Books with author Douglas Rees

In the satiric and funny sequel to the witty Vampire High, Cody's hopes for a great sophomore year at Vlad Dracul are dashed when his train wreck of a cousin, Turk Stone, moves in and messes with his life. Turk's a brilliant teen artist and goth with a sky-high ego . Her attitude infuriates the vampire (jenti) students, especially the dark, brooding Gregor. But something changes in Turk when she stumbles on the abandoned nineteenth-century mill in the forgotten district of Crossfield and immediately claims it as her new arts center project. Though Cody resents his cousin at first, he has his own reasons for helping make Turk's dream come true. But Crossfield has many secrets, and a mysterious vampire army called the Mercians will do anything to make sure they stay hidden. And when he takes on the Mercians, everything Cody has learned about courage and determination his freshman year at Vampire High will be tested.From the Hardcover edition.

A Junior Library Guild Selection"A haunting, deeply affecting book. Set on the island of Tahiti, this story of artist Paul Gauguin and the young man he immortalized in his paintings reads like a tropical breeze—easy and relaxed at first feel, but hinting at dangerous storms brewing ahead. Highly recommended."—Brent Hartinger, author of The Order of the Poison Oak and The Last Chance TexacoFrom School Library Journal:Grade 8 Up–It is 1891 and Joe Sloan, a half-Mexican, half-American sailor from California, has recently disembarked in Tahiti. His friend Robert was murdered minutes after they arrived, and Joe is left with feelings of grief and revenge. To fulfill a pledge to his friend, he searches for and finds Tehane, the girl Robert loved. When Paul Gauguin arrives in the small village, Joe has several encounters with him; most of them involve insults and punches, but they become friends. Joe's relationship with Tehane also changes as they fall in love. But she, along with the rest of her village, doesn't trust the French artist, which causes a rift in their relationship. This novel is likely to lose readers. In the first three chapters alone, the author begins to develop several topics–the death of Robert, the death of the Tahitian king, the death of the Tahitian culture and way of life, Joe's despair and suicidal thoughts, his need for revenge, and the search for Tehane. Many of these plot threads have acceptable conclusions. Others seem to be dropped altogether. The initial encounters with Gauguin seem to be added as an afterthought, and dialogue with him is often stilted. When readers finally get to know the artist, in the second half of the novel, he becomes a more developed character. Overall, this story is not likely to sustain readers' interest.–Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL From Booklist:Gr. 9-12. Like other titles in the new Art Encounters series, this weaves biographical facts about a famous artist into a compelling novel. Here, the narrator is 15-year-old Joe Sloan, a Mexican American who flees his unhappy home, becomes a sailor, and lands in Tahiti in the 1890s, just as Paul Gauguin arrives. In a remote village, Joe forms an intense friendship with the mercurial Gauguin and falls deeply in love with a Tahitian girl. Gauguin's complicated, condescending views of the Tahitians as "noble savages" may jar contemporary readers, as might moments of violence: throughout, Joe plots to avenge a friend's murder; and a subplot that centers on smuggling leads to a heart-pounding conclusion. Rees has clearly done his research, and he admirably incorporates Gauguin's work and voice (a few famous quotes are included) into a romantic coming-of-age story that asks compelling questions about how artists create and where their lives and art intersect. An afterword and a time line of Gauguin's life will help readers separate fact from fiction. Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

This second book in the Art Encounters series centers on Paul Gauguin's painting Landscape with Peacocks, or Matamoe, and recreates the world the artist found in Tahiti when he painted the picture in 1892.This action-packed South Sea adventure is about a young sailor, Joe Sloan, and his mission to avenge the death of his friend, Robert. Joe searches for Robert's girlfriend, a Tahitian girl named Tehane, to deliver the sad news personally. He doesn't have to go far before fate reunites him with his friend's killer, the Marquesan warrior, Gun, and his evil master, a man known as the White Wolf. As Joe navigates the unknown territory of Tahiti and its people, he finds an unlikely ally in French artist Paul Gauguin. In the course of the story, readers are introduced to Gauguin and his work, the artist's relationships with the Tahitian natives, and his artistic temperament.

