October | 2009 | DogEar

This is a great series for middle grade readers. Clean content. It will appeal to boys but includes female roles, one especially strong female. The dialog is humorous and the characters well-developed if not a little stereotypical. Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series comes to mind as a strong pairing. Kids who have enjoyed the Pendragon series or The Books of Umber as well.

With a story line that keeps things moving, kids will be eager to read on. I have finished the first four volumes and checked out the website. Lots of fans already and maybe a movie from United Artists (funding, of course, is the road block).

This story was a lot of telling without much substance, a lot of build up without a climax. The premise is alluring enough for a fantasy fan: Eff is a thirteenth child and the twin sister to a seventh born son. Potentially powerful and destined to turn evil according to Magical numerology, Eff is taunted by others, including family members, and staunchly protected by her twin, Lan.

I don’t know what Wrede was going for. The book took a long time to plod through but I felt I had gotten nowhere when I finished. There were some interesting characters (but the title character was not among their number) and it seemed like a great story was lurking below the surface, but it never emerged.  As Sonderbooks states, the focus “is more on building an intriguing magical world than on the plot.” Well, I wanted both!

I really disliked Robin McKinnley’s Dragonhaven so it comes as no surprise that I’m not a Wrede fan. Both authors are long-winded and lost in the complexities of their own worlds. So, I’m currently rereading Fire by Cashore. She weaves a totally unique world around a delicious plot.

A lukewarm review at Fuse #8.

Kinney does it again. This time our admittedly lazy hero, Greg, must  mend fences with Rowley (his best friend), work off a debt to Rowley’s dad, go above and beyond to attract the attention of the community pool life guard, and become famous by creating a new comic strip for the local newspaper. All this leads to a boring vacation with Rowley’s family, a failed attempt at a V.I.P. Lawn service company, and no girlfriend or fame.

But Greg remains optimistic through it all. Incredulous at the adults around him and baffeled by their misunderstanding of his genius, he holds himself accountable for nothing and is seemingly without empathy. Of course, this results in one seriously funny book.

Greg has been holding on to a library book for a little too long. This is what he imagines will happen if he returns it.

I picked this one up after reading Book Envy’s review. Her summary is spot on and I agree with her assessment so check that out, then continue.

There was a lot of good description:

Let it all out. If only I could. Letting it all out would involve me exploding like a firework, a beautiful riot of rainbow sparks bouncing around the car and lighting up the entire lot. Everyone would look over to see what was going on, and one by one they would understand everything I had inside me (p 132).

But it was occasionally over-written. I often believe YA novels could be better if they were shortened by half.

In addition to BookEnvy’s comments, I found Dade’s relationship with Pablo fascinating. A few years ago, a former high school classmate of mine whom had since come out, said, “I hooked up with a lot of guys from school. In the baseball dugout. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you their names.”

I don’t know if I was satisfied with the ending. Without giving anything away, I would’ve liked to know what could have happened if things ended differently for Pablo.

Those who enjoy Alex Sanchez’s novels will like The Vast Fields of Ordinary. [On a side note, I am totally uninformed when it comes to MySpace music and the newfangled stuff kids are listening to these days to define themselves.]

In the 1960s a guy named J.C. Martin made a living catching the great Hoyt Wilhelm’s knuckleball. Doug Mirabelli always caught Tim Wakefield and his knuckleball for the Red Sox. They were called “personal catchers.” Catching a knuckleball was so difficult and so unpleasant for most regular catchers that if you could do it reasonably well (nobody did it really well), that one skill could keep you on the team. The personal catcher would sit on the bench until the knuckleballer took the mound, and then he and his special floppy mitt would enter the game. It was an odd kind of intimacy, to be joined together like that, a weird baseball marriage (p 74-75).

How can I express how much I enjoyed this book? It blended many of the themes present in several of this year’s best children’s books (see OCL’s Mock Newbery List): death and abandonment, grief and alienation, discrimination and friendship. Yet none of these drowned the story and baseball tied it all together.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Baseball is what helps Molly hold herself together. It helps her come to terms with her father’s death and to discover herself. It is how she codified life:

Molly meanwhile was fantasizing about a scoring system not for baseball but for life. If she said something stupid, if she forgot to bring home her science book – those would be errors. If her mother came through for her and a third of the time – that sounded about right – her batting average would be .333. Back when her locked has been defaces and Lonnie came along and rescued her, he could have been credited with a save” (p 147).

