Jet Black and the Ninja Wind by Leza Lowitz and Shogo Oketani

On one level,  Jet Black is an adventure and action tale starring a 17-year-old precocious kunoichi, or female ninja, who sets out on a mission to her ancestral home in Japan's Oe Mountains to fulfill her dying mother's last wish.  Jet doesn't fully understand what she is supposed to do when she arrives in the village to meet her maternal grandfather, but she quickly learns that she is the target of a violent gang who will stop at nothing to kidnap her.  The early part of the book is a fast-paced account of Jet's, her grandfather's and cousin's fight to escape the gang, and contact her uncle Soji in Tokyo.  There are several stirring action sequences that display Jet's ninja fighting talents and those of her cousin, Hiro.  We learn that simple coins can be turned into deadly missiles and Ninja can move with the wind and blend with their surroundings to escape detection.

The book is more than just the adventure, however.  It is also a mystery couched in Japanese history, as Jet and her allies try to figure out what she knows about the Kuroi family's "treasure" that she, as the only surviving  Kuroi female, is duty-bound to protect and preserve.  Through her cousin, Jet learns about her tribe, the Emeshi, who  lived in the north in the Oe Mountains long before the emperor's forces invaded.  As Jet follows the path laid out for her by her elders and struggles to keep herself and Hiro safe, she  also learns more about herself and what powers she possesses.  While some may find the pacing of this part of the book trying, the glimpses into Japanese culture and myth are well-researched and informative.

Jet is a complex and compelling character.  While most of the supporting characters, Hiro, Soji and J-Bird (her mother's partner), serve mainly as vehicles to further the historical narrative, the  competing senses of danger and attraction that Jet feels towards Takumi, the ninja that hunts her,  create a welcome complication.  Overall, this is a satisfying read.  Recommended.

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Flight Behavior contains many overarching themes: the challenges of poverty in the rural South, global warming and its many implications,  and the constraints and supports of social and faith-based networks in small communities.  The hope and despair that fight for predominance in all of these elements come together in the person of Dellarobia Turnbow.  Kingsolver has created a character who is genuine, one who struggles with the demands of being a young mother with two young children, who is trapped in a loveless marriage with a good man who has succumbed to the limited future his poverty and education have laid out for him and who spends his ample free time on the couch, channel surfing.  In the beginning of the novel Dellarobia is essentially a stereotype of women in the poor South--she married too young, is unskilled and undereducated, and is resigned to a life of dollar stores and dependency. Desperate for any sort of escape, Dellarobia is on her way to a tryst in the woods behind her home when she comes upon a miraculous site that stops her in her tracks. As Dellarobia and her community seek to understand the vision and its meaning, they must also deal with an influx of tourists, the media, opportunists, environmentalists, and a dedicated group of scientists.  Kingsolver has affection for and trust in Dellarobia and all of the characters.  The small-minded and bitter are balanced by those driven to find the truth and do the right thing, and all are capable of growth.  Flight Behavior is a wonderful book, containing a strong female lead, insights into the world of science and particular ecosystems, and a plea for the planet.

Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

Durango has given his word that he will protect the miners of Outpost Fisher Four against the increasingly destructive raids of the Draeus--part-human carnivores who go wild at even the thought of blood and who demand the miners’ children (to eat) in return for “peace.”  Durango is a dalit, a disgraced regulator highly trained in warfare and duty.  Traditionally a regulator commits suicide when his commander or leader dies, but Durango’s father, former head of the planetary (Mars) government, ordered his son to live and to claim his rightful place as ruler of the planet. Durango and his small band have become mercenaries--this time on a mission to fight a ruthless opponent in defense of a subterranean culture that has its own sinister secrets. At his side is the feisty and seemingly unattainable Vienne--who wields her armalite with deadly accuracy and who is sworn to protect and serve her chief, which doesn’t mean she has to respect or even like him.  Durango also conducts constant and witty “thought-conversations” with Mimi, his symbiotic nano brain implant, who serves as a scout, advisor, and monitor of his armor's electronics.  

