The Girl is Trouble

The Girl is Trouble
by Kathryn Miller Haines
sequel to The Girl is Murder

It's the Fall of 1942 and Iris's world is rapidly changing. Her Pop is back from the war with a missing leg, limiting his ability to do the physically grueling part of his detective work. Iris is dying to help, especially when she discovers that one of Pop's cases involves a boy at her school. Now, instead of sitting at home watching Deanna Durbin movies, Iris is sneaking out of the house, double crossing her friends, and dancing at the Savoy till all hours of the night. There's certainly never a dull moment in the private eye business. (description from Amazon.com)

 

Amateur sleuth, Iris, is back and the stakes have gone up another notch. The war is Europe is looming over everyone in Iris' life and it's starting to take its toll on her friends at school, her neighbors, and especially her father... The kids at school in the Jewish afterschool club have started receiving threats.  Iris learns her mother may have been murdered and because...well, the reason would have been absolutely horrifying! Unsure who she can trust, whether her best friend and father are lying to her, and feeling like her world is crumbling around her, Iris must do the best she can to find out all the nitty-gritty details to clear everything up and set her world back to rights. 

 

Again, my fellow Veronica Mars fans, remember those moments when Veronica's life was spinning completely out of control and while Veronica was emotionally crumbling, her mind seemed to clear and she became a private investigating MACHINE?  Those were the best parts of each season...the moments when I was absolutely riveted. This book, is that moment in written form.  Absolutely riveting and emotionally draining in the best type of way...

 

Full disclosure: Borrowed through interlibrary loan

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Draw the Dark

Draw the Dark

by Ilsa J. Bick

There are things in Winter, Wisconsin, folks just don't talk about. The murder way back in '45 is one. The near-suicide of a first-grade teacher is another. And then there is 17-year old Christian Cage. Christian's parents disappeared when he was a little boy, and ever since he's drawn and painted obsessively, trying desperately to remember his mother. The problem is Christian doesn't just draw his own memories. He can draw the thoughts of those around him. Confronted with fears and nightmares they'd rather avoid, people have a bad habit of dying. So it's no surprise that Christian isn't exactly popular. What no one expects is for Christian to meet Winter's last surviving Jew and uncover one more thing best forgotten--the day the Nazis came to town. (description from Amazon.com)

This was an interesting book.  It was creepy and dark and a great blend of realistic fiction with just a hint of dark fantasy.  Yet again, it covered a piece of American history that I did not know about... did you know that the US took in German war prisoners after WWII to work in fields and factories? I had no idea! Overall I really enjoyed this book, though I thought the ending was wrapped up just a little too quickly...

Full disclosure: Audio book received to review for SLJ.

Anxiously Awaiting... Perfection

Perfection
by J.L. Spelbring

Publication date: May 2013

The personification of Aryan purity, Ellyssa's spent her whole life under her creator's strict training and guidance; her purpose is to eradicate inferior beings. She was genetically engineered to be the perfect soldier: strong, intelligent, unemotional, and telepathic.

Only Ellyssa isn't perfect.

Ellyssa feels emotions--a fact she's spent her life concealing. Until she encounters the epitome of inferiority: a dark-haired boy raised among renegades hiding since the Nazis won the war a century ago. He speaks to her telepathically, pushing thoughts into her mind, despite the impossibility of such a substandard person having psychic abilities.

But he does.

His unspoken words and visions of a place she's never visited make Ellyssa question her creator. Confused and afraid her secret will be discovered, Ellyssa runs away, embarking on a journey where she discovers there is more to her than perfection.

Okay. Generally I purposely shy away from World War II based fiction. I just do...it's a personal preference, I'm not sure why it really developed, but this... this sounds SO intriguing. I love the idea of exploring how the world would be totally different if the Nazis had won the war... I'm pretty sure I'll be reading this one next year.