The setting – Buffalo, NY – was a perfect choice. Like Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, whose wintry and bleak Syracuse, NY setting gave the perfect backdrop to Melinda’s troubles, the gloomy Buffalo is “like Siberia, a place you’d go to disappear, or to be punished” (p 115) to this story. It supports Molly’s suspicions that her father’s job was “taking the starch out of him” (p 37) and that her mother was like a flower withering in such grey desolation.

My father, like Molly’s, was a reporter for the local newspaper, covering equally mundane and repetitious stories. While scavenging to salvage some of her father’s memorabilia, Molly stumbles across one of her father’s notepads. At first hopefully it will contain some sort of explanation for his mysterious death, she finds it blank and instead stages a mock interview with her father (p 55). I thought this and all the other little steps Molly took toward forgiving her father was exceptionally well done.

[END SPOILERS]

If you enjoyed this book, I recommend No Cream Puffs by Karen Day and Playing the Field by Phil Bildner.

“I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else.”

I couldn’t help but compare this book to Ann Dee Ellis’s Everything is Fine.

Both books feature a female protagonist whose physical well being has been abandoned by the adults in her life and her mental well being has been disrupted, both by family tragedy.

Love, Aubrey is an excellent first offering from new author Suzanne LaFleur but Ellis’s story is more concise, literary and ultimately more haunting. Both authors navigate their precious girls through the horror and confusion of one life-altering moment and the aftermath with elegance and poignancy. Both also do an excellent job building suspense.

I’ve seen this on some mock Newbery lists but decided to pass on it for our Library’s final list.

The date and time are yet to be determined (possibly January 3, 9 or 10), but we will be meeting to discuss possible Newbery winners! It has been a great year for children’s literature so don’t be daunted by the list. These books are excellent.

If you are in the Ocean County Area and want to join us, let me know! This is the first year we are including Non-Fiction picks

Fiction
The Prince of Fenway Park by Julianna Baggot (review)
All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg (review)
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane (review)
The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo (review)
The Problem with the Puddles by Kate Feiffer (review)
The Dream Stealer by Dis Fleishman (Pictures by Peter Sis)
Brooklyn Nine: a Novel in Nine Innings by Alan Gatz
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (review)
Neil Armstrong is my Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino (review)
The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick (review)
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (review)
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Tate (review)

Non-Fiction
The Great and Only Barnum by Candice Fleming
Traveling the Freedom Road by Linda Barrett Osborne
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone

I was reluctant to pick this one up because of its Pollyanna cover art. It’s initial tone was as I suspected. Set in Connecticut during the Great Depression, it follows eleven-year-old Allie as her family moves from New Haven to Stamford when her father lands a job.

Much of the story is reminiscent of a simpler time when girls played hopscotch and boys played marbles, where mothers were homemakers and divorce was rare. But while these nostalgic images are pleasant, Hoberman reminds her readers that life was equally as difficult then as it is now; jobs were scarce, hobos weren’t bad people but rather men who could not find work, across the ocean anti-Semitism was growing.

As the story progressed, I grew more interested. Allie developed in so many lovely ways. Take this passage on page 160,

When we got home, I went into the dining room and stared at my grandmother’s cups and saucers. My mother has said that someday they would be mine. I wondered whether when I grew up I would let my little girl drink from them like Mrs. Minnick or be like my mother and keep them safe behind glass doors.

The supporting characters were also well developed and while Allie’s best friend and her family met with a happy ending, her other friends and their families had more ambiguous futures. Definitely a contender for the Newbery but it’s not my front runner.

This follow up to The Devouring did not disappoint. I’m only surprised that more teens at my library aren’t checking it out. I just love the cover art!

Reggie is an anomaly. With her ability to enter fearscapes and free tortured souls from Vours, she becomes a target of both the Vours and the Hunters (of which Eden is a member). It ends on a chilling note and I’m very interested to see where Holt takes the series.

