Tag Archives: YA

Book Review: Sara Supernatural by Tiffany Belcher

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Sara Supernatural by Tiffany Belcher

A Middle Grade/YA Fantasy Novel published by Tate Pubishing (10/29/13)

 

Summary:

When Sara makes the wish for her freckles to disappear for the hundredth time, she doesn’t expect her wish to come true. She’s a redhead with freckles and everyone knows that boys don’t like girls with freckles except Sara meets Chris and he likes her freckles. Shoot! Now she needs them back. Sara and her two best friends Ashely and Jessica realize that Sara has the power to wish for whatever she wants, but with this power comes great repercussions. Sara makes a mess of things with her accidental wishes and they aren’t all as easy to fix as wishing for her freckles back.

 

Keywords:

Magic, wishing, powers, female main character, lessons learned, romance, fourteen-year olds, middle school, immaturity, selfishness, greed, fitting in, being the best, cheating

 

My Review:

Sara was a great main character. Though she was only fourteen and in middle school, she was mature and interesting even though she did fall into some typical teenage behavioral patterns. Sara wanted the perfect life and the perfect family, complete with perfect outfits and style. She didn’t try to match her wishes with her reality until she is granted the power to make her dreams come true without any effort. She has only to wish and voile, wish granted. Not every wish should be fulfilled, and Sara learns this the hard way. Sara has the ability to fix her mistakes the whole time, it is learning that she made a mistake and why there are consequences to certain wishes that makes the story.

I liked that the author gives us multiple characters with their own parts to play in the story. There’s Ashley, the picky one, who is not always confident in what she’s doing. There’s Jessica, who grew up spoiled and doesn’t always know how to put others first or to think of someone other than herself. There’s Chris, the boy who was raised to take care of himself.

Any time there’s magic involved, I appreciate a good answer for where and how the magic came to be. Belcher, about midway through the book, gives an explanation for the magic in two levels, where it originated from in the beginning and how Sara got her wishing abilities. The author also quantifies the extent the magic has on altering reality and how far Sara can go in its use, which I really appreciated. Defining the magic made it and the story more real.

The dialogue was a pleasure to read and the author really captured some more witty teenage moments full of snippy sarcastic teen talk without being overly dramatic or too grammatically poor like some teens everyone knows.

I enjoyed this book, though not as much as the intended audience I’m sure and was pleasantly surprised by the ending indication that there will be a sequel with older characters!

This novel was published by Tate Pubishing on October 29th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50

 

Links for more information:

Tiffany Belcher’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Speak of the Tiger by Martha Deeringer

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Speak of the Tiger by Martha Deeringer

A YA/Teen Read Novel published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (03/10/15)

Summary:

“It was a great feeling to do something you weren’t sure you had the courage to do. Especially after it was over.” (Kindle Locations 566-567).

When the ninth grade class goes on a long field trip in a semi-isolated ranch in South Texas, they expect fun filled days of camping, horse riding, and camaraderie. Before they’ve even arrived the problems begin and the students are quick to point the blaming finger at the quiet new boy, Lee Boyd. As issues escalate, from toilet papering to property damage in the hundreds of dollars, everyone is more and more convinced that Lee is the instigator.

Justin wasn’t the only one to misunderstand and make assumptions of Lee, but he is surprised when the new boy steps up during the biggest turmoil of them all. Was Lee the one causing all the catastrophes, or was he framed? After the big thunderstorm and daring rescue, Justin will try to befriend Lee and break down the prejudices surrounding the boy.

Keywords:

 Change, horses, school, Korean, boys, 9th grade, high school, fitting in, thunderstorm, secrets, bullying, needing help

My Review:

If you like reading at the level of the Magic School Bus about bullies and boy troubles and friendships, you will like this book. This book had a little bit of each of many issues that plague pre-teens/teens, but didn’t delve too deep into the nitty gritty of them. The issues of bullying and suicide are very real and very serious and this book touched on both. Personally, I wanted more emotion, more action, and more consequence related to these issues, but if you don’t want to get too emotionally involved in this book, then the way the author writes them into the story won’t bother you.

I thought this book was a fun easy read, but I didn’t come away with anything unique. It was just a story about two boys becoming friends and overcoming sucky teen attitudes and prejudices. The book wasn’t deep into any of the subjects or themes.

