Avenger’s Arena, Volume 1: Kill or Die

Avenger’s Arena, Volume 1: Kill or Die

Dennis Hopeless, Kev Walker, Alessandro Vitti

$15.99, Softcover

Marvel, 2013

978-0785166573

Genre: Action, Graphic Novel 

Age: 12+

Description: Collecting the first six issues of the new series, Avengers Arena tells the story of 16 teens that are kidnapped and trapped on an isolated island. Their captor (who actually appears throughout the story) gives them an ultimatum—fight each other or die.

Opinion: This series seems to be pretty hit or miss with readers. My finance didn’t like it for the main reason that he didn’t like the characters getting killed off “willy-nilly”. I liked it though probably because I don’t have a background with these characters. I am not familiar with any of them so I didn’t have a natural liking for any of them as I began the series. They were all new people to me. Obviously, this series is a take on the comic book world on Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, and I love anything and will read anything like reads like Battle Royale. The twist here is the fact that the teens being pitted against each other are not everyday high schoolers. Instead they are 16 teens with superhero powers and abilities. Therefore, fighting each other isn’t as easy as one might assume and there aren’t really going to be too many people that are easy pickings. Some of the characters include Hazmat, Juston, Reptil, Deathlocket, and more. It will be interesting to see how the series progresses (I am waiting for the collected trade editions) as in the first volume most of the teens form teams and spread out on the island attempting to avoid one another—at least until someone or something appears to be not playing by the rules and the teens wonder who they can trust. Plus, I love the homage to Battle Royale on the cover.   

Forever Hot/Truly Fine (Grovehill Giants)

Forever Hot/Truly Fine (Grovehill Giants)

Stephanie Perry Moore and Derrick Moore

$14.95, Softcover

Saddleback, 2013

978-1622506835

Genre: Realistic, Romance

Age: 12+

Description: The first book released in the Grovehill Giants series focuses on Skylar Cross and Ford Frost. Skylar is new to town and automatically makes the cheerleading squad. While she is adjusting to being a new student at a new high school in a new state she also is pretty angry about some major changes at home—like having to deal with a new and annoying younger stepsister. She catches the eye of Ford Frost, one of the best football players on the school’s team. He, however, is dealing with his own problems at home. His parents have divorced and his beloved dad seems to want nothing to do with him anymore and has begun a life with a new family while his mom is dating his football coach who is known to have a reputation as a player.

Opinion:  Saddleback is known for its high interest/low lever reading books for struggling or reluctant readers. This book is, of course, at its heart a total gimmick but it is a gimmick that does work for some readers. One of my teens, who is a great reader, saw it in the pile of ARCs and was like, “Flip book! Must read!” The thing that I do like about it is that it isn’t really short like a lot of hi-low books are. Each story is about 150 pages minimum. It moved really quick. However, I don’t think the flip book nature really succeeded. I think the story, overall, would have been better as a regular narrative. I decided to read Skylar’s point of view first. She started off as a spoiled brat of a character and one that I was having a hard time even liking. She was mad at her dad for moving her to a new state. She is mad that her dad is going to marry a new woman and now she’s going to have a new stepsister. However, a pivotal point in her story is when her stepsister goes missing and it is discovered that her unstable father possibly kidnapped her. Skylar suddenly realizes how she’s been crap to her new family and grows up a bit. The story of Ford basically focuses on his parents’ divorce and how his dad has moved on and his mom is being embarrassing by getting serious with his football coach. The overall crossing of the plots involves Ford helping Skylar look for her sister and Skylar helping him confront his father. I think the plot failed as a flip book when I began Ford’s point of view. This part just was not written as well as Skylar’s. There were too many occurrences of repeating material (including conversations) and I feel that if anyone started with this side of the story they wouldn’t be pushed to read the second half because it just doesn’t hold the attention of the reader like the first book.

Thanks to the people at Saddleback for the ARC for the YALSA YA Galley Group!

Crimson Empire: Circumstances to Serve a Noble, Volume 1

Crimson Empire: Circumstances to Serve a Noble, Volume 1

QuinRose

$13.99, Softcover

Seven Seas, 2013

978-1937867232

Genre: Historical

Age: 12+

Description: Sheila’s childhood hasn’t been easily. She was forced into servitude as a young girl and was eventually told by a demon that she had a particular destiny to fulfill—all of this lead to her becoming a deadly assassin. She joined an assassins’ guild to learn her training and has since been put in the house of Prince Edvard to serve as his housemaid and his personal bodyguard. As she uses her unique talents to help Edvard claim the throne she is surrounded by a bunch of admirers who want her heart—yet she has no concept of romance.

