NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer

From Amazon: Calla is the alpha female of a shape-shifting wolf pack. She is destined to marry Ren Laroche, the pack's alpha male. Together, they would rule their pack together, guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But then, Calla saves a beautiful human boy, who captures her heart. Calla begins to question everything - her fate, her existence, and her world and the orders the Keepers have asked her to follow. She will have to make a choice. But will she follow her heart if it means losing everything, including her own life?


This book is said to be for ages 14 and up and is the first in a series. 


Positive Elements: Calla respects her parents, and wants to do what's right. She Protects a human from grave danger more than once and fights for what she believes in. She steps up to her responsibilities. During the story she begins to think critically, basically thinking for herself and putting facts together rather than simply believing something because others do. She is very strong in keeping the male Alpha's wandering hands off of her. 


Possibly Negative Elements: There is a dance club scene with some provocative clothes and dancing among other actions. The fighting in this story isn't explained in gory detail, but there's definitely blood and fighting. There are evil spirits lurking about who enjoy causing physical pain for others. There's lots of sexual tension here, most stays at the tension and wishing point, but some does move beyond that into reality for the characters. 


My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It's very much a page turner and the world Andrea Cremer creates unfolds with lots of detail, but without boring the reader. I'm also partial to the main character being a strong female with a bit of a predator sense about her. Cremer writes beautifully and I really felt like I could see what the characters were doing at any given moment. I did think that the end of this story was incredibly rushed and at some points confusing. And of course, it being a series, it leaves a few issues open, which is fine because I don't have to wait forever for the next book to be released. :)    
  

BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY by Jacolyn Dolamore

For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren--the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood--a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.

Positive Elements: Esmerine is very close to her loving family, especially her sister, Dosinia. One of the reasons she's particularly glad to become a siren, is that her new job will increase the status of her family in their small community and help with their financial woes. Esmerine befriended a winged boy as a child and although her friendship with him was looked down upon by the other mer-people, she didn't care what they thought and maintained that relationship. When her sister goes missing, Esmerine is willing to leave the comfort of her village and her tail to don human legs and search for Dosinia.

Negative Elements:

In this story, a man only needs to steel the mermaids siren belt to trap her on land forever and make her his. She wears this chain-like belt under her clothing. You do the math. Of course it never shows a man actually thieve the belt, but as she enters a seedy hotel, a group of men suggest that their intentions sway toward getting her belt and later they corner her for a brief moment. There is some sweet, tender kissing toward the end but you be the judge of whether that's meant for the positive or negative category. The mermaids as well as the winged people rely on magic and often speak of it as well as mention the "gods".

This book was a good read, probably more relaxing than anything because it doesn't get into serious topics or evoke deep emotions of any kind. It was just a quick, easy read. I continued to turn the pages, wanting to know what happens next but not because I was invested in the characters and cared about them a whole lot; more so because I liked the world the author created and enjoyed reading about it. I couldn't see what Esmerine saw in Alan and often times he downright irritated me and then the ending seemed very quickly pulled together. Like I said, a good book for light reading.  
 

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

This book is said to be for ages 12 and up.

Positive Elements:

Katniss is an incredibly responsible young woman who places it upon herself to take care of her mother and sister, hunting food daily for their survival. Katniss is also self-sacrificial as she steps forward to take her little sisters place in the Hunger Games. When Katniss travels to the Capitol, she experiences people with a completely different culture than her own, one of excess, selfishness and pride. She automatically sees these as negative attributes rather than wanting to "fit in". During the Hunger Games, she takes a smaller girl under her wing, protecting her and later ends up helping a boy survive as well. 

Negative Elements: 

There is a lot of suggested violence in this story, but not in gory detail. Some of her opponents are killed by each other so the killing that goes on in the game itself definitely isn't glossed over. Katniss voices many qualms with the leadership of her people, but you really can't blame her when they are the ones ordering children be forced to play in such deadly games. 

I have to be honest, I was so enthralled with this story that there may have been a kiss or two, and I really don't remember because the pace moves so quickly. It's just that good. I think this is a great one to read along with your teen and then afterward discuss the underlining topics such as poverty, dysfunctional government and the fact that extreme power corrupts extremely. I also really liked Katniss' character and how strong she is, able to hunt, and protect herself. I thought the author did a wonderful job at showing us the warrior in Katniss without making her into a blood thirsty conqueror. This is one of those books that I not only bought after reading the library copy, but I went out and bought the trilogy set...in hard back. I have allowed my own daughter to read this series and now she is a Hunger Games fanatic! So is my husband. :)  

RIPPLE by Mandy Hubbard

Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. Each day she goes to school like a normal teenager, and each night she must swim, or the pain will be unbearable. She is a siren - a deadly mermaid destined to lure men to their watery deaths. After a terrible tragedy, Lexi shut herself off from the world, vowing to protect the ones she loves. But she soon finds herself caught between a new boy at school who may have the power to melt her icy exterior, and a handsome water spirit who says he can break Lexi's curse if she gives up everything else. Lexi is faced with the hardest decision she's ever had to make: the life she's always longed for - or the love she can't live without?