I found that I didn’t recall some of the details from book one (it’s been over a year) but I found that it didn’t really matter. I got the gist and this book is about the fear, the terror. I like that Holt brought the story into the realm of science. It made it more believable.

I posted earlier about Mother Goose but I’ve decided to expand on that earlier post due to interest from other bloggers and my moms. If you would like to see the rhymes I use, I have put them together in a PowerPoint show on my wiki, Bugs in the Coke Machine (click on MotherGoose.ppt). I’m also going to upload videos of myself performing the Mother Goose program.

In this first video, I greet the mom and babies with my usual Hello & How Are You song (from the “Wiggleworms Love You” CD, 2005) followed by the rhyming section with a “Two Little Blackbirds” variation (Quiet and Loud) and “I’m Driving in my Car,” and “Where is Thumpkin?”

In the next segment we move to body rhymes: “Wiggle and Waggle,” “See-Saw Scare-a-down,” “This is the Way,” “Can You?”. Then it’s time for animal fun with ”Five Little Monkey’s” and “Six Little Ducks.”

This is followed by scarf and drum activities (“This is the way,” “The Wheels on the Bus,” “We’re Marching to the Drum”). We close out with our goodbye song, “Twinkle, Little Star.” Many of the moms will remain in the room up to 15 minutes after the program is over, playing with the puppets, instruments, and just chatting/making play dates. It’s a great social time for new moms especially.

So I hope you have an idea of the rhythm and flow of the program. This was a group of non-walking babies so it was a lot more lap time and less movement. The walkers tend to have more scarf/drum/music activity than the non-walkers. You can add rhymes to the program and toss out the ones you don’t like. Some I enjoy singing and sometime I prefer to use the CD player. Coming soon, a Mother Goose playlist with my favorite versions of my favorite songs.

Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt (2009)

On his arm – just above his left hand – were three black letters. He’s put them there himself when he was twelve, him and Jimmy, done with coal dust pounded in with a nail drove through with a stick. They never thought it would be permanent. But there is was, nearly five years on, his initials, R.A.W (p 3).

Remy Walker and Lisa Perkins live in sleepy Dwyer, West Virginia. Nestled among the Appalachian Mountains, Dwyer has little to boast of with a population dwindling now the local coal mining has dried up. Remy has spent the last couple years with Lisa. She is the magnet that directs his every move.

But as the summer after high school unfolds, Remy must decide if he will follow Lisa as she heads off to college in Pennsylvania or remain in Dwyer with his father in their trailer on Walker Mountain.

Complicating matters is a young artist come to town on a Federal grant to paint the local water tower. Dana is fresh and attractive and she makes no secret about her interest in Remy.

Funny How Things Change is a passable novel about first romance, career decisions, and coming to love and appreciate your home. Basically, the end of adolescence.

Wyatt does far too much telling and not enough showing at the outset. It is through Remy’s dialog (he is a bit witty), actions (picking Dana up for a joy ride), and his reactions (to Lisa) that we really learn who he is. Much of prose is dry in contrast to the lush mountain setting. I will take away a much better understanding of life in the mountainous regions of West Virginia and I appreciate the novel for that.

Remy was not an easy character to enjoy. He seemed rather lazy, like his father, and pathetic for wavering about Lisa while still maintaining he loved her. I don’t think he understands love at any point in the novel. Perhaps, because he only just begins to understand himself at the end, not coincidentally, when he decides to care about the mountain.

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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (2009)

Katniss, the girl on fire, has left behind the flickering flames and bejeweled gowns and soft candlelight frocks. She is as deadly as fire itself (p 207).

The Hunger Games are over and, against all odds, Katniss and Peeta of District 12 have survived. But they are not out of danger yet.

Katniss outsmarted the Gamemakers and undermined the Capitol when she suggested she and Peeta eat poisoned berries thereby depriving the Games of a victor.

Now, as their victory tour through the Districts approaches, President Snow visits Katniss. He delivers a warning. Quell the masses by convincing them and him that her actions were not rebellious but rather the result of a love-sick girl.

