Patrick Carman. THE DARK HILLS DIVIDE

What an intriguing book! A student recommended that I buy this series, and boy, am I glad I did. I could tell it would be one of those books that’s hard to move without reading it yourself. It’s not one you can sum up in a short catchy sentence to get kids to check it out. So, I took it home.

First off, you see a map of the Land of Elyon right at the beginning, which I completely adore in a fantasy book. I bookmark it & refer back to it continually. Maybe I’m just a visual person, but I love maps and they help in made-up worlds.

Anyway, Alexa Daley is the daughter of the mayor of the town of Lathbury. The book begins with her going to another town where she spends many weeks each summer. Her father meets the other mayors and spends his time busy with work. So Alexa is free to roam around almost completely on her own. She spends a lot of time reading in the library, but mostly she likes to explore.

Her town and several towns around her are surrounded by huge brick walls. They were built to keep creatures out, but Alexa feels trapped. This summer, she has made it her number one goal to find a way through the wall to the unknown. She knows there must be adventure out there waiting for her.
What an amazing world the author has created. I can’t even tell you much of it without revealing a lot of spoilers. I wouldn’t ruin it for you, because I had such a wonderful time discovering this little gem myself.
This is a trilogy and I’m already into the second book!

Plus, I just read that Patrick Carman just wrote one of the 39 Clues books. I’m going to have to read more by him. Here is his website. Here is an awesome page with all of the books in this series! There are some great videos.
Check it out! I highly recommend it!

HEX HALL~ Rachel Hawkins Interview & T-Shirt Giveaway!!

Yay!! I was granted an interview with Rachel Hawkins, debut author of HEX HALL. (the awesome book I reviewed yesterday!)
After the interview, stick around to read how you can win a HEX HALL t-shirt!
Here goes:
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few of my burning questions about HEX HALL. 
After reading some of your blog, I get the idea that this book was originally called Demonglass. What made you change the title?

As cool as I thought the word "demonglass" is (and let's face it- that is an AWESOME WORD!), my editor and I both felt like it was a little too dark for a book that contains so much of The Silly!

What was the original idea that inspired Hex Hall?

There really wasn't one idea. It was more a combination of things. I was teaching high school, so I knew I wanted to write about teenagers. I also had a lifelong love for Southern Gothic, as well as boarding school stories. Once all three of those things started brewing in my brain, Hex Hall was born!

I read somewhere that the word Prodigium was a sign about the future that came from the gods. (former English teacher here too.) What is your process for coming up with such great names with significant meanings? (Hecate=also cool)

In the first draft, I just called all the magical creatures in the book "monsters." But this really bugged my husband, so he said I should find a better word! Like all students of English literature, I knew that when in doubt, go Latin. ;-) So I looked up the Latin word for monster, and lo and behold, it was prodigy! (Which is kind of scary when you think about it!) As for Hecate, she was the Greek goddess not only of witchcraft, but also of the crossroads. I couldn't ask for a better symbol!

This will be a series, right? (fingers crossed) I've grown really attached to Sophie, Jenna and even Archer (I’m wishful that he’ll be redeemed somehow in the next book).

It is! Hex Hall is the first of 3 books about Sophie and all her magical adventures! And don't worry, we're not done with Archer just yet!

Yay for that~ (Glad to hear about Archer too).
What are some of the biggest changes in your life now that you’re a full-time writer?

The biggest change is that I no longer have to wear pants to work, haha! And then of course there are things like self-employment taxes and paying for health care. But I also get to play with people who live inside my head, and that sure beats grading essays!

Great answer! Who are some of your favorite authors?

In YA, I LOVE Kristin Cashore, Suzanne Collins, Cassandra Clare, and Sarah Dessen. As for adult writers, I'm a big fan of George R.R. Martin, Jacqueline Carey, Thomas Hardy, Philippa Gregory, and Lev Grossman.

And finally, a totally random, but important question: Do you watch Supernatural, because a few phrases in Hex Hall reminded me of the show? (It’s my total favorite, by the way.)


I do watch it! My husband and I wait for it to come out on DVD so we can watch the season’s marathon sessions!

Thanks so much! I wish many more successful books for you!


To read more about Rachel Hawkins, check out her blog here.

Now for the HEX HALL T-Shirts!!Since you've read my review & realize what an awesome book HEX HALL is, you ALL want one of these beyond cool shirts, right!?
This your lucky day! I'll be giving one away. All you have to do is answer this one question in the comments section. Then, I'll pick one lucky person with my random number generator. OR YOU CAN EMAIL ME - view my profile to get my email address.

 Ready...Set...Here it is:
If you could be a one type of Prodigum for a few days just to check it out & play around, which would you pick? Faerie, Witch (or Warlock if you're male), Shapeshifter or Vampire. And tell us why you would pick that particular one to try on, please. Okay...go!
I will pick a winner by Wednesday, March 10th.(EXTENDED THE DATE due to comment posting issues) GOOD LUCK!

  

Rachel Hawkins. HEX HALL

I love this stellar debut by Rachel Hawkins! It’s so full of awesomeness! It has witches, faeries, shapeshifters and vampires all in one book. Actually, they're all under one roof going to school together. Well, that isn’t entirely correct – it’s more like reform school, but still. Let me back up and start from the beginning

Sophie Mercer found out she was a witch when she came into her powers around twelve years old. Her mom, who is not a witch, told her as much as she could about her powers. Sophie has tried to keep her powers under wraps since then. She has used them from time to time to help people, but usually that’s when a human discovers her, freaks out, and they have to leave town. The most recent spell attracted too much attention from the powers that be, so now she is being sentenced to Hecate Hall – a reform school for wayward Prodigium (witches, faeries, shapeshifters, etc.).

