Wood's Books

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

2012-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

I finished The Marriage Plot and Wuthering Heights right at the beginning of the year, and then I took up John Green's latest. I don't want to post too much because I know so many people are reading the book. Also, it was just so good, there's not a whole lot to say, or maybe, I am just not sure what to say. In short, you are immediately in love with Hazel Grace Lancaster from the moment you read the first sentence. This character is unique and real. What she says about life and her disease is honest and funny and terrifying all at the same time. I knew I would probably shed a tear or two at the end of the book...I mean, how can you not? It's a Cancer Kid book, right? When I read Jenny Downham's Before I Die, I was weeping at the end. But what shocked me was that I teared up multiple times throughout, and then, of course, I was sobbing at the very end. But I thought that this was fitting. I mean who wouldn't cry all the time (like Hazel's dad) if you were going through all of this. It's sad. I am just so amazed at how Green got me to feel so much for these characters. I also love how books like this help you put your life into perspective. What I love about literature and this book is that we read it and we experience something that we might never experience in all our days. It's tragic...but like the classic definition of tragedy....it enlarges and ennobles us. We are better for having witnessed what happened to these characters and we can appreciate our own lives and the relationships we have.

One last thing I will say I loved about this book was the fact that Hazel was just around her parents and her few good friends. So many kids and adults today are so concerned with the appearance of being busy and involved in every freakin' activity possible. Sometimes I feel like kids and grown-ups might feel like if they aren't getting straight A's AND playing three sports AND being really popular AND taking music lessons on the side AND volunteering five million hours a week AND finding time to still cook and read for pleasure AND maintaining a perfectly positive attitude all the time....then they aren't doing enough. But you know, that's just not true. I think this book shows that what matters is relationships and family. Basketball wasn't that important to Augustus. And the people who knew he played or knew him in high school didn't really KNOW him. What matters is knowing people and appreciating them for exactly who they are. Conversations matter. Time with people matters. Friendships and relationships matter. Not all that other stuff. Not that that stuff is bad, but it's not always that important. I recommend this book to every person in the entire world. It's a great story with a great narrator and great characters and a great message. LOVED it. I did.

A Monster Calls

2011-11-21T17:16:00.001-08:00

I'd been wanting to read this book for a long time, and I finally got it finished. I really enjoyed the book a lot. The book itself is beautiful. The illustrations bring the story to life in a haunting way. The book tells the story of a young boy named Connor who's dealing with his mother's illness. He deals with enough every day, and then even more when a monster shows up to his bedroom one evening. The monster is as old as the world itself and as wise. But Connor isn't scared of the monster. You should be. This monster is strong, powerful, dangerous, and all-knowing. But Connor doesn't flinch. The monster has been called by Connor. The monster says that he will tell Connor three stories and that then Connor will tell the fourth. The fourth story will be the truth. The truth is that the book is great. I teach only seniors right now, so it might not be as good a fit for this age group. But I really think this is an absolutely fabulous pick for middle grades and early high school. A great story. This book will mean lots to readers for years to come. It's just perfect. Very important.

Lola and the Boy Next Door

2011-10-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

Lola was so fun. I am so excited to say that I was at Stephanie's release party for Anna and the French Kiss and the release event for Lola, and I am going to be there for Isla as well! Three for three hopefully.

If you haven't read Anna, you must. It's got France and old movies and kissing and boys and school. It's good.

Lola didn't disappoint.

Lola and the Boy Next Door is about Lola Nolan, a girl with a very unique sense of style. Lola wants never to wear the same outfit twice. She dates an older guy, Max, who's in a band and completely cool. To her at least, not to her dads. But he's still Lola's boyfriend. Lola's world is turned upside down, though, when her old neighbors, the Bells, move back in next door. Lola and Cricket Bell have a history, and the last time Lola saw Cricket, she was heartbroken. What is she supposed to do now that they are back? Cricket's window is right across from hers. And he looks good. Even better than before if that's possible. But she has Max, so that's all the matters, right? Well, read the book and see. Cool guys are great, but there's something about first loves that never leaves you.

This books was fun for many reasons. One - it's set in San Francisco, so who wouldn't love to take some time to walk with Lola down the streets of the Castro? The setting was a fun character in this book. I also enjoyed Lola. She was different. She stood out, but not in a cool way. I appreciated her style. I was only annoyed with her a few times as I realized that I liked Cricket Bell better than Max. I couldn't stand it and wanted to scream at her, "Go with Cricket NOW....can't you see...????" But of course, if only we all saw things clearly in the moment....But we usually don't. I loved Cricket Bell. He was the coolest dude ever. Sweet and stylish and a bit awkward, he was the nicest boy.

What I love about both of Perkins' books is that she keeps you hanging on until the very last minute for things to work out, but it is so, so very very very worth it. It sort of reminds me of You've Got Mail, you know, a good, well-planned story. You are so on the side of the characters. You so want them to get together. You are hanging on the edge of your seat. You know they like each other. You know it. They know it, but it just hasn't happened, but....when you get to that last frame, and you get that one kiss and you know that they will live happily ever after...it's so perfect. That's how I felt reading both of these books. Sure there are twists and turns along the way, but I just sighed at the end of both and almost burst with happiness for the characters. So, for those who like a fun YA love story, read these. They are really cool. And I feel great recommending both of these to my students, too, because these characters are good, responsible kids. They are just going through life dealing with the same stuff that we all did: school, boys, parents, freedom, love, you name it. I absolutely can't wait until Isla. I am so happy for Stephanie Perkins. She is a super nice person and I love that her dreams have come true. These books are so enjoyable. Read one now! :)

Monstrumologist: The Isle of Blood

2011-10-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

Dude. Awesome. No words. I can't really say much about the third installment in the Monstrumologist series except that it's thrilling. I have enjoyed (well maybe enjoyed isn't the right word...this stuff is really gruesome....) every moment of these books. If you haven't read them, you must. I can't wait to see how the series concludes. I'm so glad that Yancey will be writing the fourth book. This is horror and mystery and suspense at it's best. And what's more, I love Yancey's writing. The voice of Will Henry is so honest, so real. These books are amazing. Read them now.

Sisterhood Everlasting

2011-09-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

I read all the Traveling Pants books years ago and loved every moment of them. Each girl had her unique personality and they all eventually ended up back together and back on the same page no matter what obstacles got in their way. I guess I identified most with Carmen as I read the books. I saw this new one on the shelves and had to pick it up. The girls have grown up and are 30 now? I'm 30 now. What are these ladies up to? I had to know.

I will say this. I was shocked as I read the first few chapters. I couldn't believe the girls had let themselves go. No one had kids yet. Each had a career. But they'd lost touch. So when Tibby reaches out from Australia to bridge the divide finally, I was just as excited as Bee, Lena, and Carmen to get a ticket to Greece for a reunion. However, the reunion isn't what they imagined. From early on Brashares throws you a curve ball with this book. For the longest time I wasn't sure what to think, but I went with it and I finished the book.

I can't really say too much more, but I can say that you get a look into each girl's life, of course. Each of these sisters has faced challenges that many of us young ladies face every day: questions about life, marriage, children, career, balance, etc. It's hard. It's hard for the. I appreciated what I saw each woman working through because I did think that their problems were real.

I did have a few issues with the characters, though. When I first met back up with Carmen, she's a famous actress on a crime show and she doesn't eat and she's a size 2?? I seriously wondered if this really could have happened to her? Carmen was proud of her curves. She didn't let people bully her around, and now she's just a robotic actress mindless attending premiers and parties with her executive producer fiancee?? I didn't buy it. Bee's store made sense to me, and Lena's too, as well as Tibby's, but I think I was most disappointed in Carmen when I saw where these girls were years later.

It was a fast read, and I did like it. I wanted to get to the end and piece everything together. And of course, like all the other books in the series, what matters here is friendship. Life will bring us changes. Life will disappoint us. Life will shock us. Life will lead us places we didn't imagine going. But in the end, we have friends to help us on that journey. These girls always end up back together and they pick up where they left off. That's what real friends can do. They can forgive and move on. They can start over every day if they have too. As a young mother, wife, teacher, friend, daughter, sister, everything - I know how it can feel like you are not meeting the needs of everyone in your life, but you just gotta do your best. And you must find some people to lean on. Real friends are hard to come by, so you must reach out and try again, even if it's been a while or even if life seems too busy. It'll be worth it in the end and sharing life's moments with those you love is the most important thing of all.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

2011-09-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

It took me a bit to get in to this one, but in the end it was definitely worth it. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is about a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell whose father was killed in the 9-11 terrorist attack. When Oskar accidentally breaks a vase in his parents' bedroom, he finds a mysterious little key in a small envelope. Determined to find out what the key meant to his father and what lock it opens, Oskar journeys all over New York city meeting people from all walks of life and asking questions about his dad and his feelings and life and the universe and so much more.

Oskar is a peculiar child to say the least. Not a huge fan of child narrators, I was a bit annoyed with him at first. He'd say things that, in my opinion, didn't sound like a nine-year-old at all...even a very strange one. However, as I continued reading the book, I did get to know him as a character better, and I felt that perhaps some of his strange behavior was ok because of what he'd been through. It was clear to me that he was a strange kid before his father's death. I liked him in the end, and as you read the book, no matter what you think of the narration or style....you feel for the kid. He's been through a horrible tragedy and I think we'd all be allowed to do whatever it took in order to deal with those feelings.

The book has an interesting subplot involving the Oskar's grandparents. I enjoyed this plot line but didn't feel that it really connected to Oskar's story in the end. To me it just all seemed a bit much. Unrealistic.

What I can say, though, is that there are some heartbreaking moments in the novel. Oskar's mother struggles daily to understand and move on from her husband's death. As a reader, it hurt so much to see how strained and awkward the relationship between Oskar and his mother was at times. They are a new kind of family now that Thomas (the father) is gone, and it broke my heart to see them struggle with finding ways to feel and think and be without their dad. It's been ten years since the tragedy, yet it seems like we are all still figuring it out. Yes, people move on. Yes, the smoke and dust settle, but lives are never the same. After reading this book I was reminded of the importance of family. Every day on the news we see that people have been hurt or killed. By weather, storms, tornadoes, accidents, terrorists, gunmen who kill people in public places...it doesn't really matter what gets you in the end. Death comes for us all. People are left behind by their loved ones every day, and it's never easy. We do what we can to deal with the loss and hopefully we are surrounded by a few others who can help us through the days that follow.

As we approach the tenth anniversary of September 11 and as I digest this book, I feel like we need to simply remind ourselves how lucky we are to be here living and learning in this country. Each day is a gift. It's so easy to get swept up into the business that is life and school in America. Yes, we must work hard. Yes, we must do our jobs. Yes, we must read books and complete assignments and write papers. But let's always remember that people and relationships matter and that the books and papers and discussions help us to understand ourselves and our world better. Let's remember that life can change in an instant and it won't matter what score you got on your last Calculus exam or English essay. I count myself blessed that I am not Oskar, that I did not lose someone I know in the terrorist attack. By reading his story, however, I am reminded of what I must do. I must love my family as much as I can each moment because you never know what each day holds. So, I do recommend this book. It's different, but moving. I am glad I read it and my heart goes out to all who lost loved ones ten years ago and those who lose loved ones at any time. Life is never the same, but love is still here on earth for those who are left behind if we hold on to the people around us and make the most of every moment.

Beauty Queens

2011-08-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

I started this book and got stuck moving to a new city in the middle of it, but I finally finished just the other day. This book is just hilarious and I loved every moment. Bray pokes fun at everything under the sun related to reality television, beauty products, girls' self-image, Victoria's Secret catalogs; you name it, she's got a witty remark about it.

If you haven't heard about the book yet, basically the contestants for Miss Teen Dream are on a plane and it crashes on a "deserted" island. The girls hold out hope for a while, but realize eventually that no one is going to come save them. Taylor Renee Krystal Hawkins, Miss Texas, takes over and insists that the girls continue practicing their pageant routines, but other girls aren't quite agreeable to that. They make huts and figure out how to get fresh drinking water and learn about who they really all are. What they don't know is that the island isn't deserted and just down the shore in an underground volcano lair, the Corporation has some business happening.

Part Lord of the Flies, part Miss Congeniality, part Austin Powers, this book is extreme fun. I loved the unique personality of each girl. Each young woman had her own "issues" she was working through, and what young woman doesn't? These girls were smart, fit, and tough, but they weren't perfect.

What I do appreciate in the end, though, is that for all the silliness and obvious hits that Bray makes at the issues and messages bombarding young women today, what's underneath is a good message. No these girls aren't perfect, but they are who they are. They embrace themselves the good and the bad. I really loved every page and I think most girls will get a kick out of this book, but really appreciate that they can be who they want and take control of their own lives and self images. Tons of fun, this one!

State of Wonder

2011-08-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

So I won't be teaching freshmen this upcoming school year. What this means for me right now is that the "direction" of my reading will be shifting a bit. I still will keep up with all the great YA books, but I will also be reading and posting about more literature and some adult reads as well. Most of the adult book I will read/review will be related to the literature that I will be teaching in my senior English classes or just stuff that is on many "great books you must read now or before you die..." You get the picture.

With that said, I just finished (finally....I've said it before, my reading has slowed significantly since my little girl was born, but it's ok :) Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. I am a big fan of Heart of Darkness, so I was really interested to read this book. I heard a review on NPR and picked it up. I was immediately drawn in to the story. Dr. Marina Singh works for a pharmaceutical company in Minnesota. Her company funds the work of Dr. Annick Swenson who is in the Amazon researching a tribe and creating a drug, but no one has heard from her in years. She's there but not really in communication with anyone. The company sends Marina's coworker, Anders Eckman, there to find Dr. Swenson and check on the progress of the research and the drug that is in development. Anders, an avid bird-watcher, is excited about the opportunity to see new life and experience all the forest has. However, Marina finds out that Anders has died - in the Amazon and is buried there. Burdened with the job of telling Anders' wife, Marina doesn't know what to think about her friend's death, her mentor's (Dr. Swenson's) work, her company's goals, or anything. Encouraged by Anders' wife, Marina goes to the heart of the Amazon to finish what Anders started and find out about his death for his family.

The books starts off with "Anders is dead," and I really appreciated that. While some background is given about Marina and Mr. Fox, her boss, this information unfolds throughout the novel in good time. I liked that you got pieces along the way but were given the main conflict right upfront. I felt compelled at each stage of the novel to know what would be happening next. I felt that the overall flow of the book was great.

A fan of Heart of Darkness, as I said earlier, I enjoyed seeing the setting here. The Amazon was rendered alive and breathing by Patchett. There were bugs and snakes and fishes galore and you felt every single one of them. The river's opaqueness is mystifying and terrifying and enchanting all at once. I felt like I got to be on this "vacation" of sorts along with Marina. I loved seeing how the Lakashi lived and seeing how the doctors at the research station lived in these new conditions. I enjoyed all the characters. I liked learning a lot about Dr. Swenson. She's no Kurtz by any means, but it was interesting piecing together bits of her from Marina' memory and from the interesting things she shows readers about herself. The medical part of this book was great and the mystery part was good too. I would definitely recommend this read for anyone. I didn't have a huge reaction to the end. This wasn't one that I held to my heart and sighed with when it was over, but I was glad to have read it and experienced a new, wild place and way of life.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor

2011-07-11T05:20:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this book. I really got in to the chapters at the beginning, buying everything that Foster said. Obviously, he's the professor, and I can say that I feel like I learned a lot. But what I really left with wasn't having memorized all the topics of his chapters, but having understood that there's a lot more going on under the surface of "great" stories and novels and poems. I was happy that at the end of the book, Foster tells you just to read to the best of your ability. And he says throughout that practice makes better, so anyone can read the best books and think about them, though we will all do this on our own level.

Foster admits that the topics covered in this book are just the beginning. He discusses rain and water in literature, for example, but not fire. We all know that fire can be an extremely symbolic and powerful metaphor in a work, but it's not included in this book. To include everything, Foster states, would make this work a gargantuan literary encyclopedia, and who wants to read all of that. Instead, he shows the reader many of the patterns that readers can notice in literature and then sets you free.

My only concern about this book is how well a high school student would like it. I enjoyed many of the chapters (though some better than others), but I also am a thirty-year-old-English-teacher-English-major-lady who was willing and interested to read this book. I knew most of the stories, poems, and novels about which Foster wrote. But how many of those works would even your best high school English student know. Would it make the book harder to read if the reader didn't know the works being referred to? I'm not sure. I felt that way when reading. If I knew the work he was talking about, then the chapter was definitely more interesting to me. If I didn't know the work, I appreciated Foster's plot summary and explanation, but the chapter didn't mean as much.

Overall, I like the main idea of this book - look for patterns. Literature works on many, many levels, and you can become a really good reader of literature if you read often, read great works, and think about the works you're reading. I will be very interested to see what my students thought of the work. I feel like English majors would love this book, but every student who signs up for AP Literature isn't necessarily going to be an English major, so well see what the kids think soon.

Summer and the City

2011-06-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

Really fun. This second book in the Carrie Diaries was a fun beginning to my summer reading. The Carrie Diaries was set in Carrie's hometown, and this book picks up when Carrie arrives in the Big Apple for her summer writing classes at The New School. She gets her wallet and purse stolen the minute she walks off the subway and has to get help from Donna LaDonna's cousin - the one, the only - Samantha Jones. If you know anything about SATC, then you know, once Carrie meets Samantha - wild times are ahead. I really enjoyed this second book. It was fun. I was a bit annoyed with Carrie for obsessing over boys, but you know, it is a Carrie book. Anyway - I will say that this book definitely has "the sex" in it. The first one wasn't too bad, but I'd consider the second book to have way more about relationships and sex than the first one. A fun read but definitely for high school readers only.

