Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, (Megan Tingley Books, 2005)

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Isabella (Bella) Swan never expected to really make a home for herself in the small Pacific Northwest town of Forks, Washington, where she’d be living with her father, the police chief. After all, she hasn’t stayed with him for years, preferring to live with her scatter-brained, eccentric mother. But times have changed, and now Bella must fit in at a new school all over again. She quickly settles in, making an assortment of new friends and carving out a niche for herself in true high school fashion. And then she goes and does the one thing she really shouldn’t: she makes friends with Edward Cullen, a strange young man whose family, while vaguely respected in town, are social outcasts for no immediately discernable reason. And Bella pursues this friendship, even as her life takes a strange and dangerous turn. The closer she gets to Edward, the more death stalks her, and the more she fall in love with him. And for all of his protestations and warnings, the feelings seem mutual. Then Bella learns the truth: Edward and his entire family are vampires, ones who deny their craving for human blood even as they attempt to live among humans. But there are still vampires out there who stick to the old ways, and they’re about to complicate matters tremendously for Bella and Edward. Will our heroes find love together, or be torn apart (and limb from limb)? If they want to live long enough to go to the prom, they’ll run for their lives and exercise every ounce of cunning they possess to outwit their foes.

Twilight is a thoroughly enjoyable, solidly-plotted YA vampire romance, that introduces a number of believable, sympathetic characters, and offers a thoughtful spin on the vampire mythos. Bella’s practicality and stubbornness makes her the perfect foil for the older-than-he-seems Edward, while their respective friends and families help to flesh out a scenario that borders (but never commits) on becoming tragic. It’s nice to see a vampire that doesn’t mope around, wallow in Gothic excess, or exude sex with every breath. (Although the way Edward describes Bella’s appeal is enough to make a person hungry.) I hope we’ll see a sequel to this book soon, if only to answer the questions raised about Bella’s nature. (Particularly her accident-prone tendencies, extreme clumsiness, and amplified appeal to vampires. You just know there’s something going on here.) I thoroughly enjoyed Twilight, and it’s a wonderful debut from newcomer Stephenie Meyer, proving that the vampire romance genre isn’t bled dry yet.

The Truth-Teller’s Tale, by Sharon Shinn (Viking, 2005)

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One can tell no secrets. The other can tell no lies. Adele and Eleda may be twin sisters, but they couldn’t be more different where it counts. Adele is a Safe-Keeper, capricious and mysterious, trusted by all to keep their darkest secrets so they can lighten the load on their minds. Eleda is a Truth-Teller, mystically capable of discerning truths without even realizing it, incapable of telling a falsehood even if she wanted. These talents make them both valued and respected, even though they’re still just teenagers. As they grow up, they go through the usual assortment of teenage triumphs and tragedies, learning to both love and lose, always relying on one another no matter how hard it gets. Never far away is their friend Roelynn, who some believe is destined to marry their kingdom’s prince, even though it’s really just the dream of her ambitious merchant father. Pity, then, that Roelynn has a taste for unsuitable men, and a talent for getting in trouble.

Then, when they’re seventeen, a dancing-master and his apprentice come to town, and everyone’s in for a summer of romance, mistaken identities, secrets and truths. But what circumstances could cause a Safe-Keeper to betray a trust, a Truth-Teller to lie, and a Dream-Maker to try and prevent someone’s dream from coming true, and how will that contribute to a happily-ever-after?
I missed out on this book’s predecessor, The Safe-Keeper’s Secret, but rest assured, this book works quite nicely as a stand-alone. It’s a thoroughly entertaining tale, combining fantasy, romance, and just a touch of classic Shakespearian soap opera to look at the eventful lives of a pair of twins with too much, and too little, in common. Shinn’s always been good at weaving romantic elements into her stories, and this book is a great example of her skill. It was a shame when it ended, as I’d grown quite fond of the trustworthy Eleda and her unpredictable twin. I’ll definitely have to go back and find The Safe-Keeper’s Secret now. Be sure to give The Truth-Teller’s Tale a try when it comes out.

