Falling Into Manholes

"After seventeen years in recovery from alcoholism and bulimia, and having lost all my money in what I call 'my spectacular codependent bottom of 2000' with the help of my gambling addict ex-stockbroker-turned-mattress-salesman boyfriend, it has dawned on me that I can use my contempt, which is really my fear, to predict my future—or better yet, to change it." Wendy Merrill's Falling Into Manholes The Memoir of a Bad/Good Girl, written in March 2008, is a 240 page autobiography. I think this book is a very real, honest, high awakening book showing that life isn't something you can just waste. This book is of a local authors' life struggles while growing up in San Francisco, California. In this memoir she tells readers her most honest, emabarassing conflicts with drug and alcohol abuse and her fight with bulimia. I recommend this book to young adults who may or want to keep from enduring the same pressures of life she struggled with. It is amazing to see the writer bounce back from the bottom to reach a respected status of author.

(written by Kenisha)

Cirque du Freak

Are you afraid of the dark? Do you have a constant fear that something is lying in the shadows? In this book you will fear the dark like never before. Darren Shan’s Cirque Du Freak, the first out of an amazing 9 book series, was written in January 4 2000, and is a 192 page young adult horror novel. I loved this fast paced book and couldn’t put the series down; it’s a fun quick read that I think everyone could enjoy. The main plot in the story of Darren Shan is a Darren at a young age going to a freak show where they have many performers there. One of the performers is a Vampire with a unique spider that can do tricks, which Darren steals due to his fascination of spiders. At home with the stolen spider his friend gets bit and is dying slowly so Darren goes back to the freak show (Cirque Du Freak) to make a deal with the vampire. The deal is that for in exchange for his friend’s life he will have to leave his own young life and become a half vampire, also known as a Vampire’s Assistant. Darren’s writing style is much like J.k. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Readers at the age of 15 and 17 that are into horror novels would enjoy this book.

(written by Lorenzo)

The Looking Glass Wars

When you hear the word "Wonderland," what do you think of? Some thoughts might jump to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, a story about a little girl that finds herself falling down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. You've probably heard of this story, or even watched the movie adaptation of it. You know who Alice is, who the White Rabbit is, who the Mad Hatter is, and you can't possibly forget the temperamental Queen of Hearts. You know about Wonderland; what else is new?

You have been misinformed.

Meet Alyss Heart, daughter of Queen Genevieve and King Nolan, who resides in the magical world of Wonderland. When the queendom is attacked by Alyss' Aunt Redd and her mother and father are assassinated, Alyss is forced to flee from her aunt to a whole new world: Earth. She tries to tell the people around her about her past, but instead is ridiculed for her stories of a "make-believe" place. Distraught, Alyss deliberately forgets about where she comes from, convincing herself that it must have all been a dream. Years later, Hatter Madigan, a royal bodyguard from Wonderland, finds her and takes her back home to Wonderland so that she may defeat her tyrannical aunt and reclaim the throne.

In The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor spins a fantastic 384-page tale of adventure, love, betrayal, and fantasy--and it's only one of three books. He takes one of my favorite children's stories and turns it into something else entirely, making it seem almost real the way he brings Alyss of Wonderland to our world. Similar to perhaps Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted and Fairest and Gregory Macguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Beddor transforms a simple fairytale into a story with much more depth, making it all the more interesting to read. If you're drawn towards fantasy novels with princesses, queens and kings, war, betrayal, and perhaps even clairvoyant, hookah-smoking caterpillars, The Looking Glass Wars might be of some interest to you, whether you are a teenager searching for adventure, or an adult who misses reading fairytales but wants a little more than "happily ever after" at the end. Even if it doesn't make it onto your "favorites" list, it will still be worth the read.

(written by Helene)