Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

High School Fiction

VG/A Hodge, Rosamund. Crimson bound. Balzer + Bray/ Harper Collins, 2015. 448p. 978-0-062-22476-7. 17.99.

 As a young girl, Rachelle was apprenticed to her aunt to become a woodwife, to learn protective charms and lore to protect her village from the forestborn and woodspawn, inhuman creatures of the Great Forest. At fifteen, Rachelle strays off the protective path and meets with a dark creature, becoming the very evil she had been sworn to protect against.  In penance, she serves the king and is set to protect the King’s son Armand from deadly enemies. Not what you would normally expect in a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, this rich, complex and dark tale will keep readers in suspense. 

Summer of the Mariposas

General YA Fiction


VG/A. McCall, Guadalupe Garcia. Summer of the Mariposas. Lee and Low, 2012. 352 p. 9781600609008 $19.95



Odilia and her four sisters have been struggling since their father left to pursue his music career. Their mom works long hours at a restaurant to support them. When they find a dead man by the creek with a photo of his family in his wallet, they are determined to reunite them in Mexico. With La Llorona serving as Odilia’s guide, the girls set off on an adventure that combines elements of Aztec mythology with Homer’s Odyssey.

Sarah Mae Harper, CoLAPL- AC Bilbrew

Wide Awake Princess

Middle School Fiction

VG/E Baker, E. D. Wide-Awake Princess. Bloomsbury, 2010. 261 p.

This is a humorous retelling of Sleeping Beauty with characters from some other familiar tales thrown in. In a world where everyone is blessed with magical gifts at birth, Annie's gift is to be immune to magic. So when her older sister inevitably pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and the entire castle falls asleep, she is still awake. Now she must journey throughout the kingdom searching for princes to try and wake her sister with a kiss.

Sarah Mae Harper, CoLAPL, AC Bilbrew Library

Crazy Beautiful

High School Fiction

G/A Baratz-Logsted, Lauren. Crazy Beautiful. Houghton, 2009 191 p. 9780547223070. 16.00.

Lucius is a troublemaker. His latest escapade has left him severely injured, with hooks as replacements for hands, and has earned him a reputation as being crazy. On the outside Aurora appears perfect, but is still grieving for the mother she has just lost to cancer. Although, they exist on opposite sides of high school’s popularity spectrum, they can’t keep from falling in love with each other at first sight. Meant to be a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Camille K. Campos, LAPL, Cahuenga Branch