Invisible

by Pete Hautman

~Doug and Andy are unlikely best friends--one a loner obsessed by his model trains, the other a popular student involved in football and theater--who grew up together and share a bond that nothing can sever.~

~Doug Hanson is invisible--to the kids at school who ignore him and to the popular girl he obsesses over. As Doug tries to keep long-buried secrets hidden, the inner world he has carefully constructed threatens to crumble. In this chilling look inside the mind of a loner, Pete Hautman crafts a compelling novel that will have readers guessing until its explosive end.~

I used both of those summaries because I like how they seem to describe practically two different books. The latter is a bit more accurate except that this compelling novel had me guessing only until page 57. At that point I had pretty much figured it out. This caused only slight disappointment because I don't think this book is meant to be a mystery thriller. It is a look into the mind of a very disturbed young man. Although I knew by the halfway mark what waited for me at the end, I still wanted Hautman to take me down that path because his storytelling is, indeed, compelling.

As usual, Hautman's characterization is impressive. Doug and his parents are unique and skillfully realized. Also, chalk one up for good plot development. The second to the last chapter, "Derailed", was excellent, capturing the final desperate descent into madness. The last chapter, however, I'm not so sure about. I felt the pace was off and I think it had something to do with Andy appearing twice. There's great potential for a conclusion with serious impact, but Hautman fumbles around a little doesn't quite hit a bullseye. Strangely enough, I felt the same about his last work, Godless.

The Minister's Daughter

by Julie Hearn

~In 1645 in England, the daughters of the town minister accuse a local healer and her granddaughter of witchcraft to conceal an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.~

First I have to say that this is far more than your standard witch trial story. Piskies and faeries are afoot! When the story began it seemed pretty typical historical fiction stuff, a testimony from one of the minister's daughters. Then the story shifts to a third person narrative, describing the events that take place and focusing mainly on the local healer's granddaughter. From there on, the book alternates these perspectives. The minister's daughter sections are a very somber and narrow view of the story. The other narrative sections are filled with high-spirited people, humor and an unexpected but welcome dose of fantasy. Even as things become dangerous and tense, the piskies antics prevent the story from becoming too bogged down in drama. The resolution to the witchhunt might have been a bit too much to swallow had it not been for the sprinklings of fantasy throughout the book. The author has clearly set up that this is a time of magic. Wondrous things can and do happen.

I saw many of the books surprises coming long before they were revealed but the author did a good job of building on them further so that they were not simply plot devices meant to shock. I was, however, surprised by the final turn. Surprised and satisfied. A good read. Ultimately, I would recommend this book over another recent magic/witch fiction title, The Witch's Boy. While I enjoyed Witch's Boy, I felt Minister's Daughter was a more satisfying read.

One final word... I'm concerned that the title and cover (although lovely to look at, kinda Girl with a Pearl Earringesque) don't give a hint as to the fact there are actually magical elements to the story. While it does allow for the surprise when it happens, there will be plenty of kids who pass the book over because it looks like a serious historical fiction witch-trial book.

The Witch's Boy

by Michael Gruber

~A grotesque foundling turns against the witch who sacrificed almost everything to raise him when he becomes consumed by the desire for money and revenge against those who have hurt him, but he eventually finds his true heart's desire. A wondrous journey through the realms of magic They call him Lump. Ugly, misshapen -- more goblin than human child -- abandoned as an infant and taken in by a witch, he is nursed by a bear, tutored by a djinn; his only playmates are the creatures of the forest, whose language he learns to speak. But when Lump inevitably stumbles into the human world, his innocence is no match for the depths of people's cruelty, which turns his heart to stone, and fuels a vengeance that places him and his witch mother in deadly peril. Yet these disasters also send Lump on a journey of self-discovery, to realms deep within the earth and far beyond mortal imagination. In this stunning fantasy debut, Michael Gruber has created a world that is at once deceptively familiar and stunningly original, a world of cruelty, beauty, legend, truth, and above all, wonder. Readers will delight in the author's ingenious retelling of classic fairy tales and will marvel at the stunning new tale of a boy raised by a witch, a cat, a bear, and a demon. ~

Man. Long summary, huh? I'm not going to lie. I used it so I wouldn't have to type as much. Copy and paste and all that. So anyway... I generally agree with what's said in the above summary. However, while enjoyable, the book felt like a marathon to me. It just kept going and going. When it ended, I was glad it was finally over.

Things Left Unsaid

by Stephanie Hemphill

~After a lifetime of conforming to the image of what her parents and high school friends want her to be, Sarah must come to terms with her own identity when her destructive best friend tries to commit suicide. Told in the form of free-verse poems. ~

This book is a perfectly acceptable book. Not great. Just fine. My only question is this: Had it not been written in poems, wouldn't it be your typical formulaic teen fiction? I don't think any new ground has been broken here. Nor did I find the poetry to be all that impressive.