Ally Carter, bestselling author of the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series, recently revealed the cover for Gallagher Girls #5: Out of Sight, Out of Time. Check it out:
Coming March 20, 2012!
The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan--an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It’s a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.
I loved the Heist Society books, and I've been meaning to read this series for ages. It sounds really cute -- to match its cute cover!
The revamped cover art for A Beautiful Evil, sequel to Kelly Keaton's fabulous debut Darkness Becomes Her, was recently revealed on Novel Novice. Check it out:
Coming February 21, 2012!
A power she can’t deny. A destiny she’s determined to fight.When Ari first arrived in the dilapidated city of New 2, all she wanted was to figure out who she was. But what she discovered was beyond her worst2 Comments on Cover Art Revealed (2), last added: 9/3/2011Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Casey (The Bookish Type), on 6/20/2011
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JacketFlap tags: sequel, contemporary, caper, Ally Carter, Heist Society, Three and a Half Stars, Uncommon Criminals, Review, Young Adult, Add a tag
Katarina Bishop is known as The Girl Who Robbed the Henley to criminals worldwide. Ever since her infamous heist, Kat has not only been living the life -- she's been living it alone, restoring priceless pieces confiscated by the Nazis during WWII to their rightful owners. Kat is the most talented teen con in the world and perfectly capable of running these jobs solo, yet everyone in her life sees this as an act of betrayal. So when Kat agrees to recover a cursed gem that hasn't seen the light of day in over thirty years, her old crew is more than ready to do what no con has done before: steal the Cleopatra Emerald. But Kat isn't the only thief hunting the Cleopatra, and none of the usual rules apply -- because the thief they're up against wrote the book on every con they know.
In Uncommon Criminals, Ally Carter once again brings the nonstop action and mind-blowing ingenuity that made Heist Society such a stellar read. Kat's crew is up to its usual antics, with the Bagshaw brothers wreaking havoc grenade-launcher style, Gabrielle turning heads and Simon doing something snazzy with a computer. Carter makes the life of a teenage con look glamorous, while still walking the fine line of moral acceptability with her heroine's Robin Hood-like ways. Kat isn't in it for the money. She reclaims artifacts stolen from their rightful owners (many taken by the Nazis during WWII) and sends them on their way home. It's a hard line to walk, and the novel takes a fascinating look at both the dangers and the delights of vigilantism.
Uncommon Criminals still features the snappy repartee and outrageous antics that make every page laugh-out-loud funny. However, the relationship between Kat and Hale has grown angsty. The young lovebirds dance around each other tantalizingly, but never grant readers a final moment of gratification. Their hot-and-cold tension costs them the spark they possessed in book one, and that, combined with a major mistake, makes Kat self-conscious in a way that doesn't mesh with the girl we know and love. Kat from Heist Society was a fierce and self-reliant leader, whereas this novel forces her to question her own sufficiency and skills. While those are both valid coming-of-age questions, they seem to detract from Kat's signature swagger.
The adventures in this installment are even more incredible than the first, with the teens accomplishing cons that have eluded even the best thief in the world. Unfortunately, the tricks in this story were almost too unbelievable, and never allowed readers to see clearly the carefully placed puzzle pieces that pulled the con together --- requiring a major suspension of disbelief that lessened some of the fun. Part of the intrigue of Heist Society was the teens' ability to pull off a major con because of their very youth -- it was believable even though it was incredible, coming together with a final flourish and neat bow. Uncommon Criminals lacks the plausibility that allowed readers to live vicariously through Kat and her crew.
Nonetheless, Carter's style is perfectly suited to this tale of a cursed emerald and a timeless love. The tone of the novel flows like a recounted legend, and is peppered with the spectacular history of both the Cleopatra Emerald and the Bishop family. Carter has quite a few surprises up her sleeve, and readers will find themselves shocked time and time again as even the most preposterous impossibility becomes r3 Comments on Review: Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society #2) by Ally Carter, last added: 6/22/2011Display Comments Add a Comment
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JacketFlap tags: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, contemporary, caper, new release, New Release Roundup, Add a tag
A weekly feature I started to showcase the exciting new releases hitting shelves this week.
June 21
Shadowcry (Wintercraft #3) by Jenna Burtenshaw
Kate Winters isn’t who she thinks she is. Burned out of her family bookstore by a suspicious fire, she will be pursued across a country riddled by fear and war before she discovers the extent of her skill and her destiny. Her pursuers include Silas Dane—one of the most compelling villains since Rowling’s Professor Snape and Pullman’s Mrs. Coulter—and Edgar, a young man who worked at the bookshop and who seems to know much more about the secrets of Wintercraft (a mysterious book that has been in Kate’s family for generations; a book responsible for the disappearance of her parents years ago) than he lets on.
Breath of Angel by Karyn Henley
The stranger’s cloak had fallen back, and with it, a long, white, blood-stained wing.
When Melaia, a young priestess, witnesses the gruesome murder of a stranger in the temple courtyard, age-old legends recited in song suddenly come to life. She discovers wings on the stranger, and the murderer takes the shape of both a hawk and a man.
