Librarian of Doom

Book reviews of often YA novels every Sunday. I lean toward dystopias because they make me feel better about our world. Check out my portfolio at http://librarianofdoom.com.

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In the Forests of the Night by @KerstenHamilton

I like this series. I made a point of looking for the second book as soon as I though it might be available. I am going to proceed as if you all grabbed Tyger, Tyger,  so beware of spoilers!

Having rescued her brother Aiden from Mag Mell, Teagan and Finn do their best to bring the house back to some semblance of normal. They do their best considering Lucy (the fairy) is still making nests in Aiden's hair, Roisin is not speaking to her goblin boyfriend Thomas, Abby has moved in, and there are cat sidhe outside. Just normal. Teagan is also working through the discovery that she is part High Born and is working through how to deal with that.

Life's not easy when you've left Mag Mell (and Mag Mell is NOT happy about it).

Things I like about this series: Everyone is a fully developed character; Teagan is into science and her best friend is into art; Teagan is obsessed with her boyfriend (in a healthy infatuated way), but she doesn't stop doing the things she loves and he loves her BECAUSE of what she's interested in; and the only way anyone wins any battles is when they work together.

This particular book is a little slow in the beginning, and then it feels like the end comes a bit too quickly. However, it's a nice bridge between the first book and whatever happens in the next one.

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Callie by @jessleeanderson

I am now on a Podcast! Here's the link: http://edreach.us/2011/10/21/littech-show-001-its-all-about-ebooks/ Give it a listen!

Callie is a pretty average teen. She's not a hot cheerleader. She's not terribly smart (or stupid). She's just kind of in the middle. What does set her apart is her family. The first kid in her school system to have two moms, she has spent more than a few days standing up to the taunts of her classmates. Throwing an angry foster sister (Cherish) into the mix doesn't help much. And then she catches Cherish kissing her boyfriend. This starts a chain of events that could ruin her mothers' relationship and redefine the person Callie thought she was.

I had a hard time reading this book. That sounds like I didn't like it. I didn't, but I also think it's one of those difficult books that everyone should read once. See, we all have these personalities that we construct for ourselves. We like to think of ourselves as good people who deserve to be loved. But we're imperfect, and sometimes we screw up. This is what happens to Callie, and it's great to see a well-written book about a teen struggling with consequences. Just like real life, she doesn't get off easy, and I think it's important to have books like this in the library.

So, thanks Jessica Lee Anderson for writing this book. It's more real than anything else I've read this year.

This is one for the high schools and public libraries...unless the middle school folks want to be having some long, uncomfortable conversations.

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Ashfall by @Mike_Mullen

It's official, this blog is going to every other week (with the occasional bonus blog). Why? I have a job! I just don't have the time to read an extra book a week AND figure out how to be a librarian in the real world. I'll try to do as many as I can though!

Anyway, growing up about four hours from Yellowstone, I remember learning that it's basically a giant, dormant volcano. When I was nine I actually lost sleep on occasion because I was convinced that it would explode and render my home and family into tiny bits of ash.

Mike Mullen has taken my childhood nightmare and made it into a book. Our hero, Alex, decided to stay home while his family heads off to visit his grandparents. The next thing he knows, there's ash falling from the sky and coating everything in sight. Before long, chaos reigns, and the only thing Alex can think to do is to try to find his family. What was a four-hour drive becomes much longer when you're just a kid with a bike. Tragedy brings out the best and the absolute worst in other people, and Alex has to do his best.

In the vein of books like Life as We Knew It, Ashfall made me count my non-perishable food. Alex is smart and resourceful, and it's great to see a boy character use his brain  to solve problems. He meets his match in Darla, and it's nice to see them alternately work together and challenge each other in their struggle for survival.

Overall, it's a heartbreaking adventure, and I even lean towards hoping it makes its way into classes. There's a lot of morality, ethics, and science here. That makes for more than a few good discussion topics.

Highly recommended, but this isn't a book for the sensitive children.

Also, why are so many fictional boys named Alex?

