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Annie Price is still on the run from The Covenant when by a stroke of luck she winds up working at the second-happiest place on Earth: Lowryland. The work is exhausting and the apartment is small, but she's rooming with two cryptid friends. Then some executive finds out Annie's an untrained sorcerer, and all hell breaks loose.

This is what they call a page-turner. I was so reluctant to put this book down that I fucked up my sleep schedule again. One hell of a read.

Also there is a short story about the Aeslin Mice, which was also very good.

I love this series.
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Where did this book lose me? Right at the end of the first third, when a white girl with dreadlocks calls a black girl racist.

When Alex's mom dies, Alex is forced out of her home to move in with her grandmother. Grandma's super rich and there are all sorts of obligations Alex has to do, most of which she's not aware of.

But how many times do I need to read the secret-boyfriend-already-has-girlfriend plot? Not to mention all this crap about black magic and junk. It's been done, better.

I didn't like the main character or anyone else in the story, either.
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Serenity, New Mexico is the most Utopian community in the world. Or at least, that's what all the kids' parents keep telling them.

But trouble starts when Eli starts biking out of town with his friend Randy, to see a barn with an abandoned fancy car. As soon as he gets to the town limits, Eli gets very sick. Then a helicopter arrives and takes them away.

Suddenly, Randy is leaving town.

This was a very readable story. I really cared what happened next. However, when you find out the secret, it's pretty ridiculous. I'll probably read the next one.
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A huge asteroid is going to hit the earth and kill us all within six months. It's been hiding behind another asteroid, which is going to miss the planet.

Luckily, the magical Gale family is on the case. Unluckily, they are also dealing with Allie, who is apparently destined to have the seventh son of a seventh son. And Charlie, who can walk between worlds and is apparently destined to be start-crossed lovers with Jack, who is a dragon prince and also WAY more then seven years younger than Charlie.

This is good, but very convoluted. The ending is so confusing that it seems right out of Diana Wynne Jones. Fun read anyway.
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Harriet hates masked balls. But the bat ambassador is visiting, and Harriet's parents are throwing one anyway. And yes, Harriet has to go. But then an incredibly beautiful hamster shows up. Her shoes are glass, which looks really uncomfortable. Everyone wants to know who the princess is, but she disappears before the unmasking.

It turns out a girl is having SERIOUS Fairy Godmother trouble.

I love this series. The last book wasn't my favorite, but still good. This one is great, it even made me laugh a few times.
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I really love this book, so I don't know what to say about it. Here's what happens:

Bryony was visiting a gardener friend about rutabagas. On the way home she and her pony hit an unseasonable blizzard. Just before they froze to death, they stumbled across the gate of an enchanted castle. Bryony is wary, but also doesn't want to die. So they go in, and the pony immediately takes a dump on the floor. Still, there is food, and warmth, and they go to sleep.

In the morning, Bryony takes the rose on her breakfast table for her sister, and there's the Beast.

So yeah, some of this is Beauty & the Beast, but it's not in the best ways. You should read it.
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Emperor Mollusk conquered Earth peacefully, then retired. People keep coming to the planet to fuck with him, but he dispatches them all handily. Then one day, Mollusk runs up against someone who almost beats him. Mollusk, intrigued, goes after the villain.

This is one of those books that's supposed to be funny but didn't make me laugh. However, the story is fun enough to read that I still really liked it.
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Another book about a special white girl with magic powers who also has the hottest guy in school. This one's named Katy and she's a witch. A big evil has escaped, and Katy IMMEDIATELY falls under its spell.

In an effort to make things interesting, the evil is Morgan le Fay.

I don't know, it's not bad writing, it's just so.. formulaic.
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Jacques Papier is sure he would have a complex if it weren't for his sister, Fleur. Nobody ever seems to notice him. He isn't picked for games or called on by teachers, and Fleur has to speak for him at home.

When Jacques finds out, quite by accident that he is not Fleur's brother, but her imaginary friend, he is devastated. He convinces Fleur to let him go, and then the disturbing part starts.

This is a pretty good book, but I'm not sure who it's aimed at. My personal imaginary friend was gone before I hit kindergarten. How many kids will identify? Plus, the imagery of what happens to Jacques when he's cut off from the world is, frankly, terrifying.

It's a strange book, is what I'm saying.
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Footer's mom is bipolar, and sometimes stops taking her meds. When mom blows a snake away with an elephant gun, she gets taken to the hospital in Memphis so she can get better again.

