Stephen was born invisible and destined to a very lonely life until he meets Elizabeth who happens to be the only person who can see him. They figure out that a curse has been placed on him and they want to break that curse, but it means killing his evil grandfather.
I picked this book up because I loved the Night Shade trilogy, but this book just didn't work for me. There was just too much internal angst. I didn't enjoy Elizabeth's stressed out insecurity and her lack of assertiveness or confidence. Interesting idea for the plot, but I needed a stronger female character.

Have had this book for quite a while now, and was holding off from reading it because it sounded great and I was saving it for when I needed a blockbuster. Unfortunately, it wasn't everything that I hoped it would be. The story is set in the future when these huge pillers (Icons) have buried themselves into the Earth and have the ability to give off a pulse that disrupts and kills everything within a very huge radius. On The Day, the Icons emit their blast, everyone dies and those who live far enough from the blast become servants to the aliens who have brought the Icons and control them. There are a few children who just might be the saviors of the Earth, because they possess some qualities that might be able to overpower the Icons.
I found it really slow to get going and a bit confusing to follow. I would only recommend it to really decent YA readers.

Since I loved "The Compound" and have had trouble keeping it on the shelves at school, I was really interested in what Bodeen would do with a story that is basically, about a girl who survives a plane crash and ends up on a raft all by herself.
Can't spoil things by revealing what kept this from being a really boring story, but I will tell you there's a few things I didn't anticipate. I'm glad I purchased The Raft because those students who love to read works by the same author will not be disappointed by the writing since it is a very similar style to Bodeen's first book. The plot isn't as gripping, but the writing is just as enjoyable.

Imagine that someone you work with vanishes without a trace, and then you find out that the person who took her really was targeting you instead!
That's what happens to high school student Gabie, who works part time at a pizza place. Another girl who works there, Kayla, asked if Gabie would switch shifts with her, and so Kayla was working on the night that John Robertson orders three Meat Monsters using a fictitious name, address and phone number. Kayla never comes back from delivering the pizzas, so now Gabie and Drew, another pizza place employee, are doing their best to figure out who took Kayla. The story is told from multiple perspectives, including Gabie, Drew, Kayla and John's viewpoints. You know who is narrating the story because they get their own chapter, and the chapter heading contains their name.
Good thriller without being too disturbing.

In the city of Deliverance, everyone has some form of psi, which is the ability to move objects with your mind instead of your hands. The Powerless (those who have no psi) live in a colony outside of the city. Taemon is banished to the colony after losing his psi and getting caught. I can't tell you why he loses his power without revealing too much of the story, so you'll have to wait to figure that out. Meanwhile, his mean and jealous brother gets selected as the true son, and starts training with the elders.
Freakling is an interesting dystopian story with an original plot. One nice feature is that the ending does stand alone successfully and there isn't a pressing need for a sequel, which is refreshing. This story would be enjoyed by decent readers who are able to read without needing to connect to previous knowledge because the city of Deliverance is unlike any place previously imagined.