Enter Three Witches: A Story of Macbeth, by Caroline B. Cooney

I picked this up because it was on the top of the bookcase at the Library! (that's the Boise Public Library) as one of the Young Adult Choice Nominees. The Young Adult Choice award is sponsored and organized by the International Reading Association. There is also a Children's Choice and Teacher's Choice award each year.

Enter Three Witches started out with some reading challenges. Cooney drops in some hints at events that she doesn't explain until much later in the book. If teachers are going to use this as a small group or whole class read this provides a perfect opportunity to teach students about holding an idea in mind and trusting the author to provide the details later on. The device of "dropping" ideas is very common in mystery/detective writing. If it is explained to students this way most can learn to hold an incomplete idea for several chapters.

Cooney creates a new character, Lady Mary, who enriches the overall story and provides details of medieval life that would not be available through Shakespeare. Because of Lady Mary's contribution to the book I am now prompted to do some nonfiction reading about Scotland in the 16th century.

Throughout the book there are quotations and some dialogue from Shakespeare's play. Although I didn't actually get up and pull out my complete Shakespeare, I'm likely to look at it later tonight.

About a third of the way through the book I got hooked on Cooney's story line and her "added" plot lines to the story of Macbeth. Since I am not a "read the ending first"reader (I don't peak), I didn't know about Cooney's author's note at the end of the book. This is another bit that teachers may want to guide readers to before they begin reading. Understanding Cooney's research process might make the reading of the book richer for young adults.

Although the Lexile rating would suggest an easier reading YA book I'm going to recommend it for older or mature readers. The quotations and correlations with the Shakespeare play is going to make the reading a bit challenging for younger/less developed readers.

Three Stars
Lexile 720
Novelist Interest Rating 8-12 grades

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Dessen writes about female teenage "issues." I have enjoyed several of her other books greatly. So far Keeping the Moon is my favorite.

This book didn't engage me as much as her others. (I still played hookey from doing academic work for a few hours to finish reading.) I think it may be because I just didn't follow how the main character fell into an abusive relationship. Physically abusive relationships are, thank goodness, outside of my experience. I don't have a good sense of how a relationship ends up at this level. Perhaps if I did more research I would understand. As it is I just didn't "buy" the central conflict.

Caitlin's older sister has also left the home and broken with the family. The portrait of the mother's involvement in all this was also unconvincing. As I was reading I thought there must be a back story--but all the mom's interactions seemed pretty loving and somewhat open for direction from her daughters.

I'm interested. If you have read this let me know how you felt about it.

Probably good for older middle school/early high school girls.

The Lightening Thief, by Rick Riordan

It appears that I am on a mythology kick. True! One of the interns I worked with last spring taught a unit on mythology associated with reading of The Odyssey. This book is probably appropriate for younger or less able readers than Michael Scott's Nicholas Flamel series. It is well written and more narrowly focused on Greek gods than Scott's work is. Overall I give it strong ratings. It would make an excellent companion piece to a class exploration of The Odyssey especially for students will reading difficulties. Many of the same quest episodes are paralleled in this book and would allow for discussion of Odysseus's (Ulysses) quests and their meanings.

I will be reading other books in the series. They have been very popular and I am eager to follow up on Riordan's treatment of the epic.

Rain Gods, by James Lee Burke (2009)

I am a reader of the collected works of James Lee Burke. This title is not a "Dave Robicheau" book, rather one set in Texas. Burke began expanding his cast of characters to Billy Bob Holland and this book features Billy Bob's cousin "Hackberry Holland." For some Burke fans the Texas books weren't terribly satisfying, but I have enjoyed them. This book, Rain Gods, is one that I am giving my strongest recommendation. Burke's descriptions of the physical and meteorological settings are wonderful. The plot and resolution (which I won't spoil) are compelling.

Hackberry with an anonomyous phone tip, finds a mass grave filled with Asian women. In bringing the parties responsible to justice Holland moves through a cast of characters and situations that keeps the reader going and ultimately is completely satisfying.

Four Stars!

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Michael Scott

This entry covers two of the three books in the Nicholas Flamel series, The Magician (2008) and The Sorceress (2009). I was immediately caught up in the first book of this series, The Alchemyst. Of course I was eager to read the next in the series. The Magician is as engaging and captivating as The Alchemyst however, I was a bit disappointed in The Sorceress. This later book brings in too many historical characters (Shakespeare, Billy the Kid) and becomes more of a "Terminator" distruction book than a fantasy exploring the lives and actions of mythological characters in present day.

I doubt that most teens/adolescents who are fans of the series would immediately detect the difference in quality. But, I've seen in my own children (now adults) the ability to "sense" when a book is somehow "off." I hope that Scott's next book The Necromancer will return to the more character-based stories of the previous two books in the series.

To fully enjoy any of the books in this series readers will need to do some independent research of their own on the various gods, goddesses, and mythical creatures included in the readings. Scott introduces these from all cultures and time periods. It provides the opportunity for a broad overview of the various mythologies and religions of the world.

Scott is a prolific writer and has many books that have not yet been published in the US. I hope more of them become available as the popularity of this series increases.

Roadside Crosses, by Jeffery Deaver (2009)

This is a book I am going to bring to class today and recommend to teachers. Deaver is still exploring new literacies, the internet, and digital worlds. Roadside Crosses is a "Katherine Dance" book set in the Bay Area. It explores gaming culture and the dangers of the internet. Although Deaver portrays the dark side of the internet in this book and his most recent Lincoln Rhyme book I can't help but read a positive feeling about this new world we are all exploring as well.

There are some "contrived" plot twists and I considered the ultimate villain as a suspect from the beginning, but still the book was a compelling read. It also gave me some personal comfort in explorations of the difficulties of working within bureaucracies. Both this book and Michael Connely's recent novel The Scarecrow are going to stay in my home as reference sources.

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean (2002)

After reading The Graveyard Book and American Gods I had planned to read the complete works of Neil Gaiman. I found this book engaging, but not necessarily one that I find compelling enough to recommend to others.

The market for this book is probably upper elementary. It's marked as 9-12 years old with a Lexile score of 740 (approximately 5th grade). I need to check with some 5th graders about their reaction to the book. It has been made into a film just this year. I didn't hear much buzz about the movie--perhaps it wasn't much of a hit. But, I've been preoccupied with work so I may just have missed it.

I can understand why it may not have been a big favorite of parents and kids. I found the plot and characters too "dark" for kids in this age-range. I would be afraid that my child would have nightmares after reading or viewing this. Overall the message/theme of the book is positive, but the landscapes and tone are too dark for me to want to recommend to younger readers. I don't necessarily see middle school/junior high students being drawn to this. But, I may be mistaken.

I have 2 more Gaiman books on my stack. I began Anansi Boys but turned instead to a Jeffery Deaver book for my next read. We'll see if I return to reading Gaiman--after finishing Deaver I picked up Lisa Lutz, The Spellman Files, as something a bit lighter. I need some comedy and humor in my life right now.