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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Tombstone Tea


Dahme, Joanne. Tombstone Tea. Philadelphia : RP Teens, 2009.  ISBN:  9780762437184. $16.95.
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library)


Laurel Hill Cemetery sits high above the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  It contains thousands of graves, including some of Philadelphia's most prestigious and famous residents.  But not of Laurel Hill Cemetery's residents stay in the ground.  In fact, many of them are not ready to cross over to the other side and would rather remain dwelling within the well-kept grounds of Laurel Hill.   

Jessie is new to Phildelphia.  She's attending Laurel Hill Charter High School and she doesn't know a single student.  Feeling like a complete outsider and lonely, Jessie decides to take up a dare from three of the school's most popular girls.  She must spend a night in Laurel Hill Cemetery.  Jessie sees the dare as an oppertunity to find some friends as well as explore a new place.  What Jessie doesn't know, yet, is that she won't be the only being roaming the cemetery that night.
During her night at Laurel Hill, Jessie meets Paul and he guides her around the cemetery.  He also informs her that she has chosen the perfect night to visit the cemetery.  Tonight there is a Tombstone Tea.  Jessie soon finds herself mixed up in a world tangled between the past and present, with both the living and the dead.

However, Jessie also discovers something that she has known, but ignored for a long time.  She is a spiritualist, someone who can communicate with the dead.  When she meets Paul, a current and former employee of Laurel Hill Cemetery, she begins to understand her ability.  She is soon confronted by the wrath of Jenny, the angry spirit of a woman who is desperately seeking her long-lost daughter.  Paul and Jessie, along with some of the cemetery's ghostly residents must combine forces to fight Jenny's powerful rage, before Jessie becomes overtaken by the spirit world.   Is Jessie strong enough to overtake Jenny and unite a broken and painful past that keeps her from moving on? If she is able to do so, Jessie will need to count on the assistance of the other ghosts that remain in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Joanne Dahme has also written The Plague and Creepers.

Tombstone Tea has been in both Publishers Weekly Review and Booklist Review.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Beautiful Creatures


Garcia, Kimi & Stohl, Margaret.  Beautiful Creatures. Boston:  Little, Brown and Company, 2009. $17.99.  ISBN: 978316042673.  (Image Credit: Cape May County Library.)

Ethan Wate feels he lives in a average South Carolina community with the typical high school, friends, and family.  He dreams of escaping Gatlin's normality.  He seeks a life that goes beyond the ordinary.  He knows that he wants more than a mediocre and predictable existence. 

When Ethan sees Lena Duchannes, the new girl at school, he knows that she is unlike anyone the small town has ever seen or experienced.  When he learns she is the niece of the town's mysterious and feared recluse, Macon Ravenwood, he is intrigued.  Ethan also recognizes Lena.  She is the girl who plagues the dreams he's been having about a girl he never met, but knows he loves.  She is also the girl that he loses at the end of each dream.  It's a nightmare that continuously haunts him each night.

Yet, Ethan's dreams hint at the undeniable connection he and Lena have between each other.  Ethan begins to learn that there is more between Lena and himself.  There is an almost electrical connection, along with the ability to talk to one another without saying a word.  He also learns that the inhabitants of Ravenwood Manor, Lena's family estate, are anything but normal.  It is a place where things are not quite what they seem and where everyone possesses special powers.

Ethan's dreams are more than a connection to Lena; they are a warning of events that are soon to become reality.  The more he falls for Lena, the more he finds himself in a situation that is bigger and deadlier than he could have ever imagined.  Ethan will have to fight for he girl he undeniably loves, even if it means going against all he has ever known and all that he is beginning to learn.  It seems that the town of Gatlin is far from ordinary.  It is a place where humans co-exist with powerful Castors.  It is up to Ethan and Lena to discover the truth, as well as find a way to battle the dark forces that are mounting against them. It is time to learn how destiny and choices are intertwined within the darkness and the light.

Beautiful Creatures was reviewed in both School Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly and Booklist.

Awards and Recognition:
New York Times and International Best Seller. I
Amazon Best of 2009 as a #1 Teen Pick and a #5 Editor's pick. 
Indie Next List Teen Pick Winter, September 2010.
ALA William C. Morris Ya Debut Award Finalist, 2010.
Wall Street Journals Best Books to Give as Gifts Starred Selection.

You can also read more about Beautiful Creatures and its authors at:
http://beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/ 

You can also view the book trailer from the website:       

--Melissa the Librarian