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by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Abby has just been expelled from the public school for attacking a boy with a knife. Her parents enroll her at a private Catholic school. (It's either that or 'reform' school.) Abby is angry and bitter with her parents, and determined to be as invisible as possible at this new school.

One of my favorite things about Cybils is the opportunity to read a book that I probably wouldn't have picked up otherwise; particularly when I end up really liking it. Leap of Faith was one of those, and I'm happy I had the chance to discover it.

My favorite parts in the book were the ones which had to do with drama and Abby's roles in the school plays. That was when I especially related to Abby - when she talked about her struggles with a scene or preparations for an audition. I also enjoyed the insight it gave to Catholicism. There's a lot that's similar to Protestantism, but there's some differences, too. Ironically enough, a few things I disagreed with was stuff that some Protestants believe in as well . . . go figure! It was intriguing, though, and reading fiction stories is an ideal way to learn about different religious views, without things getting boring or didactic.

The writing in Leap of Faith was good; the plot always moved along smoothly and compelled me to keep reading. I needed to know that Abby was going to pull through and be okay. Leap of Faith was a sweet, hopeful story that I'm very glad to have read.

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by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The Lacemaker and the Princess follows the story of Isabelle, a girl from a family of poor lacemakers who are trying to make ends meet. When she is spotted by the Queen at the palace and taken to be a playmate for the young princess, she is glad to be free for a while at least of her strict grandmother and poverty-stricken home. The princess (daughter of Marie Antoinette) is like the rest of the royalty, oblivious to all the needs and suffering of the French people. Whispers of rebellion and revolution swirl about spurring discontentment, even in Isabelle's own brother. Can the two girls remain friends even when their classes clash?

This book was an OK read. I was not able to connect to the characters very much. I felt that the princess would be an intriguing character if the author had let us see into her mind now and then the same way as Isabelle's. I had a hard time finding motivation to continue reading. However, fans of historical fiction or Marie Antoinette may find it interesting and fresh. It is a quick, easy read that young readers will probably enjoy for the glimpses it gives into the time period.

**Also posted on Flamingnet.com**

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Ah finals week. Stress stress stress stress... but, the final has been turned in and the group project given and now I have a whopping 6 days until fall semester starts.

Let's see... this weekend I went to Des Moines for my friend's wedding, which was lots of fun. While there, we went to the State Fair and you can read all about it all at Geek Buffet.

I had also forgotten what Iowa is like during primary season. Lots of Washington types were at the fair and Huckabee's Iowa headquarters was right by our hotel. Coming out of the airport, we saw a billboard that said "Are You Running for President?" Oiy. It might even be crazier than DC for your average-type person.

Anyway, I didn't review anything due to the stress of last week, so I'm quite behind! Let the catching up commence! So many books to talk about, I hardly know where to start. But let's start with some WWII YA novels, ok?

First up is The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter

Beryl/Natalie is a teenager in Toronto during the World War II. It's mostly written in diary form, but with a few-stand alone scenes scattered throughout--mostly towards the end of the book. The story deals with the feelings of always been left behind as she sees one more friend, relative, or neighbor off at the train station nearly every night--some of whom she will never see again. She drops out of school to work in an airplane factory and tries to go on with life, despite rations, black-outs, and no boys left to date.

Beryl (who hates her name and is trying to change it to Natalie, if only her friends and family would remember to call her as such) is a real voice dealing with the frustrations of always being left behind, of British girls snatching away the Canadian boys when they're stationed overseas, and in being laid off and having to go back to school when the war is over and the most of the boys come home. Her voice is very straight forward and matter-of-fact:

Dad had resurrected the Quebec heater from the garage and set it up in the kitchen so we would use less coal in the furnace. Coal was scarce these days because it was needed in factories like The Steel Company of Canada. Dad said the munitions factories practically ate it up by the ton.

I prefer more evocative prose and this language left me a little 'meh' on both the story and the character, but that's just me. I think it's still a good book about life on the home front and the hardships and heartbreaks the girls left behind had to endure.

Another book written with a similar voice that left me a little off is

For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Based on the true story of Suzanne David, a teenager in Cherbourg, France, this is a first person narrative of a teenager turned Resistance spy. Suzanne is an aspiring opera singer who isn't that caught up in current events until Cherbourg beach is bombed while she's sitting on it. She watches one of her neighbors blow up and her best friend never recovers from the experience. Her strength in such an ordeal and the fact that her singing takes her throughout northern France leads the local resistance leader to recruit her as a spy.

Now, she's not reporting on troop movements or anything, but passing messages from one spy to another. There's the adrenaline rush as she walks past Nazi soldiers with a note about the Normandy landing in her hat, but the hardest part is being able to get to her scheduled meetings without her parents finding out. One of my favorite parts was when she had to pass a message but it was time to go to church and she had to find a way to get her parents to let her stay at home, as they had no idea what she was really up to.

A good story for younger teens/ tweens on the French resistance the role young people played. But, as with The Girls They Left Behind, the straight forward, matter-of-fact narration left me a little less engaged than I would have liked. But that's just me.

Also, Good as Lily (review here) and Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now (review here) are now both available!

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