The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation begins with Eloise, an American girl who has traveled to England to complete her dissertation on a trio of English spies in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The spy that intrigues her the most is the Pink Carnation, an elusive and shifty fellow whose name is spattered throughout English newspapers, yet to this day hasn't been unmasked. Although she has searched through every archive and news article she can get her hands on, no clue to the Pink Carnation's identity is to be had. Fortunatly, she catches a break when Mrs. Arabella Selwick-Alderly, a descendant of the famed Purple Gentian, Lord Richard Selwick, responds to her desperate letter and agrees to let her read through some old family documents. Eloise quickly finds herself engrossed in the life of an enthusiastic young noblewoman and the dashing Purple Gentian on her search for the hidden identity of the Pink Carnation.
This book had me caught within its grasp in the first few pages. Willig creates vivid images in her readers' minds with her strong word choices. The personality of each character is portrayed in a way that is so believable it makes me want to reach out and slap them at times, and cheer for their victories at others. The novel is a mixture of adventure, mystery, romance, historical fiction, and just the right amount of humor that create a delightful read.
I gave The Secret History of the Pink Carnation 5 of 5 stars.

Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver

In Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver, Turtle Greer, a young Cherokee girl, and her adoptive mother Taylor take a trip to the Hoover Dam where Turtle witnesses the fall of a man down a spillway. Turtle saves the day, and she and her mother get to go on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Annawake Fourkiller, a lawyer for the Cherokee Nation, sees Turtle on the television and is convinced that Taylor illegally adopted Turtle and stole her from the Nation. Annawake goes to speak with Taylor, and the threat of losing her daughter sends Taylor into a panic that takes her and Turtle on the run across the southwestern United States.
I enjoyed this book far more than I had expected to. It's beautifully and realistically written, and it moves along at a nice, steady pace. At the end everything tied together clearly and perfectly, and I was glad to see that I didn't have to flip back through the pages to to find out where exactly this little piece of information came from, or who was who or any of that. This is an excellent story about the lengths a mother will go through to keep her daughter, and a daughter who is growing up.
I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Where the Truth Lies, by Lucy Cullyford Babbitt

Kyra, a 17 year old from a city called Sanctuary, has been appointed to stop a bloody religous war. The thing is, her city is godless. Sanctuary has sent messages to each of the two warring peoples: the Godslanders and the Tribes. One youth from each is to travel with Kyra to the sacred cave to decide who is right. Is there one god, many gods, or no god at all? Kyra and her people believe that all the secrets lie in the 'sacred cave'. So Kyra meets up with the boy from the tribes in Sanctuary, and together they travel into the Godslander's territory with Eli (the tribal boy) dressed up as a convert and Kyra dressed as a regular Godslander to meet with the Godslander representative and travel to the sacred cave with another group of pilgrims. Through their journeys, Kyra begins to wonder if her beliefs are true.

Anyway, I didn't really think much of this book. At first it was just really silly and predictable, and then in the middle it got better. But still, a Sacred Cave? Like we haven't heard that one before. I guess I was just disappointed, because I expected a little bit more out of it. I was thinking of giving this book 4 stars, but then I read the ending. Perhaps it was genius, but I think it was just stupid. It might have worked had their been a sequel, but to my knowledge there isn't one. So, I gave this book 3 of 5 stars.