Teens from Kings Park Library and City of Fairfax Regional Library read from a curated list of YA novels.
They submit a 500 word review or create fan art related to one of those books.
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Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S King is a very touching story about learning to forgive someone, even after they’re dead. Overall, I would give this book a 10/10, I really enjoyed it! I don’t give books 10/10s often, because I usually manage to find something wrong with them, but I was captivated the entire time. Vera’s story is an interesting one, not relatable, which gives you insight into what other people are experiencing in their lives. As a teen girl, just like Vera, it’s interesting to hear about her story, since it’s different from mine, even though we’re both teen girls in a high school environment. The way the story was told was one of my favorite aspects of it. The shift between present day and past memories kept me guessing the whole time, and it was told in a way that hid Charlie’s secrets until the grand reveal at the very end, where all the secrets are exposed.
My favorite character in the book is probably Vera. Although she has her issues, she’s self-aware enough to realize them, and usually tries her best to do what’s right eventually. I also really like Ken Dietz, because I feel sympathy for him. Once you get his insight, it’s clear he’s overthinking everything and trying as hard as he can to be the best father to Vera that he can. My least favorite character by far is Jenny Flick. Perhaps if we had gotten more insight into her character and home life, I would’ve better understood why she acted the way she did, but since we didn’t, I hated every bit of her. She seems like she has no remorse or empathy for anyone, including animals, clearly. She’s probably insecure, because she feels the need to spread rumors about herself and everyone else. The way she speaks to everyone is in a rude way, for no reason, unless they’re her friends. Another character I find kind of annoying is the Pagoda point of view. It seems ridiculous and unnecessary. The Pagoda doesn’t really add anything to the story, so it felt like a waste of my time to read about. Now that I think about it, I may change my review to a 9/10 just because of that.
The book carried a lot of emotions, especially anger and sadness. There weren’t a lot of happy moments where I felt calm and happy for Vera or any of the other characters, until the very end, which was still bittersweet. Starting from the very beginning when what was going on inside Charlie’s house was revealed to us, until the very end when we find out the circumstances around Charlie’s death, every story about Charlie carried some sadness in it. There were also multiple times where I felt frustrated with Vera at times. I wanted her to make different decisions from the ones she was making, even though, if I were in her position, it would be very hard for me to make those decisions myself. I feel like, as readers, we don’t put ourselves in the shoes of the characters as often as we should, but when we do, it changes our perspective entirely. For example, when Vera began to have a drinking problem, I wanted to tell her to just stop drinking. Obviously, it’s not just that easy, and when I actually imagine myself in Vera’s position, I realize that with her background and all the issues in her life at the moment, drinking might feel like the only relief.
Overall, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a brilliant book that I would most definitely recommend to anyone looking for a book that will make you think and feel.
Ruta Sepetys wrote a handful of books that can really show the struggle of a character during a real event in world history. On one of them being the book, Between Shades of Gray. The Book starts with Lina Vilkas getting deported by the Soviets and forced into hard labor alongside her mother and younger brother. Lina meets several people who were victims of this tragedy, including Andrius Arvydas and his mother. While Lina lives through this nightmare, she draws pictures, hoping they will reach her missing father. Between Shades of Gray is the heart-breaking historical fiction story of a young girl fighting to survive.
The characters in this book are well-written and have a lot of significant traits for readers to identify each one. Lina, the main character, is known to be strong and protective when it comes to her family. She does everything she can to survive and to keep her family safe. Jonas Vilkas, Lina's younger brother, is more soft and tends to be naive sometimes. Elena Vilkas, Lina's mother, is more selfless and will anything for her children to keep them safe from further harm. Andrius Arvydas is a boy who meets Lina when deported and cares deeply of her. Even though he does get in trouble in a few parts of the book, that doesn't stop him from being Andrius. The bald man is another significant character, as he is seen as insensitive, but he does show a softer side every now and then. Now, the Soviet officers in this novel are portrayed as cruel and ruthless. They constantly put Lina and her family through torture for around a decade. All of these characters symbolize a trait in this world and their personalities really do shine when they have the chance to show it.