Summer Reading List

2011-06-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

So I haven't read nearly as much as last year. I don't want to blame it on the baby....but I'm going to blame it on the baby. It's definitely harder to find time to read now that there's a little one in the house, but I think I've done pretty good. Nine books in 2011 so far, and I'll have even more time during summer because I won't be planning lessons or grading papers. With school ending and summer vacation beginning, I thought I'd set my summer reading goals. This list is waaaaaay to long, but it's good to aim high, right? Here's what I would like to read this summer:

Post Cards from No Man's Land

Jellicoe Road

Fixing Delilah

The Burn Journals

Blankets

Desires of the Dead

Summer and the City

Beauty Queens

The Mockingbirds

Tender Morsels

Fins are Forever

The Truth About Forever

This Lullaby

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Lolita

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Going After Cacciato

Song of Solomon

The Help

Catch 22

Ambitious, yes. Will I read them all, no. I know I won't get through every single one of these, but it's my goal. I have been reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor and was inspired to add more classics to my list than usual. I've really read tons of YA, but I might be teaching only AP Lit and English IV next year, so I might need to take a break from YA this summer and beef up my literature reading for my AP classes. Well, I have great hopes for my summer reading list, so we'll see....

Between Shades of Gray

2011-05-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

“The full extent of Stalin's genocide will never truly be known, but it certainly had no boundaries. Ruta Sepetys stunningly portrays the devastation of Lithuania through the eyes of 15-year-old Lina and the story of her family's deportation to Siberia. The camp scenes not only accurately display the horror of the Great Terror but also show the courage and resilience of those who survived this colossal crime. Consider this the young adult version of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.”

-- Bill Cusumano, Nicola's Books, Ann Arbor, MI

Between Shades of Gray is one of those books that you really want to read, but you really don't want to read at the same time. Like Night or The Diary of Anne Frank, you know what you are in for before you even pick up the book. It's going to be serious. It's not going to be an easy read, but you know you will be better for having read the story.

Books like this remind us to be grateful for all we have and all the freedoms we enjoy. Sepetys tells the story of a teenaged girl named Lina who, along with most of her family, is taken from her home and "shipped" by Stalin and the NKVD to Siberia to a work camp. Her father is not with Lina, her mother, and her brother. She wants desperately to find him. She draws some clues on her handkerchief and sends it on with other people in hopes that it will find her father and that then he can find them. The prisoners are labeled as "thieves and prostitutes" and forced to ride in cattle cars for days to Siberia. They live in shacks and work their hands to the bone. They face illness and despair.

It was so hard to read all that the people in this book faced, but it's really important to remember. Many of us have read Night and know about the Holocaust. But horror was happening in Russia and the surrounding countries, too. I think it's great that Sepetys has researched and brought these stories to life for readers. The writing in this book was great. Short chapters helped keep the pace quick and move the story along. I also really liked the way that the author included flashbacks in many chapters. You could see what life was like for Lina and her family before they were in trouble.

What sticks with you most in this story is, of course, the power of the human spirit to endure. We see the true strength in people when we read stories like this and remember these parts of our world's history. I think this book is wonderful and is great for all audiences. Lina's just a regular girl, but she becomes extraordinary and super-human as she faces horrible wrongs and suffering during her life's journey.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

2011-05-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

I love Maureen Johnson. I first read Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever and adored them both. Witty, smart girl characters and super-fun supporting cast members also. I also read her story in Let It Snow. I finally picked up 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I knew that the sequel was coming out, so I wanted to read these.

The book is about Ginny Blackstone. Her crazy aunt, whom she loves, "disappeared" a few years back, and no one really knew where she was until they found out that she had cancer and died abroad. Since she was so far away and had disappeared anyway, it was sad, but strange to Ginny. Then one day she gets a letter from her aunt that sends her on a whirlwind trip to Europe. Her aunt has written her 13 letters, each one including a different task that Ginny must complete before opening the next. The rules are set out for her, too: she can only take what will fit in her backpack, she may not use any guide books or write anything down, she cannot bring any extra money, and she cannot use technology - no cell phone, music, email or anything of the sort.

Sounds scary to me! But Ginny takes her aunt up on the challenge and travels to England to begin her journey. The book follows Ginny on this trip.

I liked the book a lot. I did not love it as much as I love the Scarlett books, but it was fun. I enjoyed getting to travel with Ginny and be in Europe. It was really fun to see all that she saw. The characters in the book are fun. I will say that I didn't really root for Ginny much until closer to the end of the book, but when I did get to the end, I cared about what she had gone through and wanted to know where she ended up next in life. All in all a fun read. I will definitely be reading the sequel next and see how the story continues.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

2011-04-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

I raced through this book so quickly and really liked it a lot. I remember If I Stay - it was amazing! I loved every moment of the first book. Where She Went doesn't disappoint either. I don't want to say too much about the book, since people might not have read the first one, but I can tell you that this book is from the point of view of Adam, Mia's boyfriend. He fills the reader in on the aftermath of Mia's accident and what has been happening since then. I raced through this book so quickly. I really loved Adam's character and voice. I enjoyed learning about the other characters from the first book and what had happened to them, too. I also like reading about what Adam was feeling and going through, because while Mia and her immediate family were obviously most affected by the accident, tragedies impact everyone involved. Adam was a part of what happened, too. This book was great. If you haven't read the first one, you should pick both up today. Cover comment: I hate that there is a girl on the front of this book. It won't appeal to boys at all because of this....at least not at first glance. I get that it matches the new paperback, but I think guys would like this book and even the first one...wish more books came with covers that appealed to both genders.

Shine by Lauren Myracle

2011-04-24T04:05:00.000-07:00

I had heard some good reviews of this book on Goodreads and Twitter, so when I got it, I was really excited to read. I enjoyed this book a lot. It's one of those like Speak or Wintergirls that you sort of don't want to read but you really want to. It's not about an easy subject, but you are better after having read the story.

When I teach tragedy to my students, we discuss catharsis and how by experiencing the horrible things along with the character, we learn so much. We go through the events without having really gone through them, and hopefully we are saved from those things in our own lives. Maybe we are. Maybe we aren't, but we definitely experience a lot during our journeys with those characters.

Cat, while written for a very specific place in the mountains of North Carolina, still reminds me a bit of Lia and Melinda. Girls who were "normal" for lack of a better word, friends with everyone, but who withdrew for some reason and became loners.

In Cat's very small town (and I mean small, not just cute small, I mean poor, farming, out in the hills small) of Black Creek, NC, people get along just fine. But a tragedy shakes the town when a young man, Patrick, is brutally attacked and tied to a gas pump, the nozzle taped to his throat and a hateful message scrawled on his chest. It's a hate crime, and people are shaken. Some feel that perhaps Patrick got what he deserved for being different while others, of course, really feel that no one deserves anything like that at all. The cops are "working on it," but Cat knows this really means that they are going to "seem" like they are following leads, eventually just blame it on a truck load of out of town college boys, and let life resume. But Cat knows that isn't the case.

She and Patrick used to be best friends. They got eat other. They had fun. But when Cat got to high school, she dropped all her friends and just stayed in her own world with herself and her books. She misses Patrick, and when this happens, even though she hasn't talked to him in forever, she has to help him. She sets about trying to piece together what happened the night that Patrick got attacked. She feels like she owes it to her friend to solve this crime.

Told from Cat's point of view, this book leads you along her journey of discovery as she figures out just what happened that night. She finds out way more about her town and the people in it than she ever knew. The cast of characters is great, and since you are with Cat, you sort of see everyone as a suspect at first. It has a who dunnit feel to it. But it's an important story. I think it deals with the hate crime well. It's honest about people's feelings. While Cat is understanding and supportive of Patrick's homosexuality, most people in this town are not, and that is a reality that many gay teens face out in the world.

What matters is what kind of person you are and that you view the world in a positive way. Patrick did, and Cat does in a way. I think this book was great. I am a southern girl myself, so I do sometimes cringe a bit when I read southern characters. Sometimes I feel/felt like maybe there were too many colloquialisms crammed into one sentence or paragraph, but then at the same time, it didn't really bother me that much or take away from the flow of the story, so I was ok with it. I think kids will like this book because it is a mystery of sorts, as Cat is solving this crime, but I think the greater messages and meanings about treating people well and the dangers of drugs and hate will resonate with readers as well. I am really glad I got my hands on this one. Not an easy read, but a good one.

The Curse of the Wendigo

2011-04-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

I absolutely loved The Monstrumologist and the next book in the series The Curse of the Wendigo was even better than the first. I liked it better because not only was it full of horror and gore and terror, but I learned even more about Dr. Warthrop. I got to know these two characters (Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop) even more. The more I learn about them, the more I like them, even though they are in a really crazy business.

In this second volume, Will and the monstrumologist go out into the wild to search for one of the doctors friends from childhood, John. What they find in the wilderness will make you shake in disgust and terror. The "wendigo" is something that beats your standard vampire or werewolf out of the water, for it starves as it eats and then it eats more because it starves. I thought the descriptions of the anthropophagi in the first book were horrifying, but this book doesn't fail to gross the reader out on almost every page.

Reading these books is like being in a haunted house, you don't want to know what's waiting in the next room, but you just can't help it. You have to know. When I read the book, I winced in disgust and closed my eyes. The people around me did not want me to share any more descriptions with them because they were so disturbing. But it's a good disturbing - classic horror and suspense.

I love the voice and the writing style in these books. It's historically accurate but still easy to read. I felt that the characters were developed more and I cannot wait for Rick Yancey to get his hands on some more of Will Henry's notebooks.

Across the Universe

2011-04-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

Quick post on this one. I finished it a few weeks ago, but haven't had a chance to post until now.

I had read reviews of this book online and just had to have this one. It lived up to all the hype. I'm usually not a huge fan of very sci-fy-y books, but this one was awesome. I was hooked from the first chapter when I read about just how people got cryogenically (sp?) frozen. It was crazy and creepy.

So the basic story is that Amy is a young girl whose parents are going to be frozen and put on a ship to travel through the universe for 300 years. Along with many other people from all careers and jobs from military to science, they are going to find a new planet and see what natural resources this new land can have. It's a risk, but really exciting. Amy decides to be frozen too, so she can stay with her parents. It's a hard decision, but she wants to be with her family.

Elder is our other narrator and main character. He is sort of a leader-in-training for the ship, Godspeed. He takes lessons from Eldest, the current leader of the ship.

These two characters meet when Amy is unfrozen 50 years early. Someone unplugged her and she is lucky she was found. She could have died. She can't be refrozen, and her parents can be unfrozen because they are so key to the mission....so now she'll be older than her parents when the ship finally lands.

She turns to Elder and tries to figure out what to do. However, once she starts to see how people are living on the ship, she is concerned. The ways of life on this ship are nothing at all like the life she led.

Think about how much our country changed in two hundred and fifty years....well, that's how long the ship has been on its mission, so needless to say, things have changed....but you will be shocked to see how these people live. Eldest is quite a leader and has everything under his control. Elder finds out that Eldest hasn't exactly been very honest, either, about how things on the ship work. If Elder is going to be leader one day, he needs more information, but Eldest won't give it to him.

This book really drew me in. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away, but I will tell you that this story twists and turns and really shocks you. At first I couldn't believe some of the things I read, but then I almost started to understand why Eldest acted the way he did.

Anyway, I think if you like a good adventure or sci-fi story, this is definitely for you. But it's not crazy science-fiction, it's very now and cool. I highly recommend this read to guys and girls. It's got something for everyone. I was extremely disappointed to find out that it's the first book in a trilogy. I already can't wait for the next book A Million Suns to arrive in 2012.

Half Brother

2011-03-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

Ben Tomlin has to move with his parents all the way to the other side of the county (his country - Canada) because of his father's job. Ben's dad is a scientist who wants to be involved in the project of a lifetime. Dr. Tomlin wants to teach language to a chimp in order to prove that chimps can master language. Dr. Tomlin got a new university to sponsor his project. So Ben's life was turned upside down. Not only did he have to move, but he also got a new "brother" - Zan the chimpanzee.

At first Ben wasn't too fond of Zan, but as time goes by, Ben sees just how smart Zan is. Once he gets past the poopy chimp diapers....Ben begins to love all the time he gets to spend with Zan. Zan picks up the language (American Sign Language) quickly, and all seems to be going well. But Zan is a chimp. Is he really learning language or just imitating what he sees the humans do around him? Will he be able to initiate conversation or will he only answer when spoken to? What do you do when the baby chimp becomes a full grown male chimpanzee who is much stronger than any human? These are all questions that come up in Kenneth Oppel's Half Brother.

Also in the background of all this is Ben's life. Can you be a normal teenager if your dad is running this experiment. He's got camera crews in his house. People are talking about whether or not his dad should even be using an animal in this way. All this complicates what is already a hard time of life for a teenage boy.

I loved this book. I fell in love with Zan just as Ben and his mother did. I felt like he was just as strong a character as the others who can talk and are like me. This book is a great story about Zan learning language, but it's also about fitting in, dealing with family and relationship issues, and making tough decisions.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz

2011-02-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I saw this book on the Printz list that just came out and thought it looked good. I also read Reading Rants' review and then just had to get it. I can say that while this book is pretty depressing in a lot of ways, I really liked it.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a book about Vera, who's gone through some pretty rough stuff in her life. She's a good student, responsible young woman, and hard worker. Her mother left her father and her. The two (Ken and Vera) have been doing the best they know how. Vera's best friend and next door neighbor, Charlie, has been her right-hand man for most of the two teens' lives. Vera and Charlie have had their ups and downs but have kept their friendship going through the years, that is until these last few years of high school. Charlie started hanging out with the "detentionheads" and the horrible Jenny Flick. Vera doesn't fit in with this group, and Charlie starts to change and ignore her. He's not himself. He seems to turn as bad as the kids he hangs out with. Vera still hopes he's not that bad, but she feels like she probably needs to just give up on their friendship, even though she really doesn't want to. All of this weighs on Vera because Charlie dies. Their history and all the things that happened during their time together haunt Vera. The circumstances of Charlie's death are mysterious. Vera also seems to know more about what happened the night Charlie died than she lets on to her Dad and to us, the readers.

The book is told mostly from Vera's point of view with "brief words" from others such as Charlie, Ken Dietz (Vera's dad), and the Pagoda (a run-down local landmark). Vera also fills you in on the history of her and Charlie's friendship. The back and forth helps you put the details of the story together. I really liked Vera and most of the other characters, too. Even though Charlie was strange and had issues, I still felt like he deserved a chance. Same thing about Vera's dad. He's doing his best, and while he may not always say the right thing or parent is the "correct" way, he does what he does for Vera, and he's a good person.

This book is dark and like I said before, sad. But it was worth it. I was happy with the ending and the understandings to which the characters came. I definitely think it was a great read and deserving to be a Printz honor book. Check it out!

New Year's Reading Resolutions

2011-01-31T14:36:00.000-08:00

Many people make New Year's resolutions, and I am making my reading resolutions as I am heading back to the classroom tomorrow. I've been out of school for six weeks since I had my daughter in December. I will be meeting my new second semester students and starting a fresh instructional period at school.

I have a huge classroom library and really love to help students find great books. I started understanding the importance of keeping up with the new young adult literature about four years ago, and keeping up with books has been my favorite hobby since that time. I just truly love reading and being taken away by a great book. Some of my proudest, most fond teaching memories are of students finally finding a good book and learning to love reading more because of the great choices they found in my classroom.

With that said, I always want to be a good model reader for my students, so of course, I want to share my 2011 reading goals. I think that good readers and passionate readers always sort of know what they want to read next. They look ahead and eagerly anticipate the next great read. In "real life" people might not write about their reading choices and habits as much as an English or language arts teacher, but those readers probably do this thinking in their heads instead.

Here are my goals for 2011:

Read 40 books - This number is less than what I read last year, but it's appropriate for my life right now. Up until this year it's just been my husband and me here at my house, but now we have a little girl to take care of. It's very realistic to say that I probably won't read as many books as I usually do. I think 40 is an ambitious number and right on--not too many and not too few.
Read some/something each day for my own enjoyment - I will be reading class texts (Beowulf, Romeo and Juliet, etc.) all the time anyway, so I am not counting those. Even if it's just a page, a poem, or a chapter, I want to make sure that each day no matter how busy, I take a moment for myself to read something for fun.
Read more picture books - Since my little girl is going to be growing up fast, I want to also start keeping up with great picture books! I have lots of fun board books already, and I can't wait to begin reading nightly to my little girl. She's too young to really "get it" right now, but my husband and I still read to her anyway and let her see the pictures in her board books.
Continue blogging - I want to keep up with my blog this year. I've done really well with this but do want to keep it a priority.

I have other goals for classroom reading, but these are my main ones for now that apply to my reading overall. I hope my students will be excited to set their own goals this year.

Here are some of the new books I've purchased and can't wait to read. Some are new and some are from years past. I really have, like, 200 or more books on my mental "to read" list, but these are on my shelf. I can't wait to get to them! I also just can't wait to see what amazing stories 2011 brings us!!

Click each book cover to read more about the book from Indie Bound. Happy reading!!

and the rest of this series

Let It Snow (and my first post of 2011 and since having a baby!!!)

2011-01-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

So, like the title of this post says - I finally finished a book! I'm impressed that I got it done. I had my little girl at the end of December, and needless to say, it's been a little different and busy at my house! I won't be reading quite at the pace I was, I'm sure, but I will still be reading every chance I get!

So I started Let It Snow (by YA powerhouses John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle) before Christmas, and then life changed! I picked up the book after all the baby stuff, and have slowly but surely made it through.

The first thing I want to say about this book is that is awesome! These three separate-yet-connected romances were a hoot - for guys and girls. Each one was fun and full of snow. What made this book even cooler for me (and will make it cool for my students) is that it is set where I live! The setting of the book, Gracetown, is near Asheville, NC. Even better was that while I read - the ground here was pretty much covered in snow as we've had two big snow storms so far this winter!

Jubilee Express is about a girl whose parents get arrested on Christmas Eve for getting in a "riot" as they tried to buy the newest piece of there Christmas Village at the store. Sent to her grandparents' on a train, Jubliee isn't too happy, but it gets worse when the train she's on gets stuck and isn't going anywhere! This snag in the trip leads her to Waffle House which is ok until a bunch of also stranded cheerleaders show up, which then leads Jubilee away with a kid named Stuart (because who could stay in a Waffle House with a bunch of hyper-active, loud cheerleaders on Christmas Eve...).

The second story (which was my favorite....I'm a bit of a John Green fan!....ok a HUGE fan!) is more for the guys. It follows Tobin, JP, and the Duke (a girl named Angie) on their epic journey to actually get to the Waffle House full of cheerleaders. Really funny.

