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BEASTLY| HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON | RASH | STRAYS | THE WIZARD TEST

BEASTLY by Alex Flinn, 2007, 304 pages

Award-winning author, Alex Flinn, has written a novel for teens based on the fairytale, Beauty and the Beast.  When shallow, babe magnet Kyle Kingsbury plays a cruel joke on a strange Goth girl classmate, she declares him beastly on the inside where it counts.  In reality, she’s a witch and casts a spell over the handsome, but egotistical Kyle, transforming him into his “truer self”...a hairy monster with fangs and claws.  To regain his former looks, Kyle must fall in love with a girl who loves him back and share a kiss to break the spell.  He has two years to accomplish his goal or he’ll remain a beast forever.  The witch leaves him with a magic mirror to watch people in the outside world.

Kyle’s father, a network newscaster, takes him to doctors and specialists, but when it becomes clear nothing will reverse the spell, even his father rejects him.  He packs Kyle off to a house in Brooklyn with a housekeeper, Magda, and a blind tutor, Will for companionship. 

Kyle sinks into a depression.   The magic mirror reveals how quickly his “friends” have forgotten his existence.  Former best friend, Trey, is now dating Sloane.  His father calls less and less frequently and never visits the Brooklyn house.  Kyle is a prisoner in his ugliness.  Only at night can he disguise himself as a homeless person and roam the city at will. 

The one diversion Kyle finds besides books is the rose garden planted by Will.  When a junky breaks into the greenhouse and damages the roses, Kyle threatens to call the police unless the man sends his daughter to stay at the house.  Kyle is desperate for company and the junky agrees to give up the girl, Lindy.

Since this is a fairy tale, there is a happy ending, but Flinn’s ability to set the story in an urban city with modern-day teens, makes for enjoyable contrast and context.  Kyle’s growth from an apathetic, self-centered jerk to an empathetic young man is paralleled by Lindy’s blossoming into a confidant and intelligent young woman.  It’s only when Kyle puts the welfare of others before himself that the reader sees how far he’s evolved from his beastly state.  This book is recommended for teens in grades 9-12.

--Reviewed by Marsha Bates, Mid-Columbia Libraries

HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON by Naomi Novik, 2006, 356 pages

What would you get if you crossed the Napoleonic War with . . . dragons?!!!  Find out in history buff turned writer Naomi Novik’s first novel, His Majesty’s Dragon.  Prepare to learn a bit about everything from period battle tactics to the manners of the British privileged class as you follow the adventures of Captain William Laurence of the British Royal Navy.  

Upon the capture of a French frigate Captain Laurence and his crew discover a heavily protected dragon’s egg stowed below deck – and it’s about to hatch!  Dragons are a valuable commodity in this war – they are the most rare and important component of each country’s rudimentary air force.  But they must be named and harnessed immediately upon hatching or they become feral and the opportunity of pressing them into service is lost.  A potential handler is selected by drawing lots among the officers, but this dragon is highly intelligent and selects a rider of his own - Laurence.  Though it will turn his well-ordered life on its head, Laurence feels duty bound to accept this new and unwelcome responsibility, providing an exciting new twist to your typical dragon story.

--Reviewed by Marsha Bates, Mid-Columbia Libraries

RASH by Pete Hautman, 2006, 249 pages

It’s the future in the United Safer States of America .  The government has outlawed any activities that pose a health hazard, such as: alcohol consumption, hunting, private ownership of large dogs, chain saw possession, boxing and football, to name a few.  Failure to protect yourself and monitor your safety and the safety of others can lead to a prison sentence.

The Marsden family is already familiar with the penal system, what with Bo’s older brother and dad incarcerated for road rage and fist fighting.  That’s why Bo must constantly be alert to keep his hot temper under control.  He takes his prescription Levulor to keep his emotions regulated, but even that doesn’t keep him from getting into trouble when Karlohs, a rival for his girlfriend, Maddie, convinces everyone that Bo is the source of a mysterious rash that has sent several classmates to the health clinic.  Bo finds himself quarantined while his nemesis makes time with Maddie.  It’s more than a guy can stand and Bo soon finds himself in court for taking a poke at the slimy Karlohs.

Thus Bo enters the single largest industry in the United Safer States of America , the McDonald’s Penal System.  For three years, Bo must work the assembly line making frozen pizzas at a remote prison surrounded by a twelve foot chain fence and hungry, man-eating polar bears.

