17 & Gone - 'Creepy. Weird. Downright Fantastic.'

17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma features Lauren, a seventeen-year-old teen who has visions of missing girls. All the girls in her vision are 17 and have disappeared without a trace. Lauren struggles to understand why they are speaking to her and how to help them. But then things take a turn when Lauren is almost killed and lands in hospital. This leads to the shocking truth which changes everything.

Here's one video review with a lot of insight:

Book of the week - "Everything is perfect . . . when you're a liar"

Having posted a few books in this forum I thought it would be a nice change of pace to move away from standard teen novels and try something a little non-fiction and not published with teens in mind. 

Kelly Oxford's sublime and hilarious book of essays "Everything is perfect . . . when you're a liar" is one of those books that teens should read so that they can get a sense of what not to do. I am not saying that this book is in anyway a guide on how to live or not live your life, but in the essays Kelly talks a great deal about her own teenage years and the different life lessons and issues she had to face growing up.

This book literally had me laughing out loud. And to make it even more enjoyable she is a Canadian author and that makes this book just that much better; not because I could relate to her geographical surroundings, but because I always enjoy hearing another fresh Canadian voice.

Keep in mind this book is not published with Teens in mind, but it is something that I think they will enjoy and laugh out loud and maybe even do some self-reflection. And really borrowing a library book costs you nothing (as long as you return it on time). 

Game by Barry Lyga

This is the sequel to I Hunt Killers…which I liked, despite having figured out who the killer was by the midway point of the book. 

Barry Lyga’s style reminds me of Lynda LaPlante and Minette Walters, two British adult fiction mystery writers who I absolutely love, mainly because they are the only authors whose books I cannot figure out.  I have a really bad habit of being able to figure out who the killer is by the time I am halfway through a book, which normally results in me flipping to the back of the book to see if I’m right…if I am, then I have a tendancy to stop reading the book, but if I’m not right, then I keep going. 

Despite having figured out who the killer was in I Hunt Killers, I actually continued reading to the end.  I liked Lyga’s writing, he can shake hands with LaPlante and Walters on the “these books are not for the squeamish or faint of heart” front, and I was curious about how he was going to wrap up certain storylines.   

I came across Game last month and decided that I would give it a read.  It became available for purchase in book stores this month (April) and is currently available for hold requests through the library catalogue. 

This is definitely a meatier story then I Hunt Killers as it is twice the length (517 pages).  Game essentially picks up where I Hunt Killers ends.  Several months have passed since the incidents that took place in I Hunt Killers came to a close, and Jasper “Jazz” Dent is trying to carry on his life in Lobo’s Nod with some sense of normalcy.  That, however, all comes to an end when Detective Hughes from the NYPD shows up on Jazz’s doorstep asking for help.  New York is being terrorized by a serial killer who has been given the moniker “Hat-Dog Killer” due to the fact that he marks his victims, postmortem, by carving either a top hat or a dog into their flesh.  The NYPD are at a loss, as there appears to be no pattern to the victimology.  That’s where Jazz comes in.  Hughes believes that Jazz is the perfect profiler as he was raised by the most notorious serial killer on record, William Cornelius “Billy” Dent.  Jazz is initially leery of assisting Hughes with his investigation, but, his conscience and his mantra of “People are real.  People matter.”get the better of him and he agrees to help...resulting in Jazz going to NYC and unwittingly becoming a part of the Game…     

If you haven't read I Hunt Killers, you should seriously consider picking it up...if you have read I Hunt Killers...then you need to place a hold on Game asap...trust me, you really do...

Just for fun, I've include an interview of Barry Lyga talking about I Hunt Killers done by Libba Bray

 

And a funny outake...

 

Happy reading!!

Book of the week - Janie Face To Face

The conclusion to the Janie Series is here with Carolibe B. Cooney's "Janie Face to Face".

Thirteen years after the fourth book in the Janie Johnson series, readers are invited to a satisfying, suspenseful conclusion. Janie heads to college calling herself Jane, ready to put the kidnapping life behind her. Edgar Award-nominated author Caroline B. Cooney keeps readers hooked as she updates readers on the forever-changed lives of Janie, her two families and the twisted perspective of the kidnapper Hannah. The pacing and surprises will keep readers turning pages all the way to the dramatic finish.