The last story was great as well and really brought all three stories together.

This was just an all around fun read for the holidays. I had been meaning to read this since it came out but never got around to it. I highly recommend this read while it's still cold outside.

Jane

2010-12-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

Jane by April Lindner

I saw the cover of this book and just couldn't resist picking it up. When I saw that it was a "modern" Jane Eyre - I had to have it. Gladly I can say that this book lived up to my expectations. I love the original story and was interested to see what this one was about. The author talks about "translating" some of the issues into modern contexts in the Author's Note in the back. I thought she did a great job.

This book tells the story of a young woman named Jane Moore whose parents die in an accident while she is in her freshman year at Sarah Lawrence college. She is a smart girl, though plain, and while she does have two siblings, they are horrible to her, and being away from them is not real loss. In fact, Jane is glad not to have to see them. Unable to pay for college once her parents die (the stocks they left her were worthless...though her sister seemed to be doing ok and got some money out of the deaths), Jane gets trained to be a nanny and seeks her first job. She hopes to work and save money to eventually one day go back to school.

While applying and interviewing, she knows she is different from the other girls. They are all perky and cutely dressed while Jane is plain and dressed in a mature looking suit from Goodwill. This might have worked against her except that the agency needed a special person to fill a special nanny position. Jane cares nothing for tabloids and celebrities so the agency sends her to be a nanny for the rock star Nico Rathburn. Known for being a crazy party-hard star w/ many marriages under his belt and a history of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Nico is sort of on a come-back tour right now. He's gruff and strange, but eventually Jane sees other sides of his personality. Add in the adorable Maddy, Nico's daughter, and a houseful of band mates, photographers, and housekeepers, and you have a wonderful backdrop for this modern retelling of a classic.

I loved Jane, and I loved Nico. I felt that they were real characters, and I enjoyed every moment they were together. Of course, knowing Jane Eyre made me anticipate their meetings even more. I was wondering all the time when they would have a nice afternoon together and when Nico would go back to his abrasive self and be mean. The love story was fun, and I really think that Lindner did a fabulous job. Readers can like this book even if they haven't read the original, but hopefully this story will lead them to read the real book to see what it's all about.

Empty

2010-12-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

I loved Susan Beth Pfeffer's Moon books and was on the lookout for more of that type - survival in the "new" world when things have gone wrong. I came across Empty by Suzanne Weyn. Empty tells the story of three kids in a small town and how they deal with life once the United States basically runs out of gasoline. It alternates chapters that focus on the three characters: Tom, Nikki, and Gwen. Each kid is very different but they all end up in the same boat when the problems start getting bad.

Here's what I did like about the book: it makes you think. We are so very dependent on all kinds of products that involve oil. The book does a good job of showing readers just how much would be affected by running out of oil and by continuing to make the choices that we are making in regards to oil use.

But I just didn't really care about these characters. I felt like they were just there to say stuff about what kinds of choices we should have made to not be in this no-gas situation. They were flat for me. Plus, the book was just overly didactic, which I just didn't love. I felt that w/ the moon books (Life As We Knew It, the dead and the gone, and This World We Live In), you learned about the consequences but you cared about the characters, too. This book just seemed a little to overt in its message to make me care about it as a good work of fiction. Also, some things were just "oh so perfect" for the people in this little town. For example:

"Guess who we met on the way over here--Mr. Curtin!" Tom said. "And listen to this: His wife is an environmental engineer, and as soon as we have power again, she's going to start giving workshops to people in Sage Valley on alternative fuels and all sorts of stuff like solar and wind power. She's written up a grant to try to make the town a model of energy self-sufficiency. Is that cool, or what?" (p. 155)

See - it's just too perfect. While the book will definitely make you think about what might happen if we really were to run out of oil - maybe the pessimist in me (and I'm usually not like this) thinks that the "happy-ish" ending just is too perfect. I preferred the way the moon books ended or The Road's ending - if it's the end of the world - let's face it - it's probably not going to be that pretty.

My 2010 Top Ten

2010-12-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

All the book lists for 2010 are coming out at the moment, so I thought I'd put mine out there. The book jackets will take you to IndieBound.com and the links will take you to my reviews that of each. These were my favs of the year and I can't wait to start yet another wonderful year of reading in 2011! I'm already excited about it! Here's what I loved most during my reading this year (and these are in no particular order):

Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins

Ship Breaker
by Paolo Bacigalupi

Will Grayson, Will Grayson
by John Green and David Levithan

Before I Fall
by Lauren Oliver

Hate List
by Jennifer Brown
(came out in 2009 - but on my 2010 reading list)

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder
by Julie Halpern
(published fall 2009 - but on my 2010 reading list)

The Sky Is Everywhere
by Jandy Nelson

The Monstrumologist
by Rick Yancey
(published 2009 - but I read it at the very beginning of 2010 - and haven't gotten the sequel yet but can't wait to get to it!)

Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever
by Maureen Johnson
(Suite Scarlett came out in 2008 and Scarlett Fever in 2010 - I read both of them together in 2010 - can't wait for more Scarlett books!)

The Body Finder
by Kimberly Derting

If you want a good YA read - check one of these out! It's always so hard to pick, but these are the best in my humble opinion. A few more weeks to add to my 2010 reading list and then I'll begin again! I didn't get to my goal of reading 100 books, but I did read more than last year (right now at 52 and hope to add a few more before the New Year!). As long as I am keeping up and doing my best - I think that's what matters. And....I'll be adding more children's/picture book reviews next year and in the years to come as we are almost ready to welcome a little bookworm into our family soon! Happy Holidays and New Year to all - and most importantly - HAPPY READING!

Anna and the French Kiss

2010-12-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

So this book is really special to me because the author, Stephanie Perkins, is from my town!! She's a local writer and we are so proud of this book. Gayle Forman recommended this book on NPR as one of the best young adult reads of the year - check her list out here. I couldn't agree more - this was a fun, french, flirty, fabulous read.

Anna is a senior in high school, but her senior year isn't going to be like she thought because her father really famous writer who...

"writes novels set in Small Town Georgia about folks with Good American Values who Fall in Love and then contract Life Threatening Diseases Die." (p. 5)

decides to send Anna to American boarding school in Paris for her senior year. Don't get it wrong - Paris for a year is an amazing opportunity - but Anna is a bit bummed about leaving her best friend, her job, and the cute boy at her job for a country she knows nothing about - I mean, she took Spanish in high school; she doesn't even know a word of French.

But once she's at school, she makes friends, settles in, and meets the gorgeous Etienne St. Clair. He's, simply put, just perfect - except that he has a girlfriend. Anna and St. Clair become friends, have these special moments where she thinks it could be more, and then...it seems to slip away. But they seem to have this wonderful connection. One of my favorite passages is about when the gang is all out at the movies. Anna is sitting next to St. Clair. She loves movies, but her proximity to this beautiful boy is making it hard to concentrate on the film:

"The characters on the screen are squabbling, but for the life of me, I don't know what about. How long have I not been paying attention?

St. Clair coughs and shifts again. His leg brushes against mine. It stays there. I'm paralyzed. I should movie it; it feels too unnatural. How can he not notice his leg is touching my leg? From the corner of my eye, I see the profile of his chin and nose, and--oh, dear God--the curve of his lips.

There. He glanced at me. I know he did.

I bore my eyes into the screen, trying my best to prove that I am Really Interested in this movie. St. Clair stiffens but doesn't move his leg. Is he holding his breath? I think he is. I'm holding mine. I exhale and cringe--it's so loud and unnatural.

Again. Another glance. This time I turn, automatically, just as he's turning away. It's a dance, and now there's a feeling in the air like one of us should say something. Focus, Anna. Focus. "Do you like it?" I whisper.

He pauses. "The film?"

I'm thankful the shadows hide my blush.

"I like it very much," he says.

I risk a glance, and St. Clair stares back. Deeply. He has not looked at me like this before. I turn away first, then feel him turn a few beats later.

I know he is smiling, and my heart races."

How awesome is that? I mean, I don't really know what to say except I really loved the book. I loved all the characters. Yes, it takes place in France, but it's just good kids and a good story. And the romantic city is a fun get away setting for the reader. I enjoyed my time in Paris as a read this book. I usually enjoy boarding school books, too. It's just fun to read a book and have the fun freedom that the boarding school kids experience. Anna was just a great girl. She knows what she wants. She's got goals and ambitions, but she's just a regular girl, too, hoping for her wishes to come true. She's in the right city for that! I recommend it and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The Things a Brother Knows

2010-11-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

This new book by Dana Reinhardt was really good. I got into really quickly and I really wanted to know what was going to happen as I kept reading. There was a sense of mystery in the book that kept me reading.

This book tells the story of Levi, who's a high school student, and his family. Levi's brother announces to the family that instead of college he'll be enlisting to fight in the war and be a marine. The family was shocked and none of them wanted him to go. But he did. The book is about what happens when after over three years, Boaz, the brother, finally comes home.

Boaz is clearly not ok and not the same. Levi struggles to understand what's going on, and the family doesn't really know how to deal with having Bo back home. Each family member "handles" it differently. But when Bo tries to leave home again - Levi is determined to follow him and see what is up with his brother.

My students have really been interested in war books this semester. The guys in my freshmen class have liked Sunrise Over Fallujah and Purple Heart this semester. The war in Iraq is something that the students know a lot about and many of them know people, family, or friends who are serving. I haven't read either of those two books, but the students have told me all about them. What I like is that we have some good books like those that deal with what it's like over there and now we have some books like this one, that deal with what happens when these soldiers come home. It's important for the kids to read about. Another good thing about this book is that it doesn't pick a side. It's not a pro or con book - it's just about the two brothers.

I liked the supporting characters in this book, too. Zim and Pearl, Levi's two friends from school are great, and fun characters. The family members all made sense to me as well. I liked going on this journey with Levi and Boaz. Good book. I am going to see if my guys who have read the other two will like this one too.

Monsters of Men

2010-11-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

It took me a while to remember where this series left off, but once I got into the third book of Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking series, I was hooked.

Book 3 of the series, Monsters of Men, picks up right where the second one left off and is, in my opinion, the most action-packed book of the three. This book focuses on all the characters readers have gotten to know and involves the native species (the Spackle), the current settlers, and the new settlers arriving soon from space. Tensions run high in this book. Of course Todd and Viola are important characters, and I enjoyed reading about what happened to each of them.

I don't want to say too much about the story, just because this is the final book in a series. What I will say is that I thought the series was good. I really liked all three books, and I felt each book was different. All three together, though, really have an important message for us. Even though these fights and adventures take place on a planet far away, they have lots to say to all of us about life with each other, about war, and about the power others have over us.

Here's a passage that I felt spoke to the stories and also the world we live in:

     I can feel how red my face is getting and I begin to shake from both fever and pure hot anger. "That's only one way it could have worked out. There are a whole bunch of other things that could have happened, all of which end up with me and Lee blown to bits."
     "Then you would have been a martyr for the cause," Mistress Coyle says, "and we would have fought in your name." She looks at me hard. "You'd been surprised at how powerful a martyr can be."
     "Those are words a terrorist would use--" (210)

One of the big ideas that hit me with this book was just the idea that people will do whatever it takes to win. Also, that in times of war, you might make decisions that are difficult. People get harmed in war. This book has lots to say.

I liked the ending. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it worked. Overall, this is a great sci-fi series full of action.

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams

2010-10-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

I had just finished a bunch of girl books, so I knew I needed to read something different. I had been wanting to read this book forever - and finally got it in paperback. It was awesome. I really think my students will like it.

Reality check is a suspenseful mystery about a missing girl. Cody Laredo is a high school kid who is awesome at football but not as awesome in school, though he does pass his classes. As summer approaches, he is excited to spend time with his super-smart, super-beautiful, and super-rich girlfriend, Clea Weston. Clea lives in the biggest house in town. She's taking calculus as a sophomore and her dad has big plans for her future. Needless to say, her dad isn't thrilled that she's dating Cody - an underachiever in his eyes.

Clea loves Cody though, but their summer plans are shot when Clea's dad sends her to spend the summer with her uncle in Hong Kong. They keep in touch and all seems well when Clea returns until she drops even more news on Cody - her dad is sending her away to a boarding school in Vermont. Cody decides to break up with her - not really because he wants to, but because he knows there's just no way a guy like him can keep her from that far away.

He is torn up one day, though, when he sees in the local paper that Clea has gone missing from her Vermont school. After receiving a letter from Clea - his only clue and hope to try to find her - he sets off to try to do something about it. From this point, Cody finds out more than he ever thought he would about the small town in which Clea has been living. Cody might not be in school, but he's smart and he uses his wits to try to figure out where his girlfriend is. The only question is - will he be too late?

This book was really fun to read. Once I started it, I really wanted to keep on going. Each chapter brought new information to light in the investigation, and I really liked reading the book from Cody's point of view. He has no reason to trust anyone, just like the reader, so I felt like we were right there together trying to piece together the mystery. Abrahams did a good job of planting seeds of suspicion. Just like Clea said in her letter, it's hard to know who to trust. The mystery keeps building until the final chapter, so that will keep readers interested and guessing. There is some cursing in the book which I don't think will bother most readers - but just have to let you know. Overall a good, fast-paced read.

Forgive My Fins

2010-10-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

I am a total fan of Tera Lynn Childs. I didn't get into Forgive My Fins quite as fast as the Goddess books, but once I had some time to sit and read - this book was just too much fun.

That is what I love about Childs - her books are just plain fun. Fun characters and fun mythical situations - it doesn't get better. In this book (and series) Lily Sanderson is a high school student but also a mermaid. No one else knows her secret. She's patiently counting the days until she can ask out her long time love and crush, Brody. Once she and Brody go out, they can of course fall in love and he can become her mermate and all will be well in her world.

But of course things don't go as planned - they never do, do they? Her annoying (though good-looking) neighbor, Quince Fletcher, gets in the way. He's always bothering Lily and getting the way. He ends up taking a bit of an interest in her situation with Brody, though...which is weird. His plan to get Lily and Brody some time together doesn't really work out as planned and from this point on in the book - the adventures begin - at high school and in the ocean kingdom of Thalassinia.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I was just as annoyed with Lily sometimes as she was with Quince. She is a stubborn character who, like Quince says, doesn't always "see" things the way she should. A great read. If you like Childs' other books, you'll definitely like this one.

Catalyst

2010-09-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

I love Laurie Halse Anderson - who doesn't!! I haven't read all of her books, but I hope to get through the few I haven't read soon. Catalyst, like her other books, was real and gripping. It wasn't at all what I expected, but it was great.

It's about a senior in high school, Kate Malone. Kate is one of the top students in her class, takes AP courses, and hopes to get into MIT (she really hopes she does because it's the only school to which she's applied...but no one knows that but her....). Her dad's a preacher and she does not share his views, but takes care of him and her brother and their home. She runs, runs, runs, too. Especially when she can't sleep.

Kate's life consists of doing her duties everywhere: home, school, work...but that pattern and organized life is completely turned upside down when one of her enemies at school, Teri Litch, ends up moving in with Kate and her family after Teri's family's house burns. Needless to say, Kate doesn't want Teri and little Mikey living with them, but there's nothing she can do. Teri made life awful for Kate when they were younger, and she doesn't seem interested in being any different this time around. What happens because of the move in, though, is unexpected and crazy.

Kate was a great narrator. I found her completely honest. She is a great student, but there are many weaknesses in her that she admits to as well. The book moved quickly for me, and though it didn't go the direction I expected it to, I was still pleased. I wanted a little more resolution than I got. I was satisfied with the ending, but wanted just a little more. Like many of Anderson's other books, this one shows real inner struggle. You feel for the characters and see life from a new point of view because of this book. A good read.

Extraordinary

2010-09-25T07:02:00.000-07:00

I loved Impossible by Nancy Werlin. Extraordinary has many of the same qualities but wasn't quite as good overall. Extraordinary is about a girl named Phoebe Rothschild who comes from a pretty well-to-do family. In seventh grade, Phoebe, who is already a part of a powerful group of friends, sees a new girl, Mallory Tolliver. Mallory is dressed strangely and doesn't seem to understand how to act in school, and Phoebe is drawn to her. Phoebe decides then and there to ditch her pretty much mean friends to become friends with Mallory. Phoebe wants to help Mallory. That decision leads to a life long friendship between the two girls which takes them all the way through high school.

What Phoebe doesn't know about Mallory, though, is that Mallory is not of this world. Breaking in between the regular chapters are conversations with the Faerie Queen. Mallory is from this realm and has a task to complete in the human world. She struggles between completing her task (which involves her best friend, Phoebe) and living a life full of love and friendship outside of the Faerie world. Complicating this, Mallory's "brother," Ryland arrives to help speed the task up.

Phoebe gets caught in the normal life complications that all teenagers do: parents, friends, love....But her situation is different because Mallory and Ryland need something great from Phoebe and she has no idea what it is. Is she strong enough to do what they need her to do? Can she overcome the great power that a magical being like Ryland holds over her? Follow this story to see how these relationships develop in the human world and the consequences they have for the magical beings as well.

As I said, I liked this book ok. It didn't have me as riveted as Impossible. I felt like Impossible kept me wanting to turn pages until the very end, but in this book, I felt like the beginning dragged on a bit. I was more interested toward the end of the book when the two worlds really came together. The books has a great message about friendship and the power of good friends. I definitely will recommend this book to students, but was a little disappointed it wasn't as good as Impossible.

Mockingjay

2010-09-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

I finally finished Mockingjay. It's about time. I honestly don't want to (and shouldn't) say a whole lot - because I certainly don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't read the series or finished the last book yet. What I will say is that I like it. It was very different from the first two; in fact, I think each book in this series has it's own personality, style, and messages. I liked that it was different. I liked the ending. I, of course, got choked up here and there because as with any good series, you get attached to people and you feel for them and with them as you read. I think that I liked this series so much because of Katniss and Peeta. They are great and memorable characters. Also, Panem is so our world but so not our world all at the same time. Collins isn't making a grand point of shoving ideas down your throat - the reader can make whatever connections he/she wants between Panem and our world today. At the heart of this series is Katniss, a girl standing up for family and for what she believes in. A girl trying to figure out her place and her role in a society in which everyone else is out for his/her own goals. I really enjoyed the series and am sad it's over. Next up, though, the conclusion to the Chaos Walking Trilolgy - Monsters of Men. Pretty pumped to see how this other series following Todd and Viola wraps up.

