Good Behavior by Donald Westlake

While escaping from a robbery attempt, Dortmunder falls through the roof of a convent. The cloistered nuns take this as a sign from heaven and tell Dortmunder (by writing notes) that they will not turn him in if he helps to return Sister Mary Grace to their convent. Sister Mary Grace is a young nun who is being kept in a tower apartment by her millionaire father, who is trying to deprogram her, but she is firm in her commitment to remain a nun. She is able to smuggle out the details of the high-rise's security system to Dortmunder, and the big escape plan begins.

Of course nothing really goes as planed as with most of Dortmunder's plans. He brings in the usual cast of characters to help him by promising them the king of heists. First he has to find a company that isn't quite on the up and up. He makes a deal with J.C. Taylor who owns several companies in one office. She gets a fee upfront and lets them use her office and shipping department to send out the stolen goods that will be sold to various fences. They can steal what can be mailed out of one of the shipping dept. Meanwhile why they are stealing various good Dortmunder goes to rescue the nun. In typical "nothing goes quite right" Dortmunder fashion. He gets off on the floor below the top floor and finds himself involved with a rebel group about to go and take a South American county. He manages to get himself rescued by the nun but is found hiding in a dishwasher. The gang at first decides to leave Dortmunder on his own but then come up with their own plan to rescue him. The police are brought in to arrest the rebels but unfortunately are doing a search to look for any other stolen goods hence backing the gang into a corner. A hilarious scene in which the nuns are brought in and all the guys dress up like nuns to escape.

I alway laugh when I read a Dortmunder novel and I managed to miss this one. So I'm glad that I went back to catch up on this one.

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Sequel to Case Histories. Jackson Brodie returns, following his girlfriend, Julia the actress, to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. He manages to fall into all kinds of trouble, starting with witnessing a brutal attack by "Honda Man" on another man stuck in a traffic jam. Another witness is Martin Canning, better known as Alex Blake, the writer. Martin is a shy, withdrawn, timid sort who, in a moment of unlikely action, flings a satchel at the attacker and spins him around, away from his victim. Gloria Hatter, wife of Graham, a millionaire property developer who is about to have all his secrets uncovered, is standing in a nearby queue with a friend when the attack takes place. There is nastiness afoot, and everyone is involved. Nothing is coincidental.

Through a labyrinthine plot which is hard to follow because the points of view are constantly changing, the real story is played out, complete with Russians, false and mistaken identities, dead bodies, betrayals, and all manner of violent encounters. Jackson gets pulled in to the investigation by Louise Monroe, a police detective and mother of an errant 14-year-old. Atkinson is good at keeping all the storylines straight as they cross and weave into a very complicated plot and an ending I didn't see coming. I almost did not read this book as I didn't care for Case Histories but I found myself wanting to know more about Jackson and how it might end.

Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller

White-haired, leprechaun-size Kiki Strike is a new student at Atalanta School in New York City when she meets 12-year-old Ananka Fishbein, the narrator of Miller's debut novel. Together they begin a detailed exploration of the Shadow City, the subterranean rooms and streets under New York's subway system, and Kiki recruits a team of other precocious 12-year-olds, whose skills include hacking, chemistry, lock picking, forging, making handmade explosives, and mechanical engineering, to join them. Ananka, the team's urban archaeologist, will supply her family's extensive library and learn everything about rats, the current Shadow City inhabitants. As the girls try to obtain layered maps of New York City's infrastructure, they fear that terrorists with the same goals are putting the city in terrible danger. The peripheral plotline about a nefarious, exiled princess of Pokrovia, who is a fellow Atalanta School student makes the story flow.

The end of each chapter gives us tips from Ananka on topics such as "How to Be a Master of Disguise" and "How to Foil a Kidnapping" and many more. This book was great fun. I found the story fresh and exciting and I didn't want it to end. I liked how it didn't try to make everything take place in a week. The book actually takes place over 2-3 years. We see the characters develop and evolve into very interesting girls. I'm hoping we'll get to know more about the other girls as we only really get to know the most about Ananka (since she narrates) and Kiki. This reminds me of Aretemis Fowl but for girls.

