Unless I finish reading the 800-page-biography of Joseph Kennedy I'm currently engrossed in in the next 24 hours (unlikely), this will be my last book review for summer reading, so I'm glad I can go out on a positive note! Messy is the sequel to Spoiled, which I recently reviewed, and picks up a few months after Spoiled ended. It follows the adventures of Max McCormack (bff to Spoiled's heroine, Molly) as she becomes the ghost blogger for wannabe-starlet Brooke Berlin. Messy is just as clever and funny as the first book was, and the authors have a real gift for creating interesting minor characters. It's the perfect summer read - quick and fun and funny, and, most notably of all, it's never mean-spirited, despite the constant mocking of Hollywood. Teenage girls would love this - and so would a lot of adults.

This is one of those books that I just did not get. I don't understand what is so funny and why this is so beloved. Perhaps having the entire comic all at once rather than waiting every day or week for a new page ruins the experience? Anyway, this book is completely written by 5-year-old Malachi Nicolle, and as such many of the characters are twisted and some of the plots are nonsensical. The illustrations are all done by Malachai's older brother Ethan, and they are all well done. This book includes the six original Axe Cop stories, sixty-two additional episodes (split into two stories), and a series of "Ask Axe Cop" which are short comics based on reader-questions. I found these questions the most interesting (only interesting?) part, because Ethan wrote a little note alongside each question giving back story or providing additional information. I also want to note how odd it is that this is written by a 5-year-old, but considered a YA graphic novel.

Meanwhile is a graphic novel that you will probably either love or hate. It's a choose-your-own adventure book, and instead of saying "to chose x turn to page 2, to chose y turn to page 3" it uses a series of "pipes" you must follow along the numerous tabs that stick out on the right side of the book. The pipes must be followed on the individual pages as well, because they doesn't follow the traditional left to right, top to bottom pattern. This can seem cool if you're loving the story, but can definitely grow frustrating. Some of the pipes even travel in a twisted knot, requiring you to follow the pipe exactly or get very confused when you turn to the wrong page. The plot is sort of silly, starting with a choice between chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but quickly turning to a mad scientist forcing you to pick between using three if his inventions. Overall, I think it is a wonderfully innovative idea, but the execution lacks.

This graphic novel is about a 14-year-old girl who is starting high school after being homeschooled. She has three older brothers who are already in high school, but that does not make her transition any less awkward, mostly because they all have their own problems that they are dealing with. These problems may or may not be related to their mom running out on the family, apparently needing a break after spending so much time home with her kids. The title comes from the fact that Maggie has never had any girl friends, apart from the ghost of a widowed lady who periodically haunts her.

Overall this is a fun read! The author does a good job of integrating text with the graphics but still using character expressions and body language to illustrate their feelings. She also mixes up the size and layout of the panels to show movement and better highlight certain areas (it also makes the pages more visually interesting, which is a plus).

Kampung Boy is an autobiographical graphic novel about a boy named Lat growing up in rural Malaysia on a kampung. The story starts when he is a baby and follows him through leaving the kampung for boarding school. There really isn't much of a plot besides Lat growing older. For example, as time passes, Lat's family grows with two younger siblings, but they just show up in a frame saying "now I have a younger brother" and that is it. The drawings are very funny, with characters wearing funny pants and having big teeth. I think this would be a good way to introduce kids to another culture. The story is fun and kids should be able to find some similarities between their life and Lat's life, but also will see the differences. The story does stop at an odd point, as an industrial company is interested in buying up the kampung, but Lat goes off to school without finding out what happens. There are sequels though, so I am sure the story picks up there.