Shiver

2010-08-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

I finally finished Shiver. I've had it for a while and just got around to reading it this week.

Shiver is about a girl named Grace who is in high school. What makes Grace special, though, is that she had a "run in" with some wolves when she was eleven years old. The scars are still there, and she never forgot it. Neither did one particular wolf. Grace has seen "her wolf" each winter and she is sad each summer when he is gone.

What Grace discovers now is that her wolf is actually a boy - a cute, loving, caring, artistic boy named Sam. He's watched and been in love with her since the day he first saw her all those years ago and once they meet - theirs is definitely love at first sight. But how do you go out with a werewolf? What will happen? Is Grace safe with him around. How long do they have together until Sam changes?

While the love story is amazing - the drama in the background is growing. Jack Culpepper was a student at Grace's school and was murdered by the wolves. Many mysteries surround Jack's death and the other wolves complicate things for Grace and Sam.

The book was good. It didn't knock my socks off, but I enjoyed it and I think I will like to read the next installment to see what happens with the characters. I liked the ending - it wrapped up wonderfully but still left you with questions at the same time. The love between Grace and Sam is so sweet, and Sam is a guy that I can see girls wanting to fall for badly. I liked the two points of view given by the author. A good read. I think girls who liked the Twilight saga will like this series, too.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

2010-07-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

I read this book in college and now just finished it for the second time. I'll be teaching this book in AP Literature this year.

It was beautiful. That's my first impression. I remembered bits of the story as I read, but what I felt most when reading this time was how beautiful the language is in this book, especially Hurston's descriptions of nature and our inner selves, our souls, our world that no one can see. For example:

She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her.

There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Janie had had no chance to know things, so she had to ask. did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the unmated? Did marriage compel love like the sun the day?

These bits are beautiful. Hurston very poetically describes the bad times, too:

So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush. The spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor. It was there to shake hands whenever company came to visit, but it never went back inside the bedroom again.

Janie stood where he left her...She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was. It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered....she turned her back upon the image where it lay and looked further...

What makes this novel so unique, also, is the juxtaposition of the beautiful narration with the honest, true, voices of the people. Every bit of dialogue is written as it sounds. I felt I was right there on the porch, listening to the conversations, yet I also felt a guest inside Janie's heart because I knew all she experienced inside as well.

The main story here is that the book begins with Janie coming home. She walks by all the towns people who once knew her as Janie Starks. She's got her hair braid hanging down and she's wearing her overalls. They whisper and gossip about what happened to her - but none of them really know. Her showing back up like she just did is mysterious. So Janie sits down with her old friend Phoeby and tells Phoeby what happened.

From there we go all the way back to Janie's childhood. She grew up with her grandmother, got married, but not for love, and then ran off with another man, Joe Starks. From there we watch Janie become a woman. Sometimes she submits and keeps her thoughts to herself, other times she stands up. The settings in Florida are vividly described by Hurston and really count as characters to me.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. I've always been a huge fan of Richard Wright, so it will be interesting to read Native Son with my students and compare the styles and content of these two books by two prominent African-American writers. It wasn't my favorite novel ever; I didn't hold it to my heart or anything when it was finished, but I was satisfied.

You

2010-07-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

I read about this one on Reading Rants and couldn't wait to get a hold of it, so when my husband saw the ARC at his work, I was really pumped.

You is about a young teenager named Kyle Chase. He's a sophomore at Midlands High School, though if he had worked harder and gotten better grades (which he was certainly capable of) he could have been at Odyssey High (the "better, smarter" high school) with his old friends. But he isn't there, the choices he's made have gotten him to Midlands with his friends. Well, they are the guys he hangs out with. Kyle doesn't even really like them all that much, but it's who's there. Their group is called the "hoodies" because they all wear black hoodies. They are just kind of loners and losers in a way, drinking warm beers at the park after hours, hanging out in front of the seven-eleven at night. Kyle's lost touch with his old friends and his parents. His parents are always bugging him to look better, get a job, do his homework and on and on and on....

So the catch is that the book starts with blood. It's written in second person (you) and so Benoit takes you - the reader - on Kyle's journey. The first lines get you hooked and you just have to know how Kyle ended up at this place:

You're surprised at all the blood.
He looks over at you, eyes wide, mouth dropping open, his face almost as white as his shirt.
He's surprised, too.

After this, the write takes you back to the beginning of the year and you get to walk with Kyle through his experiences. A lot of what Kyle experiences is normal stuff, but sad. His friends aren't that great. He knows he isn't doing well in school but has stopped caring. The lessons the teachers teach are stupid and really smart kids like Kyle are bored to death. He gets in trouble for things he doesn't do. He can't find the courage to tell the girl he likes how he feels about her....high school. Then a new kid shows up, Zack, and things get shaken up a bit.

This book was great. I really wanted to just read through and through to see what happened and to get back to the beginning with all the blood. I think all students will like this book, especially guys. I think it's honest and scary and real. A great read. It comes out at the end of August/beginning of Sept. and is a must read. I am excited to add this one to my classroom library.

Heart of Darkness

2010-07-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I finally finished Heart of Darkness. It's not that it was bad, it's just that I have stacks and stacks of fun, new YA books that always call my name. But I did it, and I am now on more of a roll with my AP summer reading.

Wow. That's the first thing that really comes to my mind. This book was intriguing. This book was difficult. I know that this is one that I will learn more and more about every time I read it. I had seen Apocalypse Now in college, so I sort of knew a little bit about the main idea of traveling down the river in search of Kurtz.

The original story here, though, of course, is set in Africa. I was interested to find out that this is a frame story. I love the frame of Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights. This story had that feel to it. Marlow, who "narrates" the story is really speaking to a group of men on a boat with him as they wait to leave on their journey. The main connection I really made when I read this book was with Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I usually teach Rime with Frankenstein, since Shelley mentions the poem directly. I also feel that this story connects with Rime. In Rime, the mariner has to tell his story. I feel that Marlow is the same. This experience was so surreal, so disturbing, so incredible, that he has to keep telling it - no matter what.

The writing took a while to get used to. I really took copious notes and looked at the end notes often. But I think all that work pays off with this book. I felt intrigued by the idea of Kurtz. I felt more and more interest in him just as Marlow did. I am very interested in the issue of race as described in this book. I have printed and will read Chinua Achebe's essay soon. I also felt pain as I read about and saw through Marlow's eyes what these men had done to the natives and the land. They used it up. They ruined it. They destroyed whatever they needed to.

I have a lot of processing to do now that I have finished. I am excited to give a shot at teaching this book with my AP students this upcoming semester.

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters

2010-07-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

I loved Natalie Standiford's How to Say Goodbye in Robot, so I was very excited to get a chance to read her new book (due out in September) Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters. First, this book is very different from the other one - but I liked it a lot. It was a really fun read.

The Sullivans are an extremely rich Baltimore family - but they have all their wealth because of their filthy rich grandmother whom they call - Almighty - and boy does she live up to that name. She announces to the family on Christmas that she has cut them all out of the will because someone has offended her. She expects a confession from this person by New Year's Day or else it's over - they'll get no money. The Sullivan's have to have the money - it's how they survive. Everyone knows exactly who's the problem - the girls. Each Sullivan sister, Norrie, Jane, and Sassy, has offended Almighty lately, and so their family members make them write up their confessions for Almighty in hopes that the family fortune can be saved.

The book is divided into three parts: one for each sister. As I read, I basically just had to get through one sister's story at a time. So really, the book took me three good reading sessions - but not too long. I liked that it was divided up this way. Standiford created three very different girls. In a family of six, you'd have to create your own personality, and each of these girls is different from the others, but they are sisters, and you feel that bond. I liked each girl for her own story (Norrie and Jane the most....Sassy was just ok for me - not like her name, though). The confessions are full of love, hate, life, death, feelings, and just everything. Even though these kids are filthy rich - they still are dealing with the normal teenage issues like loving someone who isn't what your family would pick, losing friends, and feeling different. But will their grandmother care?

So are these the confessions that Almighty wants? Will the girls be able to put their sins out there and save their family from destruction? Read the confessions and see for yourself. This was a fast, fun read. Not as "deep" as Robot I don't think, but very enjoyable. I will continue to look forward to what Natalie Standiford has for the wonderful world of YA fiction!

Savvy

2010-07-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

Mibs Beaumont is about to turn thirteen years old when her world changes. Mibs knows her 13th birthday will be crazy anyway - when the kids in the Beaumont family turn thirteen, their "savvy" shows up. Their savvies are like special powers, sort of, that appear on this birthday. Mibs one brother can cause hurricanes, make it rain, and blow the wind in your face. Her other brother is electric and powers everything in the Beaumont home. Mibs has no idea what he savvy will be.

She's nervous anyway, but then she gets some bad news: her father has been badly hurt in a terrible car accident. The day before her birthday, her mother and brother Rocket go to be with Poppa and Mibs and the rest of the children are left on their own. The preacher's wife in town feels sorry for Mibs and throws her a party at church, but Mibs just isn't feeling it. She likes hanging out will Will, the preacher's son, but no one else really. That's when she decides to run away and get to her father. That's the only place she wants to be anyway--with Poppa. She isn't alone, though. Five kids (Mibs, her two brothers, Will, and Bobbie, the preacher's sixteen-year-old daughter) end up on a pink bus belonging to a bible salesman. They think they are headed toward Salina, the city where Poppa is...but they end up driving off in the opposite direction. Mibs now has to figure out what to do, what her savvy is, and how she can get to her dad.

This story was just sweet. I liked the characters. They were all colorful and unique. The adventure on the bus was fun. I definitely think this book is a little young for my taste, but it's a really sweet story. I enjoyed watching Mibs figure herself out and how the kids, who didn't really know each other all that well, became close on the bus because they had to. It's a story about family and friends and finding out who you really are. I enjoyed the read, but would recommend it to middle schoolers and maybe ninth graders.

Excited about some ARCs

2010-07-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

So I get these some times, but I actually have three right now that I have been wanting to read and can't wait to get to!

From Amazon:
This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.
You're just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can't be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? How do you explain how you got here in the first place?
There had to have been signs, had to have been some clues it was coming. Did you miss them, or ignore them? Maybe if you can figure out where it all went wrong, you can still make it right. Or is it already too late? Think fast, Kyle. Time's running out. How did this happen?

You is the riveting story of fifteen-year-old Kyle and the small choices he does and doesn't make that lead to his own destruction.

In his stunning young-adult debut, Charles Benoit mixes riveting tension with an insightful—and unsettling—portrait of an ordinary teen in a tale that is taut, powerful, and shattering.

From Amazon:
The Sullivan sisters have a big problem. On Christmas Day their rich and imperious grandmother gathers the family and announces that she will soon die . . .and has cut the entire family out of her will. Since she is the source of almost all their income, this means they will soon be penniless.

Someone in the family has offended her deeply. If that person comes forward with a confession of her (or his) crime, submitted in writing to her lawyer by New Year's Day, she will reinstate the family in her will. Or at least consider it.

And so the confessions begin....

From Amazon:
Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new kid in school, and the two girls become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory's magnetic older brother, Ryland, shows up during their junior year. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on PhoebeÑbut a dangerous hold, for she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself.

Soon she'll discover the shocking truth about Ryland and Mallory: that these two are visitors from the faerie realm who have come to collect on an age-old debt. Generations ago, the faerie queen promised Pheobe's ancestor five extraordinary sons in exchange for the sacrifice of one ordinary female heir. But in hundreds of years there hasn't been a single ordinary girl in the family, and now the faeries are dying. Could Phoebe be the first ordinary one? Could she save the faeries, or is she special enough to save herself?

I'm excited to read all three and I will be blogging about them soon! Stay tuned!

Ship Breaker

2010-07-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

Ship Breaker was great. Along the lines of Hunger Games and other dystopian fiction we've seen out lately, it paints a picture of our country in the future after many years of destruction and shows what life is like. In this case there are two kinds of people the very rich and the very poor. The view of the poor is what you get to see at the beginning of Ship Breaker.

The story follows a young boy named Nailer. Nailer works with a crew of "ship breakers." Basically, everyone ran out of oil, the city of New Orleans was flooded time and time again, hurricanes come all the time now (the poles have melted), and all the boats and tankers of the previous age are laid to waste along the gulf shore. Nailer's and other crews break the old oil ships down for their parts. It's a rough life. There's not much to eat and Nailer is beginning to worry about what he'll do once he becomes to big to be on "light" crew. On top of all this, his father is a druggie and drunk who abuses Nailer and causes problems all the time. It's business as usual until after a storm (a city killer) Nailer and his friend and coworker Pima discover a majestic clipper ship washed up on their shore. Nailer's seen the beautiful, sleek ships in magazines and from a distance...he's dreamt about what life must be like for the rich people on those boats. As he and Pima check out the damage they discover one survivor, a girl. They have to decide between helping this girl or just stripping the ship of everything - including her life. They could be rich...they could have a better life....but can they just leave her there?

The rest of the book follows their decisions and the consequence of those decisions. The book was fast paced and didn't drag at all. Once they discover the girl, it all races by. It also paints a picture of what our world might look like if we don't take care of it. As they travel inland at one point in the book to New Orleans and Orleans II, Nita asks about what happened. Nailer responds,

"Stupid," Nailer muttered..."They were damn stupid." Tool shrugged. "No one expected Category Six hurricanes. They didn't have city killers then. The climate changed. The weather shifted. They did not anticipate well."

Nailer wondered at that idea. That no one could have understood that they would be the target of monthly hurricanes pinballing up the Mississippi Alley, gunning for anything that didn't have sense to batten down, float, or go underground.

It's a creepy view of the gulf in the future. In addition, though, this is a story about family and how you make it. Nailer's dad is a bad man, but that doesn't mean that Nailer will become that way or has to. Family and home are where you make them. Nailer learns a lot about this as he fights for a friend's life. A good read.

Mercury

2010-07-06T19:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't read too many graphic novels, and I am hoping to keep up with the genre more. The kids like them. I was excited to read Hope Larson's Mercury. It was a great graphic novel for me to start with!

Mercury alternates between two stories. Both stories are set in Nova Scotia and both main characters are teen-aged girls dealing with life stuff. In the present is Tara. She and her mom lost their old house to a fire. Tara is living with her aunt, uncle, and cousin while her mom looks for work out of town to try to help them get back on their feet after losing everything. Tara feels nervous going back to high school (10th grade) because she'd been home schooled for a while and she doesn't know if she'll get the hang of it. She does pretty good though and even gets a love interest very soon after school starts. What connects her to the past is a necklace that her aunt let her have out of her mom's old jewelry box. The necklace is beautiful but seems to have a mind of its own.

The other story is set in the same place but in 1859. Josey is living with her family when a mysterious stranger shows up and wants to go into business mining for gold with Josey's father. They strike up a deal and begin. He's a handsome stranger, and Josey has to decide how she feels about him even though her mother gets a very bad vibe from the man. He has a mysterious necklace that he is very protective of.

The elusive pot o gold binds these two stories together. Read to see how the two stories intertwine and what happens with the necklace that has survived the generations and now lives on Tara's neck.

The book was great. It was a quick read. I stayed interested the whole time because Larson takes you back and forth quickly. It was neat to be reminded that even though times are different, family, love, and loss are the same no matter what. I highly recommend this one to all.

Goddess Boot Camp

2010-07-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

Beach Read #3 - I loved Oh. My. Gods. so much when I read it recently, so I was pumped to see that the sequel had come out in paper back. It was great. Both of these books are quick, fast, and enjoyable reads. I raced through them and had so much fun.

Phoebe just found out in the last book that she is a descendant of Nike and has actual powers. The problem - she can't control them. Most kids at her special school for descendants of the gods learn about their powers and how to control them at a very young age...and Phoebe is way behind. She's making it snow inside her house, calling up massive amounts of pastries when she's hungry and causing problems for everyone because she can't get her powers under control.

The answer to this problem is Goddess Boot Camp which Phoebe's stepfather signs her up for. While she's got other stuff on her mind (like spending time with boyfriend Griffin Blake and training with him for the marathon in the Pythian games) she knows she's got to get help or else. Unfortunately...she knows she won't enjoy this camp so much when she shows up and sees that she's with all ten year olds. To make matters worse, the camp is run by her stepsister, Stella, and her boyfriends ex - Adara. Great! Phoebe trains, hangs out with friends, deals with love and issues from her past, solves a little mystery and tries to get ready for the test that the gods have set for her.

I loved the first book in this series, and the second one was just as good. The characters were developed even more. It's just such a fun concept...a fun super hero tale from a different point of view. I hope that we get to see more adventures of Phoebe and her crew. I definitely plan to check out Childs' new series about a mermaid girl princess called Forgive My Fins. So fun...a lighter, girlier Percy Jackson.

The Carrie Diaries

2010-07-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

Beach Read #2 for me was The Carrie Diaries. I had been looking forward to reading this for a long time. While most young girls reading this book won't really know the series Sex and the City - but I did watch the show and was just excited to read about high school Carrie.

Carrie is starting her senior year of high school and her fashion is unique even then (I believe she begins the first day of school wearing white go-go boots). The plan for all the girls in Carrie's crew (Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse) is to get boyfriends. It's the same guys as always except for one - Sebastian Kydd. He's back after supposedly being kicked out of private school. He's mysterious, cute, and every one wants a piece of him.

I loved this book so much. The four girls are each very different much like on the show, and it's cool. Carrie is just a cool girl, but a normal girl, too. She's not the hottest person in school or the most popular - she's not the lowest on the social ladder either. She swims on the swim team and goes to parties. She loves to dress in cool clothes, and she dreams big of becoming a writer. Her writing doesn't come easily though. She has to work on it and find her subjects and her voice....but once she does - it's on world.

This was a happy book about high school stuff: love, friends, sex, parties, family, loss...the whole lot. It was a great read.

