Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
ISBN: 978-1-59990-695-9
Reviewed by Paula Erickson


Celaena Sardothien is the most notorious assassin in the land of Adarlan. Just the mention of her name strikes fear in the hearts of people. However, it has been a year since she was betrayed, somehow captured and sentenced to work in the salt mines of Endovier. The mines are a sure death sentence, but Celaena has managed to stay alive with her cunning and wits. But now, the Crown prince of Adarlan, Dorian, offers her a deal she can't refuse. If she goes back with him to the glass castle and competes in a tournament to find the King's Champion and wins, she will eventually be set free.

With the promise of freedom, Calaena travels with Dorian and the captain of the guards, Chaol, to the glass castle. She begins training and is soon pitted against soldiers, thieves, and assassins in a series tests. If she fails, she will be sent back to the salt mines.

As if the tests were not enough, a mysterious darkness is taking over the castle and killing the other competitors. With the help from the ghost of the first queen of Adarlan, Elena, Calaena sets out to find the killer.

With a mix of action, adventure, mystery and just a little romance, this book has it all. Fans of Kristin Cashore's Graceling and Fire will become instant fans of Throne of Glass. Readers will be sucked into the world created by Maas and never want to leave.

Quarantine, Book One: The Loners by Lex Thomas

Quarantine, Book One: The Loners by Lex Thomas

Egmont USA

ISBN: 9781606843291

Reviewed by Paula Erickson

It’s the first day of school at the brand new McKinley High School, and before the first bell even rings, an explosion rocks the building. All the teachers and staff almost instantly start vomiting their insides out. Within two weeks, the school is draped by a huge tent in order to quarantine them from the adult population of Pale Ridge, Colorado. The surviving students find out that they are the carriers of a deadly virus. It does not hurt them, but it will instantly kill any adult that gets near them. The east wing of the building is gone and the students are left to survive on their own. The military makes bi-weekly drops of supplies, but the students have turned against each other. What used to be the social cliques are now gangs; The Nerds, The Geeks, The Freaks, The Sluts, The Skaters, The Burnouts, The Pretty Ones, and The Varsity. They each have a service that they provide in order to survive.

David used to be the big man on campus at McKinley High School. He was the quarterback of the football team. He was popular and he had the hottest, cheerleader girlfriend, Hilary. Then his mom was killed in a car accident and David quit the football team in the middle of the play-offs. He alienated all his friends and his girlfriend dumped him for the new quarterback, Sam Howard. So when the school was quarantined, David and his brother Will were left out of the gangs. Sam is now in charge of the Varsity and Hilary is in charge of the Pretty Ones. In order to survive, David and Will learn to stay low and avoid attention, especially Sam and Hilary.

A year later, David runs into Lucy, one of the Pretty Ones, being attacked by a Varsity. On impulse, David rushed in to help Lucy and accidently kills the Varsity guy. This puts Sam and the rest of the Varsity gang on the hunt for David and Will. Lucy takes refuge with David. Their survival is now in the hands of the left over students, the ones that never belonged to a gang, the Scraps.

In this apocalyptic novel, readers are drawn into the chaos of high school at its worst. With no adults to help keep the peace, kids steal, fight and kill each other to survive. Readers will find themselves hoping David and Will can find a way to survive.

Available on Amazon.com

Official Reviewer in the House!

I am taking on a new role. I am going to start reading and reviewing pre-published books. So how did this come about? Last month I was watching a webinar about what's new in YA literature. The webinar was made up of several publishers telling us about their latest and greatest YA books. During the webinar, one of the publishers mentioned a site that people but especially librarians can join to be sent galleys. Galleys are basically just books that are nearing the end of the publishing process. They have been edited several times, but have not been through the final edits or publishing stages. The site they talked about actually sends the books in eBook form so I can read them right from my iPad using the Kindle app.

I really debated for a while whether I should do this or not, but well, I am a librarian. I read all the time. This definitely qualifies me to review books. I've just never done it officially. I talk to the students at school about books. I talk to my friends and family about books, but that's about it.

A couple weeks ago I signed up. I didn't really think much about it. I filled out the information and requested to see a couple of the available galleys and went on my merry way. Well, a couple days later I got emails from several of the publishers approving my requests to read their galleys. I have read one so far (I can't tell you anything about it because it doesn't come out until August) and it was AWESOME!

I'll keep you updated on my progress. I can't officially post my reviews until a week before the book comes out. So look for the review of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas on July 31, 2012.

Start of Something New (hey isn't that the name of a song?)

Recently I have been trying to think of new ways to improve what I do for the students and staff at Fort Osage High School. I really struggle with this sometimes. I am not opposed to change, anyone who knows what the library was like 9 year ago when I started and what it is like now, can attest to that. However, choosing the path to take is difficult. If I choose wrong, I will have wasted not only my time, but valuable school resources.

Last winter I convinced my building principal to let me purchasethree3 Barnes & Noble Nooks. To start out, I choose the students that I would allow to check them out and loaded them with all of this year’s Gateway Nominees. This seemed to go really well. So well in fact that I was allowed to purchase three more. Did I choose correctly? That still remains to be seen. However, students that I have allowed to check them out love that they don’t have to wait on the paper copies of the books. They can finish one and immediately start another.

Recently I approached the Technology Director of the district to ask her what I should be spending my money on, technology wise. She is always full of great ideas. And best of all, she is always very supportive. Her suggestion was to buy iPads. All of the elementary and middle schools have purchased some to be implemented into the curriculum. I like the idea, but how would we use them in the high school? I talked to a few teachers and after brainstorming with them, we came up with ACT and Advanced Placement test prep. After spending a large portion of my budget, we are now the proud owners of fifteen iPads. I am still waiting for the ability to purchase a few of the applications needed before we go “public” with them. If this goes well, we will purchase another fifteen next year. We have even discussed the idea of getting a new flat screen TV to allow for the interaction of the iPads.

With all the new tech out there, it remains to be seen if I am wasting time and money. However, I don’t want to look back and regret not trying anything. So I am marching forward!!!