"crazy dangerous" by andrew klavan

About the book (provided by Litfuse): "You probably want to hear about Jennifer and the demons and how I played chicken with a freight train and-oh yeah-the weird murder . . . you're definitely going to want to hear about that."

Sam Hopkins is a good kid who has fallen in with a bad crowd. Hanging around with car thieves and thugs, Sam knows it's only a matter of time before he makes one bad decision too many and gets into real trouble. 

But one day, Sam sees them harassing an eccentric schoolmate of his named Jennifer. When Sam finds the courage to face the bullies down, he loses a bad set of friends and acquires a very strange new one.

Because Jennifer is not just eccentric. To Sam, she seems downright crazy. She has terrifying hallucinations involving demons and the devil and death. And here's the really crazy part: Sam is beginning to suspect that these visions may actually be prophecies--prophecies of something terrible that's going to happen very soon.

Unless he can stop it. With no one to believe him, with no one to help him, Sam is now all alone in a race against time. Finding the truth before disaster strikes is going to be both crazy and very, very dangerous.

My take: Crazy Dangerous is one of those books that takes you on crazy twists and turns, and you aren't quite sure where it's going to end up, but you know you're enjoying the ride!

As I read, I kept thinking, "This would be a really good movie." As a movie, it would be much more suspenseful ... as a book, it's a really entertaining story, but the suspense wasn't really there for me. Did I ever doubt that Sam would make it through the book unscathed? No. Did I ever feel that crazy, nail biting, "something terrible is going to happen" tension that's the mark of great suspense? No. (That said, I should probably mention that I have a really high tolerance for "scary stuff" in print. My sister probably would have had her pants scared off by this book.) But as an action/adventure novel, it's pretty good.

I especially enjoyed the twists the plot took—things I never would have expected happened, and the ending took me completely by surprise ... but as I looked back, I could clearly see the setup. Klavan plotted this novel very well.

Crazy Dangerous is a novel that I can happily recommend for teens and adults. 4 out of 5 stars.

See what other reviewers are saying here.

About the author: Andrew Klavan was hailed by Stephen King as "the most original novelist of crime and suspense since Cornell Woolrich." He is the recipient of two Edgar Awards and the author of such bestsellers as True Crime and Don't Say a Word. His books and screenplays have been turned into films directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Michael Douglas, Ed Burns, and Michael Caine among others.

About the giveaway: @AndrewKlavan's Crazy Dangerous $100 Visa Cash Card Giveaway! RSVP for #Facebook Party {5/29}! 

Celebrate with Andrew Klavan by entering his Crazy Dangerous giveaway and connecting with him during the Author Chat Party on 5/29!

One fortunate winner will receive:

• A $100 Visa Cash Card
• A copy of Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan for YOU and 5 of your Friends!

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on May 28th. Winner will be announced at the "Crazy Dangerous" Author Chat Facebook Party on 5/29. Andrew will be hosting an Author Chat, testing your survival trivia skills, giving away books and gift certificates to iTunes and Amazon.com! Don't miss a second of the "danger"!

Grab your copy of Crazy Dangerous and connect with Andrew on the evening of 5/29/12 for an author chat and lots of giveaways.

 

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 24th!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

guest post: "leopard" by rae zhong

Here is the final installment in the series of short stories written by my students. Today's story, which received first place votes from several students in the class, is rather morbid. Despite the "ick" factor (or perhaps because of it), I really enjoyed this story, the first place winner in our contest. (See Natalie's second place story here and Elaine's third place story here.)

Leopard 
by Rae Zhong

It was at noon when I woke up, and I was in an unfamiliar place. The last thing I can remember was the sound of a gun. I was hungry. I tore off the bloody flesh from the chicken which was just two feet away from me, the scarlet liquid splashing upon my face and the grass.

Stale. Yuck.

I ate part of his body and threw the rest in the brushwood. The bloodstained chicken corpse made me sick.

“Hey, take it easy, buddy. Don’t waste your food.” There was a voice from the tree behind me. I ignored him. Because that’s the way I treated a stranger.

“I know this is your first day here, but as a leopard, especially in a zoo, you can’t be picky on your food. I understand you want to have something that tastes delicious, yet in this place, the choices could only be chicken, chicken, or chicken.” The leopard smiled and swung his tail, looking like he'd been telling a funny joke, although it sounded dumb to me.