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Wolf Mark by Joseph Bruchac

I apologize for how late this is. I am in the middle of a cross-country road trip to my new job in Central New York. You would think that 10-hour days in a car would be perfect for catching up on blogging, but as it turns out they are perfect for staring out the window and catching up on naps. Anyway, book. Luke has always been an outsider. It’s just the way his life is. His father needed to move around a lot for his job, which meant changing identities the way other people change clothes. For Luke, this is just life. Once his mom died, everything changed. Luke and his dad moved one last time, and hopefully this means life can be normal (if normal means watching your father descend into town drunk status). But finally, Luke has friends: Renzo (a computer nerd with a boisterous sense of humor) and Meena (the daughter of a Pakistani engineer who has recently moved to town). It looks like Luke will be able to finally just do high school with his first girlfriend and everything. Then his dad vanishes. With one phone call, Luke is set on the path to understanding all the parts of him that he has avoided delving into. From the birthmark shaped like a wolf, to the fact that he can’t use any electronic devices. Oh, and why the weird Russian students he calls the Sunglasses Mafia have such an interest in him all of a sudden. Warning, my opinion might contain some spoilers. Nothing that’s not terribly obvious after the first couple of chapters, but still. So, I don’t really like a lot of the supernatural fiction out there. I prefer my vampires on TV and don’t have an opinion either way on werewolves. I also don’t really go in for science fiction unless it’s part of a futuristic dystopia. Funny that I should enjoy a book containing both so much. As most people can guess, Luke is a werewolf-like person called a skin walker. The Russians? Kind of like vampires. What’s interesting is that Bruchac goes back to the beginnings of these legends to make the book far more plausible. He doesn’t have to follow the “rules” because those rules were created by humans turning a real phenomenon into a legend. Making everything matter of fact means that he can focus harder on the people and the story rather than the devices. And the people and the story make this book really shine. I have a feeling that you could throw any character’s name at Bruchac and he could relate his or her complete life story  back. Even Meena’s friend Fala (who gets about a page) comes across as a complete person. Every single member of the Russian crowd is distinct. In addition, not one fits into any of the high school stock characters. There’s no Jock. No Smart Girl with Glasses. Luke and his allies move through the school on the perimeters, ignoring everyone else there. The other bonus: the entire cast is multi-cultural. Not because they are filler making the snapshot appear diverse (no token Black/Hispanic/Asian friends here), but because they are who they are. I highly recommend this book. It’s a fast-paced page turner full of interesting people and a great plot (even if it does get away from itself towards the end). Highly recommended for high schools and public libraries. Seriously, just go read it.

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The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer

Duncan is not used to having friends. It's somehow worse when he's the new kid in town as well. Having the ability to read letters with his fingertips, however leads him to the school bully choosing Duncan to be his partner for the Youth Scrabble Tournament. April Blunt is hoping to meet the boy mysterious she taught to play Scrabble there. Nate Saviano just wants to win so his father will get over not winning 20 years ago. Three kids, from across the US with their own problems and only Scrabble in common.

That kind of oversimplifies the story. Sorry, but I don't want to go into too much detail because the best part of this book is getting to know these characters. They're all really great kids, but normal ones. They just want to be liked for who they are, and to win the Scrabble tournament.

The best part, though, is that although they are all competitive, they are also good sports about it. They all have respect for each others' skill, which is nice to see. In fact, it's really hard to root for one of them to win because they're all great.

This is the kind of book I would read over and over again when I was 12, to the point where it would fall apart, just because I wanted to spend more time with the people inside it. Highly recommended for upper elementary and middle school readers.

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Tankborn by @karensandlerYA

On a far away planet called Loka, the emigrants from Earth have come up with an ingenious solution to the problem of the work that no one wants to do. They have created GENs (Genetically Engineered Non-Humans) and assigned them to the families who can afford them. Kayla is a GEN and she has been built with amazingly strong arms, which will suit her eventual assignment. Her best friend, Mishalla has been made to nurture young children. That’s the best part about GENs, they can be manufactured for whatever society needs, and they are completely identifiable by the tattoos on their faces (which can also be used to upload new instructions). When Kayla finally gets her assignment, caring for the head of a “trueborn” family (Zul), something is amiss. She had an extra upload that is just beginning to seem strange. When Zul gives her a reader and “accidentally” leaves it networked, she really starts to be concerned. And then there’s the whole matter of Devak, who sets her on fire with a look. . . . But that can never be. Trueborns and GENs are not allowed to socialize much less fall in love. Despite being another in the whole “Earth is dying so a future must be set on another planet” genre, there’s more substance to this one. It is always a good idea to have a book like this that can open a dialogue about what actually separates different kinds of people from each other. And this book does so well, without being overbearing and with a nice mystery/cloak-and-dagger element to keep things clicking along. It was also nice that Kayla was in the dark at the beginning, so the reader feels like he or she is learning along with the character. Very fun and a little heartbreaking. Highly recommended for Middle Schools and up.