A girl showed some bullying, but it was very vanilla. These were ninth graders in high school and there were no insults, no name calling, no extreme racist remarks. The bullying was toned down as if the kids had grown up isolated and protected and their best insult was laughably poetic and only the intent communicated that it was an insult. Are these really ninth graders? They appear very polite and behaved, only committing what seemed like isolated acts of defiance and damage and only a few of those acts. Where are the teen attitudes? The sulking? There wasn’t offensive language or swearing. There was no sexual tension. These kids acted far more like sixth graders than ninth graders.
I did quite enjoy the story of Justin becoming unlikely friends with the quiet and misunderstood Korean boy and I thought the twist involving his home life was fascinating. I would have enjoyed a book told from Lee’s perspective, because Justin wasn’t that big of a personality and only got sucked into Boyd’s story.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books on March 10th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.75

Links for more information:

Fire and Ice Website

Martha Deeringer’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Sticks and Stones (The Wish Makers Book 1) by Shawn McGuire

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Sticks and Stones (The Wish Makers Book 1) by Shawn McGuire

A YA Low Fantasy Novel published by Brown Bag Books (06/12/14)

 

Summary:

“Live a little, Mandy Rose. You never know when life will take a sudden change.” (Kindle Locations 1745-1746).

Amanda Rose has a pathological fear of upsetting people and a fear of screwing up. Ever since the incident with her sister Alexa, Mandy has made sure to be the Goody Goody and not mess up, but she’s sick and tired of trying to be perfect. “I get straight A’s. I’ve got this great cooking club going, Nourishing Nosh, and I’m planning to put up a cooking and nutrition website for kids, NourishingNosh.com. I’ve got a plan for my future as thoroughly mapped-out as the garden I’m going to plant.” (Kindle Locations 790-794). Inside, Mandy knows there is something missing in her life, that there is something hiding in the very depths of her soul. When she makes her birthday wish, she is surprised to find that it wants to come true, or at least take her down a path to figure out what secret she is hiding from herself. Her wish takes the form of her childhood imaginary friend Lexi, who is guided by the Wish Mistress Desiree.

 

Keywords:

 Wish Mistress, Fairy, Carpe Diem, Goody-Goody, Imaginary Friend, Live Life to the Fullest, Teen Romance

 

My Review:

Mandy was annoying, Desiree was annoying, switching POV made the book annoying, the shallow romance was annoying. The message in the book was shallow and pushed again and again. There was a wonderfully captivating fantasy story within Sticks and Stones, but it got buried beneath these annoyances.

I felt like many scenes, especially in the beginning, were dragged out with too much detail in the wrong places. McGuire was overly wordy where it wasn’t necessary. I could feel the story wanting to hit the initial conflict or triggering action, but was held back by too much exposition.

When the story hit, I was eager to read more, but then McGuire sideswipes the story entirely to nearly abandon the main character and focus on Desiree the Wish Mistress. I didn’t want to know more about Desiree. She was a part of Mandy’s story, but she wasn’t an important enough character to warrant her own chapters with a storyline apart from Mandy’s. The POV switch was the most aggravating choice the author made for the novel and I eneded up skimming and skipping almost all of Desiree’s short chapters. They were dull and meaningless in the scope of the overall story. Desiree is a messenger in Mandy’s story and didn’t warrant or deserve as much focus as she got.

The story was intriguing, regardless of the annoying points; however, I don’t feel that I would read anymore from this author because of the choices she made in Sticks and Stones.

This novel was published by Brown Bag Books June 12th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Shawn McGuire’s Website

Book Review: P.A.W.S. by Debbie Manber Kupfer

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P.A.W.S. by Debbie Manber Kupfer

A YA Paranormal Novel published by Rocking Horse Publishing (06/25/13)

 

Summary:

“You never know how strong you really are until you are tested.” (Page 263).

Miri Katz is barely keeping her head above water. She is clumsy and nerdy. She has made no friends at her school and is made fun of by the cool kids almost daily. She is an average girl, maybe even below average because she has no special talents. She is failing math. But then everything changes when, in a moment of panic, the amulet her omama gave her transforms her into a cat. Now everyone wants Miri, but not to be her friend.

