Stargazer (Evernight Series #2)

Stargazer AER\ Chapter Two\ On the first day of school, not long after dawn, the procession began.\ The first few students arrived on foot. They stepped out of the woods, simply dressed, usually with just a single bag slung over one shoulder. I think some of them had walked all night. Their eyes searched the school hungrily as they came closer, as though hoping they would immediately be granted the answers they sought. Even before I saw the first familiar face—Ranulf, who was more than a thousand years old and didn't understand the modern era a bit—I knew who the students in this group were. These were the lost ones, the oldest vampires. They didn't make trouble for anyone; they sank into the background, studying, listening, trying to compensate for the centuries they'd missed.\ Lucas had slipped in among these last year. I remembered the way he'd appeared from the fog in his long black coat. Even though I knew better, I kept searching the face of each student who arrived on foot, wishing I could see his face again.\ At breakfast time, the cars started to arrive. I was watching from the hallway of the classroom area, just a couple of stories up, so I could see the ornaments on the hoods: Jaguar, Lexus, Bentley. There were little Italian sports cars and SUVs big enough for the sports cars to park in. I could tell that these were the human students, because none of them came alone. Most of them had their parents with them, with a few younger brothers and sisters along for the ride. I even recognized Clementine Nichols, who had a light-brown ponytail and freckles across her nose. To my surprise, Mrs. Bethany met most of themin the courtyard, holding out her hand as graciously as a queen receiving courtiers. She seemed to want to talk to the parents, and she smiled warmly at them as though they were making friends for life. I knew she was faking it, but I had to hand it to her—she was good. As for the human students, the longer they hung out in the courtyard and stared up at Evernight Academy's forbidding stone towers, the more their smiles faded.\ "There you are."\ I turned from the scene below to see my father, who had pried himself out of bed early for the occasion. He wore a suit and tie, like a professor should, but his rumpled, dark red hair revealed more of his true personality. "Yeah," I said, smiling at him. "I just wanted to see what was going on, I guess."\ "Looking for your friends?" My father's eyes twinkled as he stood by my side and peered out the window. "Or scoping out new guys?"\ "Dad."\ "Backing off as requested." He held up his hands. "You seem a little happier about this than you did last year."\ "I'd almost have to, wouldn't I?"\ "Guess you would," Dad said, and we both laughed. Last year, I'd been so anti-Evernight that I'd tried to run away the day the students arrived—it seemed like a lifetime ago. "Hey, if you want some breakfast, I think your mother's got the waffle iron fired up and ready to go."\ Even though they usually stuck to drinking blood from the clandestine shipments the school provided, my parents always made sure that I ate the real food I still needed. "I'll be up in a sec, okay?"\ "Okay." His hand rested on my shoulder for a moment before he turned to leave.\ I took one last look at the courtyard. A few families continued milling around or dragging in suitcases, but the third and final wave of students had begun to arrive.\ They each came alone, in rented cars. There were a couple of taxicabs, but most of the cars were hired sedans or limousines. When the students emerged, they were already dressed in their tailored uniforms, their hair slicked back and shining. None of them had suitcases; these were the ones who had sent their many possessions on ahead in the boxes and trunks that had been arriving at Evernight for two weeks now. To my displeasure, I saw Courtney, one of my least favorite people, waving airily to some of the other girls. She was one of the many who wore dark sunglasses. That meant they were sensitive to sunlight, which in turn meant they hadn't drunk blood in a while. Dieting, probably, so that they'd look thinner and fiercer.\ These were the vampires who needed help with the twentyfirst century but weren't yet totally lost in the changes of time. These were the ones who still had their power—and weren't going to let anyone else at this school forget. I always thought of them the same way.\ They were "the Evernight type."\ By the time I'd finished my waffles and gone downstairs, the great hall was crammed with a throng of laughing, talking students. For a couple minutes, I was jostled around, feeling small, until I heard one voice shout out above the din, "Bianca!"\ "Balthazar!" I smiled and raised my hand above my head, waving to him excitedly. He was a big guy, so tall and so muscular that he could've seemed intimidating as he pushed through the crowd toward me, if it weren't for the kindness in his eyes and the friendly smile on his face.\ I went on tiptoe to hug him tightly. "How was your summer?"\ "It was great. I worked the night shift at a dockyard in Baltimore." He said this with the same kind of relish that anybody else would use to describe a dream vacation in Cancun. "The guys and I made friends, hung out in bars a lot. I learned how to shoot pool. Started smoking again, too...\ Stargazer AER. Copyright © by Claudia Gray. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

