The Mortal Instruments

Alright, I'm going to say it. I didn't like Twilight. I know, I know, you can hate me all you want, but I must be true to myself.

You see, Twilight was just a romance wrapped inside the blanket of a supernatural adventure.  I love supernatural adventures, but I can live without a boring old romance. "Oh, I love him, but he doesn't love me." "Oh, he loves me, but I'm still not happy, because I don't think I deserve him." Boo-flippity-hoo.

I'm not opposed to a little looooove, I mean it does make the world go round.  It just needs to take a backseat to the real adventure of the story.  THIS, is what The Mortal Instruments provides:  A supernatural rollercoaster with a little romance thrown in to grease the skids for a bumpier ride.  Plus, it involves a whole lot more than just vampires and wolves. They get down and dirty, my friends.

We begin the story with Clary Fray. And please don't even tell me you think Isabella Swan is a cooler name than Clary Fray - because you'd be dead wrong!  So, Clary heads to a night club in NYC with her best friend, Simon. Clary's mom is PO'd. She seems to be over-the-top PO'd, too. She's really overreacting to Clary going downtown. They fight over the phone, but Clary refuses to go home.



Clary Fray (illus. James L. Barry)

 She and Simon hang out and sway to the music, when something across the room catches Clary's attention. She witnesses several people following a kid into a back room. It appears they are looking to do some bodily harm. Clary follows. Simon panics when he loses her in the crowd. Jace Wayland makes his appearance.

Jace (who makes Edward and Jacob look like choir boys), his best friend Alec Lightwood, and Alec's sister Isabelle (definitely a secondary character name!) kill the kid in front of Clary before she can do anything to stop it. But, something strange happens.  Something stranger than three teenagers chasing another teenager into a broom closet and killing him, that is.  When the kid dies, his body disappears: POOF!

The three killers see Clary too late. But what stumps them is that Clary can see THEM! Apparently, that's not normal.  You see, they are Shadowhunters. There job is to hunt down and kill the evil demons of the world, which is what they had just done in the broom closet. But, they are cloaked with charms and the everyday people (mundanes, as they call them) can't see through them. Oh, but Clary is soooo not typical.

Jace Wayland (Fan Art)

Immediately, she and Jace strike up an interest in each other. Simon is waaaay jealous, because he's had a crush on his best friend for forevah.  Clary goes home to find her apartment ransacked and her mother gone. WTHeck?! AND there is some sort of a monster there that attacks her! Fortunately, Jace saves her (of course!) by applying a marking on her arm to heal her. The catch is...this mark will only heal a shadow hunter; it will kill a human! 

Needless to say, Clary survives to find out who she really is, why she can see the Shadowhunters, and why the marks didn't kill her. Her new mission is to save her mother. But she has no idea what's in store!

There are three books in this series at this time: The City of Bones, The City of Ashes, and The City of Glass.  As of April, 2011, the fourth book, The City of Fallen Angels will be released.  And, according to the website http://www.mortalinstruments.com/, there are two more novels planned after that! Ok, so I'm excited - sue me!  They are to be titled: The City of Lost Souls and The City of Heavenly Fire.  Wait, there's more. It looks like a graphic novel of The City of Bones is being developed. They don't have a release date as of yet, but the website has great pics.

Also, there is a prequel series called The Infernal Devices. It tells the history of the Shadowhunters in London during the Victorian Times. I liked it, but it wasn't as exciting as The Mortal Instruments. I guess it'll hold me over in between the next three MI books!

It looks like they are even considering a movie.  I don't really know how I feel about that. Sometimes, they ruin it and make me angry (Eragon, Alex Rider, The Dark is Rising), other times they make the world come alive and the movies act as great companions to the books (Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia).  We'll see, I guess!

In the meantime, enjoy this series. It's worth the read! 

The Cherub Series

Many of you have been reading this series for AR and loving it.  Well, I just found out that even though there are only 6 books on AR, there are actually 12 in the series!  The series is based on the idea that terrorists and drug dealers suspect other adults, but they don't give children a second thought.  The authorities decide to use this to their advantage by recruiting teenage boys to do their dirty work.  The boys spy and plant bugs and gather information about the bad guys.  It's a rip-roaring adventure book that's a lot of fun!

Robert Muchamore, the author, at first thought he wanted to be an architect, a photographer or a writer.  Since it took 7 years of schooling to be an architect, he chose photography.  Unfortunately, he hated his job at the camera store, and it turned him against photography.  So - he bummed around for a couple of years without a job until his dad threatened to kick him out.  He tried writing a book, but it was a lot harder than he thought it would be.  Eventually, he went to work for a Private Investigating firm.

While visiting his siter, his nephew complained about how there weren't any good books for teenage boys.  Uncle Robert to the rescue!  He wrote Recruit for his nephew to enjoy, and once he decided it was good enough, he shopped it around to publishers.  Eventually, he was able to quit his private investigator job and realize his dream of writing full time.

Since Muchamore lives and writes in England, the titles and publishing dates of the novels are a little different than they are in the US.  Here is the series list in order:

1. The Recruit
2. The Dealer
3. Maximum Security
4. The Killing
5. Divine Madness
6. Man Vs. Beast
7. The Fall
8. Mad Dogs
9. The Sleepwalker
10. The General
11. Brigands MC
12. Shadow Wave

Now, Brigands MC is a bit hard to find right now, and Shadow Wave won't be released until September 2010.  Also, there is a small book called Dark Sun that is considered 9.5 in the series.  It isn't availabale any longer to purchase, but it is downloadable from the internet.  I will have most or all of these in the Shaffer Library within a week or so. 