I know this book (and its two sequels) is super popular, but I resisted for a looong time because I'm sort of over dystopias at this point. However, I have to say that compared to its more popular Hunger-Games-ripoff cousin, Divergent, I liked Delirium a LOT more, and wish that this, and not Divergent, was the novel getting a movie adaptation. For those of you who haven't read it, this is the story of Lena and Alex, two teenagers in a society where love is considered a sickness and at 18 everyone is cured of the disease. A real upper, obviously. As I'm sure you can guess, Lena and Alex fall in love, and then must decide what to do with the date of Lena's cure rapidly approaching. I have to admit, one thing that bothers me about this current dystopia craze is that I think a lot of them kind of forget that the real point of dystopias is to make some sort of comment about our current society - see 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, even The Hunger Games. I am not entirely sure what sort of astute commentary one can get from a novel about a society where love is outlawed. HOWEVER, having said that, I'm going to stop being a grouch, because I still really enjoyed this book. It's hard to put down once you get into it, and since I was listening to it on audiobook (the reader is Sarah Drew, who Grey's Anatomy fans like myself [yes, STILL watching that show] will know best as April Kepner, and she does a pretty good job - it helps that she has a young-sounding voice so I totally buy her as a teenager) I actually sat in my parking lot for like 10 minutes one night because I didn't want to stop listening. I was spoiled on the ending in advance, but still ended up crying in my car, which I suppose is a compliment to the author. Anyway, I just picked up the sequel from the library and can't wait to read it. If you're looking for a quick, engrossing read, I'd recommend this - it also helps that Lauren Oliver writes beautifully, so even if you are experiencing dystopia fatigue, you can still enjoy the writing.

This is the sequel to Delirium, and I'm really glad I decided to read this instead of listening to it on audiobook like I did with the first one, because it was a REALLY fast read and really hard to put down. Anyway, it picks up where Delirium left off, with Lena out in the Wilds and follows her as she meets up with other Invalids and joins the resistance. There's also the introduction of a second love interest, which I didn't hate as much as I thought I was going to. Look, these books are never going to be the most original things on the face of the planet - the market is so saturated with dystopias at this point that it's impossible for any of them to feel truly fresh, I think - but Lauren Oliver is a fantastic writer, and the quality of her writing manages to elevate books with a somewhat tired premise to something very intriguing and beautiful (which was absolutely the case with her first novel, Before I Fall, as well). Teenage girls would love this, and it's a great book to give to any patrons who have finished The Hunger Games and want help finding something similar to read. If you haven't gotten 100% sick of dystopias, I'd recommend giving this series a shot - I'm not sure I liked Pandemonium quite as much as Delirium, but it was still a good read.

This is the final book in the trilogy that started with Delirium, and I thought it was a really good conclusion. The parallels to The Hunger Games seem especially obvious in this installment, including the dreaded love triangle (though I will say the circumstances that led to this one were less infuriating than most love triangles I've ever read, and Oliver managed to make the whole thing [which I still think is a stupid plot device] seem understandable and also make Lena seem less selfish than most protagonists involved in love triangles usually seem [which is my #1 issue with love triangles]). Anyway, if you're a reader who needs 100% closure and wants all the loose ends tied up, this might not be the book for you - Oliver doesn't particularly care whether you want to know exactly what happens to everyone or how every event will turn out. But this is what I liked best about this book. If she HAD tied everything up, I think I would have found it rushed (like I found the ending of Mockingjay, for example). Instead, she leaves a lot of questions unanswered - which is a bit frustrating, but also part of the fun of reading, in my opinion. Now, finally, please excuse me while I revert to being a 16-year-old again for five seconds, because the final thing I have to say about this book is: LENA + ALEX 4EVA. This concludes my highly intellectual and thoughtful review.

So this is a series review of sorts. This is the first of Mayberry's just-completed four part Rot & Ruin series, a zombie epic set some 15 years after the dead started chomping. It's the story of teen orphan Benny Imura and his brother Tom living in one of the few remaining towns in California. Outside the frontier town the world is a dangerous place: zoms and crazies and and bounty hunters, and rumors of a place called Gameland, where kids are thrown into zombie pits to fight with zoms. And then one day Benny's friend Nix sees a jet in the sky and wonders if there's more than what they know. There are good people too, but they're less visible, so moral choices abound for Benny et al between personal security and doing good, adventure and safety. The YA zombie field is a busy one but Mayberry is head and shoulders over all others so far. His stories are tightly written and smartly paced, with smart squabbling dialog, sharp conflict and real threat of pain without excess gore. The first two books (Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay) are violent wanderings through the zombie wilderness with the living just as dangerous. There is some gore, but the fear is more in the description of the grey zombies than in actual bloody attacks. Mayberry often ends a chapter on a cliffhanger zom attack and returns a chapter or two later to see the consequences so he avoids the gore that could push up the age-appeal of the series. The third, though, is probably the most harrowing of the first three, with a death cult running wild throughout the country and more living-on-living violence. He uses cult-like rhetoric to describe the actual attacks and so avoids bloody description but the acts linger. Mayberry is a master at taking violent subject matter and making it work in a YA context, packing in plausible teen concerns (love, identity, family, self) and spreading his interests between male and female characters (more so in books 2 and 3). The last one, Fire & Ash, comes out in a week. If you haven't read him, start with Rot & Ruin. These are G8+ depending on the kid, and probably the parent, but Mayberry's zom books are smarter than most Newberrys and many times more enthralling.

