A Tree, A Book, and A Breeze

Dangerous Shannon Hale Bloomsbury Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There's no going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and annihilation. From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else? As I've long been a fan of Shannon Hale's, I had really high expectations for this book, and as I first began reading, I got excited. A homeschooled superhero??? Bring it on! Alas, the rest of the book wasn't really as good... I really disliked the romance. First of all, I didn't care for the guy; second of all, while they didn't go "all the way" their relationship was...

Dragon Slippers Jessica Day George Bloomsbury I read Jessica Day George’s Princess of the Midnight Ball a couple years ago and enjoyed it, but I didn’t pay much attention to the Dragon Slippers books because the covers didn’t catch my eye. But I saw it at the library the other day and decided to pick it up…and by the time I was halfway through I was wondering WHY ON EARTH I didn’t pick up the sequels while I was at it! I really loved Dragon Slippers . It was fantasy with the feel of a fairy tale, and I really did fall in love with it. It had an interesting plot, some truly funny bits (the dragon who collects dogs really cracked me up) and some likable (and hateable!) characters. Overall, if you like fantasy and fairy tales, I would highly recommend this book. Aside from a little magical content, there really wasn’t much that was objectionable in here, so that was nice, too. :) Objectionable content: Creel is given a pair of magical slippers; she and other cha...

Scarlet A.C. Gaughen Bloomsbury I thought this book sounded really interesting. I’m a Robin Hood fan anyway, but I don’t come across many retellings about him and his gang that I feel comfortable reading, so I was pleased to find this one in the YA section of the library. Basically, in this version Will Scarlet is actually a girl, Robin Hood's secretive informant. I thought it sounded intriguing.  I was really, really, disappointed. I only got through about three chapters before stopping because of the swearing. I understand that bad guys and outlaws usually swear, so if anyone out there tells me that it’s to be expected of this novel and, indeed, would be inaccurate without it, I say: then leave out the word. “Sir Gisbourne swore.” There. It’s “accurate” and we don’t have to read the word. That, my friends, is a perfect compromise. Also, from just the little bit I read, I didn't really like Scarlet.  Now, I admit I *was* curious to how everything turned o...