When Katniss fails to deliver and as Districts begin to rebel, wearing the sign of the mockingjay and rallying around Katniss and Peeta, President Snow takes revenge. The next Hunger Games, celebrating its 75th year, will pull tributes from the existing pool of victors. Katniss is returning to the arena.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Collins continues her dystopian series with another page turner. Here, Katniss begins to realize her true enemy will not be found among the other tributes. She becomes the unwitting symbol of rebellion among District dwellers.

The tone here remains hopefully as no one crucial to the plot is killed or confirmed dead, though several of Katniss’s friends are punished or killed. A viable rebellion rises, but will the cost be too much for Katniss to bear?

One of my favorite characters to emerge here is Finnik. I look forward to reading more about him in Mockingjay.

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Summer 2009 Wrap Up

This is a list of books I read this summer but didn’t have the time or inclination to review in detail. So this will be brief:

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi – A work of historical fiction that won the Newbery in 2003. Crispin is a young boy whose mother has just died. He is soon on the run (accused of a crime he did not commit) being declared a wolf’s head (meaning anyone may kill him). The secret to his sudden fall from obscurity lies in the identity of his father. A great read but not a favorite, if you know what I mean. I hate the cover! I think it has been a turn off for a lot of young patrons, who might otherwise gravitate toward it as the language is very accessible.

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen – Not my favorite Dessen but an okay read. Clearly one of her earlier books. I was dying to know if Michael’s parents replied to Scarlett’s letter. Dessen certainly has a hang up when it comes to Mother/Daughter relationships. Regarding teen boys, they have ranged from the wonderful (Along for the Ride and Just Listen) to average (Someone Like You) to terrible (Dreamland) in nature. It was satisfying that our heroine, Halley,  didn’t end up with the stereotypical loner but that her experiences shed some light on the relationship between Scarlett and her deceased boyfriend (aka father of her child).

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler – You wouldn’t believe how you are being manipulated by the restaurant industry. Fat, sugar and salt (the three points of the compass) combine to trick your mind into eating more and more and more food you do not need. What’s worse, they stick healthy sounding names (like Spinach Dip) on the dishes to mislead you. Read this book. Take back control!

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The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams (2009)

I have my sisters and brothers running all over the place. My mother is Father’s third wife. Our trailers, one for each Mother with her children, sit in a group, like wagons circling a fire. This is the way it is all over the Compound, not just with us. Fathers with all their wives grouped together. Making a circle. Like how we’re one eternal round in heaven (p 50).

In The Chosen One, Carol Lynch Williams tells a story of religious devotion, manipulation, isolation, fear and family. Kyra lives with her Father, Mothers and many siblings in a polygamist cult under the dictatorship of Prophet Childs and his Apostles, and their henchmen – the God Squad. As Kyra enters adolescence, she risks disobedience by secretly visiting a mobile library, which introduces her to children’s literature, and carrying on a tryst with her young neighbor, Joshua.

When she is chosen to be the seventh wife of her 60-year-old uncle, she resists and is punished. Knowing she will not marry her uncle but reluctant to leave her family, Kyra struggles to break free of the bonds - positive and negative - that have made up the whole of her life.

Williams’ writing has a way of engaging and capturing her reader. Though this book only touches on a moment in a cloistered life and leaves many questions unanswered, it is not diminished. As a fan of HBO’s Big Love, I found this an interesting take on an outlying population.

Library copy (print ) | St. Martin’s Griffin | May 12, 2009 | ISBN: 978-0312555115 | 224 pages | Ages 13 and up | $ 16.95

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George Ivey. Up River: A Novel of Attempted Restoration. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 2009.

