Fallout (Lois Lane #1) /  by MELINDA Schmidbauer

Lois Lane arrives in Metropolis as a teenager, starting yet another new school.  An Army brat, Lois' general dad has finally gotten a permanent position and Lois has to make this school work.  But immediately she is confronted with a classmate and potential friend who is being bullied, and isn't getting help from the school administrator.  Lois being Lois needs to help, and does so by being the intrepid reporter we know and love previous incarnations.  Lois meets several iconic Superman characters, including Perry White and "SmallvilleGuy" (obviously Clark/Superman!).
The book veers from the comic book canon, in much the same way that the CW show Smallville did..  It has the mystery flavor of Veronica Mars.  It reeks of the CW and teen angst.  I am sure future installments will give us even more of the comic book characters in a new way, and I am looking forward to it.   It shows great potential as a series.

Lois Lane arrives in Metropolis as a teenager, starting yet another new school.  An Army brat, Lois' general dad has finally gotten a permanent position and Lois has to make this school work.  But immediately she is confronted with a classmate and potential friend who is being bullied, and isn't getting help from the school administrator.  Lois being Lois needs to help, and does so by being the intrepid reporter we know and love previous incarnations.  Lois meets several iconic Superman characters, including Perry White and "SmallvilleGuy" (obviously Clark/Superman!).
The book veers from the comic book canon, in much the same way that the CW show Smallville did..  It has the mystery flavor of Veronica Mars.  It reeks of the CW and teen angst.  I am sure future installments will give us even more of the comic book characters in a new way, and I am looking forward to it.   It shows great potential as a series.

The Last Survivors Trilogy (but not the fourth book) /  by MELINDA Schmidbauer

 

Life as We Knew It/The Dead and the Gone/This World We Live in

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

 

I am a sucker for a good YA post-apocalypse story. I was teaching in a 7th grade LA class last week, and the first volume of this trilogy (Life as We Knew It) was one of the free-reading books the students could choose.  I picked it up during lunch, and was immediately sucked in.  

 

There were a good many things I liked about it.  The way the story is written, as diary entries, was what initially captured my interest.  BUT, this POV kept any real science from entering the book (I might have liked a more in-depth consideration of the science, but I am not a teenage reader!).  The catastrophe that causes the “post-apocalyptic” scenario was pretty realistically depicted, but again, the science behind it was not even addressed.The relationships between the family members drove the story.  I could relate to some of the sibling rivalry and love/hate between the kids.  

 

I liked the first book enough that I stayed up until 2 am Friday finishing it.  Since book 2 and 3 were available on my library’s site, I got them, and read them over the weekend.  They were still pretty good.  "The Dead and the Gone" covered the same time period, but in an urban setting, rather than a rural one.  Different kinds of conflict, but still not the guns and gangs that many post-disaster stories rely on.  And the third volume, “This World We Live In” hook up both books into a neat, pat conclusion.  I didn’t like this one as much as the first, but it did conclude the story nicely.

 

Now, I know there is a fourth book. But it really didn’t seem related at all in tone or plot, as it covers time the characters are living in a city that survived the disaster.  I had no interest in it after reading the synopsis and reviews.  

 

Overall, I give the series a solid three stars, with the first book book getting a slightly higher four.

Nowhere But Here By Katie McGarry /  by Kristin

 

 I had previously only read Katie McGarry’s debut novel, Pushing the Limits-which I did like a lot. So when I found out her new series was about a motorcycle club, I was intrigued and decided to pull Nowhere But Here from the shelf. You will be surprised to know that I actually physically held and read this book rather than listen to an audio version.  And Wow, this book was a quick and intense read. I absolutely loved it!

What I love about Katie McGarry is the fierce narrative that she gives to her characters to tell. And she does this in such a way that you feel like you are embodying each character as they tell their part of the story. You feel, you think, you visualize all the moments and emotions that Emily and Oz are experiencing every step of their story.

Emily is 16 years old, and has a great life with great parents and friends. However, she barely knows her biological father, but what she does know is that he is in a motorcycle gang. Her perception of family and what’s important in life changes when she spends her summer living with her biological father’s family, the motorcycle club The Reign of Terror. Emily must place all of her trust in 18 year old motorcycle club prospect Oz to help her discover hidden truths about a life and family she never knew.

Katie continues to give us characters with great emotional depth, stories that will captivate your mind, and tense moments that will make your heart tremble to complete a story that will have you completely absorbed from beginning to ending.

Nowhere But Here is a story about family-and not just those related by blood. It’s about uncovering deeply buried secrets, facing your fears and most of all learning to give others a chance to love you in return. 

Tear Factor: Get ready to run for that box of tissues! You might want to stay home to read this one.

On a personal note: We’ve talked in the past about following authors on social media, and Katie is a great author to follow. I actually personally met her at the Lori Foster Author and Reader event in 2013. She is just as real as you and I and her posts reflect that. Her posts are clean and her statements are encouraging to her readers.  Her followers have also had the chance to watch her puppy Racheal –named after one of her personal book characters, grow and do silly things on social media.

So go, read and follow Katie McGarry.

I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson /  by Kristin

 

Jude and Noah tell their stories in a back and forth, past and present format in a coming of age story about the creative spirt, secrets, heroes, and redemption. Jude’s point of view kept me intrigued in the beginning of this book, because Noah’s point of view didn’t make him a very likeable character in the first few chapters. However, Noah’s past tense self and recount of the story intertwines deeply with Jude’s present self and telling for a coming together beautiful conclusion.

Jude is on an emotional journey. She is consumed with superstitious tendencies like keeping an onion in her pocket and fixated on the possibility of contracting rare diseases. She puts up this emotional barrier in a way to punish herself from experiencing love, grief and friendship.

Noah is gay and he is experiencing the emotions and physical discoveries of love for the first time. He expresses himself and his desires through art.  He is also a jealous and competitive brother. He and Jude play mind games such as who would save you first if you were drowning, mom or dad. Noah’s journey takes us on a course of love and betrayal.

I ended up really liking this book. Get ready to read this book in one sitting.

I did listen to the audio book version and both narrators did an amazing job connecting with each characters voice.