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*Young adult, urban contemporary fantasy
*Teenage girl as main character
*Rating: City of Ashes, the sequel to City Of Bones, is a page-turner. You won’t want to stop until you read every last word of the Clary-Simon-Jace saga.
Short, short summary:
It’s hard to summarize this plot without giving anything away. But I’ll try my best. Since this is book two, if you, your teen, or your students haven’t read book one of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, I highly recommend you do. Otherwise, you’ll be, well, just really confused. At the end of book one, we find out that Jace and Clary are brother and sister, and their father is Valentine. At the beginning of book two, both are trying to deal with this–Jace and Clary hate Valentine since he is the most evil and disturbed Shadowhunter in the world. In spite of being brother and sister, they still find themselves attracted to each other. Simon, Clary’s best friend, is doing his best to try to make Clary attracted to him instead of Jace, even calling her “his girlfriend” and engaging in some make-out sessions. Alec is still dealing with being comfortable in his sexuality, and we even get a glimpse into Isabelle’s dating life when the characters have to visit the Seelie Court (help me with the spelling, folks–I listened to this book on audio, and it turns out there are several ways to spell it?). Basically, someone is killing downworlders and making it look like the vampires are running crazy in the city, but Jace and the other Shadowhunters don’t believe the vampires are doing it. (Hmmm? Who could it be?) The Lightwoods are not so sure about Jace because of whom his father is–can they trust him anymore? The Inquisitor, a very powerful lady in the Clave, also seems to have it out for Jace. I won’t go on, but as you can see, this book is a good mix between the personal lives of the characters and an action-filled fantasy story.So, what do I do with this book?
1. Teens will probably read City of Ashes as part of their independent reading, home school curriculum, or in a book club. So, these activities will focus on those types of readings. First, teens (or adult readers) can find out more about the series and the author (I love her website–very straightforward, direct, and talking to teens) on the author’s website and the series website. Let teens explore these two resources.
2. Exploring and discussing the characters in City of Ashes is a must as character-development is one of Clare’s strengths. Ask teens which character in the novel is their favorite and/or which character they relate to the best. What do they think about Clary and Jace or Clary and Simon? Do they think Jace and Clary are really brother and sister? What are the special “powers” that Valentine has given his children? What about the Inquisitor? What is her motivation? What is the significance of the Inquisitor’s last action? These are all questions that can be discussed or written about in reading response journals. (Some of these answers will not be revealed until book 3, but teens can predict!)
3. The setting of City of Ashes is “an alternative present-day Manhattan.” What makes this an “alternative” setting? Discuss with students if the world that Clare has built is believable and realistic in the context of the book? How does Clare do this? Is the setting like another character in City of Ashes? <
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