First line: Katheryn was seven when her mother died.
Summary:
Katheryn Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, lead a very scandalous
life before her marriage. She grew up as a charity case, living off of
the kindness of family. However, she got the great chance of living with
her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. While there she
meets several men who she falls quickly in and out of love with. And
then one day she earns a place among Queen Anna of Kleves household
which puts her in the path of the King. She is delighted but when the
King sets his sights on her she begins to worry that her past will catch
up with her.
My Thoughts: I have enjoyed all of Weir’s
Six Wives books. I think she did a great job bringing Katheryn’s story
to life. Unfortunately the girl made some terrible mistakes and had to
pay for them so dearly. I learned more about her earlier life. I was
fairly familiar with her time in the Duchess’ household and in Henry’s
court but before that was a mystery to me.
It’s sad that she was
pushed around from house to house. It makes it easy for me to see why
she was constantly looking for someone to love and love her back. Out of
all the women I think her story is the saddest. She was so young. She
was being maneuvered by her family into the King’s life. She had very
little choice over her life. I am looking forward to the final novel
about Katherine Parr.
FYI: There are several intimate scenes throughout her story.
I picked this book out for Amelia solely on the cover. She
absolutely loved looking at it, and I’d catch her browsing the pages
when I wasn’t reading it to her.
This book is about a shelter dog named Rudy, and some life lessons
we can all learn. Something that truly hit me was when it said “it
doesn’t matter what kind of dog you are…you can create the life you
want.” I thought that was so powerful. Amelia loved
when Rudy saw his shadow, and was trying to balance on the ball.
This book was inspired by the real life story of a shelter dog
named Rudy and his owner Corrine. The back of the book has a little bio
about them which made me enjoy the book that much more.
If it’s any indication as to if Amelia liked this book, we kept it the full 3 week checkout!
First line: The kitchen faucet makes the most bizarre sounds.
Summary:
When a severe drought hits California people are forced to make extreme
choices in order to survive. Cutting back on water usage sounds doable
until the water runs dry. As people start to experience life threatening
thirst they become animals. Life has become a war zone and people are
going to die.
Alyssa, a high school student in California, is
shocked when the faucets stop working. Her family try to stay calm and
find new water sources. However, when they don’t return from a water run
Alyssa decides that she has to take matters into her own hands to keep
herself and her younger brother alive. With the help of the neighbor
boy, and his prepper family, she thinks that maybe they will survive the
Tap-Out until one night when the rest of the neighborhood turns on
them.
My Thoughts: This story felt oddly familiar. I feel
like in a way we are living this reality right now. People are scared.
The world has changed. Life is almost unrecognizable. I don’t know if
this made the book even more intriguing or scarier.
I have to
say that I learned a lot about dehydration and how the human body needs
water for survival. Hopefully this will never become a reality because
it is terrifying. I found myself drinking a lot more water while reading
this.
I enjoyed the characters. There were some I liked and
others not. I liked how the author incorporated news casts, snapshots
into other people during the crisis and then sometimes gave those
snapshots bigger parts later in the story. My heart was pounding and I
could not put the book down during the last 150 pages. I had to know if
Alyssa and her crew were going to survive.
I love that
Shusterman brings important issues to teens. Water conservation is
something we need to be careful about and plan for at one point. I
highly recommend reading this. It gives a scary but realistic view into
what could be a future world disaster.
First line: Kate sees the familiar nameplate on Dr. Williams’ office door and feels a knot in her stomach.
Summary:
Kate and Lauren are sisters who recently lost their dad but each of
them has a different idea of who the man actually was. Kate idolized
him. Lauren’s relationship was more distant. Then one night at a family
dinner a woman shows up who claims to be their father’s daughter.
Everyone is shocked by the revelation but none more than Kate. She is
determined to prove that Jess is a liar. Lauren is more accepting of her
which leads to even more discord in the family. As Kate looks deeper
into Jess’s story she finds that not everything is as simple as Jess
claims.
My Thoughts: This book kept me reading! I kept
telling myself just one more chapter. One more chapter. I loved the
different viewpoints. I liked that each woman was completely different
from each other. It made the story more interesting because of the
conflict. Little clues and hints appeared throughout. Some were red
herrings. Others were not. I flew through this book with my heart
pounding waiting for the ending.
I do have to say though that
some of the stuff seemed a little farfetched. There were some
overreactions and wild theories from the characters. I rolled my eyes a
few times because it got a little dramatic but it did not stop me from
reading it. I was pleased with the ending. I would highly recommend this
for fans of thrillers and fast paced novels.
FYI: Great for fans of Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena.
First line: After all the grand celebrations leading to my one
hundredth birthday, I had feared dreadfully that the calendar day itself
would be a disappointment.
