"Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale" by Holly Black

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale is the story of Kaye, a "modern nomad" who travels around with her mother's band until she's sixteen- when someone tries to kill her mom, Ellen. Ellen and Kaye travel back to Kaye's original home in New Jersey with her grandmother to get some time off while Ellen tries to scrounge up a new band and to score on free housing. For Kaye, this brings back memories of her childhood, where her imaginary faerie friends, Lutie-Loo, Spike, and Gristle played with her, and her actual friend, Janet, as well as all the kids who teased her for being weird and believing in faerie tales. But when Kaye discovers a strange man in the woods with an arrow sticking out of him, she begins to doubt that she was just imaginative as a kid.

Worst. Summary. Ever. ANYWAY....

I loved this book! LOVED IT. The writing was so descriptive and intense, but still traditional in tone. I've read the Spiderwick Chronicles as well, and I noticed that Holly Black's style of writing isn't a lot like many modern writers, another thing that makes her so special as an artist. She can weave the modern tone and language into the story perfectly with the fantasy while still keeping her tone as a writer. I liked this book more than the Spiderwick Chronicles as well, probably because this book was a  lot more mature than the Spiderwick Chronicles.

One thing I also liked was how Black dealt with mature topics, like sexuality and problems at home. Corny, though fairly secure in his sexuality, still wasn't happy with himself. He (though he was under a spell) wanted Nephamael because he wasn't going out there to try to find someone for himself, but also was angered that he was so shallow as to enjoy the things they did.

Black also comments on family life and teenage behavior in her book. Both Kaye and Janet's families are not very happy, and they deal with them in the same way. I think Kaye feels like Ellen doesn't care and mother Kaye enough, no matter how tough Kaye tries to act. She deals with pulling Ellen's head out of the toilet, and she likes not going to school, but she needs help sometimes too. Corny doesn't refer by name of "Dad" to his and Janets step-father, and mentions that his mother deals with things through Star-Trek. Janet and Kaye deal with their families by drinking and partying, and Corny just chooses not to talk to people, keeps his feelings pent inside.

Overall, I loved this book. I can't wait to read Valiant: A Modern Faerie Tale and Ironside: A Modern Faerie Tale (because you know I will).

"What's Left of Me" by Kat Zhang

**Slight Spoilers!**

What's Left of Me, by Kat Zhang, describes a world where humans are born with two souls, and the country America, now containing both South and North America, has been all but cut off from the rest of the world. These two-souled humans, called "hybrids" are seen as dangers to society, outcasts, and illegal in the U.S. The book follows Addie, who's know a freshman in high school. Her sister soul, Eva, had trouble"settling", or receding so Addie could live as one person. But Addie holds a deep secret- Eva never settled. She still lives deep inside Addie, paralyzed, as she watches the world through their eyes.

I liked this book, I guess. It was an interesting enough idea to base a book off of, and I enjoyed to read it, but I just felt like the plot was recycled, the characters didn't really make realistic choices, and there were some holes in the lore and history of the world.

The first two reasons I didn't exactly love this book go hand in hand. The plot was so predictable. There were little insignificant plot twists everywhere, but I felt like nothing really made me want to re-read a chapter or something. This was partly because of the predictability of the characters. For instance, it would have been far more interesting if Addie/Eva (how I will refer to them from now on) would have ran after Devon/Ryan told her to. I mean, Addie/Eva knew they were going to be taken away from their family either way, so why be taken to a horrible place where children are said to be institutionalized? Who knows. I'm not exactly going to say the character was a Mary-Sue, but it was a little clear that Eva represented a more adventurous side, possibly what the author wanted to be, and Addie represented who the author thought she was. This was also the author's first book, which further enforces my idea.

Also, possibly because this was her book, the author skimped on much background information that would have made the story clearer. One thing, why is the government against hybrids? It's very loosely explained. "Oh, other countries have them, and we don't like other countries!" "People can sometimes go insane from them!" (which ended up not even being true). It just confused me. I guess we can assume that people in this world were just afraid of what they didn't know, but that would also just make the whole scenario a lot more boring. Possibly a more substantial explanation would be revealed later in the series, as I assume it will be.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it didn't impress me. I will try to read the rest of the series, just to finish the story, but it wouldn't be on my top ten list of best books this year or anything.

Update: "Maus I..." by Art Spiegelman

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History is a book chronicling the true story of the author's father's life during the Nazi occupation of Poland and the Holocaust during World War II.

I love this book so far. I really can't wait to read the next on, and I'm sad that I'm almost done with this one. The art is so detailed and enthralling, and the story is so real. The illustrations make obvious symbols that somehow don't make the story as disturbing, but still holds that terrible truths behind it.

For example, the clear "cat and mouse" illustrations represent the way the Nazi's came after the pretty much helpless Jews. They played with them when they were around them like a cat plays with it's prey. This symbol, and others like it, make the story have a deeper meaning, but also, in my opinion, make the book slightly less disturbing for younger readers who may not be comfortable with the Holocaust in detail.