The story plot in this book is devastating. What makes it more heart-breaking is that these are real events from the past. Despite most of the characters being fictional, they all represent the horror of thousands of families across the Soviet Union. They were forced into hard labor without barely any mercy. Lina and her family faced this cruelty and were forced to go along with it to survive. History is filled with dark events, especially during a war. Tortures like this bring devastation to readers who just learned about this. Ruta Septys is teaching about history and what humanity had to face. This tells them that they need to learn about injustice to stop it in the future.
Between Shades of Gray is a great book to read when it comes to historical-fiction books. It has so many great characters to match the setting, it has excitement, and it has so many emotional moments. This book gives people a moment to think about our world and what needs to be fixed. It teaches readers about injustice around us and to fight against it. Like how Lina's family was innocent, yet they were forced into a world of brutal lifestyles. Still, Lina fights for her family and even finds love within the shadows. This is a great book about having the courage to survive and having the will to fight to protect someone at all cost.
'Please Ignore Vera Dietz' was definitely not the kind of story I was expecting to read when I picked it up. Vera may be an average high senior, but she carries an above-average burden. Vera has a lot of problems that she struggles to cope with, and that makes her surprisingly relatable to readers. She’s addicted to alcohol, feels invisible at school, and has a hard time getting along with other people. The only person who even partially understands her is Charlie Kahn, her best friend who she is starting to have feelings for–at least, until he dies. Now Vera has to pick up the pieces and grapple with feelings of guilt, all while figuring out whether or not Charlie is haunting her. Even worse, Vera starts finding a trail of mysterious scribbled clues that seem to come from beyond the grave, and they all lead to a story she doesn’t particularly want to tell. Vera’s story is about coming to terms–with her identity, her issues, and her ex-best friend.
A.S. King’s witty and darkly sarcastic writing style perfectly suits the plot of this poignant and engaging novel. I especially appreciate how the author’s word choice and skill helps to bring Vera’s character to life, because plenty of stories have exciting plots but are told in the way math textbooks are written–dry and mind-numbing. The other characters in Vera’s world along with their messy relationships have just as much depth, be it from the unpredictable Charlie’s abusive family life to his toxic relationship with Jennifer, or even Vera’s own love/hate relationship with her dad. The narrative perspective itself is erratic, often changing between Vera’s personal viewpoint and the ghost of Charlie, as well as a few other characters such as Vera’s dad. I myself am not a huge fan of the shifting viewpoints, since it feels just as easy for them to subtract from the story than to add to it. For example, some interludes featuring narratives from the pagoda contribute almost nothing to the plot, and they break the pace of the story.
All in all, I would give this novel a rating of four stars out of five. While the way A.S. King decided to write the story was interesting to read for me, I still think it would have been better for them to come up with a more original storyline. Partially because of my own inclination towards action-filled fantasy and sci-fi stories, I also would have preferred for the novel to have more twists and turns. As it stands now, it wasn’t hard for me to see where the story was headed from the first few chapters. However, I am extremely satisfied with the author’s diverse portrayals of all the characters. Under the surface, their relationships are riddled with hitches and complications. This strikes a chord with me because, in reality, other people's personalities almost always have more to the eye than you can see at the first glimpse.
In conclusion, 'Please Ignore Vera Dietz' is a raw, compelling story about coming-of-age, acceptance, and moving forward despite loss. It is emotionally gripping, beautifully written, and carries strong themes about character. If you want a powerful and thought-provoking read, then get comfortable with some pillows and a box of Kleenex, because you definitely won’t be disappointed with this mental roller-coaster of a novel.
The graphic novel Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is a story about survival, courage, and hope during one of the darkest times in history. The story is about Lina, a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl, who is taken from her home with her family during World War II. Soviet soldiers force them onto trains and send them to labor camps in Siberia. Where they face terrible conditions like starvation, cold and diseases.
One of the most important parts of this version of the story is the artwork. The illustrations add more emotion to the book than words. Instead of just reading about the characters’ struggles, we can see them in the drawings. The characters' expressions made it easier to understand how they felt and what they were going through. The pictures of the camps show how bad the conditions were. The drawings also helped me picture how it was like during those times and made the story more impactful.
Lina, the main character, is one of the most inspiring parts of the book. Even though she is still a teenager, she was strong and brave in ways. Also she was an artist, and she uses her drawings to record what is happening around her. This becomes her way of holding onto hope and telling the truth about what the Soviets were doing. Her courage showed that even young people can make a difference by not giving up.
