X-Ray Reads - Look Before You Read

Tripods #1. Author: John Christopher. Summary: Long Ago, The Tripods — huge, three-legged machines — descended upon Earth and took control. People no longer understand automation nor machines, and unquestioningly accept the Tripods’ power.But for a time in each person’s life — in childhood — he is not a slave. Will still has time to escape. My Thoughts: The White Mountains is an older sci-fi that I’ve ...

Dark Fusion #2. Author: Neal Shusterman. Summary: In this second entry in Neal Shusterman’s Dark Fusion series, he twists the familiar fairy tale “Red Riding Hood” into a brooding story about a city plagued by gangs. Red, a boy famous for cruising around in a bloodcolored Mustang, takes on the Wolves after they rob his grandmother. He decides to beat them by joining them, to learn their weaknesses. After a while, however, he ...

A Discworld Novel. Author: Terry Pratchett. Summary: There’s been a murder. Allegedly. William de Worde is the Discworld’s first investigative journalist. He didn’t mean to be – it was just an accident. But, as William fills his pages with reports of local club meetings and pictures of humorously shaped vegetables, dark forces high up in Ankh-Morpork’s society are plotting to overthrow the city’s ruler, Lord...

Winter Rose #2. Author: Patricia McKillip. Summary: When bookstore owner Sylvia Lynn returns to her childhood home in upstate New York, she meets the Fiber Guild-a group of local women who meet to knit, embroider, and sew-and learns why her grandmother watches her so closely. A primitive power exists in the forest, a force the Fiber Guild seeks to bind in its stitches and weavings. And Sylvia is no stranger to the woods. (Published Summary) My...

Legend of Eli Monpress #3. Author: Rachel Aaron. Summary: With the pressure on after his success in Gaol, Eli Monpress, professional thief and degenerate, decides it’s time to lie low for a bit. Taking up residence in a tiny seaside village, Eli and his companions seize the chance for some fun and relaxation. Nico, however, is finding it a bit hard. Plagued by a demon’s voice in her head and feeling powerless, she only sees herself...

Author: Blythe Woolstoon. Summary: Zoe is the last girl of her class, the last living person in her suburb before it closes down, and possibly the last living – rather than simply existing – girl. When her mother leaves for another job, Zoe must move on to her own job at AllMart, where her smile is the welcome mat. It’s the same job as hundreds of other young adults. Surrounded by the consumerism of the huge stores, drugged both literally and ...

Twisted Tales #1. Author: Liz Braswell. Summary: What if Aladdin never used the lamp? When Jafar steals the lamp and begins maximizing his wishes for world domination, Aladdin and Jasmine are going to have to unite, bringing rich and poor, royalty and thieves, together to take down the tyrant enslaving their city. My Thoughts: Meh. The characters were flat and the story-line, despite all the promises, was predictable and didn’t explore any of ...

Author: Ray Bradbury. Summary: A carnival rolls in sometime after the midnight hour on a chill Midwestern October eve, ushering in Halloween a week before its time. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery....

Author: Paul Gallico. Summary: The brave little Manxmouse is on a special journey. But can he survive fearsome foxes, terrified elephants and cats big and small to reach his destination? The Manxmouse is one-of-a-kind. He’s the strangest little mouse you’ll ever see, with bright blue fur, huge rabbit ears and a distinct lack of tail. But Manxmouse doesn’t mind being different. He knows that destiny awaits him, and so Manxmous...

Author: Muriel Barbary. Summary: Renee is the concierge of a wealthy apartment house in the center of Paris. Witness to the lavish and disparate lives of the rich around her, she hides her true intelligence from them. Pretending to be addicted to television and looking no further than her own doorstep, she studies art, philosophy, music and Japanese culture in the privacy of her apartment. Paloma is an unusually thoughtful twelve-year old, who...