DARK SONG by Gail Giles-REVIEW

Ames lives a good life with her parents and younger sister. They take family vacations together, enjoy each other’s company, and have everything they want – a nice house, friends, and luxuries. Little does Ames know, but everything is about to come crashing down around her.



After returning home from a Christmas vacation isolated in Alaska, Ames begins to hear the rumblings of rumors at school. Rumors involving her father and something that happened at work. At first, she doesn’t give it a second thought. Her parents have always been open with her and she knows her father would tell her if anything was wrong, but soon she can’t ignore the fact that her parents are acting strange. Her mother is openly angry and belittles her father and her father hides in his office all day and won’t talk to anyone.


Eventually, Ames finds out her father lost a lot of money at work doing something illegal and cleaned out all of their personal savings in an attempt to pay it back. They are left with nothing. Forced to move away from her best friend and everything she has known, Ames is angry.


Ames gets even more surprises when they move to Texas to live in a rent house that belongs to her dad’s parents. It is while working on the mess inside the house when she meets Marc. With only Marc to help her with the worst jobs in the house she begins to feel a connection to him. He offers attention, support, and protection from her parents and their misplaced anger. Ames feels betrayed by her parents and only Marc gives her back a feeling of power, but can she afford to pay the price it takes to get back at them?


DARK SONG is a fast-paced, intense story. The reason it only received 3 pitchforks is because I felt Ames fell into Marc’s trap a little too easily. I also felt the family dynamics didn’t ring true. While I understand the anger that would be in the household, I didn’t feel Ames parents would have turned on her as much as they did. After discussing this book with a colleague, I was told I felt this way because I didn’t have any experience with dysfunctional families. So, my question to you is, what do you think? Did the story work for you?


My favorite character in the story was Ames’ little sister Chrissy. She is the smartest and most insightful character in the book.

THE CHRONICLES OF VLADIMIR TOD EIGHTH GRADE BITES by Heather Brewer-REVIEW

Vlad is in the eighth grade. Vlad is fodder for the bullies. Vlad is half human and half vampire. His mother was human and his father was a vampire.


Vlad’s parents have both died. He lives with “Aunt Nelly” who isn’t his real Aunt, but was his mother’s best friend. Nelly is trying to give Vlad a “normal” life. She is a nurse so she is able to bring him blood from work. She hides the blood in different forms so that Vlad can live like other teenagers. She will place it in a cup and call it “tea”. She puts capsules of blood in his sandwiches so that he can remain nourished throughout the day. Vlad has never tasted blood straight from the source…well with one exception. When he was 8 he bit his best friend Henry. Henry is the only human besides Nelly that knows that Vlad is a vampire.

When one of the teachers at school is missing and feared dead scary things start to happen for Vlad. First is their new substitute teacher. One of the first things he wants the class to do is write a presentation on a mythical figure. Vlad picks Werewolf out of the hat, but right before his eyes the words transform into the word “VAMPIRE”. Other things happen that make Vlad fear that this new substitute may be onto his secret and may even be the reason that the teacher is missing and also may be responsible for the death of his parents.

Through reading his father’s old journal Vlad discovers that there is a whole vampire world that he never knew existed. Can he discover who killed his parents and why?

Eighth Grade Bites was entertaining. And I look forward to seeing how Vlad developes as we go with him through the twelfth grade.

WINNER WINNER WINNER!!!!

Congratulations to Joy David the winner of the Hunger Games Trilogy!

Enjoy and keep reading our blog!

Edifying Meets Edgy - The Hunger Games Trilogy Giveaway

MOCKINGJAY is almost here and Julie and I can't wait! In honor of the release date (August 24th) we are giving away a Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set.

Do you want to win?  If so, scroll down and fill out the Google Form.  Julie and I will choose a random entry on Tuesday, August 24th so be sure to submit your entry by Monday the 23rd. Your boxed set will ship to you directly from Amazon.

