WINGS

Wings * Aprilynne Pike

2009 * p. 290 * YA Fantasy

Laurel has been homeschooled all her life. When she and her parents move from their secluded forest property to a bigger town and Laurel must start public high school, she finds that she is different in more ways than one.

Laurel feels smothered in anything but shorts, tank tops and flip flops despite the cold. She eats only veggies, fruits and an occasional Sprite. Though these things aren't crazy out of the normal. Laurel soon finds that she is not normal.

What starts as an out of the norm "zit" on her back, turns into a softball-sized lump that eventually sprouts petal-like wings!!!!! Needless to say, she is freaked out. She turns to her new friend David from school, and together they keep her secret and piece by piece discover that Laurel is not human. She is a faerie!

What I thought was so nice about this book is that Pike took a relatively normal and genuine problem such as puberty, and gave it a twist: wings. It is the experience of having your body change and being freaked out. In that sense, I think every teenager can relate.

"A beam of sunlight shone down from a break in the trees above, making her silhouette stretch out on the grass in front of her. The outline of her shadow looked like an enormous butterfly with gauzy wings. And in the same strange way balloons cast shadows, the blackness had just a tinge of blue in it. She tried to make the wing-things move, but although she could feel them--feel every inch of them now, soaking in the rays of sunlight--she had no control over them. Something so life-shattering shouldn't be this beautiful" (50-1).

The book is suspenseful towards the end and I enjoyed it. It was definitely left open, hopefully, for a second book. There were a few parts that I thought were random and left a little unanswered/unresolved.

But I loved the love conflict between Laurel and the boys David and Tamani. I almost cried at the end. (I'm a sap for romance.)

Overall. I loved it. Especially, from the middle to the end.

-Reading level: ages 14 & up.

-A couple references to sex. (just the word.)

-Themes of puberty/change, devotion, being unique/special.

-A great mature fantasy for teens.

NEW MOON

New Moon Stephenie Meyer

2006 * p. 563* YA Supernatural

Bella Swan has had the happiest summer of her life. She has her unbelievably gorgeous vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, at her side. Edward has even relaxed a little from his incessant worrying over Bella's safety in his vampire world.

But when his brother Jasper takes a snap at Bella after she cut her finger, Edward's fears are realized again. He leaves, telling Bella that its just too much to handle. With all of the Cullens gone, Bella feels utterly abandoned. She soon becomes a shell of a person. A walking zombie.

After months of this depression, Bella decides if Edward left her she can do whatever she wants. She no longer has to keep a promise to try and be safe. So she seeks thrills and escapes.

Thus enters Jacob Black. Bella's friend on the Quilete Reservation. Jacob's infectious optimism and sunny personality bring Bella back to the land of the living and together they seek adventures riding motorcycles, hiking and cliffdiving.

But just when Bella begins to finally cope, Jacob abandons her too. He has a secret that he can't share and Bella blames the reservation boys. She thinks he has been taken into a cult. But like everything else in Forks, nothing is what it seems.

Bella finds herself between the world of vampires and werewolves. And like everything with Bella, danger finds her.

This is my fourth time reading New Moon. Needless to say, I love it. Many readers dislike New Moon because it lacks a dominant appearance by Edward. I love Edward, too. But...I think this book was masterful in carving an even deeper understanding of the conneciton between Edward and Bella. They cannot live without each other and the book showcases this. Without his absence, the reader would not see how attached they are, that their love is more than a mere adolescent infatuation. It also deepens the struggle Bella has as she teeters between the world of immortality and normal human life.

-Reading level: age 14 & up

-A few mild swear words, recklessness, disobedience to parents

-Themes of love and friendship

-WONDERFUL!!!!