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Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Life has been stressful lately, but for the good and the bad. You know what makes a stressful day better? A good fairy tale. (Especially one that doesn't let anyone get away with being wishy-washy and pining.)

Princess Wisdom (the younger daughter of the kingdom of Montagne, aka Dizzy) is all set to marry the heir to the Duchy of Froglock until she sees young Tips in the Emperor's Circus (yes the emperor has a circus, go with it) and is immediately smitten. The problem, Tips has been writing with his childhood sweetheart Trudy, who is now Dizzy and her grandmother's Lady in Waiting. Trudy is in love with Tips, but he is smitten by Dizzy, who is supposed to get married-tomorrow. meanwhile the Duchess of Froglock is concerned because her plan to take over Montagne might fall to pieces!

My favorite thing about this novel is that Murdock has managed to interweave eight different narrators. We have Dizzy, her grandmother (Ben from Princess Ben), Tips, Trudy's biographer, the Duchess, the ringmaster, a play, and an encyclopedia! No small feat, and yet it works remarkably well. It's a great way to get multiple perspectives on the story. It only succeeds because Murdock sticks to the different styles so consistently. Even without the headings for each chapter, the reader would still be able to figure out who is talking.

In addition, Dizzy, Tips and Trudy are good people that the reader wants to succeed. Even though, with Trudy you want her to succeed at something other than getting Tips back. No one gets what they want by sitting around crying, and it's nice to see a book encouraging girls to go out and DO something about their lives.

Highly recommended for schools and public libraries. Probably ok for anyone 12 and up, and it can be appreciated on several levels depending on the age of the reader.

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Glow by @AmyKathleenRyan

So life is still in transition but books still must be read!

The Empyrean and the New Horizon are almost one generation into their journey to populate New Earth. The New Horizon is supposed to be several light years ahead, but they slowed down so the Empyrean could catch up, and the ship is in a tizzy wondering why.  After all, the only difference is that the New Horizon holds the religious people and the Empyrean is mostly secular. Waverly and Kieran, as the two oldest children, have a place of authority and are expected to get married and begin the third generation. Waverly hesitates a bit, wistfully wondering what her life would be like if she didn’t have an obligation to produce at least four children for the survival of the species. Then people from the New Horizon board the ship and kidnap all the girls. So this book is pretty suspenseful and most definitely a page turner, but it’s hard to get involved in a story where none of the characters really show their best side. It’s fun to root for one person and then completely flip sides by the end of the chapter, but I’m not sure I want to read the next book if everyone is this much of a jerk. It’s kind of like Lord of the Flies but in space. I do want to know what happens though.... I am also a bit tired of the whole “traveling through space to get to the new planet thing.” But that could just be because I don’t really like the whole space/robot/shiny part of the sci fi genre. Recommended for high schools and public libraries. There’s a awful lot of theology and a few implied situations that might confuse a younger reader.

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Dark Parties by @AuthorSaraGrant

So it's a time of transition for me, but I'm trying very hard to not get too behind. Part of that means reviewing all the books I've read so that I don't have to move them.

This week's book is Dark Parties by Sara Grant. It's a dystopia in which society has sealed itself off from the rest of the world with a giant bubble they call the "Protectosphere." But all is not well. People from the outer cities are being brought back to the city, and fewer and fewer children are being born. In addition, "troublemakers" just disappear.

Meanwhile, Neva and her best friend Sanna are about to take the final steps into adulthood. As a small protest they throw a Dark Party to figure out who will join them in a rebellion: painting slogans all over the city. Little do they know the series of events those paint scrawls will set into motion.

Overall, Dark Parties is not bad. It's exciting and Neva is an interesting person to follow. The touches of romance and intrigue really move the plot along. Neva's book where she writes down the names of all the people who have joined "the Missing" adds a wonderful layer of suspense. The only complaint I have is a lack of clarification about the ideology of the society. WHY did they seal themselves off? WHY are they still so scared? WHO decided these things. Grant does an excellent job of creating atmosphere, but I wanted more history.

