Colleen Houck's Blog, page 28

Book Reviews For Kids By Kids- Captain Underpants And the Attack of the Talking Toilets (In full color)

For those of you who are looking for new books appropriate for middle grade that both boys and girls might enjoy, this is the place to look!

Every month, at least one new book will be added for review right here and they will be reviewed by the best critics, KIDS! That’s right, the one’s who read them will be the judge!

This blog is written by my 9 year old nephew, Josh.  Josh loves to draw robots on every piece of paper he can find.  He loves books that already have pictures in them. Like Diary of the Wimpy Kids books, Captain Underpants, and Fly Guy books were a favorite when he was younger.  Josh didn’t love to read and it’s still isn’t his favorite past time but he loves Captain Underpants and Diary of the Wimpy Kid books. 

In the words of his mother, “First, may I introduce the energetic Josh.  Joshua loves pepperoni pizza just like his dad, and like all boys he loves video games first and foremost.  He loves Roblox, Minecraft, and Transformers Fall of Cybertron.  Josh is in the 4th grade and is really good at math.  He loves to play Pokemon with his older sister on the Nintendo 3DS whenever he can.  He also flies remote control helicopters with his dad.”

 Here’s Joshua’s Simpson self portrait,

 

 

And now, introducing our next middle grade book review for kids, by kids!
Book review on Captain Underpants And the Attack of the Talking Toilets (In full color) 
by Dav Pilkey

 

Setting:

In 4th grade two best friends George Beard and Harold Hutchins create their own cartoons based off of their life at school.  George and Harold don’t the like the mean principal Mr. Krupp.   Mr. Krupp turns into Captain Underpants in real life with a 3D Hypno Ring that changes Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants who is more likeable and a hero with plungers and underwear.

Here’s Joshua’s hypno ring,

Main Character:

George Beard has flat top haircut.  George used to have hair as big as a disco ball, but his best friend Harold Hutchins cut it when he was in Kindergarten.  Harold has a bad haircut too, and his hair is fluffy and yellow.    They love to switch letters around on things like signs to crate rude and funny messages.  The teachers don’t like George and Harold’s pranks, attitudes, or behavior.  They love to get into trouble. 

Personal Review:

These are my all time favorite books. George and Harold made me laugh because of all the pranks. I got into reading because of these books. All my friends at school love them too. They are making an animation movie to come out in January 2017. I can’t wait!

 

 

Here’s a list and link to the other books we’ve reviewed:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

 

Invasion of the Overworld by Mark Cheverton

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony Di’Terlizzi and Holly Black

Artemis Fowl, book 1 by Eoin Colfer

The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) by Roald Dahl

How to Train Your Dragon: How to Break a Dragon’s Heart, Book # 8 by Cressida Cowell

~ Till next time,

Linda Louise Lotti

 

 

Word Clouds

Word Clouds

 

I’ve had a lot of fun playing with word clouds recently on a website called Tagul. I’ve been able to download my entire book into a program that looks for the most common words in the manuscript and then creates a word cloud for it. This just proves there is an app for pretty much everything.

It’s pretty cool to see what words rise to the forefront. I’ve kept these clouds pretty much intact and just threw out hyphenated words that don’t make sense and then moved the title of the book to the highest setting so you’d see that first.

 

Tiger’s Curse

I chose a tiger paw for this word cloud shape for obvious reasons. What’s interesting to me about this one is the fact that the gada ranked so high and that Phet is almost up there with Kelsey. Incidentally, the gada is the only weapon in the tiger series I’ve been able to find in the cloud. Black is bigger than white though Ren is more used than Kishan. Hair has been a word I’ve used a lot in the tiger series as well. This is the only one where I can find Fanindra and fruit which is interesting.

 

 

Tiger’s Quest

Even though I chose a tree shape for this word cloud I had to change the colors to match the book. I think an orange would have matched a bit better but the black is easier to see. I was shocked to see that Li is so much bigger than Artie. Artie has a weight to his character that I feel each time I read about him but I guess I didn’t showcase him as much as I thought. Bird is big in this one which makes sense and even though I didn’t add Tiger’s Quest on this one, tiger is still prominent. Date is bigger than black or white in this book and I like that love is an important word.