Summary: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,
also known as the Queen Mother, took on an important role during the
Second World War. Hitler even called her “the most dangerous woman in
Europe” because of her popularity and determination to stop the Nazi
threat. Using her position she helped Londoners get through the hard
years of bombings and rationing. Her support of her husband and Winston
Churchill made her a force to be reckoned with. She knew and
participated in the most important plans of the war. But even as she was
keeping the countries secrets she was hiding a few of her own.
My Thoughts:
I am not a 100% sure how I feel about this book. As a story it was a
nice easy read. I learned somethings about the time period and the role
of the royals during it. It was interesting to see what life was like
for them. Elizabeth sounds like a fascinating woman. She lived to be
over 100 years old. She saw the world change drastically. I really would
love to read a good biography on her someday.
But I had a hard
time believing some of the secrets she dealt with from her past. When
searching for any confirmation on them I only found one source which was
a tell-all book from a member of the aristocracy. I don’t know how
accurate it is but it made for an interesting story plot. And since the
queen mother is gone it will not be able to be truly known.
First line: Every house has a story to tell and a secret to share.
Summary: Maggie Holt has lived in the shadow of the book, House of Horrors,
written by her father about the time they spent living at Baneberry
House. She has no memories of their time there and cannot get answers
about what really occurred there twenty-five years earlier. When she
learns that she has inherited the house from her father she decides to
go back, against the dying wish of her father, and try to find some
answers.
My Thoughts: I think this is one of my favorite
books by Riley Sager. He does a phenomenal job of creating a tense and
thrilling story. I find it interesting that he always writes women but
he does it so well.
From the very beginning I was hooked on
Maggie’s story. I needed to know what happened just as much as she did. I
could not turn the pages fast enough. I liked how the chapters
alternated between “the Book” and Maggie in present day. The parallels
made me want to keep reading with all the foreshadowing. There were
several scenes where I had to set the book down and breathe a little bit
to get past it.
This definitely has a The Haunting of Hill House vibe to it. A big scary house where a family it tormented. What could be better? But Sager does a great job of making this story his own. He has his classic twists and turns. I could not recommend this enough to anyone who loves a good thriller/ghost story.
FYI: Perfect for fans of The Haunting of Hill House, the Netflix show and book.
Olivia is a 15 year old writer who has participated in many of the library’s writing challenges, including last summer’s Voyager Writing Challenge and this spring’s Bad Guy Writing Challenge. Neutral Zone is a science fiction story that leads the main character through multiple universes to battle against his alternate self!
Check it out below!
Original artwork by Olivia!
Derick slouched in his chair. The seemingly endless babble of his History teacher discouraged any interest he had in the Industrial Revolution, which was none in the first place. He just wanted the class to be over and the weekend to start. He stared blankly at his History book, trying to make sense of it. His teacher was not even talking about the Industrial Revolution at this point, instead about a bet that he made with one of Derick’s classmates. It was something about a race around the school with Derick’s fastest classmate.
Derick shrugged and tried to fill out notes for
the section. He hurried through them, barely reading the section, so he could
finish before the bell, which was supposed to go off in five minutes.
When the clock was in the last minute, Derick
could hear the sea of eager children quickly stacking all the stuff they had in
messy piles on their desks. He was doing it too, so he had no room to judge.
The bell rang and Derick almost had to run out
of the classroom to get to his locker before the hallway became too crowded. He
shoved his stuff in his backpack, closed his locker, and was out the door
before someone could count to ten.
“Hey, dude!” called someone from behind him.
Derick looked over his shoulder to find his friend Chris running after him.
“You’re taking me home today, remember? And what’s got you hurrying?”
“Sorry, I forgot,” Derick answered as he slowed
down a bit for Chris to catch up. “And Mom’s got to go for her yearly check up
today. I didn’t want to miss my chance.”
“You knew I was coming you dumb nut, and okay.”
They both continued to run to Derick’s mom’s car. The red minivan was not hard
to miss. Sprinting across the parking lot was not their best idea, Derick
admitted, but they did get there faster than they would have any other way.
“Boys!” Derick’s mom exclaimed once they got in
the car.
“Sorry for Sprinting,” Derick apologized. “But
the car was over the Verizon.” He added gun fingers.
“Derick no!” Chris said, threatening to get out
of his seat and leave.
“Derick yes!” Derick
retorted. He loved to mess with Chris like that.
His mom sighed. “Can we not have one moment of
peace?” she asked wishfully.
“Nope,” Derick and Chris said at the same time.
The drive home was a quick three minutes. Derick’s
mom dropped them at the front door and drove off. Derick walked up to the door
and rummaged around in his pocket to find the key to the house…
Of which he accidentally left in the long gone
red minivan that belongs to his mom. He face palmed.
“You left the key in the car, didn’t you?” Chris
asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yep,” Derick said.
“Dude, you have a problem. That’s the third time
this week.”
“I know.”
“And your mom’s going to kill you next time you
do it.”
“I know.”
“Just saying.” Chris sat down on the front step.
“You know, that cloud looks like a dragon.”
Derick joined him. “No, it looks like a Star
Destroyer from Star Wars.”