Trickster’s Queen, by Tamora Pierce (Random House, 2004)

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When we last saw our heroine, Aly, better known as Alianne of Pirate’s Swoop, daughter of the legendary Alanna the Lioness of Tortall, she’d agreed to stay in the Copper Isles, to see through the completion of a wager made with Kyprioth, the deposed trickster god. In the preceding months, Aly’d survived capture by pirates, been sent into slavery, and eventually won her freedom through resourcefulness and cunning. Now caught up in a rebellion centuries in the making, part of a plot to restore the rightful raka rulers of the Isles, and the pawn of a capricious god, Aly will be tested beyond her limits as the final pieces of the plan fall into place. All she has to do now is keep her young charges, Dove and Sarai, safe until Sarai can be installed as the new queen of the Copper Isles. At her disposal, Aly has the training of a spymaster, an ever-growing network of native agents, her inborn magic, the intermittent favor of a god, and the friendship of the crows (as well as the love of a crow turned human, called Nawat). So why does she still feel so uneasy? When something she could never have predicted happens, Aly will have to think quickly to save everything, including herself.

Once again, Tamora Pierce turns in a gripping tale of a strong heroine trying to find her destiny in the world. Aly, as unlike her warrior mother as can be, may have found her element at last, but she has yet to undergo her trial by fire. Trickster’s Queen, like the first in this duology, Trickster’s Choice, is that trial. I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it here: Aly may be one of the most likeable, capable, self-sufficient, fun characters I’ve seen in a long time, and it was a genuine shame to finish this book and know we won’t see her again for a long time. This is definitely some of Pierce’s best writing to date, and I heartily recommend Trickster’s Queen, provided you’ve read Trickster’s Choice first.

Trickster’s Choice, by Tamora Pierce (Random House, 2003)

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Though Trickster’s Choice is actually the thirteenth book in Tamora Pierce’s popular Tortall setting, all you really need to know is this: Alianne (Aly) is the daughter of Tortall’s most famous hero, the female knight and King’s Champion, Alanna, but Aly wants to take more after her father, the former king of thieves and current royal spymaster, George Cooper. However, her parents both think that spying is no place for their daughter, an opinion which frankly annoys Aly. Clever and headstrong, possessed of all the right talents for undercover work and a certain puckish attitude, she wants nothing more than to make herself useful in the way she sees fit. What she doesn’t know is that someone else has an eye on her and her talents, and is about to make full use of them.

When Aly is kidnaped while on a routine voyage to visit friends, she ends up in slavery, bound for the enigmatic Copper Isles, a land that’s been under considerable strain ever since mainlanders conquered them, destroyed their noble houses, and placed the natives (called raka) into servitude. With a new ruling class formed of the invaders (called luarin) and a serving class dominated by luarin-raka half-breeds, the Copper Isles have maintained a fragile peace, while the raka quietly wait for their patron god, Kyprioth, to fulfill an old promise to restore their freedom.

Guess what mortal has just been chosen as Kyprioth’s instrument of change and chaos? That’s right. Aly’s going to get the chance to prove just how good she can be at staying alive, winning the trust of her new owners, and ultimately bringing change to her new home. But if her family finds her before she’s done, it could ruin everything.

This is easily one of the best in the Tortall saga to date. Aly’s one of the most likable protagonists I’ve run across in a long time, charming and cheerful and resourceful and determined, unwilling to let any setback keep her down for long, and ultimately flexible. I’ve always had a fondness for the trickster figure, and she embodies it to the tee in word and deed. I eagerly await further installments of her tale, and highly recommend Trickster’s Choice to any fantasy-lover.

Thirsty, by M.T. Anderson, (Candlewick Press, 2003)

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In a world much like our own, vampires are real and skulk in the forests at night, while every year the town of Clayton holds the Sad Festival, which will keep Tch’mugar, the Vampire Lord, imprisoned in another dimension. However, Chris couldn’t care less about the vampires, since he’s more preoccupied with hanging out with his friends and trying to get a date with Rebecca Schwartz. Too bad he’s inexplicably turning into a vampire…

As Chris’ personal evolution progresses, he finds his life becoming ever more chaotic and terrifying, his old world receding and a new life beckoning. The vampire community is aware of his change, and they want to welcome him. Meanwhile, an avatar of the Forces of Light wants to use Chris as a double agent: get him into the vampire society as part of a plan to destroy Tch’mugar once and for all. Looks like Chris better not make any plans for a hot date anytime soon, especially since if his friends and family discover the truth, they’ll destroy him before he can become a monster.
Thirsty uses the vampire-transformation as an allegory for the usual hormonal upheavals of the teenage years, and takes it to a gruesome level. As Chris’ life falls apart, he realizes just what he values the most, in time to lose them. And when even his trust proves to be misplaced, he’ll have to face things on his own. Told with an oddly straight-forward dark humor that mixes the mundane and the horrifying, Thirsty is an uncomfortable, dark tale that doesn’t offer a pretty ending. As such, it’s a departure from the usual, a bleak modern fable that may not appeal to everyone, but worth looking at all the same.

