At age 7, Henry Day runs away from home and hides himself in an old Chestnut tree in the woods. He thinks he's clever when he hides from the rescue workers sent out to seek him. But everything changes when his rescue turns instead to a kidnapping.

Told in alternating chapters by Aniday, Henry as a changeling, and Henry, the changeling who took his place, this is a compelling and complex story of the thin line between fantasy and reality, myth and the real world, the search for self and the meaning of family.

After nearly a century living amongst the faeries in the woods, the new Henry is excited to be back in the world. But as he grows he meets with much discontent. A childhood love of music leads to displeasure and disappointment. A search for his original family leads to unsettling realizations. The birth of his own son leads to constanta paranoia and worry over the past and what it means for his future.

Aniday, at first confused and alone among the changelings, slowly comes to piece the halves of himself together. He struggles to retain his abilities to read and write, not wanting to lose everything of himself. But memories of his other life, and the family he knows he once had, fade with time, and Speck, Chavisory and the others become his family.

As the outside world encroaches more and more upon the wild, life as a changeling becomes more and more difficult. A series of events, unfortunate and accidently, shakes things up even further, until everyone is left with endless questions and no sense of certainty about the way things are and the way they should be.

Will peace be found by our narrators? can such a thing even be?

_______

I really liked the way this story was told, and found the idea behind it really intriguing. Having read so many teen offerings in the reality-meets-fantasy realm, it was nice to come across the same concept in the adult world of books.

When Dulcie's Father accidentally kills himself, it's a bit of a shock. When her mother decides to move them off to California, it's more than Dulcie is prepared to take. When she finds out her mother intends to get rid of her father's truck, she officially draws the line: she takes it and drives herself back to Connecticut.

Upon arrival, she meets not her grandfather, as expected, but a girl she's never seen before standing in the flowers. Roxanne, who now works for Dulcie's grandfather, knows exactly who Dulcie is, and that her grandfather has been expecting her.

The welcome isn't as warm as she had hoped. Turns out taking off and going cross-country as a teen worries your elders. But Frank does agree to let her stay. She even gets her old job back, though as punishment she will receive no pay for the summer. She also has to call her mother. This stipulation is easier to get around: she knows when her mother is going to be at work, and always makes sure to call when she won't be there.

Back at work as a janitor, Dulcie makes fast friends with Roxanne, whom Frank has somewhat adopted, as it seems she's not necessarily well taken care of at home. The night Dulcie drops by with her to get fresh clothes on their way to dinner with Dulcie's suprise-visiting mother, Dulcie finds out just how bad Roxanne's home life is. This harsh glimpse at events causes a flurry of actions on multiple fronts, which almost lead to disaster.

In the end, Dulcie, who's always known who she is, gains a greater understanding of relationships, friendships, love, and home. Roxanne, who's never had it great, adopts Dulcie's family. While perhaps no one's ended up quite where they expected, they all know they've found their place.

An excellent book, worth reading again (and again).

New Moon.Full of broken hearts, imprints...and jumping off cliffs.

Bella's turning 18 years old. Yay! right?....not so much for Bella.

She would be fine with it if she didn't have a boyfriend that was forever 17 and refused to "doom" her to the same fate. Eternity with Edward is all Bella wants. But Edward wants her to experience life.

Alice decides that she wants to throw Bella a small birthday party(typical Alice).But while Bella's opening presents she gets a paper cut.

Most people are probally saying...So?That's no big deal. Right?

It's not a big deal....unless your in a house full of 7 suddenly ravenous vampires. Oops!

Jasper,being the youngest vampire, can't stand the smell of Bella's blood, so...he attacks. Which immediately causes Edward to strike back and save Bella.

After that unfortunate incident Edward seems...distant. And for a few days, he doesn't really spend time with Bella.And right before Bella's about to force him to talk...he suggests it.

So he takes her to the woods, and says goodbye. That his families already left and he's leaving right after he gets done talking to her.

Bella's heartbroken...worse than that actually. She spends hours trying to chase after Edward, until the sun is down and she falls. She doesn't get up.She's saved by Sam, a Quillette boy whose a little older than Bella herself.

After she's "safe" Bella spends months as a zombie. She does her homework, goes to work, school, cooks dinner, and goes to sleep. But nothing more. She's a shell. No longer Bella, no longer really living life. Just going through the motions for Charlie.

Finally Charlie's had enough....he tells her she has to do something! It's scaring him.