 

Keywords:

Animagi, Shapeshifters, Werewolves, Animagi, Revenge, Loyalty, World Domination, Special Powers, Friendship

 

My Review:

I almost put this book down. It started off with a historical fiction spin which was really exciting, but then quickly turned into something else entirely that was barely keeping my attention. The writing was a bit stilted and the main character Miri was much too pathetic to like or relate to when we first met her. “Miri did very little other than read fantasy novels and write in her notebooks. In her classes she was a mediocre student at best, plus she was clumsy and socially awkward.” (Page 65).

But I kept reading. There was something about the story that just wouldn’t let me go. And then the story got so much better. The author sucked me into the clutter of Miri’s life and the deepening intrigue of the multiple subplots that eventually merged into the main story. The author had woven a complicated plot that was not at first visible.

Normally I don’t pick up and read paranormal fantasy, but I liked the story and the characters of P.A.W.S. In a world where there are shape shifters, werewolves, and animagi, Kupfer has done a great job sorting through the possibilities of what life would be like in this kind of environment. There are rules and boundaries that make these abilities much more interesting. Kupfer is great at world building.

The essential story Kupfer tells is the one that hooked me. In the beginning I thought it was about a girl trying to find her place in the world (coming of age) and it was, at least to begin with. Then Kupfer adds in complication after complication and the depth of the plot was what held my attention raptly to the end.
If you want a young adult version of Interview with a Vampire, then P.A.W.S. is your book.

This novel was published by Rocking Horse Publishing June 25th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Debbie Manber Kupfer’s Website

Facebbok

Book Review: Passing Notes by D.G. Driver

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Passing Notes by D.G. Driver

A YA Novella published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (1/29/15)

 

Summary:

Mark Dowd has never had a girlfriend and never been in love, so when the girl he’s had a crush on since seventh grade is sitting outside his job, having cried her eyes out, he gets his chance to show her what a decent dateable guy he is. Mark has also never had to woo anyone before and his first halfhearted attempts are met with indignation and the cold shoulder. Mark is making mistakes left and right trying to romance this girl. He’s about to lose her when a mysterious ghost writer begins to give him advice and guide him in writing the perfect love letter and how to deliver it properly. Will this gesture prove to Bethany how much Mark likes her and how he really is exactly who she met that first night?

“Instead of throwing books around, slamming classroom doors, and screeching through hallways, this ghost chose to haunt the high school by teaching random kids how to write better love letters.” (Kindle Locations 481-482).

 

Keywords:

 YA, Male POV, Dating, Teen Love, Romance, Ghost, Guidance, Trying Hard, High School, Novella

 

My Review:

I was given a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Why would a straight A student who follows the rules date a guy like Mark? What does he have going for him? Is he good looking? The bad boy? At first he tells us that he’s getting D’s in school, can’t spell, and has poor grammar. He doesn’t brag about anything, so we assume he would never be good enough for Bethany, but his actions throughout this novella show us otherwise. Mark is revealed to be a polite, hard-working boy who really does try his hardest when he wants to attain something of value. He can apologize when he’s wrong. He is humble and works a real job. He is nice and accommodating when his elder grandmother who has Alzheimer’s mistakes him for his grandfather. Mark is not as simple as he made himself out to be. He may not know what the word ‘crude’ means, but he does know when to accept help and when to admit he doesn’t know what he’s doing when romancing Bethany. This is intelligence in spades and what Bethany is surely attracted to. It makes me like Mark, even though he’s failing in school and his life plans only amount to joining the army after graduating. He’s adorably ignorant.

Usually the smart beautiful girl leaves her jerk of a jock boyfriend for the quiet smart cute boy, but Mark isn’t the nerd we all recognize in stories. Mark is different. This made the story different and fun to read. It had a slight spin to the usual boy loves girl plot-line. Though the short story was simple in writing style, plot, characters, and motivations, it kept my attention throughout with its honest elegance.

The magical part of having a ghost was done well. The ghost was connect to Mark in both a premeditated way and an immediate way.

Passing Notes had a beautiful and fitting end that came full circle and was satisfying to read.

For any teen that stumbles through dating, this is a wonderfully informative and entertaining novella that they can learn from.

This novel was published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books on January 29th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.75

 

Links for more information:

D.G. Driver’s Website

D.G. Driver on Twitter

Goodreads

Renton, WA Book Release Party for Jeffrey Cook’s Mina Cortez From Bouquets to Bullets

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Do you like books or burgers or supporting Indie authors or the AFK Tavern? Yes to all these things? Great! You should come down this Saturday the 28th from 2 PM to 9 PM.  to the AFK Elixirs & Eatery (3750 E Valley Rd, Renton, Washington 98055).