 

Tiger’s Voyage

For this one I used a water drop since water is a main feature of the book. There are a lot of words given equal amounts of weight here but what stands out to me are the words ship, boat, Wes, and water. Dragon is right up there which is appropriate and then there’s hand. I must do a lot of hand holding or touching in my books for the word hand to be so big. Again I added black just so you could see the words better. Oh and I noticed the word golden is easier to find than green or blue or red. The golden dragon is my favorite.

 

Tiger’s Destiny

I chose a flame to represent this book but the shape makes it harder to read all the words. Mr. is easy to find but I don’t see Kadam which is strange. Durga and Lokesh are both prominent and for some reason Li is back in there. Not sure why unless it just needed a short word to fill in. Kiss has been a word that pops up in each cloud which is appropriate. I can’t find Phoenix or Rakshasa. They must be too small for me to see. The green flames don’t seem natural but I wanted to match the colors of the book. 

 

 

Tiger’s Promise

 I am exceptionally proud of Tiger’s Promise. If you haven’t read it because it’s a novella you need to ignore that and check it out anyway. Right now I’m writing a novella for the Reawakened series and if you skip that one you’re not going to understand the end of the series. Because it is a smaller book, the words are more easily found. I like that Rajaram is so big as is the word family. This is the first time Dhiren comes up instead of Ren. No black or white here since the princes aren’t tigers yet. Veil is a big theme in this book since Yesubai trains herself to veil her emotions and her father likes to hide her beauty behind veils. I like the words home, girl, and mother. Then you’ll see flower and garden and beautiful. Yesubai loves flowers. Prince is large and wish being a word I emphasized is pretty cool since this book has a lot to do with wishes.

 

Reawakened

For this one I chose a pyramid for the shape and added the word Reawakened so you’d know the title. Right away I noticed dark and light which is a theme I play with a lot in this book. Asten and Amon are pretty equal which surprises me. Ahmose is slightly smaller but that’s to be expected since he doesn’t appear until halfway through. Power shows up a lot which is different from the tiger series. I think Lily is about equal to Kelsey in mentions. This book like the tiger books are in first person so Lily and Kelsey are the narrators which means their names aren’t used as often. I never realized before that Hassan and Kadam sound very similar. Interesting. And there’s hair again. Apparently, I have a thing for hair. 

 

Check back and I’ll add more books as we get ready to publish them! 

Poll: Which Reawakened Character Are You Most Like?

Take the quiz to find out which Reawakened character you are most like!

 

June Contest Winner Reveal!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in June’s contest. If you’re just now tuning in, you missed a GREAT opportunity to win an advanced copy of Colleen Houck’s newest book, REAWAKENED. But… don’t despair, there is one more chance to get it BEFORE the official release date. Stay tuned for July’s contest of the month!

If you haven’t seen the new book trailer, may I introduce, Colleen Houck’s Book 1 in the Egyptian Series, REAWAKENED book trailer!

From New York Times bestselling author Colleen Houck comes an epic adventure about two star-crossed teens who must battle mythical forces and ancient curses on a journey with more twists and turns than the Nile itself.

 

 One lucky person will win a REAWAKENED PRIZE PACKAGE (includes an advanced reader copy of REAWAKENED and lots, lots more)!

AND NOW, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.

And the WINNERS ARE. . .

GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE GOES TO:

AMBER HUGHES

RUNNER UP PRIZES (INCLUDING THE BOOK!) GOES TO:

MICHELLE ORTEGA

CAROLINE WINDHAM

&

ERIKA ESTRADA

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Be sure to respond to your email to claim your prize!



~Till next time,

Linda Louise Lotti

Colleen Houck Book Club-July

REVELATIONS

by J.A. Souders

Last month’s pick was The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent. For those of you who participated in the live chat on Goodreads with authors Rachel and Colleen Houck, thanks! It was so much fun! For the next reading selection Colleen has selected…

 

REVELATIONS

Book 2 of the Elysium Chronicles

J.A. SOUDERS

Here’s a little teaser

“Six weeks after her arrival on the Surface, Evelyn Winters is no closer to unlocking the memories lost in her subconscious than she was when she first came. Isolated in a strange new society, Evie has only Gavin Hunter to remind her of who she once was.