“You and your Star Wars.” Chris said, shaking
his head.
Derick heard
something that sounded like a bomb went off in his backyard. He noticed Chris
was not put off by it. Derick wondered if he was hearing things, but he figured
it would be safe to check anyway.
“Hey, I’m gonna go check on something,” he told
Chris while trying to strain his neck around to see his backyard.
“Sure dude,” Chris shrugged and went back to
stabbing the ground with sticks he found laying in the grass. Derick rolled his
eyes.
Derick quickly climbed over his fence to see
what was going on. He could not believe what he saw. There was a huge crater in
the middle of his backyard. In the center was a short person, about a head
shorter than Derick. He wore a tan short-sleeve shirt with one light green
triangle in the center of the sleeve. The tan color matched the color of his
skin pretty well, but his skin was a tad bit lighter. Under it was an orange
shirt with sleeves that reached his elbows. It was matched with dark brown
cargo shorts. He had light blue shoes on and a sash that contained little
containers full of paint that was pretty much every color of the rainbow. He
had dark brown hair, the color matched Derick’s, and different colored eyes
which seemed to change every few seconds. Some black paint was splatted near
where his nose was, but he did not seem to notice.
Derick
only had about a thousand questions for him, but another person was hovering in
the air. Derick looked again and realized that he was not hovering, but sitting
on a swing made of blood red strings. The strings seemed to be coming from
markings on his arms. He wore a black t-shirt with grey sweats. He had on black
shoes. His skin was a dark brown and his hair pitch black. His crazed grin sent
a shiver down Derick’s spine. He had a bad feeling about this.
“It’s all your fault, Terrace,” the person on the
swing said. “If you let me do my job, we wouldn’t be here, would we?”
“If I let you do your ‘job,’ Vick,” Terrace
said. Derick assumed that was his name because the other person said so. “There
wouldn’t be anything left!”
Derick was
glad both of them had not noticed him yet. They both looked piping mad at each
other and he wanted no part in that. He tried sneaking back over the fence. It
was going well, he almost made it over.
Almost.
Another chill went down his spine. He felt like
he was being watched. He froze, not daring to move.
“Well, what do we have here?” sneered Vick.
Derick could tell it was him because his voice was a lot harsher than
Terrace’s.
“Gosh darn it,” Derick mumbled to himself. He
turned his head back around. He saw both of them now staring at him.
Terrace had a terrified look on his face while
Vick continued to smile. Vick pointed his hand at Derick and his markings
started to glow.
“Don’t do it Vick!” Terrace yelled. “You can’t
kill him! This is the original AW, don’t you know that?” He pronounced ‘AW’ as
two individual letters.
Derick was confused. He had no idea what was
going on.
Vick lowered his hand and his markings stopped
glowing. “What makes you think I was gonna kill him?” he asked Terrace. “You
brought us here anyway.”
“No I didn’t!” Terrace yelled back. “You did!”
Derick noticed that, at this point, their battle
had been forgotten and they now resorted to bickering with each other. Derick
used this time to finish making his way over the fence. He could not leave them
like that in his backyard, so he used a crack in the fence to watch them.
“Hi!” someone exclaimed next to Derick. He
jumped back and turned to look at the person. He was wearing a light grey
t-shirt and dark blue basketball shorts. He had on light blue shoes, which
matched the color of the scarf he had around his neck. His skin tone was the
same as Derick’s, a tan color, light brown hair, and, to Derick’s surprise,
green eyes. He had on a big smile.
“What are you doing here?” Derick asked. He had
no idea who this person was. “It isn’t safe!”
“You mean them?” The person pointed at the
fence, but Derick knew what he meant. “They always do that! That’ll be over
soon!” He giggled. “I’m Cerulean by the way!”
Derick shook Cerulean’s outstretched hand.
“You know them?”
“Of course I do! Terrace is my friend! He helped
create the multiverse and the AWs! Vick destroys the AWs.”
“Hold up, what multiverse?
That’s just a dumb theory. It’s not real!”
“You better believe it! Where you live is called
an Alternate World, or AW for short! Your AW is the first one and mine’s the
second!”
“You’re bluffing!”
“Nope! Derick, everything I said was true!”
“How do you know my name?” Cerulean did not
answer. “I don’t remember telling you.”
Cerulean took a deep breath in and out. “Derick,
I-”
Something blasted the fence gate and destroyed
it. Cerulean and Derick ducked for cover. When he looked up, Derick saw Terrace
run over towards them. “Cerulean!?” he called frantically.
“I’m here!” Cerulean called back from behind a
bush. Terrace looked relieved. “So is Derick!” Cerulean added.
“I’m over here!” Derick
called. He and Cerulean got up from behind the bushes. Derick quickly looked at
the damage to the fence gate. He could not even recognize that there was a
fence there. He further looked around the wreckage into his backyard to check
for Vick.