Her family is also a huge part of the story. Lina’s bond with her mother and younger brother is what helps her push through. As an example her mother always encouraged them to be kind to one another even though they were in bad conditions. I thought this was inspiring because it shows how love and family can be a source of strength.
Another theme of the book is survival. Many of the people in the camps don’t make it, which makes the story sad. But the survivors find hope and push through the harsh conditions. To give you and idea they helped other people by sharing food and helping each other. These small things that the people did in the story shows that you can keep on pushing through the bad conditions. It shows that even small acts of kindness can give people the hope and strength to keep living through the harsh conditions.
Additionally this book has also taught me about a part of history. In school, we learn about World War II by focusing on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. This book showed me what happened in Lithuania, where people were taken by the Soviets and sent to camps. It showed me different parts of history in different places around the world during World War II.
Altogether , the book Between Shades of Gray: the graphic novel is powerful. It shows how people can survive hard times with courage, family, and hope. The story was emotional, and the artwork made it even stronger. I would recommend it to other students because it teaches both history and life lessons.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer is an amazing twisted fairy tale version of Cinderella. The story is set in the future where humans and androids live in New Beijing, where a plague devastates the land. Cinder, a sixteen year old cyborg mechanic is seen as a second rate citizen and hated by her Stepmother. Then in an unexpected twist of fate she ends up doing a job for Prince Kai, and becoming caught in a forbidden attraction with him. As she grapples with her feelings for the Prince she also gets caught up in a plan to protect earth from the Lunars, a moon colony of citizens led by the heartless Queen Levana.
A part of the book that made it its own story was Cinder’s connection to Peony. Peony is one of Cinder’s stepsisters but unlike her stepmother and other stepsisters who love to demean Cinder, Peony actually cares about her. Peony was a friend to Cinder talking to her and actually treating Cinder like a person. Peony then catches the letumosis plague that’s spreading across New Beijing. Adri, Cinder’s cruel stepmother, is desperate to save Peony and forces Cinder into the plague research which most don’t survive. Through this experiment Cinder learns she is immune to the plague and that reveals her true heritage. Cinder ultimately isn’t able to save Peony and her death deeply affects Cinder. Peony’s death is what truly drives Cinder to try to go against the Lunar Queen.
Another part of the story that makes it unique is Cinder and Iko’s friendship. Iko is an android that has a faulty personality chip, and Cinder’s best friend. Iko has human-like qualities and dreams for her outsides to truly reflect that. She brings comedy to the story but also has a more girly and emotional personality that works well with Cinders' closed off more tomboy personality. Iko often encourages Cinder to dress more out of her comfort zone but also to be more vulnerable especially when it comes to Prince Kai. Iko is loyal and supports Cinder through everything including Cinder’s fight against Queen Levana. Cinder supports Iko’s dreams to be human but also is protective over her and doesn’t want her dreams to be crushed. Throughout the book you can see Cinder and Iko’s strong relationship and how they truly would do absolutely anything for each other.
Cinder’s determination and independence is what truly makes the story different from the traditional Cinderella. Cinder works as a mechanic for her family but also makes her own plans to escape them. She aims to free herself and doesn’t rely on someone else to do it for her. She’s brave and works to fight against Queen Levana even while she struggles with learning her true identity. She’s good at devising plans and has a feisty spirit that keeps her going. These traits make her different from Cinderella. She’s her own savior and is going to make the world a better place through her own work.
All in all, Cinder by Marissa Meyer is an amazing read about a girl who learns to embrace her identity. It also teaches about discrimination and prejudice. Cinder also shows that you can write your own future. Cinder by Marissa Meyer is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles series which includes four main books that are different twisted fairy tales that all come together in a larger Sci-fi fantasy story. Cinder is a good read if you love stories about a main character who takes their destiny into their own hands.
The book Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a science fiction story based on the fairy tale Cinderella. However, instead of ball gowns and glass slippers, this story takes place in New Beijing after many world wars. Linh Cinder, who is the main character, is a teenage mechanic who is also part cyborg. This key factor makes her different from the others, making her face discrimination from people, especially from her stepmother. Even though she is smart, resourceful, and hardworking, most people consider her less than human just because of her mechanical parts.