The book is best characterized by its nonstop action--usually quite violent and bloody, as the regulators blast away with armalites, explosives and chain guns against an enemy that travels on power sleds and is armed with plasma projectiles and grenades. To be caught by a Drae means to be eaten alive. Mystery about what treasure the miners are hiding, hints of romance, and Durango’s sense of humor combined with crisp dialog add to the entertainment value of this tale set in a dystopian future on a environmentally traumatized planet.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post: a novel by Emily M. Danforth

Cameron Post is an orphan; her parents were killed in a car accident when she was 12.  When she heard the news, Cam was on a sleepover with her best friend, Irene.  Just the day before, the girls were in the barn at Irene's ranch, kissing, a memory that leaves Cam with an almost overwhelming sense of guilt.  The novel serves as Cameron's journal of discovery; through it she speaks of her struggles to come to terms with her sexuality and her unconventional values in the highly conservative atmosphere of Miles City, Montana, where to survive means to blend in.   The tension of suppressing her identity as a lesbian runs through the first half of the book.  Eventually, Cam develops an intimate relationship with a popular and beautiful cowgirl, only to have her trust and love betrayed in humiliating fashion. Her aunt sends her to God's Promise, a residential center for re-educating teens exhibiting deviant behavior.  There, Cam discovers friendship, support and the ability to deal with her parents' death.  The book delves into complex, sensitive subjects in the stunning yet at time suffocating atmosphere of rural Montana.   While occasionally unsettling, as the voice of the much wiser narrator at the end is the same one giving a realtime account of the sexual awakening of a 12-year-old, the novel is a worthwhile read.  Recommended

17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma

Seventeen-year-old Lauren Woodman stops at a red light one day and sees an old flyer on a telephone pole asking for information about a missing 17-year old girl.  The assumption that Abigail Sinclair, the girl in question, is a runaway starts Lauren thinking about all the missing girls who are forgotten by their communities. Lauren begins to see visions of a former neighbor and babysitter who left home when she was 17 as well as glimpses of Abigail and her activities on the night she disappeared.   Ghostly images of the girls appear in her car, in her home and in her dreams.  Lauren starts to understand that there is something ominous about their individual stories;  clearly they did not all choose to leave home forever.  She knows she needs to do something to make the police and the girls' families more aware--to keep looking!

The suspense builds as Lauren puts herself in some pretty sketchy situations--visiting people related in one way or another to the missing girls and trespassing in a gloomy, isolated summer camp where Abby worked until, abruptly, she didn't.  Increasingly it becomes apparent that Lauren is obsessed and very troubled.  She breaks up with her boyfriend, shuts out her mother, avoids her former best friend, and starts skipping school. Lauren's voice as she tells her story is one of desperation--she knows she is losing the ability to distinguish between her visions and reality, but doesn't believe she can trust anyone to help her find out the truth about the girls who, through her, are crying for help.  As her relationships with her friends and family wither, her communications with the ghosts increase in frequency and power, telling Lauren what to do.  Lauren's struggles,  punctuated by the tragic stories of the missing teens, make this a definite page-turner.

Night Angel

The Way of the Shadows is the first of Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy.  This fantasy fiction series introduces the reader to two very strong, but diverse characters  Durzo and Azoth (later known as Kylar). One is a "wetboy", a well-known assassin; the other is an orphan who must steal money to pay dues to the guild rat and food to survive.  His only way out is to become Durzo's apprentice.  Together, they face heart-wrenching decisions and the cruelties of reality.  You are immediately invested in these two characters - their strengths, weaknesses and internal conflicts.  It is thought-provoking, a fast-read and very captivating.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

Dodger is, of course, the Artful Dodger.  In this Victorian mystery, he is master of the sewers, and this propensity to pop up anywhere on London's streets puts him in the middle of a murderous attack on a young woman one dark and rainy night.  After driving off her assailants, Dodger then prepares to fight off two passers-by,  one of whom turns out to be Charles Dickens.  This is a great story of a young man struggling against all odds to save the girl from future harm while dodging powerful forces that seek to control the fate of nations.  Pratchett uses real characters, among them Benjamin Disraeli, a growing political player in London; Sir Robert Peel, head of London's police; wealthy, influential Angela Burdett-Coutts; and, of course, Dickens as newspaperman  His characters reveal much about life and language of the underclass, with accurate details on the diseases, filth, crime,  despair, and unexpected kindnesses that defined London's darker world.  At the same time, this is a tale of derring-do as Dodger proves himself to be nimble in both body and mind, and fully able to craft clever plots to foil his many enemies.  Lots of fun.