One Amazing Thing~By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

One Amazing Thing opens with Uma Sinha considering whether her boyfriend really loves her. She is in the basement of the Indian Consulate attempting to get a visa to visit her parents. A woman in a blue sari makes Uma very uncomfortable but she can’t figure out why. Uma feels a need for sun and tries to call her boyfriend, Ramon, but she is suddenly thrown to the ground when the floor buckles. She tries to think of something to say to Ramon’s voicemail because she feels that she is going to die. We then meet Cameron, an asthmatic ex-soldier who helped after a disastrous earthquake. When a young child tries to open a door, Cameron hits him. His justification is that the door may be holding up debris. The survivors didn’t need the building collapsing any more. Malathi, the woman in the blue sari, reflects on things she could have done in her life. She also thinks back on the kiss with Mr. Mangalam, a married coworker. Malathi believes that the earthquake is karma getting her back for the kiss. The story then touches on Mr. Mangalam and then flows back to Uma. When they realize there is no way out, Uma suggests that each person tells of seeing “One Amazing Thing” This is to keep their mind off of their possible death.

I received this book right after Haiti’s massive earthquake. Then just as I got around to picking it up, Chile had its earthquake. Honestly, I was a little tired of all the earthquake talk. But once a person picks up their book, they will find it enjoyable. And for those of you worried, it does seem to have a happy ending. But that is really up to the readers own interpretation of the final pages.

Diary Of A Witness ~ By Catherine Ryan Hyde

Diary Of A Witness opens with the main character (Ernie) telling about how his friend Will stood up for him after gym class against the school jocks. Both boys are outcasts, but have formed a friendship based on that fact. Will tells Ernie he has two choices: live with gym or tell the counselor he is gay. He chooses to lie to the counselor. But his plan backfires when he must use the gym during lunch or after school. His gym teacher, who sees right through his lie, makes Ernie a deal: he is allowed to shower in Mr. Bayliss’s office but he must weigh himself. Ernie is about 100 pounds over weight. Ernie’s bullying never stops. At lunch one of the jocks hit him in the head with their tray. Will’s father lets Will, Ernie and Sam (Will’s little brother) take his boat out fishing. Will hooks a 30 inch fish and won’t let it go. Will’s stubbornness ends up sinking his father’s boat and killing his younger brother. After Sam’s death, Will becomes incredibly angry and threatens to end Ernie’s suffering forever.

This book is a new look at school shootings. It’s a reminder that anyone can snap at anytime for any reason. Ernie learns some hard lessons about choosing everyone’s safety over a friend’s freedom. Even though this isn’t something I normally read, I enjoyed it. Actually I think it should be read in schools as a reminder of Columbine and other school shootings.

