In My Mailbox #15



In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted every Sunday over at The Story Siren. A great meme which allows bloggers to share what they receive/buy/borrow each week.







For review




Title: The Name of the Star
Author: Maureen Johnson
Published: September 2011
By: Putnam

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.




Title: The Flight of the Silver Vixen
Author: Annalinde Matichei
Published: February 2011
By: Sun Daughter Press


The Flight of the Silver Vixen is an all-girl space adventure that is at once an action-packed thriller and an exploration of philosophical themes.

It begins with a group of wild teenagers from an all-girl planet hijacking a spacecraft and accidentally warping to the other side of the galaxy.

It proceeds through deadly battles with space pirates to a landing on another all-girl world where we rapidly discover that something much darker than mere pirates is threatening civilization on many planets.

This is an action-packed page-turner starring a young delinquent-turned-captain who literally knows no fear, a princess-turned delinquent, in whose hands lies the fate of millions and many other remarkable characters.

Swashbuckling space-opera? Absolutely. But as the book progresses we also discover much deeper philosophical and spiritual themes.

The Flight of the Silver Vixen is a first. While there have been "science fiction" books about worlds in which women live without men for over a century, they have all featured human women who, for whatever reason, live and reproduce manlessly. This book is about feminine beings, resembling women in most ways, who have two feminine sexes and have never had any relation to males.

In the course of the adventure, we come to learn more about these all-feminine peoples, their history, their beliefs and attitudes and their fierce struggle for survival in an increasingly dangerous universe.




Title: Reborn
Author: Ley Mesina
Published: May 2011

Lily Westbrook discovers that being half witch and half vampire is more of a challenge than she thought. When her powers mature on her eighteenth birthday, she unlocks a mystery that many witches thought was a legend.

After moving back to her birthplace in Cedar Creek, MA to attend Kensington University, Lily is instantly pulled deeper into the world she was kept from—the world of witches and vampires—uncovering the truth about her past and discovering who she is meant to be.







Title: The Sword Quest
Author: Martin Chu Shui
Published: September 2010

When East and West combine…

Half-Chinese, half-Australian, Liz is not interested in her father’s ancient Tao wisdom, or his cryptic tales. She is more concerned with environmental issues—particularly the plan to mine one of Australia’s great landmarks, Wave Rock. Her father’s latest gift, a Chinese calligraphy pen, seems set to take its place in her bottom drawer forever.
Then Wave Rock is blasted open by something more than a mining operation, and Liz finds that she must battle monsters from ancient times as well as creatures from other worlds, all intent on destroying Earth. She must call on all her powers, from both her Eastern heritage and her Western upbringing, to save her world. Her pen becomes her way into a new and magical world, and Liz discovers she has powers—and allies—that she never could have guessed.
An exciting, fast-paced tale that combines the wisdom of ancient tradition with the pace of a Kung Fu movie and brings them to life in contemporary Australia, this exciting tale takes the best of two cultures and blends them to open up a new world of adventure and mystery.




Title: The House of Sherbet
Author: Simon Dale
Published: March 2011

Thirteen year old Jake spends Christmas with his parents at the Oakhouse, the once grand, now decrepit home to his grandfather. Jake quickly begins to realise that the Oakhouse and Granddad Sherbet are not all they seem. On Christmas Eve, Jake's parents disappear, only to reappear six inches tall and having been turned to wood. ??Granddad Sherbet, together with his octogenarian friends, prepares to steal Jake's youth and nascent magical powers.

So that's what I got this week. What did you get?

Happy reading :)