Adventures of Blue Avenger--Norma Howe

From the Vault

This review was originally written--handwritten no less--in October 1999 before the Age of Blogs. I'm not editing it at all because I don't believe in tampering with history. For other old reviews, click on the "From the Vault" tag.

Title: Adventures of Blue Avenger

Author: Norma Howe

1999

genre: Humor; Fiction

Subjects: free will/determinism; choices; heroes; family

Summary: 16 year old David Schumacher decides to change his name to Blue Avenger on his birthday. When he becomes Blue, he transforms into a hero and is able to do good deeds and save his friends. 

Critique: Very well written, it looks at serious subjects, grief, free will/determinism, and makes them funny without mocking them. 

Recommendation: Yes

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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.

Hate You--Graham McNamee

From the Vault

This review was originally written--handwritten no less--in October 1999 before the Age of Blogs. I'm not editing it at all because I don't believe in tampering with history. For other old reviews, click on the "From the Vault" tag.

Title: Hate You

Author: Graham McNamee

1999

Genre: realistic fiction

Subjects: self-esteem; acceptance; family relationships

Summary: Alice is strangled by her abusive father at a very young age and her voice is affected unalterably. Though she will never be able to sing beautifully, she writes songs. Through a friendship with a girl who has a voice of an angel but is overweight and lacks self-esteem, Alice begins to accept herself and her fate. 

Critique: Well written and cleverly done. Also, a quick read but well worth it.

Recommendation: Yes.

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YA Authors You Need to Read: Scott Westerfeld

This article first appeared on the examiner on December 22, 2010.

Scott Westerfeld was born on May 5, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Like many authors he has held a variety of jobs. He has worked as a factory worker making lead soldiers, a substitute teacher, a textbook editor, a software designer and a ghost writer. Luckily his writing experience didn’t stop as a ghost, and he published many YA novels under his own name. He is married to the Australian author Justine Larbalestier and splits his time between Sydney, Australia and New York, avoiding the cold snowy winters. 

One of Westerfeld’s most popular series is the Uglies series. Originally meant to be a trilogy, the series was received so well Westerfeld wrote a fourth companion novel. The first book is also called “Uglies” and introduces the reader to an alternate world in which everyone is forced to have an operation at 16 years old. The operation is not for health reasons or to protect the public, but is purely cosmetic, remaking each teen into a beautiful person. There are some teens that want to keep their faces and that sets up the conflict in the series. For a review from the East Greenbush YA Librarian Chrissie Morrison, click here.

Other Books

Stand alone books:

• “Evolutions Darling”
• “So Yesterday”
• “The Risen Empire” (originally published as two books, “The Risen Empire” and “The Killing of Worlds”)

Uglies Series:

• “Pretties” (Morrison’s review)
• “Specials” (Morrison’s review)
• “Extras” (Morrison’s review)
• “Bogus to Bubbly: An Insider’s Guide to the World of Uglies”

Midnighters series:

• “The Secret Hour”
• “Touching Darkness”
• “Blue Noon”

Peeps series

• “Peeps” (Morrison’s review)
• “The Last Days” (Morrison’s review)

Leviathan series

• “Leviathan”
• “Behemoth”
• “Goliath” (October 2011)

You can find more information about Westerfeld on hisblog/website, follow him on twitter, and like his fan facebook page.

You can find these books at your local capital district library.

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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.