The animals playing the parts of humans also make the book easier to read and follow for younger readers like me, and engaging. Though I think I would be able to understand the plot okay, the physical change in appearance helps me distinguish and label characters in the story.

I would like to know why the other nationalities and ethnicities are represented as such. Like why are the Poles pigs? Was there any specific reasoning, like with the cats and Nazi's and Jewish people as mice (or rats, I can't really tell). I also thought I saw a frog and a lizard in a scene where a party was happening. Maybe more animals will be featured in the next book, or at the end of this one. Until then, read on!

"Anya's Ghost" by Vera Brosgol

**Lots of Spoilers!**

Anya's Ghost, by Vera Brosgol is a graphic novel about a girl named Anya. Anya is ashamed about standing out in her little New England town, which includes hiding her hard to pronounce Russian last name and keeping the secret that she used to have a weird accent in kindergarten before she went to ESL, let alone dieting to keep off her muffin top. When Anya falls down an old well to discover a 98-year old body of a young woman, she's scared, yeah. But what's scarier is that the ghost of this certain corpse, named Emily Reilly, starts following Anya around...

This is the first graphic novel I read this year, and I'm insanely happy with this book. The story and artistic design of the book was awesome and really entertaining to read. It was dark, but not dark enough to give me nightmares. It also had a nice neat message to all us teenage girls in there. I especially connected with Anya.

The book starts off with Anya being really self-conscious, and not a very nice person. She wants to be accepted by the "cool" crowds at school, and does stuff she doesn't want to do, like smoking or dieting so she can work towards that. She is so embarrassed about her family and heritage, which is a giant part of who someone is, that she lies about her last name.

When Emily's character comes in, this pushes Anya to become the person she wants to be, because now she basically knows everything she could hope to. She has her own personal spy. But this also shows Anya the bad side of the "cool" kids. Sure, Anya may not be popular, but she doesn't cheat on her boyfriend like Sean, Anya's crush, did to his girlfriend Elizabeth. Anya has people she can trust. There's a bad side to everything, and you can't want one part of it and not the whole package.

a little preview of the art style :)

This is what makes Emily's character the antagonist in the end (or the past? I don't know). She can't accept that she can't have what she wants, like Anya did after the party at Matt's house, so Emily snapped. She killed her crush and his girlfriend then died, kind of in the spirit of karma. When she tries to live her life through Anya and that doesn't go the way she wanted it to either, she snaps again, and returns to violence as an answer. Only when Anya explains that you have to be happy with what you have and that you can't have everything you want is when Emily realizes all she's done and leaves the Earth.

Elizabeth, queen bee at Anya's high school, almost did the opposite of Emily, she found out Sean's unfaithfulness and that she couldn't get him the way she wanted, but instead of snapping, she bent so she could still "have" Sean and the image that came with him. She sits idly by while Sean hooks up with other girls. Elizabeth bent so far she broke in a different sense.

 I love the illustration too, because it's simple, but descriptive and clear. The color palate is awesome, matches the story perfectly.

Overall, this was a AMAZING book, with an excellent message. You have to be happy with what you have, and make the best of it. I recommend this book to Neil Gaiman and Hellboy fans and anyone (especially girls) who like a good, dark comic book.

"Out of Sight, Out of Time" by Ally Carter

**Spoilers!!**

Out of Sight, Out of Time, by Ally Carter, is the fifth book in the Gallagher Girls book series. In the last book, Cammie made her decision to leave Gallagher Academy, in hopes to find answers to why the secretive Circle of Cavan wants her, and to protect those around her. The book begins with Cammie waking up in a nunnery in the Alps with no memory of her summer, and her whole appearance changed. Cammie has to figure out what she found out over the summer to lead her there, and how to get back to her home and her old self.

Okay, as I said in the last post, GIRLY BOOK! However, though with a jokey premise and general characterizations for each character (the smart one, the tough/sexy one, the invisible one, the fashionable one), these books continue to amaze and impress me.

The best part of this book was Cammie's character development. She goes through the stage that every character in a series, in my opinion, goes through, her break. After years of being comfortable with herself and her position, she continues to leave her "invisible" shell that she started to exit in the last book, and has to reassure herself. The confirmed loss of her father, her memory loss, and the attitude towards her from her friends all shake Cammie really deeply. She has to reestablish herself as a character. Breaks like this happen in the end of the Hunger Games, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Lord of the Rings, and all other strong series that have been very popular. This gives the reader a refreshing take on the character and doesn't bore them with the same thing in every book.

Cammie's development in this book also has to do with identity and finding herself, as the last book did. Her memory loss makes her lose the idea of who she is, mostly because of the things she doesn't know she did. She ends up knowing how to assemble a rifle, having torture scars, and just being a more emotionally fragile person. The affect this has on her friends and her general sanity makes her have to start from scratch again with her personality. The death of her father also makes her reassess her life. She was content with just not knowing where her father was and assuming he was dead, but not wanting to confirm it. The change in her lifestyle made her break further. The affect it had on her sanity and her friends was really intense and interesting to read.

