"The Death Collector"

I finished "The Death Collector" by Justin Richards yesterday. This book had me hooked from the very beginning. "Four days after his funeral, Albert Wilkes came home for tea"(Richards). This was how it started the description given made my eyes bulge out. The story is set in Victorian England. The story begins by telling about Albert, then Liz, then George, then Eddie. After that their stories intertwine and the story really takes off. It would take a long time to really describe the book well, but here is the gist: George, Liz and Eddie have a clue to something the wealthy industrialist Augustus Lorimore wants. Lorimore sends his henchmen and a monster to retrieve the clue. This story is full of twists and turns, tons of action. The only thing to me that seemed out of place was the title. The title didn't really seem to fit the book until the very end of the story and then it made perfect sense.
This is a book I would like to get for the library I think it would appeal to many students.
Happy Reading!

Incanation

I listened to "Incantation" on audiobook recently and suprisingly I liked it. "Incantation" by Alice Hoffman is the story of Estrella deMadrigal set at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. The story is told by 16 year old Estrella. This tale follows Estrella as she discovers love, betrayal, intolerance and a family secret that changes her life forever.
I have never been a fan of historical fiction, but my views are changing as I read more and more historical fiction. When I first chose this book I didn't realize that the setting was the Spanish Inquisition (I'm not sure how I missed it!). Once I discovered the setting I did not want to read the book at all, in fact I pushed it to the end of my stack of books. I was so wrong in my initial judgement of this book. It is fast paced and easy to get into the feelings. I felt very connected to Estrella and I loved the story!
We do have another Alice Hoffman book in the library "Indigo". You may want to read this to get a feel for the style of writing even though the books are not connected in any way.
Happy Reading!