But even with a clean slate, it’s easy to see that Evie doesn’t fit in on the Surface. And as her differences make her feel more and more alone, she can’t help but yearn for that place she doesn’t remember: the isolated city hidden in the depths of the ocean. Elysium. Home.

But she can’t exactly tell Gavin what she’s feeling. Not when he’s the one who helped her escape Elysium in the first place, and has the scars to prove it. Though the doctors say otherwise, Gavin believes that Evie just needs time. And if her memories don’t come back, well, maybe she’s better off not remembering her past.

But the decision may be out of their hands when Evie’s ever-elusive memories begin to collide with reality. People and images from her past appear in the most unlikely places, haunting her, provoking her…and making her seem not only strange but dangerous.

Evie and Gavin can’t wait around for her memories to return. They’ll have to journey across the Outlands of the Surface to find help, and in the end, their search may just lead them back to the place it all started…“

 

 Introducing J.A. Souders

 

“J.A. Souders was born in the heartland, smack dab in the middle of Packer country less than a mile from the famed Lambeau field to a pair of Cheesehead Trekkies. Despite her parents nightly efforts to brainwash her with every episode of Star Trek ever created (Original Series, The Next Generation), J.A. escaped into the fantastic world of books and her own imagination. When she started showing too much interest in becoming the next Nancy Drew, her parents took the only obvious course of action—they moved to Florida.

Now a Southern Girl without an accent, J.A. reveled in her “nerd” status in high school, and read every one of the classics her teachers heaped on her. She owes her love of dark fiction to the fabulous classical writings of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, H.G Wells, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and to the more modern writers, Christopher Pike and Dean Koontz. While technically a good student, J.A. annoyed all her teachers (except her English teacher) by using class time to write stories about aliens, witches, and vampires.

Determined to be a disappointment to her parents, J.A.’s favorite show of all time was (and still is) SeaQuest, which began her lifelong dream of living in an underwater city. After failing to grow gills in high school, J.A. decided a more practical way to achieve her underwater dreams was to study Marine Biology and join the Navy.

Turns out, the Navy doesn’t have a secret entrance to Atlantis, but J.A. did get to live on a boat as large as a city for a while, and travel to the Middle East, Germany, and Italy. She waved “hi” to other countries as the ship traveled past them, and promised to come back for a visit someday.

After being medically retired, she returned home to Florida where she still lives today with her husband and two children. Her days are spent chasing the monsters in her head out onto the pages of her novels, filling her children’s heads with the awesome nonsense of the Science Fiction/Fantasy world, and battling the real-life laundry-monster.

J.A. has an unhealthy obsession with ghost stories and loves visiting St. Augustine and Savannah just to listen to them. Someday she’ll make good on the promises she made while in the Navy to visit Ireland, Scotland, and England for even more ghost stories. Besides writing—and reading—J.A. enjoys traveling. She may or may not have planned out every detail—including maps, brochures, and timelines—of every place she’s going to visit, depending on if you think that’s crazy or not.”

Check out more on her website at jasouders.com.  

 

 

I’m very excited to check out her novel and I look forward to discussing it at the end of the month with all of you on Goodreads for the live chat on July 29th at 6pm (PST). 

So everybody who wants to join us, go get your hands on this book. You can start leaving your questions right away (but don’t share spoilers just yet). Also, remember that you don’t need to read the book to participate in the live chat. It’s a GREAT opportunity to get to know the authors and ask any questions you’d like!

For fun there will be a GIVEAWAY during the live chat!

Stay tuned for the next edition of THE MODERN INK SOCIETY featuring guest blogger- J.A. Souders!

Happy reading everyone!

~Till next time,

Linda Louise Lotti

Modern Ink Society-July

FEATURING GUEST

Rachel Vincent

A Glimpse into Deadline Week in the Life of an Author

Welcome to the seventeenth session of

 

THE MODERN INK SOCIETY!

“I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still“.