For more details go to the facebook event page here:

Mina_Cortez

Book Review: From the Wreckage by Michele G. Miller

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From the Wreckage by Michele G. Miller

A YA Romance Novel published by Enchanted Ink Press (06/11/14)

 

Summary:

“Don’t waste a day wondering what if.” (Page 88).
From the Wreckage is a book that explores the above quote. For Texas teen Jules Blacklin, everything changes in one day when a natural disaster tears her small town apart. Her life is turned topsy turvey following the tornadoe’s wake. She has lost one of her best friends. Her town has a lot of recovery to go through. Her school was decimated. The aspect of her life that changed the most; however, was realizing that it isn’t worth it to stay in a relationship that isn’t the same anymore and that she shouldn’t put off her own happiness.

 

Keywords:

Contemporary Romance, Natural Disaster, Loss, Grief, Texas, Small Town, School Rivalry, Friendship

 

My Review:

This book throttled me as hard as the tornado devastated Jules’ town. The description of events leading up to and during the tornado were like a scene from the classic movie Twister. I was on the edge of my seat and my eyes were wide with the tension. The author really does capture the emotional upheaval and turmoil that goes along with escaping the clutches of a disaster. And this was less than a quarter of the way through the novel.

How could it get more tense? How could there be more excitement? Well, there wasn’t. Michelle Miller climaxed less than 25% through the novel and spent the rest of the plot and character development in limbo. It was like if I stay by Gayle Foreman, where you’re waiting for the big punch, only to be disappointed by the almost lackluster and anticlimactic ending. Miller set herself up for this when she gave away her big emotional roller coaster so soon. The rest was just the aftermath.

I thought the book could have been shorter. After all, how much resolution can there be after a climax so soon? Still, I wasn’t disappointed entirely because the novel fits quite well into young adult literature, giving me all the angsty teen drama I could want. I just wish it hadn’t been preempted so soon with such a whirlwind beginning. For this unequal pacing I was annoyed, but not too much because I loved Miller’s writing style and how she painted her characters.

This book wasn’t about the action so much as about the characters. It was fascinating to watch Jules go through her own stages of grieving and loss. Her conflicted thoughts on her relationships with both the football star and West Rutledge were the highlight of the book in my mind.

The second major nuisance of the novel was the way Miller presented the story. It was told mainly through the narrative of Jules herself, as she tells the story for the video documentation of the high school seniors. This is so annoying and unnecessary that I skipped almost all the parts where Jules is in the present commenting on the past. The second major nuisance of the novel was the odd sounding tense used (third person present). It was jarring every time I picked up the book and made the entire thing difficult to read on a sentence by sentence basis. For these two reasons alone this book will never be a five-star book, at least in my opinion. If the story is in the past, let it be in the past and don’t pull us out of the narrative to let us know Jules is sad again in the present. Let the story tell itself! Still, if I had noticed these errors before I had begun reading, would I do it again? Yes, because the story was interesting, the characters were fascinating, and the emotions were real.

This novel was published by Enchanted Ink Press June 11th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Michele Miller’s Website

Book Review: Pieces of Me by Carrigan Richards

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Pieces of Me by Carrigan Richards

A YA Novel published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (01/26/14)

 

Summary:

 “One thing I’ve learned is that those who won’t support you aren’t worth your time.” -Scott (Kindle Locations 428-429).
What if you were responsible for the death of a loved one? Corinne fell asleep for an instant, but that’s all it took for a chain of events to lead to her brother’s death. She should have been the one to die instead of him, or so she thinks. When those around her blame her for his death too, she internalizes the guilt even further. Headaches from the accident and panic attacks from her own remorse build up until she can no longer take the pain and the guilt. After being sent to Fairview Mental Institution, Cor meets others who are trying to heal or have tried to end it, just like her. She is not alone, even though she thinks those most important to her have abandoned her. It will take all her strength and willpower to work through her emotions and finally open up to her doctor about what happened.