After Tupac and D Foster

2010-07-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

This quick read started off my summer beach reading. This book is about two girls (the narrator and her best friend Neeka) who live in Queens. They've been friends forever and have their routine in their neighborhood. Then one day a girl shows up and starts talking to them. She's beautiful and cool. She's different...almost like she's from another planet. The girls get to know each other and it's like they've always been just them three. This is a story about their friendship.

In the background of all this, too, is family drama - good and bad and of course, Tupac. I liked the storyline involving Neeka's brother (who is really a sista). He's in jail and dealing with that. It was powerful to see the love of the family. They were always there for him.

This book was pretty good. It was a great story about friendship and family. I liked it.

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen

2010-06-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

I borrowed this book from my Mom forever ago and finally got a chance to pick it up. I've been wanting to read it forever and it totally lived up to my expectations. I'm really interested to see the movie when it comes out probably next year.

Right now Jacob Jankowski is ninety, or ninety-three...something around there. He's in a nursing home and trying to make it through each day of sitting around and eating the terrible mushy food. But in the past Jacob is a young man about to finish veterinary school at Cornell. Just before he sits for his final examinations - his world changes forever. He won't be taking over his father's veterinary practice like he thought. He finds himself alone and on the road.

Jacob hooks up with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth and his life becomes an adventure he'd never imagined. He finds work, actually gets to tend to the animals after a while, and meets a very beautiful woman. He learns the ways of the circus, interacts with all of the crazy characters and workers, and he makes it.

But life in the circus isn't always easy. Money isn't always there. And it's really hard to work anywhere if you fall in love with your boss' wife....

In the book ninety or ninety-three year old Jacob thinks back about his time with the circus and the reader gets to experience a time and place like none other. I felt like I was right there. The descriptions of the circus and the people came to life. You like Jacob from the beginning and you are on his side throughout as he navigates a life he never dreamed he would be living.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. It's so fun and unique. I used to watch Carnivale on HBO before they ended it and it brought wonderful memories of that show back to me. A great read for all.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

2010-06-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

I loved Marcelo and the Real World by Stork, and Death Warriors is a close second. His male characters are just wonderful dudes. In this new book, a boy named Pancho is almost a senior in high school. His father is killed in a freak work accident and then his sister (who is older but mentally slow) mysteriously dies in a hotel room.

Pancho believes his sister was murdered. He gets sent to a home for boys - basically an orphanage. It's not bad, maybe nice actually. Regardless of what "the system" is going to do with him, he knows what he will do with himself. He is g oing to find the man who murdered his sister and kill him.

He can't just sit alone and plan this all out, though, because from the moment he arrives at the home, he is matched up with a boy named D. Q. D. Q. is a young many who just found out that he has a really rare cancer disease. The two boys hang out. Pancho wouldn't say they're friends, but after time passes, the two become close. Pancho helps D. Q. and takes him to treatments.

D. Q. is working on his Death Warrior Manifesto - his writings about "sucking the marrow" out of life and living his days to the fullest. These ideas are completely the opposite of Pancho's - who doesn't even see life any more or care what happens to him if he carries out his plan.

The book follows the relationship of the two. It's funny and honest. D. Q. is a character that gets in your heart. He just knows what people needs. We all know people who seem to "see" more than others...people who are just tuned in. D. Q. is one of those people.

The story wasn't as suspenseful for me as Marcelo, but I liked it a lot. A good read. I will continue to look forward to more by Stork.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

2010-05-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last!! I'm quite disappointed in myself. I'll pick back up soon, though. But in my defense, I've been really tired and busy lately. School's starting to wind down soon, so I'll get to my reading. This summer, though, I have a lot of reading to do to get ready to teach AP literature. So you'll hear about some classics as well as all the YA I'm reading.

So, it took me a month to finish The Magicians. Honestly, I didn't like it much at all. There were some good parts, but in the end, I didn't really like any of the characters (except the one who dies...) and I just didn't buy the story.

I'd picked this up because I heard "Harry Potter for grownups" and because it was on the Alex list of adult books good for teens. This book certainly isn't Harry Potter. While there is a magical school and spells and classes and games, what really held me back was the main character, Quentin. I didn't like him at all. He was cool when he decided to attend Brakebills but really he sucked after he got there and kept on being a very whiny guy throughout the entire book.

I don't really have much else to say about this book. If you like weird characters and don't feel like you have to be pulling for a character to like a book, then try it...but honestly - I'm glad it's over and sad it took up a month of my reading life.

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

2010-04-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

Dude! This book was crazy! I'd read a few others blogs about it and checked it out.

So Violet Ambrose is a teenager like any other. She's been best friends with Jay forever. He's always been there, but it's different this year. He's "grown up" and basically gotten hotter over this last summer. While it was usually just the two of them, but now all the girls who never noticed Jay before are following him around like little puppies. Violet is a bit bothered by this but unsure of why.

Violet is different, though, in that she can find dead bodies. She feels or senses tastes, smells, sounds that lead her to dead bodies. It's only really happened with a body once, but she does find animals that have been killed. As a kid she had a little graveyard where she put the animals to rest.

As the year progresses, she's dealing with normal stuff like school, friends, classes, and her feelings about Jay. But then a string of murders in the area stirs up and scares everyone. A serial killer is killing young girls. Violet discovers one of them and becomes more involved than she knows in the serial killers plans.

This book is mainly about Violet, but every few chapters you get a glimpse into a short chapter from the point of view of the killer. These chapters are freakin creepy, my friends.

I just had to keep reading this book. Each chapter I wanted to know if the killer had gotten someone else, if Violet had found a body or discovered the killer, and then of course, were Violet and Jay ever going to hook up and get together?? It was obvious she liked him...so I just had to see how they would end up. So all in all, this book is crazy suspenseful but also has a really great and sweet love story, too. I just loved Jay - he was like the sweetest guy ever. You should definitely check this one out for a strangely sweet and suspenseful read. Cool book.

Cherub Mission 1: The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

2010-04-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

The Cherub series was published in England and is now being released with new covers in the U.S. We have some of these books (the paperbacks released before these new ones) in our school library.

I picked up the new hardcover of Mission 1: The Recruit the other day because I had heard lots of kids (especially boys) had really liked the series.

James Choke is living in London with his Mom, half-sister, and step dad. His step dad is a complete idiot, and while he loves his mom, she's not up to the most good herself. Enormously fat, she stays in their apartment organizing her "people" who work for her stealing electronic goods and such. She changes her cell phone every few days so as not to get caught. She resells the stuff to others. She drinks too much, and James and Lauren often have to take care of themselves.

One day, though, she doesn't wake up from drinking too much, and James' life changes forever. He's separated from Lauren and thrown into a group home. He hangs out with the bad kids and doesn't want to be there forever. Then mysteriously he wakes up in a clean room one morning and has no idea how he got there.

He finds out he is at the Cherub campus. Cherub agents for all practical purposes don't even really exist. They are kids that work with British MI5 agents to help bring down terrorists and criminals. The kids are used in cases where the adult agents would be obvious. No one suspects kids of being spies, so that's when the Cherub agents take over and help out. Before you can become a Cherub agent, however, you must go through a insanely-hard-makes-you-want-to-die-and-cry-for-you-mommy kind of basic training. So, can James make it through training? How hard will these hundred days be? Will he ever see his sister Lauren again? Will he get his first Cherub mission? Read on to find out what the training is like and to follow James on his first Cherub adventure.

I think lots of kids will like this book. I have never read any of the Alex Rider books, but I assume it's a similar feel. Although in these, the agents don't rely on crazy gadgets like in Alex Rider...but it's still adventurous all the same.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

2010-04-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for this book for so long, so I was totally thrilled when I picked up my signed copy at Malaprop's Tuesday. I love the cover; I love John Green; and I love David Levithan. I'd read great reviews and been terribly jealous of all the book bloggers and tweeple who got to read this one in advance.

I just finished and IT WAS FABULOUS!! I absolutely loved it!

So it's two narrators...the Will Graysons alternate chapters throughout the entire book. Will Grayson one is a sort of normal high school kid who had a sort of Group of Friends but doesn't really anymore since he stood up to everyone and wrote a letter to the school paper about how it was ok that his friend Tiny Cooper (who is anything but tiny, by the way) was gay and the best thing that happened to their school's crappy football team. Oh yeah, and he signed his name to that letter. So the Group of Friends kind of stopped being the Group of Friends after that. Will has been friends with Tiny forever, which is hard sometimes because Tiny is a bit loud and dramatic...ok, well, extremely loud and dramatic and fabulous and he falls in love really easily....you get the picture.

While Tiny is always in love with someone, Will isn't. He just avoids relationships and really tries not to even say that much at all....that way he'll be good and won't have to deal with any drama.

Tiny's trying to get his original musical Tiny Dancer staged at school. Tiny is huge and fabulous and on a mission when it comes to this play.

A few towns over, Will Grayson two wants to murder himself and everyone around him...well not really, but that's how he feels. He's not so happy, this Will Grayson #2, that is unless he's online talking to Isaac, his new friend. He makes it through school, allowing himself a little happiness toward the end of each day when he looks forward to the final bell.

These two Will Graysons continue on their ways until one night (at a porn shop of all places) they run into each other...from that point - their worlds are connected.

As you read this book you'll see how the world's intertwine and you'll have just craploads of fun along the way.

Tiny Cooper is, as many other bloggers and reviewers have pointed out, the absolute most fabulous thing about this book. I have no idea how Green and Levithan did the writing on this book...but Tiny is the beautiful, giant thread that holds it all together...and he's perfect in all the chapters. As his BFF Will Grayson #1 says:

Tiny Cooper is not the world's gayest person, and he is not the world's largest person, but I believe he may be the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large. Tiny has been my best friend since fifth grade...

and...

Tiny waltzes in wearing his jersey tucked into his chinos, even though football season is long over. Every day, Tiny miraculously manages to wedge himself into the chair-desk beside mine in precalc, and every day, I am amazed he can do it...So Tiny squeezes into his chair, I am duly amazed, and then he turns to me and he whispers really loudly because he secretly wants other people to hear, "I'm in love."

I've loved all of John Green's books (Alaska's my favorite). I also really liked Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, and I plan to read Boy Meets Boy soon. These guys have really done something special here, and you absolutely must check out this book. One, it's good, and Two, it's all about the love, and who doesn't love that!?!

Rosie and Skate by Beth Ann Bauman

2010-04-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Love, love, loved this book!! I saw a review of it on Reading Rants which made me want to read it. It totally lived up to my expectations.

Rosie and Skate are two sisters who live on the Jersey Shore. They're locals and work at the shore during the summer while it's full of tourists. Their dad is an alcoholic - a nice drunk - but still a drunk. He can't stop drinking. He doesn't hurt the girls or cause many problems, but he gets out of control one night driving and crashes and lands himself three months in jail. Rosie and Skate are on their own because their mom is dead.

Their cousin, Angie, comes to live with them and help out, but once their father goes to jail, things are harder between the sisters. Rosie is hopeful and visits her father and still somehow believes he will get better, while Skate refuses to go at all. Skate doesn't attend the support group meetings. Instead, she spends time at work with her boss Nick, and also pining away after her boyfriend Perry who is gone to college at Rutgers. She wants to see Perry so badly. The two of them are great together, but the distance is a problem.

The book alternates between the narration of each sister. It's cool to hear the story from two points of view. The writing was real and easy to read. I liked the characters and the story of each sister. This was a fun read with some serious stuff mixed in. I totally loved it!

Here's a link to the New York Times review of Rosie and Skate.

Slam by Nick Hornby

2010-04-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

Sam Jones is a normal kid who loves to skate (board that is...not on ice). He does ok in school and hangs with his friends. One thing that's a little different about him is that his mom is really young...in fact she had him when she was sixteen...so she's way younger than most of his friends' moms, but it's cool - she's a good mom, and they do alright.

Sam "talks" to Tony Hawk a lot and has read Hawk's biography maybe a thousand times. Tony always gives good advice.

Sam's normal life of school and skating change a bit, though, when he meets a gorgeous girl named Alicia. They end up going out, hanging out, and having a great time. In about two seconds, though, their lives change...they make a baby.

This book takes you on the journey with Sam as he works through his relationships with friends, with Alicia, with his own parents, with Alicia's snobby parents, and with his baby on the way. It's a very honest look at teen pregnancy. I enjoyed the read. I liked Sam as a narrator. He was honest and always told it like it was. The other characters were great, too. Overall, a good book.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

2010-04-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

I was really pumped to read this book, and while I enjoyed much of the story, I was a little bit underwhelmed. However, this was a good fantasy read and I do recommend it if you like fantasy.

So there are two stories in this book: the story of Finn and the story of Claudia. And both stories involve the prison - Incarceron.

Finn woke up in the prison and had no idea about how he got there or even who he was. He saw the name on his clothes; he ran into some people; and he began a strange, violent life in the prison. There's fighting, lying, and violence in the prison. Finn always had the weird feeling, though, that he was from Outside and that he hadn't always been in Incarceron. He has a tattoo on his arm, and when he finds a woman who knows something about it, he works to find out who he is and how he can get out of the prison.

Finn's path eventually crosses with the path of Claudia's. Claudia is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron. She's grown up privileged, yet she's unhappy now because a marriage is being arranged for her that she does not want a part of. She's from the Outside, supposedly, but ends up wondering much when she encounters Finn somehow.

In this book you are reading about each character and wondering how Finn can ever get out or if that's even possible. It was a good read and did have some surprises, but it didn't leave me feeling like I felt after reading The Hunger Games or The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

2010-03-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

I get so wrapped up in keeping up with the newest, latest, greatest YA books, that I often neglect the classics. I read lots of them in my college English classes, and I know the ones I teach often (Hamlet, Frankenstein, etc...) very well, but I only get through one or two "classics" a year. I want to do more of this reading, so while my student teacher organized literature circles for my students, I decided to read Wuthering Heights along with one of the groups.

I loved this book. It made me happy; it made me sad; it annoyed me; it made me want to holler at people; it made me smile. I read Jane Eyre last summer and liked it a lot, but Wuthering Heights moves far beyond Jane Eyre as my favorite right now.

There's so much story in the book, but it all starts when Mr. Lockwood moves in to Thrushcross and visits his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff. Heathcliff is a weird dude, and Lockwood, who isn't the most sociable guy in the world, feels like he's outgoing and nice compared to Heathcliff. Lockwood visits once and then again and gets stuck at Wuthering Heights before he can make it home. He spends the night in a room that he really isn't supposed to be in and encounters the ghost of a young girl at the window. He's completely freaked out and what's more is that Heathcliff rushes in at the disturbance screaming:

"Come in, come in!...Cathy, do come. Oh, do--once more! Oh! my heart's darling, hear me this time, Catherine, at last!"

Amazed by this outburst, Lockwood gets the whole story out of his housekeeper, Nelly Dean. You just love Nelly to death by the end of this book, as she is your eyes and ears into this story, this world. Nelly has been working for the family for years and she tells Lockwood every exciting, terrifying, lovely bit of the story.

It all began when Old Earnshaw who had two children, Hindley and Catherine went away to Liverpool and came back with a new little rough-looking, black-haired, wild child with him. You may expect a give when your father goes out of town and returns, but certainly not a new little brother, and a wild, gypsy seeming child at that. Hindley doesn't like the new little one, Heathcliff, and Catherine doesn't care for him at first either. But time goes on, and life steps in. Hindley leaves, and Catherine and Heathcliff become best of friends. Old Earnshaw dies, Hindley comes back and treats Heathcliff badly. Catherine likes Heathcliff, but can't marry him because he's "lower" than her...but she really does want him. Heathcliff hearts Catherine say something about this and leaves and disappears....and it all gets going from here.

This book has so much love and so much hate that it seems impossible sometimes. The story spans generations and turns and twists all the time. I was always wondering what was going to happen, who would be together, why the characters just couldn't be honest with each other.

I was completely happy and satisfied with this book, and it is one that I will read again and again definitely. This is one classic you should pick up if you haven't already.

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

2010-03-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've had this book on my shelf forever and finally picked it up. I loved it! It took me a little while to get used to the narrator, senior in high school, Sutter Keely, but once I did I was along for the ride with him on his adventures (and a wild ride-it definitely is!)

So, Sutter has a curvy, beautiful girlfriend, Cassidy. He's a senior. He is a party-man. As long as he's got a whiskey and 7 up - he's golden. Cassidy gets sick of his antics, though, and dumps him. He's sort of stranded in a weird place. He's single again, and his best friend Ricky finally got a girlfriend (Sutter made it happen, of course). Sutter's kind of in a weird place. He turns to his whiskey and drinks and drinks and ends up asleep in a strange yard. He wakes to see a girl, Aimee, who says she knows him because she goes to his school. Aimee is different from any one Sutter has ever hung out with, and he kinda likes her. They hang out and Sutter sort of takes her under his wing. But when there's Sutter Keely and whiskey...there's always going to be fun (and trouble, perhaps) ahead...

Like I said, this book was different. Sutter is such a strong narrator. I appreciate the voice that Tim Tharp created here. I loved Sutter's vocabulary words such as, "spanktaculicious" and "fandangulous." Sutter's a mess but you just can't help but love him.

I was a little weirded out by the amount of alcohol that Sutter drank. The thing is, he's really the only who who drinks that much in the story. His friends don't. Ricky has cut back on partying. Sutter's got his own little world....So while this book does center around and involve alcohol, I don't think it shows drinking in a positive light at all. It's honest. It was interesting because while I read, I was pulling for Sutter, but I also felt like I could understand the other people who told him maybe he shouldn't drink so much anymore.

I really liked this book. Sutter is a unique character I've never met before, and it was nice to meet him. He's a fun guy - no one can deny that.

Weetzie Bat by Fancesca Lia Block

2010-03-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've never read any of Francesca Lia Block's books, so I thought I'd start right at the beginning with Weetzie Bat. It's been on my list forever.

Weetzie Bat is a hip young lady who finds her soul mate/best friend in Dirk, the cutest guy in school. They do movies and hang out and are bffs forever. Dirk and Weetzie both want to find someone to love them so they go "duck hunting" together - each hoping to find that one special man who will make them happy.

One day Weetzie actually gets the chance to make sure this happens for both her and Dirk. She makes three wishes and sets their life on an adventure-filled path that they love. They live, love, and go through life's down times, too, but they always stay together and do their best.