Powers~ By John B. Olson

Powers opens with Mariutza walking in the forest near her home. Her teacher, Miss Caralee, yells at her for being out so late without her grandfather’s consent. As Mari is leaving Caralee’s shack, the whole forest begins to “ring with silence.” Caralee freaks out because the Badness is out in the woods. Mari escapes Caralee’s grasp and sees her grandfather’s diddlecar (gypsy wagon) and realizes the Badness has reached there too. When she can’t find Purodad anywhere, she realizes that he is out fighting the Badness. Unfortunately he does not survive and has some strange requests of his granddaughter. This is where we leave Mari’s story and read about Jazz, who we meet while he is playing piano at a bar. Jazz hears Mariutza’s name in his head, but he doesn’t know what it means. Jazz blacks out during one of his songs. When Jazz refuses medical tests, the owner of the bar gives him a choice: go to the hospital to find the cause of the “seizure” or play elsewhere. Jazz, knowing a trip to the ER would be pointless, chooses the latter. The story then flows back to Mari, who is deep in sorrow over her grandfather’s death. While burying him, the Badness comes back and so Mari is forced to hide in her grandfather’s grave. This is where Mari is left so we can reunite with Jazz. On the street, Jazz runs into the young woman who made her way toward him before he blacked out at the bar. The young woman (Hollis) and her friend Madison invite him to their hotel. Jazz blacks out again and we leave him as he discovers he is bloody and he blacks out again. Daniel Groves is an FBI member whose assignment is to rid the area of gypsies. And his first target is Mari. As the pace of the story picks up, so do the changes of the characters. Mari is looking through her ransacked home and finds her grandfather’s bible is missing. We leave her burning the gypsy wagon, (the only home she has ever known). Jazz has just woken up and realized that he is halfway across New Orleans. He goes home to find that his apartment has been ransacked. But the thieves never left and he was surrounded by hooded men. When the helicopters come back, Mari knows that she is in trouble, so she runs to the street and hitches a ride on top of a car heading into New Orleans. Jazz’s story picks up from here again. He escapes from the “shadow men” and heads up to the Ritz Carlton where Hollis and Madison have his guitar in their hotel room. Jazz is sorting through his mail with Hollis and takes an envelope out of his pocket and discovered it was his grandfather’s will. One problem: he was told his grandfather died when he was a child. Mari’s driver asked if she needs a ride somewhere. When they arrive at his apartment he kisses her. When Mari doesn’t kiss back, Jack feels used. Jazz wakes up screaming and Hollis makes him a deal. She will pay for his clothes and bus tickets to get out of town if she can be in on the action. Daniel Groves continues his search for Mariutza. Hollis convinces Jazz to go to the police department. When they arrive he has another vision and runs away hoping the cops won’t come after him. We leave him cutting up his clothes to hide the blood. Sheltered Mari is running through the city and discovers children. She gives one little boy her necklace but quickly runs away when the Badness gets near. She is digging through trash when the cops come asking for picture ID. Jazz and Mari finally meet around page 100. This is as far as I will take the summary.

When I received this book for review, the paper that came with it said this book was a sequel to Shade. I was hesitant to pick it up for this reason only. Without reading the first book a person can still enjoy Powers. I’m glad I picked it up so quickly after receiving it because I enjoyed really it. I hope that John B. Olson will continue this series because Powers has a very open ending. I will definitely be looking forward to reading other books by him.

The Legend of The Golden Monkey~ By Renee Hand

The Legend Of The Golden Monkey picks right up where The Case of Red Rock Canyon leaves off. Max, Mia and Granny are on a plane from Las Vegas to Mexico. When the plane lands on a private air strip, the Crypto-Capers are met by a man named Pablo. He is eager to help the family because Maggie Devereaux is his cousin. Once at the hotel, Pablo and the Crypto- Capers work on the first cryptogram. Pablo takes the detectives out to Chichen Itza to investigate the pyramids. While in the park, a man seems to be following the family and their guide. During dinner, Pablo and Walter (Pablo’s pilot and archeologist friend) tells the Crypto-Capers about the local legends. Granny takes Walter and Pablo back to Chichen Itza while Max and Mia explore the hotel gift shop with Spencer. The Crypto-Capers us a boy named Emmanuel who works in the gift shop to help them find the missing Mayan tablets.

This book is great because you find out a little bit more about Max and Mia’s grandfather. It’s nice to see Granny’s sensitive side toward her late husband. The Legend of the Golden Monkey has the biggest cliff hanger ending of the series so far. I can’t wait until the next book is published. The next book the Crypto-Capers are going to Italy.

***But be prepared for a bigger challenge with the cryptograms in this book! They get progressively harder! :)***

The Case Of Red Rock Canyon~Renee Hand

This is a continuation of a series that began with The Case Of The Missing Sock. The client this time is Julian Cross, who is a producer for a show which is coming to the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas. Mr. Cross needs the Crypto-Capers help to find a missing Cartier orchid necklace. After the dinner meeting with Mr. Cross, Max, Mia and Granny connect with Morris via webcam. Mia is kidnapped from the Mandalay Bay while the family is investigating. Morris tracks Mia and her kidnappers as they speed away from the Mandalay Bay. While Max and Granny are eating they overhear a disturbing conversation Lucille Devereaux (Mr. Cross’s girlfriend) and Pierson Long (Mr. Cross’s biggest competitor) Pierson then tells Max that Lucille is dating him. Which contradicts what Lucille told him earlier in the day. “Lucille” at the restaurant was really Julie Devereaux. Lucille’s twin sister. The cast leads the Crypto-Capers to the Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon. That is as much as I can write safely without giving too much away.

