Blood Promise
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up—This latest installment is a wonderful mix of love, loss, loyalty, and betrayal. Half vampire and half human, Rose Hathaway's world is torn apart when the love of her life, Dimitri, is turned into a Strigoi, one of a group of evil, undead vampires out to destroy the Moroi, who are living vampires. She drops out of St. Vladimir's Academy and journeys to Russia to save Dimitri from himself. In St. Petersburg, she befriends Sydney, a member of a secret group of alchemists who aids in her quest. Together they track down Dimitri's family in Omsk; her stay there gives her time to heal as well as to make an important discovery about her relationship to her friend Lissa, a Moroi princess with healing abilities. When Rose confronts Dimitri, he takes her hostage and puts her to the ultimate test. The story features strong character development and an action-packed plot full of many twists and turns. A well-written and satisfying story that will leave older teens wanting more.—_Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY_
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“ . . . The most exciting yet . . . Mead’s storytelling improves with each installment, as she keeps readers on the edge of their seats while adding a few unexpected twists.” —The Associated Press
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
Amazon.com Review
Great love stories thrive on sacrifice. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights--with the fated, yet perpetually doomed love of Bella (the human girl) and Edward (the vampire who feeds on animals instead of humans). In Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in the series, Bella’s story plays out in some unexpected ways. The ongoing conflicts that made this series so compelling--a human girl in love with a vampire, a werewolf in love with a human girl, the generations-long feud between werewolves and vampires--resolve pretty quickly, apparently so that Meyer could focus on Bella’s latest opportunity for self-sacrifice: giving her life for someone she loves even more than Edward. How close she comes to actually making that sacrifice is questionable, which is a big shift from the earlier books. Even though you knew Bella would make it through somehow, the threats to her life, and to her relationship with Edward, had previously always felt real. It’s as if Meyer was afraid of hurting her characters too much, which is unfortunate, because the pain Bella suffered at losing Edward in New Moon, and the pain Jacob suffered at losing Bella again and again, are the fire and the heart that drive the whole series. Diehard fans will stick with Bella, Edward, and Jacob for as many twists and turns as possible, but after most of the characters get what they want with little sacrifice, some readers may have a harder time caring what happens next. (Ages 12 and up) --_Heidi Broadhead_
Product Description
This Special Edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller includes:
- An exclusive Breaking Dawn concert series DVD, featuring a performance by Blue October's Justin Furstenfeld and a conversation between Stephenie Meyer and Justin Furstenfeld.
- A reproduction of the personal, handwritten lyrics for My Never by Justin Furstenfeld.
- A limited-edition, full-color Bella & Edward poster (on reverse side of book jacket).
- And more!
The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.
More from Stephenie Meyer
Clockwork Prince
The special Collector's First Edition will include a never-before-seen letter from Will to his family!In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends. With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them. Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do? As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.
Hunger
It's been three months since all the adults disappeared. Gone.
food ran out weeks ago and starvation is imminent. Meanwhile, the normal teens have grown resentful of the kids with powers. And when an unthinkable tragedy occurs, chaos descends upon the town. There is no longer right and wrong. Each kid is out for himself and even the good ones turn murderous.
But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.
The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–In the second in a planned six-book series, the children of Perdito Beach, CA, have survived without adults for three months following the FAYZ, a nuclear event that caused everyone over the age of 14 to vanish and an impenetrable barrier to rise for 20 miles around the town. Now their food is almost gone, and in their desperation and fear, the young people are beginning to sort themselves into factions; those without special powers opposing those who have them. To add to the suspense, a terrifying presence that calls itself the Gaiaphage, a being of overwhelming hunger, is insinuating itself into the minds of the susceptible. Like Gone (HarperTeen, 2008), this novel is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Nonstop action and recurring scenes of graphic violence, death, and torture will keep readers on the edge of their seats as they race toward the climactic cliff-hanger ending. Give this to teens who liked Stephen King's The Stand (Doubleday, 1990) or William Golding's Lord of the Flies (Penguin, 1959).–Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"* '... exciting, high-tension story told in a driving, torrential narrative that never lets up. This is great fiction. I love this book.' Stephen King, bestselling author. 'A tour-de-force that will leave readers dazed, disturbed, and utterly breathless' Booklist; 'If Stephen King had written Lord of the Flies, it might have been a little like this' Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (Starred Review) 'I Love this book' - Stephen King, bestselling author"
Last Sacrifice
Rose is on trial for high treason and the death of Queen Tatiana. Someone is trying to frame her and it looks like even Dimitri might not be able to save her now.