“What happened?” He heard Cerulean ask Terrace
behind him.
“Well, Vick and I were arguing for a bit and,
well, you know how unstable he is,
he…uh…” Terrace stumbled around for words to
describe it. “Kinda wrapped his strings around part of the porch and threw it
at me. I dodged and it hit the gate. Then I laughed at him for missing me and
he tried to hit me with a fence post. He stormed off to who-knows-where.”
“Man! How am
I going to explain this!” Derick exclaimed. “I’m home for ten minutes and my
backyard looks like I was experimenting with nukes and accidentally exploded
one!” Derick was freaking out.
“Derick!” Terrace yelled. Derick stopped. “I can
fix this, just give me a sec!”
“Really?” Derick scoffed. “This is not a one man jo—” Terrace generated
two paint brushes out of thin air and, with a determined look in his eyes,
proceeded to draw Derick’s backyard back to its original state.
“How?” Derick gaped. He was in shock.
“Terrace is the god of Creativity,” Cerulean
added.
“Oh.” Derick recalled Cerulean saying something
like that earlier.
“Oh yeah! I was going to tell you how I knew
your name!”
“I would still like to know.”
“Well, so, basically, I’M YOU IN MY AW!”
Derick was surprised. He did not see the
connection until then. “So are Terrace and Vick?”
“Yes,” Cerulean said, with less enthusiasm.
“What’s with the nicknames then?”
“Derick, you are more important than you
realize!”
Terrace started laughing, much to both of their
surprise. They both looked at him weirdly. “What?” Terrace asked.
“Does he always do that?” Derick asked Cerulean
quietly.
“Yes, but sometimes it’s a bit different. The
other day, he got really mad at me for no reason. A second later, he apologized
to me for it and claimed he didn’t know what got over him. I think he’s keeping
something from me.” Cerulean whispered back.
“ ‘I got a bad feeling about this,’ ” Derick
said in his best impersonation of Han Solo. Cerulean laughed.
“You want to see something cool?” Cerulean asked
Derick excitedly.
“Sure,” Derick said, winking
one eye and smiling.
Cerulean bounded over to Terrace. “Terrace!! Can
we show him the place??” he asked.
“Which place?” Terrace asked playfully. Derick
could tell Terrace knew which place Cerulean was talking about.
“You know what place, silly!” Cerulean smiled.
“Okay,” Terrace said. “I guess I can do that.”
“Yay!” Cerulean cheered. “Come on, Derick!”
Terrace drew a big portal-like thing with his paint brushes, stepped in, and
disappeared. Cerulean did the same.
Derick did not know if he wanted to go with some
strangers to some place. Scratch that, he wanted to go, he just did not know if
he should. He figured a few moments could not hurt, so he walked through the
portal. Gotta trust myself at some pointhe
sighed. ~~~~~~
Derick had to take a step back. The
teleportation made him a bit queasy, but Terrace reassured him that it was only
because it was his first time.
“Derick, welcome to AW 10,” Terrace said. “Or,
specifically, to Upmost, Earth satellite and a hospitable place for humans.”
At the moment, Derick realized…
He was in space.
Derick had to step back to take in the
breathtaking view of the Earth from space. He could see the sun peaking out
from just over the horizon the Earth made.
“Wait, how can we breathe up here?” Derick
asked.
“This place is covered by a sort of force
field,” Cerulean explained. “I’m not sure exactly how it works, but in the
building over there is a generator that generates oxygen.” Cerulean gestured
toward a whitish-grey covered building in the distance. The building seemed to
be laid out in sections and each section was connected by some sort of
above-ground tunnel.
“Here comes the head man,” Terrace announced.
Derick saw someone emerge from the building. He was taller than all of them and
wore a white lab coat over a dark gray shirt. “Derick, this is Astro. He’s a
future you that’s a scientist. He also runs things around here.”
“Hello,” Astro said. Derick gave him a small
wave. Astro turned his attention towards Terrace. “Terrace, I don’t mind that
you come here, but you have to tell me beforehand, got it?”
“Sorry,” Terrace apologized. “But I had to show
Derick around, Cerulean begged me.”
“This is your one pass,” Astro said.
“Hey Derick!” Cerulean pulled on Derick’s shirt.
“How about I show you around?”
“Okay.” Derick followed Cerulean inside the
building.
Derick
barely paid attention to Cerulean giving him a tour. He really was fascinated
by the structure, but he was not feeling well. Shortly after entering the
building, he heard a ringing sound in his ears. After a while, he also felt
incredibly hot.
“Hey, Cerulean?” Derick started to ask. “Is it
hot in here or what?”
“Derick, are you okay?” Cerulean asked. “This
room is practically a big freezer for all the food here.”
“Nah, I’m fine,” Derick lied. His vision started
to blur. His knees buckled and he fell forward.
“Derick!” Cerulean screamed, but Derick did not
hear him. He had blacked out.