 

Keywords:

 Teen Angst, Emotional, Suicide, Mental Institution, Abusive Relationships, Love, Infatuation, Imperfections, Female Main Character, Death, Accidents, Guilt

 

My Review:

I wanted to like this book. It has everything a teen wants to read: angst and struggle, a female main character, a romance, relationships between friends and lovers. I think this would be a great book for a teen to read if they can look past its faults and stick with the core theme and message presented.

Corinne was supposed to be likeable, even with her faults. The reader is supposed to, if not relate to her, but sympathize with her. I thought Richards was trying too hard to get me to sympathize with Corinne by making the other characters around her unrealistically put her down and make her life harder. In making Corinne a stronger and more dynamic character, Richards made her other characters stereotyped and one dimensional. Lisa was too mean. I’ve never thought a girl deserved to get punched in the face as much as Lisa. If she had been a guy someone would have done it. Even though she was given the motivation to behave the way she does, I thought her character was over the top while at the same time too shallow. Corinne’s mom was too unsympathetic to Cor, to the point beyond abuse. Both Corinne’s parents, actually, behaved unlike parents or people. They were robotic, only serving the role of parents, with the dad being the helpful parent and the mom being the conflicted unhelpful parent throughout the entire book until the resolution.

James. The love interest. He was the worst. There is no teenager alive like him. He was the most unrealistic character of them all. Instead of being perfect prince charming he was flat and annoying (i.e. too perfect). Prince Charming has to be at least flawed enough to imagine in real life, unlike perfect James who loved Cor from when he first set eyes on her and loved her with all his being immediately… Why does he even like her? We are shown an average girl of at least above average beauty who apparently has very few hobbies and talents and seems quite unremarkable, yet James falls instantly in love. Not just in love, either, he was puppy dog love obsessed in love.

The dialogue was idealistic for teenagers. They spoke quite well and communicated very, very well for being conflicted and emotional and young. A teen reader may not notice this, but I thought it was unusual for characters to be so well-spoken in the midst of such emotionally charged events.

The second half also become quite repetitive and the author pushed her point over and over again before finally bursting through the climax and on to the resolution.

Richards handled the ending very well. She gave us almost all the resolution that was needed. The only resolutions I wanted more of were those with Corinne’s mom and Lisa and Will (albeit a minor character). Even though Corinne resolved her conflicts with Lisa, I felt that Lisa’s conflict was still unresolved and perhaps a book two would take over Lisa’s story?

Overall, despite the flaws of the book, I thought it was interesting to read and worth the time of any conflicted teenager as I thought it was emotionally authentic, showing how Corinne felt and what she was going through in a way anyone in a similar emotional state could relate to.

This novel was published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform January 26, 2014 and is available on amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

 

Links for more information:

Carrigan Richards’ Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets by Jeffrey Cook

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Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets by Jeffrey Cook

A YA Science Fiction Novel published by Fire and Ice (01/29/15)

 

Summary:

Mina has always been the good influence, but when she strikes out on her own to clear her friend’s name she runs into all sorts of trouble. Mina hoped to get the ballerina chip, but was resigned to follow in her parents’ footsteps running the family business, Emerald City Flowers and Design. Instead she got way more than she could have hoped for: The Inquisitor Chip for the Secret Police. Flower deliveries is the perfect cover for a member of the Secret Police and her first assignment is to lay low and observe. She’s young, she’s confident, and she has not yet learned to follow directions. How could she when she suspects something more sinister is going on and doesn’t know who to trust within the Allied Investigative Agency? Along with her friend Amiko, the reliable antique Chevy Vlad, and her own natural inquisitiveness, Mina will do everything she can to solve the kidnapping of her friend Scott and find out what’s really going on in the AIA.

 

Keywords:

Strong Females, Diverse Cast, Action, Thriller, Mystery, Seattle, Secret Police, Futuristic, Technology

 

My Review:

Mina is a character I can relate to because she doesn’t get everything that she wants. She’s confident in what she believes. She stands up for her friends and seeks out action. Not everyone gets to be a ballerina, and Mina is no exception. She is too short and stocky, in her mind, to be chosen for the elusive ballerina chip.

In a world where adolescents can work their hardest trying to paint their own futures and make their own destiny, it is their chipping that ultimately decides their fate. This is a wonderful and very futuristic technology that Jeffrey Cook exploits to the utmost of his imagination. “Implanting someone with everything they needed to know to do their assigned job perfectly had become a mostly exact science in the century-and-some it had been in use, but complications still came up.” (Page 23).