Cameron

Book of the Week - Keeping The Castle

I had a major Jane Austen phase when I was in high school, and I doubt I'm the only one - then or now.  There's something about Austen's obsession with Regency-era social mores that resonated with teens when I was in high school and, I suspect, resonates with teens in high school now.  Jane Austen did not write Keeping The Castle, this week's Book of The Week - Patrice Kindl did - but there is something very Austen-ish about it.

Althea Crawley is seventeen.  She's very intelligent, so much so that she's the sole reason her family - consisting of a loving but rather clueless mum, her four year old brother, and two dreadful stepsisters - aren't out on the street or in some poorhouse somewhere.  She's well-born, and the family even has a castle, but it's one of those castles that is better described as a folly.  Basically, it doesn't keep the elements out due to lack of walls, and it's primary function is to look ancient and romantic.

Poor Althea, as I've said, is really smart, and she's got tremendous hustle, but her most-remarked-upon feature are her looks.  She's gorgeous, and as brilliant as her mind is, Althea has resigned herself to trading on her looks to improve her family's fortunes.  She's determined to marry rich.  Or so she tells herself, but her true smart and independent self seems always to make itself known at the most inopportune times, and she blows chance after chance at securing a rich husband.  That is until handsome Lord Boring breezes into the village along with his apparently boorish cousin Mr. Fredericks.  Sound familiar?  Don't worry - familiarity doesn't take anything away from the book.  It's a super fast, super fun read, and you'll be smiling frequently at Althea's quick wit and spirit the whole way through.

For more Austen-ish reads, check out: Prom & Prejudice, Sass & Serendipity, and I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend.

Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

Interested in science and animal behavior?  Interested in issues around war and social justice?  Just looking to read a great adventure tale? 

Endangered by Eliot Schrefer will satisfy all of these appetites and more.  The story of Sophie and her adopted  bonobo baby running for their lives in the Congo is riveting, for sure, but it also gives you a lot to think about. 

The plot is simple--teenage Sophie flies from her home in America to spend the summer in the Congo with her mother, who runs a Bonobo sanctuary close to the capital city Kinshasa. On her way to the sanctuary, Sophie sees a young bonobo who is close to death and being hawked by a poacher on the street.  She insists on stopping and buying the bonobo, which puts her into immediate conflict with the rules of the sanctuary and her mother (who has been working hard to stop the trade in wild animals).  Stubbornly, Sophie nurses the baby animal, which she names Otto, back to health.    

Then Sophie's mother leaves for several weeks.   While she is gone, the government topples and an unruly band of militia attack the sanctuary, killing most of the women who work there.  Sophie and Otto manage to flee and hide inside the sanctuary forest, which is protected by an electric fence.  For a few weeks they live with a band of Bonobos there, but when the fence breaks down Sophie knows the soldiers will come into the forest looking for Bonobo meat.  She flees with Otto and together they make a long and very risky trek to find Sophie's mother, over the course of which they face both natural and human dangers.

What did I love most about this book?  Otto.  He's such a great character--he's really full of personality.   The author, Eliot Schrefer, spent several months on a bonobo sanctuary in the Congo before writing this book, and it shows.  Here's a video of Eliot talking about Endangered and how he was inspired to write it.

 

 

Second chances in "Through to You"

Camden Pike is still reeling. It’s been two months since his girlfriend Viv died in a car accident.  He’d give anything to see her again. He’s about to get his wish.

Through to You by debut author Emily Hainsworth is subtle and mature and well-written. More than a love story stretching across time and worlds, it’s about grief, second chances, the choices we make and letting go.  The book raises many provocative questions and leaves the reader to answer from their experience.  Are second chances always good or right? In retrospect, are people and relationships what they appeared to be? When is it time to move on?

This is a book with some depth and very human characters. I encourage you to give it a read.

Book of the Week - Eleanor and Park

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is one of my favourite books so far this year.  At its centre is a sweet but also rather sad love story between two misfits.  Park is half-Korean, half-American.  His mum and dad met when his dad was serving at an army outpost in Korea.  Park's home life is pretty solid and despite the fact that he and his brother are the only non-white kids at their blue collar Nebraska high school, and it's the 80s, he's got his niche, and, socially, he's doing alright.  Eleanor, on the other hand, is kind of chubby, has wild red hair, and dresses in thrifted men's clothing - and not because she necessarily thinks it's cool, but because that's what she can afford.