In the next hour, he was being so loquacious that it seemed to me his tongue was going to fall off from his mouth. His name was Jeffery, which was given to him by his feeder. I sneered at him. "We are wild and solitary hunters. We don’t need names. Names are for little cats that are obedient to humans."

“You act exactly just like me when I first came here,” he said, “Arrogant and unbending. I tell you, time will swallow and perish all of your pride. Once you are here, you will never escape from this cage. Your world is this forest and the people outside the iron fence. And don’t even try to run off; they would seize you again.”

I didn’t retort; neither did I tell him the plan that was already in my head.

Life in the zoo was miserable. People turned us nocturnal animals into diurnal just because the zoo opened during the day. We could not have any freedom on hunting food nor choosing food. We could not even stay in the cave because people would not be able to see us. The only thing we could do is walk in front of the fence in order to let people visit us.

I wanted to end this boring life as quickly as possible.

So I obeyed everything the humans said, acted just like a biddable kitty. I didn’t bite or roar at anyone. I ate what they gave me. I wagged my tail like a stupid dog while they were feeding me. I smiled at them even though they could not understand a leopard’s smile. I could tell they trusted me bit by bit. I waited patiently until one day my feeder approached me with another disgusting chicken, calling me “Tom” (what an ugly name!), and I knew that it was time.

It was time for escape.

I immediately jumped on the feeder, using my claws to scratch his arms and legs. I saw shock and fear on his face, and I saw my dreadful face in his pupil. Was this right? I doubted myself for just one moment. "But what can you do? Stay in the zoo till you die?" another part of me retorted.

“Tom! What are you doing! Stop! ” It was Jeffery. Oh, I forgot he was in there, too. He ran to me, tried to separate us. “Don’t you know what it would cost you to kill a human? Your life! ” He shouted at me. I knew. I didn’t plan to kill people. I just tried to run off. The back door of the leopard forest was unlocked and two workers of the zoo were standing outside. They saw me running to them. They tried to shut the door. But it was too late. I jumped on the open door and broke it with my cuspid, and those frightened people ran away.

I heard Jeffery yelling, but I could not stop myself. I kept running like an arrow shooting out of the bow. I ran out of the zoo. I ran into the city. I made a huge ruckus among the frightened people. I didn’t stop until my shins cramped and my claws hurt. And I realized I was at the outside of the city. There was only grass, trees and mud roads around me.

Am I free?

I could not tell. I was out of the cage, but I had no clue where I was. I didn’t know how far it was from here to my home or how long would it take to go there. What could I do?

I was depressed. I missed my talkative friend Jeffery. I missed his dumb jokes, his laughing, and his amiable advice. I regretted my actions. Well, kind of. Yet I knew I would never go back to the zoo. I walked and walked. I hunted a rabbit. I ripped his head off, tasted his fresh flesh, but it didn’t taste as good as I thought it would.

"What’s wrong?" I sighed.

Suddenly, my legs started walking back. I could not control them; it was not my brain that told them to do so. The direction was to the zoo. I was insane. Yes, I was sure of it. The light wind blew my soft fur, leading me to the place I hated but missed.

I was going back.

I heard the sound of a gun.

The last sound I heard in my life.

CITY NEWSPAPER: The leopard that ran out of the zoo was found dead. Greedy hunters stripped off his fur and threw his dead body in a field.

About the author: Rae Zhong (center) is a sophomore from China. Art is her passion. She also participates in music, speech, and track.

guest post: "confession of the big bad wolf" by natalie bui

Today we have the 2nd place winner in my students' writing contest. (See the 3rd place story here.) You never know what you'll get when you ask students to write from the perspective of an animal! Here's a twist on The Three Little Pigs ...

Confession of the Big Bad Wolf
by Natalie Bui

“Stop…What’s happening? Wolves can write, and a confession? But, not just any wolf? That’s…the big bad wolf. A….a…a…”

Those might be some of the questions that are popping out of your head after you have run at least a mile away from me. I must admit that yes, I can speak human language and yes, I am the Big Bad Wolf. What’s wrong with that anyway? It’s not my fault that you are scared of me. It’s old Grimm’s fault. He always says bad things about me just because I’m hungry, and I want to eat. Like anyone else, I have emotion, too. In fact, I’m very shy and sensitive. But now, I have to stand out, to clear my name from all that bad reputation, and to tell you what really happened that night between me and the three little pigs.