 

— Sylvia Plath


 

Introducing the lovely

Rachel Vincent

 What My Deadline Week Looks Like

“When Colleen asked if I might want to write a guest post, I had no idea what to write, because I’m on a pretty big deadline, and most of my valuable words are going into the book right now, which leaves me very little of worth to say at the end of the day. And I’m not even kidding. By 11pm on any night of Deadline Week, I’m down to one-syllable words.

Just ask my husband.

So I thought that instead, I’d show you what my deadlines look like. So here goes. The start to any deadline week is pretty much pure panic, at which point I turn to my daughter’s magic orb with the following question: “Will this book be a total disaster?”

Inevitably, the orb speaks the truth, and I have to remind myself that this is the first draft. It’s allowed to be a disaster. The point of the first draft is just to get the story on the page. Er…the screen.

It doesn’t have to be very good until the next draft. Seriously. The catch is that you have to allow yourself enough time to get through the second draft before the book is due. Which becomes a problem when you realize you’ve painted yourself into a corner in the manuscript. That’s the point at which I start frantically texting my critique partner.

(The green texts are mine.)

And if she doesn’t answer those texts immediately, I’ve been known to go on Twitter and tell her to check her phone. For the past couple of years, a big part of all my deadlines has been marathon writing days at Panera Bread with Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

We both put on noise canceling headphones and earn our food and drink refills by making word count goals. I’ve written as many as 5,000 words in seven hours at Panera. My record for days in one week at Panera is three. My record for meals in a day at Panera is two-and-a-half. (Breakfast, lunch, and a fruit cup.)

After all that Panera-ing and sitting in a chair with my laptop, what I really need is a trip to the gym.

Instead, because there isn’t time to go to the gym until I turn the book in, what I get is this:

With this latest deadline, I’ve been reminding myself to stop every thousand words or so to stretch and get some exercise. Sitting for long periods of time is bad for your joints and your circulation, and I’m not getting any younger, so…

Bulgaria

Information on my book in Bulgarian.

Tiger’s Curse

Tiger’s Quest

Tiger’s Voyage-Tentative pub date end of 2015

Tiger’s Destiny-Tentative pub date 2016

Tiger’s Promise-No immediate plans to publish

Reawakened-No immediate plans to publish

Recreated-No immediate plans to publish

Reawakened Novella-No immediate plans to publish

Mayday Monday (10)

 

Goodreads | Amazon

If you could read my mind, you wouldn’t be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn’t help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she’d be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam’s weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet’s Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more “normal” than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

 

Every Last Word came out a few weeks ago (June 16) but deserves a highlight. For starters, I love the cover. Secondly, you don’t often see YA books that talk about mental health. This is sure to be a fantastic read and the reviews on Goodreads confirms it for me.

Sirens, a Mythological Tale

 

We all know and love Houck’s twist on Indian mythology in her Tiger’s Curse series. Just WAIT till you read her new Egyptian book REAWAKENED! I’ve read her book and I’m still geeking out over how AWESOME it is!  I love the way Colleen intricately weaves the mythological creatures and history into her stories and it is what attracted me to the books and sets her apart as one of my favorite authors. I feel like I’m truly escaping with every turn of the page, fully enraptured by the thrill of Kelsey’s adventures. It’s been awhile since I’ve devoted a blog to mythological creatures/places but I’m sure you’ve enjoyed reading all about Colleen’s new REAWAKENED book soon to be released! So, back to the subject of mythology. I’ve already shared some history on dragons, the Kappa, the Phoenix, and El Naddaha (female sea nymph-like genie), to name a few, in some of my earlier blog posts. Today, I’m featuring the Siren!

So sit back, take a deep breath, and prepare yourself as you step aboard Captain Odysseus’ ship heading out to sea.

Friends best beware, for it be here where ye be enterin’ the world of Sirens!

An Introduction

According to Greek Mythology, the Sirens were three, Pisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepi (although various versions have different names), all daughters of the river god, Achelous. They were dangerous, they were beautiful and they were very musical. Legend has it they were companions of the young Persephone when one day she was captured by Hades, the god of the underworld. Her mother, Demeter, the goddess of fertility and harvest, gave the sirens wings to search for her. When they failed, she cursed them.

