Books for Teens

In this installment of the House of Night Series, Zoey has just escaped Kalona and the Raven Mockers.  She and her friends are hiding in the tunnels with the Red Fledglings.  Neferet has become evil and is a powerful enemy.  Zoey and Eric seemed to be making up just as Heath arrives again!  And when Zoey is seriously injured she must drink from Heath and their Imprint is reestablished.  Not to mention, Kalona has been stalking Zoey in her dreams and wants her to be his A-ya.  That is three guys after Zoey so far and there is still a fourth she encounters that she begins to fall for!  I enjoyed the fast pace of this novel.

By the time I reached the end, I half hoped that things would be resolved but I also didn’t want the story to end.  Will Zoey remain with Eric?  What about her Imprint with Heath?  Can she save Stark?  Defeat Kalona?

Another great read in the House of Night series.  Zoey is back!  She went from three boyfriends to NONE.  All her friends seriously hate her right now.  Her enemy Aphrodite has now become her ally.  Stevie Rae is still learning how to be normal again after becoming undead.  Neferet has declared war on humans.  Zoey must figure out how to tell her friends what is going on without Neferet finding out (she reads minds…except for Zoey’s.)  In the end, Neferet’s plot to release Kalona a powerful evil spirit is uncovered.  Zoey unites with her friends and battles the evil that is released.  However it is too great and Stevie Rae is fatally wounded.

Book 3 of the House of Night series is a page turner!  I tell you as I finish each one, I can’t wait to get my hands on the next.  Zoey realizes that her bestfriend (who died) isn’t really dead.  She is undead and to make matters worse she is a crazed red fledgling.  Zoey has to hide her until she figures out what to do.  Neferet turns out to be a traitor and Zoey knows she can no longer trust her.  She and Erik become closer and she imprints with her human boyfriend.  When a sexy teacher at the school Loren, starts showing Zoey some affection she is drawn to him and can’t resist his poetry and intellegence.  Somehow she ends up with three boyfriends.  And just when things couldn’t get worse, one betrays her and Bella ends up all alone.

If you read Marked, you were probably like me…you had to read the second book in the series…like NOW.  I am really enjoying this series.  I find it a guilty pleasure.  Zoey is the new leader for the Dark Daughters.  She attends the House of Night a sort of boarding school for prospective vampires.  If you survive you classes you become a vampire.  In book one, Marked, Zoey started making friends but was still learning how to fit in.

In book two, Zoey is much more confident.  She has two boyfriends.  (Although she really didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.)  A fledgling and a human!  Everything is going good, until humans start dying.  Zoey thinks the House of Night is some how involved.  Zoey must face the mystery and danger that surrounds her friends and school.

The final book in the Twilight series is a shocker.  If you haven’t read it yet…just stop here, because I don’t want to spoil it for you.

You still there?

Bella gets married and soon after finds out she is pregnant.  Her pregnancy developing very quickly and Edward can’t turn her into a vampire since it could jeopardize the baby.  He wants to terminate it since having a vampire baby inside a human appears to be dangerous.  The baby incapacitates Bella, drains her of all her energy, breaks her ribs when it kicks.  But, Bella can’t imagine not having the baby and so she decides no matter the risk she will have it.

Meanwhile, Jacob’s werewolf clan discuss killing the baby since no one knows what power it will hold or whether it can be controlled.  Jacob leaves the clan in order to protect her.  Bella’s baby grows alarmingly fast.  And in quite a short time she is ready to deliver.  There are complications however, and Edward has to turn Bella into a vampire to save her life.  Both mother and baby thrive.  When the other vampires hear there is an immortal child (which is not allowed in vampire society) not only are werewolves after Bella’s baby but the powerful Volturi vampire clan also confront the family.

You have to read the book to find out what special talent Bella develops as a vampire and to learn more about her baby.  Also can Edward’s clan fight off the powerful Volturi?

This is the third book in the Twilight series.  In this novel, Bella is torn between her friendship with Jacob and her love for Edward.  When Jacob declares his love for her, she doesn’t want to lose their friendship.  In the end, both guys want what is best for Bella and unite to fight off a group of vampires that are hunting Bella.  Bella begs Edward to turn her into a vampire.  But, he insists they get married first, which Bella thinks is not a good idea.  To me that was a little confusing… she wants him bad enough to die for him, but she is not ready to marry him?  Not much gets resolved…which led me quickly to book 4–Breaking Dawn.

I really enjoyed this first novel in the House of Night Series by PC Cast.  I must admit right up front that this book is more “mature” material than Twilight.  The main character Zoey goes to a regular high school and has a normal life until a tracker approaches her in the school hall and marks her.  What this all means is that she has been marked as a fledgling vampire and must immediately start attending the House of Night (which is like a prep store for vampires.)  Zoey must leave behind her “kind of” ex boyfriend and her not so good home life.  Things start looking up for her as she gets settled in to the House of Night.  Her mentor is wonderful, her roommate is a reliable new friend and a cute guy seems interested in her.  The only problem is that she is marked to be different than all those around her.  Her mark is filled-in, while all the other fledglings only have an outline.  Also, she can feel all the elements: earth, wind, fire, water, spirt and this is very rare.  Because of this she attracts negative attention from the popular kids in school.  Book one ends with Zoey and Aphrodite going head to head to see who will control a secret society called the Dark Daughters.