Light
It's been over a year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.
In the time since everyperson over the age of fourteen disap-peared from the town of Perdido Beach, California, countless battles have been fought: battles against hunger and lies and plague, and epic battles of good against evil. And now, the gaiaphage has been reborn as Diana's malicious mutant daughter, Gaia. Gaia is endlessly hungry for destruction. She yearns to conquer her Nemesis, Little Pete, and then bend the entire world to her warped will. As long-standing enemies become allies, secrets are revealed and unexpected sacrifices are made. Will their attempts to save themselves and one another matter in the end, or will the kids of Perdido Beach perish in this final power struggle?
Light, the sixth and final book in the New York Times bestselling Gone series by Michael Grant, creates a masterful, arresting conclusion to life in the FAYZ.
Review
“The Gone books have been one of the most dependable YA series inrecent history. Readers dying for this series ender will be rewarded by Grant’s characteristicnonstop action. He keeps readers where he’s always had them—on the edge of their seats—until the very end.” (ALA Booklist )
About the Author
Michael Grant has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact he became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn't tie him down. His fondest dream is to spend a year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. Yes, even Antarctica. He lives in California with his wife, Katherine Applegate, and their two children.
Plague
It's been eight months since all the adults disappeared. Gone.
They've survived hunger. They've survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.
But enemies in the FAYZ don't just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they'll escape—or even survive—life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?
Plague, Michael Grant's fourth book in the bestselling Gone series, will satisfy dystopian fans of all ages.
From Booklist
Though the desperate, dirty, starving teens of the Gone series look decreasingly like the clean-cut hotties on the book jackets, Grant’s sf-fantasy thrillers continue to be the very definition of page-turner. Nearly out of water and beset with two types of plagues (one like a flu, the other a horde of flesh-eating bugs), the FAYZ community of superfriends and superenemies must once again band together and fight. Being dumped into this populous soap opera, with all its powers and vendettas, will doom newcomers. But who’d be crazy enough to start here? Great fun for fans. Grades 7-10. --Daniel Kraus
Review
Praise for PLAGUE“The very definition of a page-turner.”—ALA Booklist“The characters’ interior struggles are almost as vivid as the action. Fans will be satisfied—for now.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (Starred Review) )
Shadow Kiss
Is Rose's fate to kill the person she loves most? It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since Mason's death, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She has dark flashbacks in the middle of practice, can't concentrate in class, and has terrifying dreams about Lissa. But Rose has an even bigger secret . . . .She's in love with Dimitri. And this time, it's way more than a crush.
Then Strigoi target the academy in the deadliest attack in Moroi history, and Dimitri is taken. Rose must protect Lissa at all costs, but keeping her best friend safe could mean losing Dimitri forever...
Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Rose Hathaway knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa-the last Dragomir princess-must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken . . .
From the Publisher
Praise for the Vampire Academy series
"Mead...weave[s] a unique and mesmerizing mystery with a whodunit ending that even the most skilled detectives will not predict...this little gem is sure to be a hit." --VOYA
"Teens able to handle to edgy elements will speed through this vamp story and anticipate the next installment." _ --Booklist_
"In a world that seems saturated with vampire books, Richelle Mead has created characters and a world that is both unique and believable." _ --TeensReadToo.com _