As You Wish by Jackson Pearce

I have wanted to read one of Jackson Pearce's books for some time. Between her vlog Watch Me Be and her Twitter feed, the hilarity and outrageousness that is Jackson Pearce the person convinced me that Jackson Pearce the author would be worth checking out. It has taken me four years to finally read one of her books and I honestly don't know what I was waiting for.

Let's just say it should have happened sooner and I hope you will learn from my mistakes that you should NOT put off reading Jackson Pearce for danger of missing out on one of the wittiest most entertaining YA writers to come along since Maureen Johnson and Libba Bray.

As You Wish seems typical on the surface (Ancient genie falls for mortal girl after being earthbound to bestow three wishes upon her) but like Maggie Stiefvater's Mercy Falls series or Cynthia Leitich Smith's Tantalize, Eternal and Blessed, As You Wish is one of those books that both benefits from and is cursed by a little vampire love story by Stephenie Meyer. With a ready-made fan base thirsting for more supernaturally star-crossed lovers, books like these are always in danger of being compared to Twilight. Luckily, like for Stiefvater and Leitich Smith (and others) Pearce's story stands on its own.

Viola is having a rough time being sixteen. Her boyfriend and best friend came out, and in doing so, broke her heart. The experience has left her feeling rather invisible. So she makes a heart-felt wish in Shakespeare class one day and unknowingly summons a jinn who cannot return to the "perfect" world of Caliban until his master has made all three of her wishes. Not one to wish without thinking, Viola takes her time to consider what is worth wishing for and Jinn finds himself in an interesting predicament -- falling for his master. This happens to be a big no-no in Caliban.

Wishing alters Viola's reality (and open her eyes to the true invisibilities in her life), while granting her wishes spawns a battle against the confinements and limitations of Jinn's world (and we're not talking about being stuck in a lamp, although that is a possibility). In the end, the story is a page-turning, fun romantic read that will put Pearce's books, including Sisters Red and its upcoming companion book Sweetly at the top of any teenage reading list. (And mine as well.)

For 15 and up -- 3 bookmarks.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

Sometimes a character will make a brief appearance in a story and disappear. That's what happened with Bree Tanner in Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse, book three of the Twilight saga. Bree's appearance was a way to show us the vulnerability of the newborns, to help us empathize with them despite their horrific and violent ways.

But Bree was more than that to her author. Meyer wanted to dig deeper into the backstory of  this young girl and how she ended up in a field with Edward, Bella and their family.

In the Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, dubbed "an eclipse novella" and weighing in at 178 pages, Meyer explores the days leading up to the battle between the newborns and our friends from Forks and La Push. In true Twilight fashion, her story is gripping and emotional, and had me immersed from the first few pages.

It's been a while since I read the saga, but I was quickly reminded of why I loved these books. Like Anne Rice before her, Stephenie Meyer has a way of capturing the humanness of inhuman creatures and ironically bringing them to life.  Even when you know where this story leads, which anyone who has read Eclipse will, it's impossible not to wish things turned out differently for Bree. After the last page, I was compelled to read the companion chapter in Eclipse from Bella's point-of-view -- which was interesting.

At the moment, the entire novella is available online to read for free, but $1 from each hard copy purchase goes to the Red Cross so I encourage you to make your Twilight Saga collection complete by buying one. No doubt sales will go through the roof without my encouragement, as Meyer has another hit on her hands with Bree Tanner.

Stephenie Meyer confirms: Taylor Lautner IS Jacob Black.

As of this morning, Stephenie Meyer, and New Moon director Chris Weitz, confirmed that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in the second film installment of the Twilight series.

There was a lot of criticism about the casting of the young actor for the first film (but then again, there was about Robert Pattison as well, and now all those girls are lining up at the mall to scream his name), but the director seems confident that Lautner is the right kid for the role.

"... it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part. I think that fans of Twilight the book and the movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in New Moon; and I'm looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film." -- Chris Weitz

Meyer also says on her site (www.stepheniemeyer.com) that she was very much a part of the decision to keep Taylor in the second film. 

The movie is currently slated to come out November 20, 2009.

So what do you think, Twilight fans? If you don't like the former Shark Boy for the role, who would you cast?