Witch way to murder: an Ophelia and Abby mystery / by Shirley Damsgaard

Thirty something Ophelia Jensen wants to live a quiet life as a small town librarian. She's created a comfortable existence with her kooky, colorful grandmother Abby, and if it were up to her, they could live out their days--along with Ophelia's dog Lady and cat Queenie--in peace and quiet. But, to Ophelia's dismay, she and Abby aren't a typical grandmother/granddaughter duo. She possesses psychic powers, and Abby is a kindly witch. And while Ophelia would do anything to dismiss her gift--harboring terrible guilt after her best friend was killed and she was unable to stop it--threatening events keep popping up, forcing her to tap into her powers of intuition. To make matters worse, a strange--yet devastatingly attractive--man is hanging around Ophelia's library, and no matter how many times she tells him she's sworn off men forever, he persists. Soon this handsome newcomer reveals he's following a lead on a local drug ring, and then a dead body shows up right in Abby's backyard. And much as Ophelia would like to put away her spells forever, she and Abby must use their special powers to keep themselves, and others, out of harm's way.

Ophelia is a great character, so intent on not getting hurt again that the walls she's built inside have kept her from really knowing people, like her coworker Darci. Ophelia's past is slowly revealed throughout the course of the book, so readers learn why she is the way she is, just as she herself does. Abby is another good character, content in who she is and not caring what other people think. Rick, with his incessant questions is annoying at first, but grew on me as a character once his true reason for being in town was revealed. The magick that Abby (and Ophelia to a lesser extent) perform is very believable, as is Ophelia's struggle to accept her gifts and her past. The mystery itself is a bit darker than in most cozy mysteries, but pretty easy to figure out, since it's obvious from the beginning who the bad guys are. It will be interesting to see future books with these characters.

Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain

America's favorite girl detective is back to set the record straight. According to our titian-haired heroine, she was not a fictional character, but an intrepid real-life sleuth who investigated some of the twentieth century's biggest mysteries. And the famous series she starred in was not cooked up by a team of writers, but plagiarized from her exploits by a nosy college roommate-who, not surprisingly, got a whole lot wrong.

This book is the story of the real Nancy Drew. Taking 10 cases, it explores her life from the 1920's to 1992. As the times change, so does Nancy's life. But she still finds herself caught up in mysteries that often involve other famous teen sleuths like Frank and Joe Hardy, Judy Bolton, and Encyclopedia Brown. And they are quite eye opening for all concerned. Make no mistake about it, this book is intended for adults and not kids. There are lots of adult themes, and no halos are left intact.

The author nailed that part when she has Nancy talk about how we the readers never want to seem these characters grow up or change. On the other hand, I found the cameos by other teen sleuths (and there seems to be at least one every chapter) quite fun. Obviously, the more you know about them, the more you'll enjoy the references. Since I've read a lot of children's mystery series from the 1940's on I enjoyed having these cameos. Of course, some come out looking better then others. The storylines of each chapter are quite fun as they find Nancy in various points of history.

This is a fun read for those who loved reading mysteries from Nancy Drew to Encyclopedia Brown. It will make you laugh and feel nostalgic.

Deja Dead by Kathleen Reichs

Dr. Temperance Brennan is a fortyish American forensic anthropologist from the South, who is working in French-speaking Montreal. A recovering alcoholic, she is divorced, mother of a college-age daughter, troubled--and incredibly good at what she does. In a tight story heavily interspersed with fascinating scenarios of Montreal, Temperance (called "Tempe") is called upon to autopsy a young female victim of a pathologically gruesome murder.

When an unidentified female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in garbage bags, Tempe detects an alarming pattern within the grisly handiwork -- and her professional detachment gives way to a harrowing search for a killer in the city's winding streets. With little help from the police, Tempe calls on her expertise, honed in the isolated intensity of the autopsy suite, to investigate on her own. But her determined chase is about to place those closest to her -- her best friend and her daughter -- in mortal danger....

I'm a big fan of the show Bones - based on this series. So I was curious to see how they compared. Very differently but interesting to compare. It was interesing how the book is from the 1st person point of view but often I felt left out on why she was reacting or feeling they way she was. So I'm interested to see if Tempe's character is further developed.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus (Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth) when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train.

The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison. But there he also falls in love with Marlena, one of the show's star performers—a romance complicated by Marlena's husband, the unbalanced, sadistic circus boss who beats both his wife and the animals Jankowski cares for. He also is introduced to an elephant named Rosie.