Eleanor and her family are new in town, and her new school mates immediately zone in on her as a target for harassment and bullying.  Although the bullying does get to her at times, it is nothing compared to the stresses she has to deal with at home. 

Just back with her mum, four little siblings, and step-father after a year sleeping on someone else's couch because she was kicked out by her mother's explosive husband, Eleanor tries to stay under the radar at home.  But this becomes increasingly difficult once she and Park fall in love.  At first content to see each other on the school bus, in class, and at lunch, they start to yearn for more and more time together.  Eventually, Eleanor starts going over to Park's house, but she has to do this without her step-father's knowledge. 

Eleanor and Park also struggle with Eleanor's conflicted feelings about their relationship.  As Eleanor feels herself drawing closer and closer to Park, she also struggles with letting Park know what is really going on in her house, and what it's been like for her.  Park wants to know and to help her, but she can't quite bring herself to share the truth since it causes her so much shame.  Do Eleanor and Park eventually have a happy ending?  Of a sort, I can tell you, but you'll have to read the book to find out exactly what I mean.

Book of the week - I Hunt Killers

This book is amazing. Run, don't walk to your local library and get a copy. You won't be disapointed.

It was a beautiful day. It was a beautiful field.Except for the body.
Jazz is a likable teenager. A charmer, some might say.
But he''s also the son of the world''s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, "Take Your Son to Work Day" was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could--from the criminals'' point of view.
And now, even though Dad has been in jail for years, bodies are piling up in the sleepy town of Lobo''s Nod. Again.
In an effort to prove murder doesn''t run in the family, Jazz joins the police in the hunt for this new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret--could he be more like his father than anyone knows?
From acclaimed author Barry Lyga comes a riveting thriller about a teenager trying to control his own destiny in the face of overwhelming odds.

 

Beautiful Creatures Movie Trailer

 

Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl Interview with Tribute Magazine

Check out Tribute Magazine's interview with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  The authors of Beautiful Creatures discuss the inspiration for the series and also the movie.

 

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

The movie, which came out on February 14, was panned on Rotten Tomatoe and also on the IMDB ...which is a bummer as there are some pretty big name actors in it.  I've yet to see the film, the plan is to go this weekend, so I'll have to update you on that one a little later...

The book on the other hand, well now, that I have read.  Actually I've read the entire series to date.  So despite the lukewarm movie reviews, I give the book and the entire series RAVE reviews, as well as, two thumbs up!!  I absolutely loved it!  Those of you who liked Twilight will also like Beautiful Creatures, though we are dealing with witches this time around. 

Beautiful Creatures is set in the southern town of Gatlin in the United States, and is the story of Lena and Ethan.  Lena is counting down the days to her sixteenth birthday with dread...no sweet sixteen for her...why you might ask?  Because Lena's family is cursed!  On the day of their sixteenth birthday, or rather their "sixteenth moon" as Lena's family refers to it, every member of her family has been claimed for either the Light or the Darkness.  Lena has no way of knowing which side will claim her and she is filled with dread at the prospect that she could go Dark.  She'll have no say in the matter and the decision is final.  

Mysteriously however, as Lena gets closer and closer to her sixteenth birthday she is haunted by visions from her family's past.  Lena is not alone in these visions, someone else is with her; seeing the visions along side her.  That someone else is Ethan.  Lena and Ethan can't understand it, or explain it, but for some reason Ethan and Lena are connected to one another.  Ethan can hear Lena's thoughts and Lena can hear Ethan's.  Stranger still, Lena's Uncle Macon and Ethan's family housekeeper, Amma, seem to be aware of more then they are letting on.  Even stranger, Mrs. Lincoln, one of the town locals, has made it her mission in life to run Lena out of town??? 

Lena and Ethan must navigate the visions, their families and the town's people, in order to help Lena when her sixteenth moon arrives.  But there are dark forces working against them.  And these forces are a lot closer to home then either Lena or Ethan suspect.

