Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen

http://www.acgaughen.com/scarlet/

Scarlet has escaped her past in London, but it continues to haunt her.  Her scar is a constant reminder of what she left behind.  As tensions with the Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisbourne increase, the villagers are finding it more and more difficult just to survive.  In disguise as Will Scarlet, she helps Robin Hood steal from the rich to give to the poor.

I am a sucker for a good Robin Hood tale.  Always have been.  From the singing rooster in the Disney cartoon, to Kevin Costner and his thieves...I love them all.  Even wrote my Gr. 13 English ISU on Robin Hood as a hero.

So, when I saw that Scarlet was one of the Teens' Top Ten nominees, I was pretty excited.  Also a little skeptical - how could you retell the story of Robin Hood yet again?

Quite well, as it turns out!!  In fact, I'd give it 5/5 on the Rez Recommends list.  There's action, adventure, plot twists...enough to keep readers of either gender engaged.

Divergent ~ by Veronica Roth

If you liked The Hunger Games, and have worked your way through the series and are looking for something new, pick up Divergent by Veronica Roth. I blazed through all 45o pages in just 2 days...it's that good.

In this new dystopian thriller, at the age of 16, all citizens choose which faction they want to join. Each faction is distinguished by a particular characteristic or virtue that defines how they think people should live: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peacefulness), and Erudite (intelligence). Beatrice is torn between her family's faction, Abnegation, and her sense that she belongs somewhere else. And then, as she goes through the tests prior to making her choice, she discovers something shocking, and potentially dangerous that will alter her life forever.

Divergent is suspenseful, brutal, exciting...and has many of the characteristics that made The Hunger Games such a popular series. Don't miss this one!

Mockingjay ~ by Suzanne Collins

Dark...brutal...violent......

AWESOME!

The third installment in the Hunger Games trilogy is not for the faint of heart. But, if you're willing to dive into some pretty heavy, dark stuff, you won't be disappointed...other than in the fact that the series is done!

I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that this triliogy now tops my list of favourites...and the fact that all TEN copies of The Hunger Games are signed out right now is not at all suprising to me. And, if you haven't yet added your name to our hold list for Mockingjay, you'd better hurry...the list is getting longer by the minute.

Heist Society ~ Ally Carter

What a fun book - I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one! If I were a movie producer, I'd snap up the rights to Heist Society immediately (what a cool job THAT would be!).

I was hooked from the beginning...where the author, Ally Carter, gives you just enough descriptive clues that you know Katarina Bishop (Kat) is no ordinary student: she's always scoping out the situation ("Kat was used to looking at a room and seeing all the angles"); you glimpse inklings of her past ("Every nerve in her body seemed to stand on end as she realized that somehow, in the last three months, she had become someone who wore squeaky shoes").

Kat's father has been framed for the theft of some extremely valuable art...and unless she can prove her father's innocence - or recover the art - some very dangerous men are going to be very unhappy.

This Teens' Top Ten nominee gets high marks in my book. Heist Society reads like a wonderful crime caper - not unlike the Oceans 11 movie. It has lots of action and suspense, but also doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a quick read, perfect for the end of summer or a weekend...and I'm going to keep my eyes open to see if it gets made into its own movie - I've already mentally started casting it. Once you've read it, let me know who you think should be part of Kat's crew!

The Hunger Games ~ Suzanne Collins

Hooray for Rez Reads...those 20 minutes over the last few days got me hooked on this AMAZING book by Suzanne Collins... The Hunger Games.

You know that feeling you get when watching a really suspenseful TV episode or movie (occasionally, when I'm watching them on DVD, I hit pause so I can catch my breath!)...I had that same feeling with this book. Within a chapter or two I was completely hooked (and stayed up WAY too late reading). The characters are great, it's completely action-packed but very smart/thought-provoking at the same time.

Imagine this...every year, 2 young people from a District (think city/region) are "nominated" (i.e. forced) to "play" in the Hunger Games - basically a wilderness survival/fight to the death...and if you live, you win! And, the whole thing is televised....it would be like watching Surivor, only instead of voting people off the island, the survivors would be killing each other. BRUTAL.

Somehow, in the midst of this thrill-ride, the author manages to develop real characters that you're rooting for - and even throws in a bit of romance.

My only complaint...it continues in a second book, THAT HASN'T BEEN PUBLISHED YET! It comes out on September 1st...and I promise to have it here in the library for the first day of school! I'm going to fill out my Rez Recommends form...and it's getting a 5 out of 5, for sure!

City of Bones ~ Cassandra Clare

I just finished reading my first summer reading book, from our "Books with Bite" list. "City of Bones" is the first installment in the series "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare...and let me tell you, I can't wait to read the next one!

Here's part of the description from the inside cover of the book:
"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly epxects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon..."

It had the perfect mix of action, magic/fantasy - but set in the real world of current-day New York City - and just a dash of romance. It is a whopping 485 pages, but worth every page.

If I were to list other "readalikes" - books that if you liked one, you'll probably like the other - I would put it alongside:

• Twilight series - Stephanie Meyer
• Blue Girl - Charles de Lint
• Tithe, Valiant, Ironside - Holly Black
• Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling

It fits perfectly on the "Magic in the Real World" list, that I posted earlier. And don't worry, we'll definitely be adding this series to the Library @ Rez!

I've already filled out my Rez Recommends book review (and will add it to the Rez Recommends binder that you can check out when you come back to school) and have put "City of Ashes" (book #2 in the series) on hold at the public library. Now onto another from YALSA's Top 10 nominations (Books with Bite) list...stay tuned for a post to see what I read next...

Bond...James Bond

Can't get enough of 007? Here are some great action/espionage novels that you can "spy" on the shelves at Rez...

• Catch Me If You Can ~ Frank Abignail (364.1633 ABA-C)
  The true story that inspired the film of the same name, starring Leonardo di Caprio. Frank Abagnale, one of the most notorious con men in history, swindled over $2.5 million in fake cheques in 26 countries.
  
• Goldfinger ~ Ian Fleming (FIC FLE)
  An original James Bond novel, that inspired the movie of the same name. James Bond tangles with Auric Goldfinger, a man obsessed with money and ruthless in his methods of obtaining it.
  
• I Would Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You ~ Ally Carter (FIC CAR)
  As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.
  
• Patriot Games ~ Tom Clancy (FIC CLA)
  While vacationing in London, CIA analyst Jack Ryan saves the Prince and Princess of Wales from a terrorist attack and gains the gratitude of a nation and the enmity of its most dangerous men. This novel was made into a movie starring Harrison Ford.
  
• Stormbreaker ~ Anthony Horowitz (FIC HOR)
  The first in the Alex Rider series. After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.
  
• Thieves Like Us ~ Stephen Cole (FIC COL)
  A mysterious benefactor hand-picks a group of teen geniuses to follow a set of clues leading to the secrets of everlasting life, secrets which they must steal and for which they risk being killed.
  
• Finding Lubchenko ~ Michael Simmons (FIC SIM)
  When his father is framed for murder and bioterrorism, high-school junior Evan, using clues from a stolen laptop, travels from Seattle to Paris with two friends to find the real culprit.