Derick opened his eyes. He seemed to still be in
the building. The air was musty with the smell of blood. A strange fog covered
the area, giving it an eerie feel. Derick started walking around. He saw a
shadowy outline in the fog. After getting a bit closer, he identified the
outline as Cerulean.
Cerulean was really beat up. He had generated
some sort of weapon that hung loosely in his right hand. Derick made a mental
note to ask about it later.
Cerulean noticed Derick. “What are you doing
here? It’s not safe!” Derick heard laughter behind him. “Watch out!” Cerulean
yelled. Derick turned around to try and identify what the threat was. He tried
to move, but he was not fast enough.
He
could feel the terrible pain of a knife piercing his side. His hands flew to
the place where the knife was. He could feel his blood on it. In front of him,
he saw another outline in the fog.
“Who—” Derick started to say but was interrupted
by a coughing fit. He could feel blood trickling down from his mouth. “Who are
you?” he rasped.
“Who am I?” The person stepped out of the fog.
He was wearing a black hoodie and black sweatpants. His hood was pulled over
his eye line and he held another knife. “I’m you, but everyone calls me Blood.”
Blood walked
closer to Derick. “It’s so nice to haunt your dreams. Too bad you’re not
actually here. This would have been so much more fun if so.” Derick only
stared. He knew he did not have the strength to run.
Blood stood in front of Derick. He smiled. “You
must have thought Vick was the only one.” Blood pulled out the knife that was
wedged in Derick. The ripping motion reopened the wound and blood flowed out of
it. Derick desperately tried to stop the blood flow with his hands and, while
doing so, sank to his knees. He felt a hand grip his hair, forcing his head to
tilt upward. He saw Blood’s merciless eyes staring back.
“Silly,” he laughed. “There are a lot of us.”
Blood stabbed Derick again. “Goodbye, for now.”
Derick jolted awake. He saw Terrace and Cerulean
staring at him. He grew a little uncomfortable. He seemed to be in some sort of
infirmary. “Welcome back, Derick,” he heard Astro say. Derick got up from what
resembled a hospital bed. He felt a weird pain from his side.
The pain was
close to nothing, but it was enough to remind Derick about his dream, if it
could even be called that. He could still perfectly picture the knife in his
side and Blood laughing at him. He all of a sudden wanted to get out of the
building.
Derick walked out of the room before anyone
could say anything. Somehow, his feet remembered which way he entered from. He
could hear Cerulean following him; Derick knew it was him because he was
calling Derick’s name. He continued on.
He finally
found his way to the exit. He was going to open the door, but his side started
hurting more. He figured it was because he had been running, so he casted it
aside. He tried to open the door again, but Cerulean caught up with him.
“Derick!” Cerulean yelled. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Derick said. “I just need some fresh
air.” He reached again for the handle.
“That’s not a good reason why you bolted off!”
At this point, Derick’s side was throbbing
with pain. Derick opened the door.
~~~~~~
Derick was
planning on going through the door, but he did not. He took a step back and
stared forward. Speak of the devilDerick
thought.
“What’s wrong?” Cerulean asked. He also looked
forward and flinched.
“Aww, this is so cute,” Blood said. “I actually
get to kill someone.”
“When you said ‘for now,’ I didn’t think you
meant in five minutes,” Derick said, trying to be funny for his own sake.
Blood was obviously not amused. “Your humor is
stupid,” he said. He took a step forward. Out of the corner of his eye Derick
saw Cerulean generate a slingshot. That’swhat that wasDerick
realized.
“Don’t come any closer!” Cerulean warned.
“Or what? You’re going to hit me with that?”
Blood laughed. “You can’t aim!”
“Yes I can!” To prove his point, Cerulean flung
a rock like object at Blood. It hit him in the face. It did not seem to hurt
him, but it did surprise him.
Blood was furious. He generated a knife. “This
has your name on it Cerulean.”
“Get behind me, Derick,” Cerulean ordered “So he
can’t hit you.” Derick did what he was told.
“I already
did,” Blood smiled. He snapped his fingers. Derick’s side started hurting as
much as it did in his dream. Again, he imagined a knife in his side. He grabbed
onto Cerulean’s shirt to try to stay standing.
“Derick!” Cerulean shrieked. He put his arms
around Derick to steady him. Cerulean looked back at Blood “What did you do?!”
“No, Cerulean,” Blood shook his head “It’s ‘what
did you do?’” Cerulean flinched. “You’ve kept the truth long enough. Heck,
you’ve lied to keep the truth. Now what kind of friend is that?”
“Cerulean, what is he talking about?” Derick
asked. He was skeptical about what Blood was saying but Cerulean’s reaction
made it seem like it was true. “What truth?”
“It’s nothing,” Cerulean said. Cerulean did not
make eye contact with Derick.
“‘Nothing’? I’ve been living ‘nothing’ my whole
life?!” Blood spat. “I’m only here because of you! Do you know what it’s like
to be made of someone’s insecurities? Huh?”
