Teen review of "Eyes Like Stars" and "Perchance to Dream" by Lisa Mantchev

 Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev (Théâtre Illuminata #1)
*Originally posted in June of 2013*

I've been searching for this book for what seems like ages. A reviewer had given it high praise and I found the premise to be very intriguing. The only problem was, I couldn't find it anywhere. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I stumbled across TWO copies in Half Price Books. I think I may have squealed. So, I did go in with rather high expectations, but I was not let down. At all.

The over all idea for this novel could have turned out to be a disaster if it weren't so incredibly well written. It took me a while to get into the story, but that has been happening a lot with me lately. Once I got well into the story, however, I was absolutely hooked. Every character was so well defined and written. Bertie made for an excellent heroine. She was outlandish and flawed, but she did ultimately have good intentions at heart. The faeries were my absolute favorites. They were absolutely hilarious! I loved every second they were there, which is basically the whole book. And of course, there is a bit of a love triangle, but it's not a suffocating one, of which I was glad.

The setting itself can be character as well. The Théâtre houses the characters from every play ever written, and I just loved how those characters were exploited. Hamlet is a sulky teen, Ophelia shows up every time there is running water, I was just so amused by the author's take on iconic Shakespearean roles. Oh, and let's talk about the cover for a moment, shall we? IT'S FREAKING GORGEOUS. As soon as I saw it, I had to have it.

Overall, I highly recommend this novel to those who like fantasy, theater, faeries, or strong willed heroines, because it definitely has all four. I'm going to have to go on a hunt to find book two now. Who knows how long that will take... it'll be worth it though.

- Caroline

Originally posted on The Attic blog.

Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev (Théâtre Illuminata #2)

It's not often that I come across a series whose installments I can read back to back or in close proximity to one another. I know several people who have to exist in a certain story or genre for a while, but is I do that I get burnt out. The last time I did that was over a year ago when I went on a dystopia binge. However, I read Eyes Like Stars only a couple months ago and I just had to read the sequel. And it did not at all disappoint. We get a continuation of the story in the first book but outside the theater with new characters and even higher stakes.

The change of scenery in Perchance to Dream gave a story a refreshing change without losing the magic that Eyes Like Stars had. If anything, it might have been even more magical. Some sequences, especially towards the end, I could totally see as a stop-motion film. Everything was so whimsical and well developed, especially the characters. We have the return of the faeries from A Midsummer Night's Dream, who will forever be my favorite characters, as well as some new characters. It's very rare that a book will cause me to laugh out loud, but the faeries' banters about sweets and pies and all around tom-foolery will never fail to make me laugh. And the reason for that is probably because the writing is so well done and so clever. The language is something I just absolutely love. It's this mix of modern and Shakespearean English that is just so delicious to read and really adds to the crafting of the story.

However, this series, like every other young adult series, is not without romance and a love triangle. But, I will defend this one by saying that it was unpredictable, and the outcome at the end of this novel is not one you see very often. And that could apply to the entire book as a whole. The narrative took twists and turns that I didn't expect. It was just so well crafted! One minute I'd be laughing at the faeries, the next moment Bertie would be stuck in some sort of waking dream, and the next moment would be dark and sort of scary. It takes an awful lot of skill to be able to jump ranges like that.

Overall, if you haven't read this series, you definitely need to pick up Eyes Like Stars. It's been a while since I've wanted to completely binge on a series, but this is turning out to be one of those moments. I need to find a copy of book three as soon as possible.

- Caroline

Originally posted on The Attic blog.

Don't miss the Anime Club's Halloween party!

Tomorrow is the next meeting of the Anime Club at the library. At this meeting we will have our Halloween party. We will have creepy snacks, fun crafts and games, and a raffle for prizes. Costumes are encouraged!

The Anime Club meets at 7 p.m. in the Meeting Room, which is located on the lower level of the Dundee Library. You can register online if you will be attending!

