Dearest by Alethea Kontis

Dearest by Alethea Kontis - 283 pages

Friday Woodcutter is an apprentice seamstress with a generous heart for orphans and all people.  When she is rescued and taken to the palace after a mysterious ocean suddenly appears across the entire country, she discovers a family under a curse.  By day seven brothers are turned into swans only to become human during the night.  Can Friday save them from the curse and the man hunting them down?

This is the third book in the Woodcutter Sisters series.  I absolutely love this series.  It combines several different fairy tales to make new stories that are fun and interesting to read.  A great series for teens.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry - 215 pages

This is the second book in The Giver quartet -- although you would never know it from reading it.  There is one small mention of a character from The Giver that is merely described by his eye color.

I listened to this book on audio.  It is the story of Kira, a young girl who is saved because of her skills weaving.  She is charged with repairing the Singer's robe that conveys the history of her world in pictures.

I enjoyed the audio version of the story.  It was a good story on its own - without trying to tie it to The Giver series.