Summer Reads: Book Reviews for you (and the kids!)

We're back! After spending the last couple weeks in California with my husband celebrating our 21st anniversary, I'm back with new reviews for you and your family.

First off, I was FINALLY able to catch up on some reading, so here's my pics and pans for Summer:

Girls will love
The Secret Lives of Princesses (Sterling Publishers).
Don't look for insipid, pink and pretty damsels in distress just sitting around and waiting for a prince to ride up and rescue them here! This outrageous collection of lesser-known princesses will captivate any girl who dances to the beat of a different drummer. My personal favorite? Princess Paige, who would rather spend her time in the library writing her autobiography than dancing in the ballroom. There's a website full of games, and trading cards which contain a secret code, to go along with the book, which is chock-full of beautiful illustrations. Order The Secret Lives of Princesses from Amazon

Teens will fall for these
The fourth installment of Alyson Noël’s IMMORTALS series, Dark Flame (The Immortals) (St Martin's Press) follows Ever as she attempts to help her friend Haven transition into life as an immortal and once again faces off with Roman, forcing her to delve deeper into magick.

If your teen is at all like me, Ever is going to really get to them in this one. WHEN will she learn to trust her friends instead of going it on her own? Publisher's Weekly agrees that the ending will blow you away!

Incidentally, DARK FLAME is also available from the incomparable Macmillan Press folks in audiobook form on several CDs, highly recommended for those long roadtrips.

Burned is the 7th book in the hugely popular House of Night series, in which, unbelievably, protagonist Zoey Redbird’s soul has shattered. Can Stark save her? The Vampyre High Council says that, to do so, he must die himself. and what of Stevie Ray and Aphrodite? Can they help? With only 7 days left to save her, all that remains of Zoey is fading fast.

SPOILER: look, the series is going strong. Do you really think Zoey is gone forever? I doubt your teens will, either. So don't look for much suspense in this one. However, the character development of Stevie Ray and Aphrodite makes for a welcome change from Zoey's usual perspective and breathes new life into the series. Quick read, good for the beach. Order Burned (House of Night Novels) from Amazon.

You Will Enjoy
The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent. Written by the actual descendant of a woman accused in the Salem Witch Trials, this period novel is painstakingly researched. Kent accurately portrays the hard living conditions, near constant fear and religious fervor that characterized the Puritan colony of Andover, Massacusetts, sister city to Salem. Highly recommended for the historical accuracy alone, the prose sometimes lags but the stark descriptions are fitting for this dire time in our nation's history. "Life is not what you have or what you can keep, but what you can bear to lose." Order The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel from Amazon

I received review copies of The Secret Lives of Princesses, Burned, and Dark Flame from the publishers of the books (the last two also in audiobook version from Macmillan audio).
I receive many review copies as a blogger; I felt these books were worth your time.
The Heretic's Daughter was a personal purchase I enjoyed.