\ Children's Literature\ - Amanda MacGregor\ In this sequel to Evernight, Bianca begins another year at Evernight Academy, a boarding school mainly for vampires. Bianca, whose parents are vampires, will one day fulfill her destiny and become a full vampire herself. For now, she is busy keeping her secret from her human roommate and pretending to date Balthazar, a respected and powerful vampire at school, while really still dating Lucas, a vampire hunter. Both Bianca and Lucas want to know why the academy admits human students at all, when everyone must go to such great lengths to keep the true nature of the majority of the school's students a secret. Their investigation takes many twists as they meet up clandestinely, encounter a young and seemingly innocent vampire with connections to the school, and work to overcome their preconceived notions about both vampires and vampire hunters. When the school becomes plagued with wraiths, or ghosts, seemingly intent on harming Bianca, a long kept secret comes out and a master of manipulation instigates a vicious battle. The future of the school is left uncertain and Bianca finds herself making a surprising alliance. It is necessary to read Evernight to really understand Stargazer. The plot is interesting enough, but poorly drawn out suspense and an abundance of flat characters mar the story. The narrative is often dull, with surprisingly little action, given the subject matter. Indiscriminate fans of this genre will probably enjoy this supernatural romance regardless of its flaws. Reviewer: Amanda MacGregor\ \ \ \ \ VOYA\ - Teri S. Lesesne\ Bianca's second year at Evernight Academy begins with a mystery that she is determined to solve. Why does this academy that specializes in training vampires how to live successfully in contemporary society admit students who are decidedly not vampires? Humans are off limits in terms of feeding. So why does headmistress Mrs. Bethany allow them entrance to the school? Bianca's snooping yields little information, but it does attract the attention of a wraith, a ghost-like creature that seems to be tracking her. As students return to school, one of them carries a smuggled letter from Lucas, the young man she loves. Lucas, a member of the Black Cross, is banned from Evernight because his compatriots hunt and destroy vampires, a fact that complicates Lucas and Bianca's relationship. Will love be able to conquer all the obstacles? In this sequel to Evernight (HarperTeen, 2008/VOYA August 2008), readers learn more about some of the characters. Raquel has experienced ghostly apparitions; Balthazar has a sister who is also a vampire. Perhaps the biggest secret to be revealed concerns Bianca and her true nature. Although some events are predictable, especially for aficionados of the genre, the fast-paced action, the threatening presence of the wraith, and the inevitable battle between vampires and hunters will keep readers engrossed and longing for another installment. The open ending of this book guarantees there is more to come. Reviewer: Teri S. Lesesne\ \ \ School Library JournalGr 9 Up\ This sequel to Evernight (HarperTeen, 2008) throws more plot twists at readers, but the writing has improved. The characters are also better developed, and readers find out more about their history. As the new school year begins at a private (vampire) academy, Bianca, a vampire, and Lucas, a vampire hunter, continue their illicit romance, meeting every few months. Her friend Balthazar is trying to find his sister, who is being pursued by the vampire-hunting group the Black Cross. Bianca has several encounters with wraiths and finds out that all of the humans admitted to Evernight have homes haunted by ghosts. Still confused about who and what she is, she gets hot and heavy with Balthazar but returns to Lucas in the end. Part Romeo and Juliet , part paranormal romance, part high school drama, this series will definitely continue as the author is keeping some secrets from readers. Fans of Richelle Mead and Stephenie Meyer will definitely enjoy this book.-Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library\ \ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsEvents tore apart star-crossed lovers Bianca and Lucas at the end of Evernight (2008), when the inevitable conflict between Bianca's vampire family and Lucas's vampire-hunting family nearly destroyed the teens and their loved ones. Amidst surveillance and suspicion, they contrive to meet secretly, using Balthazar-an attractive vampire-as a cover. Meanwhile, Bianca's attempts to discover why humans have been admitted to vampire bastion Evernight Academy (which teen-looking vampires attend to learn how to manage in the modern world) stir up evil wraiths seemingly intent upon destroying-or maybe saving-her. Bianca's tendency to belabor every point, particularly the depth of her love for Lucas, makes for a dull narrative style, and three-dimensional characters are pretty much nonexistent. Despite the predictable romantic entanglements and the constant telling, the plot races along with a search for a crazed renegade vampire, threatening ghosts, uncovered secrets and a flaming climax with a significant body count. Fans of the first volume will be satisfied; insufficient back story means no one else will know (or care) what is going on. (Fantasy. 12 & up)\ \