After a long, starving weekend, I went hunting again. It was Easter Break, so most animals in the forest had gone away to visit their families. I’d been walking forever, but still, there was no food in sight. Fortunately, I saw a big pond full of fish. Filled with happiness, I immediately jumped right into the pool and caught lots of fish. What? You say you’ve never seen a wolf that eats fish before? Well, use your imagination. It’s a fairy tale. Let’s get back to my story. I was enjoying my fish prize when a big drop of rain fell on my face as well as my newly-made fire. Wet and exhausted, I fell down and cried, desperately holding my half-cooked fish in my hand, wishing that a fairy godmother might appear. Suddenly, I heard music coming from afar. I immediately hopped up from desperateness, put the fish in my bag and started to run as fast as I could to where the music came from. After a mile or so, I ran across a beautiful house made out of straw. Beautiful but flimsy, I told myself. Through the window, I saw a little pig singing and dancing joyfully. I hurriedly knocked on the door.

"Dear little pig, I’m cold and wet. Could you please let me in?" I asked. Unfortunately, I not only have the ugliest look but also the most recognizable voice in the world: evil, creepy and somehow girly!

The poor little pig yelled out: "Never! Go away, Big Bad Wolf!"

My nose tickled, and a sneeze came before I could stop myself. A-A-Ah-Chooooooooooooo……………!

I must have had a cold. Straw overwhelmed my face. When I opened my eyes, the straw house had magically disappeared. Where was this super power coming from? It must have been the result of my track practice recently. The poor terrified little pig had dashed away as fast as he could.

"Wait! I’m so sorry! I will help you build that house again!" I exclaimed. I sprinted after him with the fish bags smacking on my back. He got into another house made of sticks and locked it.

Better than a straw house, but still not so safe, I thought. Through the window, I saw two pigs shaking with fright. It must be his brother over there. I asked again: "Dear little pig, I’m cold and wet. Could you please let me in?"

“Never, go away Big Bad Wolf!" they answered.

That was when I felt like another sneeze coming.  A-A-Ah-Chooooooooooooo……………! 

A rain of sticks fell upon my head. Again, the two little pigs disappeared before I could explain anything. I followed them immediately. This stupid fish bag was getting heavier and heavier because of the rain. Finally, I came to a gorgeous house made of bricks. Through the window, I saw three pigs with stunned faces. How many brother pigs are there? Again, I asked: "Dear little pig, I’m cold and wet. Could you please let me in?"

"Never, go away Big Bad Wolf!" they shouted out.

That’s when I felt a sneeze coming in. Not again! Oh please, oh God, I prayed, I will definitely die if a rain of bricks falls on my head this time.  A-A-Ah-Chooooooooooooo……………! 

Fortunately, God was fast. The house was still there, and I was still alive. I jumped with joy and happiness. Unfortunately, I ended up landing on their chimney. This must have been another result of my track practice. Suddenly, I smelled something. That’s weird. I smell like BBQ, I thought. I looked down, just to see smoke coming out from my feet. I screamed in horror, and jumped back out. I landed safely on the ground, but it felt like I was missing something. My tail….and my fish had become part of the Pigs' supper. I walked away, hungry, wet and burned, feeling terrible. Well, I did hear that Little Red Riding Hood will visit her grandma next week. I should try my luck then!

And as they say: “And they all lived happily ever after. The end.”

About the author:
Natalie Bui (left) is a sophomore from Vietnam. She was a member of her school's speech team in 2011-2012, and she was the novice serious prose champion at one meet. She enjoys reading and sleeping in her spare time.

"the apothecary's daughter" by julie klassen

The Apothecary's Daughter was a free Kindle download in January 2011. At the time, I'd never heard of author Julie Klassen before (I didn't even have a Kindle yet; I was using the Kindle for PC reading app), so it was just one more book that I downloaded and forgot. Flash forward a year: I'm reading another Klassen book, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, into the wee hours of the morning, when I suddenly think, "I have a Julie Klassen book on my Kindle!" I finished The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, reviewed it, and then promptly forgot about the other Klassen book ... until last week, when I didn't feel like reading any of my review books, but I wanted to read something. I searched my Kindle, and there it was: The Apothecary's Daughter.

