Keturah and Lord Death

Keturah and Lord Death
At 16, Keturah is a poor peasant girl who constantly ponders her future. She has always been different from the other girls of the village and has unique but unrealized gifts. She has been raised by warm and loving grandparents, experiencing firsthand what a truly happy marriage is all about. The teen is committed to finding a suitable husband so she, too, can be happy but has not yet been successful. All this changes for her the day she follows the legendary hart deep into the forest and becomes lost.

From Ms. Secord:

Although related in the first person, I found that the story to be almost fairy tale like in it's prose and the part about the lemon meringue pie made me laugh, as I really wonder if the origins of that pie started that long ago. The descriptions of the village, the onset of the Plague lend an interesting slant to the story. Did you find the story symbolic at all? And just who was Lord Death? Do YOU know him?
Muy-hah-hah...

Getting to the "Grist" of it by Heather Waldorf

Grist
By Heather Waldorf

Sixteen-year-old aspiring writer Charlie faces a bleak summer in Springdale, Canada. Her widowed father is increasingly preoccupied with his new girlfriend. Her best friend and crush, Sam, has moved to Australia. She has fallen out of favour with her beloved creative-writing teacher, who challenges her to gather the grist of life experiences as fuel for her writing. So she heads for her grandmother's cottage in remote Lake Ringrose, Ontario, hoping to reconnect with the memory of her mother.

Questions to pondure:

What exactly is meant by the word "Grist" in the title?

What did Charlie's teacher mean when he told her that her work had no meat, no substance?

This book is getting rave reviews from all who have read it. What chord did this book strike with you , if any?

The end of the world as we know it by Lesley Choyce

The End Of The World As We Know It

Asked to write something for English class that expresses who he really is, 16-year-old Carson takes pleasure in blistering the page with hate for everything in his life. Stuck in a private school for kids who have repeatedly flunked out elsewhere, Carson knows he's got nowhere lower to sink to. "Flunk Out Academy" is the last resort for Carson and his classmates, in a small town where its deeply troubled students are decidedly unwelcome.

Comment from Ms. Secord
I have a hard time coming up with another book where the main character had so much anger inside! He advantages in his life that a lot of kids wished they had. Do you think Carson's anger was justifiable?

Doing the Droughtlanders

The Droughtlanders: Book One in Triskelia Series by Carrie Mac
This fantasy novel has an opening which both repels and attracts the reader in a dramatic way, and the excitement and suspense continue until the last page is reached. The story revolves around twin brothers, Seth and Eli, who have grown up as part of the elite Keylander class. Keylanders are warned to stay within their boundaries to avoid the dirt, chaos and sicks of the Droughtland world. Seth has pledged to join the Keyland guards and help rid the world of Droughtlanders completely.

Keylands and Droughlanders, the ultimate struggle for survival and the classic story of good verses evil. Who is right and who is wrong?

Note from Ms. Secord:

It seems that every author I read these days has jumped on the "series bandwagon" and this book is no exception. Does anyone else crave to read a story that starts and ends in the same book?