The Case of Red Rock Canyon is a great continuation. I just love how interactive this series is. It’s fun to solve the puzzles with Max and Mia. This book ends in quite a cliff hanger, which means a lot of waiting until you can get your hands on the next book in the series. This is a must read for anyone who loves puzzles and mysteries.

Rachel And Aleks~By Sylvia Smoller

Rachel and her friend, Helena, are walking in the woods talking about boys in the beginning of this book. Helena tells Rachel that her friend Jakob is coming for a visit. Helena insists that Rachel must join then during the small get together. She goes, but everyone is talking about politics so Rachel stays silent. This intrigues Jakob. He walks her home every night until he must leave. Jakob promises to stay in touch through letters. In one of these letters, he asks for her hand in marriage. She declines by saying it should be Helena who is “at his side.” Jakob simply replies “You have deceived me.” They never communicate after that. Rachel suddenly finds herself falling for her tutor, but after he goes to Warsaw, she never hears from him again either. Rachel moves to Czestochowa to attend commercial school. She finally meets the famous Aleks Mischler, that Helena and her friends always talked about, at one of his lectures. Rachel and Aleks continue to run into each other in public. The two begin dating a few months later and Aleks’s sisters do not approve. After months of dating, Aleks asks Rachel to marry him. She says yes. After many months, the long awaited wedding day has arrived. Two of Aleks’s sisters had finally accepted her. The happy couple moves to Warsaw. Years later Rachel becomes pregnant and continues to work. Aleks’s sisters call her an embarrassment to the family. When their daughter, Rilka, is born, Rachel gets along with everyone including Aleks’s sister. When Aleks is accused of treason, the young family has yet another difficult time to go through. Rachel plans to visit her aunt, but has a hard time leaving Rilka. While in England, Rachel meets the man (Roman) who will soon become her lover. Rachel, who realizes taking a lover is a bad decision, goes home Aleks and Rilka. Rachel confides in Sophie (her sister) about her affair with Roman. When the Germans attack Poland, Aleks demands a car to escape. The family travels to Lithuania, Russia and Japan before departing for Seattle. From there, they settle in New York City. When Roman appears in New York, he threatens Rachel’s job. Roman puts Rachel in the difficult position of choosing between Aleks and himself.

This is a great coming of age story. I really enjoyed seeing Rachel mature before my eyes. Rachel and Aleks are such a lovable couple. If you are interested in the Holocaust (and enjoy romance novels), then this is a must read!

The Case of The Missing Sock~By Renee Hand

The Case Of The Missing Sock opens with the main character, Max, doubting his choice of direction. Max finds a trap and uses a boomerang to retrieve a piece of paper. On that paper is a note telling Max that he has passed his detective test and needs to pick up his updated certificate. Max Holmes is one of Scotland Yard’s youngest spies, at 14. Max’s parents and his sister, Mia, also work for Scotland Yard. Mr. Delacomb, owner of Delacomb Cereal Company, comes to Mia and Max’s home asking for help to find an antique sock and a pair of Prada sunglasses. He is reluctant to hire the “Crypto-Capers” because they are kids, but they are also his only chance. Mr. Delacomb comes to them with a single cryptogram. Max, Mia and Granny fly to Florida to search for clues. Morris (the fourth member of the Crypto-Capers) stays home to help from a distance. When the Crypto-Capers arrive in Florida, they relax at their hotel before heading over to Mr. Delacomb’s mansion. He recounts the night that he realized that the sock and the sunglasses were stolen. Max finds the key to the cryptogram in a box, in the same curio cabinet that the sock and the sunglasses were hidden. The clues lead the detectives to a local golf course. That’s as much of a teaser that I will write because I don’t want to give away the end.

