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Title: The Chaos

Author: Nalo Hopkinson

Date: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2012

Reviewer: Craig Laurance Gidney

In many ways, Sojourner “Scotch” is a typical teenager. She must navigate between her “good girl” persona when at home with her strict parents and her saucier persona at school, where she is a member of a hip hop dance crew. She has broken up with her boyfriend, and her (former) best friend is sniffing around him. And in many ways, Scotch’s problems are unique. She is the light-skinned daughter of a mixed race couple, so she has to deal with the “what are you?” questions all the time. Her older brother has just come back from juvie after being busted by her parents for having marijuana. And a couple more things: Scotch has a weird skin condition, where black, sticky splotches appear on her skin, and she’s been seeing floating horse heads swooping around everywhere. Scotch thinks she’s going mad, and keeps this information tightly under wraps.

All that changes one night when the world goes topsy-turvy. A volcano sprouts up in the middle of Lake Ontario. Pterosaurs and Sasquatches appear on the street. People begin to sprout weird things over their bodies, like flowers. And everyone can see the “Horseless Headmen.” Folkoric creatures stalk the street—most notably, the Russian witch Baba Yaga. As madcap as all this seems, there is a darker aspect to this surrealistic disaster. Deaths have been reported, and several countries declare war against one another. And Scotch’s brother is missing—disappeared into thin air.

Hopkinson does not provide an explanation for the sudden influx of insanity into the world, which is dubbed The Chaos. There is some speculation about it being the manifestation of people’s madnesses, but that is just briefly touched upon. Instead, the narrative focuses on Scotch and her immediate problems. In addition to the dangers of this newly transformed world, Scotch must find her missing brother while dealing with her gradual transformation into a living Tar Baby.

Scotch is the narrator of the tale, and her style is peppery and colloquial. As a result, The Chaos shares its literary lineage with “mad romp” books as Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Tollbooth. Humor and horror go hand in hand in that sort of fiction, and that’s the case here. Some of Scotch’s Jamaican background comes vividly to life, in the form of remembered Brer Rabbit stories and an eerie creature that serves as an antagonist, called the Rolling Calf. The Toronto that she lives in is multi-ethnic and her milieu is very tolerant of differences—there are gay characters and subplots in the novel. As is the case with many “mad romp” books, the plot is episodic and loosey-goosey.

After so many dark YA books that feature dystopias and bleak futures, The Chaos is a rollicking, frolicking breath of fresh air. Hopkinson lets her imagination run wild. While the book is about finding ones identity and touches on some serious issues, it is mostly a rollercoaster ride into the Id, full of thrills and chills.

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Craig Laurance Gidney is the author of Sea Swallow Me and Other Stories and the recently released Bereft. Gidney writes both contemporary, young adult and genre fiction. Recipient of the 1996 Susan C. Petrey Scholarship to the Clarion West writer’s workshop, Gidney has published works in the fantasy/science fiction, gay and young adult categories.

Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: Craig Laurance Gidney, guest review, Nalo Hopkinson

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• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin; Reprint edition (April 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• Buy The Book: Amazon

 All Jack Blank knows is his bleak, dreary life at St. Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost, an orphanage that sinks more and more into the swampland of New Jersey with each passing year. His aptitude tests project him as spending a long, unhappy career as a toilet brush cleaner. His only chance at escape comes through the comic books donated years ago to the orphanage that he secretly reads in the dark corners of the library. Everything changes one icy gray morning when Jack receives two visitors that alter his life forever. The first is a deadly robot straight out of one of his comic books that tries its best to blow him up. The second is an emissary from a secret country called the Imagine Nation, an astonishing place where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in our world originate - including Jack. Jack soon discovers that he has an amazing ability--one that could make him the savior of the Imagine Nation and the world beyond, or the biggest threat they've ever faced.

 This is another guest review by my sister Joy~

I liked this book because it was kinda like Percy Jackson and the Olympians with action packed pages and adventures.I liked how much detailed the author's settings were. The battles were pretty cool too.

There was nothing really bad like no cussing and stuff like that but there was a crime seen for after a battle and the explanations of a dead person was a little icky and freaky, at least to me.

My favourite character has got to be Jazen, the emissary who came to get Jack from St. Barnaby’s because he was cool and heroic.

My least favourite character is probably Jackson Smart because he was so cruel to Jack and almost everyone else too.



*Sigh* It wouldn't be right without the bunny:

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Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 399 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books(2009)
Language: English
ISBN-978-0-345-50305-3
Buy the Book: Amazon

Deposed by a vicious usurper, a young emperor with his court to the small island of Taishu. There, with a dwindling army, a manipulative mother, and a resentful  population and his only friend is a local fishergirl as he prepares for his last stand.

In the mountains of Taishu, a young miner finds a huge piece of jade, the mineral whose ingestion can gift the emperor with superhuman powers. Setting to deliver the embattled emperor, Yu finds himself changing into something forbidden.

