Books and Sensibility

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The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

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  • Release Date: May 2013
  • Hours: 13.75
  • Genre: Middle Grade/Fantasy
  • Publisher: HarperCollins

Every four years the villagers of Gavaldon will stop at nothing to protect their children from a shadowy figure who whisks them away to a magical school,  never to be seen again. Except maybe in the pages of your favorite storybook.

This magical school us  where students are trained to become the villains and heroes in your favorite fairytales. When best friends Sophie and Agatha find themselves on different sides of the divide, they must fight to hold on to their friendship and who they truly are.

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Margot Lee Shetterly @ The Rappahannock Library

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Hidden Figures has taken over the pop culture zeitgeist and it all takes place right here in Virginia!

I’m not sure how I missed that Shetterly was going to be doing a Q&A and signing at the University of Mary Washington, but when my dad (of all people) told me about it, Kat and I took the short ride up to attend.

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Midnight Star by Marie Lu in Gifs (Spoiler Free)

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So I just finished Marie Lu’s Young Elite’s series and…

 


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10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse by JJ Smith (Kat’s Experience)

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The Rose Society by Marie Lu

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  • Release Date: October 13th 2015
  • Audiobook Hours: 11 hours 7 minutes
  • Genre: Historical Fantasy
  • Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Son (Penguin)

Child sex trafficking, slave camps, genocide and a one sided love triangle ?

Yep, I must be reading a fantasy YA novel !

We’re back in Marie Lu’s vaguely Italian 12th century where the scarred children who survived a blood fever are known as malfettos and some malfettos known young elites have developed special powers. After the events of the last book all malfettos have been banned  from the city and forced into refugee camps for the safety of the city (stop me if you’ve heard this one). There is a lot going on in this book but most we follow along while our heroine Adelina Amouteru goes off to find other young elites outside the city.

The Rose Society has to be one of the most subversive and creative YA books I’ve ever read. I liked the first book in this series but this second book has really hooked me. Marie Lu is breaking a lot of the typical YA fiction rules and I am here for it.

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Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

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Release Date: April 28th 2015

Pages: 309

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: HarperCollins

When Aza Ray Boyle dies in the middle of an unusual storm; one life ends and another begins. Because her true destiny lies with the captain of a ship that sails the sky, but not everyone on Earth is ready to let Aza go.

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