I also ordered 3 books from Muchamore's other series: Henderson's Boys.  The series takes place during World War II.  A spy named Charles Henderson recruits kids to help him in the fight against Hitler.  There are three books in the series with a fourth coming out in 2011.

Happy Reading!

Shaffer

Read or read not, there is no try

I finished one of the funniest books ever over the weekend:  The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.  Heelarious.  It's about a kid named Dwight who is a complete dork.  I'm not being mean; he really is a knob.  So, Dwight folds soome green paper into an Origami Yoda and makes it talk to people.  At first, he gives some unwanted advice, but it doesn't take long for people to start asking his advice.  These are people who absolutely REFUSE to speak to Dwight, but they'll talk to the green wad of paper.  Somehow, the finger holding Yoda is channeling The Force.  Yes, THE Force.

It's filled with some really funny characters.  I love Quavando: AKA Cheeto Hog.  And the kid (Mike, I think?) who cries everyday during PE Softball.  There's Caroline, the girl who reads lips.  And Kellen and Rhondella who are in looooooove.

I really like how the book is written.  The idea behind the book is to get everyone's input about Origami Yoda and his advice in order to decide if he's real.  Or rather, if his advice was good.  I enjoy reading all of the stories from different points of view because it adds some spice.

This was a really quick read, but so much fun.  I laughed out loud several times.  If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I think you'll like this one as well.  Give it a try.

Shaffer

Spring Break Blues

Being sick with pneumonia over spring break sucks. Big time.  And what was even worse was that I missed Thursday and Friday before break so I didn't have any of the books from school that I wanted to read!  I was expecting to finish the Tomorrow series by John Marsden (I'm only 1/2 way through book 4 and I forgot it at school).  If I'm not careful, Ms. Huber will even finish that series before I do!

I did reread an old friend:  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  You see, I watched a marathon of Harry Potter movies over the weekend (sick in bed, remember?), and it made me want to relive the ending.  I had forgotten how much I love that series.  If you haven't taken the time to read it, you really should.  I'm eager for the 1st part of the final movie to be released this November.  I hope they do it justice.

One of the things I noticed was the change in the way the kids spoke from the first few books to the last couple.  More than once Ron's  used the word "effing" in dialogue.  And Mrs. Weasley even called Bellatrix Lestrange a bitch!  I guess that's what happens when the characters grow into 17 year olds - they lose a bit of their innocence.  I wonder how much of that will make it to the movie? 

The violence, too, increased.  There is much death and carnage in the Deathly Hallows.  I hope they don't wuss out in order to keep it PG and please the parents of very young kids.  I think if they can't read the book yet, perhaps they shouldn't see the movie.  There are a lot of deep ideas in the last book, and I would hate to see them get lost because they need to make a blockbuster.

We'll see I guess!  Enjoy the last 60 hours of your spring break!

Miss ya!

Shaffer

The Fate of Fang

For those, like me, who love James Patterson's Maximum Ride series, you are eagerly awaiting the release of Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel on March 15th. The ominous tagline on the novel scares me:  "Angel says Fang will be the first to die.  Angel is never wrong." 

I read Book One of Fang on the James Patterson website.  It started off ... ok.  I get a little tired of their "save the world from itself" garbage, and I would rather read about them battling evil villains.  But, it quickly picked up pace after they discussed the geography of Africa and started getting shot at by dudes on camels.  Oh yeah, it got much better after that.

People on the internet are comparing Fang with a character named Oz from Patterson's The Lake House.  I haven't read that book.  Have any of you?  I think I might have to now, so I can make my own decisions.  Unfortunately, word on the web is that Patterson killed off Oz in the end of that book.  Maybe I don't want to read it after all!

They are also discussing a Maximum Ride movie.  Apparently, it is going to happen, but it is currently "in development" so nothing is confirmed about casting.  One of the rumors is that Catherine Hardwicke, director of Twilight, will direct.  If that is true - please, please, please let someone introduce her to new special effects people.  Seriously - she had trouble making vampires run, imagine how much harder it will be to make kids fly!

Let's keep our fingers crossed about the movie, and all rush to the book store on March 15th!

Shaffer

This World We Live In

I didn't know the third book in The Last Survivors Series was out already!  I feel like a MajorLoser!

Ok.  'Nuff of that.  The third one sounds amazing.  In Life As We Knew It, we met Miranda Evans and in The Dead and the Gone the author introduced us to Alex Morales.  Well, in This World We Live In - they come together and go through a tornado.

Looks like I'm headed to Barnes and Noble...

Friends of the Multnomah County Library Sale

Every spring and fall, the Friends of the Multnomah County Library hold a used book sale. Books go from about 25 cents to about $3.00. They are usually in great shape and are either donated by the public or the library itself. If they are from the library, they'll have a barcode, a library sticker and a stamp inside that says "Purchased From The Multnomah County Library." I'm sure you've seen some of these in my classroom library! In fact, I think I got most of the Daughters of the Moon series at this sale in 2008!

This spring, the sale is being held at the Gresham Town Fair Shopping Center, 670 NW Eastman Parkway, Gresham, OR. I know it's a bit of a drive, but I think it's worth it. I've always bought a ton of books for only a little bit of dough.

The sale will take place on Saturday, April 10 from 11 am - 6 pm, and Sunday, April 11 from 10 am - 4pm. On Sunday, since everything will be pretty picked over, everything is half price!

I hope you can find a ride and make it to the sale. I would love to see you there.

Shaffer