The book jumps from the present and him remembering the past. It has a mixture of extremely graphic violence and a dreamlike vision of his life in the circus. Then you are slammed back into his reality of living in a glamorized nursing home, alone with only his memories.

I liked how his life was summed up but did not find the ending believable but appreciated the romantic notion it gave. She has an interesting voice that makes you want to know what happens.

Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick
It is England, 1915. 17 year Alexandra Fox lives a privileged life in Brighton. Her elder brothers are both of age for the war, one wants to be a soldier and the other a doctor and does not want to fight. Their disapproving father is a doctor but only sees the honor his sons must bring to the family by fighting the war. Alexandra wants to become a nurse but discovers she has a terrible gift. She can see the future. Her premonitions show her brutal horrors on the battlefields of the Somme, corpse worms crawling over the faces of soldiers soon to die. And worse, they show her what will happen to Edgar and Tom.

Like the Prophetess Cassandra, who witnessed a different war on the plains of Troy, Alexandra is trapped by her tragic power. Cursed by a fate too awful to bear - for who wants to see the end of their own story...? Alexandra's story leads her to the French battlefields, and the road to High Wood, pursued all the while by a mysterious vision of a raven, mocking and taunting her.

Interestingly told as the chapters count down from 101 to 1, leading more to the countdown to doom. It is told from the point of view of Alexandra as her dreams and visions show her the death of soldiers and eventually her brothers. Unable to help her brother Edgar she is determined to save Tom. So she goes as a volunteer nurse to France and the front. In France, she meets a soldier like herself who can see the deaths of those around him. Together they search for Tom. But will she be able to save Tom or is his fate already decided?

This read very fast and was an interesting twist on the typical teen historical novels. I would read more by him.

Strangers in Paradise: High School! by Terry Moore
Francine and Katchoo have always been a study in contrasts. Francine is soft, chubby, and flighty, prone to fits of giddiness and a constant worrier. Katchoo is hard, lean, and dangerous, prone to fits of violence, and constantly vigilant. That these two should be best friends baffles, until you delve into their high school years.

For Francine, torture came in the forms of being a klutz, always being the odd one out, being the starry-eyed romantic when she's just a chubby girl on the fringe. Francine has a family who loves her, a mother who feeds her whenever something goes wrong, a father who spends an awful lot of time at the office, and a brother more interested in college life than his little sister.
Katchoo, on the other hand, is a self-declared outcast. She smokes, she rides a motorcycle, she is just as likely to punch you as to acknowledge you, and generally has no use for the people serving the same four-year term at puncture high. But where Francine's family provides (in their own way) comfort when the chips are down, Katchoo's family is likely to be the reason the chips are down.

Maybe it's not so surprising that these two girls find one another, and take solace in beig outcasts together.

I have heard about Moore's series but never read any before. So now I need to figure out how to read them and start from the first volume.

Charm City by Laura Lippman

Business tycoon "Wink" Wynkowski is trying to bring pro basketball back to town, and everybody's rooting fro him -- until a devastating, muckraking expose of his lurid past appears on the front page of the Baltimore Beacon-Light. It's a surprise even to the Blight's editors, who thought they'd killed the piece. Instead, the piece killed Wink -- who's found in his garage with the car running.

Now the paper wants to nail the unknown computer hacker who planted the lethal story, and the assignment is right up the alley of a former newshound like Tess. But it doesn't take long for her to discover deeper, darker secrets, and to realize that this situation is really more about whacking than hacking.

We see more development of her relationship with several characters including her parents. We see more of Uncle Spike (who may not even be related to anyone) who has been found beaten to a pulp in his bar, leaving him in a coma. He left Tess his very bow-beaten greyhound who she finds herself nursing back to health.

The mystery is kind of not the most important thing as the person who ended up doing was kind of far fetched and I didn't see it coming. But I find myself wanting to know more about Tess and her friends and family. So I'll keep reading the next one.

Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich
This is a "between-the-numbers" Stephanie Plum novel. Stephanie already has two guys in her life (cop Joe Morelli and bounty hunter Ranger), reconnects with Diesel, a third heartthrob. Diesel offers Stephanie a deal: if he lets her find Annie Hart, a relationship coach who's become a big-ticket bond on Stephanie's Most Wanted List after fleeing a charge for a robbery she didn't commit, then Stephanie can do Annie a big favor by playing Cupid for a number of Annie's lovelorn clients, including a shy butcher, a desperate vet, an overworked single mom, a 30-something virgin and the marriage-phobic fellow who just happens to be Stephanie's pregnant sister's boyfriend. Diesel and Stephanie's short but sweet adventure ends on a teasing note that will leave fans hungry for the next juicy Plum-a-thon.

