The Seer of Shadows
By: Avi


This book was a frightening story of photography, ghosts, revenge, and mystery.  It takes place in 1872.  The main character is Horace Carpetine and he is the apprentice to photographer Enoch Middleditch.  Horace was raised to believe in knowledge and science.  He believes that photography is the most honest form of art because it expresses what the artist believes while still being accurate and truthful of what they are taking pictures of.   When Horace helps take a self-portrait of grieving Mrs. Frederick von Macht, he sees the face of her dead daughter, Elenora.  He becomes friends with  Mrs. Frederick von Macht's slave girl Pegg and strange things start to happen.   Enoch tries to use the supernatural beings in the pictures to make money while they are being overcome with fear by the revenge of Elenora. 

A Northern Light

In A Northern Light Jennifer Donelly crafts an exciting historical fiction set in rural New York, Herkimer county to be exact, in the year 1906. The novel revolves around a 16 girl named Mathilde Gokey, who goes by Mattie. The book follows her struggle to go Barnard college, which was almost impossible for her to do. She is held back by her father and is stuck raisig her three sisters Abby, Lou, and Beth after the death of her mother. She is very intelligent and chooses one word out of the dictionary to use daily. Another obstacle she faces is her relationship with the extremely handsome Royal Loomis, who is not quite so intelligent and his only aspirations are to be a farmer like his father and Matties. He doesn't really listen to or respect Mattie and she later finds out that his interest in her is primarily because of his want to inherit a portion of her fathers land. He also tries to get a poor woman and her children evicted from their home just for the land. The poor woman is Emmie Hubbard and he detests her because she is having an affair with his married mother. In the end she leaves the ring Royal gave her and goes to college. Leaving behind her life in the north woods so she can get a good education and be independent. It is important to bring up her best friend Weaver, an African American boy. He too wants to go to college but his money is stolen by white folks. Most of all it is important to mention that all of this is set around the real-life murder of Grace Brown by her love Chester Gilette. This story adds inspiration and romance to Matties life and gives historical perspective.

Everyday

Everyday is a new life, a new body, and a new stork. Every morning, A wakes in a different person's body for one day only. The predicament is that every day hes is in love with the same girl. This soul can wake up in women or male bodies yet he can only wake up in a different body in tan area the last body fell asleep. For example, the story takes place in different towns Maryland. He or "A" takes on one person life for a day. The soul can search for memories of the body that he is then but cannot find emotions. A sets rules for him self as well such as never get too attached. avoid being noticed, and do not interfere. A is at peace with the way of his life until the day he wakes up in Justin's body. That day he spends a great amount of time with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon and falls head over heals for her. After this point, he does not follow by his rules with Rhiannon. They are meeting day after day and A finally has someone to be familiar with and spend more than one day with. In this book, he goes through crazy emotional events with Rhiannon but he also goes through climatic struggles with a boy named Adam. The day after meeting Rhiannon he wakes up in Adams body and attempts to be with Rhiannon at a party. He ends up leaving Adam stranded in a car on the side of the road. Adam wakes up the next morning and believes he was possessed by a demon and is attracting attention fast. At the end of the book, A wakes up in a body he believes is very much like him and that Rhiannon would be happy to be with. To keep her happy and to keep himself from hurting Rhiannon he leaves her with this boy. Then, he runs.   

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The Shadow Society by Marie Rukoski

Darcy Jones is a social outcast as far as everyone in her Lakebrook Illinois high school is concerned. But Darcy comes from a mysterious background. She was abandoned at age five outside of a Chicago firehouse with no recollection of any memories before that event and has been passed down time and time again to new foster parents. One day at Darcy's school a mysterious new stranger named Conn shows up, claiming to be a student and like many others, Darcy is intrigued with him. When assigned an English project with him, she learns so much more of him than she ever expected. She is taken to a whole new world in another dimension that branched off of a great historic event in Chicago's history: the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Here, she learns of a new species of beings called Shades who have the incredible ability to become invisible to the human eye but leave one trace of their presence: a shadow. But, these beings are labeled by society as heartless terrorists that use their abilities to concoct chaos and destruction and, for the most part, the shade population is exactly that. Upon learning she is a shade, Darcy is presented with a deal from The Interdimensional Bureau of Investigation to spy on her own kind and in return be allowed to return home. Through her experiences from inside the Shadow Society she is able to gain information to feed to the IBI and slowly learns the truth of her past and dares to risk everything she loves to save the human race from another Chicago tragedy.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina Dombegh is the daughter of Claude Dombegh, who is the main adviser and lawyer that made Comonot's Treaty. A treaty, that was signed 40 years ago by Ardmagar Comonot(leader of dragonkind) and Queen Lavonda, which have kept peace between dragons and humans alike. Seraphina Dombegh, is looked upon in high regard, but has a secret of her own. Her secret, being that her mother, was a dragon, who died in child birth. Seraphina is half-dragon and half-human, though there is peace between these two races, this act is illegal and frowned upon. For many years of her life, this fact was hidden from Seraphina, until she started to grow scales on her arms and back. Now, Seraphina has to hide her true identity and is watched over by her uncle(on her mother's side), Orma. Seraphina is assistant music mistress at the palace and has a talent for music, which is very uncommon for dragons. Having a life at the palace, is difficult, with hiding her secret. However, a few days before the arrival of Ardmagar Comonot to the palace(to celebrate the annual signing of the treaty), Prince Rufus, first heir to the throne, is murdered. As the mystery of the murder unravels and as Seraphina prepares for Comonot's arrival, as well as keeping her secret, Seraphia will have to call upon a few friends to help her, along with a dangerous love interest, to save Comonot's treaty and perhaps Ardmagar Comonot himself.

Moonbird by Phillip Hoose

B95 (AKA “Moonbird”) is an amazing survivor of the subspecies rufa. He was first tagged in the year 1995, when he was thought to be around three years old. Rufa typically travel around 18,000 miles a year, and B95 has flown over 325,000 miles in his lifetime. He goes between Rio Grande, Delaware Beach, and his breeding grounds in Arctic Canada. B95 has beaten all of the odds; rufa’s numbers have been decreasing a little more each year. This is most likely attributed to humans, B95’s greatest predator. Humans have been destroying the areas where rufa like to stay, and more importantly, humans have been greatly reducing one of the rufa’s most important food sources: horseshoe crabs. Horseshoe crabs contain LAL, a lifesaving element in their blood that prevents them from getting infections. Unfortunately, it’s not just the crabs that find this LAL useful; humans have been finding it useful as well. Despite all of the adversity, B95 has survived. He is the oldest known surviving Red Knot there is. He provides the perfect example of adaptation; he’s survived all of the challenges he has been handed. He has had some help, though, because many scientists (and ordinary people alike) have come together to save the rufa Red Knots.

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Mau is a young island boy on the verge of passing his "test" to become a man in the eyes of his people. Suddenly, he has everything he knows wiped out by a giant wave. Stranded on his island, Mau discovers he is not alone when a girl from the other side of the world named Daphne appears - the only survivor of a shipwreck. The two struggle with communication issues as well as survival while Daphne awaits rescue. Suddenly, more and more people begin showing up and Mau is thrust into being a leader and keeping these people protected from the natural dangers of the island and a rowdy band of pirates looking to take over.