FINISHED:

Stroud, Jonathan. (2009). Heroes of the valley. New York: Hyperion.

[LOVED. Recommending for the ACL 2009 Distinguished Books list.

Here's what I wrote for the review:

Many years ago, the twelve House heads of the valley banded together to fight off the evil, subterranean Trow. Now, many years later with the Trow at bay, Halli Sveinsson, a stubby and unattractive youth who happens to be in line for the head of his House, sets out to seek revenge against those from another House in the valley whom he witnessed murdering his uncle. Stroud, author of the celebrated Bartimeaus Trilogy (Hyperion, 2003-2006), has crafted an engaging adventure story brimming with action, intrigue, murder, legend, and mystery that borrows heavily from Viking lore. Surprisingly, there’s also a good amount of humor to be found here which serves to make the characters all the more human and believable. A romance bubbles between Halli and Aud, a young “princess” of her House, and Aud helps Halli to question all that he has been taught about the hero of his house, Svein – whose tales are told at the beginning of each chapter. As it turns out, all of the other Houses in the valley have similar stories about their heroes who participated in the conquering of the Trow, each claiming that their House’s hero was the greatest of them all. In addition, the very existence of the Trow is questioned; although no one has actually seen one in generations, everyone has just taken for granted that they exist based on lore. These plot points bring up the timely and important idea of questioning our heroes and what our elders have always told us to worship or fear. What (or who…) are the real demons that haunt us? And isn’t it true that we don’t have to live in the shadows of our heroes but all have the ability to be ones ourselves?]

STARTED:
Watson, Jude. (2009). Beyond the grave. New York: Scholastic.

[Only on Book #4?!? Not really sure why I keep reading these... I guess I just hope that there will be some big payoff in the end which will make it all worth it. If they weren't so short and light I would've given up a long time ago.]

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