October #6 - THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN

Title: The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian

Author: Sherman Alexie

Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-316-01368-0

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone, I think

Setting: Spokane Indian Reservation, Reardan and Wellpinit

1st Sentence:

I was born with water on the brain.

Comments:

Junior leaves the reservation to go to school in nearby (22 miles) farm-town Reardan where the only other Indian is the school mascot. In the process he learns many things - some good and some not so good. This is a great YA story but I had the feeling I was reading one of the top future challenged books. There are racial slurs, bigotry issues and talk of masturbation (the shame, because teenagers don't engage in this activity!)
The book also deals with death, familial relations and drunken Indians - definitely firestarter topics! I think it should be a must-read starting in Jr. High!

October #5 - 14

Title: 14

Author: JT Ellison

Publisher: Mira Books

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-7783-2556-7

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: Nashville, TN

1st Sentence:

Prologue
Would the bastard ever call?

Comments:

Back in the mid-1980s, the Snow White Killer was active killing young women with ebony hair and painting their lips ruby red. He killed ten and then stopped. Now, twenty years later and more bodies are turning up bearing his signature and homicide LT. Taylor Jackson and her crew are on the case. Something doesn't add up though, and that could make this one even worse, for everybody involved.

Once again, strong women and good storytelling. How can you possibly go wrong with a combination like that?!? I liked ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS and I liked this one as well. The worst part for me will be waiting for the next book, JUDAS KISS.

October #4 - THE BECOMING

Title: The becoming

Author: Jeanne C. Stein

Publisher: Ace Books

Copyright: 2004

ISBN: 0-441-01456-9

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: Mission Beach, CA

1st Sentence:

Forward
My name is Anna Strong.

Comments:

This is book one in another vampire series featuring Anna Strong, a bounty hunter turned vampire. She is taken in by Dr. Grant Avery, a nightwatcher and fellow vampire, to learn the ways of their kind but comes up against secrets and control issues as she tries to find the man who left her for dead and turned her into one of the undead.
I found this to be a successful first book and I'll definitely be looking for the rest. Anna is a strong female character, one of my favorite kind.

October #3 - AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE

Title: Against medical advice

Author: James Patterson and Hal Friedman

Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-316-02475-4

Series or stand-alone: Non-fiction

1st Sentence:

I'm seventeen years old and lying like a pathetic, helpless lump in the backseat of our family car, being transported to a place that treats crazy people.

Comments:

This book documents the journey of Cory Friedman, who one day just before turning five had the urge to shake his head, and spent the next decade plus fighting his often debilitating and crippling Tourette's syndrome and OCD. The story was good although the writing was pretty elementary because it's told from Cory's point of view. It moved along at a quick clip and the subject matter is just something you don't find a lot to read about. I was quite thrilled to put a name to my own OCD tendencies. I'm a "checker".

My sister-in-law laughs every time we discuss OCD though, because I saw a bumper sticker that I liked once. It said, "I have CDO. It's the same as OCD, only in alphabetical order the way it SHOULD be. I shared it with her and it cracks us up every time we talk about it.

Back to the book, I was disappointed however, because the only thing James Patterson had to do with this book was lend his name for sales. It's written by Cory, from Cory's point of view, yet his name shows up nowhere on the cover. I wasn't too impressed by that.