The more mature and dark content of this book also makes me very happy with this series. Percy Jackson, another book made for kids (also published by Disney-Hyperion), starts out very kid-like, but matures as the series and characters do. You think that Carter would have dealt with this sooner, but death is large part of the books, due to the situation with Cam's father, and in spies life. Cammie kills men, loses friends, almost commits suicide (though through hypnotism), loses herself and deals with her dad's death in this book.

Of course, there are  aspects of the series that will be silly and unrealistic, and there will always be. I cannot stress enough that this is a book for tweenage girls. But by far, this book impressed me the most in the series so far. The action and pacing stay AMAZING, and the characters still hold their intensity and snarky-ness, with believable with problems and reactions that you can relate to. Five Stars!

"Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover" by Ally Carter

**Spoilers!**

In Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, the third of the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter, Cammie and Macey are subjects of a kidnapping attempt over the summer break between their sophomore and junior years. Shaken up more than they have ever been, even for girls who go to a top secret book for aspiring female covert operatives, Cammie has to deal with the trauma and try to protect Macey as best as she can from the same danger as Macey's family goes on campaign for Macey's father's presidency, while trying not to break to many rules.

I know, this book is kind of cheesy and a little lame. THEY'RE MY LITTLE SECRET. I think these books are really fun to read, and though they do not lack in the cheese sometimes, they are well written and always have more than just action and female-empowering main characters.

For one thing, the theme of "fitting in" has a lot to do with this installment of the book. Even the title, Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, is talking about how people put on facades for other people. Everyone acts differently around people sometimes, whether you're trying to impress your friends or trying to fit in. The characters in books obviously use covers, mostly as spies, but with example like Macey, she uses them to make her family proud and to do what they want her to do.

The book also deals with losing control of your "cover." An example of this is Cammie is feeling less and less like her trade marked Chameleon nickname, and has to deal with what it's like to stand out, even if it's for a good reason. Macey also deals with fitting in. Even though she has friends, she's two years behind them academically, and as mentioned in the last part of the book, only went to Gallagher Academy because she was a descendant of Gilly Gallagher, and she starts to lose her "cool girl" personality when she shows her real emotions.

I think this book is great example of how not only super-serious books can have great meaning. The characters are believable and fun to follow along, and the series builds up mystery and tension as you read along. I liked this book especially because of the amount of action in it. I love books with good fighting scenes! Can't wait to read the next one.

"Cinder" by Marissa Meyer

**Slight Spoilers!**

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer, is a futuristic sci-fi retelling of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. Cinder is a cyborg mechanic in New Beijing far in the future. Adopted by her current family from Europe when she was eleven, Cinder has been forced to work for her stay since her adoptive father died fromt the fatal disease lemutosis, or the blue fever. Lemutosis has reached epidemic outbreak levels in the Eastern Commonwealth.  Cinder, with her natural affinity for technology, has risen to become the best mechanic in New Beijing, even with her second class citizen position as a cyborg. When the handsome and charming crown prince Kai comes to her shop with an android containing mysterious intel, she begins to learn that not everything is as it seems about her past.

I LOVED this book so much. For one thing, I love spins on stories. Creative retelling is something I like. It adds a new level to the story. I find that it's also just really fun to read and point out the little reference to the story. I also like spin-off books for this reason. Meyer creates a vivid world that I just want to know more about. Even stuff in real life I wouldn't really be interested in I want to know, like details about the history of each country (all 7 of them), where their borders end, their full relationship with the Lunars, and whether they colonized any other planets. I really liked the characters in this book as well. Cinder is strong as a character, but also has normal wishes and wants. Because she's a cyborg, it makes you want to root for her even more.

The book, because mainly of the cyborg issue, deals with discrimination as well. I would think that people who were part-mechanical (cyborg), though they would be strange, would be accepted. Cinder says in the book all cyborgs were basically just the way they were because of a nearly fatal accident. I would think that because they're not using their condition for their personal advancement, no one would have a problem. This is a little like the discrimination after the Civil Rights Act was passed. The African Americans were still treated badly, though now, legally, they could do whatever white people in American could. I guess even in the future, people are afraid of what they don't understand.

Just a note, I love that the author was a Sailor Moon fan fiction writer before she even published this book, which is her first book. I love the subtle Sailor Moon references too... people with "magical" powers who live on the moon... have a lost princess who lives on Earth... it's awesome.

The next books are equally as exciting as this one. Though, since it's a new series, I have to wait for them to come out (which is the problem with reading new series), they're supposed to be about Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, then Snow White. I'm getting pumped just thinking about it...

I can't wait for Scarlet, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles, to come out in February 2013. I already pre-ordered it, but I'm dying without knowing what happens. I have literally read the first chapter preview twenty times. I recommend this to fans of Wither, Hunger Games, and other futuristic books that follow that pattern... except this one has better characters and background.