Thornhill by Pam Smy

by Carol1 Comment
Thornhill is spooky and heart-breaking. Ella is sad and lonely, but when she glimpses a girl in the window of the Thornhill Institute, she becomes obsessed with finding out who she was and what happened to her. Mary lived at the Institute in the 1980s, also a sad, lonely girl who is bullied and terrorized by the other girls. Thornhill is at heart a ghost story. We know from the beginning that Mary's a ghotst, but her diary entries made me cry. Her life at Thornhill was miserable, and few of the adults around her seemed competent or truly caring. Ella's story is just as sad. I assume her father loves her, but he's never home and her mom is gone, presumably dead. Her side of the story is depicted in black and white illustrations that are striking and add to the dark atmosphere of the novel. We know something happened to Mary, but not what. I think this is one of...
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Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner

by Carol2 Comments
Persons Unknown started out slow for me. I read the first in the series and knew Manon and Fly and how they can to be a family, but I guess I forgot how unlikeable Manon can be. I do like her, but she will rub just about everyone the wrong way at some point or other, including the reader. And now she's pregnant, which I'm not sure was the best decision with just recently adopting Fly, but there you have it. This time around the mystery hits very close to home for Manon. Manon and Fly are sharing a home with Manon's sister Ellie and her toddler son, Solly, when Solly's father turns up murdered. Once Fly is accused and sent to juvenile, the story picks up pace. Of course, Fly's innocent, we know that, but it's a complicated case, one Manon is not allowed to directly work on. With Davy's help, she does manage to get the right information to the right people. The dead...
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Thursday’s Tale: Disney Manga: Tangled

by Carol2 Comments
The story is the same as the Tangled movie from 2010. It's a re-imagining of Rapunzel, but the only thing it really has in common with the original fairy tale is the girl with long hair kept in a tower. The princess, Rapunzel, is stolen from her crib by Mother Gothel, because her can magically heal people.  Mother Gothel hides Rapunzel in the tower, forbidding her to ever leave it, keeping the precious hair safe. While Gothel is away getting a present for Rapunzel’s 18th birthday, Flynn Ryder ends up in the tower as he's on the run from the palace guards. Rapunzel recognizes her chance and convinces Ryder, with the help of a frying pan, to take her to see the annual lights festival. Adventure, danger, love and the requisite happy ever after ending all follow. The story is what it is, it's Tangled re-done as a manga. I thought the manga art was well-done and I'm sure middle schoolers would...
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The Freedom Broker by K. J. Howe

by Carol3 Comments
I have to admit, I really enjoyed this action adventure/mystery novel. Thea's job is get back people who have been kidnapped, whether through negotiation or rescue operations, and she's good at it. So when her father is kidnapped she can't trust anyone but her team to get him back. Of course, it's not simple. We've got arms dealers and African politicians and oil magnates all vying for power, with her father smack dab in the middle of it. And we've got a love interest for Thea. It's got a lot going on, but exciting and fast-paced. Thea's a great character, smart, tough, and skilled. She's also a bit blinded by her feelings toward her family. This is one of those instances where the reader knows a lot more about what's going on than the protagonist, but even at that there are a few surprising twists. The author has clearly done her research into kidnappings and hostage situations. I also appreciated that Thea is...
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Penance by Kanae Minato

by Carol2 Comments
The novel revolves around a group of friends in a small, rural town. The town is known for its fresh and clean air, which results in a company which makes precision instruments moving there. The workforce is not thrilled with the move, most come from Tokyo and don't fit in well with the locals. One of the newcomers' children, Emily, makes friends with a group of local girls – Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko. As the blurb states, one holiday the five schoolgirls, who were 10 at the time, are playing when they are approached by a man who chooses Emily to help him with a task. An hour or more later, Emily is found violated and murdered. At the time of this book, there was a statute of limitations during which criminals could be charged and so there is fifteen years to find the murderer. When the girls are thirteen, Emily’s mother invites them to her house and informs them that...
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Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton

by Carol1 Comment
I liked Of Books and Bagpipes much more than the first in the series. Delaney has been in Scotland for a while now and has come to care about the people she works with and her friends. I felt like her reason for investigating felt more natural this time around, a combination of natural curiosity and wanting to help. As a mystery, it worked well. There were plenty of clues and suspects and secrets that went back decades. It takes a lot of unraveling and I was surpised by the whodunnit, although I felt the motive was bit weak. And of course, Delaney gets herself trapped, but I didn't feel like it was because of stupidity on her part, which was nice. Sometimes female amateur detectives annoy me by taking risks that no sane woman would. Delaney didn't do that here. She has someone with her when there's a potential for danger, and always lets someone know where she is going. I...
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