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Taken by Edward Bloor.   Knopf, 2007

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

This book will be released in August 2010.

It was a perfect plan, but then it all went wrong.  When their college prep advisor tells them that it takes more than good grades and community service to get into the best schools, Finn and Chloe decide to make themselves and their college essays very special.  They stage Chloe’s kidnapping, hiding her in the basement of Finn’s grandmother’s house because she is out of town.  It was supposed to be simple, but their carefully staged deception starts to wear on Finn as she is forced to lie to everyone, carefully staging her emotions and reactions to not only keep the lie going but to make sure that they get enough attention from the media.  When CNN shows up to cover the kidnapping, Finn and Chloe know that it cannot end the way they had planned and are forced to make dreadful choices.  Don’t pick up this page turner without clearing your day first, it is impossible to put down!

With a great premise, the book opens with Finn in the midst of the situation already.  There is little time to draw breath as readers are immediately plunged into a faked kidnapping staged by two very smart but very naive girls.  The drive to have a bit of fame combined with the pressures of college applications make for a potent combination for a book. 

The story is told from Finn’s point of view as she deals with attending school and lying to everyone in her life, including Chloe’s parents and her own. Finn is in denial about a lot of things throughout the book, facing complicated feelings about her best friend.  This tension about their relationship and what is at the heart of it makes the book even more compelling as Finn tries to navigate a situation of her own making.

This riveting novel is tightly written.  The book builds tension as Finn struggles with her emotions and with the fallout from the kidnapping.  It is not breakneck paced, rather it is woven into an intense read. 

Ideal for booktalking to teens, this book will have everyone right from the premise.  It completely lives up to its promise as a thrilling look at lies and fame.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

In a Bangkok airport on her way to Vietnam with her parents, sixteen-year-old Gemma stops for a cup of coffee to take a break from arguing with them.  It was then that her life changed.  She was drugged and taken to the outback of Australia where Ty, the man who took her, had created a self-sufficient home for both of them.  Gemma fought back as best she could when the drugs wore off, tried to escape multiple times, but the outback itself kept her bound at home with Ty.  Ty is handsome, well-built, and deeply in love with Gemma, whom he has been watching for years.  Readers get to experience their strange, disturbing, but captivating relationship grow and change through the form of a letter from Gemma to Ty. 

Christopher’s book explores what freedom really is, what love means, and how relationships can morph and change despite ourselves.  In Gemma, Christopher has created a strong modern female that readers will instantly relate to.  She has domineering but distant parents, close friends, and much to miss.  But the most remarkable character Christopher created is Ty.  Ty the monster, the angel, the wronged, the wrong-doer.   He is so complex yet so simple to understand.  And readers will come to understand him, and perhaps like Gemma love him in the end.  The writing masterfully takes readers on the same course as Gemma, loving Ty despite themselves.

The third character in the novel is the setting itself.  The Australian Outback is vividly rendered from its incredible heat to the redness of the sand to the plants and animals that make their home there.  It forms the walls of Gemma’s prison, beautiful and horrible at the same time.  Christopher weaves imagery from the setting into much of her writing, further tying the book closely to the setting.  She does it with skill and subtlety.

Highly recommended, this book is one that twists underneath you, bringing you to a place you never expected to reach.  Beautifully written, this book is appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Also reviewed by Melody’s Reading Corner.

Thanks to Wizards Wireless for the news that Blueberries For Sal
will be available for purchase again soon. The article about the negotiations between the publisher and the McClosky estate is very interesting. Also, the book will be remastered to more closely reflect the original artwork.

Publisher's Weekly also mentioned the horrendous kidnapping of the duckling, Pack, from the Make Way for Ducklings statue in the Public Garden. Happily the little one has been located and will be returned to his family.

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat is a book that I have always meant to read. In fact, I was supposed to read it this summer since I had the arc of Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls in my hot little hands. Well, it didn't happen, so I took a leap of faith and jumped right in to the second installment.

Emmy's life is back to normal, and she is trying to distance herself from the rodents. Afterall, who is going to want to hang out with a girl who talks to rats? She knows that it is thanks to the rats that she is back home and away from her awful Nanny Miss Barmy who was only interested in making off with her parent's money. But, Emmy wants to do regular 10-year-old things...things like sleep-overs, parties, going to the park, and make new friends. So when Emmy and best friend Joe are invited to a reception in Rat City, she isn't as happy as she could be.

First of all, she has to get bitten by a rat to shrink down to fit in Rat City. And there is the nasty business of old Miss Barmy being a rat herself now. Unlike Emmy, however, she cannot change her form back to human. What if Emmy runs into Miss Barmy? What will happen?

Now, Emmy isn't the only girl who Miss Barmy took care of. There was Priscilla, Ana, Berit, Lisa, Lee and little Merry. In Miss Barmy's care, they disappeared and their parents mysteriously died. But where are the girls? Closer than you may think.

Before Emmy knows it, she is smack dab in the middle of a mystery and a rescue mission. Lynne Jonell has done the difficult deed of making a second book comfortable to dive into. While I feel like I probably do not know Emmy as well as I would if I had read the first installment, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Readers will feel Emmy's growing pains, and the scenery of Rat City is painted in rich detail. From friendship to nail-biting rescue missions, to a hilarious gopher named Gus, adventure loving kids will not only eat this title up, but will most likely take a second look the next time they see a squirrel in the park!

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It's 19th Century England, and the Professor's daughter Lillian has gone and fallen in love with the handsome mummy of Imhotep IV. Not exactly the best match, hmm? After Imhotep gets loopy from taking tea and smashes up the tea room, police come calling. Lillian doses the tea she offers to the police, thinking that she will be able to get Imhotep out of her father's suit, and put away before any more trouble ensues. Alas, she ends up killing the officers, and what follows rivals many an action film.

From long lost fathers, to kidnapping, to noble sacrifices for love, Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert have put together a graphic novel that zips along. The far-fetched story did not grab me as much as the GORgeous illustrations. From the sepia tones of early panels to the bright red coats of the palace guards, The Professor's Daughter is a visual stunner.

This is a series of drawings I did on my Moleskine lined notebook for Halloween.

Below, is my submission for both HEAVEN (I know it was for last week, that's okay) and HELL. This was a post I published on my blog. It was a drawing I made last week as I have been fascinated by trees. I have been dreaming of buying private land where there are still giant bamboo groves in the hope of saving them from total destruction. If you click on the image, you may find hidden figures.

Giant fig trees in what was once a staple in Philippine rain forests; denuded by foreign and national logging companies who bribed corrupt government officials. Today, mudslides and erosions are constant problems in the lowlands. When I was eighteen years old, my nursing classmates and I went to the mountains to transplant hundreds of trees on a totally barren and naked mountainside. It was one of the saddest sights I have ever seen. Ballpoint pen drawing on my pocket Moleskine ruled notebook.

These are real postage stamps made from images of my paintings. I used them to mail our Christmas cards last year.

I love Fiesta dishes!

This is called MediumGreen Tea after MediumGreen, a Fiesta collectors' message board.

This was my attempt to paint a self-portrait.

On the left are samples of two real postage stamps made from the above oil painting portraits of my best friend K.J. All of the oil paintings have images of Fiesta dishes :-)

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Ballpoint drawing on Moleskine ruled notebook.