Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs

Image: Penguin Random House

The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs. Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series #6. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~15 hours. Narrated by Kirby Heyborne. Listening Library, February, 2021. 9780593415306. (Review of downloadable e-audiobook borrowed from the public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs. This sixth book of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children is the series finale. It is absolutely imperative that the books get read in order. Book five, The Conference of Birds, ended in a cliffhanger and book six picks right up. There will be no spoilers here, except to say that the pace is fast, furious and fairly violent. Fans of the series will absolutely need to read this finale because all of Peculiardom is in jeopardy and chances are, they've come to care about Jacob Portman and his friends.

The audiobooks have been narrated by Kirby Heyborne, who performs an impressive array of voices and imbues energy and emotion into the tale. 

Teen Tuesday: The King of Crows by Libba Bray

Image: LBYR

The King of Crows by Libba Bray. Diviners Series #4. 560 p. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, February, 2020. 9780316532624. (Review of book borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The King of Crows by Libba Bray. This book concludes the paranormal quartet that started ten years ago with The Diviners. This series is not for the faint of heart. The books are massively long (over 500 pages in each, with one weighing in at nearly 600). The stories contain  quite a bit of violence and are absolutely terrifying, but rich in history. The 1920s New York City setting of the first three books is quite vivid and the characters are flawed and memorable. 

Wanted by the U.S. government and still hunted by the Shadow Men, the Diviners have to leave the city in search of a girl in Nebraska who has contacted Isiah telepathically. The friends get separated and what ensues is basically a road trip across America showing some of the uglier sides of our history - the rampant racism and sexism that oppressed people of color and women. Henry, Memphis and Bill head to New Orleans on a train; Jericho and Ling hide out with a traveling all-girl jazz band; and Evie, Theta, Isiah and Sam join a traveling circus. Mature teen readers who have read the first three books will not be disappointed.
I fell in love with this book on page one. Even though it was forever since Before the Devil Takes you and longer since I gobbled up an arc of The Diviners, I picked up with Evie and her crew immediately. Bray has the ability to immerse the reader in the world she has created. Her writing is gorgeously literary yet accessible. Her characters are memorable. Some are absolutely terrifying; but you wouldn't mind grabbing a beer and hanging with others. And, her political commentary is astute in nearly all her books.

I will admit that the story did lag a bit in the middle and the man in the stovepipe hat wasn't nearly as frightening as in the earlier books. Still, I did have to read the climax through freely flowing tears. I can't wait to see what Libba Bray has planned for us next. 

Friday Memes: The King of Crows by Libba Bray

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

Image: LBYR

The King of Crows by Libba Bray. Diviners #4. 552 p. Little, Brown and Company, February 4, 2020. 9780316126090.

Publisher synopsis: After the horrifying explosion that claimed one of their own, the Diviners find themselves wanted by the US government, and on the brink of war with the King of Crows.

While Memphis and Isaiah run for their lives from the mysterious Shadow Men, Isaiah receives a startling vision of a girl, Sarah Beth Olson, who could shift the balance in their struggle for peace. Sarah Beth says she knows how to stop the King of Crows-but, she will need the Diviners' help to do it.

Elsewhere, Jericho has returned after his escape from Jake Marlowe's estate, where he has learned the shocking truth behind the King of Crow's plans. Now, the Diviners must travel to Bountiful, Nebraska, in hopes of joining forces with Sarah Beth and to stop the King of Crows and his army of the dead forever.

But as rumors of towns becoming ghost towns and the dead developing unprecedented powers begin to surface, all hope seems to be lost.

In this sweeping finale, The Diviners will be forced to confront their greatest fears and learn to rely on one another if they hope to save the nation, and world from catastrophe...

First Line: On the last day that the town of Beckettsville would ever know, the weather was so fine you could see all the way to the soft blue skin of the horizon.

Page 56: "A spot came open with a band, the Harlem Haymakers, and I had to jump on it. They have their own bus and everything. I'll be gone about three months. Maybe longer. It's a good way to make money and a name for myself and...Oh, horsefeathers, Ling. I need to leave New York. All these ghosts. And...us."