About the book: Lilly Haswell helps her father run his apothecary shop, but she dreams of a bigger life, full of adventure. She gets a taste of that life when her estranged aunt and uncle suddenly appear, offering to host her in London for the upcoming season. Just as she's fitting in—and perhaps making a suitable match—tragedy calls her back to her village. Women are not allowed to work as apothecaries, but in order to save her father from financial ruin, Lilly must keep the shop going while her father is incapacitated. She also must decide which of her suitors—the doctor from London, her father's former apprentice, or the lord of the manor—she will allow to claim her heart.

My take: I enjoyed The Apothecary's Daughter. It wasn't a gripping read by any means, but it was a nice way to spend a few hours. It's not as much of a romance as I expected—when I was 3/4 of the way through the book, I had no idea which of her three (or possibly four) suitors Lilly would end up choosing, and I didn't particularly care. I wasn't invested in any of the romantic relationships; rather, I was more interested in Lilly's relationship with her best friend (who was part of a delicious twist in the story), and in Lilly's search for her mother (a plotline that was largely ignored for most of the book, only to be quickly tied up at the end).

This book was one of Klassen's earliest, and while it's good, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall is far superior. If you happened to get The Apothecary's Daughter as a free Kindle download, as I did, then by all means read it. But if you've never read anything by Klassen before, I'd recommend going right for The Maid of Fairbourne Hall! 3-1/2 stars.

About the author: Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She has won the Christy Award: Historical Romance for The Silent Governess (2010) and The Girl in the Gatehouse (2011), which also won the 2010 Midwest Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, visit www.julieklassen.com.

guest post: "love or die" by elaine chen

May is that insanely busy time when my life gets super stressful because of looming yearbook deadlines. This year is worse than most because, well, my staff and I have really struggled to get pages finished! Through the end of May, I probably won't be creating much original content for this blog, other than a few book reviews. But I do have a treat for you! I recently held a writing contest in my ESL Reading class. The students were to write a story from an animal's perspective, and the top three entries would receive bonus points on the final and be published on my blog. Today, we have the third place winner. Be sure to leave a comment telling Elaine what you think of her story!

Love or Die
by Elaine Chen

This is the city of spiders. The most remarkable scene is in front of an elegant house, and many spiders are waiting outside.

“Sorry, I can’t.” This is my daily conversation with my suitors because I want to find someone who loves every aspect of me and not only my beauty. I am a pretty Black Widow spider; my name is Abby. I think those suitors only like my beauty and don’t know me. However, one particular day, the one appears who will make my wish come true.

This night I hear the most familiar melody: “Never mind, I'll find someone like you; I wish nothing but the best for you, too. Don’t forget me, I beg; I remember you said. Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.” This is my favorite song. I begin to find who is singing this song. 

I see a spider under my window, and he is playing a guitar. He is a tarantula spider not a black widow spider. But he is a really handsome boy and he has nice voice. I feel good about this, so I begin talking with him. His name is Hitler and he likes to sing. He also is an attractive boy. Tonight is the darkest night, so he can't really see my face. I think I find a nice boy, and he really loves me, not just my beauty. I don’t care that we are not same kind of spider. I just know I love him and he loves me. I want to be with him. So quickly we are married. I think I am the most happy spider who ever lived in the world. 

After a while I have a new trouble; I am expecting a baby. In my family, if we have a baby, we need to kill the husband because we need to have more nutrition. If I don't kill my husband, I will die. My husband doesn't know this law because he is a tarantula, not a black widow. I feel very tangled because I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to kill my husband. I love him to much. For a long time, I feel confused. Finally I make a decision. I have to sacrifice myself for my husband, but I will not tell my husband why I am dying. 

I feel more and more weak. Tonight I lay on my bed, and I feel someone close to me. Eventually, I can’t move or speak. Then I see my husband Hitler by my bed. I want to ask him to help me. But he doesn't say anything or do anything. He just looks at me, and then he begins to cry. “I feel sorrow about that, my dear. Your friend told me every black widow will kill their husband. I know you will kill me and eat me; if you don’t eat me you will die. But I don’t want to die, so I just will eat you. I am so sorry. You need to remember I will love you forever.” 

I want to tell him I will not eat him, but I can’t speak. I also want to tell him my body has toxins. If you eat me, you will die also. But I do not have the strength.