“I didn’t know it would turn out like this!”
Cerulean said.
“Oh, so you ‘didn’t know’ you were lying about
Terrace? Is that how this is going? And now you’re pulling not just another
person, but the original into this?”
Derick was completely lost. The pain in his side
subsided, finally, but Cerulean would not let go of him. Somehow, he felt like
he needed to be strong for Cerulean. “I don’t get it,” Derick asked. “Who are
you?” He directed the question at Blood.
Cerulean answered. “He’s me, Derick.” Derick
just stared at him. “In my… our AW, people are born with the natural ability to
do magic. Some are better than others. And you can be whatever you want to be!”
“But that’s true for everyone…?” Derick half
asked.
“Well, I took it more literal than everyone else. I wanted to be the
best me I could be by locking away almost all of my negative traits. It took
almost all of my magic to do, but I was a better person. I loved it!
“Over time, all those negative feelings grew a
literal mind of their own. First, it was just nightmares. Those nightmares gave
me back my regret. And then, after a while, they had a body that followed me
around like a ghost. He was stable at first. He gave me criticism, but I mostly
ignored it.
“You actually heard me?” Blood looked surprised.
“Yes,” Cerulean answered. “Anyway, I met at Terrace
one day. I showed Terrace around my home, and we became friends. When he asked
if I wanted to go with him, I immediately said yes. He showed me his favorite
places in the AWs, and we had fun. During this, I didn’t realize my negative
ghost was gone. When I finally did, I was concerned, actually.
“Yeah right,” Blood scoffed.
”I’m not kidding. I was so used to the constant
commentary that I felt weird without it. Well, the days went on and I met
Blood, he was calling himself that, truly on accident. I recognized him
instantly.”
“So you’ve lied about this instead of telling
the truth?” Derick pieced together. “I know the truth is very important. While
you were telling the story, did you realize Blood lost the insane look he had
before?” Cerulean was stunned. So was Blood. “The more you lied, the more piled
on Blood, the more crazy he seemed, and the more positive you were.” As a joke,
he added. “Come on, you guys do magic. You’re, like, ten times more powerful
than me.” Cerulean laughed. Blood chuckled a bit too.
“You are going to explain to him this one,”
Cerulean said to Blood.
“Fine,” Blood took a deep breath. “Derick, you
know you are the original, right?”
“Yes?” Derick said. He did not know why that
mattered.
“You get certain powers because of that. The
most important one is that if you die outside your AW, all other yous die and
all AWs collapse and there goes the multiverse. You can traverse the multiverse
without help and…um…”
“We don’t know all of those powers,” Cerulean finished.
“Wow,” Derick said. “That’s awesome! I have one
question though.”
“Shoot for it,” Cerulean said.
“Are you ready to tell Terrace?”
“I don’t know. I’ll need time. I’ve known him
longer and I don’t know if he’ll take it well.”
“We’ll tell him together, all three of us,”
Derick assured Cerulean. “In about five seconds.”
“What?!” Cerulean and Blood said at the same
time.
The door slammed open. “Oh my gosh! Did someone
die?” Terrace demanded. Derick saw that he had his paintbrushes out.
“Everyone is alive!” Derick yelled back.
“Not while he’s here!” Terrace started at Blood.
Cerulean stepped in between them.
“We have something to tell you,” Cerulean said.
~~~
It took a while, but the three of them told
Terrace the whole story. Terrace took it surprisingly well.
“Do we have to tell Astro that Terrace broke the
door?” Derick asked.
“Nah, Terrace will fix it,” Cerulean assured
Derick.
“He was you the whole time?!” Terrace asked.
Cerulean nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to think less of me,” Cerulean
admitted. “And I was ashamed of it.” “Cerulean, you’re my friend. I would
never.” Terrace gave Cerulean a reassuring smile.
Derick was happy for the two. He could not help
but glance in Blood’s direction. “So,” Derick started. “What will you do now? I
mean, you have things sorted out with Cerulean, and you’re done with that knife
trick of yours.”
“Who said I was?” Blood smirked. Derick felt a
bit of pain from his side. He elbowed Blood. “Hey, I was kidding.”
“How do you do that anyway?” Derick asked.
“Magic.” Blood grinned. Derick glared at him.
“Well, I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”
“This may seem stupid, but what if you helped
the multiverse?”
“Me?” Blood laughed. “I’m the literal opposite
of the hero type.”
“Cerulean just admitted to being ashamed. Maybe
you two share some emotions instead of trade them off.”
“Derick, I’ve killed a lot of people. How am I
going to come back from that?”
“One step at a time. You’ll have to give
yourself some sort of chance at redemption.”
“You are very hopeful.” Blood stared up at the
stars. “I’ll consider it.”
Derick smiled. He noticed that Astro was coming
out of the building. “Terrace! The door!” Derick shouted.
“Shoot!” Terrace exclaimed. He quickly repainted
the door. It reminded Derick about his yard. For the first time during the
trip, Derick felt homesick.