This is every school kid’s fantasy. What if you didn’t have to read and study for years on end, what if you could just download all that information? I bet most kids have salivated over this kind of technology at some point in their lengthy education. Cook fleshes out what it would really be like to be able to download a college’s worth of information in an instant and be able to hop right into the middle of a career. Of course, it’s not without its limitations. To be a ballerina one must have the years of physical training and ideal body type. To be a member of the Secret Police requires similar physical training and a great cover identity. “A chip might give an ambitious buyer perfect knowledge of human anatomy and perfect reactions to deal with every mishap that might arise. If, however, the recipient didn’t already have perfectly steady hands and a curiosity regarding the connections of muscles, nerves and organs, the chances of a surgeon’s chip malfunctioning went up exponentially.” (Page 23).

One of my favorite parts about Mina Cortez: Bouquets to Bullets was the world Jeffrey Cook built and his fascinating tidbits of futuristic technology. The way people communicated was different. The way people traveled was different. Every so often Cook would throw in something specific that was different more than a hundred years in the future.

I loved all the main characters. They each had a unique trait that the reader could hold onto as an identifier. Miko has a lead foot and a penchant for aikido. Scott is addicted to video games and is a picky eater (allergies). Mina never seems to be able to stick to her Inquisitor instructions and she’s constantly getting into and out of a sticky situation. She also can identify both her assailants and her friends through scent alone. How cool is that?

If you want action, you’ll get it with Mina Cortez. If you want a strong, kick-butt female main character and a chirpy optimist sidekick, Bouquets to Bullets is your book.

This novel was published by Fire and Ice January 29th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jeffrey Cook on FreeValley Publishing

Jeffrey Cook’s Facebook

Book Review: Intrigue in the House of Wong by Amy S. Kwei

by in Author Tuesdays, Book Review and tagged , , ,

Intrigue in the House of Wong by Amy S. Kwei

A Early Reader/Teen/YA Novel published by Tats Publishing (06/01/2008)

 

Summary:

 Wendy Wong and her close-knit Chinese family move from familiar Chinatown to the Upper East Side so that she can attend a posh private school through partial scholarship. The Wongs go into debt purchasing the restaurant under their apartment. A stop work order on the renovation and sketchy thugs hanging out in the alley threaten to shut down the business, but the Wongs, along with their newfound friends and allies, will stop at nothing to save the House of Fortune. Their plans almost fall apart when one of their friends’ lives is threatened and Wendy is torn between obediently following her family and doing what she thinks is best.

 

Keywords:

 Chinese-American, Chinatown, culture, understanding, being uprooted, teen issues

 

My Review:

Wendy is not a complex character, she is just going through that period of time when she is confused about who she is and how she relates tot the world. Her Chinese culture butts heads with her new American attitude and she is forced to choose between the two in some circumstances. “Wendy never dreamed of doing anything shocking or scandalous.” (Location 90).

This book highlights the lives and feelings of Chinese living in present day America, their trials and tribulations and the way they are perceived by others. “…the Chinese were unwelcome guests, and the American Chinese would be foolish to act as if they were equal citizens.” (Location 575). Wendy herself feels like she is straddling two worlds and ultimately she feels alienated from both.

This book starts out slow, but soon progresses into a thought-provoking stance on cultural integration and how some people are not willing to change, not ready to change, or can’t change to fit in. Wendy learns that it is hard to be in a new place with new people who don’t know or understand where she is coming from. Not everyone is born equal, therefore there cannot truly be equality in this world, but you can try to treat everyone equally. Wendy comments that “Yeah, when you’re not on your guard, everyone seems to slip into group think.” (Locations 1572-1573) and that “In times of mass hysteria, people can forget to be human.” (Locations 1413-1414).

Kwei gives the teens slang that seems out of place, just like how Wendy and her friend Debbie sometimes feel out of place. The two teens want to fit in, but even their speech is not normal. The style of narration in the book is even subject to the semi-halting lilt of a young teenager’s emerging style and of one experiencing sudden change.

This is a book for teens and so the villains are softer and more subdued than the average bad guy you read about. These villains reveal their plans directly to the kids and act in stereotypical villanous fashion straight out of a Disney movie.

 

This novel was published by Tats Publishing 06/01/2008 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 3.50

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Tats Publishing

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