John Brown is either brilliant...or insane. And Theodore is on his side.When Theodore Worth’s parents hide the abolitionist John Brown overnight, Theodore is impressed by the man’s courage. Brown wants to free the slaves—by any means necessary—and in 1857 this makes him a wanted man. Two years later, Theodore runs away to join Brown and his men at Harper’s Ferry. Brown has a daring plan that, if it works, could end slavery. And if it doesn’t, it may kill them all.“This historically accurate, richly detailed novel perfectly captures Theodore’s angst as he stands on the verge of manhood, yearning to act.” —School Library Journal

"Gideon’s War: A Tale of the Rough Riders" is a classic tale of a young boy forced to grow up fast in a war he has no business waging. As Gideon puts it:"The war with Spain. The war for Cuban independence. It seems like such a little thing. It lasted one short summer. We won every battle, and were home for harvesting. It cost us exactly 365 deaths in combat."We fought it with an army that was mostly boys who’d never given a thought to war until it was upon us. Then we leapt to arms, though our arms were outdated and worn. We marched to two-steps and Civil War camp songs. Then we came home, most of us with our single-shot rifles still unfired, our antique sabres bright and unused."A dog-and-pony show, most of it. That’s the myth. And as Chance Vavasour once said, ‘A myth is something that is true whether it ever happened or not.’"

After the murder of his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Blackwood, Ross Blackwood finds himself assigned to the Far East, taking on rebels and illegal-arms dealers in Hong Kong and Malaysia. Along the way he meets another Blackwood, his cousin Steve, who has made a life for himself in the Corp, as an explosives expert. The two Blackwoods uphold the honor of their family and their chosen profession while negotiating the fallout of Britain's post-colonial politics.

Funny and smart with all the angst and sass of adolescence and a colorful cast of characters, this is a refreshing contemporary coming-of-age YA about one Greek-American girl's odyssey home. Sixteen-year-old Elektra Kamenides is well on her way to becoming a proper southern belle in the small Mississippi college town she calls home. That is, until her mother decides to uproot her and her kid sister Thalia and start over in California. They leave behind Elektra's father--a professor and leading expert on Greek mythology, and Elektra can't understand why. For her, life is tragedy, and all signs point to her family being cursed. Their journey ends in Guadalupe Slough, a community of old Chicano families and oddball drifters sandwiched between San José and the southern shores of San Francisco Bay. The houseboat that her mother has bought, sight unseen, is really just an ancient trailer parked on a barge and sunk into a mudflat. What would Odysseus do? Elektra asks herself. Determined to get back to Mississippi at all costs, she'll beg, lie, and steal to get there. But things are not always what they seem, and home is wherever you decide to make it.

Everyone who looks at "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boits," the grand-scale painting by John Singer Sargent that hangs in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, is drawn into its mysteries. Who are these four girls, dressed in prim pinafores? Why is the composition so far off balance? Why are two of the girls cloaked so completely in shadows that their “portraits” are little more than ghostly ciphers? Author Douglas Rees explores the complexities of this masterpiece with a psychological thriller that lets Sargent himself tell the story behind the canvas. When one of the girls scratches the words “HELP US” on a scrap of drawing paper, Sargent realizes that he alone has the power to save them. Will the great portraitist paint the girls as they appear—or will he show the reality of their dark, mysterious lives?

I wanted the role of Juliet more than anything. I studied hard. I gave a great reading for it—even with Bobby checking me out the whole time. I deserved the part.I didn't get it. So I decided to level the playing field, though I actually might have leveled the whole play. You see, since there aren't any Success in Getting to Be Juliet in Your High School Play spells, I thought I'd cast the next best—a Fame spell. Good idea, right?Yeah. Instead of bringing me a little fame, it brought me someone a little famous. Shakespeare. Well, Edmund Shakespeare. William's younger brother.Good thing he's sweet and enthusiastic about helping me with the play...and—ahem—maybe a little bit hot. But he's from the past. Way past. Cars amaze him—cars! And cell phones? Ugh.Still, there's something about him that's making my eyes go star-crossed....