After that, I hear the most familiar melody: “Never mind, I'll find someone like you; I wish nothing but the best for you, too. Don’t forget me, I beg; I remember you said. Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.”

Finally we all die.

About the author:
Elaine Chen (right) is a sophomore from China. She is currently a sophomore. Elaine enjoys playing on her computer in her spare time.

i'm not a momma, but i sure love my kids

This post is mainly a reminder to myself—I think everyone is more than ready for school to get out for the summer, and I've sensed it in myself more this year than ever before. At times, I hear my tone of voice when speaking to a student and inwardly cringe. So this look back at the kids I love will hopefully help me remember again why I do what I do!

I know I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again: The reason I continue to work at NC, year after year, is because I've fallen in love ... with a bunch of Asian kids. I distinctly remember the first time I realized just how much I cared about these kids who came from across the globe to learn English. It was in the spring of my second year working full time at NC. I was walking across the lawn from my office in the boys' dorm to the administration building. I don't know what exactly was on my mind, but suddenly the realization that I loved "my" internationals hit me like a ton of bricks. I even teared up, which is unusual for me. In all the years since that day, as students come and go, there's always a special place in my heart for our international students.

Here are a few of this year's special students:

Part of my Reading II class with The Light Across the River, our first book of the year. It's the sequel to Across the Wide River, which I reviewed for Kregel last summer. I have so much fun with this class! Left to right: Hannah, Mia, Rae, Natalie, Kyle. Poor Kyle was the only boy in the class for the first semester!

One of the advantages of being assistant speech coach this year (as opposed to head coach, which I was for the previous seven years) was that I had more time to work with the international students on the team. This was a good thing, as we had 30 kids on the team, and 10 of them were internationals! I can't help but admire the students who will go out for speech—daunting for any student—when they'll be speaking in a language they're just learning! One of my favorite moments of the speech season was when Yena (front row, center, red dress and black shoes) won serious prose at our conference meet. I was so proud! Above are the junior and senior speech team members at Honor, the spring formal.

Some of my favorite times of the year are when the kids need to find homestays (American families to stay with over breaks). I love opening my home to one or two girls. This Easter, I had two girls stay with me: Mina and Lindsey. We had so much fun together, and we talked about some serious stuff, too. Here we are at the Advance Dessert the week after Easter: Mina, me, Lindsey.

These aren't the only students special to me. I could talk about Janet, a girl I'd been praying for ever since I met her, who called me one Saturday morning with exciting news: "Miss Becky, you'll never believe it, but I am a Christian now!" Or Joey, the boy who fell in love with speech and qualified for state each of his three years on the team. Or Elaine, the girl who learned she really could get good grades and who went from F's to B's in my class in less than a semester. Or Wai, or Jay, or Ency, or any of the other 35 international students we have this year. 

They have my heart.

"eyes of justice" by lis wiehl with april henry

About the book: The members of the Triple Threat Club—crime reporter Cassidy, FBI agent Nicole, and federal prosecutor Allison—have solved multiple crimes together. When one of their own is murdered, the other two must scramble to uncover the truth behind her death ... or they could be the murderer's next targets.

My take: It's hard to review this book because I don't want to give away which of the Triple Threat is murdered ... so it becomes difficult to discuss much of the plot! I guess I'll leave it at this: Eyes of Justice was my favorite of all the Triple Threat novels so far. Big things—some good, some bad—happened to each character, and, while I wish no one had to die, I am "happy" Wiehl chose to kill the character she did. Also, the addition of technology-whiz Ophelia to the team inserts a nice quirkiness into the group, and I think she'll be very fun to read about in future novels.

This is an edge-of-your-seat suspense novel, and I highly recommend it! 5 stars.

(Eyes of Justice is book four in the Triple Threat series. You could jump in here without getting lost, but to have an emotional connection with the characters, I'd recommend you read the others first. I reviewed book two, Hand of Fate, here and book three, Heart of Ice, here.)

About the authors: Lis Wiehl is a New York Times best-selling author, Harvard Law School graduate, and former federal prosecutor. A popular legal analyst and commentator for the Fox News Channel, Wiehl appears on The O'Reilly Factor and was co-host will Bill O'Reilly on the radio for seven years.

April Henry is the New York Times best-selling author of mysteries and thrillers. Her books have been short-listed for the Agatha Award, the Anthony Award, and the Oregon Book Award. April lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and daughter.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneezebook review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."