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 Northern Light by Jennifer Connelly

What do you do when you've made a promise to someone, but you could possibly find that person's killer by breaking that promise? In 1906, sixteen year old Mattie Gokey has big plans for her future but lots of obstacles in her way. Mattie is a writer who wants to go to college—provided she can pass her high school exit exams and find out how to pay her way to New York City. Oh, and she will be leaving behind her sisters and father who have come to rely on her after the death of her mother. Then there is the cute guy on the neighboring farm who is catching her eye. Will Mattie make it to college or stay in her rural town to take care of her family and marry the hottie? However, that is not the entire story. Mattie takes a job at a nearby hotel where a female guest gives her several letters with instructions to burn them before anybody can see them. The next day, the guest is found drowned in the lake, and her male companion is also presumed dead. Mattie is torn between reading the letters and fulfilling the guest’s last wish to burn them.

The story is set around an actual murder case and mixes romance, history, and mystery. This book is a page turner! It is not a light read, but I still recommend it for summer and travel. There are tons of copies available in the bookstores, which makes me thing that many others are enjoying this book as much as I did.

Book; 13+; ISBN 9780152053109; San Diego: Harcourt, 2003

The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson

20 year old Ruth Berger is left behind to brave the Nazis when her plans to escape Vienna and meet up with her Jewish family and fiancée go wrong. Luckily for her, an old family friend, a professor at the college where her father taught, comes to her aid. They come up with the idea to wed, move to Great Britain to get her out of Nazi territory then have their marriage annulled so she can then go to her family and fiancée. However, this story is a romance so things cannot be as simple as that! Of course, Ruth and her rescuer (I don’t want to give his identity away) become attracted to each other. They also have trouble getting their marriage annulled. Complicating matters is that Ruth becomes his student when she enrolls in college in England. There are plenty of obstacles in Ruth's path, and it is never quite clear until the end just who Ruth will end up spending her life with- or even what she wants.

This book has a slow start (it begins when Ruth is a little girl and goes into her family’s background), but it is well worth sticking with. You’ll be into it by the third chapter, I promise! The story never gets too dark in spite of the serious time in which it is set. Ibbotson is excellent at getting her readers emotionally involved into her stories and you will find yourself rooting for the protagonists and wanting to boo at the antagonist, a very annoying student at Ruth's college. This book is both light enough to be a summer read and meaty enough to satisfy readers looking for something to bite into and think about.

Book; 14+; ISBN 978-0142409114; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993

The Minister's Daughter by Julie Hearn

Witch trials and unwed mothers in the same book?! In 1645, Nell’s grandmother is ailing and Nell must quickly learn to take over as her town’s healer. However, in this time of Puritanism and witch hunts, it is a dangerous profession for women to be midwives and healers. When the minister’s eldest, and unmarried, daughter, Grace, becomes pregnant, she goes to Nell to terminate the pregnancy. Nell refuses to terminate the baby because the baby was conceived on May 1st—under pagan tradition, babies conceived on May Day are sacred children called “merrybegots.” Unable to admit her failing to her father and the town and wanting to get rid of the person who knows her secret, Grace, with the help of her sister, Patience, contrives to blame her condition on Nell and her grandmother. In this time when the Puritan church was fighting against old, pagan beliefs, it was not difficult to get the town riled up about the “witches” in their midst.

While piskies (pixies) and fairies have some minor roles in this story, the story is more historical fiction than fantasy. Set before the Salem witch trials of 1692, this story gets into the psychological background of the witch hysteria that took over New England in the late 17th century. While not a big page turner, the story will still hold your interest to the end.