So she hangs out with Jake. And finds out he's a werewolf.

Spending time with jake seems to be just what Bella needs. To everyone else, they think she's better. But no, she's using Jake to get to the motorcycles he re-built for them.and to do any other reckless thing she can. All so she can hear the echo of a past angels voice in her head. Edward's voice.

One day she gets a strong erge to go cliff diving. But she didn't notice the hurricane that was coming. After she jumps she can't get back to the surface. And almost drowns. She's happy though, becuase as she's drowning she's hearing Edwards voice, imagining that he still cares.

Jake saves her, and brings her to her house. Where she sees Carlisle's car. But it isn't carlisle at her house...its Alice. Telling her that Rose told Edward she had died, after hearing about Alice's vision of her jumping off the cliff.

So Edward goes to the Volturi. To ask to be destroyed.

Can they save Edward in time?Will he leave as soon as Bella is safe agian? Will they be safe again?

Emil Simon hasn't had the best year. First he suffered the loss of his mother, and then his brother. Alone now with his father, at a school he's not really comfortable at, Ethan spends most of his time imaging what's become of Ethan. He milks his teachers' sympathy as much as he can in terms of makeup tests and extensions. Still his grades are suffering.

When his father has to take off for a week for business, Emil couldn't be happier. He sees this as his big chance, this week of freedom, and he has plans. Plans involving trying out the master key to Caramoor, once in Ethan's possession, now in his. Strictly speaking, if the tradition still stood, he'd never have had it. But he does. And he feels compelled.

For a week, Emil has the run of the grounds. He checks out the library, reads up on the local ghost lore, spends a few nights in the archives. HE also stumbles upon his art teacher's daughter, who comes in after hours to make pottery. Getting off on the wrong foot entirely, he introduces himself as someone else and continues to fill his story with further lies. It doesn't take long before his nightly meetings with Jade become Emil's favorite part of the day, even if she doesn't know who he really is or what he really does.

His friendship with his best friend Soma take a roller coaster ride over this same period, but after a couple of days of silence, Soma breaks, and they manage to put things to rights. Just in time for Soma's mother to catch Emil not at home, call his father, and pretty much ruin everything again.

When his dad arrives home, Emil has things he wants to say too. In major trouble or not. But he didn't expect to learn the hard truths he did. That his mother's death was even bleaker than he thought. That Ethan's disappearance wasn't really. As much as he's lied of late, people have been lying to him. Important people. About really big things.

Being on the end of such a huge revelation, Emil knows he has to come clean with Jade, and does. Together, they break some more rules, as they head off to find his brother and confront him.

This was a very different book from Corrigan's poetry-based novels, but I really enjoyed it. It was a little hard to get into, since the story jumps right in and I seemed to have a hard time keeping up with it, but it was well worth the read.

Emil's plight is heavy and at times downright horrible, yet the reading of it is a lot of times light and humorous. And really, who wouldn't delight in getting to be in the shoes of someone who has the run of his school at night? Even if he never does something as dastardly as he seems to feel he should.

In the world there are many cycles, and sometimes they exist between you and you. The inner commentator never letting you speak, too afraid you'll only mess things up. The outer prtoector, trying to make you less visible, generally only make you more conspicuous. The friends who aren't real, but are better than loneliness. The truths buried in closets, because it's easier for some to pretend they never happened, even if nothing has been the same since, and the damage is still everywhere. Worrying that your haunted past will become your daunting future.

This is Lacie's world.

Her father's dead, he mother hides away in endless work, and Lacie is lost between the cracks of herself and a world in which she doesn't belong. Can't seem to fit in. Can't seem to get it right.

Bit by bit, her best friend's cruelness starts to become more apparent. Forced into agreeing to meet a boy, she soon realizes Benji is just about the only real thing in her life. Except for the ghosts.

Bit by bit, things get harder, and some get easier. Best friend Jenna is lost, but Lacie is found. Her mother begins to slowly come back, she begins to slowly move away. Away from the fake and the meanness she used to emulate. Away toward who she really is, and should be. Away towards Gretchen, returned to town after disappearing for years. Away into a perfect world, in which she does belong.

__________

This is James' third book, which I've so far read twice. When I read his newest and recognized the names, I went back to re-read the rest to find the delicate interweaving I mentioned in my Tomorrow, Maybe review.

The first time I read this book, Lacie reminded me very much of myself. The second time I read it, she reminded me of how I used to be. It was a really cool feeling to get a sense of personal growth like that from a book. Sometimes we know how far we've come in life, but not really. Re-reading Lacie's story made my own a lot more solid to me.

