What We’re Reading

The Gatekeepers, Book 1: Raven’s Gate | Anthony Horowitz

Matt hasn’t had the best life. His parents died when he was eight, on their way to a wedding. His mother’s half-sister showed up afterwards to claim him (for the money), and had little use for him (once she blew through the cash). He had no friends at school, and so sought out the company of a boy down the way, who was himself a troublemaker, and led Matt nowhere but down the wrong path. When their latest scheme goes awry, Matt is given two options. Imprisonment, or LEAF. Though he doesn’t like the look of the woman who’s agreed to look after him under the LEAF project, he figures it has to be better than prison, because hey, he can just run away, right?

Wrong.

It doesn’t take long for Matt to figure out there’s something very wrong with Lesser Malling. And when he’s had enough and tries to run away, every road out of the tiny town leads him back to where he began. He meets a man who says he can help, only to find him dead the next morning upon his arrival for their visit. When he returns with the police, the scene has been cleaned up, making it look like just one more troublemaker’s stunt.

Everywhere Matt turns, he finds help, followed swiftly by trouble. One by one, anyone who seeks to aid him ends up dead.

After finding a picture of himself at his parents’ funeral in his guardian’s closet, he knows something sinister is going on, and none of it accidental. Somehow, he manages to escape with a local reporter, only to end up once again back where he began. Wherever he goes, the darkness of Lesser Malling finds him. Because they need him.

The town of Lesser Malling and all its inhabitants live a life of old ways, worshipping dark powers long since run aground. With Matt’s “help,” they hope to set them free. Long ago, 5 children saved the world. The time has come for them to do so again. With Matt’s story, it begins.

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Boy Proof | Cecil Castelluci

Rating:

Egg is a geek. Preferring the life of a loner to that of the typical teen, Victoria Jergen has named and styled herself after the heroin of her favorite sci-fi movie, Terminal Earth. With multiple peircings, painted eyebrows, a shaved head, and a wardrobe that always includes a white cloak, Egg is definitely not run-of-the-mill. Her AP schedule, excellent grades, actress mother, special effects designing father, and phenomenal photographic eye make up the rest of the equation. She always does her homework, she always has an answer, she never says hello, and she likes to eat alone. Until Max.

When Max Carter shows up in AP History suddenly, and smelly, has the answers, and proves to be more than her match, Egg’s world begins to slide. Suddenly she isn’t “the one” anymore, and suddenly she’s acquiring interest in something beyond her self-imposed reality.

At first she takes the same cool attitude towards Max as everyone else, with some minor deviations. When her wishes work too well, she finds herself suddenly questioning what she truly wants. As more and more aspects of her every day routine begin to crumble, Egg begins to re-evaluate who she is, and why. Slowly she takes steps to become who she knows she ought to be. Victoria. Human. Flawed. A dreamer, with a lot of talent. An observer and an activist. A friend.

Some painful truths are stumbled upon, some harsh lessons are learned, but through it all Egg/Victoria remains strong. She’s a lovable, unique girl—definitely geeky—and will probably find a place in the hearts of readers world-wide.

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