Beautiful Creatures is book one in the Beautiful Creatures series. 

Beautiful Darkness (book 2)

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Chaos (book 3)

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Redemption (book 4)

 

 

 

 

 

Happy reading!  Toodles!

           

Blood Prophecy: The Final Drake Chronicles Book by Alyxandra Harvey

Back in 2010 Alyxandra Harvey came out with the first Drake Chronicles book, Hearts at Stake,  and right away I was hooked. I loved the idiosyncratic chemistry and unquestioned loyalty between Solange, born to an ancient vampire family, and Lucy, her human bff. I loved how smart and enterprising the girls in this book were, and I loved how the adventure and romance practically sizzled off the page.  Despite the vampire craze on in full force back then, I found this series  really fresh.  I've been following these books since the first one came out  and now I'm half-way through the final book in the installment,  Blood Prophecy, which just came out. 

One of the interesting things about this series is that each book has been written from the point of view of several different characters, and they change up from book to book.  (There's always a fun romance, though!).   In Blood Prophecy we're right back where we started, but with Solange now a Vampire Queen and Lucy now studying to be a vampire hunter.  Things are a bit crowded in Solange's head, as a far-off undead ancestor tries (and sometimes succeeds) in possessing her, leading to some very bizarre situations.  I'm racing through it and loving every minute, although I am finding that this book is lighter on romance and heavier on adventure than the previous books in the series.  Any other Drake fans out there?   Grab Blood Prophecy from your local library and let me know what you think of the way Harvey wraps up this popular vampire story.

Book of the week - Light: A Gone Novel

The "Gone" series by Michael Grant has been a literary phenomenon of sorts, and now with the sixth and final novel "Light" we see this series come to its conclusion.

It's been over a year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.

In the time since every person over the age of fourteen disappeared from the town of Perdido Beach, California, countless battles have been fought: battles against hunger and lies and plague, and epic battles of good against evil. And now, the gaiaphage has been reborn as Diana's malicious mutant daughter, Gaia. Gaia is endlessly hungry for destruction. She yearns to conquer her Nemesis, Little Pete, and then bend the entire world to her warped will. As long-standing enemies become allies, secrets are revealed and unexpected sacrifices are made. Will their attempts to save themselves and one another matter in the end, or will the kids of Perdido Beach perish in this final power struggle?

Place it on hold now as it is released in April and you are not going to want to miss this one.

 

Rookie Yearbook One

RookieMag.com is an online magazine created by Tavi Gevinson for smart, multifaceted teen girls.    Rookie Yearbook One is a scrapbook-style record of the magazine's first year.  And what a glorious year it was!  The book is full of quirky yet substantive articles, sharp humour, lush, romantic visuals, and long, detailed interviews with creative spirits like Joss Whedon, David Sedaris, and Daniel Clowes.  It's anti-mainstream and beautiful but doesn't take itself too seriously.  Having said that, it's also meticulously detailed and very professionally put together. Take a look....








Here's a link to a great interview with Tavi:

 

 

Struck-a-holic - Lightning Addict

 Some of us are addicted to chocolate. In Struck by Jennifer Bosworth, Mia Price is addicted to lightning. She’s been struck many times and begins to crave that feeling of energy coursing through her. There’s a very slick (you could swear the movie is in production) book trailer:

 

After a devastating earthquake morphs her hometown of Los Angeles into a dystopian ruin, two doomsday factions rise to power. Both court Mia to join them and want to exploit a power she is unaware she has. Can she harness her energy for good?

The whole novel occurs over three to four days and quickly propels the reader forward. Here’s the author talking about the book and the book trailer:

 

 

Book of the week - Girl of Nightmares

In 2011 Kendare Blake introduced us to the world of Cas Lowood and his ghost fighting abilities (this I cannot explain as you have to read the book in order to fully comprehend it and I do not want to include any spoilers). Cas and his mother move around a great deal ridding the world of ghosts who harm live humans. However they have now moved to Thunder Bay and are planning to settle in.

Cas starts to make friends at school and he is starting to feel more comfortable with himself and his life. Yet the real reason for moving to Thunder Bay is to investigate and rid the world of Anna. Anna is the infamous "Anna Dressed in Blood" who 50 years ago was brutally murdered on the way to the prom. Since her death she has been trapped in her house and anyone who enters the house never comes out. That is until Cas enters the house and develops a relationship with Anna.