Within weeks, Bo’s endurance is tested by the pecking order of the prisoners.  The gold-shirts are favored by the head guard, allowed to play the forbidden contact sport, football, and have better jobs and a variety of foods to eat besides pizza for every meal.  When Bo and his cellmate Rhino are “tested” by the goldshirts, they make the team.   Even with safety equipment, football is a brutal sport.  Hammer is the head guard and coach of the team.  He trains the gold-shirts mercilessly to prepare them for a game against a rival penal facility.

While Bo is in jail, his legal defense is left to his AI program, Bork.  On his own initiative, Bork looks for loopholes in the legal system to gain Bo his freedom.

Hautman’s humorous satire of an over-regulated and paranoid future pokes fun of Big Brother government, Homeland Security and the corporate giants who really control the population of our country.  What appear to be normal emotions in today’s world are considered dangerous and subversive in Bo’s.  There are few options for a boy like Bo:  acceptance and medication, prison or emigration to South America , a primitive and savage land where football and beer are considered normal!

This book is recommended for teens and adult readers.

--Reviewed by Marsha Bates, Mid-Columbia Libraries

STRAYS by Ron Koertge, 2006, 167 pages

Sixteen-year-old Ted O’Connor finds himself in the foster care system after his parents die in a car crash.  He’s angry, confused and overwhelmed.  After years of working in his parents’ pet store, Ted relates more to animals than his human counterparts. 

C. W. Porter arrives at the Rafter’s foster home the same day as Ted.  He’s a wannabe gangsta who can talk the talk, but admits to Ted that he’s just as overwhelmed by events.  They form a casual support group, acknowledging their status as “strays” in the system.  Astin, an older boy in the Rafter’s house, fills Ted in on the rules.   Obey the militaristic Mr. Rafter and ignore Mrs. Rafter’s loopy obsession with her baby doll, Noodle.  Eventually, Astin takes Ted under his wing and they develop a tentative friendship. 

Throughout the book, the reader witnesses Ted conversing with animals that respond telepathically.  He understands their loneliness and depression and they offer sympathy for his.  As Ted works through his grief and begins to trust the new friends he’s met, he starts to lose contact with the animals in his dreams and the dogs on the street.  Like a bad phone connection, the voices of his canine allies begin to break up and fade away.

Ted is a likeable character thrust into a bizarre new home-life; new “parents”, new “brothers” and a new school.  It’s not until Ted begins to depend on his surrogate support system that he realizes he’s found a new home.

This book is recommended for teens in grades 9 through 12.

--Reviewed by Marsha Bates, Mid-Columbia Libraries

THE WIZARD TEST by Hilari Bell, 2005, 166 pages

At age fourteen, Dayven must be tested to see if he has magical powers.  He longs to be a Guardian (knight) for Lord Enar, the Lordowner of the Tharn.   Everyone knows wizards are treacherous and scheming, with loyalty to no one.  They are merely tolerated because of their healing powers.  The last thing Dayven wants is to pass the Wizard Test

Dayven is devastated to learn he, too, has magical powers like his notorious grandmother.  He reluctantly accepts his role as an Apprentice Wizard after Lord Enar asks him to spy on the wizards and the Cenzar, enemy tribesmen who threaten war against the Tharn.  

Dayven and his drunken master, Reddick, set out on their journey to visit the hostile city of Damishaff .   Reddick is a source of constant confusion to the young apprentice.   He is both honest and sly, and cheerfully admits that wizards can’t keep their noses out of everyone’s business.   His “wizardry” seems to consist of slight of hand tricks instead of true magic, but he teaches Dayven to tap into the powers within his own mind.  When they reach Damishaff Dayven faces yet another dilemma.  His master appears to be consorting with the enemy, yet Dayven himself finds friendship with a young Cenzar warrior, named Vadeen.   Dayven is shocked to learn that the coming war may be inevitable, but the Cenzar have legitimate reason to contest the Lordowner’s rights to the Town-Within-the-Walls.  

The Tharn have not been good stewards of the land and it is slowly dying, while the Cenzar want only to rebuild the soil for the benefit of everyone and their future.  Dayven is more confused than ever.   Who is right? 

Perhaps learning to choose between good and evil is the real Wizard’s Test.  This novel is recommended for middle-grades and up but its simple style conceals a complex message. 

--Reviewed by Marsha Bates, Mid-Columbia Libraries