relatives in Maine, Felicity hopes they won't leave her long. Her new Uncle Gideon hides things. Her Aunt Miami is star-crossed. And Derek, a kid her age, refuses to leave his room.
But Felicity needs Derek's help. Gideon is getting coded letters from Felicity's parents, and she's sure they're in trouble. Can Felicity crack the code, heal the family and save her parents, all while surviving her first crush? It's a tall order, but - like THE SECRET GARDEN'S Mary Lennox before her - Felicity's up for the challenge.
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Razorbill (December 7, 2010)
Book summary: Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.
Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surfaceÑnot just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.
With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.
Book 1) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Orbit (January 27, 2011)
Book summary: In the depths of night, customs officers board a galley in a harbor and overpower its guards. In the hold they find oil and silver, and a naked boy chained to the bulkhead. Stunningly beautiful but half-starved, the boy has no name. The officers break the boy's chains to rescue him, but he escapes.
Venice is at the height of its power. In theory Duke Marco commands. But Marco is a simpleton so his aunt and uncle rule in his stead. They command the seas, tax the colonies, and, like those in power before them, fear assassins better than their own.
In a side chapel, Marco's fifteen-year old cousin prays for deliverance from her forced marriage. It is her bad fortune to be there when Mamluk pirates break in to steal a chalice, but it is the Mamluks' good luck - they kidnap her.
In the gardens beside the chapel, Atilo, the Duke's chief assassin, prepares to kill his latest victim. Having cut the man's throat, he turns back, having heard a noise, and finds a boy crouched over the dying man, drinking blood from the wound. The speed with which the boy dodges a dagger and scales a wall stuns Atilo. And the assassin knows he has to find the boy.
Not to kill him, but because he's finally found what he thought he would never find. Someone fit to be his apprentice.
Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at breaking the spine.
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Orbit (January 27, 2011)
Book summary: In the depths of night, customs officers board a galley in a harbor and overpower its guards. In the hold they find oil and silver, and a naked boy chained to the bulkhead. Stunningly beautiful but half-starved, the boy has no name. The officers break the boy's chains to rescue him, but he escapes.
Venice is at the height of its power. In theory Duke Marco commands. But Marco is a simpleton so his aunt and uncle rule in his stead. They command the seas, tax the colonies, and, like those in power before them, fear assassins better than their own.
In a side chapel, Marco's fifteen-year old cousin prays for deliverance from her forced marriage. It is her bad fortune to be there when Mamluk pirates break in to steal a chalice, but it is the Mamluks' good luck - they kidnap her.
In the gardens beside the chapel, Atilo, the Duke's chief assassin, prepares to kill his latest victim. Having cut the man's throat, he turns back, having heard a noise, and finds a boy crouched over the dying man, drinking blood from the wound. The speed with which the boy dodges a dagger and scales a wall stuns Atilo. And the assassin knows he has to find the boy.
Not to kill him, but because he's finally found what he thought he would never find. Someone fit to be his apprentice.
Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at breaking the spine.
I hope you enjoy your books!
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A Book Obsession..
The fallen blade looks good, Love the cover here is my W.O.W.
ReplyDeleteNice picks! I love the Converse on that first cover, and the second one sounds like an intriguing mystery. Great choices!
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like, you can check out my WoW post here.