YA Reading Challenge 2012

First 2012 feels so weird to type.  But on to a new year, and new Reading Challenges.

Jackie of The Novel Nation and I are working together to create a site with a few Reading Challenges to get us reading next year.  (Please work with us as we are just starting out with the ideas.  Hopefully, we will grow with this each year.)

One of the Reading Challenges I'll be joining is:

I joined one last year and somewhere along the year the host kind of stopped.  So I wanted to find another one. There are so many amazing YA Speculative Fiction (or Fantasy) books coming out and I want to read them.

I'm looking forward to hosting this at The Challenged Writers and joining you in the challenge!

So, do you want to join us?  Go to the new site and link up!  Head over and link up with your post, and once the new year starts we will be on a roll.


This year there will be prizes after the end of 2012, if you complete it!

Book Review: The Lost Gate

The Lost Gate

By:  Orson Scott Card

Publisher:  Tor

Publish Date:  January 2011

Format:  ARC review copy

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Series:  1st book in Mithermage Series

Recommendation:  Yes, If you are looking for a Magical YA fantasy from a boy's view.  Wonderful Magic loss and growth story here.

Book Synopsis:
Dan North knows from early childhood that his family is different - and that the differences are secrets that can never be told.  This contemporary Urban Fantasy introduces the North family, a clan of mages in exile in our world, and their enemies who will do anything to keep them locked here.

First Sentence:
Danny North grew up surrounded by fairies, ghosts, talking animals, living stones, walking trees, and gods who called up wind and brought down rain, made fire from air and drew iron out of the depth of the earth as easily as ordinary people might draw up water from a well.

My Review and Summary:
Danny North is a young mage of 11 years of age, yet he is considered a drekka because he has shown no signs of using or having magic.  Danny is a mage in a commune of the North mage clan where all are related and have been imprisoned here on our Earth for the last thirteen and a half centuries as the gates to Westil where locked and closed by Loki.  And it's a given by all the warring families if any have a Gatemage they are to put them to death (with the thanks to Loki's trickster ways and closing the gates), yet secretly all the families hope for one to open the Great Gate back to their home land.  Danny, unknowingly for years has been creating gates, and gets found out by the Greek girl.  Danny is now on the run for his life, and needs to learn what he can from a world that knows nothing of making gates.

I fear this was one of those books where the hype raised my expectations a little to high.  As I enjoyed reading the book, it wasn't as out there as I had thought it would be.  Orson has created a society where the people are from another world and full of magic, yet the magic is failing them and they are not as strong as they where when they where considered gods years ago.  They are in need of the Great Gate to strengthen them once again, and to return to their home land.  Yet they are exiled here on Earth.

This book is the journey of Danny North to learning about drekka's, or normal people with no magic.  Yet, Danny finds his way to other orphans of magic and to a wonderful home of people who take care of him and teach him what they can.  What we have here is a young boy turning into a young man, learning what he can of what he can do magically, what are the good and bad things to do with his powers.

Then we have another character we follow through the story.  This character has lived within a tree for years, maybe centuries.  Finally he births from the tree as a young boy, with no true memories of the past.  He shows up in a town where he is taken in by a kitchen lead cook who realizes he has great powers.  This is the character I actually enjoyed following the most.  The mystery behind Wad, and the magical abilities he has, and the double life he lives in this wondrous home of the Kind and Queen.

I think I would like to read the next book in this series when it comes out as to the curiosity it left in me.  I'm curious as to why this families where exiled here in our world, what Wad will do now with what has happened to him, and what Danny will learn next and how to handle all the screaming inside him now.  Will the families come after Danny or will he be safe in the future?  I am curious.

This book is a Young Adult read, and I think young boys will enjoy this read.  I would say the book seems to be geared for young adults from about thirteen and older.


I read this book for review as I won the book.

This book qualifies for the YA Reading Challenge, and Speculative Fiction Challenge.

YA Reading Challenge 2011

Well, I wasn't sure if I should sign up for a Young Adult Reading Challenge when the new year was coming in.  I didn't want to join to many challenges and fail.  I didn't know how many YA reads I would get through, and then fail for lack of.  But this year is turning out to have a few YA reads lined up, so I thought what the heck the worst case is I fail and not read enough but I can at least give it a shot.

So, I tracked down a YA Reading Challenge for 2011 and signed up.

Here are the rules as listed on For The Love of YA:


1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Create a post about the challenge and link your challenge post up in the linky below.
  --Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post.

2. There are four levels:
  --The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.
  --The "Fun Size" YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.
  --The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.
  --The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.

3. Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.

4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

5. The Challenge starts on January 1, 2011 and goes until December 31, 2011.