This book is said to be for young adults and from what I hear, it's the first in a two part series. 

Positive Elements: Lexi lives with her grandmother and you can really tell she truly loves her. She cooks and cleans for her, even takes her grocery shopping. I didn't notice any parts of this book that showed adults in a very negative light, or even disrespected their position and authority. Lexi knows she's dangerous and tried to be cautious and responsible by keeping a distance from the other kids in her school for their own safety. She has a horrible piece of her that she fights against rather than embracing it.

 

Negative Elements:  In the later part of the book, Lexi flashes back to two years prior where she's at a party and gulping down beers. She talks about taking her love interest to the ocean and them taking their clothes off to go swimming. And at the very end, she has sex with another love interest. Now, in all of these situations, the writer does not go into details. She never even says they have sex, but it is definitely implied. There is a fight to the death with an evil male character also, but again no blood and guts or anything like that. 

When I started reading this story, I was hooked from page one. It's a different take on a mermaid tale. One in which mermaids are not sweet, innocent maidens. I liked how she broke some of the normal assumptions of mermaids such as not giving her mermaid a tail, and other twists you'll have to read the book to learn about. Lets just say I never found myself wanting to put the book down. The end seems to wrap everything up, but from the author's website, it looks like she's doing another, making this a two part series. I'm definitely interested to see where she takes the second book.  

PARANORMALCY by Kiersten White

Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours.

But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal. 

This book is said to be for grades 7 and up and is the first in a series.  

Possitive Elements: Evie longs for what some teenagers complain about, a mother, a family, a regular high school, a locker and a normal life. Instead of using curse words, she says "bleep". She goes into the room of a boy she likes, but makes it a point to mention that she's seen other girls move 'too quickly' in things of a physical nature with boys and it never ends well. She also wants to respect the boy's father. She wants to help the world and when she makes a mistake, she feels the need to fix what she's done.

Negative Elements: There's a couple kisses with a boy. She disobeys her caretaker to see the boy she's interested in.

I really liked this book! I had a hard time putting it down! It was clean and such a unique idea. The only problem that a parent might have with allowing their tween/teen to read this book is all the paranormal creatures. We have fairies, hags, vampires, werewolves, water spirits, gremlins, trolls and more. Unlike popular stories lately, she puts a bad spin on vampires as well as fairies. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy this book, I can't wait to get my hands on the next one in the series.

MONSTER HIGH by Lisi Harrison

They prefer to call themselves RAD (Regular Attribute Dodgers), but some call them monsters. So far, the "monster" community has kept a low profile in Salem, but this year two new girls enroll at Master High School, and the town will never be the same.

Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and cheerleading. But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters who might be stalking the halls, Frankie finds that life in the "normi" world can be rough for a chic freak like her.

She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver--but can a normi be trusted with her big secret?

This book is said to be for middle grade plus. This book is the first in a series.

Positive Elements:  There are two main characters in this story, Frankie and Melody. Both are teenage girls and both believe and learn the importance of being themselves, not listening to what other kids thought that they should be. Both girls had more than a couple physical 'flaws' but were proud of their uniqueness. Also, both girls see the need to teach the "normies" and the monsters how to get along despite their differences.

Negative Elements:  There's a little bit of kissing and simple girl fights. Frankie lies to her parents about hanging out with her monster friends, but feels bad about it.

I thought this would be a fun read for a tween or teen (my tween daughter agrees). But as an adult reading it, the teeny-bob lingo kind of grated on my nerves as well as the need to explain the brand name of every piece of clothing and shoes. Otherwise, it was a fun read.

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman

Sixteen-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science. . .and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she's happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother's estate.
There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can't make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship. . .and reality.

Is Leo hiding something? Or is he something that she never could have imagined?

This book is said to be for young adults although I couldn't find a more specific age group.

Positive Elements: Miranda visits an island and meets other visitors, but shows good discernment and chooses to befriend the teased locals rather than the upper-crust vacationers. She doesn't seem to care much what others think and is strong on making up her own mind about things, not following the crowd. 

Negative Elements: Shortly after she arrives on the island, she attends a party thrown by and for the vacationers. The adults are drinking as well as the teenagers. One of the girls enjoys explaining her sexual exploits with pride while later in the evening the teens flirt with each other and make out. Miranda falls for a local boy and she disobeys her mom to see him and hides out with him in a cave. There is kissing involved.

The story begins strongly and then it seems to lull. All the while, you're waiting to find out if in fact her love interest is a merman. You wait, and you wait, and then the book is over. Huh? I liked the idea of the story and her writing, but I really felt like it dropped me at the end with not so much as a fishing net to grab on to! So, I guess I'll say that I enjoyed the story and really hope there's a sequel so I can find out if her love interest is who we all think he is.