More of a novela than a full fledged novel it is still packed with laugh-out-loud moments. I felt kind of let down by the ending but it's no more a cliff-hanger than the previous books. So we'll see what comes out this summer. If Diesel is still around or left behind.

Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams (Myths, The)
by Alexander McCall Smith

A contemporary, lyrical retelling of the ancient tale of Angus, Celtic god of dreams and love. This is the latest entry in Canongate's Myth series, featuring such literary notables as Margaret Atwood, Chinua Achebe, and Karen Armstrong.

Angus is the son of chief Celtic god Dagda and Boann, a water nymph. Soon after his birth, the infant is snatched up by his formidable father and delivered to Dagda's other son, Midir, to be raised. Too young to know better, Angus assumes his brother is his father. The clever boy soon learns the truth and plays a trick on his self-absorbed dad. Alongside this playful plot, McCall Smith weaves modern-day yarns in which well-intentioned (and often devious) Angus transforms troubled lives: he remedies a newlywed couple's rocky start; bonds two beloved Scottish brothers, soon to be separated by thousands of miles; and quietly intercedes to prevent a father and son from coming to blows.

This was very different than previous novels by Smith. It felt kind of disjointed yet not at the same time. I've read most of his other series and I liked how this had a different voice. I cannot exactly say it was my favorite but it was good. I don't know how he finds time to write all that he does.

Higher Power of Lucky written by Susan Patron

2007 Newbery winner
When 10 year old, Lucky's mother is electrocuted and dies after a storm, Lucky's absentee father calls his ex-wife, Brigitte, to fly over from France to take care of the child. Two years later, the 10-year-old worries that Brigitte is tired of being her guardian and of their life in Hard Pan (pop. 42) in the middle of the California desert. While Lucky's best friend ties intricate knots and the little boy down the road cries for attention, she tries to get some control over her life by restocking her survival kit backpack and searching for her Higher Power and by eavesdroping on 12-step program meetings from her hiding place behind Hard Pan’s Found Object Wind Chime Museum & Visitor Center. Eccentric characters and quirky details spice up Lucky’s life just as her guardian Brigitte’s fresh parsley embellishes her French cuisine.

This was a lovely story. Sometimes I read the latest Newbery and say, ok, it was good - quirky and different. This one is all of those thing but it also has such a quiet feel to it. More descriptive than dialog and I think that is what makes it work so well. You feel like you are there with her in the heat and wind. This is truly a character who makes a difference in the lives around her. You want her to succeed and find happiness. Her worries became mine and I wanted her to find security.

Legend of Banzai Maguire by Susan Grant

1st in the 2176 series
We start in 2006 as U.S. Air Force fighter Bree "Bonzai" Maguire is preparing for a routine patrol between North and South Korea. She feels a shiver of apprehension and soon finds her foreboding to be well founded when she and her wingman, Cam, are trapped by a mad scientist and frozen alive—until treasure hunter Ty Armstrong rescues her 170 years later. Bree awakens to a new era in human history, one enhanced by advanced technologies but bereft of freedom. Almost immediately, Bree is stolen from Ty by the prince of the Kingdom of Asia, Kyber, who offers her innumerable luxuries. Bree knows, however, that she's little more than a treasured pet to him. Desperate to find her wingman, Bree turns to Ty, but she soon learns that he's as helpless as she and that his country, formerly the U.S. but now the bloated and unstable United Colonies of Earth, is even worse than Kyber's benevolent dictatorship.

Both are told to watch the shadows and sure enough when the mysterious Shadow voice takes over all communications Ty and Bree use the opportunity to escape to find out who and what the shadow voice is all about. Unfortunately we don't learn too much about that part as there are 4 more books in the series. I read the 2nd one first so know more about the Shadow people from book 2 - Day of Fire by Kathleen Nance which gives us more info about Canada, which because of the plague are shut off from the rest of the world.

I have enjoyed both books and it is interesting to have different authors write each book. The 1st and 5th book are both written by Grant. I'm already wanting to read book 3!

