Girls Can't Be Knights - Lee French

                Girls Can’t Be Knights is the first book in the Spirt Knights series geared towards young teens (although I had fun reading it as well). This is an entertaining paranormal adventure about a group of individuals called the Spirit Knights whose job it is to get rid of nasty, evil spirits that may try living inside a living being’s body and harming the person or animal. Justin is one of these knights and when he meets Claire he immediately feels a connection and knows he must protect her. Claire is a foster kid, shuffled from home to home, and often in trouble. She meets Justin after some troubling events and finds out that she may actually be one of the Spirit Knights. The problem is that Spirit Knights can only be male.

                There’s a little bit of everything in this book to keep a teenager’s interest, including some romance, mystery, action, and…a talking horse. It’s a fun and easy read that, as long as you suspend the need for believability, is thoroughly enjoyable. The characters are interesting and as realistic acting as they can be, considering they are from a paranormal story. Claire’s tiny crush on Justin is written just as a teenager would feel and Justin’s need to walk a fine line between friend, protector and father figure is particularly realistic. The world created by the author is well thought out and the various aspects of it are explained well. I read this book on my ereader and it formatted perfectly. The cover is interesting and relates to the book well. I look forward to reading the second book in this series.

She Speak to Angels - Ami Blackwelder

                I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to the second one in the series. I used to work in a high school and it’s really hard finding books that are interesting to the kids but will still make them use their brains. The discussion questions at the back of the book make this a great suggestion book for a report, especially for kids who don’t generally associate a good book with anything school related. Along with an interesting story and great characters, there are some thought provoking ideas which are evident by the questions at the back of the book.

                I’ll start with the writing style which for me is always a make or break part of the book. This story flows nicely, one chapter into the next, and never becomes confusing. It’s descriptive but not too wordy, leaving me with enough room to imagine the scenes in my mind. For example, the distinct description of Dameon’s jacket or how Kian dresses, gives me an idea of how to imagine the characters will look but not in an overdone way. It is a book which will work not only for young adults but for older readers as well.

                The characters are great. They are all exactly as intended, whether it’s as a likeable, confused teen girl or as a homicidal dark angel. At first the friend of Ali’s that is quite analytical seemed a bit unrealistic but after it was explained a bit about her character, she seemed entirely realistic. After all, she wants to be a lawyer! Everyone else is written really well and Ali and Kian especially are well fleshed out so that I feel as if I know them. By the end of the book I became quite invested in them. A favorite character I hope to see more of in future books is Jacob. I think he has a lot of stories to tell. The only character I’d like to learn more about and maybe see more of his story before coming into Ali’s life is Dameon. I just felt like there wasn’t enough information about why he became the demon he now is, maybe something about his childhood, or even how his demon king father came into his mother’s life.

                The dialogue is very realistic and there is even a subtle difference in how the angels speak and how the humans speak. The angels somehow convey an old world elegance, in particular, the older angels like Jacob. The dialogue between the teens is very believable. This is important because a teenage reader will pick up unrealistic dialogue quicker than anyone.

This is a great book that is the first in a new series and I look forward to reading the others.

 

A Derry Tale - John Boyle

                A Derry Tale is a nostalgic look at the author’s childhood growing up in a small town called Derry during the 1950s. He writes about what life was like for an Irish Catholic boy in Northern Ireland, exploring the good, the bad, the funny and the devastating, as seen through the eyes of a child. It’s this insight as to how a child perceives different situations that gives the book all of the emotions that the story exhibits. The first quarter of the book seems a bit scattered, almost as if the author wanted to get so much down on paper that his thoughts are unorganized. However once the story becomes more cohesive, the book becomes an entertaining tale about growing up during an innocent time before technology took over our lives. I loved the descriptions about day to day life during the 1950s, from how laundry was done to selling cigarette butts outside the cinema for some extra pocket money. Mr. Boyle also touches on the difficulties that Irish Catholics experienced at the time, something I wasn’t entirely aware of. This book will provide nostalgia for anyone who grew up during the beginning of TV and electricity being brought into small town homes. It will also be of interest to anyone who is curious about life during the 1950s in Ireland. I read this book in digital form and it worked well. The cover didn’t really draw my attention as it was more so the title that made me take a look at the book.