Recommended for high schools and public libraries. It's a good stand alone book, but it doesn't have the staying power of a lot of the other dystopias that are out there.

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Frost by @mariannabaer

I am terribly sorry for my absence these past few weeks. My life just got busy. No other excuse, just busy. Anyway, here's something that's coming out in September that I thoroughly enjoyed!

What better way to celebrate your senior year in high school than by rooming in a Victorian house on the edge of campus with your three best friends? That’s exactly what Leena thought when she set it up at the end of her junior year. But things get complicated when the campus eccentric gets assigned to her room because Celeste broke her leg over the summer. Leena decides she can put up with it, since it IS only for a semester, but then things start to get weird. Things keep happening to Celeste’s stuff, and she blames the other three girls who swear they’re not doing anything. Leena is repeatedly shoved in the middle, especially after she starts dating Celeste’s brother David. As the tension in the house rises, things keep getting weirder, and it’s all Leena can do to keep herself together. I really liked this book. Since it’s told from Leena’s point of view, the reader has to keep guessing where it’s going. And we all remember those heightened emotions from high school, so coupling them with a spooky house and a paranoid roommate just makes the book all the more fun. I don’t want to give too much away, since that would spoil it. Suffice to say that it’s a great book for Halloween! Highly recommended for 8th grade and up!

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The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by @MelanieBen

Taking a small break from the YA lit, but this is a book that could easily cross over. I was just charmed by the cover and the title at ALA, so I couldn't resist when I got back to Michigan. One of the very first shows I remember seeing as a child was Barnum! and I have been charmed by antique circus tales ever since then.

As the title states, this is a novel told from the perspective of Miss Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, a little person who escaped from small town farm life to the showboats on the Mississippi and eventually into the American Museum of P.T. Barnum himself. At thirty-two inches tall and proportional, Vinnie was exactly the type of curiosity that was highly desirable in the mid-1800s. The fact that she could sing pretty well, dance a bit, and was smart as a whip didn't hurt either.

Before she knows what's happening, Vinnie finds herself married to the General Tom Thumb (one of Barnum's most successful partners) in a Fairy Wedding that eclipsed even the Civil War. At this point, her sister Minnie (who is even smaller), gets drawn into the show-business life, something that Vinnie is never quite sure is a good idea.

I have to stop with the synopsis, not because I'm afraid of giving anything away but because I might just start re-writing the book. That's a waste of time. You should just go grab a copy. It's far better than anything I could replicate here.

What did I love? I loved the choice of character. Lavinia Warren lived a fascinating, full to the brim life and I really enjoyed following along. I mean, how cool would it have been to wander up and down the Mississippi performing for the locals. Or later to be one of the very first western travelers to Japan? Benjamin does not shirk one bit on the detail.

I also really liked that Vinnie was a rather flawed human being. She's a bit prissy and a little selfish, but she's got a good heart. What a perfect choice for a novel's narrator.

I am only mildly annoyed that Benjamin made me cry. I haven't cried at a book in ages.

Highly recommended for everyone over the age of 15. Positively marvelous!

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Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray

I am spending my last full day in the middle of nowhere Texas. Despite kind of wanting to finish up our gigantic Mad Men marathon, I have decided I should probably keep up with this blog. Especially since I remembered it was FINALLY time to write about this week's book!

I am not going to spend too much time on the plot. Falling for Hamlet is Shakespeare's Hamlet, but updated and told through Ophelia's eyes. I like bringing Ophelia forward very much, since she always seemed a bit more like a plot device than a person to me. Poor thing was just pushed and pulled by everyone around her without making any real decisions of her own. It's nice to have a version where she has some action, even as the entire world descends into madness around her.

As a (semi-closeted) fan of the Shakespeare updates from the 90s, I like that someone has finally tackled Hamlet, and has done it so well. I loved the addition of an Oprah-like character since it really makes the tell-all aspect work. I also appreciated that Ophelia is a survivor and I thought Ray did a nice job of making it logical and believable. I enjoyed reading this book very much, and it wasn't just the former theatre major geeking out. It's creative, careful, and written by someone who not only did her homework but wasn't afraid to go out on a limb to tell her story.