Hopeless Savages by Jen Van Meter, Christine Norrie & Chynna Clugston-Major

Story follows the members of the Hopeless-Savage family. Parents Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage are old-school punks who were part of the 70's punk scene. They married and moved to the suburbs to raise their children. The thread running throughout the stories is a family which superficially doesn't fit the "norm" but which can still stand together and function better than most "normal" families.

This storyline deals with Dirk and Nikki being kidnapped and their children trying to find them. They suspect it has something to do with their parents' past; so Arsenal, Twitch, and Zero first track down their older brother Rat, who they believe would know more about the situation but who left the family ten years earlier. Zero is at first reluctant to find him, feeling betrayed when he left. They finally locate him using their father's real name as a pseudonym and working at a trendy coffee company's corporate office, Monjava (a company resembling Starbucks). After attempting to de-program him they unravel the mystery of their parents' abduction, which stems back to copyright issues and Dirk's embarrassing past as a teen idol. Lots of kicking butt ensues. But most importantly will Skank get to her gig in time?

Rat Bastard's the eldest of the Hopeless-Savage children. At age fifteen he was rejected by a girl he was dating, prompting him to renounce his punk roots and move away from home.
Arsenal Fierce, second-oldest, runs a martial arts dojo and lives with her boyfriend Claude Shi, a fashion designer.

Twitch Strummer, third-oldest, works as an artist and dates Claude's younger brother Henry Shi, whom he dated in high school before breaking up to go to college. Unlike the rest of his family, Twitch identifies more with mod culture rather than punk. He sometimes exhibits hyper-active tendencies which some theorize is the result of controlled substances (he jokes about being on crack early in the first issue) and sometimes will work all night on a project without sleep.

Skank Zero is the youngest sibling and main protagonist of the series; most of the stories unfold around Zero. As a high school student, she's the only member of the family who's still in school. Zero fronts a band called the Dusted Bunnies and wants to study filmmaking as a "backup plan".

A fun interesting series. More out there from what I've read so will try the next edition to get a better idea. Skank's outbursts get a bit old for me.

Teenage Wasteland
Volume 2 collects #7 - 12 in the Runaways series
The runaways are trying to gather their knowledge and do good deeds to undo the bad things their parents have done. Alex is working to desipher the book taken from the Pride that will give the history behind the group. It is hinted several times that one of the runaways will help the Pride out by reveling their whereabouts.

1st storyline
On an impromtue mission to get snacks at the local convience store they stop a robbery in progress and discover another teen who is being controlled by his evil parents. 16 year old Topher goes with the gang to their hide-out and suddenly Nico (aka Sister Grim) and Karolina (aka Lucy in the Sky) come to blows for his affections. When Topher and Nico go outside to escape it all Nico disovers Topher's big secret - he's a vampire! Yikes! The normal ways to kill him won't work except sunlight. When he tries to bite Karolina (she's made of sunwaves) he emplodes.

2nd storyline
A lieutenant with the L.A.P.D. bring in vigilantes, Cloak and Dagger, from the East Coast to bring the runaways home. But we know he is in the pocket of the Pride (runways evil parents). Cloak and Dagger quickly find the runaways and apprehend them. While Cloak has 4 of them under his cloak it is hinted that one of them is not as innocent as the others. Is it Alex, Nico, Karolina or Chase? Gert (aka Arsenic) and Molly come along and save the day by yankig Cloak's cloak off him literally leaving the four stranded in Dark Force Dimension. We find that the Cloak is a stuttering young man. When Dagger gives Cloak back his powers and it brings back the 4 and we never find out who is the dark force. Cloak and Dagger promise to bring back re-enforcements to help the runways defeat the Pride. So as the runways return to their secret lair Cloak and Dagger are captured by the Pride and their minds are erased.

This is a fast moving series leaving me wanting more. Thankfully I have volume 3 already checked out!

Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
Volume 3 of the series in which Scott, Canadian slacker attempts to defeat his crush-object Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends. This time, Scot is pitted against #3 of the evil ex-boyfriends, Todd Ingram, the current boyfriend of his ex, rock star Envy Adams; they battle at a discount department store and a rock club. Unfortunately, Todd's got psychic powers, because he's a vegan ("graduated top of his class from vegan academy and everything"), and he's also a much better bass player. On top of that, Scott's band, Sex BobOmb, can't quite get it together; 17-year-old ninja Knives Chau is still obsessed with him; and the mysterious Ramona Flowers is becoming envious of Envy.

