Excellent Reads

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars     This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that...     Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power.     He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after... The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater was very high on my holiday wishlist, and I was thrilled when I unwrapped it. I loved The Raven Boys so I was excited to delve back into this world. As with all of Maggie's books, the story takes time to unfold. Her books are rather slow reads for me, as they're so interesting and beautifully written that I read slow and savor each word. When the writing is this good, there's no need to rush through it. The Dream Thieves picks up where The Raven Boys left off, the search for a sleeping Welsh king, Glendower. Each of the characters have an important role to play in fin...

I was so honored when I was asked to interview Sarah Dessen at her recent event in DC. I’ve met her before, and she is such a sweetheart, so I was very excited to get this one-on-one time. Sarah’s answers are paraphrased, not direct quotes unless it’s within quotes. Aine: What was the inspiration for your latest novel, The Moon and More ? Sarah: I was at my favorite spot in North Carolina, Emerald Isle. I had finished What Happened to Goodbye and had no idea what to write next. A hot shirtless guy, who was rather chatty, spoke with me. He was from Emerald Isle and told me all about growing up there. A lot of my books are set in Colby, which is based on Emerald Isle, but I had never written about anyone from there. After speaking with him, I thought “There’s my book.” Aine: If I recall correctly, it was announced under a different title. Why the name change? Sarah: The Moon and More was my original title. But we were worried that people would think that with the word “moon” in the...