Icefall, Matthew J. Kirby

Title: Icefall
Author: Matthew J. Kirby
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publishing Date: 2011
Length: 321 pages
Summary: (From book)  Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig, along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors, anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in the midst. A malevolent air beings to seep through the fortress walls, and a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another.
Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings bust choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig and her siblings survived the long winter months and expose the traitor before he succeeds in destroying a kingdom?


My Thoughts:  Wow. I just finished this one. And cried through the ending as usual.....
Matthew J. Kirby is an up and coming author and I absolutely loved his debut novel, The Clockwork Three.  With his second novel, I am starting to have a great appreciation for his work and will now look forward eagerly to see what else he comes up with.
As with all children's literature, there is a deeper meaning than just a clever storyline and I felt this one go straight through me. The different mentalities of all the characters and what they represented was so poignant and tastefully done. This felt more like an insight into the psychology of human behavior than a piece of fiction.

Things To Be Cautious Of:  Violence. Nothing too graphic or intense.

What I learned:  I am not just me. I have power within me and don't need to hold myself back. It is important to stay true to who you are and pick a side.

Keeper of The Lost Cities, Shannon Messenger

Title:  Keeper of The Lost Cities
Author: Shannon Messenger
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Aladdin)
Publishing Date: 2012
Length: 488 Pages
Summary: (From book)  Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She's a Telepath-someone who hears the thoughts of everyone around her. It's a talent she's never known how to explain.
Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds.  She discovers there's somewhere she does belong; and that staying with her family will put her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different than anything she has ever known.
Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come "home."  There are secrets buried deep in Sophie's memory-secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans-that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.

My Thoughts:  *squee*  This book was amazing!! I stumbled across the author's blog on Tuesday and picked up the book yesterday at Barnes & Noble after reading 100 pages of it there first. Here's the big secret though, the book apparently doesn't release until next week, so why the book store had it out already, I don't know, but I'm so glad they did because I seriously adored this book.  I read the whole thing this morning. Couldn't put it down.
Sophie is a wonderful, lovable little girl and her emotions and concerns were very real. I nearly cried in the store at one point.  I found her innocence and open curiosity about everything to be endearing and I loved learning everything along with her.
Fitz was a sweet boy, I adore him, but I can't pick favorites between the other boys of the group. The author created very real and very lovable people.
One thing I did notice, was that there seemed to be an unconscious swing towards making girls the somewhat clichéd  means girls typical to school life. I didn't feel it was necessary and would have liked to have seen a bit of a gender trade with the bullying.  But that is a very small complaint compared to the genius of this book.
I am really hoping/praying/wishing for a sequel.

Things To Be Cautious Of:  NOTHING! WOO.  Unless, a bit of a downplay on the human race and mentioning of secret society isn't your thing.

What I learned:  It's ok to be different.

A Tale of Time City, Diana Wynne Jones

Title: A Tale of Time City
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: Fire bird Books
Publishing Date: 1987
Summary: (From Book)    London, 1939, Vivian Smith thinks she is being evacuated to the countryside because of the war. But she is being kidnapped-out of her own time. Her kidnappers are Jonathan and Sam, two boys her own age from a place called Time City. Built eons ago on a patch of space outside time, Time City was designed especially to oversee history. But now history is going critical, and Johnathan and Same are convinced that Time City's impending doom can only be averted by a Twenty Century girl named Vivian Smith. Too bad they have the wrong girl...


My Thoughts:  The cover on this book is so pretty. I love it. The plot was interesting, I've been a fan of accidental kidnapping plot lines ever since first encountering them, but after that...the book sort of lost me. There is so much to process and understand and the mythology and rules of Time City are complex and overwhelming. I can't say I really liked this book. It was an interesting read, but I found myself finishing it merely for the sake of completing it and the last twenty pages had me at a total loss as to what was going on.
I've never heard of the author, apparently she was a very popular fantasy writer, but as for me, it's just not my cup of tea.
Things To Be Cautious Of:  Three very mild swear words.
What I learned:  I don't want to write like this...

Review: Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

Title: Artemis Fowl
Author: Eoin Colfer
Publisher: Hyperion
Publishing Date: 2001
Length: 277 pages.
Summary: (From book)  Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short, of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories; these fairies are armed and dangerous.
Artemis thinks he has them right where he wants them...but then they stop playing by the rules. 
My Thoughts: What the heck did I just read?
There's been a lot of hype over the Artemis Fowl series, and I can see why; the covers are gorgeous, his name is fantastic and the plot interesting, so why did I hate this book?
Blame it on my dislike of Hyperion Publishing and my mistrust of adolescent fiction.
My overall impression of this book was that humans are bad,  fairies are weapon wielding technology geniuses and this little twelve year old boy is a psychologist's nightmare. In the book summary, I half expected the words, 'genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist to show up. The humor was a bit crude at times and I really wouldn't count this as a children's book. The violence had it been in a movie, would have been disturbing, and there were even occasional swear words.
The author seems very likable, and the series as a whole is very successful, so maybe this is just me and not my particular cup of tea.

Review: Cinder, By Marrissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marrissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel And Friends
Publishing Date: January 3, 2012
Length: 387 pages
Summary: (From book) Sixteen-year old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits though: Cinder's brain interface has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on.
Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger step sister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating the Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived.
But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.
My Thoughts: *Squee!* This book was brilliant! I loved it so much. I don't read a lot of YA fiction mainly because I am constantly disappointed by the lack of character depth, the kissing scenes and clichéd male characters...lack of plot, lack of values, blah, blah, blah...But this was amazing. Cinder is a strong willed character with deep, emotional interest and I found myself instantly sucked into her story. Prince Kai was dreamy in a real, believable sort of way and as always, I am a sucker for the chivalrous gentleman.
This book combined a lot of fabulous medical angst which, given my bizarre fascination with the medical field, was just the perfect dose for my obsession. The doctor/scientist guy was even a gruff old man with secrets and a Newsie cap. Can you say love?
The plot of this story was just beautiful. The way the author writes was so poetic without being flowery and I couldn't put the book down. I picked this novel up to read on a long flight across the country and was down to the final pages that I just had to read while walking through the airport. I'm afraid I was a little spacey for awhile being A) confused  on time zones and B) completely lost in Cinder's world.
I find myself endeared to the author as she is after my own heart in the fact that she is a fellow Fanfiction geek and lover of all things nerdy. And of course, I must thank her for writing such a clean, enjoyable novel when so much of the world focuses on the dirty. I seriously cannot wait for the rest of the Lunar books. I can't believe I have to wait until next year for the sequel.