They have been described as half human half bird. In early depictions, they have the body of a bird and a head of a human. However in later versions, different parts were human such as torso and chest. The more modern versions describe sirens as having a mostly human form that is quite seductive.  It has been said that the sirens competed with the Muses in a singing contest and lost. The Muses plucked all the siren’s feathers and made a crown out of them.  As a result, they were unable to fly and turned half of their body into a fish tail. Another version explains the loss of feathers by choice. They would shed their feathers and change their form to half fish to be more mermaid like and be more attractive to men.

They have been called the Muses of the lower world. Sirens are commonly portrayed as seducers of the water, luring mariners by their sweet melodies to treacherous rocky waters. Some say the men fall captive to the sirens, even to their death just to be closer.

So the story goes

The most famous telling of the sirens is Odysseus and his voyage across the seas. The story goes that Odysseus had heard of the enchanting melodies sung on the sea air and he was desirous to hear of this for himself. He ordered his crew to tie him to the mast and for his crew to plug their ears with bees wax. Then he warned them not to release him no matter what his request. So, as they neared the sirens, he heard their sweet melody, and just as he was warned, he begged to be untied. The crew, having their ears plugged, could not hear and were not affected. They did not untie him and waited  until they were a great distance away from the sirens and they could no longer be heard. They say that if a person were to escape the sirens after  hearing their song, they were fated to die.

Powers

Sirens have also been described as “sea-sirens”, whose beauty reflected the wondrous treasures and power of the sea itself. They could enchant with their music and control the minds of men. They are immortal but cursed.

Folk Tale

There is a poem written by William Gilmore Simms, called Siren of the French Broad, written in 1845. Here is retelling of it, (found at northcarolinaghosts.com)

“As twilight descends into night, the young man doesn’t go inside of his tent, but still sits by the side of the river, staring into the deep waters of the pool. As night comes into its own, the young man hears the sweet singing once again, more indescribably beautiful than any voice he has ever heard. And as the voice grows louder it seems to be coming from the pool of dark water by his feet. And as he looks into the pool, he seems to see the form of a beautiful dark-haired woman rising out of the water towards him. She is naked and more perfect than he could have imagined, the smooth curves of her body seeming to repeat the slow, smooth curves of the river. And he knows that she is singing to him.

Unable to resist, the young man reaches into the water to touch the woman, but as her hand wraps around his it is not warm flesh that he feels, but cold, rough and slimy scales and claws that dig painfully into his arm before he can pull away.Before he even has a chance to scream, the cold grip pulls him into the dark water and he disappears below the surface and to his doom, another young life lost to the Siren of the French Broad.”

Below is a section of the original poem by Simms,

“The murmur thus rose in his secret soul

As beside the stream  he lay,

And watch’d its billows, that, bounding

With the rocks kept fearful play.

But soon ‘midst the din a song rose,

The fainting heart to cheer,

A song as sweet as the evening bird,

Still sings in the flowret’s ear.

He look’d, and lo! in the foaming wave,

That plays with the rocks below,

A maiden glides without stretching arms

And a bosom white as snow.

A glimpse he sees, a sudden gleam,

From an eye that shone as bright,

As the single star that at midnight streams,

Alone from the mountain height.

Dark as the night her tresses float,

Outflung by her bouyant arms,

And, spread o’er her bosom, now half conceal,

Now half betray her charms.

And sung she then, with a pleading voice:

“Thou faint’st with the noonday heat

Thy brow is sad, thine eyelids droop,

And sore with toil thy feet.

Then come to me, -in a sweet embrace,

I’ll soothe thy heart to rest,

While thy burning cheek, as the wave flows by,

Is pillow’d on my breast.”

The syren thus-“oh! come to me!”

And, won by her maiden charms,

He sought the wave, but shudd’ring rushed,

From the clutch of her death-cold arms.

To the shore he fled, but alas! too late,-

And this his dying sense could hear,

The cruel notes of that syren song

That late had won his ear.

A plaintive strain of love no more,

It rose with a fearful glee;

“And death,” she cried “to the stranger bold,

Who seeks embrace of me!”

So there you have it, a feature on the mythological creature, the Siren. I hope you enjoyed learning a little about it and reading some folk lore that went with it. If you decide to do a little research on Sirens for yourself, you will find there are many versions out there.