If you've ever struggled with yourself, family, friends, the world, you'll easily relate to Lacie's troubles with life, and will likely appreciate her story.

An honest look at the harsh turns we can take in life when tragedy hits and the people you'd normally depend on are unable to be there for you. For Isabelle, it's her mom. Ever since her father died suddenly a couple years past, her mother has become a different woman. An English Professor, she's dropped to teaching part-time, no longer seems to care about her appearance, and does not discuss her late husband. In fact, she's taken all of his pictures off the walls. For Isabelle, this only makes things harder.

To make matters worse, she hates the way she looks. An issue severely aggravated by the fact that her younger sister has dubbed her "Belly."

After being caught throwing up by said younger sister, Isabelle is forced to go to Group. She hates the idea, but has no choice. And is caught totally off-guard when the most beautiful girl in school walks through the door.

Soon Ashley and Isabelle bond, and start spending more time together. Ashley, often left home alone, has a huge house with no end of food, and the binge-purge fests that take place there leave Isabelle feeling off-kilter for days afterward. It seems great at first--no hiding, no lying. But soon the novelty starts to wear off.

Time spent in Group, and also solo therapy sessions, is starting to impact Isabelle. She's beginning to realize she eats when she feels bad. That maybe this is a coping mechanism gone horribly wrong. At home, her mother's fits of mood start to anger her. At Ashley's the un-ending food starts to grow old. It isn't the same.

Once she first gets the words out of her mouth, about how her dad is gone and how much she misses him, everything starts to get easier. Not simple, not fun, but possible. Like asking to celebrate Hanukkah. Going ahead with it even when their mother says no. Asking for her aunt's help to set up the decorations, and the family tree April did for school, using pictures of their dad they found hidden under their mother's bed.

Bulimia is a hard cycle to break, but with a support network slowly forming, and a better understanding of herself and her motives, Isabelle begins to see a light that had been hidden from her. And suddenly "fine" doesn't seem only a lie. It seems within reach.

Edward Tulane began his life in a wonderful home, though he didn't know enough to appreciate it. Abilene Tulane loved him, sat him by the window with a pocket watch every day to wait for her to come back from school. He sat at the dinner table, he was tucked in at night. But he considered it all beneath him. Abilene treated him as an equal, but Edward couldn't interact with her, so it seemed rather pointless.

On an ocean voyage, Edward draws some unwanted attention from other passengers, and ends up going overboard. His last sight is his watch glinting in the sunlight as Abilene holds it high.

He spends a long time at the bottom of the ocean, buried in the dark, alone. Finally, a storm comes along, tossing and turning him, until he finds himself caught in a fisherman's net. Once discovered, he gets brought home to Nellie, who loves him immediately, but much to his dismay, has decided he's a girl.

He doesn't like the dresses, but life as Susannah isn't so bad. Nellie talks to him, and her husband takes him out nightly to see the stars. Things continue happily, until a visit from their daughter, who decides Edward is some wicked thing, and takes him with the garbage to the dump.

Eventually dug up by a dog, Edward then becomes Malone, and lives a hobo's traveling life. Until he gets thrown from a train, and rescued by an old woman who thinks he'll by a fine scarecrow.

Her working boy doesn't agree, and brings him home to his ill sister, Sarah Ruth, who Edward loves til her dying day.

After a day spent dancing in Memphis, and a meal unpayed for, Edward suffers his worst trauma yet. Which leads him to the doll mender, where the circle eventually completes.

It takes much for Edward to truly understand the story Pellegrina, Abilene's grandmother, told them so long ago. Even after he's learned his lesson, he must relearn it, as so much hardship and lost love has caused him to grow jaded. It takes an ancient doll to open his mind, and then his heart.

Having read this story, I can indeed see how it could turn a hard man like Brother Kuckles (Brother Odd, Dean Koontz) to change his ways. Edward's tale should be enough to crack even the hardest heart. I may be needing to reserve a shelf on my favorites bookshelf for Kate DiCamillo--I'm sure to be adding this to the permanent collection too.