He chuckled to himself. “Man, my life will never
be the same after this,” he said.
“Welcome to the club,” Blood said. “If Cerulean
doesn’t throw off any more negativity, I can finally act sane for once. It’ll
be nice.” He smiled.
“Derick! Are you ready to go home?” Terrace
called.
“Not yet!” Derick called back. He looked at
Blood. “After all you put me through, I’m going to miss you.”
“Heh, me too,” Blood said. “I might just have to
invade your dreams again.”
“If you do, pick somewhere less creepy, okay?”
Derick and Blood both laughed. Derick had a feeling that, deep down, something
sparked in Blood.
“In that case, see you on the flip side,” Blood said.
“Make sure you talk to Cerulean, it looks like he has something for you.”
“Okay,” Derick waved back at Blood before
walking over to Cerulean.
“Oh, Derick!” Cerulean said. “Thank you for
giving me another chance! I did a terrible thing and I told big lies to cover
it up and I just went about it the wrong way and I really should have known
better and—” Cerulean was almost in tears.
“Cerulean,” Derick said, cutting Cerulean off.
He looked Cerulean in the eyes. “It’s okay. Making mistakes is what makes us
human. It’s not healthy to beat yourself up about it. You have to accept that
you did something wrong so you can move on.”
“I don’t think Blood will let me.”
“Yes he will. He’s as done with the lies as you
are.”
Cerulean grinned. “Thank you, again, Derick.”
“Anytime.”
“That reminds me!” Cerulean held out a piece of
paper. “It’s my number. If you need anything, just ask!”
“Okay, give me a quick second,” Terrace created
a portal. “See you, Derick.”
“Come by anytime, Terrace!” Derick smiled. He went through the portal
and ended up back in his backyard. He waved at his new friends through the
portal before it closed. He climbed back over his fence.
“Hey dude,” Chris said. “Did you see something?”
“Well,” Derick looked back at his backyard. “I
guess you could say that.”
“Cool.”
~~~
Derick’s mom was disappointed with Derick. After
she dropped Chris back at his house, she talked to Derick about being
responsible with things that were not his. Derick promised to do better.
After dinner, when Derick had enough time to
himself, he whipped out his phone. He took out the slip of paper in his pocket.
He entered in Cerulean’s phone number. He was about to close the contact when
he saw the words “dial (-) first” scribbled on the back of the slip. He
completed the contact. He took a deep breath. He hoped it worked and he would
not accidentally text some random person instead. He texted “Heya, it’s Derick.”
The response was almost instant. “Hi Derick!
It’s Cerulean!” Derick smiled. He had a feeling he would see him again soon.
Above everything, he was really tired. He had had too much excitement for one
day. He said good night to his parents and went to bed.
It did not last long. Derick woke up to a
crashing sound. He reached over to his light switch and flicked it on. He saw
Cerulean tangled up in a cord. Derick was not sure what it was to. “Why are you
here, Cerulean?” he said groggily. “It’s probably midnight.”
“It’s eleven,” Cerulean said. “And we need your
help!”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Derick was not fully
awake. He was not thinking straight.
“This calls for drastic measures!” Cerulean gave
someone behind Derick a thumbs up.
In an instant, Derick felt a cold liquid poor
down his shirt. That woke him up.
“What the—” Derick started to say. He looked
behind him. He saw Blood laughing his head off. “Guys, my parents!”
“Okay, I’ll meet you there.” Derick took a deep
breath. “I’m going to try it.”
“Be careful,” Blood said. He and Cerulean
disappeared.
Derick had no idea how to teleport. Well, he had
one. He cleared his mind and closed his eyes. He thought about the spectacular
view of Earth from Upmost.
A second later, he opened his eyes. He found
himself in the same spot he thought about. He pumped his fist in the air.
“Oh good! You made it!” Cerulean said.
“Cerulean was worried sick,” Blood said. “He
wanted to go back to help you, but I told him you’d be fine.”
“How were you so sure?” Derick asked. Blood
pointed to Derick’s side.
“We have a small link now,” he said. “Don’t
worry, it can only do dreams and really good hunches.”
“How long will it be there?” Blood shrugged. All
three of them laughed.
“We should probably get going,” Cerulean said.
“Terrace is waiting inside the building.”
They walked towards the door. Derick felt ready.
He knew that whatever Vick was doing would be stopped by the four of them.
He felt truly invincible.
Look out for Olivia’s sequel called Red Strings coming soon to the blog!
First line: The girl in the white dress had her mother’s brain and her father’s heart, and a spark that was entirely her own.
Summary: Padme, Queen Amidala, has just been elected as the new queen of Naboo. With it comes changes. The captain of her guard is extremely worried about her safety. In order to protect his queen he decides to look for body doubles who could stand in for her in dangerous times. As he gathers her handmaidens the young women form a lasting bond and a devotion to their new queen. It is tested earlier than they thought when the Trade Federation forms a blockade around the peaceful planet leading to the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
My Thoughts:
Once again I really enjoyed Johnston’s look into the world of Padme.