When Prince Kai brings his android to Cinder’s shop for repair, a connection that continues to grow throughout the book is sparked. At the same time, the city is being hit by a deadly disease called letumosis, which spreads quickly and kills almost everyone who catches it. When Cinder’s stepsister Peony falls ill, her stepmother shifts the blame onto Cinder and even volunteers her to be a medical test subject against her will. Astoundingly, the doctors discover that Cinder is immune to the plague, which makes her a very valuable figure in the search for the cure.
In addition, Earth is in danger from another threat, which are the Lunars. The Lunars are people who live on the moon and can control how others see and feel through a power called glamour. Their ruler, Queen Levanna, is cruel and manipulative. She tries to convince Prince Kai to marry her so that she can gain power over Earth. Kai is caught up in a difficult situation, trying to protect his people while also resisting Levanna’s demands.
As the story continues, Cinder discovers shocking truths about her own identity. She learns that she is not just a cyborg, but also secretly a Lunar. She finds out that she is the long-lost Princess Selene, who was believed to have died years ago. This means that she is the rightful heir to the Lunar throne and the only person who can challenge Queen Levanna. Unfortunately, her identity also puts her in danger. By the end of the book, Cinder is captured and imprisoned, but she becomes determined to fight back and accept her role in the larger conflict.
One of the things I liked most about Cinder is how it combines elements from the fairy-tale Cinderella with science fiction to create a new but captivating story. There are still pieces of the Cinderella story that are recognizable, like the cruel stepmother, the stepsister, and the prince, but they are repainted in a world full of androids, disease, and political struggles.
There are many themes in that story that are present as well. Cinder being judged for being different shows how prejudice can make people feel unwanted or less than human. Also, her journey of discovering who she really is highlights the importance of identity and self-acceptance. The book also explores ideas of power, corruption, and the sacrifices a leader must make in order to protect others.
Overall, Cinder is an exciting novel that takes a classic fairy tale and turns it into something new. The characters are interesting, the pacing of the story is just right, and the futuristic setting is fun to think about. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction, fairy-tale retellings, or stories about characters who fight to discover their true selves. It leaves readers wanting to know what happens next, which is perfect since this book is the first book in a series.
"Cinder", by Melissa Meyer is the first book in her Lunar Chronical series, all of which books are loosely based upon classic fairytale stories. The genre of Cinder is Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, and Dystopian. Being the first of its series, “Cinder” has aspects relating to Cinderella, and follows a young cyborg mechanic, named Cinder, life in New Beijing, the dystopian capital of the Eastern Commonwealth, amidst a devastating plague.
To the average citizen, Cinder spends most of her days doing mundane things. She mans a booth in the market square, where she offers her skill as a mechanic to repair the odd thing: androids, port screens, hovers- you name it, and she can probably fix it. However, under the long pants and gloved hands, hides a secret woven into her very being.
Cinder is a cyborg.
A second-class citizen. A “less than” human who could only amount to being someone else’s property. After an accident occurred in her childhood, one that she frankly can’t remember, was she irreparably changed and thus deemed to be worthless.
So, to survive, she keeps a low profile. Most people only see her as a mechanic because she ensures that's all they see. To them, she is just the ordinary mechanic who spends her day with an android, Iko, as her company. And that continues…, until the plague reaches the city, only a few booths away, makes her hurrying on home early to escape its grasp.
She comes home to meet her Wicked stepmother, and her stepsisters, Pearl and Peony as they get fitted in lavish ball gowns for the upcoming ball hosted by the emperor and the prince.
Cinder wishes she could go, but being a cyborg means being forgettable, lest you be seen. As such, she continues life as normal until a blotch of purple can be seen on Peony’s skin. She has been infected by the plague. And there is no cure.
The single speckling of purple has Cinder's life unraveling as new mysteries of her identity is discovered and tensions rise upon humanity.
Through several chance counters, she meets the price of the Eastern Commonwealth, Kaito, and a relationship begins to bud between them, as both face difficulties of their position: Cinder’s identity as a cyborg and Kaito, being next in line for the throne, having to deal with a pressing issue of marrying Queen Levana, the queen of Lunars, to ensure peace for all of humanity.
Through-out all this, Cinder wishes she could just... cry. But she doesn’t have tear ducts, and life moves on. So, must she too.
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Review:
When it comes to this book, I have to be blunt. Cinder is a fantastic read.
