Goddesses #3: Muses on the Move and #4: Love or Fate, by Clea Hantman (Avon Books, 2002)

Goddesses #3: Muses on the Move, and Goddesses #4: Love or Fate, continue and conclude the story about three teenage Muses exiled to modern-day Earth until they can overcome certain character flaws. When we last saw our heroines, Polly (Polyhymnia), … Continue reading

Goddesses #1:Heaven Sent and #2: Three Girls and a God, by Clea Hantman (Avon, 2002)

Polly, Era, and Thalia have just suffered the ultimate in grounding: banishment to Earth. You see, they’re not exactly ordinary run-of-the-mill teenage girls. No, they’re the resident troublemakers of Olympus, home of the Greek gods, and they’ve just upset their … Continue reading

East, by Edith Pattou (Harcourt Press, 2003)

Once upon a time, a young woman makes a deal with a mysterious white bear, traveling on his back to a castle far away where she is kept in opulent seclusion, in exchange for her family finding new fortunes. Though … Continue reading

Dread Locks, by Neal Shusterman, (Dutton Children’s Books, 2005)

Fourteen-year-old Parker Baer has it all, courtesy of a rich family and indulgent parents, and as a result, he’s bored with his life. Having everything he could want, everything except actual love and tenderness, he’s eager for anything that could … Continue reading

Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst (McElderry Books, 2009)

Growing up in an Arctic research station with her father, Cassie can’t imagine living anywhere else. No wonder that, when she turns eighteen and is told it’s time to go off to college, she immediately rejects the idea, preferring to … Continue reading

Devoured, by Amanda Marrone, (Simon Pulse, 2009)

After taking a summer job at a local amusement park to keep an eye on her boyfriend (who may be cheating on her), Megan’s life takes on a rather ominous tone. First, the ghost of her twin sister Remy, who … Continue reading

Beauty, by Nancy Butcher, (Simon Pulse, 2005)

For Princess Tatiana Anatolia, better known as Ana, nothing matters more to her than gaining the approval and love of her mother, a woman whose dominant characteristic is her overwhelming vanity. When Ana realizes that she might very well surpass … Continue reading

Ash, by Malinda Lo, (Little, Brown and Company, 2009)

After the death of her parents, Ash is left in the care of her cruel stepmother, with only the fairy tales of her youth to comfort her. Yearning for the fairies to take her away to their world, she seeks … Continue reading

Eyes Like Stars, by Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, 2009)

Beatrice Shakespeare Smith has never known any home beyond the Theatre Illuminata, a magical place where every character to ever appear in a play can be found. Her best friends are a quartet of Shakespearian fairies, her constant nemesis is … Continue reading

The Faery Reel, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Viking Children’s Books, 2004)

It’s taken me several months just to try and figure out what I want to say about this book. Mainly because it’s one of those rare occasions where I’m afraid that whatever I have to say won’t live up to … Continue reading