I liked this quick, fun little read because it took me away to LA and let me hang out with some fabulous new friends. It's got movies, beauty, palm trees, dancing, music, babies, loving, everything. I liked the style and enjoyed how short and simple it was. Yet, there were still things under the surface to think about. A simple story about love with a colorful cast of characters. I loved this description of what you are to me...this was about Weetzie,

You are my lake full of fishes, you are my sky set, my 'Hollywood in Minature,' my pink Cadillac, my highway, my martini, the stage for my heart to rock and roll on, the screen where my movies light up.

Who doesn't love that? Weetzie Bat was fun and full of love.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

2010-03-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Jenna Fox wakes up after being gone/out/something for a year. She knows there was an accident and that she was in a coma for a year. She doesn't know much of anything except that they tell her she is Jenna Fox. She's got discs to watch of her past, but none of it seems to click at first. She feels awkward in her body and tries to get used to being awake and back with the real world.

Jenna doesn't feel like the girl that she sees on the videos, but bit by bit, she starts to remember things and piece together voices, memories, and parts of her past. However, with some memories and feelings, Jenna becomes even more confused about what exactly happened during the year she was "in a coma." Her family isn't the same as she sees/remembers, and her grandmother doesn't seem to want to deal with her at all. She tries to make life somewhat normal by going to school and making friends, but she is haunted by what she begins to know and what she still has to figure out about herself.

This book is a nice sci-fi/teen mix. It's got some creepy futuristic mysteries yet focuses on Jenna's relationships with those around her. Sometimes figuring out who you are is hard enough when everything in your life is "normal." Well, for Jenna, whose situation is way far from normal, it's even worse. Her parents have made decisions that will affect her for the rest of her life.

I liked this book a lot. It was fast paced and interesting. The reader gets to piece together bits of Jenna's life right along with her, so you're always guessing how it all fits. I was interested in the science-y stuff, but also pulled in by the relationships. As I read this book I thought of Frankenstein. This book has some things in common with Frankenstein...especially when Jenna confronts her parents about what happened during her mysterious "year off."

A great read and a unique concept.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

2010-03-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

What happens when you die? Well, for Sam Kingston, you wake up and get a chance to do it all over again - six more times.

Sam and her girls, Lindsey, Ally, and Elody, are on top of the world and the social landscape of their high school. They rule the roost and are, well, a little bitchy. Sometimes a lot...

In Before I Fall you get to follow Sam and her friends during their day - Cupid Day at school - the day when roses get delivered with notes to people. The girls get tons of roses, of course. They eat at their usual lunch table. They giggle and discuss Sam's "big plans" that she has for the night with her boyfriend Rob. They plan to attend a party that night at Kent McFuller's house. They go, they have fun, they get into a little drama, and then they're on their way home. It rains, they swerve, Sam hears something, and then....

Beep, Beep...she wakes up. And it's still Feb. 12. Sam is caught in some kind of strange time and relives this last day of her life over and over. Each day she notices things, changes things, and realizes things. She sees people differently. She notices things she never even paid attention to before. She appreciates the little things that she will miss when she's really gone.

This book was amazing. While the chapters are long, it's so good because you get to notice the details right along with Sam. This book reminds us of what really matters, and it reminds us to notice what's going on around us and not take things for granted. I loved being on this journey with Sam. I felt like everything unraveled and made sense to her and me one precious second at a time.

You will love this book - that's all there is to it. It's got love, drama, kisses, bullies, high school, friends, questions, answers, excitement, terror, sadness, EVERYTHING. Read and see what happens during these seven days....you won't regret it!

Ash by Malinda Lo

2010-03-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Ash is a wonderful and beloved daughter. Sadly, she loses her mother when she is young. When her father comes home from the city with plans to remarry, Ash's life will change forever. People in Ash's world believe in the real world and no longer feel that the fairy tales of the past are real. Ash loves the stories though and knows that the land is still enchanted by the fairies because she feels it and catches glimpses of them indirectly every now and then.

When Ash's father dies, her stepmother and stepsisters make her move her childhood home. When her stepmother runs out of money, Ash is forced to be a servant. Her only friend is a fairy, Sidhean, to whom she is mysteriously drawn to. She wanders into the woods to see if she can encounter him or any other magical folk and meets the king's huntress, Kaisa. She immediately feels herself attracted to the huntress, and they spend lots of time together.

All of this is complicated when Ash realizes that she can't be in two worlds at once. Will she be able to be a part of the world she wants to be a part of? Can she even have love at all when her stepmother monitors her every move?

Ash is a unique Cinderella retelling with a twist. The setting is magical and the love is very real. Read this for a new twist on a classic fairy tale.

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

2010-03-02T17:29:00.000-08:00

I was lucky to snag an advance reading copy of this book. I loved the previous two Moon books, so I was anxious to see what happened to Miranda and how she and Alex met. If you don't know, this series is about life in the world after an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it closer to earth. The gravitational pull changes, volcanoes erupt, tsunamis wipe out the coasts...it gets bad. The worst part is that the ash from the volcanoes blocks out the sun. It gets cold and no one can grow crops. In this last book of the series, Pfeffer brings her two main characters, Miranda and Alex, together. Life picks up in Pennsylvania, but eventually Miranda's dad, his wife, a new baby, and three strangers show back up at Miranda's house. She's glad to see them, but life with all these people now crammed into their house is a little more hectic than it was before. There are people everywhere, and moreover, they only have food for their family and now it has to be shared. As Miranda's family grows, she has to deal with all the hardships that come with this new world. Interestingly though, a real-live teenage boy, Alex, is with the new group, so maybe there's hope that Miranda can have some happiness after all. This book follows the family as they try to survive in the world they live in.

I really liked this third book. Honestly, I didn't love it quite as much as the first two, but that could be because I already knew the basics, and this book didn't hold any new moon information. I liked knowing what happened to the family and seeing what had happened since I left the characters on their own. What I will say about these books is that they are painful to read but yet so interesting. I don't know what it is about reading about life like this. It scares me and makes me wonder if I would survive if something this bad happened. But it also gives me hope because I know that many people will do what they can to keep being good, strong, honest people even in the face of the worst adversities. I love this series. Scary but fun, compelling reads.

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

2010-02-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

Seventeen year old Lennie is trying to make it through being back at school after the sudden, tragic death of her beautiful sister, Bailey. Their mom left when they were young and the girls lived with their grandmother. Dealing with death is hard enough on a teenager, but Lennie's issues become even more complicated when she not only starts to have strong feelings for the amazingly hot, beautiful, talented new boy at school, Joe, but also Toby - her sisters boyfriend. She's never been in a relationship or even kissed many people for that matter, so when she has to deal with feelings for two guys at once, it's a lot. And the one person she wishes were there to talk about it with - her sister - is dead. In Jandy Nelson's debut novel, Lennie's life is put right out there for the reader to follow. This book is beautifully written and full of emotions: passion, sadness, confusion. I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down. What I loved most of all was just the descriptions of love. First, true, forever loves are amazing and the way that Nelson writes about Lennie's feelings will hit home with adults and teens alike. You must read this book. It is amazing!

Eli the Good by Silas House

2010-02-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

In 1976, Eli Book is a ten year old kid who lives in the beautiful countryside and enjoys life. He loves to write, play with his best friend Edie, and be in the woods with the trees. If only life were this easy, though. This book is a reflection on a summer in Eli's life in which life was really simple but also completely complicated at the same time. Eli's father is a Vietnam veteran and has problems and flashbacks related to the war. Eli wants to understand about this but his father won't talk to him about it at all. Eli decides to go about finding out about his father's time in the war on his own. Edie is a close friend for Eli, but even this simple relationship is complicated when Edie announces that he parents are getting divorced. Eli's sixteen-year-old sister, Josie begins acting differently and questioning everything. His crazy war-protesting aunt, Nell, shows up to live with them for the summer. All these people are dealing with so much and Eli narrates the story of a family struggling to be together and stay together even during rough times. The book is told by the grown-up Eli. He gives insights into the summer that he can only have by looking back. I liked this book ok. It was interesting to read about the father's time in Vietnam, and I could identify with Eli when he wanted to know about his parents but couldn't find a way to ask. I appreciated the portrait of this family and Eli's reflection but kept waiting for more.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

2010-02-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

I knew this book would be intense when I started. I was drawn in immediately and just couldn't stop reading. Wow. That's the main word I feel right now....just, wow.

On May 2, 2008 Nick Levil, a student at Garvin High begins a shooting spree in his school commons area before school. This is a day that no one will forget, especially his girlfriend Valerie. Nick turned the gun on himself but not after killing and wounding students, teachers, and Valerie herself.

Dealing with a tragedy like this is hard even if you aren't even directly affect by it. But Valerie is right in the middle of it all. She went out with Nick for three years. She loved him. They made a "hate list" together naming all the people who got on their nerves at school. Nick read names from the list during the shooting. Valerie steps in the way of one of his bullets that day. She gets shot. She sort of saves another girl's life. But she's a part of this. The police want to know her involvement. She's dealing with so much. After summer, Valerie has to go back to school and face them all....the students on the hate list, the teachers, the people who hate her...can she do it? Is there any way she can become "normal" again? Is there any point?

In this book Valerie deals with it all: parents, her shrink, kids at school, everyone. She has to tackle her issues and figure out how she can go on with her life or if that is even possible at all. What's worse is that she loved Nick...she still loves him...

It doesn't get much more complicated than this. Like I said earlier, this book completely drew me in from the first moment. Some of it was hard to read and it got to me at times, but it was a great read.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

2010-02-17T07:59:00.000-08:00

I read this book once when I was a kid but couldn't remember it, really. So I picked it up again and sat down to enjoy.

The book begins on a dark and stormy night, and things only get stranger and creepier from there. Meg Murray is a normal kid. She's smart but gets in trouble at school. She's seen as "belligerent" and unruly by her teachers. She knows how to do math problems fast using her "shortcuts" her dad taught her, and of course, these behaviors make the teachers annoyed. She's one of many in her family including her twin brothers Sandy and Dennys, and her "strange" little brother Charles Wallace. On top of all this, Meg's father, who worked for the government, has gone missing. He just wasn't there any more. While Meg, her brothers, and her mother all believe he's out there somewhere and will come home, most other people think that Meg's dad is never coming back (or worse has run off with another woman or something).

At this point, Meg and Charles Wallace go down with their friend Calvin to the hold creepy house down the street and encounter some strange women: Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. In a flash they are no longer in their safe neighborhood but in an entirely different universe. Once they jump to a new time and place that night, they have a crazy adventure ahead of them if they want to make it back. They get a chance to find Meg's father, but can three kids battle what waits out there in the universe? Read this classic and take a journey to far away places. I loved the book this read-through, and I think I might read the rest of the books in the Quintet now. I'd like to see what happens to Charles Wallace, Meg, and Calvin.

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

2010-02-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresI was soooooo mad when this book ended. Once I got into Scarlett Fever, the sequel to Suite Scarlett, I was hooked and then it just ended on me. I am definitely already ready for the next installment of this fabulous New York girl and her life.

So Scarlett Fever picks up after the first book, obviously. The hotel Hamlet production has ended and now life seems blank, bleary, and boyless as Scarlett looks around the empty hotel. School's about to start and she still works for the crazy Mrs. Amberson, but she can't stop thinking about Eric, her sort-of boyfriend from the summer.

Mrs. Amberson started her own acting agency which has one client (Spencer, Scarlett's brother) as of now, but they are hoping to find more.

Scarlett's older siblings seem depressed while her younger sister, Marlene is strangely acting nice.

On top of all this, enter Chelsea Biggs and her crazy stage mom....oh, and Max, Chelsea's brother. Mrs. Amberson wants Chelsea to sign with the agency but needs to use her "secret weapon," Scarlett to seal the deal and make it work. Scarlett finds herself starting school, pining away for Eric, dealing with her brothers acting career, walking a rat dog that pees everywhere, and getting annoyed to death by Max who is in high school yet seems to act like a troll or fifth grader every time she's around him.

Sounds like a wonderful start to the year, huh?

Well, in this second book you get to follow Scarlett around the city on her crazy errands and adventures as she continues to find her place in the city, the world, and her own life. I loved this book just as much as the first and can't wait for Scarlett #3. (And I am wondering what the next titles will be and how they will use Scarlett's name....Oh, and my only beef with this book is the cover. I know it matches the paperback....but I'm annoyed that it doesn't "go" with the first book...they don't look like sister books or friends....but that's not really a big deal.)

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

2010-02-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresWow. This girl is crazy. That's my main thought right now as I try to piece together Liar. The title says it all right her. Micah is a liar - that's the only truth you know right away. But she promises to come clean during the book and tell the truth.

With short hair and a thin frame, Micah can easily pass for a guy and actually does for two days at her new school. But once she's found out, everyone knows she's a girl and life moves on. Micah lies to her classmates, her parents, and her teachers. But lying is hard. So many details to remember; so many lines of lies can get crossed.

Micah tries to come clean when Zach, one of the best guys at school and Micah's boyfriend goes missing. His body is later found and Micah, along with everyone else, tries to make sense of what exactly happened to him.

When you pick up this book, you are in for quite a ride inside the head of a girl who can weave lies magically. This book is full of twists and turns. Can Micah really tell us, as readers the truth about her life and what happened? I guess you'll have to read and see.

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

2010-02-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresThis story about Ida Mae Jones was an amazing new take on a WWII story. There are many YA books about the time period, but this one shows us a whole new world - the world of the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots).

Ida Mae lives in Louisiana with her mama, grandfather, and younger brother. Her older brother is away at medical school, and her father died a few years before in a farming accident. Ida Mae and her friend Jolene clean houses to make money after graduating from high school. While Ida Mae cleans, all she can think about is getting enough money saved up to go to Chicago to try to get licensed as a pilot.

She knows all about flying. Her daddy got a plane and dusted crops. From the moment Ida Mae went up the first time, she knew she wanted to be in the air, feeling the wind in her hair and seeing the sky all around her.

When the war starts, life changes for all Americans. Ida's brother goes to war, and Ida learns about the WASP program. She wants to go so badly but the only problem is that she is black. "Negro" women aren't even considered for the program, so the only way Ida Mae can join is if she keeps her hair straight and uses her light skin to "pass" as white. Against the wishes of her mother, she goes to Texas to become a real pilot. Texas isn't a safe place, though, for a black girl pretending to be a white pilot, and while Ida is confident that she can fly planes, she's not so sure she can pull this off the whole time.

I loved the girls that she joins in the WASP program, especially Lily and Patsy. All the girls doing men's work reminded me of the movie A League of Their Own. The girls in the book have a fun time and help each other through life during the war. This is a great read that shows a wonderful new perspective on a WWII story.

the dead & the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

2010-02-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresI read Life As We Knew it last year and loved it. the dead & the gone is the companion novel to this one. it can be read alone or before or after the other book.

Alex Morales is 17 years old and a junior in high school. He lives in New York and is a good kid. He's got two little sisters and his parents at home in their basement apartment. His dad takes care of the apartment building, and Alex's mom just started working as a operation room technician after going back to school to get her education. Alex is on scholarship at a private Catholic boys school where he is in the student government and on the debate team. He works after school at a local pizza joint and helps out his family however he can. His life isn't the most amazing in the world, but it's good....until....

The meteor hits the moon, knocking the moon closer to earth.

What follows in this book is a day by day account of what happens to Alex and his family once the moon has been hit. At first no one knows what's going on, but bit by bit Alex starts to realize that life will never be the same. What's even worse is that after he doesn't hear from either of his parents for a few days, he begins to think he never will. Will Alex's parents return? How will he take care of his sisters? They are ok for a while, but soon food becomes scarce, the sun stops shining, and dead bodies begin to pile up on the city streets of New York.

This book was really interesting because it was different from the first one. In the first book, Miranda, the main character, was from a small rural Pennsylvania town, and this book shows what happened in the big city.

What I am even more excited about is that the final book in this trilogy This World We Live In, comes out soon this spring. In this new book, the paths of Miranda and Alex cross and we'll get to see what the world is like a year from when this all happens. I'm really wondering if they'll all die or if the scientists will figure out a way to fix the problem or if they'll find new ways to survive.

Both of these books are great, you should pick on up now!

My Big Fat Greek Reading Week

2010-02-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

So! I read two great Greek gods books this week, and I would highly recommend both.

I have wanted to read the Percy Jackson series for a while now. The movie previews made me get a copy and get started.

Shop Indie BookstoresPercy Jackson has trouble when he goes on class field trips. He also has trouble staying in a the same school for more than a year. He always seems to get in trouble or kicked out. He finds out, though, that there may be a reason for this...monsters from mythology are following him because he's the son of Poseidon and mixed up in a very sticky struggle between the gods of Olympus. When he finally gets to the beach to relax with his mother away from his horrible step-father, their peace is ruined by a minotaur and Percy's introduction to Camp Half-Blood. From this moment on, Percy realizes that he's not your average kid, and that his life will never be the same. Someone has stolen Zeus' sacred, most powerful thunderbolt, and Percy must help discover what has happened to it and return it by the summer solstice or else lots of people (and gods, and monsters) will be hurt.

I loved Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. It was really fun like Harry Potter, and totally cool to see the gods and monsters and powerful beings of mythology at work in the real world...they're all out there, we just don't quite see them!

Shop Indie BookstoresMy second Greek read was Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs. While Percy's gods are right there in the America with him and all the rest of us. The gods and their descendants in Childs' book are located on an oh so beautiful island called Serfopoula. Poebe is about to start her senior year when her mother suddenly announces that she's fallen in love and they will be moving to Greece. Not exactly the way you want your senior year to begin. Poebe has not choice, though, and she's tough and can probably survive anything for nine months. Then she can just go back to the states, go to college with her pals Cesa and Nola at USC and move on with life. Greece isn't the only problem she faces though, her new school, the Academy, is full of a different kind of student. She be leaving her friends to go to school with kids who are all descended from the Greek gods. As if high school weren't hard enough, now she's the nothos, the newbie, and will have to keep up with these super-power godlike others as best she can. If regular high school girls can be a pain though...girls with goddess powers are even worse. Can Poebe survive a year here? Sure, the island is beautiful, but will that be enough? Read this book to take a journey overseas and watch Poebe as she navigates a very unusual school.