I love this book because it proves that kids can solve mysteries too. There are not nearly enough mysteries where children are the heros. I hope more authors follow in Renee Hand’s footsteps. I also hope she continues to write this series. It will be great to see how the series develops.

***And the interactive cryptograms are great***

Becoming Alice~By Alice Rene

From her window, Ilse sees the Nazi soldiers parading through her street. Ilse realizes that the Jewish are not wanted in Austria, when she and the family maid go shopping. When their band account is frozen, Ilse’s father decides they must sell some of their possessions. Her father then escapes from Austria by saying he will go gather goose feathers. Her father gets visa’s for Ilse, her mother and brother. Unfortunately the Nazi’s have shut the border and the family has to reroute their trip. When they finally arrive in Lithuania, Ilse is reunited with her father. Herr Lehmann smuggles the family over the border to Latvia. Fredi, Ilse’s brother can get a visa to America is he goes to boarding school. Their parents make him go. Ilse’s father has been trying to get visas for the rest of the family with no success. Finally the family is granted the visas. They have to travel through Kobe, Japan. Once they arrive in Kobe, they board a ship that will take the refugees to their new home in America. Ilse’s family settles in Portland, Oregon. An organization that helps the Jewish find jobs, offers to buy a grocery store for the family to run. After much consideration, Ilse’s parents agree. Later they enroll Ilse in school, which causes her much distress because she speaks no English. After living in the United States for the required five years, the family applied for citizenship. Ilse changes her name to Alice because it sounds more “American.” She hopes changing her name to Alice will make her upcoming high school years easier than her grade school. After graduating from high school, life begins to be more comfortable for her.

Many people know something about the Jewish Holocaust, but you hardly ever hear about a family who escapes by moving to the United States. It was refreshing to read a story about a Jewish family that had a relatively happy ending.

First Night~By Tom Weston

Thomas and Hannah Pemberton know their daughter, Sarah, will never recover from the small pox virus. Captain John Ayres stops by and gives Sarah an ivory Inuit bracelet. After Sarah puts the bracelet on, she closes her eyes and passes away peacefully. Thomas and Hannah bury Sarah two days later. A few hundred years later Alexandra (Alex) and her sister, Jacqueline (Jackie), O’Rourke are spending New Years with their Aunt Anne and Uncle Jim in Boston. Both Anne and Jim have to work on New Years Eve, so they turn let Alex and Jackie loose in the city. The girls eat breakfast while they plan their day. Sarah Pemberton wakes up and attends the Court of Spirits—where her own parents accuse her of being a witch. She is released from court because she has no lawyer. Sarah is then thrust into present day Boston and can not find her way home. Back at the café, Alex and Jackie are still trying to decide what to do with their day. Jackie spots a girl dressed in 1600’s clothing, but the sisters don’t thing it’s unusual because of all the historical sites in Boston. Alex and Jacking leave the café and start walking down the street. Suddenly a girl comes running in the opposite direction. Alex knows the girl will run into her and braces for the impact. But the collision never happens. Alex and Jackie sit down with Sarah and explain everything that has happened since her death. Sarah, in turn tells the girls of her life in the 1680’s. As the girls walk through the city, Sarah slowly begins to realize that nothing is left of “her” Boston. Sarah tells Alex and Jackie that she is being accused of being a witch. Jackie makes a joke of it and suddenly she and Sarah are enveloped in blue smoke. After the smoke dissipates, Jackie and Sarah are gone. The two girls are transported back to the Court of Spirits, where Jackie must act as Sarah’s lawyer. After court is released, the girls find Alex exactly where they left her. The three head to the library to research the accusations against Sarah. Alex and Jackie take Sarah to dinner to meet their Aunt and Uncle. After eating dinner, they have to ditch their Aunt and Uncle by saying they are helping with the festivities. Jacking and Sarah are pulled back to the Court of Spirits. Alex is left to do more research for her sister. That’s all I can tell without giving away the ending.