I enjoyed this enough to go out today and snag book two Betrayed from Barnes and Noble.

Sophie and Josh are your ordinary twins, until one day a strange car pulls up outside of the shops they work at. Immediately they know something is wrong. The smell of rotten eggs fills the air as strange gray “men” get out of the car. These men go into to Nicholas Flemming’s store and Josh is stunned to see magic flowing from the fingers of Dr. Dee as he attacks Nicholas. It turns out, both Dee and Flemming (aka Flamel) are immortal. The twins come to the rescue of Flamel and he sweeps them off to safety, however Flamel’s wife Perenelle is not so lucky. Dee kidnaps her along with the most powerful book in the world…The Codex. Flamel quickly explains that he has been the guardian of the book and since the kids are too involved to go back to their ordinary lives, they must stay with him until things have settled down. Before long another motive is revealed. The Codex, prophesized that twins would save the world or destroy it. Flamel works as their guide and teacher and takes them to Awaken their magical powers. Dee keeps interfering and Flamel, the twins, and their friend Scatty must battle against all kinds of Elders, undead, and mythological animals. I enjoyed reading so many familiar names of gods and goddesses and mythological creatures. I was surprised by the author’s footnotes about just how much of the book is based on fact. Teens will enjoy reading about their favorite mythological characters such as vampires, werewolves, and the sphinx. In the end, the reader is left anxiously awaiting book two: The Magician. 

Bella is back in another great novel by Stephenie Meyer. The introductory pages begin with a quote from Romeo and Juliet. Ironically, I am currently reading Romeo and Juliet in my 8th grade literature classes. The story begins with Edward leaving Bella unexpectedly. He tells her he no longer wants her and that he is not good for her anyway. These two are prime examples star crossed lovers. Edward’s entire family disappears from town. Devastated, she rushes home to check her scrapbook for his picture and to listen to the CD he made for her. But alas, he has taken every reminder of himself with him. Bella falls into a deep depression and her father doesn’t know what to do about it. She doesn’t snap out of it for over a month, when she starts to spend time with Jacob Black. Wanting to punish herself, she starts looking for every destructive hobby she can find. She decides she wants to race motorcycles. Bella enlists Jacob’s help in repairing the motorcycles she finds. He has a crush on her and pretty soon she is spending everyday at his house. Her spirits begin to lift and she discovers that when she participates in dangerous activities Edward’s voice fills her mind trying to talk her out of it. Longing to hear more of him, she continually looks for more danger to trigger these illusions. Just as there friendship starts to bloom into something more, Jacob stops talking to her. She is hurt and shocked at his lack of attention. With a little investigation, she comes to the realization that Jacob is a werewolf. Jacob’s tribe is composed of werewolves whose prime responsibility is to protect the town from vampires. Unfortunately for Bella, Victoria (a vampire from the last novel), is desperately trying to attack her in response to Edward killing her mate James. When Alice sees in a vision that Bella will try to kill herself, she returns to town. Edward hears her thoughts and thinks Bella is dead. He goes to Italy to provoke the Volturi vampires into killing him. Bella and Alice rush to Italy to stop him. They arrive in time to stop Edward…but the Volturi family take Bella, Alica and Edward in custody. Surrounded by an extremely powerful family of vampires, Bella is told she knows too much. There options are: A. Bella dies; or B. Bella becomes a vampire. Alice and Bella agree to the latter, while Edward fumes. The Volturi tell Edward they will be watching and that Bella needs to be converted before too much time elapses. They return home and Edward is there to stay. Poor Jacob…he cannot be around Bella while she is with Edward. Victoria is still out there. Edward asks Bella to marry him and to wait a few years before he changes her into a vampire. The story ends with Bella having commitment issues… How can she be determined to become a vampire, but not sure if she wants to marry Edward? I have to know…I already have book three. I was even considering pre-ordering book four so it will be shipped right away in August.

As I read this book, I felt hooked. I just couldn’t put it down. Bella moves to a small town. She is immediately curious about a strange group of kids she sees on the first day of school. They dress in black. They keep to themselves. The catch is that they are extraordinarily gorgeous. Bella finds herself drawn to one of the crowd…Edward Cullen. At first he seems repulsed by her. He avoids her and ignores her. Then he disappears. It couldn’t be because of her…could it? When he returns to school a week later, he is a different person. As lab partners they become friends. Before long he starts to walk her to class and she starts to fall for him. So far it sounds pretty good right? What could go wrong? One night while Edward is on a hunting trip with his family, Bella hangs out with some of the town kids. She asks some questions about the Cullen family. It turns out some people think the Cullen family are vampires. This suspenseful tale is full of secrets, mystery, vampires, love, and heartache. As I raced through the final pages of the book, I already knew I needed to go out and get book two.