I have long loved the offerings of this talented author, but in Haunted, she has reached another dimension, in more ways than one. Dee, short for Defiant, lives with her eccentric grandmother, ostensibly having been abandoned by her mother after her birth. If that isn’t enough to cope with, her grandmother is the local midwife with some ability to forsee events surrounding births and rather cold to Dee. Dee herself has the “sight”, the uncanny ability to see spirits. Often, all they need from Dee is assurance that they can rest in peace. But sometimes the spirits are malevolent and when the body of a friend of Dee’s is discovered, she herself becomes drawn into the horror of her death and she is even suspected of some involvement. When the local mentally challenged boy is arrested, Dee knows it just can’t be right, but the only way to truly find out what is happening is to venture back up the mountain, where the girls’ bodies have been discovered. I compare this to The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong and although they have some similar themes, there is no comparison as to how they are handled. Haunted is an exploration of prejudices, of relationships and of ultimate redemption. I recommend this highly for the YA section of your elementary library through high school.

Another look at the Middle East conflict, Mackenzie, Lost and Found is the story of a 15 year-old who recently lost her mother. Her eccentric professor father thinks the best thing for them would be a change, and he re-locates them to Jerusalem for a year. Mackenzie is predictably furious and determines to leave after three months. But the interim brings a cute boy, and a good friend, both of whom contribute to a desire to stay. When the relationship begins to develop between Mackenzie and Nasir, she is appalled to find that it must be kept a secret, especially from Nasir’s parents. The other plot line centers around the illegal disposition of found artifacts, with which Nasir and his family become involved. Mackenzie is inadvertently drawn into this drama and eventually into very real danger. I did not feel the characters elicited a great deal of empathy. There seemed to be an attempt to cover too much history with perhaps an expectation that readers would already understand the background. Surprisingly, lots of our students don’t even know there is a conflict going on. As a somewhat superficial, light read, this would still be a good addition to your library and may serve to pique further interest in readers.

I am reminded of One More River by Lynne Read Banks, which dealt with the same type of issues in a more substantial form. They might be read together and comparisons drawn.

Return To Bone Tree Hill is an excellent example of a fine author’s ability to create suspense. Jessica has lived in Australia for six years, but recurring dreams are haunting enough to draw her back to Victoria, where she used to live. Her dreams are terrifying to the extreme as she kills a boy in her dream. It is so vivid that she decides she has to find out the truth, even if it means she’s a murderer. So back to the scene of the crime, as it were. When she arrives, she indeed finds that Charlie, the boy in her dreams, has disappeared. She finally confides in her good friend Jilly, and together they attempt to unravel the maze of memory and fact. This novel has lots of suspense and although the character is 18, it would be most suitable for grade 7 and up.

Check out this great book trailer on You Tube.

http://www.goodreads.com/videos/show/3575-return-to-bone-tree-hill

Well, Shane Peacock has done it again in the second of his stories of the early days of Sherlock Holmes. Although reading the first one sets the scene for this one and acquaints us with Sherlock’s background and family life, Death in the Air also can be read on its own. After solving a nefarious murder in Eye of the Crow and receiving no credit for it, Sherlock is increasingly determined to become a great detective acknowledged by all. When he is a close spectator of a great trapeze artist’s untimely fall, he is immediately convinced that it is a murder that he alone can solve. His investigations take him into the seediest parts of London, pitted against the notorious Brixton gang. If he can bring them to justice, he would have to be credited with an amazing coup and be given the reward that he so desperately needs to finance his education and to save his mentor and employer from ruin. The relationship between Sherlock and Bell is compelling and I trust will continue to receive a place in future novels. Whether Sherlock attains his goals in this novel, I shall leave for the reader to discover.

Prepare for lots of laughs as you read this good humoured sequel to Quid Pro Quo. Although I have not read the first, it certainly didn’t distract me as this story stands on its own very nicely. Cyril’s mom is a young, slightly wacky lawyer who involves him from time to time in her legal education. Thus the title, Res Judicata, and his not surprising penchant for sticking his nose in where it maybe doesn’t belong. First, the big shocker- mom has a boyfriend! And about the time Cyril reluctantly comes to like him, he’s out of the picture. And it all has to do with his mom’s client; the very unprepossessing Chuck. Arrested for murder after presumably accidentally killing a wealthy professor, mom manages to free him. But Chuck comes up with the idea that he should take the police force to court for false arrest. And why is Biff, the old boyfriend, still skulking around? Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate between friend and foe. Lots of action and lots of laughs with quirky and interesting characters makes this a sure-fire favourite for your young adult group. I highly recommend it.

