Katana

February 15, 2012
An ordinary St. Louis teen finds that she has a distinctly un-ordinary legacy when she's attacked in a shopping-mall parking lot. Until the assault that wakens a terrifying internal voice and preternatural martial-arts abilities, Rileigh has spent her time hanging with her gay BFF Quentin and mooning over hottie Whitley. Now she finds herself coping with the unwanted attention of the mysterious, sandalwood-scented hottie Kim, who insists that she take up training in his dojo. It seems he thinks that she is the reincarnation of his 15th-century lover; the two were samurai who died at the hands of an evil ninja. Now Kim wants to "awaken" her past self using the titular katana she wielded in her earlier life. She wants none of this, but does she have a choice? Is the reincarnation of the evil ninja behind the continuing attacks? Nothing about this debut surprises, from the stock characters to the turgid action scenes. Gibsen laces her narrative with holes: If Kim and Rileigh have been reincarnated multiple times and repeatedly drawn together by psychic destiny, why is there no hint of other past lives? And the writing is frequently downright amateurish, turning out ridiculous similes--"My heart spun in my chest, as if it were the wheel of a gerbil hopped up on Pixy Stix"--when it's not indulging in cliche--"With breakneck speed, I darted to the window and flattened myself against the wall." Pass. (Paranormal romance. 12-16)

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March 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-Skater girl Rileigh and her friend Quentin are leaving the mall one afternoon when they witness an attack on an elderly couple. Rileigh closes her eyes in fear as the mugger runs toward her, but the next thing she knows the attacker is at her feet, looking up at her with fury. Somehow, without even being conscious of it, she has brought him down. Strange events continue. Rileigh hears a voice in her head, guiding her actions in some very scary situations. She dreams of medieval Japan-vivid dreams with details she shouldn't know. When Kim, a local dojo owner, tells her that she's a reincarnated samurai warrior named Senshi and that reincarnated bad guys are after her, she scoffs. As Senshi's voice gets stronger, and her attraction to Kim grows, Rileigh realizes that she must face the truth. Only by transcending, joining her past and current selves, can she hope to defeat her ancient enemies. But once she's transcended, will she still be herself? Or will Senshi take over her life? This action-packed novel has a unique and compelling plot. Rileigh is a believable heroine with understandable motivations and reactions. The supernatural elements of the story are relayed via her disbelief and Kim's certainty and explained in a way that seems plausible and credible. Details of 15th-century Japanese life and battle are seamlessly woven into the narrative, and a romantic triangle adds depth (as well as veracity to Kim's side of the argument). Fans of Carrie Asai's "Samurai Girl" series (S & S) will be particularly interested, but even readers who dislike supernatural story lines will enjoy this tale of modern samurais.-Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2012
Grades 7-10 Rileigh Martin is a skater girl, not a fighter, but when she is attacked by three men, a strange voice in her head tells her what to do, and she takes them all down. She begins to have dreams about Kim, a mysterious martial-arts expert, who explains that Rileigh is a samurai warriorhis soulmate, Senshi, reincarnatedand that she is awakening due to grave danger. Rileigh doesn't believe any of this, but several more close calls lead to reluctant belief. Gibsen's debut is plot driven with fairly well-developed secondary characters, although Rileigh's best friend Quentin's immediate acceptance of her awakening feels somewhat contrived. The novel flirts with the damsel in distress cliche, but Rileigh harnesses her power and becomes the hero of her own story. Torn between an eerily familiar past and an unknown future, her journey toward transcendence in contemporary St. Louis alternates with Senshi's story in fifteenth-century Japan, making for an action-packed page-turner tempered with slow-burning romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)