YA Lit: It's addictive

For some reason, possibly good writing, I have been on a Young Adult Literature kick for some time now. I didn't feel as though right now was a particularly good time to stop so I read some more books.


Enna Burning by Shannon Hale is the second book in her trilogy that began with The Goose Girl. Enna Burning takes place some time after The Goose Girl and although we are not given how much time I am approximating it's about 6 months to 1 year after the end of Goose Girl. This time the story is centered on Ani/Isi's best friend Enna. Enna is a forest girl. One day in the forest Enna's brother, Leifer, mysteriously learns how to control and make fire. He becomes fire. When their country Bayern becomes embroiled in a war Leifer joins the fight. He is not able to control the fire so Enna ends up teaching herself the magical language of fire. In the process she secretly begins to become something of a freedom fighter. But soon Enna, like Leifer, is unable to control the fire. Only Ani/Isi and Enna together can try to control the fire before it takes over Enna completely.

I thought this book was really well done and quite a good follow up to The Goose Girl. I thought about suggesting this work to my niece but I think I will wait until she's a bit older as there is an attempted rape scene in the book that I found a bit too graphic and disturbing for an eleven year old. I am very excited to get my hands on River Secrets.

Last night I finished Maureen Johnson's The Key to the Golden Firebird. This book centers on the three Gold sisters. When their father dies, the lives of May, Brooks, and Palmer are sent into a spiral. Their mom has to work more; they are the sometime charity cases of the Camp family and their neighbors. They make bad choices when it comes to boys. And none of them are dealing very well with the fact that their dad is dead.

I thought this book was really good. I even cried in a couple of places. One thing that bothered me though was that Palmer's story seemed to get the short shrift. I wish her family could have dealt more with some of her issues. I think this book could have used another chapter or two but over all I thought it was a fast but engrossing read.

Books Read in 2007:

The Keys to the Golden Firebird ~ Maureen Johnson
Enna Burning ~ Shannon Hale
Fool Moon ~ Jim Butcher
Queen of Babble ~ Meg Cabot
The Goose Girl ~ Shannon Hale
The Princess Academy ~ Shannon Hale
Avalon High ~ Meg Cabot
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ~ J.K. Rowling
A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ Khaled Hosseini
The Bermudez Triangle ~ Maureen Johnson
Fray ~ Joss Whedon
The Dragonriders of Pern ~ Anne McCaffery
Embroideries ~ Marjane Satrapi
13 Little Blue Envelopes ~ Maureen Johnson
The Cider House Rules ~ John Irving
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ~J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ J.K. Rowling
The Good Men: A Novel of Heresy ~ Charmaine Craig
An Abundance of Katherines ~ John Green
The Count of Monte Cristo ~ Alexandre Dumas
Looking For Alaska ~ John Green
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest ~ Stephen Ambrose
Drinking, Smoking, and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times ~ edited by Sara Nikles
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood ~ Ann Brashares