World Wednesday--Transcendence

Harmonic convergence of Career Day (running through the halls with extension cords) and beginning of inventory has me feeling a bit weary. At least I no longer have to put the shelf list card file on a cart and check each book against the paper record! Or wear a gym suit ever, ever again! (Sometimes I just have to chant something for which I am grateful to get through the day! Hooray for flush toilets!)

There are still 149 overdue books, but hopefully a lot will come back today. A number of things seem to be lost, but I won't know until inventory is done. I am feeling very good about the general state of the collection. Once I get inventory done, it's off to add about 80 new nonfiction books that I got at a clearance sale at Reading Warehouse. Short biographies and history books for $2.50 each? The publication dates are older, so I didn't buy anything that was time sensitive, but with Common Core looming, it was a great deal!

Omololu, C.J. Transcendence (Transcendence #1)
5 June 2012, Walker Children's

Cole is visiting the Tower of London when she is overcome by a weird vision from the past and feels faint. Her sister Kat is concerned enough that she accepts the invitation to tea by Griffon and his friend... it doesn't hurt that both boys are hot! Cole is intrigued by Griffon, but doesn't get his contact information, so is surprised when Kat finds out that he lives not far from them in San Francisco. Griffon sheds some light on the faintness and visions that Cole is experiencing-- she is Ahket, someone who has been reincarnated and can remember her past lives. He and his mother are as well, and they try to help Cole come to terms with this. Cole is an excellent cello player, and one of the women to whom she gives lessons is exuding a weird vibe. Veronique seems troubled, and when two serious accidents happen to Cole in her presence, Griffon becomes very concerned. It seems that in a past life, Veronique was a cellist whose place in an orchestra was taken by Cole's past persona, and Cole and Griffon try to research want happened before Veronique goes after Cole again. But reincarnation is tricky, and Cole and Griffon run into more problems than they expected. Intuition comes out in June!
Strengths: Very strong sense of place, both when Cole is in London and in San Francisco. I love that the library was used to consult old newspapers about the hundred year old mystery. The concept of Ahket was firmly developed and made sense. Loved that Griffon was biracial and portrayed as such on the cover, but it was just one facet of his character. Just what we're looking for-- all readers able to see themselves on the covers of books. I don't buy a lot of paranormal romance books, but I'm glad to have this series!
Weaknesses: Picked this up at a Book Look;  wish I had known about it sooner. I guess I need to read more of the Young Adult, girly blogs.