This book was super fun! I loved Poebe. She was honest and funny. She felt lots of emotions during the move, which is what any of us would feel like if we had to move to a new situation. This is a great read with a fun magical twist. I will probably be picking up the sequel soon!

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern

2010-01-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

How is it that someone becomes a dork? Do they choose to, just like Bizza and Char decided to turn punk? Are they born that way? What makes some people like punk music and Denny's and other people like costumes and Dungeons and Dragons? And where do I fit into all of this?

These are the questions that sophomore Jessie is dealing with as her two "best" friends from life turn punk, steal her crushes, and use her for whatever they need. She sees these two friends, Bizza and Char, change into "mall punk" versions of themselves weeks before school starts sophomore year. At the same time, her once punk brother contemplates getting rid of his mohawk and going out with the homecoming queen. Jessie is caught in the middle of all this and starts to look for more friends...but all she sees are dorks, nerds, and band geeks - but they're all really nice? She's a smart, straight A students and a super math whiz. Is she a dork already?? If she starts hanging out with the band nerds or even worse the Dungeons and Dragons kids, will she lose any hope of being normal or cool? Does this even matter? Read this amazingly funny book to follow Jessie on her friend search as she travels Into the Wild Nerd Yonder.

This is a book I've been waiting for forever! I've read lots of books that have cool, smart, nerdy characters, but they've all sort of already made the journey that Jessie is working on. This is a book that made me proud of my nerdiness...or dorkiness...I think I am actually probably more nerd than dork, but anyway - I love the way Halpern navigates the cliques in high school and where she takes Jessie on her journey. A great read for nerds and an important one for people who think they're all cool but really are missing out on true coolness because they aren't nerds. Fabulous read!!!

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

2010-01-29T17:09:00.000-08:00

"What I would have liked to have done way to hop to this sucker and beat his head it, but it would've been the same as beating my own head in, because I would be the one doing the most suffering."

This is the dilemma that fourteen year old Reese Anderson finds himself in almost every day at the Progress juvenile detention center. Reese has been in for about two years for stealing some prescription pads, and all he wants to do is get out, have his freedom back. But every day situations get in the way. He gets signed up to work for a program at he jail where he goes out and works at a retirement home. It's weird at first, but even if Reese is just picking up trash, at least he doesn't have someone staring down his back all the time. He works with this old man named Mr. Hooft who is really crazy and racist, but again, this is nothing compared to life in the jail. Torn between wanting to help his friends not get the crap beat out of them all the time and not wanting to be in trouble, Reese has to navigate the world of the jail very carefully. If he plays his cards right, he could get out. But if he makes one wrong move...he's toast.

This book was a good look inside the juvenile jail...it's not a fun place to be. But jail aside, what really got me in this book were the conflicts that Reese felt inside. He wanted to defend helpless kids in the jail, but he knew he wasn't supposed to fight anymore. Reese also has his family on his mind. He needs to help his little sister Icy achieve her dreams, keep his mom off drugs, and hopefully his brother Willis out of jail. His family needs him. But how can you just stand by and watch a weak kid get beat up and not do anything to help him? Fighting is the only freedom he's got, so should he chill out or help his friends? Lockdown takes you inside with Reese and shows you how he makes his decision about where the rest of his life is headed...if anywhere.

This great new book by Walter Dean Myers will be in bookstores this Tuesday, February 2. Check it out!

Grade: A-

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

2010-01-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresThe Lowdown:
Scarlett Martin lives in a hotel in New York City. How cool is that? It's great, but not as perfect as it might seem. On her fifteenth birthday, Scarlett expects to have the fabulous waffle breakfast that is the tradition in her family, only to find out that their amazing cook has been let go - the Hopewell Hotel is in a tight spot...money is tight, and Scarlett's parents need her to stay around and work there for the summer. When the kids in her family turn fifteen, they are given a room to manage in the Hotel. Scarlett has the Empire Suite and all of her summer plans right there in front of her - hotel work. While her friends are all in faraway places learning languages, partying, and helping others, Scarlett is where she always is - home. It seems like her summer will be pretty dull until a guest arrives to stay in Scarlett's Empire Suite - all summer! Mrs. Amberson is a "star" of sorts who is back in the city after being gone for thirt..."some years." She has lots of energy, dreams, goals, and Scarlett is there beside her to help her with anything she desires. Mrs. Amberson puts Scarlett to work immediately, and what began as a slow summer quickly pics up. Scarlett has her siblings to save, revenge plots to assist with, and boys to fall for! Pick this book up to head to NYC for some summer fun!

What I Liked:
I loved being able to spend a summer in New York City most of all. It was so wonderful following Scarlett and friends around the city. I felt like I was right there. Scarlett is a great character and very real. I loved reading and observing the different sibling relationships between Scarlett, Spencer, Lola, and Marlene. The hotel that Johnson has created is fantastic as well...the descriptions of the rooms were vivid and beautiful...this was the perfect setting for the book. This book has tons that I love: love, kissing, acting, theater, Broadway...it's just a fabulously fun ride. I just now read this (been meaning to for a year) and I found out that Scarlett Fever - the second book in the series - is coming out at the end of this month...I can't wait!

***Oh, and Hamlet is in this book! I've been amazed at how many YA books mention Hamlet...I saw some references in The Monstrumologist, too! Yay for Hamlet in YA!

Read This If...
You want to hang out in NYC for the summer.
You like acting.
You have ever dealt with brothers and sisters.
You know what it's like to fall for some one.
You are a theater kid.
You dream of making it big.
You want to experience a big city adventure.
You love to save the day!

Total Oblivion, More or Less - by Alan Deniro

2010-01-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresThe Lowdown:
Macy is a sixteen-year-old girl who lives in St. Paul Minnesota. Her high school life is as normal as can be for a high school kid. She does her thing and deals with parents and siblings as best she can. Until things start to change: power stops working, the horsemen come to town, and her family packs up to get out of St. Paul (now "Pig's Eye) to head down the Mississippi River to St. Louis. As they travel down the river on a steamboat called the Prairie Chicken, Macy tries to make sense of all the strangeness she sees around her. Worried about the plague and the strange behaviors of her brother and his dog, Macy goes into survival mode. Her family is together now, but will they be able to make it through all that the river and world will throw in their way? Macy is tested in more ways than a girl her age should be, and you'll have to read on to see if she makes it in this strange new (old?) world.

What I Liked:
I liked this family. They were weird; they weren't perfect. I liked that I got to see them make it through all the weirdness that they encountered on their trip. Also, the relationships were complex and honest. Macy is very honest with herself and the reader about how she feels about her brother, dad, and the others. There's a talking dog in this book. I loved him. I will say, however, I wanted to know what was happening to the world. Like The Road and other post-apocalyptic novels I've read, you don't really know exactly what is going on or why it is happening. I guess, though, if this were reality, you wouldn't know...so experiencing it all like Macy - bits and pieces at a time - is how it would feel if the world changed like this.

***This book isn't written for teens, but does have appeal for the YA audience. This book does contain some strong language.

Read This If...
You want to go on a really crazy trip down the Mississippi.
You want to experience a future that includes the past.
You're interesting in learning about crazy plague-loving wasps and talking dogs.
You like family stories.
You want to see what it takes for a family to make it when the world seems to be ending.

The Monstrumologist - by Rick Yancey

2010-01-10T17:12:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresThe Lowdown:
Will Henry is an orphan in New England during the late nineteenth century. He has nothing save his little hat and his "caretaker," if you can call him that, Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. Will's life is like nothing you could ever imagine because Dr. Warthrop isn't your regular kind of doctor...he's a monstrumologist - one who studies and hunts monsters. Don't go thinking about Monsters, Inc...or anything sweet right now, though...the kinds of things that the doctor studies are creatures you've never imagined. Will's seen his fare share of oddities and gruesome creatures, but nothing could even begin to prepare Will for what he sees one night when a gravedigger arrives in the middle of the night. What the gravedigger brings Dr. Warthrop is disgusting, sickening, sad, "a crime."

I daresay your average adult would have fled the room in horror, run screaming up that stairs and out of the house, for what lay withing that burlap cocoon laid shame to all the platitudes and promises from a thousand pulpits upon the nature of a just and loving God, of a balanced and kind universe, and the dignity of man. A crime, the old grave-digger had called it. Indeed there seemed no better word for it, though a crime requires a criminal...and who or what was the criminal in this case? (14)

Once Will and the doctor unwrap this "package," and view its contents, and answer this question, their worlds are not the same, for inside of the burlap covering is a creature that will reek havoc on everyone until it (or they...should I say) is stopped. Will and Dr. Warthrop have to figure out not only how to stop these creatures but also why and how they came to be in New England to begin with. This night takes Will and the reader on a journey they will never forget.

What I Liked:
This book made me almost run and hide, throw up, scream out loud...you get the picture. This is one of the sickest (I mean that in all senses of that word) books I've read in a long time. I loved the writing and the style. It reminded me of Octavian Nothing in that I really felt that I was taken back right to a particular time and place in history. The setting was perfect, and these characters are amazaing. Will, Pellinore, and the wonderful fabulous and insane Jack Kearns were so fun to read about. I wanted to run away from them and their monster-hunting tasks but also be a part of their strange monster-hunting team. More than anything the extremely graphic and gory descriptions written by Yancey made me "ick" and "oh my lord" and "ugggghhh" aloud the entire time I read the book. I was more into and freaked out by this book than I was by watching Paranormal Activity. This creepy book was a wonderfully scary horror tale. I loved every moment.

Read this if...
You want to be grossed out.
You love horror stories and scary movies.
You want to be bad and hunt monsters.
You want to take a journey back in time.
You want a thrilling read.
You want to go on an adventure into graveyards and undergound scary places.
You want to see creatures that you've never even been able to imagine.

Fire by Kristin Cashore

2010-01-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

The Lowdown: This companion novel to Cashore's Graceling brings a wonderful new side of the world to life. It's not a sequel, and only has one character in common with the other book, but it's just as entertaining. In this story, Fire, a human "monster," is the last of her kind. While normal people and animals are just as they are, monsters are vibrant, beautiful, strong versions of themselves. Beautiful as they are, they are different...they eat other monster flesh. Fire's life has never been normal. Her brilliant, bright red hair tells everyone she is a human monster. Not only does her beauty dazzle others, but she also has the ability to control the minds of those around her. When the kingdom faces a threat from other rulers, Fire leaves her quiet life and heads to the King's City. She sees wonders she's never seen, and has to use her power to help the kingdom. This scares her, though, because it's a power inherited from her father, who caused problems during the reign of the last king. On top of all of this, she struggles to make way with the prince Brigan who doesn't like her that much. Fire must find a way to get along with all of the new people she meets and harness and use her power for good in order to save herself, the kingdom, and all those that she loves.

What I Liked: I liked Graceling a lot when I read it. Katsa was a strong character who had to make sense of her place in the world. Fire is similar to Katsa, but a more tender, compassionate character. I loved all of the new characters that I got to meet in this new book. I also enjoyed the way that Fire and Brigan's relationship grew throughout the book.

Read this if...
You liked Graceling.
You want to travel to a new fantasy world.
You want a good action AND love story.

How to Say Goodbye in Robot - by Natalie Standiford

2009-12-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

WOW!!!!! This book was amazing. I saw that Reading Rants said this was probably her favorite of the year, and I can totally see why. It's that good.

The Lowdown:

Beatrice has moved around a lot. Her dad is a biology professor, and he's always looking for a new school, new grants, new programs. Her senior year of high school, they pack up to move from Ithaca to Baltimore. She's used to it and doesn't really have all that many emotions about moving. She'll do school, graduate, and move on. She's a robot girl...nothing there. At her new school she meets the normal girls, chipper and perky, but robot girl feels a new connection with Jonah - ghost boy. Neither Bea nor Jonah is the happiest person in the world, but together, they click. They tune in to a late night radio show called Night Lights, and their friendships begins. No one really gets them, but that's just the great part about it...they don't care. What they've found is friendship at its best. But all friendships and relationships go through rough times. Jonah tunes out sometimes. He finds out some crazy information about his dead brother, and Bea wants to help him through. Read to find out how this unique relationship survives, grows, and changes through their senior year.

What I Liked:

I LOVED every moment of this book and didn't want it to end! The characters, Bea and Jonah, as well as all the supporting characters are amazing. The story is unique and I was pulled in immediately. I loved the radio show. Uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time, these characters will stay with me for a long time. I haven't felt this attached to anyone since Octavian Nothing.

Read This If...

You want a true, unique story about love and friendship.

You've ever given of yourself to a relationship.

You've ever been loved and hurt by someone.

You want to have your world rocked by this amazing book!!!!

Love is the Higer Law - by David Levithan

2009-12-23T06:10:00.000-08:00

The Lowdown:

I've never been to New York city, and I will certainly never know what it must have been like to be in NY on September 11, 2001. But David Levithan's book Love is the Higher Law shows what the experience was like for three teens there when it happened. This book shows glimpses into the lives of three teens on and after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on 9-11. Claire was at school and went to get her little brother immediately after it happened. Peter had actually skipped school that day to get the new Bob Dylan CD at Tower Records. And Jasper actually slept through it all and didn't wake up until noon that day. All three had very different experiences and reactions to the events. Afterwards they have lots to deal with and think about. As time passes, the stories of these three intersect. What mattered before doesn't matter now, and they rely on each other to make sense of the world as they knew it and the world as it is for them now.

What I Liked:

Mainly I just like that Levithan is tackling this subject. In his afterword to the book he says that not as many books have been written about 9/11 as he would have thought. As each year passes, the memory of the attack becomes more distant. Today's freshmen in high school were around 6 when 9/11 happened. This is a great book to show what it was like for teenagers experiencing the tragedy in their own backyards. It's important to understand grief and feelings and how we are all affected by things like this. The book shows how each kid deals with it differently and that no one way to view the tragedy or deal with it is right or wrong...they just are. I liked that Levithan focused on the kids and their stories as opposed to the details of the day. This book is really real and really important as we still continue to make sense of our country and its history. The characters in the book come together to help one another. Hopefully as they wonder, we can always do that in our world:

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we really came together, if we really found common humanity? The hitch is that you can't find a common humanity just because you have a common enemy. You have to find a common humanity because you believe that it's true.

I love this idea. And even though it's been a while since 9/11, we are still living in a world that is forever changed because of it...war, fear, government power...Levithan's book helped me look forward and try to keep this positive idea in mind: that people can be good and helpful and that maybe out of pain we can create a better world.

Read This If...

You'd like to experience life in NY.

You want to read about relationships.

You can handle taking another look at the attacks on 9/11.

You want to believe that "love is the higher law."

You want to read about friendships.

Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman

2009-12-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

Shop Indie BookstoresThe Lowdown: When Charles Darwin got back from his voyage on the Beagle, he was in his twenties and had a very important decision to make. Marry or Not to Marry?? He made a chart and started to think about the pros and cons of each side. Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman begins here as Charles decides that having a wife would be better than a dog....and he begins his search for a "constant companion." He decides to get to know Emma Wedgewood. Charles has seen and learned so much over the last few years that his ideas about life and religion, in particular, have changed. He doesn't know if he believes in the God that most others do. He sees the world in a different way. Will Emma be able to understand his doubts and love him anyway? She grew up on a "free and liberal household," but will it be enough? Charles and Emma embark on a life-long journey of love, life, loss, and learning together. There story keeps Charles grounded as he works on his theories. This book is just as much science as it is love...and both work together magically.

What I Liked:
Mainly, I loved this story. I know and think about Charles Darwin only when I think of his theories, but there's so much more to the life of this man than many people know. I love that this book exists to show young people and all readers this side of Charles. He truly is a fascinating character. While my husband is a science major and lover, I have been interested to learn more about Darwin from what he reads. I hope that this book will interest young readers especially to learn more about Darwin and the fascinating life he led.

I loved the way that Deborah Heiligman wove primary sources into her story. Cuttings from letters, papers, and journals are seamlessly woven throughout the entire story, which made her writing historically accurate and real for me. None of the quotes got in the way of the "story" of this book either; they all served to support what was happening and make Charles and Emma even more real to me. I loved seeing that some of the things they wrote about seemed so real and normal for people today. Even though they lived a long time ago in a world very different from ours, their inner feelings, thoughts, and doubts are much the same as people today experience. We can learn a lot by looking at their story. I was also intrigued by how their journals (Emma's especially) were very "twittery" to me. With twitter and Facebook, we record our lives in snippets of text, just like she did. They kept track of their journey together just as we do online...the ups and downs, the celebrations, the sadness.

I also loved that this is a very honest story full of love. Real love...not just physical attraction or "crush" love. But real, enduring companionship. This love story isn't a fairy tale. There was no crazy wedding or reception. No dramatic engagement story....just two people working it out and making a life together by respecting and supporting each other. I think this is a very real look into what a marriage should be: "solid land in the tumultuous seas."

Read This If...
You like historical stories.
You like science.
You like love.
You like biographies.
You want a story of companionship.
You want to read about lifes ups and downs.
You want to see a picture of how science and love work together.
You want to know a personal side of Charles Darwin.
You want to travel to a different time and place...the England of Jane Austen and Charles Darwin.

Ophelia - by Lisa Klein

2009-12-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

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The Lowdown

Experience Hamlet in a completely new way by reading Lisa Klein's Ophelia. Whether you know and love the Shakespeare play or not, this book is sure to please. Beginning when Ophelia is just a young girl, Klein shows us what it was like to grow up at court in Denmark's Elsinore. Ophelia leaves her father and brother to tend and wait on Queen Gertrude. While at court, she catches the eye and heart of the young, handsome, dark-haired Prince Hamlet. They meet in secret and swear their love. Can this love between them stay strong and keep them grounded, though, as Denmark rots all around them? When Hamlet learns of his father's death and sees a ghost, he begins to focus on his own mind and not Ophelia. We all think we know Ophelia. She went made because her father died. But that might not be the case...Read to hear this classic story finally from Ophelia's point of view.