I’ve been eagerly waiting for a series that makes me fall in love like Harry Potter. Sure I’ve found great books like A Discovery of Witches, and The Night Circus, but nothing has quite hit the mark. Until now.

The Bone Season is everything that I’ve wanted: action, world-building, unique magic, touches of romance and an underlying British sensibility. Sure, it helps that her whole idea of the future is predicated on the idea of Jack the Ripper (see my obsession here and here), and that a woman younger than me managed to write the book. But honestly, the book is spectacular in its own right. It’s perfect for those who have grown up with Potter but are looking for something with a little more grit.

Unlike many dystopian novels, the future is dictated by a shift in the past. History as we know it stops in 1800s when Jack the Ripper released spirits from the aether, causing clairvoyant tendencies to erupt. These clairvoyant “others” have been shunned by the government for their powers but are prized by another race called the Rephaim.

One part Harry Potter, two parts Hunger Games with just a dash of Lirael, The Bone Season just might make you forget that you wanted another Rowling novel.

The authors of this book run the popular celebrity fashion blog Go Fug Yourself, which is truly hilarious, so I had high hopes for this novel - which weren't disappointed! It's the story of sixteen-year-old Molly Dix, who learns that she is the daughter of famous movie star Brick Berlin. Molly moves to LA to live with Brick and his daughter, Brooke, and the story follows Molly's attempts to adjust to a glamorous life in Hollywood. The book is quite clever and funny, although this is one of those books that I suspect won't have the longest shelf life, since so many of the stars and fads referenced will no doubt be out-of-date within in a few years. The authors poke fun at the superficiality of Los Angeles and its residents without ever being mean-spirited about it, and you really do find yourself rooting for Molly and Brooke to get past their differences to become friends. This book might not appeal to the broadest audience, but it's certainly something that many members of its target audience should enjoy.

This was a book that definitely improved the further into it you got. It's set in an alternate version of New England around 1900, where society is controlled by the Brotherhood, a powerful patriarchal religious organization designed to stamp out witchcraft and ensure that everyone leads virtuous lives. The main character is Cate Cahill who, along with her younger sisters Maura and Tess, is a witch; the book (which is the first in a series) centers around Cate's discovery that she and her sisters might be the subject of an important prophecy. In addition to this, there is, unsurprisingly, a sort-of love triangle as a subplot. I am so, so, so sick of love triangles buuuuuut this one isn't too bad, as it's pretty obvious from the get go who Cate is going to end up with. I thought the book was a bit slow at first, but the more I read, the more intrigued I became, and by the end of the book (which is a total cliffhanger), I was eager to read more. The sequel just came out this summer so the Chapel Hill library doesn't have it yet, but I will definitely be picking up a copy once they do.

This is the third installment in Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern, and I really, really enjoyed it. Hale continues to allow each character in turn to have a book devoted to them, and this one sees Razo, along with Enna and Finn, headed to the neighboring country of Tira in the hopes of averting war. It's full of fun things like spies and crazy political groups, and it draws on the magic detailed in the first two books in a way that I really liked. Razo's a really likable character and it's fun to read about his coming of age; furthermore, the presence of familiar characters playing secondary roles makes it easy to slip back into this world, like you're catching up with old friends. It was a really good read.

This book tells the story of the Titanic both pre and post iceberg. It includes the stories of multiple people on board, including the hard working crew members, snobby first class passengers who jumped in the first lifeboat and never looked back, and heartbreaking stories from children who lost parents, and wives who lost husbands. Though all of these accounts create a well-rounded story, it is hard to keep track of who is who. Also, because the story is told chronologically, there is a lot of jumping from story to story, which makes the book feel scattered, but also show the urgency of the various parties as the ship began sinking. The author used pictures well, including many early shots taken during the first legs of the trip, before it crossed the Atlantic (which is how the photographs survived, the photographer got off the ship at one of these ports). Though it dragged a bit at the beginning with too many extraneous details included - does anyone care what furniture was in the guestrooms - it definitely picked up once the action started. There is plenty of information at the end too with mini biographies, various timelines, and a bibliography and links to additional information.