Meanwhile, a great dragon lies beneath the strait that seperates Taishu and the mainland, bound by chains.When monks are killed by a willful pirate captain, a maimed slave assumes the terrible burden of keeping the dragon subdued.

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Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Poppy; 1 edition (September 1, 2010)
Buy the Book:  Amazon

The monster community has kept a low profile at the local high school, but when two new girls enroll, the town will never be the same. Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and prom.

But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters stalking the halls, Frankie learns that high school can be rough for a chic freak like her. She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver-but can a "normie" be trusted with her big secret?

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Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
ISBN: 1616200707

Book Cover Synopsis: As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of
love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

My Thoughts

When we first meet Jacob, he is a ninety-year old man with a sour attitude and a lingering bitterness towards his family for being placed in an assisted living facility. Though his body is frail and fails him at
times, Jacob’s mind is strong – a fact that often leaves him frustrated. He, unlike many of the residents, is able to recall his youth with detailed accuracy and despises being patronized by the nursing staff simply
because of his age. When word spreads among the residents of an upcoming circus setting up in a nearby parking lot, Jacob’s memories rise to the forefront of his mind, and we are given a glimpse into his past through a series of flashbacks.

This story has the potential to be a complete mess. From the beginning, the reader is thrust back and forth from Jacob’s present state of awareness to his memories of working in a circus in Depression-era
America. However, the transitions are seamless and Sara Gruen does a brilliant job of making you feel at home at either place in time. Her research into this strangely unique subculture is evident in the detailed
imagery of each scene, and I immediately found myself relating to the story on a multidimensional level.

Each of the characters is flawed in their own way, but no one is left without some sort of redeeming quality. Even August, the savage trainer whose abhorrent treatment of his wife, Marlena, is only to be
outdone by that towards the animals under his watch, is not without his finer moments. This attention to detail carries over to the animals, with Gruen taking as much care with the intricacies of their personas.
In many instances, she even draws comparisons between these creatures and their human counterparts, abating the concept of human superiority.

The relationship between Marlena and Jacob has often been criticized as lacking in passion and believability. I disagree with this and argue that it’s simply reminiscent of a different time. Women of this era weren’t given the rights that they have today, and adultery was not an issue that was openly spoken about or accepted. The short moments that they have together, combined with their lingering touches and knowing gazes, are telling evidence of their affection, and what I believe to be realistic behaviors in a couple in their situation.

As a whole, this story offers a captivating journey into another time

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Release Date: September 6, 2005

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood...

The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score so settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate-Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead...

Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn't there, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes at night with shadows in his eyes. his tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both....

My Review: Before I start the review I want to talk about why I picked this book up because if you didn't notice the book was published in 2005 and here I am just reading it at the end of 2010. I have always been a book lover, I have read ever since I can remember, but I have never really read in the YA genre until now. Even as a young adult, I read adult fantasy/sci-fi stuff. Now that I have discovered YA I have been completely immersed in it, catching up on some titles that have been out a while and reading some great new ones that are just being released. I love the YA genre really, but sometimes the angst can be too much. I just want to yell at the character "stop think about kissing her and just kiss her!" Too much pent up frustration I guess led me to look for books in the adult world.

As stated before I have stuck to mostly fantasy/sci-fi, but since starting my blog I have begun to expand my genres a little and have gotten into some paranormal romance/urban fantasy reads. My go-to authors in the adult world are usually Rachel Vincent, Jeri Smith-Ready and Jeaniene Frost, but I am all caught up with those books so, I had to find something else. I asked around and a friend of mine, Monica, likes the same types of books as me so, I asked her if she had heard of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. She said yes, of course, and said she loved them! Based on her recommendation I decided to give them a try. I downloaded the first book to my kindle and began to read.

I am so glad I listened to Monica because this book was great! Another vamp book, which I do love, but if you are sick of vamps I might put this book on hold for a while. With any book comes new mythology, and the stories behind these vampires are totally different from anything I have heard before, which I found very interesting. Also, I am not 100% sure how you kill them, I know sunlight does it in this book, but it looks like they can be killed the way a human would be too. There is no talk of stakes to the heart or anything like that, when they take a hit they do heal extraordinarily fast, but they still get wounded. Also, when you get bit by a vampire, you don't turn into one; you have to be born a vampire, which I thought was pretty cool.

If you haven't picked up on it already I will tell you now that this is definitely an adult book. There is no angst going on here, they are acting on their impulses and feelings and Wrath has a whole lot of emotions suppressed that he lets loose on Be

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The undead can really screw up your senior year ...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction. (Summary from Good Reads)

Grade: B+
I usually enjoy YA books, and frequently read them - Pratchett's Nome series, The Maximum Ride series, Neil Gaiman's Days of the Week series, Cassandra Clare, are amongst my favorite authors and books. So I picked up “Jessica's Guide to Dating..” and it started off promisingly.