Book; 13+; ISBN 978-0689876912; New York: Atheneum books for young readers, 2005

Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

Whether you like graphic novels or never considered reading one, this book is a must! Maus tells the true story of Art Spiegelman’s parents’ survival of Hitler’s persecution of European Jews. Spiegelman tells not only the tale of his parent’s survival but of Art’s own coming to terms with his family history. In this Holocaust tale, the characters are depicted as animals: Jews are mice, Germans are cats, French are frogs, Americans are dogs, and Poles are pigs. Art’s father, Vladek enlists in the Polish Army when war breaks out. However, he is Jewish, and when Germany conquers Poland, he and his wife, Anna, are forced to move into a Jewish ghetto. When they learn what will happen to them if they are sent to a Nazi concentration camp, they go into hiding.

This novel does not have a happy ending… yet. It is the first of two graphic novels chronicling Art’s family as they struggle to survive the Holocaust. This graphic novel is sometimes considered an adult novel and sometimes a young adult. The story is harrowing and disturbing, even more so because it is told in pictures. Because everything is illustrated, it does not let your imagination soften the experiences of the Jews during the Nazi regime and the Final Solution. It is very "in your face."

Graphic Novel; ISBN 978-0394747231; New York: Pantheon Books, 1986

The Luxe by Anna Godberson

Like TV shows like Gossip Girl, 90210, and the OC? Then this book is for you. Full of fancy dresses, secrets, and wealthy teens who seem to have not much better to do than one-up each other, The Luxe is as its title suggests. However, not is all as it seems. It’s 1899 in New York and socialite Elizabeth Holland has fallen in love with her family’s stable boy. Unfortunately, their difference in social status is not the only obstacle in the way of their love. The Hollands, who are “old money,” have lost their wealth, and Elizabeth must marry wealthy playboy, Henry Schoonmaker, before anyone finds out and her family is ruined. The plotting begins when Elizabeth’s best friend, and greatest rival, Penelope Hayes, finds out about the engagement. Penelope has already set her sights on Henry Schoonmaker and has been having a secret affair with him. She wants to marry Henry so he can give her “new money” family some credibility in the upper class social circles into which they are trying to break. There are some interesting twists to this story, one coming right at the beginning: the story opens at Elizabeth’s funeral, during which not everybody seems all so sad, including Elizabeth’s sister, Diana. What happened to Elizabeth? You’ll have to read this fun, guilty pleasure of a book to find out!

This story is a fast read- great for a travel or summer book when you don't want to have to think too hard! This is definitely fluffy, chick lit with lots of descriptions of clothes, friends betraying friends, and forbidden romances. It is the first in a series, the entirety of which has great reviews. I'll definitely be picking up the next guilty pleasure in the series soon!

Book; ISBN 0061345660; New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2007

Leonardo’s Shadow, or, My Astonishing Life as Leanardo da Vinci’s Servant by Christopher Grey

Giacomo has no idea who he is, including his real name. His last memory is of running from a mob who thought he was a thief. As he falls off a rooftop in trying to escape his pursuers, he is rescued by Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian painter and inventor. This is a story of Giacomo’s quest to discover who he really is and of da Vinci’s creation of his masterpiece, The Last Supper. Da Vinci is horribly in debt and must finish The Last Supper before the Duke of Milan gives up on him and hires Michelangelo to finish the painting. He is already two years behind in working on the painting. Giacomo has a plan to help da Vinci get the painting finished and please the Duke of Milan before he becomes penniless. In the meantime, Giacomo is sure that da Vinci know the secret of his past, but why won’t da Vinci tell him? Furthermore, da Vinci refuses to give Giacomo painting lessons even though he works with pampered and spoiled young nobles to teach them an art they will never truly appreciate. Giacomo is determined to have his questions answered and to gain da Vinci’s trust.

The book is a great story that gives insight into da Vinci’s life and 15th century Milan. Giacomo tells the story as if you are living each step with him. If this were a movie, he would be speaking to the camera much of the time. The book is an easy read, but older teens will be able to enjoy it as much as younger teens. It's a must read for those who like to read historical fiction in order to learn more about certain time periods and historical figures. If you plan to travel to Italy someday, you may enjoy it for the location as well.

Book; 12+; ISBN 978-1416905448; New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006