Teen Tuesday

Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School Book the First) by Gail Carriger (Little Brown hardcover, 5 February 2013).

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia Temminick is not a proper young lady.  She'd much rather climb trees or take things apart to see how they work.  So of course she's apprehensive when she learns that she will be sent to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality.  She's not the least bit interested being "finished", and ending up like her older sister Petunia who can think only of her coming out party.

Isn't this an amazing cover?

But when she arrives at the school (which is actually in a dirigible!) and learns that she'll be learning much more than how to be a proper lady, she's thrilled.  Who wouldn't be interested in classes like Music & Intelligence Gathering and Household Management & Proper Poisonings for Every Occasion?  

This story is set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate series, though twenty-five years earlier. Suitable for even the youngest teens (there's no sex and little romance), it will still be enjoyed by older ones who appreciate strong, intelligent, capable female characters.  The tone is much lighter than that of the earlier series, and it's a quick and entertaining read.  

Three more books in the series are planned, but no indication yet of when the next one might appear.  Carriger has another Parasol Protectorate spin-off series planned, called the Parasol Protectorate Abroad, the first of which is due in the fall of 2013.


FTC Full Disclosure:  I purchased a copy of the book.

Spies and PIs - A Book List (Part I)

I"m not talking about Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys.  Teen detectives (and other investigative types) have made the jump into the 21st Century. 

Following are a few of my favorites.  Please feel free to add your own in the comments.
I realize this list is somewhat female-centric; tomorrow's list will have  detective stories about teenaged boys.

The Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter.

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is not your typical private school.  Students take classes in advanced martial arts, chemical warfare, and codebreaking.  Protagonist Cammie Morgan is a student there, and despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that her mother is the headmistress, she always manages to get in trouble.
The five-book series includes:  I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You; Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy; Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover; Only the Good Spy Young; Out of Sight, Out of Time.

Extras:  Check out the Gallagher Academy website, where you can apply for admission to become a Gallagher Girl.



Don't Turn Around (The Persefone series) by Michelle Gagnon. 

So far, only the first book has been published in this series about Noa, a sixteen-year-old orphan who is living "off the grid".  She's a computer expert, and is able to make enough to support herself and stay out of trouble. But one day, she wakes up in a warehouse with an IV sticking out of her arm and no memory of how she got there.
Luckily, she's able to escape, and eventually find an ally.  Peter Gregory, is a  rich kid who's the leader of an alliance of hackers.  Together they discover that the group who took Noa is more powerful and corrupt than they could have imagined.

Extras:  A free prequel novella called No Escape.


The Girl is Murder & The Girl is Trouble by Kathryn Miller Haines.

Since fifteen-year-old Iris Anderson's mother died and her father returned from Pearl Harbor missing a leg, her whole life has changed.  They have to move to the Lower East Side of New York City, and Iris has to leave her private girls' school for a public one.  Not only is she a fish out of water at PS 110, she doesn't know how to deal with her father, since he'd been overseas most of her life.
Knowing that it's difficult for him to do his job (he is a private detective) with his bad leg, she decides that she must convince him to let her help. 

Extras:  There's a fantastic glossary of period slang at the end of the first book, as well as an interview with the author.


The Hailey Tarbell series by Sophie Littlefield. 

Sixteen-year-old Hailey lives with her creepy grandmother in Gypsum, Missouri, also known as "Trashtown".  Her life is pretty bleak, except for her four-year-old foster brother, Chub.  She loves him more than anything, and plans to take him and leave as soon as she's eighteen.
Then a classmate is injured in gym class, and Hailey discovers that she's a healer.  This is not something she ever wanted, and though she tries to keep it quiet, word gets out, and suddenly armed strangers turn up at Gram's house in the middle of the night and try to kidnap her.
Who are they, and what do they want with her?

The two-book series includes Banished and  Unforsaken.

Extras:  Sophie Littlefield has a fantastic website, which includes interviews, tour info and more.

It's Teen Tuesday!!

Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls #5) by Ally Carter.

Founded in 1865, The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is the premier private school in the United States for those seeking to dedicate their unique skills and talents to an education like none other.

When last we saw our heroine Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan, she was sneaking away from leaving the Academy to track down the ancient terrorist organization known as the Circle of Cavan, which has been hunting her for over a year.

This book opens with "the operative' waking up in a convent with no memory of how she got there.  She barely remembers who she is, and all she wants is to go home.

When she finally does get back to the Academy, her memories of what happened during the months she was gone are still patchy.  But she's still the same Cammie inside, wanting to know the truth, and doing everything she can to discover it.

Many of our favourite Gallaghter Academy characters (including her mother/Academy headmistriess Rachel Morgan and her best friends/roommates Liz, Bex and Macey) are present to help Cammie fill in the blank spots in mer memory.

Cannie is the present-day version of Trixie and Nancy,  with access to the latest in über-cool spy technology and a group of friends and teachers who "have her back".  Since this is a Disney-Hyperion publication, does that mean a movie or television series is pending?
 

Just finished reading...

Royal Flush (A Royal Spyness Mystery) by Rhys Bowen.

Poor Georgie. She tries so hard to be sophisticated and clever, and then does something to prove just how naive she really is. The posh people leave London in the summer to go to the country, and as a result, Georgie's little business is not doing too well. When Belinda asks Georgie to have dinner with a visiting American in Belinda's place, Georgie has a fabulous idea. The next day, she rushes down to the Times office and places an ad as an escort for visiting gentlemen. Of course, this doesn't mean what Georgie thinks it does, and her first client ideas for evening activities are much different than she expects.

Luckily, her old acquaintance Darcy appears and spirits her away. The next day, she is summoned by the Deputy Commissioner of Scotland Yard, who tells her he has a job for her, which requires that she go to Castle Rannoch keep an eye on the Prince of Wales, who appears to be on somone's hit list. Georgie is certain that she's being shipped off to Scotland to keep her out of trouble, and is equally certain who squealed on her.

But upon arriving at her family home, she realizes that there really is someone after the Prince. Or is Georgie herself the real target?

As usual, Georgie suffers a number of close calls whilst investigating, and the culprit turns out to be someone she'd never suspected!

The next book about charming Lady Georgiana is due in the fall of 2010, and involves a visit to Transylvania. I can hardly wait!

Just finished reading

Peter Robinson's latest Alan Banks novelis a little bit different than most.
When the story begins, he's on holiday with his new girlfriend Sophia. Annie Cabbot, now a Detective Inspector, is instructed to call him back when the murder-suicide case they are dealing with appears to involve some people with important connections. When Banks discovers that the connection may have to do with MI6, he's warned off, and told to resume his leave. But his "copper's instinct" won't allow him to let it go, and he begins to investigate on his own, with Annie helping him out in the background.
The international espionage storyline is certainly unusual for Robinson, and though some of the characters (and at times, the reader) express their skepticism at Banks' theories, he manages to keep it credible.
As usual, Robinson's writing is superb, and the story is compelling. The biggest problem with this book is the length of time we'll have to wait for the next one.