Angels. Shape-shifters. Myths and stories—until now.
Melaia finds herself in the middle of a blood feud between two immortal brothers who destroyed the stairway to heaven, stranding angels in the earthly realm. When the feud turns violent and Melaia becomes a t4 Comments on New Release Roundup: June 19 - 25, 2011, last added: 6/20/2011Display Comments Add a Comment
Blog: The Bookish Type (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: New Release Roundup, Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, contemporary, caper, new release, Add a tag
A weekly feature I started to showcase the exciting new releases hitting shelves this week.June 21
Shadowcry (Wintercraft #3) by Jenna BurtenshawKate Winters isn’t who she thinks she is. Burned out of her family bookstore by a suspicious fire, she will be pursued across a country riddled by fear and war before she discovers the extent of her skill and her destiny. Her pursuers include Silas Dane—one of the most compelling villains since Rowling’s Professor Snape and Pullman’s Mrs. Coulter—and Edgar, a young man who worked at the bookshop and who seems to know much more about the secrets of Wintercraft (a mysterious book that has been in Kate’s family for generations; a book responsible for the disappearance of her parents years ago) than he lets on.
Breath of Angel by Karyn HenleyThe stranger’s cloak had fallen back, and with it, a long, white, blood-stained wing.
When Melaia, a young priestess, witnesses the gruesome murder of a stranger in the temple courtyard, age-old legends recited in song suddenly come to life. She discovers wings on the stranger, and the murderer takes the shape of both a hawk and a man.
Angels. Shape-shifters. Myths and stories—until now.
Melaia finds herself in the middle of a blood feud between two immortal brothers who destroyed the stairway to heaven, stranding angels in the earthly realm. When the feud turns violent and Melaia becomes a t1 Comments on New Release Roundup: June 19 - 25, 2011, last added: 6/20/2011Display Comments Add a Comment
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JacketFlap tags: Cover Art Revealed, Young Adult, Cover Art, contemporary, caper, Add a tagAlly Carter recently revealed the cover art for the upcoming Heist Society sequel: Uncommon Criminals. Take a look! Coming June 21, 2011! Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’
4 Comments on Cover Art Revealed: Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society #2) by Ally Carter, last added: 2/6/2011Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Rebecca, on 3/11/2008
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JacketFlap tags: Film, Geography, A-Featured, maps, belgium, keene, ben, Ben's Place of the Week, bruges, hitman, caper, hanseatic, cobblestone, zywn, grit, atlas, Add a tag
Coordinates: 51 13 N 3 13 E
Population: 117,025 (2004 est.)
Earlier this month a new crime caper opened in theaters across the country with a rather unusual setting. Instead of a menacing metropolis teeming with villains and oozing with urban grit and gloom, director Martin McDonagh chose to shoot his film in the medieval Belgian city that appears in the title: Bruges. (more…)
0 Comments on Bruges, Belgium as of 1/1/1990Add a CommentBy: Aline Pereira, on 8/3/2007
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JacketFlap tags: Children's Books, Young Adult Books, audio books, Deathly Hallows, Books at Bedtime, reading to children, crossing cultural borders, J.K.Rowling, Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter, Add a tag
Two weeks ago today, my children stayed up till well after midnight to take part in a social event which will be earmarked by history as the denouement of a publishing phenomenon: dressed in old university gowns and carrying wands; one wearing an emerald silk shirt and the other bearing a lightening scar and drawn in spectacles, they headed across the road to our local, independent bookshop for a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows launch party. We duly picked up the book and as soon as we got home again, the boys went to bed and I started reading - a rattling good read… but the instances pointed out in the links below did not go unnoticed.
The popularity of the Harry Potter books means that they will become a focal point for many issues pertaining to children’s books, particularly now the series is complete and a critique can encompass the whole body of work. We already have the beginnings of some stimulating discussions. I read with interest Shen Book’s exploration of Harry Potter as a multicultural character, part of their Crossing Cultural Borders series – and also really enjoyed Emily Jiang’s witty reduction of the Deathly Hallows plot to a Haiku summary… if you haven’t read the book yet, don’t click here! There has been some in-depth discussion of J.K. Rowling’s use of cultural stereotyping: it is worth reading what Debbie Reese and Educating Alice have to say, as well as the comments to their posts, which are equally thought-provoking. Also, (more…)
0 Comments on Books at Bedtime: Harry Potter as of 8/3/2007 7:41:00 AMAdd a CommentBy: Jane Mack, on 7/25/2007
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JacketFlap tags: Reading, Deathly Hallows, J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter, Add a tag
Look for my review of the book in Friday's Variety. (I hope. I'm still writing it!)0 Comments on 118. And a break from Politics--back to Harry as of 7/25/2007 2:32:00 PMAdd a Comment
I think I like the newer cover for A BEautiful Evil better :)
http://blackfingernailedreviews.blogspot.com/
@Khadija -- Me too!