Let me know what you think about this creature and for fun, share an idea of a power or characteristic you’d give the Siren if you were writing your own version of the mythological creature. Just leave a comment for everyone to enjoy!

If I were to write a Siren into an adventure story, I’d have her with wings and fish tails I think. Since they were cursed by Persephone’s mother out of grief and anger, I’d build off that. My Sirens would shed tears and it is in their tears their songs are heard across the waters, sad lullabies that lull men . The men would be under their spell upon first sight, willing to do whatever bidding the Sirens asked. The Sirens, wishing to be free of their curse,  and being cold and unfeeling creatures, would bid them to swim to the bottom of the ocean to retrieve  treasure. The men would drown in their attempts and the Sirens would continue to cry. Here’s a picture I think would sort of fit with my idea,

I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Till next time ~ Linda

 

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YA Summer Beach Reads

 

 

Since summer is upon us, I thought I’d make a list of books you might like to take to the beach with you. These are mostly YA. I think the only exception is Michael Crichton but I can’t remember anything too edgy in there for a YA reader. All of them feature the ocean or the beach in some way. Let me know which ones you’ve read and if you have any more suggestions and add them in the comments below! Happy summer everyone!

 

SHIP BREAKER

In America’s Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota–and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it’s worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life…

In this powerful novel, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in a vivid and raw, uncertain future.

WATERFELL

THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE QUEEN

Nerissa Marin hides among teens in her human form, waiting for the day she can claim her birthright—the undersea kingdom stolen from her the day her father was murdered. Blending in is her best weapon—until her father’s betrayer confronts Nerissa and challenges her to a battle to the death on Nerissa’s upcoming birthday—the day she comes of age.

Amid danger and the heartbreak of her missing mother, falling for a human boy is the last thing Nerissa should do. But Lo Seavon breaches her defenses and somehow becomes the only person she can count on to help her desperate search for her mother, a prisoner of Nerissa’s mortal enemy. Is Lo the linchpin that might win Nerissa back her crown? Or will this mortal boy become the weakness that destroys her?

 

ATLANTIA
Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

TALON

long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they’re positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon’s newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey—and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember’s bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him—and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

VITRO

On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw.

Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. She enlists hunky charter pilot Jim Julien to take her there. But once on the island, Sophie and Jim encounter more than they bargained for, including a charming, brilliant Vitro named Nicholas and an innocent, newly awoken one named Lux.

In a race for their lives, Sophie and Jim are about to discover what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.

RENEGADE

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s believed that everything is perfect. Her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into Elysium’s secluded little world, Evelyn comes to a startling realization: Everything she knows is a lie.

Her memories have been altered.

Her mind and body aren’t under her own control.

And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb…and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

TEMPEST RISING

As her seventeenth birthday approaches, half-mermaid Tempest Maguire will have to make a decision. Stay on land? Or give herself to the ocean? The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kona, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water’s temptation, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her—and that the entire ocean’s future hangs in the balance.

FORGIVE MY FINS

Lily has a secret, and it’s not her huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid—she’s a Thalassinian princess. When she discovered three years ago that her mother was actually a human, Lily finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been going to Seaview High ever since. Living on land has its problems—like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher—but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type—when they bond, it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

PIRATE LATITUDES

The Caribbean, 1665. A remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses. In this steamy climate there’s a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease—or by dagger. For Captain Charles Hunter, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking, and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it. Word in port is that a galleon, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in a nearby harbor….

ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS

In the Pacific there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it, blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea elephants and sea birds abound. once, Indians also lived on the island. And when they left and sailed to the east, one young girl was left behind.

This is the story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.

LIFE OF PI

The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.

The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them “the truth.” After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional–but is it more true?

TIGER’S VOYAGE

With the head-to-head battle against the villainous Lokesh behind her, Kelsey confronts a new heartbreak: in the wake of his traumatic experience, her beloved Ren no longer remembers who she is. As the trio continues their quest by challenging five cunning and duplicitous dragons, Ren and Kishan once more vie for her affections–leaving Kelsey more confused than ever.

Fraught with danger, filled with magic, and packed with romance, Tiger’s Voyage brings Kelsey and her two tiger princes one step closer to breaking the curse.