Belle Epoque

Belle Epoque by Elizabeth  Ross

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross was captivating.  I had to wonder how Ross came up with the story of an agency where plain girls were hired as foils to make the rich look more beautiful.  In the author’s note she explains that the inspiration came from a short story by Emile Zola called “Les Repoussoirs.”  Ross began imagining what it would be like to be such a girl and thus created Maude Pichon, the narrator of Belle Epoque.  Maude has run away from her home in Brittany to escape an arranged marriage to the butcher.  She dreams of a glamorous life in Paris, but soon finds it difficult to find a job.  She ends up as a repoussoir, who as in Zola’s story are hired to make privileged young girls trying to find suitable husbands look good by comparison.  Maude is hired by Countess Dubern to befriend her strong-willed daughter Isabelle to help her to look all the more beautiful in public accompanied by plain Maude.  Maude does become friends with Isabelle and struggles with loyalty to the job she desperately needs and her loyalty to Isabelle.  It is a well-told story that middle and high school girls should find a favorite.  Highly recommended.




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Scarlet

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Marissa Meyer’s sequel to Cinder, Scarlet, made me doubt my premise that the sequel usually isn’t as good as the first in the series.  Scarlet was every bit as fun as Cinder.  And, I think middle and high school readers will think so too.  The story of Scarlet, a flaming red-haired girl with freckles, begins as she is trying to find her grandmother, who has disappeared.  Her grandmother has been gone for three weeks, and no one seems to have any clue as to where she has gone.  She meets up with a handsome street-fighter named Wolf who offers to help her find her “grand-mere”   In a parallel story, we are taken back into the life of Cinder, who is able to escape from prison with another prisoner.  Captain Carswell Thorne.  Captain Thorne quite fortunately has a spaceship they can use for escape.   Meyer has the paths of Cinder and Scarlet cross and we discover the connections between Cinder, Scarlet and her grandmother.  The story is definitely action packed.  And I, for one, look forward to finding out if the third in the series can be just as good as the first two.   



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Born of Illusion

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Born of Illusion # 1 by Teri Brown is one of the Beehive Book Award Nominees for 2014-2015, and rightly so.  The story, rich in detail from 1920 New York, unfolds as teenage Anna Van Housen, and her mother Marguerite finally find financial success with their mentalist and magic stage show that they perform for the very elite of New York thanks to a new manager, Jacques.  Their life to that point has been one of traveling from place to place.  Anna’s mother is a master showman, but doesn’t really have magical powers.  Anna, on the other hand, has special extrasensory powers, and is a gifted magician.  Perhaps that is due to the fact that she may be the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini.  She finds her extrasensory powers magnified when she meets a young Englishman, Cole, who also has special powers.  Another potential love interest, Owen, charms her, but leaves her wondering whom to like and whom to trust.  She soon finds out, however, as things unfold to an exciting conclusion.  Girls in middle school and above should find this an exciting series.



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Doll Bones

Doll Bones by Holly Black

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Doll Bones by Holly Black was the perfect middle school read.  The story has that “scary” element that most middle schoolers just love.  Doll Bones begins with 3 friends, Poppy, Zach, and Alice (who have been friends forever) in the middle of a make-believe adventure.  They like to play with action figures and make up elaborate stories surrounding the characters the action figures represent.  The problem is they are getting older, and some people (like Zach’s dad and basketball team) think that maybe he is getting too old for this sort of thing.  But, then a real-life quest presents itself.  Poppy has been having mysterious dreams about an antique bone-china doll that is locked in the family cabinet.  They call the doll “the Queen.”  In the dream, the ghost of the girl whose ashes reside in the doll communicates to Poppy that her spirit cannot rest until she is buried in the proper grave.  So, the three begin an adventure where nearly everything goes wrong, and the doll convinces them of her ghostly presence.  The cover could have more male appeal rather than the doll because I think boys would like the book as well as girls.      



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