Sophie is somewhat relived to be able to finally make friends and feel at home around others like herself. But when her roommate turns out to be the outcast vampire that everyone hates, her popularity doesn’t exactly soar. The three popular supermodel-looking witches view her with disdain. To top it off, she makes a fool of herself in front of the super hot warlock that she has developed a major crush on.
Then darkness envelops the school. A witch had been murdered several months before Sophie’s arrival. Everyone assumed it was a one time event. But after another girl is attacked in the same manner, people are spooked. They all assume it’s Sophie’s roommate, the vampire. But Sophie gets the feeling it is something way worse that has made its way inside the school.

The author called this a cross between Harry Potter and Mean Girls. That’s a nice succinct description. But it is so much more! I love the mythology and lore behind these different creatures. I love that they all live together in this school (although with some discrimination among the different species, which is to be expected). I love how Sophie learns of her intriguing ancestry. Really, I could go on and on. The writing flows beautifully. The characters are so much fun! I couldn’t put it down!

To find out more about this intriguing new author go here for her website and here for her blog.
Highly Recommended!! I look forward to more from Rachel Hawkins!
*******T-Shirt GIVEAWAY!! COMING TOMORROW!!!******

Lisa Yee. MILLICENT MIN: GIRL GENIUS

Millicent Min just completed her junior year in high school and she’s only eleven-years-old. She doesn’t have any friends in high school, since people aren’t really sure how to take her genius status. Plus, there is the huge age difference. So she’s looking forward to a great summer spending time with her grandmother, taking a college level poetry class and working on projects such as plotting downtown traffic patterns. Then her parents throw a wrench in her plans.  Her mom enrolls her in volleyball. She wants Millie to make some friends and become a little more well-rounded. Also, Millie gets stuck tutoring Stanford Wong, a jock that she considers a complete dolt. 

Fortunately, Millie meets Emily at volleyball and they become friends. Emily is new in town and doesn’t know about Millie attending high school already. Millie is so desperate for a real friend that she doesn’t want to risk losing her. The lies begin piling up and Millie begins to worry. If Emily finds out, will she lose her only friend. Furthermore, is it worth hiding her true self to keep her friend?

I love Millie!! I bookmarked so many parts in the book that I found hysterically funny or just plain adorable. For example, when she recalls losing her first tooth:

As I approached the breakfast table, Dad was downright giddy. "Find anything special under your pillow?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant. My mother suppressed a smile, then returned to beating the lumps out of the pancake batter.
"Dad," I replied, attempting to let him down gently, "I know it was you who took my central incisor. Now may I please have it back? I'd like to study it under my microscope."

I mean really, now how can you not giggle at that? There are so many other great parts too, but you just need to read it for yourself. Millie is such a wonderfully precocious, quirky character. The other characters fill out the cast nicely. Her grandmother, in particular, is unique, wise and a lot of fun.

Here's a nifty tidbit - Lisa Yee wrote books about two other characters in the book: Emily, Millie's best friend and Stanford, the boy Millie tutors. (need to read those!)

I've reviewed ANOTHER MAYBE by Lisa Yee also. Plus, I scored an interview with her, check that out HERE! Finally, to check out her website go here.

Rebecca Stead. FIRST LIGHT

Peter finally gets to see his father as an exploring scientist, rather than just a stuffy professor. His mom and dad have decided to let him come along on a scientific study in Greenland. His dad is a glaciologist and will be studying weather changes on the glaciers. His mom plans to continue writing her book on DNA. Peter is thrilled to leave school for a few months and go on the adventure with his family.

The secrets he uncovers there turn out to be beyond all comprehension. One day he goes exploring and stumbles upon a girl named Thea trying to pry a boy out of a crack in the ice. Peter helps Thea pull him to safety and continues to help her carry him to her “camp.” But what he finds isn’t a camp, but a huge community living underneath the ice in secret. After Peter has amassed a truckload of questions, they hustle him back to the surface refusing to answer any of them. He’s sent on his way and told to keep their secret.

Then when Peter sees his mom doodling a symbol that he saw down in the secret community, more questions come up. What is going on with that place and how is his mother involved?

The author has woven such an amazing story out of so many interesting topics.
There are many aspects of this story that I loved: The sled dogs that work so hard for their people and become members of their families, the science of fireflies, the igloo building, the mitochondrial DNA…I was continually intrigued and entertained! I’m not even going into some of the other cool aspects, so I won’t divulge any spoilers!

I’m floored that this is the author’s first published book. (but not totally surprised, since she just won the Newbery for her second book, which I also loved and reviewed here.) Also, what this author does better than anyone is tie up loose ends. You know how sometimes when you read a book or see a movie and something happened early on & you think “why didn’t they ever explain such & such.. or why did they bring that up & never finish it.” Well, every little thing you’re curious about in the book is neatly explained along the way or at the end. I love that! She did that with her second book too.

There is a really nifty website for this book here. The author's website is here.  I will be FIRST in line for her next book!