the Book Brothel

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 404 pages, 2008

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I like to check out the occasional ‘aimed at teens but also for adults’ type of novel.

Synopsis: 16-year-old Aslaug’s mother has mysteriously passed away and she finds herself living between two worlds: the harsh yet ethereal place of her mother and her childhood; and the concrete sureness of the place she escapes to after her mother’s death. Sheltered but worldly, naive but full of secrets - Aslaug is struggling between contradictions while trying to discover both where she came from and where she is going. All of it may be in jeopardy, however - she’s been charged with a double murder, and the flashes between what happened and the courtroom are as much about Aslaug discovering what happened as the reader uncovering the tangle of mysteries…

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 607 pages, 2005

Rating: 10/10

Reason for Reading: C’mon, the real wonder is how I managed to wait a whole month for it to come in at the library.

Synopsis: The evil Lord Voldemort is growing stronger by the day, causing harm in the world of wizardry through his followers, the Death Eaters. Harry Potter’s school, Hogwarts, is supposed to be one of the best-protected places there is because of the powerful headmaster, Dumbledore, as well as a series of spells and charms placed on the school grounds to prevent trouble from getting in…But what if Harry’s suspicions are right and someone is working their evil from inside the grounds?

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 294 pages, 2001

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: It’s been a buzz book for teens (and a number of adults), so I

couldn’t skip it - what if (horrors!) I’d skipped the Harry Potter books thinking they were

only for kiddies?

Synopsis: It’s the first summer fifteen-year-old best friends Tibby, Lena, Carmen,

and Bridget will spend apart. Tibby is stuck at home working for the summer, Lena is

visiting her grandparents in Greece, Carmen will finally get to see her Dad’s new

place, and Bridget is off to soccer camp. So how will they keep from feeling alone? A

magical pair of jeans (they somehow look incredible on all four of them despite their

different shapes), which they vow to mail to each other every week so a little piece of them

can travel to their friends - and hopefully a whole lot of adventure, too.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 399 pages, 1995

Rating: 10/10

Reason for Reading: Pullman’s trilogy got mentioned a lot when Harry Potter was brought up, and a girl needs something to tide her over until the sixth Potter book, doesn’t she?

Synopsis: Lyra lives in a world much like our own, with a big exception being that each individual possesses a daemon in an animal form, Lyra’s being the shape-shifting Pantalaimon. While eavesdropping in a room of scholars, including her uncle, Lord Asriel, Lyra first learns about the mystical Dust, even though she can’t quite piece together what it is or what it does. There’s a suspicion that it has to do with the vanishing children in the area, and soon Lyra finds herself swept up in the mystery and adventure of a quest to the far north to discover the truth about Dust and the missing children. The Golden Compass is the first in the trilogy refered to as His Dark Materials, and is followed by The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

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