I absolutely loved both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I am looking forward to the end of the series in Mockingjay coming out this month. I can't wait to read it! The first 2 books were exciting page-turners that I recommend to students all of the time. Yes, there is a lot of violence in the books but there is also self-sacrificing and love for family and humanity displayed throughout the pages. It really has become one of my favorite series and I look forward to sharing it with you!

THE HUNGER GAMES and CATCHING FIRE are as close to perfect as you can get in a young adult book.  It appeals to both males and females, includes adventure and romance, and shows a female character in a very strong role. The books will grab you and transport you into the story, making it difficult to stop until  you reach the end. The brutal fight-to-the-death during The Hunger Games, while violent, is presented in such a way to make this book accessible to the younger kids in the young adult category. 

GLIMPSE by Carol Lynch Williams-REVIEW

Lizzie and Hope are as close as two sisters can be; so, when Hope walks in on Lizzie with a shotgun in her mouth, Hope is thrown into a world of confusion. She can’t imagine what would drive Lizzie to such an extreme action.

After Lizzie is taken to the hospital and put in lockdown, Hope is left alone in the house with her inattentive, prostitute mother. She does her best to keep up a normal life even though Lizzie is always in the back of her mind.


In a visit with the hospital’s therapist, Hope finds out about a journal Lizzie kept and after seeing how anxious it makes her mother, Hope realizes she needs to find it. She knows her mother did something to make Lizzie attempt suicide, but can’t decide what. Her mother has been acting guilty and scared ever since she found out about the journal and Hope knows if her mother finds it before her, no one will ever find out what Lizzie wrote.


GLIMPSE is a heart-wrenching story about the deep love between two sisters and Hope’s courage as she finds a way to rescue Lizzie from the hell her life has become. Told in verse, GLIMPSE is a fast-paced story that will grab you as soon as you finish the first page. Carol Lynch Williams handles this edgy topic with grace and finesse. If you enjoyed THE CHOSEN ONE, you’ll definitely want to read GLIMPSE

ONLY THE GOOD SPY YOUNG by Ally Carter-REVIEW

Book four in the Gallagher Girl series. The Gallagher Girl Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a school for girl-spies. Cammie “The Chameleon” has been attending there since she was in 7th grade. In this installment Cammie is being heavily guarded by other operatives. “The Circle” has been trying to kidnap her. For reasons unknown to her and reasons nobody else is willing to tell her.

She soon finds that a teacher that she has known at the Academy has been playing the double agent. She also finds that she cannot trust Zach(a boy from Blackthorn Academy, a spy-school for boys) because he keeps turning up at every attempt that the Circle makes to get to Cammie. The only people Cammie can truly count on are her best friends Bex, Macey, and Liz. They have her back every step of the way.


This is a fast-paced installment to the series. I enjoyed it and am waiting breathlessly for the next book to come out! I’ll have to go check out Ally Carter’s website at www.allycarter.com to find out if she has posted anything about book 5!

Edifying and Edgy SPLIT - CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.  

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: Jem, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Julie and I have another SPLIT.  We both LOVE LOVE LOVE Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instrument Trilogy and recommend it to people all the time.  We were both really excited to get our hands on the the first book in her new Infernal Devices Trilogy, CLOCKWORK ANGEL, but when all was said and done, we were both a little disappointed.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in this book. I was looking forward to it as I loved the Mortal Instruments books. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. It seemed to drag along. There were a few exciting parts in the book and some surprises that helped to keep me reading, but I must say it was a struggle to get through. You don’t have to read The Mortal Instruments to read The Infernal Devices. My understanding is there are 3 books planned for this prequel. I’m not sure that I will read the next 2. 

I rated CLOCKWORK ANGEL 4 out of 5 glasses. While it took me a while to get through and I had a hard time getting into the Steampunk aspect of the story, I could definitely get into the mystery.  I really enjoyed the relationship between the best friends Jem and Will. It seemed like Cassandra Clare may have been trying to capture the same electricity she created between Clary, Jace, and Simon, but the relationship between Tessa, Jem, and Will didn't seem to work as well.  Diving back into the Shadowhunter world was exciting though. I'm glad I read the book and will definitely read the next two in the trilogy.