Now in the follow up "Girl of Nightmares" Anna has left the human world but Cas has a feeling that she is not well. His psychic link to her is bringing him images of her being trapped in hell and he feels a debt to her so he wants to help her escape. With the help of his friends he is determined to get Anna out - or die trying. (this is the second book in a trilogy so I don't want you to be too far on the edge of your seats).

Incredibly well written with a fast pace, amazing characters and plot twists that keep you reading - "Girl of Nightmares" is a book that you won't regret checking out. It may also keep you up at night.

Book of the Week - Sons of the 613

Even if the rest of the book turned out not to be so good, Sons of the 613 would have claimed a place in my heart for one of the grossest opening chapters I've had the pleasure to read.  I won't go into detail, but a bar mitzvah goes terribly wrong when the young man of the hour is sick, terribly and humiliatingly sick, in front of the entire congregation. That the rest of the book is so fresh and hilarious is a bonus.

Isaac has his own bar mitzvah coming up and he is decidedly not ready.  That scripture tutor his parents hired to prepare him for the ceremony?  He was a total flake, and Isaac somehow failed to tell his parents that the lessons weren't happening.  On the cusp of confessing, Isaac loses his chance when his parents decide to go on a quick holiday to Italy a few days before his bar mitzvah.  If this wasn't bad enough, Isaac is left in the care of his MMA-fighting, perhaps insane older brother Josh. 

Josh soon ferrets out Isaac's secret and takes it upon himself to get Isaac back on track.  But back on track to Josh doesn't mean sitting studiously over scripture.  It means sleeping outside in a tent, roasting a whole raw chicken over an open fire, long distance running, war paint on the face, endless pushups, and hanging out in bars with strippers and former drug dealers.  Only then, Josh considers, will Isaac know what it is to be a man. Josh's schedule is so punishing that Isaac's former pursuits of Dungeons and Dragons and contemplating his unique situation as one of a few Jewish kids in his small whitebread Midwest town fall by the wayside.  Soon, Isaac is traveling down a new, more adventurous and, Josh would say, righteous path.

Book of the Week - Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

Looking for something light and seasonal to read on Christmas Eve?  Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances features three short stories by the great John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle and takes place on - you guessed it - Christmas Eve.

The stories are connected by "the biggest snow storm in fifty years," an all-night Waffle House, a traveling horde of cheerleaders, a train moored in five foot drifts of snow, a car silently skidding backwards down a massive hill, absent parents, breakups, and new romances.

Tobin and his best friend The Duke have everything in common.  So, why is it that Tobin can't see that The Duke is the girl for him?  Jubilee is absolutely certain that she's in love with her boyfriend Noah.  So, why is she so drawn to Stuart, the boy she met at the Waffle House?  Addie was sure Jeb wasn't being a good boyfriend, so why does she miss him so much?

Check out the book, and all of these questions will be answered! 

Book of the Week - Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

One more week until Christmas, and I'm feeling sentimental.  If you're not there yet, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn will get you in the mood for a yule that's cool.  

Four days before Christmas (a holiday he intends to boycott), a prickly and somewhat pretentious Dash is wandering the 18 miles of aisles in The Strand bookstore in NYC when he notices a red Moleskine notebook squeezed in next to a well-thumbed copy of Franny and Zooey.  

On its opening pages, Dash finds clues for a literary scavenger hunt.  Intrigued, he completes the scavenger hunt and then writes down some clues of his own.  High strung and somewhat awkward Lily, the owner of the notebook, is surprised but hopeful when she retrieves her notebook and finds that there is someone out there who is willing to play along.  And thus begins a series of clues, dares, and heart-felt revelations shared between the worldly and Christmas-hating Dash and the so-earnest-it-hurts Lily who just can't get enough of the holidays. 