I would recommend this book and following series to anyone who thinks they’d enjoy (or is even intrigued at the idea of) a dark re-telling of classical childhood fairytales. This story has everything you would want in a fairytale: A charming prince, a witty sidekick, an evil queen, and most importantly the brave and down-to-earth “princess” that is Cinder.
However, I do have a word of advice for future readers of this book: it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
It’s a very real story that has layers and a lot of “darker elements” in it such as stereotypes and discrimination, greed, power, the genre-typical “evil-ness”, disease, and dealing with character deaths. However, in accordance with that, it also has these beautiful messages of bravery, perseverance, and learned self-acceptance throughout the story; all of which are blended together in a very artistic blend of sci-fi and fantasy storytelling.
And while the plot can sometimes feel “cliche” (it is a retelling of Cinderella after all), the premise of the book is still engaging and has been “retweeted” enough that it feels refreshing and wondrous to reading.
So, overall, I would rate Cinder by Melissa Meyers a 9/10, would recommend.
Personally, Cinder is a great book centered on sci-fi/fantasy and romance with a unique retelling of a classic Cinderella fairy tale, but set in a futuristic China and a blend of magic, a deadly plague, cyborgs, and aliens from the moon. The story is very engaging, but to me, the ending was extremely rushed and could have benefited from more character development and worldbuilding. However, the world was imaginative, and many of the characters were well-developed. Cinder herself is a strong character; she works in the market as a mechanic, and all the money she makes goes to Adri, her stepmother, who is cruel and unloving to her. But in spite of this, Cinder is extremely kind, caring, and tough, not letting anyone define her just because she is a cyborg. But her struggles and vulnerability make her more relatable. Prince Kai is the main love interest in the book. He deeply cares about his kingdom and Cinder because he would sacrifice his own well-being just to create peace and happiness, showing how much of a leader he is. His actions are often driven by the heavy responsibility of ruling and a desire for his people’s safety. Sometimes, though, his indecision made it harder to fully connect with him. In my opinion, I loved Cinder and Prince Kai’s chemistry and love, but I hope I can see more of their love story in future books. Queen Levanna is the main villain of the story, cruel, manipulative, vain, and also extremely beautiful. Her motive appears to be a desire for power and domination over both Lunar and Earth societies, using her abilities to achieve control and enforce her will on others. I wish she had more of a motive than to destroy societies and brainwash people. To me, her motives are more one-sided, but her mysterious background kept me extremely interested, and I really hope that I could see more of her character fleshed out. Dr. Erland is the head of New Beijing’s research team tasked to find a cure for a mysterious plague that has been killing many citizens in New Beijing. He is motivated by a sense of guilt from his past and a commitment to justice and helping those affected. And when he revealed his past to Cinder he became a great character by helping Cinder and protecting her by warning her not to be seen by the queen for her safety, though sometimes his actions felt overly secretive or driven by his own conflicted motives. I would give Cinder an 8/10 rating. I really enjoyed the story and its characters, but I really wish that in the next book, it will have more of a better ending and delve into Queen Levanna’s backstories and motives. Also, I hope that I get new characters. Overall, it’s an amazing story with action, mystery, and romance that I truly enjoyed with cool characters and great writing, and because of that, I really can’t wait to read the next book. I am eager to continue following this series because it combines futuristic technology, heartfelt romance, and timeless themes of courage, sacrifice, and resilience, which makes the story stand out even more.
Angela lives in a hyperkinetic world; were everything is more efficient. This might seem like the perfect world and if you agree, then you’re like everyone else around Angela, but she sees through the Guarantee Committee’s perfect image of the world.
Angela’s world changes, when one day she finds a copy of a book called Kick the Boot telling, about all the problems with her world. Earlier that day her parents tell her that they are moving her grandfather into a reduction colony because his heart rate is below the necessary standard. She visits her grandfather who tells her he buried a shoebox at a tree with something for Angela. When she goes to find the shoebox, someone pulls her under the ground. The guy who pulled her under, tells her that he thought she was someone named Edith Bee and that he is part of an underground rebellion who slows down life. She says she wants to join and the leaders test her and she passes.