I first read this book years ago, made a CD ought of the second side of Charlie's tape, and sent it off to all my friends, most of whom had also read and loved the book. It came up in a Library Conference not long afterward, and left me wanting to maim a room full of Young Adult librarians, who viewed the story as nothing more than everything but the kitchen sink. I found this appalling, as they all worked with teens, and here was a book that spoke to so many of them, on top of which it had quickly earned itself a spot amongst my favorites! But regardless of what my parental unit thinks, I do have some tact, and since I figured I was either going to scream or say nothing, I said nothing, much to the amusement of my co-worker, who attended the same discussion and knew I was seething.

I'll admit Charlie is not your stereotypical High School kid. But that's kind of the point. And the bigger point might be, maybe none of them are quite the stereotypical kid you think they are. But Charlie, yes, he's more different than most. Quiet, overly contemplative, and socially unaware, he pretty much keeps to himself until he happens upon Sam and Patrick. After meeting them, he begins to see how nice it can be to have friends, and makes more of an effort to "participate" as his English teacher has advised him to do.

But for the most part, he's still Charlie, and he spends most of his time in a book or in his head. He tries to get outside of himself, but as most people don't understand him, his efforts generally don't take him very far. Indeed, things have to go horribly awry before Charlie realizes that for all his efforts, he's still not being true to himself, or to those he cares about. And this realization leads to an even larger, and more troubling conclusion about his formative years, which he'd rather not have made, but the knowing will at least eventually free him to move forward and truly live his life.

This is a witty and perceptive book about a woman, Eliza, who is so unhappy that she begins to go mad. But the whole story is told from her perspective, so the reader is never clear whether or not the events are real or imaginary. As she is an intelligent, funny person, and we, as readers get inside her head, it is never a gloomy read. When we first meet her she is a rather irritating lady, trying to do good by her neighbours, but really annoying them in the process. When her neighbour, Joan apparently leaves her family to go travelling, Eliza writes to her asking her to come back. The letters continue, but become the narrative in journal form, and we learn all about Eliza's monotonous life in the Road, as we witness her descent into mental uncertainty. As this happens, and we get to know her, she becomes funny and loveable, i.e. the person that she really is. But there is one person who sees the true Eliza, and loves her for it. To give any more away would ruin the book. But the plot keeps you reading on, and there are surprises on the way.

I enjoyed this book. I don't like love stories - this isn't one. And, as I said, it's not miserable. I laughed quite a lot while reading it. It's tender, understanding, and clever, as well as being easy to read. Jane Gardam is a good writer. I recommend this book.

This is definitely a strong beginning to a series. Ursu has a really great style, with lots of spunk, which made reading this book a lot of fun. You know, more so than usual.

The story begins in the middle, with Charlotte Mielswetzski's discovery of a kitten on her way home from school. She and her parents are all immediately taken with it. Her parents try not to get attached, since they're advertising to see if she's lost, but they all kind of know she's there to stay. Charlotte decides to call her Bartholomew, "Mew" being the best ever nickname for a cat.

Unfortunately, Mew seems to be the only good thing happening.

Charlotte's best friend doesn't come to school the next day, or the next, and when Charlotte decides to collect her homework to bring it to her, she doesn't like what she sees. Maddy's mother is looking haggard, and Maddy herself looks even worse. She can barely sit up, yet there's nothing physically wrong with her.

One by one, the students at school start to disappear, bed-ridden. Rumors circulate about a Piper Fly, and school is closed for the rest of the week.

Charlotte thinks this is great, despite the cause, but when she shares the news with her cousin Zee, his reaction takes her by surprise.

Which is when we go back to beginning, with Zee's summer in Exeter with his Grandmother Winter. It's the best summer in the world, until she dies. The next morning Zee wakes feeling completely out of sorts, but with breakfast and a little rest the feeling passes. He thinks little of it.

But then strange things start happening. One by one, all his friends in Exeter, the kids he went to camp with, all fall ill with some mystery disease. His parents want to send him home, but he stays to help them finish up.

When they do return to London, it starts to happen again. Zee believes it must have something to do with him. And after seeing a boy accosted by two strange men-like things on his way home one afternoon, Zee stops leaving the house. At which point the children stop falling ill.

His parents pretty much think he's lost it, which is how he ends up coming to live with Charlotte in America.

And so we're back to the end of the middle. Charlotte and Zee now both know something shady is going on, and that no one would believe them if they tried to say anything. That is, until they're rescued by their English teacher, Mr. Metos, who happens to be a son of Prometheus. He does believe them, because he knows all about it.

Long story short, the two end up in exactly the last place they're supposed to be, the Underworld, trying to stop the overthrow of Hades.

Definitely, definitely worth reading. I can't wait to see where she goes next!