Angieville

Great covers and great titles here. I love all three. And I've only read one of these authors before, so I'm interested to see what the other two are like. All contemporary young adult fiction here, something I've been rather in the mood for lately. You can look forward to these this coming spring. The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta Already out in Marchetta's native Australia, The Piper's Son will make its U.S. debut with this awesome cover--very different from the Aussie one. I like both. This is technically a sequel to Saving Francesca , a book I've been ordered to read on several occasions and which I plan to do before release day. And because of that, I don't want to know too much about the sequel. Looks great, though! Due out March 8th. Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese Details are sketchy, but this debut novel explores the theme of addiction through the experiences of one 17-year-old Ade Patience, who--due to being knocked unconscious--...

I've been looking forward to this book ever since I finished Jellicoe Road and heard Melina Marchetta had a fantasy novel already out in Australia. It took awhile but eventually word went out that the wonderfully titled  Finnikin of the Rock would be making its American debut this February and I settled back, somewhat impatiently, to wait. Jellicoe Road was my first experience reading a Marchetta book and I consider it a pretty much perfect reading experience . To say that my anticipation for her next book was high would be something of an understatement. Though the fact that it was high fantasy gave me some pause. I read quite a bit of fantasy of all kinds and I was fascinated to see how the very modern, fragmented style of writing I loved in Jellicoe Road translated to such a wildly different genre. Once the son of the King of Lumatere's warlord, Finnikin of the Rock ran wild and happy with his best friends and rivals Prince Balthazar and Lucian of the Monts. As boys t...

These three make me rather weak in the knees. You can just tell by looking at the covers that these pretties pack a punch when it comes to fantasy and epic tasks/quests/journeys, etc. I'm looking forward to each one with incredible amounts of anticipation and I've only read one of these authors before! Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta Ever since coming up for air after finishing Melina Marchetta 's Jellicoe Road , I have been impatiently waiting for Finnikin of the Rock to be released. Already published in Australia, *pout* it's taken its sweet time making its U.S. debut. But I have it on good authority it is going to be well worth the wait. In a world of fever camps, wandering exiles, and cursed kingdoms, young Finnikin joins forces with the reckless Evanjalin in a bid to save the land of Lumatere from the evil that threatens to swallow it. This could be a novel about paint drying and, after the wonder that was Jellicoe Road , I would read it in a heartbeat....

Okay. We'll start with  Jellicoe Road   because it's the one I read first. I picked it up as a result of  Trisha's glowing, cryptic in a good way review  and the fact that it came away with the  Printz Award  this year. It is Australian  Melina Marchetta 's third book and the first of hers I've read. A fault that will have to be remedied quickly as I absolutely loved this knotty, painful, beautiful book.  Taylor Markham is head of her house at the Jellicoe School--a backwoods boarding school located somewhere in Australia. Abandoned by her mother at a 7-Eleven on the Jellicoe Road, Taylor was taken in by a mysterious woman named Hannah and installed at the school. Now eighteen, Taylor is embroiled in turf wars between the Jellicoe students, the Townies, and the Cadets. But when Hannah up and leaves without a word, Taylor is convinced it has something to do with her mother and with a horrific accident that happened on the Jellicoe Road twenty-two years before. Past a...

Please accept my apologies for the unusual pause in our regularly scheduled programming here. I seem to have read  Jellicoe Road   followed by a double chaser of The Thief and The Queen of Attolia . Am now sitting here gobsmacked at the excellence. Reviews to follow just as soon as I recover the power of speech.