"Fantastic continuation of series!"
Once again, we're back with Jennifer Scales, who had enough
trouble dealing with the fact she's a weredragon. If that
was all she had to deal with, Jennifer might be able to
cope a bit better. Not only is Jennifer a weredragon, but
it turns out she's the Ancient Furnace, with the skills of
all three types of weredragons. Jennifer might be able to
cope with being the Ancient Furnace, however, it turns out
her mother is a beaststalker—enemies to all werebeasts—and
Jennifer has those skills as well. While Jennifer is trying
to deal with all these "family issues", her best friend,
Eddie, will no longer have anything to do with either her
or Susan, the other member of their trio of best friends.
And Skip was never told Jennifer's mother killed his
father. So Jennifer has spent the summer with her mother
learning beaststalker skills and now the new school year is
beginning. When one of Jennifer's parent's friends is murdered, it
turns out the one who killed him is related to Jennifer's
father! Jennifer is really fed up with her parents keeping
secrets from her and a big one comes out now. It turns out
her father was married before, to a werearachnid of all
things! Now werearachnids have the ability to travel into
different dimensions and when she became pregnant,
Jennifer's father's ex-wife decided to have bear the
offspring and send it into a safe dimension. With
hostilities so high between the beaststalkers, weredragons
and werearachnids, Jennifer's father agrees. Shortly after
the time of the birth, the two of them divorce and
Jennifer's parents got married later. So even though her
father never saw his offspring, it doesn't mean he never
thought of or worried about him. Well the child, or
Evangelos as he was named, isn't content with just killing
a friend. The next victim of Evangelos turns out to be
Jennifer's grandfather. And unfortunately for Jennifer, she
happened to be there when the murder occurred. What she
sees shocks Jennifer. It turns Evangelos is a kind of
combination dragon and arachnid. Who will be Evangelos' next victim? Will the Scales family
be able to stop him? What of Eddie and his family? Just why
are they so hostile to the Scales family? What happens when
Skip finally goes through his first change? Exactly how is
the Scales family going to figure out who Evangelos is in
human form? Will there ever be any hope the beaststalkers,
weredragons and werearachnids can live together again? JENNIFER SCALES AND THE MESSENGER OF LIGHT is truly a
wonderful read. Authors MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony
Alongi have outdone themselves with this second of the
series. The humor found in all MaryJanice Davidson's books
is present in this one as well. With JENNIFER SCALES AND
THE MESSENGER OF LIGHT, we get more of a look into the
weredragon society with Crescent Valley and the Blaze. We
also get a bit of a peek into the beaststalker society as
well with the Council Meeting. Not only do we have Jennifer
learning more about her skills—all of them—but we also
learn quite a few secrets, right down to the house where
Jennifer lives with her parents. And with everything else
going on her life, Jennifer also receives her first kiss
and gains and loses a boyfriend and the normal teenage
angst for a fifteen year old girl. I actually shed a few
tears when I finished this book, which is the highest
accolade I can give any story. Regardless of your age, this
is one series which earns its place in any keeper shelf.
Reviewed by Chere Gruver
Posted November 9, 2006
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She discovered a long-lost brother, and a new enemy...
Where would you find weredragons, beaststalkers, and werachnids? You guessed. My family reunion...
Getting through high school is hard enough. Then add my weredragon life, with the trips to Crescent Valley to morph into a dragon under the constant threat of enemy attack. What's worse, I'm also half beaststalker from my mom's side. Beaststalkers and weredragons are mortal enemies, and tension is growing over some suspicious deaths lately. I must prove to both sides that they can live in harmony, just like my family. Well, most of the time...
And get this: I have a half brother with a few too many legs. Too bad he's bent on some payback for a lifetime of abandonment and my dad is his number-one target. My life's starting to look like a daytime talk show. Somehow I have to convince everyone to get along, before they take matters into their own claws... Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Shapeshifter
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