I was going to wait and write a short review of James Kennedy’s first book Order of the Odd-Fish but I can’t. It’s too delectable. I am enmeshed in this book. If you’ve read it or are reading let’s talk. I’m on page 133 and loving the ride!

Order of the Odd-Fish by James Kennedy

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore books Graceling and Fire are very absorbing and well-written. The author’s stories about two strong females, one physically strong the other in beauty and mind, is a refreshing premise. Their powers are threatening to men not unlike in our world. It’s their self-perceived subjugation that they need to overcome and accept what they are and learn not only how to grow and mature their powers but their relationships with others.

I enjoyed the world the author created with the seven kingdoms, each distinct and identifiable by their rulers and people. Cashore did a wonderful job in her description of the places and terrain each character took that I never felt lost.

Within Cashore’s world her primary and secondary characters are well-rounded and fully fleshed out. You really get to know them. The villains aren’t given short one note treatment, you understand why you don’t like them, what caused them to become that way and you may have some sympathy for them.

I wish the books were not as long as they are. The second act of Graceling, worse the Fire, is long and not a lot happens except people move from here to there. I wish both books didn’t focus so closely on the main characters every thought. This gets old when the same anxieties, worries and concerns are repeated to point of frustration. Repetitiveness in both Graceling and Fire brings character development to an abrupt halt the story meanders before finally picking up towards the last act. And, I wish Fire’s denouement was shorter. The reader has to wait on the lead character to get it together while all the other characters dance around.

Fire is a companion book to Graceling. It’s not necessary to have read

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Graceling to understand Fire, but it does make the story richer.  We are left with unanswered questions: where do Gracelings come from? How are monster people made? Are they one in the same or if different, in what ways? The third book is ripe for an incredible ending rich in details and characters (if a three-book series is what it turns out to be).

From the author’s website:

Graceling, the winner of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature and the SIBA Book Award for YA Literature, a Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and a finalist for the Andre Norton Award and the Indies Choice Book Awards. Fire, a loosely-related companion to Graceling, will be available in Fall 2009.

Book Smugglers

Young Adult Appreciation Month

A month dedicated to young adults books began July 19th. It continues until August 16th. Readers of YA books are already aware of the growing number being published. YA books are all the rage and Book Smugglers want to celebrate.

The month-long acknowledgment consists of guest authors and bloggers talking about writing and reading teens teen books, book reviews and posts about the genre.

You, too, can join in the celebration.On August 15, Book Smugglers will post links to blogs that have posts about anything young adult. Send the link to your blog by posting in the comments. You can write why you love young adult books, reviews of books you’ve read or why you don’t read YA at all.

You can follow @booksmugglers on Twitter and read their reviews and posts on their Book Smugglers Blog.

“All you zombies…”

I was hesitant on reading yet another living dead book after all the vampire books last year and then I read Forest of Hands and Teeth.

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

My hesitation was warranted. It’s a post-apocalyptic settlement in isolation from the rest of the world. The inhabitants are under the control of a group of nuns called the Sisterhood. Mary, the heroine, has a  tunnel-vision memory her mother passed to her about the existence of the ocean and blast anyone or thing that gets in her way. There are zombies, but they are tertiary characters, more like pests. All of the character, Mary’s older brother, his wife, the boy she likes, the boy she marries, her best friend and the head nun all revolve like planetary systems around her. None are able to deter her one desire to see the ocean no matter how hard they may try to dissuade or stop her.

I couldn’t find one character that was likable or that I could relate to. There was no arc or growth of anyone. The story is oppressive making me feel just as trapped as the characters. I kept wanting the inhabitants to evolve from their compliance from the overrule of the Sisterhood but it does not happen. The story never explains the how the settlement became so cut-off from the rest of the world which left this reader not invested in it.

This is the first book by Carrie Ryan. I wish the author had developed her characters and story background more fully. I thought the Sisterhood history which was tentatively explored but never resolved, would have been an interesting plot line to explore. Especially since Mary unknowingly defied traditions and was a thorn in the side of the head nun. I wish the plot had been given more thought and allowed to grow.

According to Ryan’s website, SevenStar Pictures has film rights and is fast-tracking the movie.

The Lunar and Planetary Institute is proud to bring the Moon to your community through our new website, MyMoon:  http://mymoon.lpi.usra.edu.  MyMoon is an evolving collaboration of scientists, artists, and the members of the Net Generation.  We will host

Lunar and Planetary Institute

contests, discussion groups, and live Web-conferenced presentations.  Visitors can share their thoughts, creations, and experiences relating to Earth’s Moon through MyMoon groups on Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr.

We’d love your help in bringing this resource to the 18- to 35-year-old members of your community!  We have black-and-white and color versions of our flyer advertising the MyMoon website available online.  Please feel free to print copies and post them in the public areas of your community!

MyMoon flyer in black and white:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/announcements/mymoon-black-white-flyer.pdf

MyMoon flyer in color:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/announcements/mymoon-color-flyer.pdf

Thank you for helping us get the word out!

Lunar and Planetary Institute

3600 Bay Area Boulevard

Houston, TX  77058-1113

(281) 486-2166

(281) 244-2031 Fax

www.lpi.usra.edu

NewsOK has two Oklahoma Department of Libraries staff writing blogs for them. Kitty Pittman, division manager of the Library Information, Interlibrary Loan and Technical Services has Okie Reads. Kitty reads what she wants and tells you about it. Kitty reads just about any genre book that’s out there so her reading background is very wide. She is also a very fast reader.

I’ve mentioned her before, Sadie Mattox, reference librarian at ODL writes the Extremely Graphic blog. She talks about manga/comic books for kids and adults.