Amber & Clay, by Laura Amy Schlitz

     The latest release by author Schlitz, Amber & Clay tells the story of two young people, very different one from the other, both living in Ancient Greece with all of the philosophers, gods and goddesses, and "ringed by the restless sea." Rhaskos is a slave boy, worth no more than clay. Melisto is a spoiled young girl who was born into money, and is as precious as amber, but with her own strong ideas and will. Their stories are told mostly in verse, and author Schlitz is truly masterful with her words (if you've never read Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! try it and you'll understand what I mean). Tying their stories together are blurbs about actual ancient Greek artifacts, which Schlitz weaves into the story much like Ransom Riggs does with photographs in his Peculiar Children series.

    Schlitz writes absolutely beautifully, and if you as a reader are willing to give this long book (over 500 pages, but written mostly in prose) the time, you will find yourself rewarded by writing not seen in most books, I believe. On the other hand, if you don't have that level of patience, as I sometimes lack, you might find yourself not finishing this story, or perhaps not even choosing it at all. I will admit I read the first 100 pages or so, and appreciated that I was reading some really exceptional writing, but I found myself wanting to finish so that I could read the next book on my ever-growing stack of books. 

    Bottom line is, this is an exceptionally written book, but it won't appeal to everyone. If you are a fan of Greek mythology or history, this may be your next favorite book! If you are looking to be entertained, even with Greek backgrounds (such as Percy Jackson), this may not hold you all the way until the end. I can appreciate her above-average writing talent, but this one I didn't have the patience to finish. 3 paws (and a wag for the writing)!

Stay Dead, by April Henry

     Stay Dead. Who doesn't want to read a book with THAT as the title?!? The latest release by murder mystery writer April Henry is exactly what you would expect from her; a page turning book with strong girl characters, twists and turns, and a few people getting killed, of course! Stay Dead is the story of Milan, daughter of two politician parents, both of whom are victims of suspicious deaths, one not long after the other. Milan isn't aware of any connections between the two, except for her painful losses, until she is suddenly the one being hunted. The hunter is also a strong female character, which gives this book a cool twist - one of many. 

    One part Hatchet (surviving in the wilderness), one part Hoot (environmental destruction needing to be corrected), and all April Henry equals a very good story! If you've ever read Henry's books, you'll know exactly what you're in for. If you haven't, this is as good a place to start as any. Her writing won't blow you out of the water, but I guarantee you won't be able to put this down (and if you do, you'll be thinking about when you can pick it up again)! Not a 5 paw book, but Henry is almost always a strong 4 paws!

This Book Won't Burn, by Samira Ahmed

     From the wonderful author who brought us Internment and Love, Hate and Other Filters, This Book Won't Burn is a good story that centers around book challenges and bans. According to the American Library Association, last year there were more book challenges and bans in the United States than any other year previously. What that means is that more people (or people being more organized) are working harder trying to determine what you and I can and cannot read, using the explanation that certain books are not "good" for us and should not be available. This dog agrees that not every book is right for every reader, and that parents and guardians should have a say in what their own kids and teens are reading (just like they should have a say in what kids eat, view on screens, etc.). However, more and more there are people wanting to tell ALL of us what is good for us, and what we should not be able to read (or eat, or view). I don't believe this is right, or a good direction for our society to go.

    Author Ahmed uses her main character Noor to tell the story of book bans happening in her school. She moves from a big city to a small town with her sister and mom after her father abandons the family, and this particular small town has adults who are organized in removing library books from the high school library shelves, based on what this small group feels is acceptable for teens to be reading. Because Noor is a high school senior, there is a strong romantic aspect of the book, as she tries to navigate not just the book bans but also her feelings for not one - but two - different boys! One comes from an Indian family, like she does, and one is the son of the man who is leading the community book ban movement.

    Ahmed is a really good storyteller, if you are not familiar with her writing. This Book Won't Burn is written more for older middle grade and high school readers, but there isn't anything too strong if you wanted to read this and weren't quite at 8th grade yet (some strong language, but not pervasive and not gratuitous). The message she is trying to get across to the reader in this story is very relevant and timely, and thus pretty important. This is a slightly more mature version of A.S. King's Attack of the Black Rectangles, which is also good but written for an earlier middle grade audience.

    I love the message of this story, and even though I also love a good romantic story, the middle of this book lags a little as the romance completely takes over the story, and the censorship storyline disappears for a while. As a complete book, I recommend this. I especially recommend this to anyone interested in understanding the seriousness of censorship, which is what book banning is. It is happening more and more across the country, and will need your voice to help stop that trend. This book will give you a lot of good information on both sides of the book censorship debate, and for that I recommend it even more. Not quite 5 paws, but definitely 4 paws and a wag!