Teen Tuesday: Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Image: Scholastic

Teen Tuesday features Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater. This is book one of the Dreamer Trilogy, and is a spin off/ companion novel of sorts to The Raven Cycle Quartet. One technically does not need to have read the quartet to enjoy the bizarre and dangerous world Stiefvater has created in Call Down the Hawk. It is peopled by fascinating characters from sinister to endearing. Obscure and atmospheric Stiefvater excels at keeping the reader off-balance and guessing. She also delights and confounds with imagery and withering commentaries on life and human nature. 

Ronan Lynch isn't just pining for Adam Parrish while Adam's away at Harvard, he's the target of a government-funded assassin. Dreamers have been linked to an end-of-the-world prophecy and they are turning up dead all around the world. 

If you like paranormal suspense or if you read and enjoyed The Raven Cycle, you will love Call Down the Hawk. Will Patton narrates superbly using his growly voice to good effect here. 

Middle Grade Monday: City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Image: Scholastic

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab. 290 p. Cassidy Blake series #1. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., August, 2018. 9781338111002. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Middle Grade Monday features City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab on this penultimate Monday of summer vacay. My fans of horror know that I'm am a scaredy cat when it comes to the genre. But this book is so consistently checked out and student after student have told me that I MUST read it, I put on my big-girl pants and finally got to it. Wowsers! So good!

Cassidy Blake's parents are famous writers and "ghost hunters." They are more interested in studying the history behind the stories and the people who believe than believers themselves though. They are totally unaware that their own daughter can "cross the veil" and that her best friend, Jacob is "corporeally challenged." Cass has had this ability since her near-drowning the previous year. Now, she and her parents are headed to Edinburgh to film a television show about their work and little do her parents know, there are ghost all around them in this 900 year old city.

This suspenseful page-turner teems with atmosphere and tension. Thank goodness there's a good bit of humor to relieve the suspense. Cassidy and Jacob charm as best buds. The Raven in Red terrifies. The setting is so vivid, I want to visit Edinburgh now. And, I can't wait for Cassidy's next adventure. Check in this Wednesday to find out more.

#tbt: Hidden Talents by David Lubar

Image: Macmillan

Hidden Talents by David Lubar. 224 p. Talents #1. TOR/ Macmillan, June, 1999. 

#tbt features Hidden Talents by David Lubar. This first part of a paranormal duology released twenty years ago. It is the story of Martin Anderson, who, having been expelled from every school he's ever attended, has reached the end of the line - Edgeview Alternative School. He finds he's even a misfit there among all the misfits. He does find a tribe and soon discovers the reason behind his and his peers inability to fit in. Each has an unusual ability. An ability that the system thinks makes them freaks. Martin sets out to prove them wrong. Lubar's strength as a writer lies in astute observation of the difficult truths of being a teen while making the reader laugh in either recognition or sympathy.

Teen Tuesday: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. Raven Cycle series #1. Scholastic Inc., September, 2012. 9780545424929. (Own)

Teen Tuesday features The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater. The Raven Boys is book one of a four book paranormal series called The Raven Cycle. Blue Sargent lives in Henrietta, Virginia in a family of psychics but has no psychic power herself. She is cursed by the prophecy that she will kill her true love with their first kiss. Henrietta is also the location of Aglionby Academy, an exclusive prep school for rich boys. Blue is not interested in them, but one boy, Gansey, is on a quest. He is hoping to find an ancient Welsh king. This work of magical realism is peopled with fascinating characters and set in a town so vivid it is almost a character itself. 

Teen Tuesday: A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge. Unabridged audiobook on one MP3 CD. 12 hours, 4 minutes. Read by Hallie Ricardo. Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio, January 2018. 978154368924. (Own)

In 17th century England, class lines are firmly entrenched but that does not stop the aristocracy from dalliances with the help. The bastard children of these trysts are usually discarded without a second thought, but in the case of the Fellmottes, if the bastard child possesses a certain gift, a family trait not as obvious as the Fellmotte cleft chin, then that child has value.

