Thursday, November 24, 2016

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

I never thought a 10 year old girl could be so terrifying until I read My Sister Rosa.  This book made me utter many a four letter word under my breath (okay, probably not that quietly) over the course of the last 30 pages or so.  What an ending! 

There is so much suspense built up during the course of the book because you see this beautiful little girl who so desperately wants to appear normal.  But we know that she is not normal and as a reader, we wait for the moment when it all goes wrong.  Sure, there are little things that Rosa does and says throughout the novel that make us see her for what she really is, but we continue to turn the page because we just know something bigger is coming. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  If you are looking for something suspenseful and frightening, give it a try.  You won't be disappointed!

From Amazon:

"Beats The Silence of the Lambs for suspense—it's the kind of book that had me literally gasping aloud as it rattled to its incredible conclusion."
—Cory Doctorow, New York Times bestselling author of Homeland

What if the most terrifying person you know is your ten-year-old sister?

Seventeen-year-old Aussie Che Taylor loves his younger sister, Rosa. But he’s also certain that she’s a psychopath—clinically, threateningly, dangerously. Recently Rosa has been making trouble, hurting things. Che is the only one who knows; he’s the only one his sister trusts. Rosa is smart, talented, pretty, and very good at hiding what she is and the manipulation she’s capable of.

Their parents, whose business takes the family from place to place, brush off the warning signs as Rosa’s “acting out.” Now that they have moved again—from Bangkok to New York City—their new hometown provides far too many opportunities for Rosa to play her increasingly complex and disturbing games. Che’s always been Rosa’s rock, protecting her from the world. Now, the world might need protection from her.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Light Fantastic by Sarah Combs








I finished this novel on the plane back from Atlanta.  The Light Fantastic was a wonderful novel about the pain that some kids are hiding below the surface, and the extremes they may go to to get rid of that pain.  Told through the neatly interwoven stories of several different characters, it also becomes a tale of redemption as our characters #findthehelpers that guide them through the pain, through the isolation, and into the light fantastic.  When it all comes down to it, I think our character Lincoln says it best:


From Amazon:

Seven tightly interwoven narratives. Three harrowing hours. One fateful day that changes everything.

Delaware, the morning of April 19. Senior Skip Day, and April Donovan’s eighteenth birthday. Four days after the Boston Marathon bombing, the country is still reeling, and April’s rare memory condition has her recounting all the tragedies that have cursed her birth month. And just what was that mysterious gathering under the bleachers about? Meanwhile, in Nebraska, Lincoln Evans struggles to pay attention in Honors English, distracted by the enigmatic presence of Laura Echols, capturer of his heart. His teacher tries to hold her class’s interest, but she can’t keep her mind off what Adrian George told her earlier. Over in Idaho, Phoebe is having second thoughts about the Plan mere hours before the start of a cross-country ploy led by an Internet savant known as the Mastermind. Is all her heartache worth the cost of the Assassins’ machinations? The Light Fantastic is a tense, shocking, and beautifully wrought exploration of the pain and pathos of a generation of teenagers on the brink—and the hope of moving from shame and isolation into the light of redemption.