Ophelia by Lisa Klein

You may know the character Ophelia from Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. However, you do not need to have read or know the story of Hamlet to enjoy Ophelia. Ophelia lost her mother at a young age and lives with her father and older brother. When Ophelia’s father goes to work for King Hamlet, the family, Ophelia, her father, and her older brother, move to Elsinore Castle. Ophelia has been allowed to sit in on her brother’s tutoring sessions and, thus, has more education than most girls in the 16th century. Eventually, this attracts the queen’s attention, and Ophelia becomes one of her ladies in waiting. This puts Ophelia into closer contact with Prince Hamlet. The two fall in love and begin a forbidden affair—Ophelia is too far beneath Prince Hamlet’s status to be considered an appropriate match for him. The two lovers decide to elope, but the murder of Prince Hamlet’s father gets in the way. Prince Hamlet is consumed with the desire to avenge his father, and Ophelia is forgotten. However, Ophelia knows too much about the suspected murderer, and, despite her hope of regaining Prince Hamlet’s attentions, decides she must run away from Elsinore to save her life.

This is a fun read. Whether you are familiar with the Shakespeare play or not, you will enjoy it. It does get a little slow in parts, but mostly kept my attention through to the end. The author diverges a little from Shakespeare's story, mainly to give Ophelia life beyond when she has died in the play, and this will keep those familiar with the story on their toes. The purpose of the book is to give Ophelia more of a voice than she had in Hamlet.

Book; 12+; ISBN 9781582348018; New York: Bloomsbury, 2006

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

This untypical Victorian tale is a great mix of fantasy and mystery. After the death of her mother, Gemma Doyle moves from India to England to live nearer to her remaining family and to go to the exclusive Spence Academy, a boarding school. But don’t dismiss this book as yet another private school clique story; Gemma Doyle has visions—she even foresaw her mother’s death. Furthermore, a mysterious young man has followed Gemma from India. Is he there to protect or harm her? Or, is he there to keep her from learning the mystery of her mother’s death? At Spence, Gemma encounters the usual group of mean girls—the beautiful girls everyone wants to hang with at Spence. When Gemma protects her roommate from the girls, she gains their attention and is invited to join their “private club.” In spite of their initial animosity and general suspicion of each other, the rivals form a tight group centered around a diary that Gemma had found at Spence after following one of her visions. The diary was written by Gemma’s mother and tells of two former Spence students and a secret order that found their way into an otherworld called the Realms. Gemma and her friends use the diary to find their own way into the Realms unaware of the dangers that wait for them there. For the girls, who live during the strict confines of Victorian London, the Realms offer a freedom they know they will never have after they marry. Each girl finds her own fantasy in the Realms not knowing that a dark danger lurks and would follow them back into their world if they were careless enough to let it. In the middle of this story, Gemma searches to solve the mystery of her mother’s death. While the girls merely follow Gemma into the Realms, it is Gemma who has the power to go there. Exactly what are Gemma’s powers? Will Gemma go along with the expectations of her times and become wife to a wealthy man? Or, will she maintain her individuality and independence?

This tale is dark but very enjoyable. It is mildly supernatural and does not quite fit in with the other run-of-the-mill supernatural books out there. The writing is beautiful, and the author never insults her reader's intellegence. This is a good book for teens to adults so don't be surprised if your mother/aunt/oldest sister tries to steal it. The book isn't a total chick lit book, so guys, don't be afraid to pick it up and read it too!

Book; 14+; ISBN 9780385732314; New York: Delacorte Press, 2005