First Night is such a great story and everyone should read it. It’s a strong book about sisterhood and the power of friendship. Unfortunately most people wouldn’t run across it easily! I would recommend this book to everyone because I enjoyed it that much!

The second book in the Alex and Jackie series comes out this year (2009) sometime. I know the publishing date is too far away for me.

Interview with Storyheart

Storyheart is the author of Across the Pond and he is here to dicuss some points of his book with my readers.

1. I read the about the author information. Is ACROSS THE POND based on your life?

They say write about what you know, and moving to the US from England myself I certainly know all about the pitfalls and issues of moving “Across the Pond”. While the story is not based on me there is much within the book and the main character Fred. Some of the happenings like the shock of seeing people turning right at red lights, the happenings at the BBQ, even the Boston Mall I can relate to. I still run into issues with the language ten years down the line. Using English sayings like “they didn’t say a dickybird” (it means they did not say anything) which is a common saying in England just gets empty looks at meetings in the US.

2. How did you come up with the idea for your story?

Up until this novel I was better known as a writer of short romance stories, many of which were previously released in a terribly badly edited book “Stories From The Heart” These are short like 5/10min reads. Some people call them bathroom stories as that might be the only place you’ll get 5/10minutes break to read them. You can find these stories at http://romance2read.com/

Anyway I decided to try and write a longer story, originally aimed at 12/13 year olds, but as the romance came in it went up to around 15 year olds.

So that is how it all started.


3. Will you be writing a book about when Brittany visits Fred and his family?

Many people who have read the book have realized that there are two if not three possible follow up books from this first novel. I have started writing the second novel, which is called “Across the Pond and Back Again”. It carries on from where the first book ends and includes Brits trip to England with a couple of other characters from the first book turning up.


You can see my fun “silent movie” video for the book at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2hn1q0DZ34

Please Note: No book was harmed during the making of this movie. During the water scene a "stunt book" was used

Across the Pond~By Storyheart

Across The Pond opens with Fred, the main character, flying to New York. Fred is spending time with his parent’s friends, because his parents won a trip for two to Australia. On the first full day of Fred’s trip, Brittany, the daughter who is Fred’s age, takes him to the mall to meet her friends: Charlie, Pam, Angel. Angel immediately starts to flirt with Fred, and Brit becomes quite jealous. As Fred and Brit leave the mall, to meet her mom, they run into three boys. The boys begin to mock Brit, by calling her “Pretty Brittany” and just being jerks. One the way home, Julie, Brit’s mom, helps Fred on his school project. He must list British-ism that have different meanings in America. When they arrive home, Brit confides why she doesn’t like the boys. Brit and Fred quickly develop feelings for each other. Julie notices the feelings between the two and she tells Fred not to hurt her daughter. When an email from “your lover” comes into Brit’s mailbox, Fred begins to doubt everything that has happened between himself and Brit. Phil gets tickets to a baseball game, so the family can show Fred “America’s Pastime.” At the game, Fred catches the 500^th homerun ball of one of the Atlanta Braves players. Later that ball helps Fred give Brit a gift that is better than money can buy. Parting is such a sweet sorrow for them both because they know come December; they will be seeing each other again.

I hope that Storyheart will write a book about Brittany’s going to spend time with Fred and his family. I think it would be interesting to see how she reacts to driving on the “wrong” side of the road. I would like to read about where Fred’s family takes her.

This was such a sweet read. I couldn’t put it down. I love how there was the difference in languages that at times made both kids wish they could have put their foot in their mouth. If you are looking for a light, clean romance, then I would definitely recommend this book. All around a great read. And I don’t think that you have to be a teen to enjoy this love story. It will appeal to the young at heart.