Highly recommended for high schools and public libraries. I also recommend that English teachers think about adding it the semester they try to make their students understand Hamlet.

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My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T. Jeschonek

I hope everyone had an amazing 4th! I am currently visiting friends in Texas and got to see 50 solid minutes of fireworks last night. They just went on and on and on! Plenty of screaming fishes to get me to next year.

This week's book is a trippy surrealist road story that is just weird enough to truly delight, but not so weird as to alienate people. Of course, I really like surrealism so it wasn't hard for me to go along with the ride.

Idea Deity (Great names throughout!) is convinced he is a character in a book and that he is destined to die in chapter 64. He meets Eunice, a strange girl with a very realistic face tattooed on the back of her head right when he is trying to escape from officers sent to stop him from going to find his parents (Vengeful and Loving Deity are planning to kill themselves on the Internet).

Meanwhile the band Youforia is slowly gaining popularity through their website. They are busy traveling the country playing small gigs as they perfect their music. Unfortunately, some of the band members are getting restless. Reacher Mirage, the band's lead singer is so wrapped up in perfection, that he won't let them go live despite the fact that the Internet is throbbing with anticipation of Youforia's new album.

What I loved about this book was the way it committed so completely to its premise. It's pretty easy to see where it's going, but that does not spoil the ride even one little bit. I did want to shake my Kindle in frustration every now and again because Idea and Reacher are both stubborn. More than anything, it's a novel about not letting fear dominate your dreams. Jeschonek manages to do it without being cheesy and annoying.

I highly recommend this book for 8th grade and up. Tons of fun, challenging ideas, and a page turner. What more could you want?

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Troubletwisters by @garthnix and @adelaidesean

Sorry for the late post! I was moving and then there was the amazing, overwhelming ALA conference. I have stocked up on books and now I'm on vacation, so I should be able to catch up!

Anyway, Troubletwisters is aimed at a younger audience than I normally review for, but it's a lot of fun. Jaide and Jack Shield are twins suddenly ripped from their family when their house is destroyed in a freak storm. Their father has to go away on business and their mother lands a temporary EMT gig out in the woods, so they have to stay with their mysterious grandmother in her spooky house.

And then Jack starts hearing the cat talk to him. Things really take a turn when they come across their grandmother standing in front of an audience of white-eyed rats while the lightning rages across the sky. Before they know it, the twins are fighting for the world and trying to learn to use their new powers at the same time! Can they push back the Evil? Will their father come back? And what is behind that blue door?

Exciting, huh? There's a lot to like in this book, even though it's another "fight the evil" story. I guess I can take fighting the vague concept of evil when the characters have steps and tasks to accomplish. Jaide and Jack are nice kids (but not perfect), and it's fun to watch them go down the wrong paths and then try to correct their mistakes using logic and wits. There's a lot of exposition, but if this goes into a series, that problem will be fixed in the very next book. It's well worth a look. Added bonus: the twins appear to be mixed-race, and we definitely need more characters that represent our readers.

Highly recommended for elementary and middle schools, not to mention the public libraries. Great for a summer read!

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Haunting Violet by @AlyxandraH

Coming from a showbiz background (frustrated Theatre Majors of the world unite!), I've always kind of liked stories about con artists, grifters and charlatans. Anyone who can create an illusion so convincing that it fools people in real life have my admiration. Shame they don't use their powers for good, but that might be why I like the fiction better than the fact.

Haunting Violet tells the story of young Violet who helps her mother bilk wealthy Victorians by conducting fake seances. She also kinda hates it. As the story opens Violet, her mother and their two servants are on the way to the estate of Lord Jasper to entertain at his summer retreat. If things go well, they should have bookings for the rest of the year. Unfortunately, Violet starts seeing ACTUAL ghosts, and one in particular has an agenda. Before she knows it, Violet is in the middle of a controversial unsolved murder. All she has to do is solve it before her mother's reputation is destroyed, her best friendship falls apart, and she has to decide between love and a good marriage.

It's a pretty fun ride for the most part. Violet is smart and very likeable, which goes a long way in a book like this. There's a bit of humor to the story as well, which I missed when it faded as things progressed. That's my only complaint: it's not funny enough to be campy, but not quite serious enough to be really scary. All in all, though, it's a good summer read, and I could almost see a series of Violet Willoughby books.