Book Of The Week - The FitzOsbornes At War

The FitzOsbornes at War

Your mum might have a coffee mug or water bottle with this image on it, and, no doubt, you've seen countless riffs on the original on Etsy and elsewhere online.  This poster was originally issued by the British government during the Second World War to keep up morale in the face of the non-stop bombing going on and the very real threat of a Nazi invasion. In the final book of the stellar Montmaray Journal series, written, again, as a diary, dreamer and writer Sophia, her fearless and scary-smart cousin Veronica, and little sister and tomboy Henry tough it out on the Homefront during the six long years of the War.

  Sophia goes to work for the Ministry of Food, set up to fend against starvation (a real possibility due to Nazi blockades); Veronica for the War Office, with her glamourous good looks, sparkling conversation, fierce intelligence, and multi-lingual skills; and Henry, underaged, but eager to do her bit with the Wrens (the Women's Royal Naval Service).

Book of The Week - The Friday Society

 

"That doesn't look like historical fiction..." my friend said as I waved Toronto author Adrienne Kress' new steampunk book The Friday Society in her face.  And I don't blame her because...well, look at that cover...the cover speaks for itself. 

Cora is the self-assured one in the middle with the goggles and the hyper-functional turbo pistol that she received as a fifteenth birthday present from her employer and mentor, the eccentric but brilliant inventor Lord White. 

Nellie is to Cora's right, and she's the effervescent and deceptively sharp-witted assistant to the Great Raheem, a Persian transplant conquering London's high society with his spellbinding magic act. 

And Michiko is the girl who, despite smoking her fellow students at samurai school, realized she was never going to get a katana of her own because of her gender and, as a result, ran away to London to be the fight assistant of a charlatan and a fool who makes his living giving fighting lessons to the lords and ladies of London town. 

Vampires, werewolves, zombies...  haven't we really had enough?  There's one group of paranormal entities that hasn't had their fair share of attention lately, and that's the witch. 

Under My Hat: Tales From the Cauldron 

This group of short stories by writers like Holly Black, Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, and Margo Lanagan mostly take the witch's  point of view, whether she's young and just learning about her power, or old and grouchy and stuck in a crashing plane. 

This is the kind of book where it's hard to pick a favourite story because they're all so good.  But if I was forced to choose, I might vote for "Stray Magic",  in which a teen who can read the minds of animals (and who volunteers in an animal shelter)  races to find the witch who owns one of the lost shelter dogs. Or maybe for  "Great-grandmother in the Cellar", in which Da'mas,  whose sister is ensorcelled by a witch-boy who wants to marry her, digs up his dead but magical great-grandmother to rescue her.  Or maybe "B is for Bigfoot", in which Bigfoot hires a magical private detective to find out who is bullying his half-human child. 

Sometimes these witches are eerie, and sometimes they're surprisingly practical.  If you ever wanted to go to Hogwarts when you were a kid, these stories are for you.    

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen

Henry's brother took a gun into his high school last year, killed a bully, and then shot himself as well.  Now his family is falling apart:  his mother is in a mental hospital, and his father trying to hold it all together but not always succeeding.  and Henry can't forget what happened to his brother before he did IT.  Henry's at a new school and a new city, and  he is trying to keep his past private and figure out how to get by.  But sometimes things fall apart more than you ever dreamed they could, and when they come back together, they're not what you hoped for.

This book feels totally real, and I got invested in Henry's story pretty quickly.   He's a character I felt I really understood.   But what makes this book a great read is that you also get to understand everyone else--his Mom, his Dad, the kids who want to be his friends, even the lady in the apartment one floor up.  Well, maybe you never really understand the bullies--but that would be a whole different story.        

Also available as a an e-book   

Ink Me by Richard Scrimger

Ink Me is part of "Seven The Series", in which a grandfather's will sends each of his seven grandchildren off on an unexpected adventure. Bernard (or Bunny as he is known) is asked to get the tattoo that his grandfather should have gotten as part of a team of fighter pilots years ago during wartime. 

Granddad's set it all up at the tattoo parlour of an old buddy of his--all Bunny has to do is show up.  But the old owner retires and the new tattoo artist gives Bunny the wrong tattoo by mistake. Bunny walks out wearing a gang tattoo, and then the wild times really begin! 

What I loved about this book was that I could never see where it was going.  I mean never.  Right up until the end.  Read Ink Me and let me know if it surprised you as much as it surprised me.

And then go visit the SeventheSeries website!