Showing posts with label teen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teen. Show all posts

Friday, February 3, 2012

Chime

By Fran Billingsley
Genre: Paranormal with a bit of romance
Rating: 4 stars

Briony Larkin is the reverend's daughter, a twin, with pale skin and hair and dark dark eyes.  She lives in her small swamp-side town which is slowly draining the swamp to make way for progress.  And Briony is a witch.  How else can she explain her ability to talk to the swamp spirits and to the ghosts of the dead?  How else can she explain the terrible things she's done, like calling up Mucky Face to attack Stepmother or calling up the fire to burn up the parsonage's library or having her jealousy cause her sister Rose to fall off the swing and never be right in the head again?  Briony cannot love, is not capable of love. But when Eldric comes to board at the parsonage, Briony's heart wants to open. He is handsome and fun-loving and seems to want to spend time with her.  But what if he finds out what she really is?  When Rose develops the dreaded Swamp Cough, Briony realizes she needs to make some sacrifices to save her.  But when you deal with the Old Ones, you better be sure of what kind of bargain you are making.  It is creepy and dark, just how you like your paranormal stories, and there's definitely something "not right" going on you'll be eager to uncover.

Blink & Caution


By Tim Wynne-Jones
Genre: Adventure/Realistic
Rating: 4 stars

"Blink", AKA Brent, has been living on the streets of Toronto for months, snagging breakfast off of room service trays. He fled home when his stepfather got just a bit too violent.  "Caution", AKA Kitty, has been living with a drug dealer boyfriend after leaving home when her brother died.  They don't know each other...yet.  But when Blink accidentally witnesses a faked abduction and picks up an abandoned Blackberry, he becomes drawn into a web of possible intrigue which eventually leads him to cross paths with Caution.  Both teens are grappling with their unhappy pasts as they struggle with the here and now, but when they get together and are caught up in the whirlwind surrounding the abduction, things begin to change, for both of them.  But first they have to survive the night.  There are a couple of loose ends that don't quite get wrapped up, but otherwise, a well-told story with memorable characters both guys and girls can relate to.