It is a time of civil unrest in England as Parliament and the king are at odds. The Fellmottes have allied with the king. It is in their best interests for him to stay in power. Makepeace knows she is a bastard child but has no idea who her father is. She has grown up among Puritans with her strict and secretive mother. When she shows signs of having what we learn to be the Fellmotte trait, her mother takes to locking her in a graveyard at night to "toughen her up." Her birth father is a mystery to her until her mother is killed during a riot and an agent from the Fellmotte family comes to claim her when her aunt no longer wants responsibility for her.

First she is imprisoned in a third story room and subjected to inhumane "treatment" for her ills. Then, she's made to work in the kitchen where she forms bonds with the dogs and her half-brother James. James and Symmond, the eventual heir of the estate are close but Symmond harbors a secret. 

While I am not quite satisfied with my synopsis of A Skinful of Shadows, it'll have to do. Hardinge creates such complex, nuanced, unpredictable, original plots that they are difficult to wrap up in a tidy little summary. I don't have too many readers sophisticated enough for her books in my library but I am so glad to have them for that special middle school reader.

The sights, sounds and smells of 17th century England come alive in Hardinge's hands. The writing is lovely; the large cast of characters are intriguing and the suspense builds slowly.

I will admit to some bemusement over a narrator using an American accent to narrate a British novel that takes place in England. New-to-me narrator Haillie Ricardo has an arsenal of voices and accents from Scottish to lower and upper class British accents to depict the many characters and make them stand out.

Teen Tuesday: Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray. The Diviners book 3. Unabridged audiobook on seventeen compact discs. 21 hours and 21 minutes. Read by January LaVoy. PenguinRandom House, October, 2017. 9780449808832. (Reviewed from finished recording borrowed from public library. Print copy purchased.)

This Teen Tuesday is not for the faint of heart or the average middle school reader. Additionally, don't read Before the Devil Breaks You without reading the first two books of The Diviners series, The Diviners and Lair of Dreams. This paranormal horror story is set in New York City during the Roaring 20s. Evil has been unleashed on the world and the ghosts are restless. They are being amassed by The King of Crows, aka The Man in the Stovepipe Hat, and it's up to The Diviners to get to the bottom of the mystery of who was responsible for releasing the king. Spectral menaces are not the only danger for the crew. The Shadow Men are also after them. As the Diviners move closer to uncovering the meaning of The Buffalo Project, their lives are at risk. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for the next installment.

I adore this series. I read The Diviners as an arc with my eyes and reread it with my ears when the book released. I was positutely tickled by January LaVoy's performance. She really brought an already amazing story to yet another level of brilliance. I made a conscious decision to read Lair of Dreams with my ears. Again, the range of LaVoy's voices and her consistent excellence in keeping track of all those distinct voices is just astonishing. Before the Devil Breaks You hits the ground running. New characters are introduced. The suspense ratchets up. Surprises are unfolded. All-in-all, quite magnificent and chilling.

Fire and Ice (Spirit Animals Book 4) by Shannon Hale

Fire and Ice (Spirit Animals Book 4) by Shannon Hale. 185 p. Scholastic Inc., June, 2014. 9780545522465. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review)

Confession time: I must own up to reacting with a bit of yawn upon receiving an arc of Wild Born, book one of this new multi-platform, multi-author series from Scholastic. I did not rush to read it. I found the 39 Clues series to be a bit over-the-top and never read any of its spin-offs as my patrons (middle school) really never asked for them. I read and enjoyed the first book or two of the Infinity Ring series, but they don't circulate either. For some reason, my kids don't find time travel books appealing. I have a few faves that are a really hard sell. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead seems to be the lone exception.

It wasn't until the second and third books came my way for review about the same time a fifth grader came into the library looking for the series that I settled in to read book one. Click here for my review of books 1 - 3.

