Book Aunt Strikes Again

I recently put my blog name into effect, so I thought I'd let you know that I'm true to my slogan. I practiced my craft on my unsuspecting 10-year-old nephew and 15-year-old niece in honor of their birthdays, which are only a few days apart.

As far as their reading tastes go, suffice it to say that Kyle is a fan of Rick Riordan's books, while Kristina is a Sarah Dessen fan.

It was too hot to go to the bookstore, so we sat at my sister's computer and shopped on Amazon.com. Here's what I ended up getting for Kyle:

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells--this was at his request. Kyle is a math-and-science kid, a future Bill Gates, no doubt. I think this title might be self-explanatory, but if you're not familiar with it, it's a classic. Your basic alien invasion.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld--I pitched this to my nephew, and he was intrigued. This book is the first in a steampunk series set in an alternate World War I Europe. Great Britain and her allies are the Darwinists, using biologically cultivated war machines like a flying whale that's an airship. The Germans and their allies are known as the Clankers because they use sophisticated mechanical war machines. We follow the adventures of the son of the slain archduke of Austria and a girl who poses as a boy airman on that whale of an airship.

The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl) by Eoin Colfer--also Kyle's request; he's read all of the previous books. In case you're not familiar with these books, Artemis is a young genius, a budding supervillain whose criminal tendencies are sometimes softened or at least diverted by his alliance with the rather tough fairy world.

Some of the other possibilities I brought up were the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins, and the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. I gave Kyle a little list of these books to look for at the library.

On to Kristina's b-day gifts... She was looking for something new to read, so I hit her up with a trio of books I figured she had missed. She was definitely interested.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway--this is my review.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins--see my review here.

Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison--I found out Kristina had never read any of Rennison's wild-and-crazy Brit books. In case you haven't read them, they're the diaries of one Georgia Nicolson, a girl who is self-centered, but also very funny and off the wall. Worth it for the evil cat alone (see cover art).

So, dear readers, that's how it went down, on the ever-so-sunny 4th of July. Any other thoughts about books for these two kids? Let me know in the comments! Meanwhile, Book Aunt has done her thing, and the summer reading season is properly launched for my sister's offspring. As for the birthday party itself, we had three kinds of pie with ice cream for the main course, then barbecued chicken and steak for dessert. 'Cause why not?

Note for Worried Parents: The books I ordered for Kristina are probably PG, with some teen-type talk about sex, longing, and (from the girl's perspective) breasts, but nothing too strong. Oh, and there's teen drinking in Benway's and Perkins' books, though it's presented in a negative light.

A Review of The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway

When they were little girls, sisters April, May, and June had magical powers. But since people aren't supposed to have magical powers, they blocked their gifts out and forgot about them. Until now, when life has thrown them a curveball in the form of their parents' separation and a move to a not-always-friendly new high school.

I think my favorite thing about this book is the way the girls hassle each other using their powers—and attempt to protect themselves against each other's capabilities. Oldest child April can see the future, May can disappear, and June can read minds. This author makes the very wise choice of letting the sisters take turns narrating the story, which has the added benefit of demonstrating the pros and cons of each girl's gift.

Even more interesting is the way Benway envisions each girl using her power. April goes around trying to save the world from its destiny, being a bossy, strung-too-tight eldest sister. May, who's kind of anti-social, uses her invisibility gift to hide from people. And June—ah, June. This freshman clotheshorse is definitely the author's most obnoxious and smile-worthy creation. When she realizes she can read people's minds, June listens in on their thoughts at school to see what they think of her outfits. And uses various bits of information she gleans to manipulate the popular girl of her choice into becoming her friend. It's all very conniving, but then, it makes sense for someone June's age, with her priorities.

Unfortunately, April sees a vision of a car accident in their future right about when June starts hanging out with a bad crowd. So April starts using her gift and plain old guesswork to try to prevent the vision she's seen, fearful of losing her sister. What she actually ends up doing is making June feel really hostile and take evasive action. May ends up caught in the middle.

Meanwhile, each sister is getting to know a boy. April keeps seeing locker buddy Julian as a distraction from her mission to save her sisters, then uses him for the mission, not admitting to herself that she's started to fall for him. May develops a love-hate relationship with her new history tutor, Henry. And then—well, okay, not so much June. Her platonic crush is on Mariah, her newly acquired, edgy/cool/depressed friend. It's fun to read June's chapters and realize that she's not nearly as starry-eyed about the party scene as she lets her sisters think.

Did I mention that all three girls look after each other using their powers? (This despite the fact that they're not speaking to each other for part of the book!) Here's an example showing that even vain little June loves her sisters. Having finished manipulating the popular girl, June heads for the girls' bathroom because May's hiding out in there being miserable:

I watched as she went over to the sink and started to wash her hands. Not the worst idea, that was for sure. "I heard you," I said. "You were, like, all yell-y in your brain, so I came to save you. Too bad my cape's at the drycleaner's; I would have gotten here faster."
Superhero humor: It never gets old.
"Oh yeah?" May splashed cold water on her face. She wasn't even listening to me, I could tell, and she looked a little bit like this deer we once saw in our backyard, all knobby knees, shaky limbs, and big eyes.
"Yeah," I replied. "So who's Henry?"

This author has a clever teen voice (all three of them!), and her book has heart. The ending's a little soap opera-ish, but it's also such a nice affirmation of the love between these three sisters that I think you'll find yourself saying, "Aww." And liking The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June very much.

Note for Worried Parents: This is a book for teens, so it's about high school concerns like dating and there are a few oblique references to sex, also (in a fairly negative way) some drinking. But it is pretty wholesome overall, and its focus on three sisters' struggles to stand by each other makes it a hopeful read.