February Teen/YA Swap



Moves & Reveals only -- Please no :rant: :cheers: :whisper: OR :whine:


Kel asks for Kathy's reveal: Polly!
Fantasy asks for Booksforever's reveal: The Queen of Everything
Boomda reveals Elly's Hellbent
GateGypsy snipes Polly from EllyMae
Elly asks Boomda to reveal Right Behind You
BooksForever steals Polly from GateGypsy
GateGypsy asks Fantasy to reveal The Luxe
Amber reveals Pepper's Zel
KathyB asks Amber to reveal Angel of Death
Sejent steals The Luxe from GateGypsy
GateGypsy steals Zel from Amberkatze
Amberkatze asks GateGypsy to reveal the Witch Child/Sorceress 2fer
Pepper steals Heallbent from boomda181
Boomda181 steals The Queen of Everything from Fantasy
Fantasy steals Zel from GateGypsy
GateGypsy steals Polly from Booksforever
BooksForever steals The Angel of Death from KathyB
KathyB steals Hellbent from Pepper
Pepper steals the Luxe from Sejent
Sejent steals Witch Child/Sorceress 2fer from Amberkatze

KathyB's Reveal



Polly by Amy Bryant

2007 Advanced Readers Copy - paperback

If you're looking for Polly Clark, she'll be the girl wearing Doc Martens and a Bad Brains T-shirt at the punk show. She'll be (almost) losing her virginity to a high school dropout, accompanied by the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn." She'll be looking for her artistic soul while trying to solve the mysteries of guys, life, her seriously dysfunctional family . . . and herself. In eight chapters, Polly is shaped by eight relationships in this honest, tender, original, and utterly endearing story of one girl's stumbles and successes in the world of punked-out 1980s suburban romance -- the unforgettable debut of an extraordinary new voice in contemporary fiction.

Booksforever's reveal:



Published: May 2004
From Publishers Weekly
The normally stable father of high school junior Jordan becomes involved with a married woman, then kills someone. Told as a flashback through Jordan's first-person narrative (although Jordan does not reveal at the beginning who dies), the novel takes place during the summer on a fictional island in western Washington. Debut YA novelist Caletti peoples Jordan's world with fascinating characters, including a hippie mother who runs a bed and breakfast with her kinetic artist husband, and her best friend, status-focused Melissa, who works with Jordan at a weight loss center run by an eccentric Christian couple. Jordan herself can be funny, making light of her situation with caustic remarks ("He was an optometrist for God's sake" she says when people ask her what her murderous father was like), and also vulnerable ("That's not what people want to hear-that my father was just a normal guy whom I loved, love, with all my heart") as she leads readers carefully towards her eventual realization of her own identity. She also weaves in pieces of advice she's picked up from Big Mama, a wise, warm-hearted fishery worker who often incorporates salmon into her lessons. Two subplots involving Jordan's romantic interests create unnecessary distractions, but captivating details make this scandalous story seem all too real, and Jordan's magnetic voice marks Caletti as a writer to watch. Ages 12-up.

Elly Mae's reveal!

Hellbent by Anthony McGowan



Conor O'Neil is in Hell. No, really. While chasing his dog, he got run over by an ice cream truck, and now he's sentenced to eternal damnation. He's stuck in a corner of Hell specifically designed for his maximum torture - lined with bookshelves and droning educational radio programs. Then he realizes that his personal version of Hell might be someone else's idea of Heaven - and vice versa. He sets out on a filthy, funny, and forbidden journey to search for his opposite number, accompanied by his repulsive pet dog, a depressed cross-dressing Viking, and Clarence, his personal devil. Can he do it? Conor is hellbent on finding out.

