Andye Reads

Review by Valerie THE ANATOMICAL SHAPE OF A HEART by Jenn Bennett Age Range: 12 - 18 years Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (November 3, 2015) Amazon | Goodreads Artist Beatrix Adams knows exactly how she's spending the summer before her senior year. Determined to follow in Da Vinci's footsteps, she's ready to tackle the one thing that will give her an advantage in a museum-sponsored scholarship contest: drawing actual cadavers. But when she tries to sneak her way into the hospital's Willed Body program and misses the last metro train home, she meets a boy who turns her summer plans upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive . . . and possibly one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists. On midnight buses and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who Jack really is-and tries to uncover what he's hiding that leaves him so wounded. But will these secrets come back to haunt him? Or will the skeletons in Beatrix's own...

Review by Valerie THIS SIDE OF HOME by Renee Watson Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (February 3, 2015) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Identical twins Nikki and Maya have been on the same page for everything-friends, school, boys and starting off their adult lives at a historically African-American college. But as their neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, suddenly filled with pretty coffee shops and boutiques, Nikki is thrilled while Maya feels like their home is slipping away. Suddenly, the sisters who had always shared everything must confront their dissenting feelings on the importance of their ethnic and cultural identities and, in the process, learn to separate themselves from the long shadow of their identity as twins. This story hit me hard from the very beginning because of how open and honest it was; Maya has lived in a rough part of Portland her whole life but now it is becoming swanky and upscale which is hard for ...

Review by Valerie CHASING POWER by Sarah Beth Durst Hardcover: 376 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (October 14, 2014) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Sixteen-year-old Kayla was born with the ability to move things with her mind-things like credit cards and buttons on cash registers-and she has become a master shoplifter. She steals to build up enough money for her and her mom to be able to flee if her dad finds them again . . . which would mean grave danger for them both. When she's caught stealing by a boy named Daniel-a boy with the ability to teleport-he needs her help and is willing to blackmail her to get it. Together, they embark on a quest to find and steal an ancient incantation, written on three indestructible stones and hidden millennia ago, all to rescue Daniel's kidnapped mother. But Kayla has no idea that this rescue mission will lead back to her own family-and to betrayals that she may not be able to forgive . . . or survive. Chasing Power...

Review by Valerie   THE FIRE ARTIST by Daisy Whitney Age Range: 12 - 17 years Grade Level: 7 and up Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (October 14, 2014) Goodreads | Amazon Aria is an elemental artist—she creates fire from her hands. But her power is not natural. She steals it from lightning. It’s dangerous and illegal in her world. When she’s recruited to perform, she seizes the chance to get away from her family. But her power is fading too fast to keep stealing from the sky. She has no choice but to turn to a Granter—a modern day genie. She gets one wish at an extremely high price. Aria’s willing to take a chance, but then she falls in love with the Granter . . . and he wants his freedom. Aria must decide what she’s willing to bargain and how much her own heart, body, and soul are worth. In a world where the sport of elemental powers is the most popular form of entertainment, readers will be swept away by a romance with stakes higher than life and ...