Chandra Prasad

Saskia Brown has just moved from Arizona to the small town of Coventon after her parents have divorced. Saskia is feeling majorly blah over the whole ordeal and hasn't found where she fits in. Saskia's one friend so far is another outsider, Lila. When Saskia is assigned to research Robert Cornelious for one of her classes, she finally feels excited about something. Saskia encourages Lila to let her borrow the original daguerreotype of Robert Cornelious from Lila's job at the college library. show more While at the library, Lila shows Saskia the tools used to make daguerreotypes and Saskia touches some mercury. Later that evening, Saskia dreams of Robert in his shop, talks with him and learns things she possibly couldn't have known. Saskia shares her dream experience with Lila and a few other girls at school- Paige, Sarah Beth and Adrienne. They each steal a daguerreotype and some Mercury, dreaming and interacting with their boyfriends in the past. However, as the girls dream, the Mercury Boys club becomes more intense and the rules make it difficult for the girls to have lives outside of the club. Is it even real or just a fever dream?

Mercury Boys is a completely unique young adult book. I was intrigued by the idea of being able to dream and interact with people in the past by touching their daguerreotype and mercury. I also liked learning about Robert Cornelious, a real historical figure who is noted to have taken the first selfie. Saskia's character pulled me into this idea with a man from the past helping her deal better with her situation in the present. Lila was the most interesting character for me and the only one that seemed to think about her actions and not get pulled into the other girl's antics. I did enjoy reading about the girl's dreams in the past and how they adapted to life in different eras. Adrienne's Mercury Boy in the Civil War era was the most interesting to me. I do wish that the story focused more on just Lila and Saskia. Paige and Sara Beth reminded me why teenaged girls are literally the worst as they use the Mercury Boys Club for their own purposes. This did add an increased element of suspense and danger, but I do feel like enough tension could have been created between Saskia and Lila and the daguerreotypes they chose. Overall, a diverse young adult read that blends time travel and romance as well as explores race, friendship, sexuality and revenge.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

Oh the soul in this story! Wonderful writing and personal suspense with insightful observations. Adele is intelligent, curious, full of dreams like her father, and determined to go places and escape her childhood poverty. Through fortuitous events, she becomes a male student at Yale. Will she be found out?

Her three closest male friends at Yale take her along on youthful adventures, pranks, and experiences she couldn't have imagined. She learns much, gives much, hides much and grows. Her show more spirit and sense of ethics produce other sticky situations. How long can she conceal her real identity?

Adele, as Charlie, comes to terms with her relationship with each family member and matures. She finds a life calling, something she loves to do, and is forced to make tough decisions along the way. show less

Originally posted to http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

Have you ever fallen in love with a book so deeply that you wanted to keep it and read it again and again? Maybe this is a normal occurrence for you, not so for me. I am a love 'em and leave 'em reader. Once the last page is read, I am on to my next conquest. That was until I read "On Borrowed Wings".

This book moved me beyond words. I'll admit, I was a bit surprised. The book is unpretentious. But when you read the pages, this show more matches to perfection with the main character, Adele Pierta.

The author places the reader in the middle of the character's quandary, which is to marry a quarryman. In the 1930s, the little town of Stony Creek had three classes of people. There were the cottagers, who were rich vacationers that visit the little Connecticut town from May to August. There were the townsmen, the town's merchants and businessmen. And last were the quarrymen. They worked twelve hour days, six days a week mining granite.

Adele's mother had once been a cottager. But when she married a quarryman, her family disowned her. This rejection drove her mother to educate Adele's brother so that he'd have chance to go to college and not end up a quarryman. Adele's father insisted both his children be educated, but there weren't many opportunities for women.

The same day Charles, Adele's brother, receives an acceptance letter to Yale, a freak mining accident takes his life along with their father. Rather than be forced into an early marriage, she changes her appearance to look like a man and goes to Yale in Charles's place.

"On Borrowed Wings", so appropriately titled, is the story of Adele's first year at Yale. She transforms from a shy, wispy girl into a force to be reckoned with. It's a true treasure of a book and I'll be adding it to my 2007 Most Favorites List! show less

This is the 4th "stranded teenagers must survive inhospitable locale" story Ive read this year...a weird pattern to have... anyway this book is sorta medium as far as actual enjoyment goes, but it did draw me in and i appreciated the diverse characters and the authors vivid descriptions.

However there were several gross tropes that I wish had been avoided, and I found what happened to the mentally ill character who is trapped without her medication to be very upsetting. It wasn't badly show more written so much as personally disturbing. show less