The Bad Queen

Meyer, Carolyn. The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette. 2010. Harcourt Children's Books, New York.

Annotation:
A list of instructions for a young Princess given to her by her mother. This list of instructions is intended to guide a young Marie-Antoinette in the ways best to lead a kingdom as Queen. The young queen finds herself thrown from her comfortable court life in Austria to a strange new home in France, where her mother's instructions should guide her every step.

Book Talk:
Young Antoinette of Austria has been promised in marriage to Lois since the age of nine. She spends every moment of every day learning how to walk, dance, dress, and speak in the French fashion.

On the appointed day, Antoinette is sent in a carriage to her new husband in her new homeland, France. She finds that, although she is well schooled in the language, the rules of court are stifling. She also finds herself surrounded by people who do not trust her because she is Austrian, and the French and Austrians have been enemies for centuries.

As Antoinette struggles to adapt to French court life, she finds herself struggling to find friends. She begins throwing lavish parties and balls every week. Beautiful new gowns are ordered for every occasion, each more lavish than the last. Hours are spent on memorable hairstyles that become the talk of Europe.

As the talk of Antoinette continues, she is warned continuously by the Treasurer, The Austrian Minister, her Mother, and her brother that she must reign in her spending. Her subjects, the people of France are talking about her expenses and her lavish lifestyle. As Antoinette continues to undertake ever more lavish projects, her subjects are starving.

Across the Ocean, a group of 13 colonies have broken free from England. The people of France have sent troops and support to the new country. Talk begins to swirl in France of a new way of governing the country.

Author's Web Site:Carolyn Meyer

Fire

Cashore, Kristin. Fire. 2009. Fire. Dial Books

ISBN-13: 9780803734616. Hardcover, $17.99

Annotation:
In the kingdom of the Dells, King Nash struggles to maintain control of the kingdom he inherited from his father. Where his father, King Nash ruled for years in a reign of terror, mercilessly enforced by his monster advisor who had the ability to control the minds of his subjects, King Nash wishes to rule his kingdom with less force.

However, the monster advisor of the king had one child, Fire, a daughter, who also has the power to rule the minds of his subjects. Fire refuses to use her power to coerce people to do the bidding of others.

As the power struggle for control of the Dells intensifies, Fire finds herself drawn into the middle of all factions, asked to use her powers for the good of the kingdom.

Book Talk:
Fire is the daughter of Cansrel, the advisor to King Nash. Cansrel was a monster/human crossover. Beautiful and compelling, monsters are able to draw people in with their beauty and control their minds to do their own bidding. Cansrel used this power to enable King Nax to keep an iron control over his kingdom. When fear of Cansrel was not enough to control the populace, the very real pain inflicted by Cansrel was the persuasion used to convince everyone to "go along" with whatever the King wanted.

Although Fire's mother was human, she is a monster because of her father's blood. She too has her father's beauty, and his ability to control minds. She is the last human/monster hybrid in the kingdom.

As the story begins, King Nax and Cansrel have died, and King Nash has taken his father's place on the throne. Unable to control the minds of his people, Nash strives to rule them with their hearts. An uneasy peace has descended onto the Dells.

With dangerous neighbors surrounding him on all sides, Nash turns to Fire for help. He desperately needs her mental abilities. He needs to find out who his enemies are, what they want to do, and when they plan on doing those things. There is just one problem. Fire refuses to become the mind-controlling monster that her father was. She will never use her powers to force people to do something against their will.

Fire is pursuaded to come to the Royal City by Brigan, Nash's brother. As Fire spends time with Brigan, and in the court with the Royal Family, she begins to see where her powers would be helpful.

Will Fire agree to help the kingdom in this time of great turbulence? Will she succumb to the lure of power? And is it possible that her power is even more powerful than she had ever thought?

Author Web Site:
Kristin Cashore

Reviewer's Notes:
Fire is a companion novel to the book Graceling. Fire is set in the kingdom to the East of the mountains from the Seven Kingdoms in Graceling. The action in Fire takes place about 20-ish years before Graceling.

I found a very cool video promoting Fire on Amazon. I'm not sure I can load it onto this page without taking up too much bandwidth, but you can link to it here: Fire Video. You'll have to scroll down the page, it's just past the "big" sales information, and before the professional book reviews. Enjoy!