Angela adjusts to the slowed down version of life and meets this girl named Gladys, who she eventually dates. Angela learns that if you decelerate your heart rate enough you can have physicians from the Underground take your Guarantee Committee chip; that keeps you hyper, out of your body. The leaders of the Underground select Angela to deliver a package of great importance from above ground to the Underground, Gladys doesn’t want her too, but she accepts. When she meets up with the person with the package, she finds out her Literature teacher was the person who gave her Kick the Boot and is working with the Underground. She also finds out that he is hiding the author of Kick the Boot from the Guarantee Committee in his home. Just before she goes back to the Underworld with the package, she visits her house for the Kick the Boot book but it isn’t there, and a fake bird with a camera in it follows Angela to the Underground and reports back to the Guarantee Committee.
When Angela gets back one of her friends found the shoebox that she had gone looking for in the first place. It had a note and a pocket knife inside it saying that this was the knife he had use to carve his and her grandma’s initials into a tree and she should do the same if she ever found true love. Unfortunately, while she was gone, her friend’s chip removal went south and he died. Angela then finds out that the package were pills called Decelerate Blue that significantly lower your heartrate and everyone in the Underground takes it and falls asleep. While everyone is asleep The Guarantee Committee ambushes them and captures and kills most of them. Gladys is attacked by a guard dog who kills her and almost everyone apart of the Underground is killed. Angela quickly hides the pills in her jacket before she gets captured and is brought to a hospital. Angela runs away from home, goes to the place where the Underground once was, used the pocketknife from her grandpa to hang the note he gave her on a tree, sat there and took all the pills rendering her in a state of absolute stillness.
My feelings on this book aren’t great. I personally didn’t find it enjoyable just weird and dystopian. I usually like that stuff but not in this case, I found the black and white confusing and not necessary. Although I did like the character depth in Angela but thought Gladys needed more character depth than was given. I wouldn’t read this book again but glad I read it anyway.
“The Spellbook of the Lost and Found” by Moira Fowley-Doyle is an amazing book that puts a creative twist on losing things and trying to find them. This book was a bit confusing at first, but I couldn’t put it down. The plot flows really well and there’s unexpected plot twists around every corner. It had me on the edge of my seat for every page. If you’re looking for a suspenseful, descriptive, boredom buster, I would definitely recommend this book.
This book is told from the perspective of 3 different girls; Olive, Hazel, and Laura. The story starts out at the biggest event of the season, the bonfire. As the saying in the book goes, “Everyone lost something that night”. At first, it’s just small items like hair clips, makeup bags, bracelets, keys, etc. As the story goes on, bigger things start getting lost, memories, hearts, and people. When Olive wakes up on a hay bale, she has no recollection of what happened the night before. The only thing she can remember is partying with her best friend Rose, who is nowhere to be found. The only other person awake she can find is a brown, curly-haired boy at the corner of the forest.
In the next perspective, which is written like a diary, Laura and her friends Ash and Holly find out that their diaries are missing. A few days later they find a spellbook in the crook of an Oak tree. It’s the Spellbook of the Lost and Found. They decide to do the spell for finding lost things. They gather all the materials, write out what they lost on leaves and perform the spell. They hear howls but eventually pass out. When they wake up, the pages of their diaries are surrounding them.
Hazel and her brother have a complicated past. Their mother is always chasing after their father and leaving them behind. Eventually, they run away with their friend Ivy. They end up staying in this boarded up house near a tavern. Their family troubles can be relatable to many, so this is when the story can start to connect to readers. Eventually, Rowan meets Olive during a rain storm. It turns out he is the boy she saw a few days before. He takes her back to where he, Hazel, and Ivy are living to wait out the storm. This is the first point in the story when the perspectives link together.
Throughout the next few chapters, they lose more things while Laura and her friends continue to find things. They believe it’s because of the spell, and they now have a fourth person, Jude. Rose starts to flake out on school and Olive, and ends up confessing everything to Hazel. After that they all end up meeting and decide to try the spell as bigger things continue to disappear. They don’t think about it, but after a while, strange things start to happen. Someone who caused Rose pain disappears, signs of Hazel and Rowan’s mom start to show up (she is who they wrote down for the spell). Olive’s sister and her friend disappear and howling is constantly heard. This is when most of the plot twists start to appear.
This book explores themes of unexpected friendship, finding the people and sticking with them through everything, losing and finding things, and more. This book is definitely a book I would recommend to friends and read again.