Recommended for ages 13 and up.

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Spellbound by @caralynnshultz

A couple of weeks ago I think I offended a friend of mine by suggesting a particular book was "delightful trash." I didn't mean to offend, because I love delightful trash. They are actually some of my favorite books. They're the ones that I read over and over and over again because they make me feel better (I'm looking at you Carl Hiaasen). They are comfort food in book form and the world is a better place for them. The writing is usually pretty good, but rather than struggle with deep meaning or literary plotlines, these are novels full of witches and magic and inappropriate language. They're not going to win a Pulitzer and are much better for it. They are pure unadulterated FUN, and everyone needs that.

Having said that, Spellbound is the best sort of delightful trash and I can't wait to read it again.

Emma is headed to her first day at exclusive Vincent Academy in New York. She feels like her life is finally on-track after surviving as many horrible experiences as possible (dad ditched the family when she was six, mom died of cancer, twin brother died at fourteen, and her alcoholic step father nearly killed her in a car accident). Emma's ready to put all that behind her now that her Aunt Christine has taken her in. Most importantly, though, NO BOYS. It's time to buckle down and really take advantage of the second chance she's been given. Wearing the special charm her brother gave her, she's off to start the last two years of high school.

The first day goes well enough. She has a younger cousin (Ashley) to show her around, and all she has to do is ignore the advances of Anthony (the basketball star) and try not to get in the way of popular Kristin, she'll be fine. Her charm gains the attention of her new lab partner and the school's resident Wiccan Angelique, who thinks she might know something about it. The charm also garners the attention of a dark-haried, green-eyed guy named Brendan, and Emma knows she might be in trouble.

And from there the story just takes off. Shultz takes a lot of care with her characters, and most of them are fleshed out into real people. This makes it a lot of fun to hang out with them. I wish the villains were a bit more two-dimensional, but they are so exquisitely evil that it's hard to mind too much. The only real issue I had with the book was that some ideas were glossed over too quickly and a few extra pages could have tied up those loose ends a bit better. Or Spellbound would make a helluva CW series and all these details could be delved into further over the course of a season! OOOOH! That's it! This book needs the Vampire Diaries treatment please!

Highly recommended as a summer read for high schools and public library collections. 

Spellbound comes out on June 24th.

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Imaginary Girls by @novaren

Last week we had magical realism done with a bit of mediocrity. This week we have it done well.

Nova Ren Suma's Imaginary Girls takes place in the woods of northern New York State near the lake that drowned a village named Olive. Ruby is that special sort of person who no one really likes, but everyone loves. You know the type: the beautiful girl who weaves everyone under her spell. They just do what she wants without asking why (until maybe later). She tells stories too, and the stories always feel true.

The night Chloe (Ruby's younger sister)  tried to swim the reservoir was the night everything began to change. London, a girl neither of them knew very well drowned, and then Chloe decided to move in with her dad in Pennsylvania. A calm average life for several years.

Then Ruby came to collect her and bring Chloe back to the Catskills town where she grew up. The town was was exactly the same as the day Chloe left. Wait, not quite. Everything was the same as the day before the fateful night at the reservoir.

In general, I don't like books about water and drowning. I have a phobia of drowning and even watching movies or reading about it is upsetting. (Seriously, I couldn't sleep for three days after watching Open Water, and it wasn't the sharks!) So parts of this book were difficult to read. Of course, that all added to the atmosphere. I almost didn't make it through the first chapter (Suma's a VERY descriptive writer, and she really scared me), but I was so glad to stick around after the story hit dry land again.

Chloe, as the narrator, is very effective as the prodigal daughter brought home. It's fascinating to watch her waver back and forth between figuring things out and doing as Ruby tells her. She's a very likable person, but the mystery that goes through the novel is confusing to both her and the reader. And the author really keeps you wanting more. I could not put this one down.

The thing about books like this is that often authors write really well, but then leave things up to vagueness and blind faith from the reader. Suma doesn't do that. She has extremely specific rules to how Ruby works and where her powers lie. Without these extra touches, it would be a beautifully written book that's a bit of a disappointment. Because she had everything figured out, it's a work of art.

Highly recommended, but I wouldn't give it to someone younger than high school. It's pretty scary and complicated, but well worth it!