Plot: Jessica is the adopted daughter of the Packwoods, who were in Romania when her parents begged them to take their child to safety. When her betrothed shows up in her small, hick town, she discovers she is a Vampire princess, with only one drink needed to turn her into a full vampire.

Plus: Jessica's conversations with Lucius are really well written, totally believable and hilarious. Her parents in their vegan farmhouse entertaining a bloodsucking Vampire created some funny scenes over the dinner table. She starts wearing dresses, and Lucius learns how to iron his clothes; she learns to dance, he learns how to wear jeans and play American sports. Lucius' letters home are a highlight with their outside-in look at America.

Minus: Perhaps a little more action could have helped the entire middle section of the book. It seemed to stall entirely. The subplot of Lucius' revenge-romance with her best enemy, Faith, didn't really work when I discovered the extent of his duplicity.

Characters: The character of high-school student Jessica was realistic, and snarky. Her friends were interesting, and the sense of small-town america was spot on. The multiple love interest angle J. struggles with was fun too!

The biggest problem here? Well, the issue for me is that this is a classic case of a good author rushing into writing a sequel-style novella. Read on below!

The Wedding of Antanasia Jessica Packwood and Lucius Valeriu Vladescu

This is available for free download off the author's website. Personally, this novella is way too sweetly romantic for me -- it felt like being in a dream produced by a 15 year old with a wedding obsession. The title gives it all away – the entire novella revolves around the wedding of t.he hero and heroine from the previous book. There is no further character development, even though opportunities are introduced. A new brother of the groom, jealousy from the best friend, discovering her real Mom's journal could have occupied far more space and been developed more than they were. In the end, everything came bac

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First of all, I want to say congratulations to Kate for getting married!! I wish her and her husband the best of luck!


Rating: 4 Stars

My Thoughts: I will be giving a review of a book called Sea Change by Aimee Friedman. This book is mysterious and filled with love. Miranda takes a trip with her mother to Selkie Island to sell her grandmother’s house. The time that she is there, she makes new friends, a new boyfriend, and finds out about herself in the process. Sea Change had amazing detail and I felt that I was actually in the book and feeling the same thing that Miranda was feeling. Leo, Miranda’s love interest, is so sweet. He’s definitely on the top of my favorite fiction boys. He is everything a girl could want. He is cute, charming, a good kisser, and mysterious.

The only problem I had was that I really wanted the book to continue. I felt like it kind of stopped with their relationship. If there was a sequel, that would have been better. This book is filled with Miranda trying to find out her past, what is really going on at Selkie Island, and learning that you should always follow your heart. My favorite quote was from Leo. He said to Miranda, “You can always find me.” It makes so much more sense in the book if you read it which I highly suggest, but I almost cried it was so cute.

The Cover: I wasn’t a fan of the cover being mostly all blue because you have to kind of look close to see what’s really going on, but once you look at it – it’s beautiful. The boy is so cute and definitely what I thought Leo would look like. I also love the way he’s looking at her.

Ratings:
Ending: 4 Stars
Cover: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars

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Eclipse
Warriors Power of Three, book 4
by Erin Hunter

Today, I bring you a guest review written by a member of the Wands and Worlds community who goes by the username Spirithunter. Spirithunter is an avid reader, writer and artist; her art appears on Deviantart and she is participating in NaNoWriMo for the second year. I saw her review of Eclipse on Goodreads and thought it was very well-written and insightful, and she graciously consented to allow me to repost it here.

It's been a while since I've been truly impressed by a Warriors book. The writing style is just on the higher end of "good", and usually the plot and characterization aren't particularly strong. Things have been pretty interesting in PoT, however. The Erins have done a good job of keeping us in the dark.

I think that if I had to choose one thing about Eclipse that I liked best (it's a hard decision), I think I would say that my favorite element was that I actually couldn't guess what would happen. Sure, I predicted a battle, but I didn't know when or with whom--and I sure wasn't expecting a battle like this. Sure, I figured there would be an eclipse, but I didn't know what it would mean to the Clans. Sure, I knew that Lionpaw was developing from a Stu to something more interesting, but I didn't expect it to be this clever. Also, ShadowClan becomes more than just its normal cold closed-doors self, and WindClan becomes more than a meager Hufflepuff-like band.

The plot and characterization in this book are great. Several of the characters who sort of lost their personalities before got them back, and the main characters' personalities were developed more as well. I went from merely curious in the outcome of the series to engaged and interested. I much look forward to Long Shadows this December, and I hope that the Warriors books can at least maintain this level of greatness at least until the end of this series.

If you liked this review, you can read more of Spirithunter's reviews on Goodreads, where she goes by the name Firekeeper.

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