Train Heists, Murder, and General Mayhem

It's been awhile since I've blogged and my list of books to recommend keeps getting longer and longer...so I'd better update this before my list gets too out of hand!

Let's start with The Boundless, by Kenneth Oppel.  In this story, we meet Will, who starts the story as a poor boy whose father is working on the trans-continental railroad in Canada.  When Will and his father save the life of the owner of the railroad company, his father is promoted and when we pick up with the story a few years later, things are going much better for the family.  In fact, Will and his father are about to embark on the first journey of a new train called the Boundless...the longest train every built in history.  But...when Will comes upon a plot to rob the train of a treasure it carries, he must hide among a circus that is traveling on the train.  Can Will and his friends from the circus foil the plot of the bad guys?  Read The Boundless to find out.  I had a lot of fun reading this one!  I recently got a copy of this, so if you're interested, ask me about checking it out from my library.  You can also find it at MCPL or through MCPL's Overdrive.

If you're not in the mood for a train caper, but instead are looking for a little romance, you might want to check out The Start of Me and You, by Emery Lord.  In this story we meet Paige, who is known by everyone in her school and town as the girl who's boyfriend died in an accident by drowning.  She and Aaron only dated 2 months, but now, over a year after his death, people still give her "the look" - one of pity and sadness.  Paige is ready to move one, but she's not sure how.  Before her junior year begins, she decides to try new things and makes a list of things she wants to set out to accomplish in the coming year, including dating her long-time crush, Ryan Chase.  But sometimes with new beginnings, the unexpected occurs...and sometimes the unexpected is better than anything you could have planned for.  I absolutely loved this one...but I'm a sucker for a good "chick-lit" story.  If you're a fan of Jennifer E. Smith (This is What Happy Looks Like, The Geography of You & Me, etc), you would probably like this book.  I checked my copy out through MCPL's Overdrive.  I'm sure you can find it on their shelves, as well.

If you're more into historical fiction, you might like Prisoner of Night and Fog, by Anne Blankman.  This is the first book in a new series about Gretchen Muller, who is living in 1930's Munich, Germany.  She's always been a favorite of her family friend, "Uncle Dolf"...Adolf Hitler...after her father lost his life protecting Hitler.  Gretchen has always been shielded from reality and has believed the propaganda that told her that Jewish people were subhuman.  But circumstances in her life, and meeting a new friend, Jewish journalist Daniel Cohen, start to convince her that things are rotten in Germany.  Can she stand up against Hitler and go against her families beliefs?  This was a really interesting fictional story based on real events that were occurring in Germany in the early 1930's.  I look forward to reading more in this series - the 2nd book, Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke comes out on April 21st!  I have a copy of this book, so see me if you're interested.  You can also find it at MCPL.

Another great historical fiction book is Countdown, by Deborah Wiles.  I talked about this one in class recently, but in case you've forgotten, let me tell you about it again.  In Countdown, Franny Chapman is just trying to live a normal life, but circumstances keep getting in the way.  First, her best friend isn't acting like her best friend anymore.  Her older sister is acting really mysterious and is never home anymore.  On top of all that, her elderly uncle who lives with her family is acting crazy and it's embarrassing.  And all the while this is going on in Franny's life, she also has to worry about the possibility of nuclear war with Russia, because this story takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.  This book, like Revolution, which I recommended in a previous blog, includes lots of actual historical pictures and documents from the time.  Seeing the real story against the backdrop of a fictional one makes for a fascinating read, in my opinion.  You can borrow a copy of Countdown from me.  You can also find it in our Congress library, as well as MCPL.

If you're more into a good murder mystery, you might want to check out April Henry's latest, The Body in the Woods.  This is the first book in Henry's new Point Last Seen series.  In this story, Alexis, Ruby, and Nick are all teen volunteers for a Search and Rescue group in Portland.  When out in the woods searching for a lost man, they instead stumble upon the body of a dead girl...and she's clearly been murdered.  When they think the police are looking at the wrong suspect, they decide to take matters into their own hands and try to solve the murder themselves.  Of course, this puts them square in the sites of the killer.  Can they solve the mystery before the murderer gets them?  You'll have to read The Body in the Woods to find out!  I have a copy of this book if you're interested in reading it.  You can also find this book at MCPL.

For those of you who are reading the Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson (The Name of the Star (#1) & The Madness Underneath {#2}), you will want to check out book #3, The Shadow Cabinet.  I was under the mistaken impression that this was the last book in the series, but much to my surprise, that's not true!  I don't want to give too much away, because if you haven't made it to book #2 yet, there is a HUGE plot twist at the end.  What I will say is that Rory and the Shades have a big plot to uncover before the ghosts haunting London try to take things over.  It was a great read!  You can check this out through MCPL's Overdrive or find it on their shelves.

And finally, I'll leave you with Fairest, by Marissa Meyer.  This is book 3.5 in the Cinder series.  If you're reading the Cinder series and you've wondered what has made the Lunar queen, Levana, such a horrible horrible person, you'll want to pick this story up.  We meet Levana as  a young princess, who eventually becomes the queen.  You also get a glimpse at the early life of the protagonist of book #4...Winter...who's book, Winter will hit shelves this fall.  I have a copy of this book, so if you're a Cinder fan, come see me and I'll hook you up with my copy.  You can also find a copy at MCPL or check it out through MCPL's Overdrive.

I'm going to end on that note.  I actually have 2 more books to recommend, but they aren't actually released yet, so I'll wait until closer to their release dates to tell you about them.  Until then...keep reading!