The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

Throughout his entire life, 17-year-old Alton has heard stories about his rich great-uncle. Though he’s only met him once, said uncle must continually be told he is Alton’s “favorite uncle” whenever they talk on the phone, as per his parents’ request. Alton’s parents have made it very clear that they want to be listed in the uncle’s will and must continually try and get in his good graces. This is pretty hard to do, considering his uncle’s heart is “cold as stone” and he’s really not interested in accepting dinner invitations from Alton’s mother nor spending time with Alton and his sister. One day, Alton’s uncle calls, asking Alton if he would like to be his card tuner. Alton’s uncle is a high-ranking bridge player, and after going blind, he requires someone to play the cards he picks. While being a card turner starts out as a chore for Alton—and a way to get the family on his good side—, Alton soon finds himself immersed in the game of bridge and begins to really connect with his uncle. Alton learns there is more to his uncle than meets the eye in this fascinating novel of bridge, family, friendship, love and loss.

Taylor Swift Wins Big at CMAs

Did anyone watch the Country Music Awards this weekend? Taylor swift won Artist of the Year for the second time in a row, as well as awards for favorite country artist and favorite country album.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Rumor has it Tim Burton is in talks to direct Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. If there is anyone weird enough to do it...it's him!

Read the article from Deadline New York here.

Hunger Games Interview

Check out this interview with Jennifer Lawrence aka Katniss Everdeen from Vanity Fair!

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/11/jennifer-lawrence-the-hunger-games-twilight

Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic Book #2)

Three years have passed since Eff defeated the mirror bugs that threatened to destroy the Western settlements and became a hero, despite her being the thirteenth child. Now 18-years-old, Eff needs to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Her brother Lan, magician prodigy and the seventh son of a seventh son, wants her to continue her magical education with formal training at a name school. The only problem is Eff still has difficulty with Avrupan magic and must compensate by using Aphrikan magic to force her spells to work. Instead of more schooling, Eff really wants to continue helping Professor Jeffries at the menagerie and to explore more of the mysterious Far West past the Great Barrier. Eff’s desires become reality when she’s asked to join an expedition with Professor Torgeson and Wash, her Aphrikan magic mentor. On their journey they uncover some peculiar findings: magical and normal animals petrified. Eff and the others must find out if this happened because of some natural fossilization process or if another creature with great power is causing this.

Across the Great Barrier is an excellent follow up to Wrede’s first book in the series, Thirteenth Child. You won’t find Wrede’s version of the late 19th century western expansion in U.S history books, but she does an excellent job creating a fascinating alternate history. In this book we even find out that while the events parallel our own U.S history, the characters are in the United Sates of Columbia not America. Wrede’s novel is historical, coming-of-age, and adventure rolled into one good story. While this story is a sequel, enough of the first book is explained that it could stand alone. Here’s to hoping that there will be more books in the series!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Jacob grew up with fantastical stories from his grandfather that he always wanted to believe. Jacob’s grandfather is a Holocaust survivor; after surviving the Nazi's horrific genocide as a child, he has been on the run from something else: monsters. Jacob’s grandfather took solace along with many other children in a mystical house on an island off the coast of Wales, led by “the Bird,” their protector. Jacob’s bedtime stories were filled with these peculiar children: some could levitate, one had a mouth in the back of her head, covered up by golden curls, and others could control sound waves or elements. As a teenager, Jacob denounces these stories as lies, and he believes that his grandfather’s fear of monsters is nothing more than a delusion caused by old age and the trauma he faced as a child. But, when Jacob sees his grandfather lying dead outside their house and catches a glimpse of his killer, an otherworldly-looking creature with long tentacles coming out of his mouth, he realizes that everything his grandfather said must be true. Jacob sets off to the island where his grandfather grew up, hoping to find clues about the peculiar children, the monsters they were running from, and their guardian, Miss Peregrine. The challenge is not only where these clues are, but when.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is a mysterious tale of survival and believing in your own abilities. The book is filled with old pictures of the peculiar children, the basis for the creation of the specific children. The photos make the book unique and compliment the text nicely—they’re also fascinating to look at on their own. Unfortunately, the book is a little too similar to the X-men and Xavier’s School for the Gifted. Even the Holocaust was an important part in shaping one of the main character’s lives, as it is in this novel. While the story is enjoyable, the similarities were so striking that it detracted from the original aspects of this book. Nonetheless, it is still worth reading.

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

If Michael Vey was a normal 14-year-old boy, the only things he would have to deal with would be his mild case of Tourette’s Syndrome, the bullies who throw him into lockers, and his unsympathetic principal. But, Michael Vey is far from ordinary—he’s electric. Michael Vey is one of 17 surviving infants from a failed medical experiment. As a result, these children, including Michael, and as he finds out later, his classmate, Taylor, have unique electric abilities. Michael, Taylor, and Michael’s brilliant best friend Ostin form a secret club known as the Electroclan to track down how and why Taylor and Michael have these powers. Meanwhile, Dr. Hatch, leader of Elgen research lab and part of the group responsible for the accident, has spent more than a decade tracking down all the “Electric Children.” The Electroclan’s snooping regarding the accident sets in motion their captivity by Hatch. Hatch’s self-righteous ambition is to study the surviving teens, control their power, and create a new world of superior humans. The Electric Children live pretty glamorous lives at Elgen with a $200,000 expense account and lavish living quarters, but the utopian environment masks dark manipulation and murder. Michael and his friends must do whatever they can to avoid Hatch’s temptation, protect their families, and escape their imprisonment.

Richard Paul Evan’s first YA book is filled with non-stop action, memorable characters, believable dialog, and is a unique take on the whole ‘world domination by a new breed of humans’ troupe. Luckily, this is only the first novel in the Michael Vey series. Don’t miss this book!