Opinion: A new series from the acclaimed author of the Alice in the Country of . . . series of manga. I’ll admit that I read this book months ago (in May—I had Summer Reading to do so I am sooooo behind on my reviews) and while I thought the concept to be interesting and the art pretty I do remember that I was royally confused half the time while reading this manga. There are too many characters and they all look alike so it was very hard to distinguish one from another. Granted, I do have a teen that is an Alice fan who has read the first volume and loved it, so I guess to each his own. Hopefully the story gets easier to follow as it goes on.

Doctor Who (Broadway Books Series)

Doctor Who:

Shroud of Sorrow – Tommy Donbavand

Dalek Generation – Nicholas Briggs

Plague of the Cybermen – Justin Richards

$9.99, Softcover

Broadway Books, 2013

978-0385346788; 978-0385346740; 978-0385346764

Genre: Science Fiction

Age: 10+

Description: Three new adventures featuring the 11^th Doctor, Matt Smith, from Broadway Books. In The Shroud of Sorrow it is the day after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and everyone begins to see the faces of their dead loved one. Police Constable Reg Cranfield sees his father in the mist, reporter Mae Callon sees her grandmother in a coffee stain, and FBI agent Warren Skeet sees his dead partner looking back at him from the rain streaked window of the Texas School Book Depository. At first they all think they are just seeing things—that the grief of losing a beloved president has made them turn inward to their own grief—until the faces begin to talk and scream and move into our own world. Can the Doctor save humanity from the alien force known as the Shroud—a being that feeds on the grief of others? In The Dalek Generation the Doctor travels to Sunlight 349—a world where Daleks are a force of good? Can the Doctor convince the inhabitants the Daleks never have any other mission than to “exterminate”? In Plague of the Cybermen the Doctor  arrives in a world where a horrifying plague is killing the people. Can the Doctor figure out how the Cybermen and the supposedly undefeatable Plague Warriors are connected?

Opinion: As a Doctor Who fan who hasn’t gotten past watching the fourth Doctor (I know, scandalous, right? But, sorry, my heart belongs to the Third Doctor), I have to say that these books were good. First, I was attracted to the actual cover design and layout of the series. They were really nice looking and just fun! I hope Broadway Books releases more. (I swear, and I have it bookmarked in my Amazon account somewhere, that there was a fourth one coming out but I can no longer find it doing a general search!) These books are a great introduction to the world of Doctor Who. Not knowing the 11^th Doctor so well there was enough basic information given that I was able to jump into the world quite easily. I loved Shroud of Sorrow the best probably. I liked the mix of an alternative history with an alien species that lived off of grief. (I also love—and not much of a spoiler alert—the fact that the enigma of clown cars (how do they all fit in there?) is explained away by Tardis physics!) If you have Doctor Who fans—young or old—these books need to be in your collection! They won’t stay on the shelves for long.

Boy Nobody

Boy Nobody

Allen Zadoff

$18, Hardcover

Little, Brown, 2013

978-0316199681

Genre: Thriller

Age: 12+

Description: He has no name. He is the person that slips in and out without drawing any attention. Taken from his family at an early age and raised in The Program by Mother and Father, Boy Nobody is the perfect assassin—who would ever think twice about a young, innocent boy? He easily completes his missions—show up in town under a new name, make some friends, kill his target under “natural circumstances”, and conveniently move on. He was raised never to question his orders or even question who he is. It all changes though when he receives a new assignment. Befriend a really cool girl named Sam and kill her father—a highly influential mayor of New York City. Unfortunately for Boy Nobody this mission is a difficult one. Sam is not like the other girls he’s played in the past. The mayor reminds him of what little memories he has of his own father. Soon Boy Nobody wants to Be Somebody. Is he brave enough to break free from the Program? And what happens when his mission suddenly changes and his new target becomes Sam?

Opinion: This book is really, really good. I think it is a great book for reluctant readers or guys (and girls) who just don’t like reading. The chapters are short and snappy. There is action on every page and intrigue that keeps the reader turning page after page to find out what happens. Boy Nobody is a combination of a young James Bond and Jason Bourne. His book could easily be a gateway to those older adult thrillers and suspense series. I got to talk with Allen Zadoff at the School Library Journal’s Summer Teen conference and was excited to see that the book is the first in a series. It was also great to see that he is purposefully writing them so that they all stand alone and don’t have to be read as a series. When a number of my teen reviewers got done with the book they were in anguish crying, “Why, oh, why can’t this book be a series?” They were happy to find out that their wish will come true. The shocking twist of Boy Nobody’s mission changing from assassinating the mayor to Sam, the mayor’s daughter, was intriguing and I didn’t see it coming. The final end of the mission though will possibly require some Kleenex as the reader is hit with unexpected information about Boy Nobody’s mission. I can’t wait for the second book and neither can my teens.

Thanks to the Victoria Stapleton at Little Brown for the ARC for the YALSA YA Galley Group!