Moving to a new place, especially a small town, without knowing anyone is difficult. People look at you inquisitively, and most people know everything about you even before a formal introduction. In Walnut Falls, North Carolina, Peter Bailey finds this to be true. However, he has the additional complication of being an “outlander” with a mission – a mission to save the Akwanee River. This water source is home to endangered fish and mussels, and Peter has joined with the controversial organization Global Alliance for River Defense (GARD), to protect it. Because GARD is known for suing localities to enforce better practices, his affiliation with the group complicates his task. As Peter works to find common ground with his new community, which is not always friendly to the newcomer, he reestablishes his dedication to environmentalism. Part of this, he learns, is working not only with diehard conservation-minded folks like him but also with other players, such as farmers, ministers, and bureaucrats. As the end of his two years comes up, Peter secures additional funds without the association with GARD, commits to continuing his work saving the Akwanee River, and feels like he is finally part of the Walnut Falls community.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks (2009)

I used to think vampires were pretty glamorous, until I met my first one. But since then I’ve become more and more disillusioned, as I’ve discovered that glamorous vampires just don’t exist – except in books like the Bloodstone Chronicles (p 45).

Fifteen-year-old Nina is a vampire but she doesn’t have super strength, grace or agility like the heroine of her Bloodstone Chronicle novels. In fact, vampires bear little resemblance to fictionalized characters. They are actually weak, fatigue easily, super sensitive to light and decidedly unheroic.

They are so pathetic they’ve formed a support group, in part to help each other deny their thirst for blood (which is now satiated with guinea pigs and supplements) and to cope with their so-called lives.

Then one of their own is murdered. Not that anyone misses Casimir, the now dead vampire who infected them all, directly or indirectly, but the murderer cannot be allowed to hunt the rest of them down. They are, after all, no threat to society.

Their attempt to locate and educate the killer leads Nina, fellow vamp Dave and their human liaison, a priest named Father Ramon on a trek across the outback where they encounter werewolves, ruthless men and a vampire fanatic.

This was a quick, light read that neither impressed nor disappointed. The situations were comical, the characters well-developed and their plight pitiable. While it dragged in some areas, there was enough action and humor to keep me going.

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No More Us for You by David Fernandez (2009)

The one-year anniversary of the death of my boyfriend was approaching and the events of that Monday afternoon were coming back to me, playing in my head like a movie (p 13).

Isabel is still dealing with the accidental death of her boyfriend, Gabriel, when she meets Vanessa, the new girl at school. Vanessa works at a contemporary art museum downtown where Carlos was recently hired as a guard. Through Vanessa, Carlos and Isabel meet… but will Vanessa be their undoing?

Told in alternating perspectives (Carlos and Isabel), this book is a rather hum drum story, touching on a variety of heavy topics like teen pregnancy, dating, cheating, drinking, death and grief. With the exception of grief, none were dealt with in much deapth.

There is a surprising twist in the late middle of the book that propeled me to the finish, but I probably wouldn’t have read this if I wasn’t assigned it as a Garden State Teen Book Award reader. Just not my type of read. However, I think it will stike a chord with a large number of (average or below-average reader) teens.

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Ash by Malinda Lo (2009)

Ash is a finalist for the 2010 William C. Morris YA Debut Award.

Malinda takes the skeleton story of Cinderella (a young girl loses her mother; father remarried before following his first wife to the grave; girl lives miserably with stepmother and two stepsisters) and builds a new story involving the seductive and deadly faeries of lore, the king’s huntress as friend and love interest, and storytelling.

The writing is solid. I’ve always loved fairy tales (not the sugar-coated Disney retellings but the gritty originals) and you will enjoy this book if you do as well. Some of my favorite passages were the fairy tale stories within the story; cautionary tales of humans caught in fairy rings or by the fairy hunt or those who seek out Fairy Queen aid.

I enjoyed this retelling far more than A Curse as Dark as Gold so I wouldn’t be surprised if won, but I have yet to read the other nominees.

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Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors (2009)

I didn’t throw it away. Why? For the same reasons that I make a wish before I blow out my birthday candles, and look into the sky for the first evening star, and pull extra hard on the wishbone. Because, deep inside, like a Scandinavian craving caffeine, I craved change. I had been living a quiet life in the mundane middle, hidden in my two friends’ shadows, but that wouldn’t work much longer. When they left Nordby to pursue their dreams, I’d become visible, exposed for what I was – nothing at all (p 52).

Coffeehouse Angel, like its narrator, is sweet with some unexpected strengths revealed through several missteps.

