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The back of this book reads, “What if Jane Eyre fell in love with a rock star?” That pretty much sums up this book. April Lindner took the story of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and brought it into the 21st century, while keeping the plot and characters of the original. If like me,you have read and loved Jane Eyre, you will know from the beginning where this story is going. The pleasure of reading it lies in discovering how the author has modernized the story and characters. The modern Jane, nanny to the daughter of a rock star, falls in love with the grumpy and occasionally angry older rock star with a messy past. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the same emotional impact that I did when reading Jane Eyre, and I struggled to believe in the romance between these two unlikely people. While I admire Lindner’s attempt to stay true to the story, she might have succeeded more fully if she hadn’t felt obligated to recreate every element so literally. Grades 9 and up.
Samantha Kingston is pretty and popular, and is dating one of the hottest guys in the school. Her day is like any other day, with privileges and fawning freshmen, and occasions for her and her friends to bully their favorite targets. One small difference—it’s actually the day that Samantha is going to die. What Samantha doesn’t expect is that instead of being dead, she wakes up the next morning in her bed, and the day she died is starting all over again. While it sounds like the premise of the popular movie, “Ground Hog Day,” it doesn’t follow that familiar territory. Samantha doesn’t make the kind of choices you’d expect. She has a lot to figure out about her life and her past decisions, and it takes her seven re-do days to get it right. Lauren Oliver’s writing is bright and lacking in cliché, and doesn’t fall in the trap of too much repetition of the events of that one day. Best of all, she examines what’s often not understood about teen social stratification—both popularity and bullying—as well as what it means to live well and die well. This book has page-turning intrigue, but doesn’t shy away from touching on deeper truths. Alcohol, drugs, and some graphic sexual content. Grades 9 and up.
Lamplighter is book 2 in the Monster Blood Tattoo series, which covers Rossamund's time apprenticed as a Lamplighter at Winstermill. Threnody, the stubborn and quick-tempered "wit" (meaning she has had her innards surgically altered) also arrives to apprentice, much to the disapproval of her mother, the Lady Vey. During this period, Rossamund makes friends with the now deformed "Numps", who is "lacking in his intellectuals" since surviving a monster attack. Numps is responsible for growing the blooms that possess bioluminescence used by the lamplighters in the lamps along the roads connecting each town, and like Rossamund, seems to be sympathetic toward some of the monsters.
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