Beware! Read these books if you dare

 

If you enjoy a good scare and can't get enough zombies, check out our Beware! book display in the teen area.

Find books by Carrie Ryan, Darren Shan, Brenna Yovanoff, Sean Beaudoin, and more. Several popular horror series are included in the display: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, Zom-B by Darren Shan, Ashes by Ilsa Bick, and the Saga of Larten Crepsley by Darren Shan, just to name a few.

For more creepy and zombie-filled reads, download these reading lists (PDF format):
Are You Afraid of the Dark? Books That Will Creep You Out (part 1)
Are You Afraid of the Dark? Books That Will Creep You Out (part 2)
Zombies

These book lists are also accessible on our catalog BiblioCommons:
Creepy Reads for Teens
Creepy Reads for Teens part 2
Zombie Books for Teens

After reading The Walking Dead comics and watching the TV show, I often wonder if I'd be able to handle a zombie apocalypse. Because we all can't be Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, or Michonne, here's a book that will come in handy, The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks:

Does anything on the display or book lists look interesting? I 'd really like to read The End Games by T. Michael Martin, which is about a boy who protects his brother from the zombie apocalypse by telling him they are playing a videogame.

 

Happy (horrifying) reading!

"Allegiant" is here!

Today the final book in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy, Allegiant, was finally released. Are you dying to find out what happens? I can't wait to read it!

Don't forget to place a copy on hold (and do your best to avoid spoilers on the internet!)

The movie adaptation of the first book in the series, Divergent, hits theaters March 21, 2014.

Seek the Unknown in our Teen Read Week display!

Visit the teen area of the Dundee Library and Seek the Unknown during Teen Read Week! In our book display, all the books are covered in brown craft paper so that you have no idea what is underneath.

I used quotes to decorate the book covers, but they only give you a general idea of what's contained in each book's pages.

Don't you want to check one out to see what's inside?

 

How about this one?

Teen Read Week

Teen Read Week is next week, October 13-19. The theme is Seek the Unknown @ Your Library.

Visit the Dundee Library or Randall Oaks Branch Library to recommend books you've recently read, enjoyed, and think other readers would like to read! Each recommendation you submit will enter you into the Teen Read Week drawing. We will draw ten names for $10 Target gift cards.

Plus, at the end of the week, we have the program Crafts for Bookworms on Saturday, October 19 at 2:30 p.m.

To go along with the theme, we will have a fun display set up in the teen area at the Dundee Library, which I will post about when the display is ready later today!

Recommended read: "Into That Forest"

Into That Forest by Louis Nowra
TEEN NOWRA

"When I think back, I see time were passing without me noticing. I lost me talking and lost me counting. It were the seasons I noticed: summer and autumn in the rain forests and hills and then winter down by the coast. We had four summers. That made me about ten years old and Becky a bit more than eleven. Four years to a child is like an eternity. Every year I live now passes quicker and quicker, but back then, a year were an eternity, so it were like a time without end."

Six year old Hannah and seven year old Becky survive a flood in the Tasmanian bush while out on a boat ride with Hannah's parents, who do not live. Hungry and cold, the girls follow a female tiger into the bush, who leads them to a cave where a male tiger also lives. While Hannah at once recognizes and accepts that the tigers (she names them Corinna and Dave) are taking the girls in as cubs, Becky resists. But eventually, in order to survive, Becky cannot fight her hunger, and joins in on a hunt.

For four years Hannah and Becky live with the tigers, hunting with them, sleeping next to them, and communicating with them through eye and body movements. They are able to differentiate between all the smells and animals in the bush and have the ability to see in the dark. They stop using language and walk on four legs most of the time. When the girls are rescued, they have trouble re-adjusting to human life, as though they are more tiger than human. Hannah and Becky's struggle to re-learn human behavior and speech is heartbreaking, especially because other kids and adults do not understand why the girls are so awkward.