The story begins with Katrina noticing an apparently homeless teen sleeping in the alleyway behind the coffeehouse her grandmother owns. It’s the place where Katrina has always worked and how her classmates identify her – as Coffeehouse Girl.

But Malcolm is no ordinary vagabond. He’s a messenger angel, though Katrina is hard put to believe it. But through a series of mishaps as Malcolm attempts to grant Katrina her deepest desire as a reward for her unselfish generosity toward him, she begins to see the etherial truth.

Thrown into the mix are Vincent, Katrina’s best guy friend and swimming champion, and Elizabeth, artist extraordinaire. There is some romantic confusion surrounding Vincent and perhaps some jealousy regarding Elizabeth, and it takes Katrina some time and some self-deprecation to work through. But she does and the result is a girl realized, not a damsel in distress. Woo hoo!

SLJ described the adults as “often pliable, unrealistic, homophobic, or otherwise inappropriate” but welcome to small town America. This book is not without its charm, it’s highly readable, and without drugs, sex and violence, but still appropriate for the high school crowd. Definitely light chick-lit reading.

Read other reviews at: Confessions of a Book Addict and Karin’s Book Nook.

If you enjoy this book, I’d recommend:

Stuff My Dog Chewed » 2009 » November

Patterson Heights by Felicia Pride (2009)

I only really felt alive when I was around Natasha or when I was in bed listening for Rashid. In the rest of life, I wasn’t doing much more than the minimum–breathing, eating, bathing, going to the bathroom and hanging out with Ricky (p 150).

Avery Washington and his older brother Rashid are defying the odds. They stay smart, treat the ladies with respect and have the support of their two loving parents. It’s not easy, living on the East Side of Baltimore, but together, they are planning and saving for their future.

Then Rashid is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gunned down and dead before the ambulance gets him to a hospital, his death shakes the Washington family. Avery decides not to speak, his mother becomes obsessed with finding her son’s killer and his father just tries to make ends meet and keep the family afloat.

They move to the Country outside Baltimore but things don’t change. They only get worse. Avery tries to cope with his grief, his parents arguing and the burden of the knowing who killed his brother – a secret he keeps from his parents (and the police) to keep them same.

Trevor, Peety’s son, didn’t mean to shoot anyone. Peety, a drug lord, bought it for his ‘soldier’ son; an unwanted gift. But when his pride is challenged, Trevor acts stupidly in a hot moment. Rashid pays the price.

Then Avery meets Natasha in Straighten It Out, a program for teenagers struggling with grief, substance abuse, physical abuse, etc. She becomes the spark that begins his healing process.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I don’t read a lot of urban lit, I never lived in an urban area (unless you count Syracuse… but I lived on the hill so I don’t count that), and my library is located in a suburb. So I don’t believe I’m qualified to judge the language or veracity of this text.

It is highly readable. It was selected as a 2010 ALA Quick Pick for Young Readers and that makes sense. The narration is informal and, while grammatically incorrect, more accurately reflects language as it is spoken.

It struck an emotional cord, though I had to familiarize myself with the vernacular (the use of words like ‘copped’ and ‘cats’ took some interpretation). I thought Avery’s family and their falling apart was well handled.

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Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (2009)

Shiver follows in the wake of the Twilight saga and embraces many of the blockbuster’s attributes: mediocre writing, supernatural creatures (werewolves) struggling to retain their humanity, and a girl completely and irrevocably in love with one of the beasts.

Unlike Twight though, I was not seduced by Sam. Sure, he is infinitely more likable than Edward… but I didn’t fall in love (or even lust) with him. I wasn’t fascinated with the wolf pack in Shiver like I was with Jacob and his pack.

Yet, I really wanted to like this book. I just didn’t. Our logical narrator never thought to cure her wolf until it was almost too late?! Her friends never gained dimension (really, only her parents – ironically always absent – did gain dimension).

Shiver looks like a pretty easy read so I was amazed at the length of time it took me to plod through it. This is another one of those books that could be shortened by half and lose nothing.

However, I am forcing myself to read the sequel so that I may review it and pass it on to my sister (who seemed to enjoy Shiver more than me).

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