In Fire and Ice, the four young heroes and their adult companions journey to Arctica in the frozen north in search of the talisman of Suka, the polar bear. I mentioned in my review of the earlier installments that the action got a bit repetitive. 
Not so in Fire and Ice. This one's the best one yet. It's layered, a bit more introspective and, um, obscure. There's a fair amount of description of the seemingly barren, frigid land and the people who inhabit it are rather unique, a bit unfriendly and very difficult to read. Rollin, whose strength is reading people and situations has difficulty sussing out these folks. Some young readers may miss the violent clashes between the Greencloaks and the Devourers but I kind of enjoyed the break. In each book, one of the four seems to confront difficult choices and it's Rollin's turn to keep some secrets here.

If readers up till this point are wondering, as I was, how the Devourers seem to know or anticipate their every move, answers might be due in book five, Against the Tide by Tui T. Sutherland, due out September 30. It seems there is a traitor in the midst. I also discovered that a "special edition," Tales of the Great Beast by Brandon Mull and others is due out in October.  

 

Spirit Animals Series

Scholastic rules the roost with multi-author, multi-platform series. The newest one to come down the pipes is Spirit Animals. Seven books are planned, each written by a different author. Click here to read the line-up of authors. I read the first three pretty much in a row and am reviewing them together.

Wild Born (Spirit Animals #1) by Brandon Mull. 224 p. Scholastic Inc., September, 2013. 9780545522434. (Purchased).

Wild Born (Spirit Animals #1) by Brandon Mull. Unabridged audiobook on 5 compact discs. Read by Nicola Barber. Scholastic Inc., September, 2013. 9780545600385.

Hunted (Spirit Animals #2) by Maggie Stiefvater. 185 p. Scholastic Inc., January, 2104. 9780545522441. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Blood Ties (Spirit Animals #3) by Garth Nix & Sean Williams. 186 p. Scholastic Inc., March, 2014. 9780545522458. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)


In the world of Erdas, there is a rite of passage for every child, regardless of class, around their eleventh birthday. They must drink the Nectar provided by a Greencloak in a public ceremony to determine whether the child will summon and bond with a spirit animal. Four different children, two girls and two boys, in four different parts of Erdas summon the Four Fallen, the four animals who sacrificed their lives defending Erdas against the Devourer and his followers many years before. It seems that the followers of the Devourer are rising in power again and the Four Fallen have returned to assist the Greencloaks in a new battle. 

Conor, servant to Devon, the son of the earl, summons Briggan, a wolf. Devon is furious and embarrassed because he did not summon a spirit animal as he expected. Rollin is a jailed orphan and totally uninterested in the Nectar ceremony or becoming a Greencloak, yet he summons Essix, a hawk when the Greencloak insists. Meilin, disciplined warrior-daughter of a general, is disappointed to have Jhi, a peaceful panda as her spirit animal. Abeke, thought she would become her tribe's rainmaker. Instead, she summons Uraza, the leopard and unknowingly spends time training with some minions of the Devourer before being rescued by the Greencloaks.

I listened to books one and two. The narration by Nicola Barber was measured. The pace was almost leisurely despite the increasing conflict and number of battle scenes. 

In book 2, each of the four have inner conflict added to their quest to obtain some talismans before the Devourers. They also have to improve the bond between themselves and their spirit animal as well as learn to trust each other. Unfortunately, they need to do this without the guidance of their adult mentors for the most part. Conor and Meilin make crucial decisions that put the needs of their family before the needs of Erdas

In book 3, there is some dissension in the group as Meilin has left to aide her father and Abeke and Rollin's trust in Conor is gone. The four are at their most vulnerable just as The Devourers seem to be strengthening.

While some of the action seems a bit predictable and slightly repetitive, there has been enough character development and interesting twists to ensure that readers (at least this old fogey) stay invested in continuing the story. Readers who visit the series website can create their own spirit animal, play games and join forums. Book 4, Fire and Ice by Shannon Hale is due out June 24.

