The Cardturner :a novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker by Louis Sachar.
The Cardturner : A Novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker by Louis Sachar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a book about bridge, and it is for teens. Bridge the card game – know it?



Alton Richard’s great-uncle Lester Trapp is rich and ailing, a combo that leads Alton’s parents to hatch a plan for the teen to cozy up to the old man and carve out a chunk of inheritance. Though blind, Trapp is a brilliant, world-class bridge player and needs someone to read him his cards and make his plays. Enter Alton, who gets roped into serving as a card turner. He withstands the constant barbs from his uncle and grows more intrigued by the game (in no small part due to the cute, girl who also plays). The pages are filled with detailed commentary on the basics and then nuances of the game, and a little whale image appears when the bridge talk is about to get deep so readers can skip right ahead to a wrap-up. But don’t be fooled: it is astonishing how Sachar can make blow-by-blow accounts of bridge not only interesting but exciting, treating each play like a clue to unravel the riddle of each hand. It is also a book full of understated humor and shows the many and varied funny foibles of humankind.







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Dark Song by Gail Giles

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Creepy..... and all too possible.
The book describes the implosion of a family who has it all one day... and loses it all too quickly. Ames sees her life crumble before her as her dad loses his job, gambles away all their assets and leaves them destitute. The situation is made more intolerable as her mother turns into the mother-from-hell. The family has to relocate where Ames meets Marc. And then things really get creepy. What a mess. You have to read this to really get the full eerily-real feel to this tale.

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Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Looking for love in all the wrong places!
Fast paced with short chapters, this novel follows the lives of 4 narrators, Ellie, Josh, Corinne (Ellie's best friend) and Caleb (Josh's best friend) describing how each is affected by the Ellie's unplanned-unwanted pregnancy.
Promiscuous Ellie sleeps around under the erroneous assumption that this equates with love and the guys will stick around. She is constantly disappointed.
Josh gets her pregnant. So the stage is set for the drama which unfolds.

What will Ellie do? Which choice is best or least painful or less wrong? Will Corinne and Caleb's relationship with each other and with Ellie withstand the pressure?

Josh feels awful; he treated Ellie horribly; he is a screw-up; but can he change?

Get the tissues out. (AP)

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Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Jennifer Jones has been released on parole, and the whole country wants to know — where is JJ? Information about JJ’s whereabouts are under strict lockdown. There are only a few people who know.
Alice Tully has an ordinary life, she works at a coffee shop, lives in her apartment and has a loving boyfriend. Alice is also obsessed with reading about child murderer, JJ. Alice knows more than she lets on about JJ and the circumstances that surround the murder years ago.
A thought provoking story that delves deep into the life of the protagonist. What does Alice know?....(AP)

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The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This one gets a 5. It is so unique - a novel and an encyclopedia of trivia all in one.
Twelve-year-old, genius, T. S. narrates the story of his journey from Montana to Washington, D.C. to collect his Smithsonian award. As he crosses the country he also searches for an understanding of his world. Like most 12 year-old, T.S's mind wanders and the pages are filled with his diagrams, maps, reasonings - including a map of 26 McDonalds in North Dakota; an analysis of types of boredom; the merits of the juice pouch versus the juice box, to name a few. As you read the entertaining story there are these side trips to very entertaining trivia. There is never a dull moment in this book.
The writing reveals a narrator with a quirky character full of knowledge but so innocent, a flawed but loving family, and a spirit and goodness that abounds. Thank you Tecumseh Sparrow, I wish you well.

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The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The Carbon Diaries 2015
by
Saci Lloyd

Could this really happen? Are we reading fiction or an account of the future?
On the first day of rationing Mum couldn't get on the bus because she had forgotten her carbon card.
The government has decided that we need to cut our carbon emissions by 60%. Now the UK has become a guinea pig for the rest of the world, and two months into carbon rationing the country seems to be falling apart. In between blizzards we've had blackouts, food lines, looting, and thousands have lost their jobs.
Under the new system, each person is allowed 200 carbon points to spend each month. That has to cover our expenses for travel, food and heat.
The only thing that seems normal now is my band, the Dirty Angels. The Angels were so hot at practice. I played this wild bass.
The government has installed smart meters on every house. If you go over your monthly limit the smart meter starts controlling your energy use. What used to be personal before rationing has now become political. Go too much over your monthly limit and you will get a red envelope from the Carbon Department. Then you are in real trouble.
Because of my sister, Kim, our whole family has been put on "CO death row." We have to get our carbon use down. It is 2015. The new world of carbon rationing is destroying my family. This is my carbon diary about the first year of carbon rationing in the UK.

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Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Finding a mummified body of a child is not the best way to start your day! Eighteen year old Fergus McCann finds the remains of a small girl while poaching turf with his uncle in 1980s Ireland. Thus begins a seamlessly interwoven novel of multiple story lines. Fergus is confronted with several life altering situations - discovering more about the little girl, his developing relationship with Cora, being blackmailed into running packages for the IRA, the trauma of having his older brother, a political prisoner, on hunger strike. There is never a slow moment in the book, the pace is fast. The characters are believable with catchy, involved dialogue.
The novel explores the vagaries of growing up, coupled with the political tension in Ireland during the '80s. Fergus has to grapple with becoming an adult as well as battling family, religious, and national problems. A beautiful book.

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