Graceling

by Kristin Cashore

       Katsa is a Graceling, one of a number of people in the Seven Kingdoms who are born with special abilities, or Graces.  The Graces can be anything and everything, from being graced with cooking, to giftedness in treating horses, to having a Grace to kill--like Katsa.  Graced people are feared by the general population and often exploited by the rulers of the Kingdoms.  Katsa lives with her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and she uses her Grace at his command.  Katsa hates the tasks of killing and intimidation that her uncle sends her to do, but she fears him and feels she has no choice.  Her way of rebelling has been to organize a secret Council with her cousin Prince Raffin, which undertakes missions of mercy throughout the Seven Kingdoms--a Council which her uncle the King must never learn about.

       In the middle of a rescue mission, Katsa first meets Prince Po, a graceling gifted with combat skills, though his skill can't compare with Katsa's.  She never expects to meet him again, and certainly never expects to be his friend.  But circumstances throw the two together again on a mission to discover the reason for the kidnapping of Po's grandfather.  This quest leads them into more danger than they could have imagined, and cements their friendship forever.

       This debut fantasy novel of author Cashore, is filled with appealing characters and tension-filled adventure.  The companion novel Fire is also in the LVJH library with a new cast of characters except one.  With the publication of these two novels, new author Kristin Cashore promises to be a favorite young adult author for years to come.   Reviewed by Mrs. Sams.



                                                                                                                                

Fat Cat

by Robin Brande

       Catherine may be really overweight, but she's also really smart.  She is in all AP classes with most of the same students every period, including Matt McKinney, her ex-best friend.  Her hardest class of the school year will be Mr. Fizer's Special Topics in Research Science class, where she is given a picture which will be the basis for a year-long research project.  For a student like Cat, who wants to go to a top-tier college, this project could be the thing that makes the difference between just passing the class and getting an outstanding recommendation and scholarship.  When Cat looks at the picture she has chosen, her heart sinks.  It is the picture of prehistoric people, naked and eating raw meat.  They are slim and muscular.  The woman appears strong and capable of hunting and taking care of herself--everything Cat isn't.  Cat stares at this picture most of the time she has to come up with her project proposal.  Her mind is blank.  The time is nearly up when she realizes exactly what she wants to do.  She will become her own project.  She will transform herself into a prehistoric woman--eat what they ate, live as closely to their lifestyle as it was practical to do.   For 207 days, Cat would eat vegetarian, walk most places, and live without her technology.  And at the end, she knew she would be a new person!  With the help of her best friend Amanda, Cat changes in just about every way possible, and gains the self-confidence she lost four years ago when she was betrayed.

       Funny, thought-provoking, and challenging, Fat Cat is a great novel for any teen, but especially for those who want to make themselves into someone better.  On the 2012 Texas Lone Star Reading list.  

       ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams 

Stuck on Earth
by David Klass

The first two chapters of Stuck on Earth are some of the funniest, most attention-grabbing first pages of a novel that I've read in a while.  An alien space ship orbiting Earth is checking out the planet for possible colonization by the Lugonians, a species whose sun is about to go super nova.  Katchvar III, a snail-like creature, has been sent to Earth to inhabit the body of a 14-year-old boy, to evaluate the human race and determine whether it deserves to live or be exterminated.  It is a well-known fact that humans are very violent beings with little positive to be said about them.  Ketchvar's host body, Tom Filber, and his family just seem to prove what is already known--humans are mean and destructive and don't deserve the beautiful planet they inhabit.
        While this story has a funny beginning, not far into to book it becomes obvious how miserable and dysfunctional Tom's life really is.  It is questionable whether Ketchvar is a real alien, or an alternate personality that Tom uses to deal with his unhappy life.  That question hangs over the remainder of the novel, causing the reader to constantly wonder if this is an entertaining sci-fi novel, or an intense story about a troubled teen.  The budding relationship with the girl next door, Ketchvar's environmental project to research the cause of pollution in the local river, and Tom/Ketchvar's struggle to connect with his father make this a novel which can be read on several levels. You will have to decide for yourself whether or not Ketchvar III is a real being from outer space or a figment of Tom's imagination.  Stuck on Earth is on the 2012 Texas Lone Star Reading List and highly recommended.
             ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams