Melissa de la Cruz (www.melissa-delacruz.com) is the author of many best-selling novels, including all the books in the Blue Bloods series: Blue Bloods, Masquerade, Revelations, The Van Alen Legacy, Keys to the Repository, Misguided Angel, Bloody Valentine, and Lost in Time. She lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband and daughter, and is hard at work on her brand new series, The Court of the Last Princess, due out in Winter 2014
Harper (the Just Grace novels) demonstrates that less is indeed
more in this quirky buddy-comedy sketch, first in the Bean Dog and
Nugget series. Minimalist, two-color cartoons in orange and gray
appear within rectangular panels, and Harper portrays her two
protagonists as inflated stick figures Bean Dog has a tall oval
shape, tiny Nugget is round with facial expressions that drive the
story s humor. The dialogue, delivered in speech balloons, is
similarly streamlined and snappy, and at times laugh-out-loud
funny. Bean Dog is enamored of his new ball, but he isn t very good
at sharing or playing nice. After he nails Nugget in the head with
it ( Think fast, Nugget! Catch! ), he gets upset when it bounces
into the bushes ( That was a bad catch ). They throw their shoes
into the bush in hopes of knocking the ball out, but it takes a
transformation into makeshift superheroes (after a particularly
funny extended riff on the line, Are you thinking what I m
thinking? ) to retrieve it. Bean Dog and Nugget squabble over sweet
treats in The Cookie, due simultaneously. Ages 5 C8. Agent: Amy
Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (May) PW"
The series that started back in 2004 concludes. Lucifer is on the
march, Jack and Mimi (vampires AND angels!) seem to be part of his
minions, Bliss is joining forces with the werewolves, and heroine
Schuyler, as usual, is trying to figure out what s going on. The
last title in the seven-book Blue Bloods series (along with two
companion volumes) is disjointed in structure and banal in its
writing, and in terms of biblical legend, it makes little sense.
Fans who have traversed countries and time zones with the gang over
the years get the conclusion of a big battle, but it is so
unimaginatively written, it might have been a description of a
tennis match. Then all is wrapped up with a poorly explained
miracle at the end. Though fans will be pleased all the loose ends
are neatly tied, whether they ll think the ending offered has been
worth waiting for is a question. Those looking for another
incarnation of Blue Bloods will not be disappointed. Apparently,
more are in the works. Ilene Cooper Booklist Online"
3Q 5P J S de la Cruz ends her popular Blue Bloods series with this
seventh novel that features many of the strengths and weaknesses of
its immediate predecessors. Set soon after Lost in Time (Hyperion,
2011/VOYA 2011), the novel finds the characters struggling to stop
Lucifer from fighting his way into Heaven. Schuyler and Oliver,
after spending time with Kingsley in London, find her father's
family in the United States, while Mimi and Jack are sent by
Lucifer out of the underworld, each with a terrible task. Bliss,
still with Lawson and the others in her wolf pack, has also
returned from the underworld to find that a year has passed.
Chapters alternate between the three female leads and the
historical incarnations of Gabrielle, all of whom, because of the
plot-centered narrative, are now virtually indistinguishable and
not particularly interesting as characters. In the end, Schuyler
has to sacrifice Jack's life in order to vanquish Lucifer; to give
up love (not to mention someone else's life) for the greater good
is what she must do to undo the sin of her father (who chose love),
although it does work out for her in the end. Oddly, the author
ignores any of the possible ramifications of a world that no longer
includes the Devil in favor of a happy ending. Still, all of the
lovers are reunited, Oliver finds his own true love in a slightly
icky, almost Breaking Dawn-esque twist, and fans of the series will
likely not be disappointed.-Vikki C. Terrile. VOYA"
Harper (the Just Grace novels) demonstrates that less is indeed
more in this quirky buddy-comedy sketch, first in the Bean Dog and
Nugget series. Minimalist, two-color cartoons in orange and gray
appear within rectangular panels, and Harper portrays her two
protagonists as inflated stick figures Bean Dog has a tall oval
shape, tiny Nugget is round with facial expressions that drive the
story s humor. The dialogue, delivered in speech balloons, is
similarly streamlined and snappy, and at times laugh-out-loud
funny. Bean Dog is enamored of his new ball, but he isn t very good
at sharing or playing nice. After he nails Nugget in the head with
it ( Think fast, Nugget! Catch! ), he gets upset when it bounces
into the bushes ( That was a bad catch ). They throw their shoes
into the bush in hopes of knocking the ball out, but it takes a
transformation into makeshift superheroes (after a particularly
funny extended riff on the line, Are you thinking what I m
thinking? ) to retrieve it. Bean Dog and Nugget squabble over sweet
treats in The Cookie, due simultaneously. Ages 5 C8. Agent: Amy
Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (May) PW"
The series that started back in 2004 concludes. Lucifer is on the
march, Jack and Mimi (vampires AND angels!) seem to be part of his
minions, Bliss is joining forces with the werewolves, and heroine
Schuyler, as usual, is trying to figure out what s going on. The
last title in the seven-book Blue Bloods series (along with two
companion volumes) is disjointed in structure and banal in its
writing, and in terms of biblical legend, it makes little sense.
Fans who have traversed countries and time zones with the gang over
the years get the conclusion of a big battle, but it is so
unimaginatively written, it might have been a description of a
tennis match. Then all is wrapped up with a poorly explained
miracle at the end. Though fans will be pleased all the loose ends
are neatly tied, whether they ll think the ending offered has been
worth waiting for is a question. Those looking for another
incarnation of Blue Bloods will not be disappointed. Apparently,
more are in the works. Ilene Cooper Booklist Online"
3Q 5P J S de la Cruz ends her popular Blue Bloods series with this
seventh novel that features many of the strengths and weaknesses of
its immediate predecessors. Set soon after Lost in Time (Hyperion,
2011/VOYA 2011), the novel finds the characters struggling to stop
Lucifer from fighting his way into Heaven. Schuyler and Oliver,
after spending time with Kingsley in London, find her father's
family in the United States, while Mimi and Jack are sent by
Lucifer out of the underworld, each with a terrible task. Bliss,
still with Lawson and the others in her wolf pack, has also
returned from the underworld to find that a year has passed.
Chapters alternate between the three female leads and the
historical incarnations of Gabrielle, all of whom, because of the
plot-centered narrative, are now virtually indistinguishable and
not particularly interesting as characters. In the end, Schuyler
has to sacrifice Jack's life in order to vanquish Lucifer; to give
up love (not to mention someone else's life) for the greater good
is what she must do to undo the sin of her father (who chose love),
although it does work out for her in the end. Oddly, the author
ignores any of the possible ramifications of a world that no longer
includes the Devil in favor of a happy ending. Still, all of the
lovers are reunited, Oliver finds his own true love in a slightly
icky, almost Breaking Dawn-esque twist, and fans of the series will
likely not be disappointed.-Vikki C. Terrile. VOYA"
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