Things Not Seen, by Andrew Clement (Puffin, 2004)

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When Bobby Phillips, average fifteen-year-old boy, wakes up one morning to discover he’s become invisible, his life is thrown into turmoil. Unable to interact with the outside world, and forced to contend with parents more apt to treat his condition as an intellectual and scientific curiosity than an actual problem, he quickly goes stir-crazy cooped up at home. The few neat benefits of perpetual invisibility are quickly overshadowed by the inconveniences, not the least of which is the constant fear of discovery. A risky trip to the library, and a chance encounter with a fellow patron, offers Bobby some respite from the loneliness: his new friend, Alicia, is blind. Perfect, right? He can’t be seen, and she can’t see him. The two become friends fairly quickly, despite their initial personality clashes, and the introduction of Alicia and her family into the social dynamic may help Bobby find a cure for his problem. Unfortunately, his continued absence from school is drawing questions and attention from the authorities, and all too soon, they’re working under a deadline. If they can’t restore Bobby’s visibility soon, there’ll be some real trouble.

This is a clever, fast-paced story, with a plausible setup backed by believable pseudoscience. While the underlying question remains “How did Bobby become invisible?” the real story is all about his growing friendship with Alicia, and the exploration of what invisibility might mean in a real-world setting. I really enjoyed watching the two of them interact and get to know one another, and I had to keep reading to find out how it all turned out for both Bobby and Alicia. Clement really spins a fun tale here, and I hope we’ll see more stories of a fantastical nature from him in the future.

The Wizard of Washington Square, by Jane Yolen, (Starscape, 2005)

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David’s new to the city, so he’s quite pleased when he makes a new friend, Leilah. She in turn introduces him to the existence of magic in their midst, in the form of the absent-minded, second-class wizard who lives in the Washington Square Arch, or at least under it. This begins a strange sort of friendship, as the two children try to help out the befuddled wizard, whose magic tends to go awry and whose memory is quite frequently on the fritz. When a spell goes really wrong and turns David’s dog into a stone statue, and said statue is promptly swiped by an unscrupulous antiques dealer, it’ll take a whole lot of cunning and ingenuity to rescue the petrified pooch before he can be sold to some unsuspecting collector. If only the wizard was more help…

This is another one of Yolen’s many excellent books for younger readers. Whimsical and off-beat, it’s a quick read but a fun one, filled with some enjoyable characters and a simple, yet thoughtful plot. The sheer absurdity of the situation, as well as the mental imagery invoked, make for some fun reading. I had fun checking this book out.

The Wereling Trilogy, by Stephen Cole (Razorbill, 2005)

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Book One: Wounded
When sixteen-year-old Tom Anderson runs afoul of an accident while on a vacation in the wilderness, he’s initially relieved to be rescued, until he realizes that the strange, reclusive family has something other than his best interests in mind. Rather, they engineered the whole thing to get him in their power, for their own selfish reasons. The Folans, it seems, are werewolves, interested in bringing some new blood into the family, and they’ve just finished turning Tom into a werewolf as well, all so he can help bring their daughter, Kate, into her full power. However, Tom and Kate have other plans, and very soon they’re on the run, traveling cross-country in a desperate attempt to reverse Tom’s condition and escape the insidious power of the world-wide hidden society of the werewolves. Unable to trust anyone, yet forced to trust each other and take chances on random strangers, Tom and Kate will go through a number of ordeals before reaching their destination: New Orleans, where a slim hope resides. But even if they make it that far, they’ll still find themselves up to their eyebrows in trouble and enemies, even as Tom discovers the true nature of his newly-acquired werewolf powers.

Wounded is the first part of the Wereling trilogy, so clearly the story’s nowhere near done. But it certainly does set out an interesting premise, gives us a fully-realized cast of characters (from the entirely normal Tom, to the cynical Kate, to the delightfully ambiguous Adam Blood), and keeps things moving as well as can be expected. Wounded is a strong start to a promising story, and I hope Cole can keep it up for two more books, since there really aren’t enough teen werewolf romance horror roadtrip stories out there.

