ampersandinc's reviews
1315 reviews

An interesting twist on a ghost story, Absent is about a girl who awakens as a ghost after falling (being pushed?) off the roof of her school. She meets 2 other student ghosts and all 3 must stay within the school grounds. Paige (the newest ghost) wants to find out how she came to be dead and realizes that if someone is thinking about her she can take over their body and make them do what she wants them to. Ultimately she does find out what really happened and also finds a way to send the other ghosts and herself away from the school.

This is a steampunk romance with vampires and werewolves. It was much better than a lot of books in this genre that I've read, and now I’m eagerly awaiting book 2!

Two compelling teenage girl voices.

Sparest of spare writing (as a mom with no time would write!) so a fast pace and FUNNY! Though sometimes I wished the mama was a wee bit sweeter to her kids.

I really like Barbara Fradkin. Inspector Green is a plausible hero – complete with endearing faults. In this one he travels to the NWT on a mission to rescue his daughter from a canoe trip gone bad. There are issues of culture, mining, environment and family relationships. I was completely drawn in and couldn’t wait to finish. I think this may be her best one yet.

The characters are well developed in this novel. The descriptions of her apartment and family situation are very vivid. I liked that a friendship develops between girls from two seemly disparate groups. It may not be an entirely realistic friendship, but it is good for teens to read about the universality of human experience. We all feel loss and long for friendship. The twist in the story behind her father’s murder is interesting and it also teaches readers that there is always more to a story.

Strong male readers will like the challenges that this book imposes. There are a lot of things to think about. There are issues of morals, sibling relationships, bullying, racism, communication and decision making. I was very pleasantly surprised by the complexity of this book. Blair is the younger brother of Blake. Both are on the football team, but Blake’s usual big brother protectiveness has been challenged by the presence of the team bully. He no longer stands up for his little brother. Blair loses faith in Blake and this is the ultimate downfall in the relationship. It’s quite a tragic story about drunken boys beating up an Aboriginal girl. Blake’s current behavior leads Blain to suspect Blake of being involved. The lack of communication between the two brothers has dire consequences. No one wins in the end, but it’s definitely a more realistic ending than a Hollywood ending.

I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy this book, because Bake Sale is an all-time favourite, and I was right! This is the story of two oddballs finding friendship. The illustrations are utterly charming, and the misunderstanding that forms the conflict is so well done.

Rachel Khoo demystifies French cooking. Some of the recipes are so easy, even I can do them. Check out our upcoming eat and tweet on twitter this month. There will be a recipe from this hot swish title. Rachel Khoo, is a top personality in Paris. You can find her on TV, or you may even be lucky enough to have dinner with her, as she opens up her apartment to customers to see the real little Paris Kitchen.

(4.5 stars) Leanne Lieberman is one of my favourite Orca authors. Her characters are fresh and funny and wrestle with interesting issues. In this one, Lauren is sick of always hearing about the persecution of the Jews. Her dad is a holocaust scholar and she has read extensively on the subject. When the boy she likes plays a game that involves wearing swastika arm bands, she must address what it means to really remember the holocaust. There is always a bit of humour in Lieberman’s heroines and I like spending time in her worlds.