Marked (House of Night, Book 1) Vol. 1., By: P.C. Cast & Kirsten Cast

By: P.C. Cast & Kirsten Cast
Publisher: New York, New York:
St. Martin's Griffin, A Division of Macmillan.
Publish Date: 2007
ISBN: 0312360266
Page #: 320
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Fantasy
Age Level: Older Teen
Series Title: House of Night Series
Four more books follow
Marked: Chosen, Betrayed, Untamed, and Hunted.
Subjects: Fantasy, Vampire

Reader's Annotation: Zoey is marked. In her world vampyres are not fiction AND they are permitted by society. vampyres have a "mark" that identifies them at which point they go to the House of Night school where they become vampyres themselves or they fail to make the change, they cease to exist.

Synopsis: In P.C. Casts new Vampire series, she pens it along with her teenage daughter Kirsten. Marked is marked by the fact that it has actual input from a teen. As a result the series sets itself in a league of its own. Vampires in this narrative are normal until puberty at which point they become selected, by chance, as a candidate for the change. If a teen is selected a group is set out to find them and mark them. The mark is a crescent moon on the forehead (which seasoned fantasy readers will recognize from The Mists of Avalon, and therefore connect the goddess references). Upon receiving their mark, soon to be, but not fully changed vampires get sent to a special school for the training of the undead. The scary part is, if you body doesn’t accept the change you die. And, a special sign has marked Zoey. One that is rare for a vampire so young.

Notes: Speckled with less then clean language and some sexual encounters, the book should be for the older teen. Four more books follow it: Chosen, Betrayed, Untamed, and Hunted.
Stars: 4
Extras: http://www.houseofnightseries.com/
You simply must visit the House of Night's Website.
It's Beautiful and a fan of the series will be in interweb heaven. You can create your own "mark" on this website an explore a "yearbook"  for the House of Night vampyre school!

A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)

• By: Libba Bray
• Reading level: Young Adive realities, boarding school, Fathers-Daughters, High Society, laudanum, magic, Mothers-Daughters, mythology, psychic abilities, racism, Romance, Secret Societiesult
  
• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, Random House 
• Publishing Date: March 22, 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385732317

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Historical Fiction

Series Title: 

Gemma Doyle Trilogy

A Great and Terrible Beauty

Rebel Angels

The Sweet Far Thing

Subjects: Alternative Realities, Magic, Romance, Historical Fiction, Secret Societies

Reader's Annotation: After the death of her mother and the stunning realization that she has visions, Gemma Doyle is sent from her home in India to her birthplace of London and a boarding school for High Society women. It is there that she realizes the full extent of her powers and the powers that be.

Synopsis: As opulent as the times, the stunning and addicting story of Gemma Doyle begins in A Great and Terrible Beauty. Starting in the marketplace of India Gemma is longing to go to London to be a proper lady for her 16th birthday. Within a temper tantrum that has her mother trying to find her in the streets of this wild arena, death comes and so does a vision. Gemma is launched into her first vision while her mother is being murdered. From this point forward Gemma is never the same. The character we meet within the first pages quickly is transformed into the Gemma we travel with throughout the entire trilogy. And at her side when her mothers dies and throughout the rest of the take, is Kartik, an indian man who is somehow connected to her mother, to her, and a secret society called the Rakshana. What begins in this story is a rich and complex story of both reality and magic, love and loss, and philosophy and race. Within the school, Gemma befriends a small group of girls that discover her new world with her and help her to discover who she really is. With her new power the world is a new place.

Notes: Lovers of historical fiction with devour this trilogy. Although it has its ups and downs, the beginning to this trilogy will not disappoint. Although not terribly difficult to read, it is dense in metaphor, magic, mythology, philosophy, and race & gender issues. Another great book that both makes you think and takes you on an adventure. Ms. Bray obviously did her homework.  

Stars: 5

Extras: The best young adult writer's website on the web. This website has inspired everything I have done since I saw it for the first time. An official book trailer is in the "parlor."

http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/gemmadoyle/index.html