We learn more about Scott's past and his infatuation with Envy (aka Natalie). He has such loyal friends who will stand behind him even when it appears he cannot win. This was much more funny to me because of all the minor storylines going on. I had trouble with some of the artwork as characters blur and it becomes hard to tell who is who and when the flashbacks even end. But overall very happy with the storyline and I'm assuming 4 more volumes to go!

Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.

Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams.

The main point I got from this fable is that often what you searching for is usually right there all along, and that the journey you take to find it is about learning lessons and growing as a person. Life is in the journey, not the destination! I found this book very mystical and it took me about 2 weeks to read which is a long time for me. I had to read it in small doses. I'm not sure if I would read more by Coelho but would probably read this book again down the road.

Nobody's Perfect by Donald Westlake

Dortmunder is about to begin a defense against being caught red-handed with a stack of television sets he is stealing. As a twice-convicted felon, that's bad news. Suddenly, in walks one of the great criminal defense attorneys, J. Radcliffe Stonewiler, Esq., and in an hour-and-a-half Dortmunder is a free man. What's going on? That's what Dortmunder wonders, too, and he soon finds out that he has an obligation to fulfill to Arnold Chauncey, a society collector who likes to fill in the gaps in his income with payments from his insurance company for art that has "disappeared."

Although he's not excited about the caper, Dortmunder figures it will be pretty easy and the payoff is a large one. Then, while lifting a $400,000 painting, he decides to take just one or two other items . He brings in the usual gang plus a new guy. We are introduced to the large and easily angered tough guy, Tiny Bulcher and the Continental Detective Agency also makes another appearance, having been reassigned after losing the bank in a past novel. When Dortmunder gets stuck in the elevator he hands the painting to Kelp and waits until the coast is clear. Unfortunately Kelp and gang get involved in a Scottish Clan fight and the painting is lost and everything begins to unravel.

Wealthy but poor in cash Arnold Chauncey is one of the most larcenous rich people you will ever meet, aided by an indifference to the needs of others and a diabolical mind for finding ways to get what he wants. Chauncey has taken out his own insurance policy on Dortmunder, a professional killer, who will kill him if Dortmunder does not produce the painting after the insurance payoff in approximately 6 months.

Of course with the painting lost Dortmunder devises another master plan to tricking Chauncey into thinking the killer has stolen the painting from him. It works for awhile but before long Chauncy comes calling and demanding the painting. Well low and behold the painting has shown up in Scotland as a long lost work in an old lady's attic. Once again Dortmunder shows why he is the master planner and they are all to London to steal the painting back. But with usual Dortmunder luck nothing goes according to plan.

I laughed a lot during this book. The problems he and Kelp get into are classic and you can just picture this happening.

Breaking Up: Fashion High Graphic Novel by Aimee Friedman and art by Chrstine Norrie

Friends forever! That is exactly how Chloe Sacks feels about her tight group of girlfriends. Since what seems like forever, Chloe, Isabel, Erika, and Mackenzie have been inseparable. They did everything together, from sharing secrets to gossiping with one another. And when they start out their junior year together, Chloe is sure that it will be another great year for them all. But little does she know that as they enter their junior year, they may actually become distant. The new school year does not start off too well for the girls. Instead of having all of their classes together they only have one--Health, with the very weird Ms. Lamour.

Not only are their schedules changing, but so are they. It seems like all Mackenzie can think about is getting "in" with the popular crowd, befriending Nicola Burnett, the girlfriend of Gabe, who Mackenzie is beginning to fall for. Isabel is having trouble with her very controlling parents, especially when she really wants to date soccer player Brad Richmond. Erika loves her boyfriend, Kyle, very much, but is beginning to question their relationship since all Kyle thinks about is pressuring her to take their relationship to the "next level." And Chloe is beginning to have feelings for Adam Stevenson, who, unfortunately, around school is considered a loser, even by her own friends. A new year, new relationships, and a new perspective on how the girls begin to look at each other. It seems like the girls' junior year isn't turning out to be what they expected.

A more modern version of DeGrassi High. This is the perfect graphic novel for a preteen or high school girl who feels that she might be losing her best friend or changing.