A wonderful combination of mystery and historical fiction, Eye of the Crow takes us to the early years of the one and only Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock’s parents are social outcasts because of their unconventional marriage and Sherlock is determined to better their circumstances. Always with an eye for detail, young Sherlock is mystified by the heinous slaying of a woman in a seedy part of London. Convinced there is more to this crime than is immediately evident, he begins to investigate and becomes embroiled in a series of escapades which eventually culminate in him becoming a prime suspect in the crime. There are more mysteries to come and this will be a fine addition to our mystery genre. As mentioned in a previous blog, this will be a fine companion for the Enola Holmes mysteries by Nancy Springer. One wonders how independent authors have chosen to embark on mysteries so linked by time and characters.

Eye of the Crow is one of the 10 nominated books for the 2009 Snow Willow awards! Don’t miss it!

I’m never quite sure how you co-author a novel, but this team seems to have done a fine job. Here is another offering for your mystery lovers; a nice companion for those students who like the Chloe and Levesque novels as well as those featuring Robyn Hunter by Norah McClintock. I really liked the quirkiness of the main character, Roni Delicata. As reporter for the school newspaper, she takes her job very seriously and when Alicia, new girl in town, disappears, she springs into action. Enlisting the help of Brian Bain, whose mother happens to be the town cop, they embark on a number of sometimes risky adventures in order to get to the bottom of this crime. Hautman and Logue do a remarkable job of creating suspense and leading you to believe what appears most likely, and then surprising you with the ending. Altogether, a fine addition to our mystery genre. Snatched is part of The Bloodwater Mysteries series. I would recommend this for grade 6 right through to early high school as the main protagonist is in grade 11.

I rarely set aside a book unfinished (and, no, it wasn’t the above title.) The one I just couldn’t go back to is called A Step From Heaven by An Na. I’m sure the theme of an immigrant to the United States from Korea is a most worthy one. Na writes in the voice of young Young Ju and you can trace the voice changing as the protagonist grows older. But it just did not have any drawing power for me. So I picked up another one, The Case of the Missing Marquess, an Enola Holmes mystery, and was drawn right in. I believe this would appeal to many of our girls who are enjoying the Lady Grace mysteries, as the time period is somewhat similar. Springer does a masterful job of invoking the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian England. For me, it brought to mind the writings of Anne Perry, an adult Victorian author whose mysteries I sometimes enjoy.

Enola Holmes lives with her somewhat eccentric and definitely free-thinking and often absent-minded mother, Enola has often felt very much like an afterthought having been born much later than her older brothers, Sherlock and Mycroft. Only when her mother disappears do the older brothers arrive and take charge. When they discover the state of affairs, they make plans to pack Enola off to boarding school. Bereft of all she holds dear, she disguises herself and runs away to try to discover her mother’s whereabouts and the reason for her leaving. Arriving in London, she becomes embroiled in the possible kidnapping of a young marquess and becomes prey to the seedier side of London’s inhabitants. Altogether, I found this to be action-packed, quaint without being absurd, and a celebration of the individuality of a young woman at a time when it was rarely appreciated. This would be a great read for children from grade 5 through 8; and possibly might capture some of our younger high school readers as well.

I am pleased to see that there are already several more titles in this series and will be happily recommending these to my students. They might also be a nice companion to Shane Peacock’s Eye of the Crow- a young Sherlock Holmes mystery, nominated for this year’s Snow Willow award.

Marty Chan is also the author of The Case of the Graffiti Ghouls, winner of the Diamond Willow Award for 2007 for Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Award and The Mystery of the Frozen Brains. Each of these has the same main characters which lends to their enjoyment. We also had the opportunity to have Marty as an author visit to my school last year and he was an enormous hit. His humour is understated, droll but he has an absolute twinkle in his eye at all times. The children loved him and I would recommend him highly.

Here are the novels we are using for this unit this time!