This book is about Kyle McAvoy, a recent Yale Law School grad. that gets blackmailed for something he may have done at a fraternity party.

Kyle is afraid of losing everything he has worked so hard for, and disappointing his father, a small town lawyer. So, he reluctantly agrees to spy on his new employer Scully & Pershing, the largest law firm in New York.

Kyle secretly meets with the blackmailer, Bennie while staying one step ahead of him, trying to figure out how to end this charade without ruining his or his fraternity brothers reputations and promising futures. After all…it was his fraternity brothers that actually committed the crime.

I really enjoyed reading this book figuring that it would all tie together in the end, but was greatly disappointed.

Thom Creed is not your usual teenager. He’s a good basketball player, except for the “seizures” that start to show up when he’s stressed out.  His dad is a disgraced superhero who works a factory job. Then there are the guys who are jealous of his athletic ability and his dad’s refusal to talk about his mom and why she left. Add to that the issue of being gay in a homophobic world… Life is rough. How can Thom reconcile his emerging superpowers with being his Dad’s son? Can he ever be accepted for who he is or does he have to keep lying to everyone? When Thom outs himself to save someone from jail, his whole life comes crashing down. His superhero teammates turn their backs on him, his dad leaves. How’s a guy supposed to save the world all by himself?

D,J.’s sophomore year didn’t go well and the basketball scouts aren’t going to be looking at her in the fall if she doesn’t pass sophomore English. Her teachers didn’t know that DJ was basically running the family dairy farm because her dad had hurt his back. He might have been a great football coach but he’s still a chicken when it comes to surgery. On top of running the farm and trying to make up English assignments, the football coach from the neighboring rival high school wants DJ’s dad to help train his quarterback for the next season, but DJ’s dad pushes it off on her. Nobody is happy with that, not DJ or Brian Nelson, the quarterback with a bad attitude to go with his bad arm! It looks like the summer is shaping up to be a royal pain all the way around!

An Abe Lincoln nominee, this is a great read about a girl growing up in rural Wisconsin but dealing with a lot of the same problems (boys, school, parents,,,boys) that city kids do.

Catch is the story of small town “golden boy” Tim Temples. Tim has just graduated from high school and is set to enter the University of Illinois-Urbana in August. He was a star catcher for his baseball team till he messed up his knee during a game. He’s not sure he wants to go to college, it didn’t work for his older brother, who flunked out and sits around getting high all day. But everyone assumes he can’t wait to go. Tim just wants to hang out with his buddies and not think about it. Then he meets Helena at work, an “older woman” who gets him to think about life differently.

I didn’t like Tim al all when I first started the book. About 1/3 into the book I realized  why it’s an Abe Lincoln nominee. Tim is not as mindless and self-absorbed as he appears on the surface, or to his friends. He’s got a brain and he starts to figure out why he’s not satisfied with where he’s at or with his brother’s behavior, or his friend’s attitudes, either. Tim manages to do some growing up that last summer and I enjoyed his journey. I think you will too.

Jack is the Warrior Heir to the Weirlind.  Very few weirlind know that he exists, until one day  he skips his “heart medicine” and his powers become visible to those who know what to look for. That starts Jack’s race to learn to handle his new-found abilities before he’s kidnapped or killed by those who want him for their personal gain. It’s a lot to take in for a sixteen year old who just wanted to make the soccer team.  This is the first of a 3 book series.  Written in a contemporary style, this is great fantasy read. I’m looking forward to reading the next two books as soon as I can get my hands on them.

This fantasy is written in a style more like Lewis or Tolkien than Atwater-Rhodes or Chima or Snyder. By that I mean that the style is more formal than “Poison Study” or “Wizard Heir”, but it is just as gripping. Gabrielle is a bonemender or healer as well as the Princess of Verdeau. She enjoys her work and helping her people. One day 2 men stumble into the castle courtyard, one of them severely injured. To everyone’s surprise they are elves, who had withdrawn from humans so long ago they were considered legendary. They bring news of an invasion from over the mountains that will threaten everyone in their path. As Gabrielle’s kingdom and their allies struggle to prepare for the war, Gabrielle must struggle with her personal feelings towards Feolan the Elf and her duty towards her people. A well told story and an Abe Lincoln nominee.

Adrienne Willis’ daughter is depressed because her husband dies suddenly. Adrienne  decides to tell her how she was able to handle losing her husband fifteen years earlier.

Forty-five year old Adrienne Willis explains that she  was a  sad, divorced lady. She says she was totally dejected when her husband, who was the father of her three children, left her for a younger woman. Nicholas Sparks uses “flashbacks” to tell her story.

Adrienne  goes to Rodanthe, North Carolina to take care of her friend’s inn. She meets a middle-aged doctor named Paul Flanner. He left his marriage and was distraught  over a  patient dying in his care.

Dr. Flanner  was the only guest at the inn because an awful storm was approaching the small coastal town. When the hurricane hits, Adrienne and Paul battle the storm together and start a romance. She tells how their love  affair helps  both of them restore their self-esteem and enjoy life again.

Sparks showed that love is a wonderful emotion. This book proved that LOVE isn’t only for young people.

This was a fun fantasy involving shape-changing cultures who have been at war for centuries. Danica is heir to the avian shapeshifter throne. She wants to end the war between her people and the serpiente or snake shifters. Their leader, Zane Cobriana, proposes to end the war, LITERALLY! Can hawk and snake co-exsist peacefully? Or is there a third party who profits by their aggression and does not want peace at all?

I enjoyed the writing and characters very much. There are 5 books in the series, which I am looking forward to reading as well. Am Abe Lincoln nominee and a quick read for fantasy lovers!

Lakshmi is a thirteen year old girl from Nepal. She was a good student and she was promised in marriage to a local boy. Her family became extremely poor after the Himalayan monsoons destroyed crops.

Lakshmi shiftless stepfather takes 800 rupees from a lady who said she would find work for her in the city. She was hoping to become a maid and help out her struggling family.

Lakshmi did not go to Nepal. She was sent to Calcutta, India and was SOLD into sex slavery like 12,000 Nepalese young women that year.

This book was written from Lakshmi’s point of view. It was depressing to read because her life became a nightmare. I did learn about the global crisis in Nepal and India.