Footer wants to know who set the fire that burned down the Abrams farm and probably killed two kids. She and her friend Peavine are going around investigating. Then Footer starts having visions or flashbacks to the night of the fire, and is afraid she's losing it like her mom.

If you want to know how to write an "issue" novel, you should study this book. It's as sweet as it is worrisome, and Footer is a great character. Nothing is leaned on too heavily, but nothing is brushed over, either.
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Spark goes to New York to hang out with her brother on vacation. Almost as soon as she gets there, she meets John Stone, who offers her a job cataloging his papers. Spark also gets a crush on her brother's roommate, who leaves right away.

Back in England, Spark apples for the job, gets it, moves in with Stone and his weird staff, and catalogs a bunch of stuff in code.

Meanwhile, Stone is writing his memoirs, which start in France, in the court of the Sun King..

This book is 529 pages long. I am not sure why I didn't stop reading, but I guess that felt like too much effort. I'm extra-tired, lately.
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Here we have a retelling of The Snow Queen definitely not for kids.

Kay is a jerk, but Gerda can't see it. When Kay hears about the Snow Queen, he is fascinated. So he goes away with her.

Gerda goes to rescue him, which takes a long time and has an unsuspected benefit.

I liked this book, it's dark and sweet.
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Some kids find the secret parent's handbook and discover why their parents always say the same things, over and over. Also there are spies and counter-spies.

I don't know, this read like it was written for adults, not children. It seems preachy and too heavy on the message that parents are unreasonable because they love you.

Kids should know this isn't always true.
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This is the story of Kick Kennedy, a favored daughter of a political catholic family. Right before World War II, she met and fell in love with (gasp!) a protestant.

Kick was a character in a few books I read last year, so it was interesting to find out who she really was. I DID find it odd that the author kept telling us how un-pretty Kick was, especially since it's obviously bullshit. Give it a rest, lady.
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D.J. Meets Hilo when he falls out of the sky. Hilo is wearing nothing but underwear and he'd like to stay that way. But there's more to Hilo than meets the eye, and some scary stuff is following him..

This is a brightly-colored, dynamic, sometimes-funny comic book for kids. I will definitely read the next one.
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Four novellas:

Snapshot: A creepy man takes photos with an instant camera and steals memories. He targets old people. A kid finds out about this and tries to stop him.

Loaded: I don't know what this one was about, because it took too long to get to the point and was boring me. I skipped it.

Aloft: A young man who's afraid to jump out of an airplane winds up landing on something that looks like a cloud, but is solid underfoot. There's no food or water up there.

Rain: One day, instead of water, crystals fall from the sky. A lot of people die, including the protagonist's girlfriend. This one wandered from the point a lot. Unless I'm missing the point.

The stories I actually read were okay.
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This is a series based off a book in a book that the author's already written. Got that? Me either.

Young Ruby is exceptionally gifted at patterns, codes and clues. So a local spy agency recruits her to help with a tricky problem.

But Ruby keeps getting into dangerous situations.

This book is okay, but it seems kinda ponderous for young readers. And I'm assuming that's who the books are aimed at?

Anyway, it meanders. Takes too long to get to the plot, and too long to resolve it.
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The Strega-Borgia family lives in an old castle in Scotland. They have an alligator in the moat, Beasts in the dungeon, a witch as nanny to the children, a cook who can't cook and a butler, who they find passed out on the doorstep when they return from vacation.

Only the nanny realizes what happened to the butler, and she must investigate and plan on her own.

This book was a fun, fast read, and you probably don't need to read the three that came before to enjoy it.
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Sugar May Cole's mom, Reba, is always believing the best about Sugar's dad. So when the bank starts foreclosure proceedings, Reba doesn't do anything because she believes Mr. Leeland will show up to save the day.

Sugar and Reba wind up on the street. And Sugar's just been given an adorable puppy, which complicates things. But things just keep going downhill for Reba, especially after they move to Chicago for a job that isn't there.

It's amazing that Bauer can still put her trademark hope into this story, but she does. This book is sad but good, and DOES have a good ending.
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It's an ordinary day at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children--until the girl falls out of the sky and into the turtle pond.

The girl, whose name is Rini, is looking for her mom, Sumi, who died in the first book in the series. Because of this, Rini is slowly disappearing. This sends some of the kids off on a quest with Rini, to bring Sumi back so Rini can exist. The trip leads them through great peril and into several worlds.

This is a very good novel, and a very fast read. You should buy it so there will be sequels.

Sugar Sky is part three in a series that starts with Every Heart a Doorway, but it will stand on its own easily enough.

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