Book Two: Prey
Book Three: Resurrection
Ever since Tom Anderson was kidnapped by a reclusive family of werewolves and transformed into one of them against his will, his life has been in shambles. Not only is he forever struggling against primal urges, but he and his new friend Kate Folan are in a race against time to find a cure for Tom’s condition. All they have going for them is Tom’s near-unique state as a wereling, someone capable of retaining his human nature and impulses even when in werewolf form. Against them is ranged a worldwide conspiracy of deadly werewolves ready to burst out of the shadows and reclaim the world they once stalked with impunity, with one of their deadliest enemies being Kate’s own mother.
Tom and Kate’s quest to find a mysterious medicine man reputed to be able to reverse the werewolf’s curse takes them across the country, forcing them to face off against many foes. Worse yet, they’ve stumbled across a plan of frightening scope and devastating results. In the second book in the trilogy, Prey, they come to New York, where they meet up with a group of street kids, and discover that the gangs of New York are being subverted by one ambitious group of werewolves intent on creating an army. In the final book of the trilogy, Resurrection, they travel to Chicago, for a final showdown with Marcie Folan, the twisted genius known as Takapa, and an ancient werewolf evil brought back from the dead. They’ll need all the allies they can get if they want to save the world from the werewolf threat, and that’s assuming Tom doesn’t succumb to the bloodlust lurking within his own soul.

Obviously, there’s a lot going on in these two books, with Kate and Tom always on the move, and enemies popping up all over the place, each one with a different evil plan. For what it’s worth, the Wereling trilogy is a fast-paced, highly enjoyable series with plenty of twists and turns and unexpected plot developments. Just when you think you know where it’s going, it surprises you. The addition of both new antagonists and new allies throughout the series keeps things lively without overburdening the cast or dragging down the plot. All in all, I was pretty pleased with the way this series turned out; it explores the werewolf mythos without being overly familiar or redundant.

The Wish List, by Eoin Colfer (Miramax Books, 2003)

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After a robbery goes horribly wrong, 14 year old bad girl Meg Finn is killed before her time. Thanks to a last minute change of heart (literally), she ends up balanced exactly between Heaven and Hell; one major effort either way could decide her eternal fate. Thus, she returns to Earth with a mission: help fulfill the “wish list” of Lowrie McCall, the old man she was robbing at the time she died. If she can help Lowrie erase his regrets and feel good about his life, she might just go to Heaven after all. Little does she know, though, that her ex-partner-in-crime has been enlisted by the Infernal Powers That Be to help tip her balance in the opposite direction. It’s a race against time for Meg and Lowrie to complete four tasks before Meg’s spiritual energy runs out, or the forces of Hell cause her to screw up. Because Meg’s still clinging to a few issues of her own from her mortal life, and if she can’t resolve them now, she may never have another chance.

The Wish List is an inventive, energetic, fast-paced story of morality, mortality, regret, and redemption, with Lowrie and Meg learning from one another as they struggle to overcome their respective failings. The protagonists are realistic, with memorable voices and all-too-honest quirks, balancing out the somewhat one-sided selfishness and malevolence of the bad guys nicely. Once I started reading, I had trouble putting The Wish List down until finished, even if it meant sitting in my car in a parking lot for an extra twenty minutes, rather than go home first. Author Eoin Colfer has proven here that he’s not just notable for his Artemis Fowl series, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else he can produce in the future.

The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke (Scholastic, 2003)

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Venice private investigator Victor Getz thinks it’s just business as usual when he takes on a case, to find a pair of runaway children who’ve come to Venice, expecting it to be the magical city of the stories their dead mother once told them. Two lost children in a city like Venice, whose passageways and canals and abandoned buildings harbor thousands of hiding spots? Maybe a little tricky, but he’s up for the challenge.

Meanwhile, Prosper and Bo, who ran away from their selfishly cruel aunt and uncle after learning they were to be separated, with Prosper sent away to school, have fallen in with a group of street urchins, who play at being pickpockets and thieves, led by the mysterious Thief Lord, a child himself. When the Thief Lord receives an unusual and highly lucrative commission to steal a valuable antique, he and his band of followers soon learn they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. Because the item in question is the key to a strange artifact which can turn back old age itself, and certain people will do anything for it. They’ll have to rely on the dubious help of Victor Getz if they want to survive this adventure and evade Prosper and Bo’s relatives, as well as get the better of their enemies.

The first novel from best-selling German author Cornelia Funke is a magical tale of youth and adventure, moving along at a brisk pace with stunning characterization. The fantasy aspects of this story are subtle until near the end, at which point it all comes together for an unexpected set of resolutions. Much of the magic comes from the stylized, fascinating portrayal of Venice as the setting, and the spirit of the children who serve as the main protagonists. This is a book worth checking out.