Boomda's Reveal:




Right Behind You an ARC by Gail Giles



Book Description

From Amazon.com:
After setting his seven-year-old neighbor in Alaska on fire, Kip McFarland spends four years in a facility for violent juvenile offenders. When he is released at the age of 14, he, his father, and his new stepmother move to Indiana, with new names. For a while, Wade enjoys a normal life. Eventually, however, despite the warnings of his therapist, he sabotages his happiness in a drunken fit of rage. After he reveals his identity, the town turns on him and his family. Now, a coastal Texas town is their final shot at starting over. The cozy community appears to be a perfect haven, but Wade feels compelled to reveal his past to Sam, the beautiful and mysterious neighbor who is winning his heart—and has a story of her own. Will she still accept him once she finds out he is a murderer? This quick read has a compelling story line, but the characters, especially the adults, are at times one-dimensional, with voices that are somewhat indistinguishable from one another. Reluctant readers will be drawn to the story's accessibility, and many teens will be pulled in by the larger questions the novel poses about innocence and acceptance. Despite its flaws, this book will be a hit with Giles's fans.

The Luxe is set in 1899, the turn of the century where old money meets new. This is the story of four teens who live the high life, and two who live to serve the other four.

Elizabeth Holland is the perfect girl, loved by society, adored by all – but would everyone still want to be like her if they knew she was in love with a stable boy? Or if they found out the other, even more scandalous secret she was hiding?

Diana Holland is Elizabeth’s little sister, who just wants to have some fun and excitement in her life. She’s bored by all of the balls where everyone must show up but no one has any fun. She’s tired by all of the suitors calling to take her on walks around the pond in Central Park – what she really wants is someone to pull her behind the shade of trees and kiss her silly. She eventually gets what she wants, but how will society react when they all find out who she’s been dallying with? Scandal will erupt, and Diana can’t wait!

Penelope Hayes is Elizabeth’s best friend. As part of the nouveau-riche, her family is constantly trying to prove that they belong in society. This means lots of lavish parties and redecorating. Penelope’s relationship with Elizabeth is characterized by jealousy and constant one-upmanship. When Penelope starts dating the most eligible bachelor in all of New York City, she thinks that she has finally bested Elizabeth, who doesn’t seem to have any suitors knocking down her door. Little does she know that her world is about to be turned upside down, and Elizabeth will be the cause.

The Luxe is a captivating tale revolving around these three young women, and their lives and loves. Backstabbing and cattiness abound, and it’s all readers can do to hold on for the ride. Godbersen does an excellent job of crafting interesting characters and her detail of life in 1899 is richly drawn. She manages to capture the sort of juicy drama normally found in a “Gossip Girl” novel and surround it in the maids and masquerade balls of the 19th century. There’s a mystery that the reader is likely to figure out before the last page, but that doesn’t make the tale any less enjoyable. The Luxe is the kind of book that you won’t be able to put down and won’t want to end. Luckily it’s a hefty tale, so it won’t be over in a matter of hours. The sequel to The Luxe, Rumors, will be published in June 2008.

Pepper's Reveal

Zel by Donna Jo Napoli

(Description by Publisher's Weekly from bn.com)

As she has done for The Frog Prince and Hansel and Gretel, Napoli here visits her magic upon the tale of Rapunzel, creating a work of depth and beauty. In mid-16th-century Switzerland, Zel, on the threshold of adolescence, accompanies her mother on a rare trip from their remote cottage to the village. By chance she meets a youth named Konrad; unknown to her, he is the son of the count, and he is charmed by her apparent simplicity and forthright manner. Napoli gently guides the reader through the inevitable consequences of this meeting, mining every movement in the fairy tale for its psychological treasures. Zel's mother, no longer a routine villainess, has sacrificed everything, even her soul, for the witchcraft that enables her to have a daughter; a desperate fear of Konrad's attentions drives her to imprison Zel in the famous tower. Isolated, Zel wavers between recognition of her mother's sacrifices and her own fury, and wanders into madness. Konrad, meanwhile, must discover the difference between love and obsession. Napoli imagines the precise quality of the mother's supernatural powers, the colors of the stones in Zel's tower, the rustle of the trees in the forest. But the genius of the novel lies not just in the details but in its breadth of vision. Its shiveringly romantic conclusion will leave readers spellbound. Ages 11-up.