She is a strong female character who gets overlooked in the movie
trilogies. I love seeing more behind the scenes and expansion on the
movies. Even though Padme is the leading lady we also get a look into
the lives of handmaidens. They each had different backgrounds that
helped prepare the queen for the trials ahead.
I remember seeing The Phantom Menace
in the theaters (multiple times) As with many fans it is not my
favorite but this book gave me a new appreciation for it. This is why
the books are so important to the movies. Extra is given to the readers.
We get more details, backstory and heart.
I hope that Johnston writes more in this “series” or adds to the Star Wars
canon. I have enjoyed each and every one of her stories so far. I love
that authors have brought even more of Star Wars universe to us and done
it so well.
FYI: If you enjoy this then try Claudia Gray’s Star Wars novels too!
First line: “I was born under a Neem tree, probably in 1985.”
I
have felt at various times in my life that our country has lost its
way. But at her best, I believe the United States can still be a shining
example of democratic ideals–a nation that inspires hope of a better
life and delivers on it.
Summary: Abdi liked to try out his best Michael Jackson moves for his friends and hung posters of American stars on his bedroom walls, despite his mother’s disapproval. Born in the countryside, Abdi’s family moves to Mogadishu, Somalia after a drought decimates their herds. His father becomes a successful basketball player and takes his sons out on the town. Abdi loves the city life, but soon his city is unrecognizable. Abdi watches as warlords overthrow the government and take control, killing indiscriminately and destroying Mogadishu. Abdi’s family is forced to flee.
Abdi, his brother, and his pregnant mother get
separated from his father and eventually return to war-torn Mogadishu,
having nowhere else to go. As Abdi says: “I am six years old and
learning that nowhere in the world is safe.” The once cosmopolitan city
has been reduced to rubble, and dead bodies pollute the roads.
A
neighbor starts showing American movies in her garage and kids crowd
around the tiny television screen to watch. While others talk through
the dialogue, Abdi studies it closely and finds he had a knack for
English. He idolizes Arnold Schwarzenegger and the brave Americans he
sees on-screen. Thus, he becomes known as Abdi American. So when U.S.
troops arrive to restore the freedom he used to know, he cheers them on.
Then he watches in horror as the militiamen violently defeat the
soldiers and parade their bodies through the streets.
To
make matters worse, al-Shabbaab, a radical Islamist group, rises to
power. With each passing year, the options for Abdi’s future narrow.
Teenage boys are recruited and kidnapped by al-Shabaab, and his only way
out is to become a madrassa teacher or flee. In his escape to Kenya,
Abdi faces many setbacks. But then a life-changing event: Abdi has a
chance encounter with an American journalist and they exchange
information.
Life in Kenya is still fraught with danger. With the help of the journalist he met, Abdi risks his life leaving the safety of his apartment to secretly record his story. His account is broadcast on NPR and BBC radio programs for millions to hear. After overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, and with the help of several dedicated people and a stroke of luck, Abdi American finally makes it to safety in the United States.
My thoughts: Abdi’s memoir offers a glimpse of what life is like in war-torn regions and sheds a light on the limited options available to those who live in them. I take democracy for granted, but Abdi wasn’t lucky enough to. It’s shocking to witness how quickly this modern capital city with restaurants and theaters is destroyed.
On a positive
note, it’s refreshing to see the United States viewed through Abdi’s
eyes. The idealized version of this country he imagines growing up
becomes more complicated once he actually arrives, but I think it’s safe
to say Abdi still loves America. And I like to think he’s still
practicing those dance moves.
Summary: Marcie Maddox has fought hard for the life she has. She is the second wife of a rich and successful Savannah lawyer. Lunch at the Country Club and a giant house is her new normal. However, when her husband’s business partner returns from England with a young new wife, life in her social circle gets turned upside down.
Keisha, a young girl from
London, married the rich William Radford IV. She is completely different
from his first wife. It seems like being a rich wife will be an escape
from her family and their poor life. But William plans to train her to
be the obedient wife.
As these two women meet and become friends
life starts to change for both of them. Weird appearances and pieces of
dark magic start to surround them. Who or what is trying to destroy
their lives?
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this! I was
worried when I started it that it would not live up to my expectations
because of its low rating on Goodreads. But I was pleasantly surprised!
All the characters are awful. There is no one that is likeable. They are
all flawed and have dark pasts but that was one of the things I enjoyed
the most. I had to find out how it was going to end.
This is a
fun mixture of thriller, high society, and voodoo. What’s not to enjoy?
The beginning centers on establishing the characters. We meet everyone
and get snippets of what their lives have been to this point. And then
it all comes to a point. All the secrets are released. So many suspects
and theories. It was a wild ride that I highly recommend for a fast
summer thriller!