Hannah narrates this story when she is 76 years old, apologizing at the beginning for her speech: "me language is bad cos I lost it and had to learn it again." Some readers may have trouble with her way of talking, but for me, her voice made the book more interesting than if she had been using perfect grammar.

I highly recommend Into That Forest if you...
* enjoy survival reads
* are interested in Australia
* are looking for something different to read

In addition to being a quick read, Into That Forest is a unique and very moving book (yes, I cried), and one of my favorite books of the year.

New books for autumn

Right of Way by Lauren Barnholdt
Told in their separate voices, seventeen-year-old Peyton convinces eighteen-year-old Jace to drive her from a Florida wedding toward her Connecticut home with the intention of staying in North Carolina rather than face her parents' marital and financial problems, while both avoid the obvious attraction they have felt since they met at Christmas.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
When seventeen-year-old Tana wakes up following a party in the aftermath of a violent vampire attack, she travels to Coldtown, a quarantined Massachusetts city full of vampires, with her ex-boyfriend and a mysterious vampire boy in tow.

The Fallout by S.A. Bodeen
This sequel to The Compound finds Eli and his family struggling to acclimate to the outside world after escaping the compound where his father imprisoned them for six years, an effort that is complicated by an intrusive media and disturbing revelations about his father's company.

Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan
As Kami Glass and her friends continue to battle the sorcerers of the Lynburn family in the sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, friendships and families are torn apart. Book #2 in the Lyburn Legacy series.

Night School by C.J. Daugherty
After her third arrest in one year, sixteen-year-old Allie's parents send her to Cimmeria Academy, a boarding school, where she finds herself exposing the dark secrets of the school and her classmates.

A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies
As the leader of the Rogues, Sky must fight to maintain the balance between order and chaos--and for a way for her and Asher to be together. Book #3 in the Beautiful Dark series.

Inheritance by Malinda Lo
When teens Reese and David are kidnapped after revealing that they were adapted with alien DNA, Reese is forced to reconcile her new love for David, a human, with feelings for Amber, an Imrian, and make a world-changing choice.

Torn by David Massey
Only eighteen when she is sent to Afghanistan, British army medic Elinor Nielson is continually at odds with her hardnosed bunkmate, Heidi Larson, but connects with a mysterious Afghan girl and local children, as well as an American lieutenant.

Parallel by Lauren Miller
A collision of parallel universes leaves 18-year-old Abby Barnes living in a new version of her life every day, and she must race to control her destiny without losing the future she planned and the boy she loves.

Into That Forest by Louis Nowra
Two girls. Two tigers. Four years in the wild. Two girls survive a terrible flood in the Tasmanian bush and are rescued by a pair of Tasmanian tigers who raise them in the wild. Their story of survival is remarkable, as they adapt to the life of the tiger, learning to hunt and to communicate without the use of human language. When they are discovered and returned to civilization, neither can adapt to being fully human after their extraordinary experience. Totally believable, their story will both shock and captivate listeners as it explores the animal instincts that lie beneath our civilized veneer.

The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Jon Evans is one of the lucky ones--until he realizes that escaping his safe haven may be the only way to truly survive. Book #4 in the Life as We Knew It series.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
A day in the life of a suicidal teen boy saying good-bye to the four people who matter most to him.

The Taming of the Tights by Louise Rennison
Tallulah Casey has returned for another term at her performing arts school, but after sharing a secret kiss with the local bad boy, Tallulah is now determined to find her perfect leading man.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
At age eight, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, and now, ten years later, he joins the Reckoners--the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny.

To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones
Fifteen-year-old Colette is a compulsive liar spending a miserable summer in San Luis Obispo, California, babysitting her seven-year-old brother while her famous mother shoots a movie, but things look up when Connor enters the scene.

Once We Were by Kat Zhang
In the sequel to What's Left of Me, fifteen-year-old Addie and Eva struggle to share their body as they are drawn deeper into the fight for hybrid freedom from the government's oppression.