Audio Review: Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

Narrated by Katherine Kellgren. Unabridged audiobook on 7 CDS. 8 hours, 1 minute. Macmillan Audio, September, 2012. 9781427222176. (Audiobook obtained at Odyssey reception at ALA Annual)

This 2013 Odyssey Honor tells two stories seamlessly. In 1873, a young naturalist named Ezra Doyle discovers a mermaid named Syrenka during his journeys along the coast off Plymouth, Massachusetts. The two fall in love and meet secretly until they are discovered by a fisherman, whose nets happen to ensnare Syrenka. 

In modern-day Plymouth, seventeen-year-old Hester lives with the knowledge that all of her female relatives, her mother, grandmother and reaching back for generations have died within days of giving birth to their daughters. So Hester closed off her heart to the possibility of romance, choosing to ignore the signals that her best friend Peter is giving and hating the fact that she is hurting him. All her resolve weakens when she meets Ezra on the beach one night. It is through Ezra that Hester begins to piece together the beginnings of the curse that befell her family.

For some reason, I nearly abandoned this before the end of the first disk. I found either the performance or the language a bit overwrought. While I have loved most of Kellgren's performances, I wasn't a fan of her narration of the Kane Chronicles, so I may have brought some of that bias to this listening. I'm glad I stuck it out though because I was soon immersed in both worlds and very eager to learn the outcome. 

Kellgren seemed to dial back a bit and settle into what she does best, accents. Each character had a unique and distinct voice. I also thought the pacing was perfect. I wanted her to hurry up a bit, instead of feeling like I was being yanked along at a breathless pace. 

As mermaids stories go, I was glad that Elizabeth Fama kept hers "real." These were wild creatures with fangs and claws who hunt for subsistence. But the most jarring violence is the human reaction. Olaf, the fisherman brutally rapes Syrenka and impregnates her. It is mainly this scene which pushes the readership of this lovely, dark and tragic tale into high school though a mature and thoughtful eighth grader could handle it. 

The worldbuilding in both times is vivid. All the characters are so well drawn, even the minor ones. I so wanted more of the pastor and Peter. I've been to Plimouth Plantation three or four times because I help chaperon the seventh grade trip to Boston and there. I felt she captured the occasional awkwardness of the reactions of young teens well as well as describing the place and its juxtaposition in the real world. 

Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac

358 p. Tu Books/ Lee & Low Books, October 1, 2013.  9781620141434. (Review from arc provided by publisher at 
ALA Annual)

Sometime in the future, the world is ruled by the "haves" known as the Ones, people that could afford to genetically enhance themselves to the point where they are nearly immortal and not very human. Of course, they surrounded themselves with small armies of bodyguards to ensure their safety and they were served by the "have-nots," everyone else.

That was BC, before the Cloud that descended on Earth and destroyed all technology. The top tier of Ones were instantaneously fried, but the lower tiers, the Ones who weren't quite as genetically modified, managed to survive, form uneasily alliances with other Ones and set up compounds in which they are served by surviving have-nots behind prison walls in which the guards are on the look-out for monsters known as gemods (think eagle as big as an airbus) instead of preventing any escape by the have-nots.

Seventeen-year-old Lozen is a have-not, but thanks to her father and uncle's combat training, as well as familial and cultural traditions and a blood line that could be traced back to the original Lozen, who fought with Geronimo, Lozen is prized for her hunting skills and kept in line by the constant threat to her mother, sister and brother's lives by the four Ones who run their prison/ compound.

Killer of Enemies hits the ground running and allows the reader neither rest nor breath. I wanted to read it in one sitting. Indeed, it was difficult to put down but I had to for fear of having a heart attack.

Lozen is a truly kick-ass heroine, loyal and powerful, someone I wouldn't want to cross and one I'd definitely want watching my back. The desert setting is vivid - unforgiving and beautiful. The genetically modified monsters (gemods) were terrifying and wonderous; but perhaps not as terrifying as the four duplicitous Ones and their bodyguards.

This genre-blender is a true original. I have purposely left the synopsis vague and sketchy. Discover it for yourself. I can't wait to get back to school and get it in the hands of my dystopian fans, of which there are many at my school, as well as fans of the author. This book appears to be a stand alone, but I really wouldn't mind reading about Lozen again.

Author web page.
Publisher/ book web page.