Fire Will Fall

Plum-Ucci, Carol. 2010. Fire Will Fall. Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt. Boston, Mass. and New York, NY. USA.

ISBN-13: 978-0152165628. Hardcover.

The Publisher Recommends this book for Grades 9 and up.



Annotation:
Four Teenagers, known as the "Trinity Falls Four" have survived a biological attack masterminded by a group of terrorists known as Shadow Strike, headed by the mysterious leader known only as "Omar".

The teens are sent to a remote mansion in New Jersey for 24 hour medical care and supervision. As the teens struggle to deal with their potentially fatal disease, it becomes clear that Shadow Strike is still very much a threat to National Security. Even more, they are determined to finish what they began with the Trinity Falls victims.

Book Talk:
Terrorism. Every day since 9/11, people have wondered "will it ever happen again"?
In the book Fire Will Fall, we see the aftermath of a world where a bio-terror attack has already happened. In the first book in the series, the water of Trinity Falls, New Jersey had been poisoned by a shadowy terror group known as Shadow Strike. The water was poisoned with a mysterious bio-chemical agent known only as Q-3.

Four teenagers: Scott, Cora, Rain, and Owen survived the attack and are recuperating in a remote mansion where they have access to round the clock medical care and protection. As the teenagers struggle to survive the potentially fatal antigen, they also struggle to deal with their identities. Forced to spend time alone and with only each other for company, each person struggles to find out exactly who they are and what they want out of life.

As the teenagers live in the relative safety of the mansion, we find out more about the other two teens from the first book. Shahzad and Tyler were the virtual spies (v-spies) who first cracked the computer codes and found out what was going on in Trinity Falls. They were also attacked by Shadow Strike, but with a disease called Tularemia. Tyler and Shahzad struggle to survive and stay hidden in Tyler's house as they search the internet for more information on their enemies.

However, no one is as safe as they seem. Tyler and Shahzad track Shadow Strike as they prepare to make a deadly move against an amusement park and the Trinity Four. Even as the boys attempt to send information to let the Trinity Four know they are in danger, Shadow Strike comes knocking at their front door.

Will anyone survive the attacks in this fast paced race against time?

Reviewer's Note: This book picks up where the book Streams of Babel left off. While this is a stand - alone story, readers will enjoy going back to Streams of Babel to find the back stories of all the main characters.

Author's Web Site:
Carol Plum Ucci

Does My Head Look Big in This?

Abdel-Fattah, Randa. 2007. Does My Head Look Big in This? Scholastic. New York, NY.

ISBN 13:978-0439919470

The Publisher Recommends this book for grades 7 and up.


Annotation:
The hijab is the traditional headscarf worn by Muslim women when they are in public. Amal, a native Australian-Palestenian teenager living in a suburb of Melbourne, makes a life changing decision when she decides to wear the hijab. Amal's decision sparks controversy within her family and her school as her friends and relatives struggle to understand her decision to make such a public statement of her faith.

Book Talk:
How does an outward statement of your faith affect the way you act in public?

Amal attends McCleans Prep School in Melbourne. She is in the middle of her Junior Year. Four days before her third term at school starts, Amal makes the decision to wear the Hijab.

Wearing a hijab is a risky move. Amal will be proclaiming to the world, everywhere she goes, that she is a devout Muslim. Her actions will be on display to the world, for all to see and judge and hold to a higher standard. What concerns her the most is that, in a post 9-11 world, she is making herself an easy target for anyone who wants to "get even" with a Muslim.

Amal's family desperately attempts to convince her to forgo the hijab at school, Amal insits that she is ready for the challenge.

When she reports back to school for the first day after break, all talk comes to an end when she walks into her classes wearing the veil. People whisper, stare, and make comments behind her back. None of this bothers her, as she fears the reaction of only one person in her school: Adam.

As Amal struggles through this particular faith walk, we begin to see the similarities we all share with a young girl making her way through the tangles of high school. But, as the day of the big debate nears, and a night club in Bali is blown up by Islamic Extremists, Amal struggles with the decision of whether or not she should remove her hijab in public for her own safety and sanity.

How will this very outward statement of faith affect Amal's life?


Author Website:Randa Abdel-Fattah