Amberkatze's reveal

The Angel of Death by Alane Ferguson



Book Description

This follow-up to The Christopher Killer (2006) finds high-school-senior Cameryn Mahoney, forensic pathologist in the making, worrying about secretly communicating with her estranged mother, fielding the attentions of a new boy, and again working in the autopsy suite, where she's examining the body of her high-school English teacher. The macabre and the melodramatic run neck and neck here, and mystery devotees will suss out the killer before Cameryn does. This is still a page-turner, though. Just don't give it to squeamish readers; it's even more grisly than the previous book.

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–Cameryn Mahoney, the teenaged forensic detective from The Christopher Killer (Viking, 2006), continues her adventures as assistant to her father, the county coroner of Silverton, CO. Her latest case involves the death of a favorite teacher, whose body is found by her classmate Kyle. Brad Oakes has seemingly been burned, but there are no signs of fire in his bedroom. Cammie is also dealing with an upcoming visit from her mother, who left long ago. On top of that, she finds herself attracted to Kyle and Deputy Justin. As she gets closer and closer to discovering the killers identity, she puts her life in danger. The forensic details are intriguing and will definitely attract all of the CSI fans out there. The author doesnt shy away from the gorier details, and she seems to have done her homework about the ins and outs of being a county coroner. Reluctant readers looking for a mystery will enjoy the fast pace and page-turning suspense.

GateGypsy's reveal:



Witch Child (book one) and Sorceress (book two) by Celia Rees

Witch Child:
(amazon/publisher review)
During the witch hunts of the mid-1600s, many young Englishwomen died on the gallows, innocent victims of false or hysterical accusations of witchcraft. But what of those women who actually claimed the name "witch" as their own? In the pages of her secret journal, Mary Nuttall reveals what it is like to live in a climate of mistrust and piety in which differences are dangerous and rumors can kill, where she must hide her heritage as a healer and pagan. With a sure hand, she describes her beloved grandmother's trial and hanging as a witch, her own rescue by a mysterious noblewoman, and her eventual passage to the New World and the forest settlement of Beulah. There Mary falls under a curtain of suspicion when she willingly chooses to explore the dark woods shunned by the fearful colonists and makes friends with some of the spiritual native people. When several girls in the community begin to shriek and swoon, and the same minister who damned Mary's grandmother comes to search for signs of witchcraft, Mary is subjected to close and deadly scrutiny.
Breaking with most historical fiction about witchcraft (such as Elizabeth Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond), British author Celia Rees raises the stakes and the tension by placing a real witch at the center of her story. Witch Child is an engrossing, suspenseful novel that will cast a spell over both readers of historical fiction and fans of witchcraft series

Sorceress:
(B&N review)
When Alison Ellman -- a Boston researcher who's fascinated with Mary Newbury's diary entries -- sends out a request for more information about the girl, she's stumped for a decent lead. That is, until Agnes, a Mohawk, responds with a message that stories in her culture have mentioned "a white woman who joined the people," and that her aunt might have some of Mary's belongings. After Alison drives the girl to the reservation to speak with Aunt M, Agnes soon learns that she's to go on a vision quest, a spiritual journey to connect with the universe and the soul. It is on Agnes's journey that Mary's history is revealed.
A mystical and powerful book, Sorceress brings the supernatural out of the clouds and mixes it with historical fiction, creating a memorable novel that doesn't let you go. The rest of Mary's epic story will quench readers' hunger left over from Witch Child, while the remarkable insight that Rees provides into Native American culture and spirituality will inspire people to learn more. An impressive follow-up created after Rees decided to split Witch Child into two separate books, this generation-spanning tale will transfix and satisfy.