What I Liked

This is a real love story but it's not too overly romantic. I loved watching the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia develop and grow. In the play, you don't get to focus on Ophelia too much because the character of Hamlet always takes center stage. Here, though, the relationship blossoms before your eyes and you understand what these two characters were like together. Ophelia is a smart girl, but she deals with many love issues just like kids today. One night while reading with the Queen, the Queen tells Ophelia,

I think that she must be cruel if she wants to be loved....for once a lady succumbs to the man's desire, he rejects her as unworthy of it.

Ophelia, hearing this, worries about the love she has shown her Prince. She questions herself,

Because I showed my love to Hamlet, would his ardor diminish? Was love like a hunger, easily satisfied by feeding? Or did it grow by what it fed on? Should I have withheld my kisses and thus increased his appetite for them?

This book did a great job just showing what all the characters were going through. Klein's story is believable and exciting. I do know a lot about the play, so I also loved seeing lines in the book that I recognized from the play.

Read This If...

You want to hear what Ophelia has to say...finally!

You like classic love stories.

You like historical fiction.

You like making connections to the stuff you read (or have read) in English class!

You want to read a story about a kick-butt girl.

Grade: A-

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

2009-12-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

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The Lowdown
Cameron Smith is a (sort of) normal teenager. He stays semi-aware of what’s going on around him and occasionally hangs out in the “smokers lounge” bathroom in his school. That is until he starts to have some crazy-mad hallucinations. When fire giants appear out of nowhere and chase you around, something is definitely wrong.

Cam’s parents think he’s on drugs, and Cameron hasn’t a clue what’s going on. All he knows is that he’s seeing some crazy stuff and he doesn’t feel too hot. The doctors finally tell him that he had Mad Cow Disease...not what your average teenager expects to hear.

From this moment on, Cameron’s life journey gets really exciting, scary, and crazy all at the same time. Unexpectedly, he teams up with Gonzo, a little person who games constantly and always thinks he’s dying. Determined not to let mad cow get the best of him, and also determined to save the world, Cameron and Gonzo start off on the mother of all road trips. They go to New Orleans to hang out with dead jazz artist, end up living for a while in a “happiness” cult, and spend spring break at the Party House!! They also learn about and contemplate human existence, string theory, and many other philosophies. Climb into Cameron’s mind and into his car to take the journey of a lifetime.

What I Liked
In the most hilarious way, Bray’s book makes us look deep at ourselves and what we do in the world. The teens at the party house are insane and just want to be on television. The kids at the happiness cult don’t want anything bad to every happen to anyone. So many of the adventures that Cameron and Gonzo go on show humans at their most interesting. For example, while the two are at the happiness cult, where everyone wants to keep his/her happiness at the max all the time, Cameron tries to check out a book...The library girl tells him, “You can turn it in at the end of the week. Or whenever, really. It’s just a formality. We find that requiring things of people and making them responsible is a big drag, and that is so not happy. Enjoy!” I found myself always laughing out loud at the sardonic wit of many of Bray’s characters and the complete and utter idiocy of others. All these people together made for a very interesting ride.

I also really loved that all of Bray’s plot lines and ideas really came together in interesting ways as I read. So much craziness is thrown about during this road trip, yet Bray kept control of it all and it, somehow, all made perfect sense when I was done...or as much sense as it could.

Read this if...
You want a fun ride.
You want to go on a road trip.
You want to meet Baldar, son of Odin, a great Norse god...and party with him!
You want to laugh at crazy people.
You want to save the world from a black hole.
You want to think about why we’re here and what this crazy life is all about.

Grade: A-

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

2009-11-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

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I teach Hamlet to my seniors at school, and so I had to read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle so I could see how this wonderful, celebrated book connected to one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.

This book tells the story of a young boy, Edgar, who is mute. He signs to his parents, Gar and Trudy, who live with him on their farm. They breed and train their own breed of dogs simply known as Sawtelle dogs. Gar, Edgar's father, is intrigued by dogs and is trying to create a dog that is a wonderful, attentive, and trained companion. Edgar and his mother help with the dogs and all is well on their farm...until Edgar's uncle, Claude shows up. Claude is mysterious and clearly has problems with Gar, his older brother. Edgar watches and listens, but when his father dies suddenly one night, Edgar's world is turned upside down....he suspects his uncle but doesn't know what to do.

The story that follows is about how Edgar deals with his father's death with the dogs at his side. He observes and makes his own moves.

I really loved this book. It took me a while to get through, but I also really wanted to make sure to give it all the time it deserved. While I was intrigued by the adult characters, I mostly loved being with Edgar and in his mind. I loved thinking as he thought and seeing the world through his eyes. Another perspective I also appreciated and loved was the point of view of Almondine, the Sawtelle's dog. I felt that the author clearly showed what the dog was thinking and feeling.

I think that this book can appeal to YA lovers, because at it's heart, it is a story about a boy and his dogs. It's also a classic Hamlet retelling in which a son seeks to revenge his father's death. If you know Hamlet, you will love this book and enjoy making connections between the two. I hope that some of my students will choose this book when we do our fiction project with Hamlet. We'll see!

TONS OF GREAT BOOKS! My recent favs...

2009-11-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

So....I have read so much this summer and since school started, that I have decided to just give a quick run down of my recent reads and recommendations. I usuall prefer to do a longer post about each book, but it's been a while since I read some of these. I will get back to posting regularly now that I am caught up. So here they are...my recent picks.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - This is the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. It picks up right where book one left off, and is FULL of surprises. We follow Katniss back home to District 12 where she is now a celebrity. Life should be easier now that she's won the games, but it's not. If you haven't read either of these books, you MUST...it's my favorite new series since Harry Potter. I love these characters. The books are so exciting, too.

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch This book is short but really powerful. Told from the point of view of Keir Safafian, a star footbal player, Inexcusable is the story of a "good guy" who has been accused of doing a "bad thing." Keir's girlfriend is upset with him and as the story unfolds you have to see what you believe. What really happened? Keir says he would never hurt his girlfriend, Gigi, but no one really knows what happened. Read this book to see what Keir remembers and if he did, in fact, do somethin that is inexcusable.

Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen Gary Paulsen is one of the greatest kids' writers ever! My students love Hatchet and all the Brian books, but Paulsen's new stuff is really amazing and great too. His books are short but packed with realistic characters and powerful stories. Notes from the Dog is about 15 year Finn, who is a regular kid...not that cool, but not really that bad. He sort of thinks he's a loser, but he's a little too hard on himself, I think. Anyway, Finn lives with his dad and also another kid from his school, Matthew. Matthew is actually cool and is staying with Finn because Matt's parents got divorced and he's not ready to move yet. Dylan, the dog (named after Bob Dylan...who's mentioned in the book) is always around, too. These two guys hang out and their summer suddenly gets much more interesting when a 20-something college student named Johanna moves in. She is really nice to the boys and genuinely interested in getting to know them while she house sits next door for the summer. She also happens to be battle breast cancer. Johanna and the boys and the dog become great friends. She asks Finn to make a garden for her as a project for the summer. This story is a great one about a unique and powerful friendship. I loved every word. What makes it even better is that these people are so real. Finn is a regular kid and I loved getting to read this story about him. A really great book for all, and it deals with cancer, too...but in a good way. It might be good for kids who have experienced situations like this in their real lives.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher This story blew me away, and I learned a lot about football reading this book. Ben Wolf is ready for his senior year of high school to begin. During a routine sports physical, though, he gets some shocking news from his doctor - He is going to die. This year. Ben is 18 years old, though, and he decides then and there that he is going to live a normal senior year. He decides not to tell his parents, and his doctor honors his wishes. So Ben sets off to do everything he wants. He goes out for the football team, asks out the love of his life, and begins working on experiencing what life has to offer. Can he keep it up forever? What will happen if/when he gets sick? I loved this book. It's great for all ages, girls and guys, and Ben and his brother Cody are great guys that I loved reading about.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - This book is the most amazing techno-geek book ever! It follows Marcus, a smart, normal computer geeky kid around San Francisco. When terrorists attack the Bay Bridge one day while Marcus and his friends are skipping school, they get pick up by the Department of Homeland Security and aren't heard from for days. What happened while they were being held captive? Did their parents know that they were safe? What did they even do, anyway? After they are released, Marcus sees that the city he loves is not the same. No one has any privacy and DHS officers are following your every move. This book shows what Marcus and friends did to take back their city.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead Even though this book is more of a middle reader level, I loved it. If you read and loved A Wrinkle in Time, you should read this book. It is about a girl named Miranda and her best friend Sal. One day Sal quits talking to Miranda, and her entire life begins to change. She also finds a note that says, "I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own. I ask two favors. First you must write me a letter." Miranda has no idea what to do, but thinks and plans, and reads more of the letters. This was a fun story about friends and time.

Castration Celebration by Jake Wizner Wizner's Spanking Shakespeare is one of the funniest books ever and a personal favorite of mine. When I saw that Wizner had a new book out, I bought it immediately. It's a great battle of the sexes story involving Olivia, a girl who has sworn off guys to write a musical, and Max, the "it" guy who always gets the girl and is oh so wonderful and handsome. Olivia is upset because she caught her dad cheating on her mom with one of his college students, and so she wants to work on her musical revenge masterpiece over the summer at Yale art camp. Max is there to hone his acting skills. This book goes back and forth between Olivia's musical and the regular narration. I loved it. Not quite as funny as Spanking Shakespeare, but a really good read. The songs in her musical are hilarious.

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

2009-08-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Marcelo is 17 and getting ready to begin his senior year. Marcelo is different from others. He hears music during the everyday moments of his life, and he sees the world in a different way from some people. He is diagnosed as having Asperger's syndrome. He has attended a special school throughout his life and has worked in the stables at his school taking care of the horses during the summer.

Marcelo is very intelligent and his father thinks that it is time for Marcelo to stop working at his school and move out into the real world. He wants Marcelo to work in his law firm mail room for the summer so that Marcelo can see what the world is really like outside of his school. Marcelo's experience in the mailroom brings him into contact with a lovely young woman named Jasmine. Jasmine is a spunky young lady, and she shows Marcelo the ropes. During this summer at the law firm, we follow Marcelo at his job and experience the world as he experiences it. He is disturbed when he one day finds a picture of a girl whose face is destroyed on one side. He becomes determined to find out what happened to this girl and to help her if he can. His search will show him more of the real world that he even knows.

This book was GREAT. First, it's wonderful to read. I loved Marcelo's voice as a narrator. He was honest, and I knew he was reporting things to me in a truthful way. He worked out issues in his head and as the reader, you just got to follow along and see how he came to the conclusions that he came to. I felt like when I was reading Marcelo and seeing the world through his eyes, that I was seeing the world in a more pure way. He hasn't been tainted by hurt, and cruelty, and many of the sad things in the world, and I saw with fresh eyes when reading this book.

The characters in this book are all wonderfully written, too. I felt that they were all good people, even if the book showed a bad side of them. People in real life are complicated. You may trust someone and then they hurt you. It's hard to reconcile these feelings, but that's life. Life is full of contradictions, and Marcelo finds this out as he interacts with all the other characters in the book, good and bad.

I think this book is a must read for everyone, young adults and adults. It's a great story with a memorable character. We all can learn a lot from Marcelo.

Grade: A

The Luxe by Anna Godberson

2009-08-03T18:04:00.001-07:00

So, honestly, as a grown-up, I felt a little guilty for picking up The Luxe at the bookstore, but I really loved that dress on the cover! I was hoping for some turn of the century, gossip-girl-like drama, and that is exactly what I got with this book.

The Luxe takes place in 1899 in Manhattan, and it was really fun to be taken back to the times when people "called" upon one another and attended fabulous parties. Not that people don't attend parties now, but back then the parties were different.

The main characters are Elizabeth and Diana Holland, two New York sisters who are very much at the center of the social scene in Manhattan. Elizabeth has been away in Europe, and her return starts the action of the story. She and her sister have to appear to have lots of money, when the truth is that they have none. Their father died and since then their mother has had to pay off his large debts, leaving the girls with nothing but their reputations....kind of reminds me of Rose and her mother in the movie Titanic. With this knowledge weighing on her, Elizabeth has to play her part well and try to find a good match. The wonderful and rich Henry Schoonmaker is single and a great catch that girls would die for. The only problem is that she sort of loves someone else...

Of course there must be a bad girl to add to this mix, and that's where Elizabeth's friend Penelope comes in. Penelope is the wild girl (reminds me of Blair on Gossip Girl) and she always makes sure things are stirred up.

So against this backdrop, the girls, the guys, and the parents all try to match each other up.

I like the writing style of this book. It was easy to read, but unique, too, because Godberson starts each chapter off with a little "real life snippet" of something: a letter, a newspaper article, a line from the gossip column of the paper...and then the chapter starts from there. Each chapter is focused on one of the girls, too, so you get to see things from each girls point of view.

I really enjoyed the book. I did sort of figure out how things would unfold before they did, but it was ok, and still a fun book to read. I did get the sequel, Rumors, and plan to read it soon. All in all a fun book with old school girl drama, which, really, isn't that different from the girl drama of today. I recommend this book to readers who are interested in drama, relationships, and love.

Grade: B

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

2009-08-03T17:53:00.001-07:00

Nothing makes me madder than when people are mean to a sweet orphaned child. Cinderella was treated badly. Harry Potter had to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs. We read these stories all the time. Jane Eyre begins just like many of them, with a young girl struggling to live in a house where no one loves her. Her parents are dead, her aunt hates having to take care of her, and her cousins are mean bullies.

But somehow, Jane makes it. This story was amazing. I will admit that I tried to read this book twice before I actually got through it, but I loved every step of the way. It's not as easy to zip through a classics as it is to read, say, The Luxe, but it's very rewarding.

Jane moves from her aunt's house to a school called Lowood. Lowood is home to other orphan girls, and here Jane gets an education and actually makes a friend or two. The reader then follows Jane on the journey of her life. Jane moves on and finds herself eventually as a young woman traveling to Thornfield Hall to be a governess to a bubbly young girl named Adele.

Thornfield Hall is creepy. Old and sort of empty, Jane wonders about the people who live and work there. She doesn't meet the master of the house, and the servants say he doesn't come around a lot. There are strange screams and cries and laughter that Jane hears, too, which concern her a bit. Once Jane becomes a resident at Thornfield, though, her life will never be the same.

I definitely recommend this book. I really loved it. It's a gothic novel and has spooky settings and situations. There's a little mystery, and even more, there's love. Ghosts and love in one book is a lot of fun. The language was great, and I really got to know and like Jane as a person. She is calm and humble, and I learned a lot by watching her deal with all kinds of people.

Grade: A

Back with My Summer Reading List

2009-08-02T10:59:00.001-07:00

Wow, I have completely neglected my book blogging this summer. I have read a lot, though. I am going to have many reviews of my summer books coming in the next few days. Here's what I have read and will share:

The Luxe

Jane Eyre

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Volume II - The Kingdom on the Waves

Catching Fire

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Marcelo in the Real World

Inexcusable

I still have about two real, full weeks of summer vacation left, so I plan to read lots more before school starts, and I always read lots even during the school year.

Absolutely Maybe - by Lisa Yee

2009-04-19T09:09:00.003-07:00

Absolutely Maybe was GREAT! It is a road trip to Los Angeles and fun when you're there.

Maybe is a young girl who has one heck of a mother. Chessy, Maybe's mom, could have been Miss America. She had all kinds of beauty queen titles in her past and runs a charm school in Florida where they live. Maybe isn't one of the pageant girls, though, and wears jeans and extra large Hanes beefy tees instead of girlie clothes. One thing that Maybe's mom also has had a lot of--husbands. She's been married tons but not to Maybe's father. When Chessy hurts maybe one to many times, Maybe decides she must go out on her own and find her father and herself. Her friend Hollywood is headed to go to college at USC film school, so Maybe, Hollywood, and their crazy friend Ted hit the road and drive to LA.

Life in LA isn't that easy though. After they tour around and see all the main attractions, Maybe and Ted realize they will need jobs if they are going to survive. Ted strikes a great job (and starts wearing platform shoes...) but Maybe isn't so lucky. This book tells about what these kids do in LA and how Maybe goes about trying to find her father.

This book was so funny. The characters are all original personalities. Maybe, Hollywood, Ted, Jess, and the rest, are all so real. Each character is fully developed and all of their stories work well together. What's more...this book involves a taco truck and lots in great info about tacos and taco trucks. I absolutely loved Absolutely Maybe.

Grade: A

If I Stay - by Gayle Forman

2009-04-19T08:58:00.001-07:00

Wow. First, I have to say I really, really loved this book. It's short (196 pages) but packed full of so much. Ups and downs; funny parts, sweet parts, sad parts; goods and bads; friends and family--it's amazing.

Mia is a 17 year old girl who is a cello genius. She loves music and music runs in her family, although none of them are into classical music. She has friends at school and a really talented boyfriend, Adam, who went to school with her but is away at college now. He also tours with is band which is making it big right now. Mia loves her family and has decisions to make: stay with Adam, go to Julliard, etc...but no decision is bigger than the one she has to make unexpectedly one day when her family is in a devastating car accident. A

After the accident, Mia find herself looking down at her own body watching from the outside. As she gets flown off in a helicopter, she keeps watching and has to decided if she stays or not. The book tells the story of Mia and her decision. Flashbacks and present action are woven artfully together. In a short amount of time the reader gets to know so much about Mia, her family and friends, that you feel like you are sitting right there in the waiting room with them.

This is a horrible situation, but somehow, the book was happy at times and funny. I enjoyed Forman's writing style and the realistic way she portrayed family relationships and friendships. I highly recommend this book to teens and adults alike, I think you'll love it.

Grade: A

You Suck - by Christopher Moore

2009-04-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

I loved Lamb by Christopher Moore and was excited to see what You Suck would be like. I've of course read the Twilight books and Cirque Du Freak, but I was hoping for a funny vampire story when I started this book, and that is exactly what I got.

You suck is about Tommy Flood who is turned into a vampire by his girlfriend, Jody. The problem is that he didn't ask to be turned into a blood-sucking monster, and that both Tommy and Jody have captured the old vampire who turned Jody, and that old vampire wants out, AND Tommy's old friends are trying to capture him...and the list goes on!

Jody has been forced to leave town (San Francisco) once the cops find out that she is a vampire. In order for Jody and Tommy to get out of town, they have to find a minion to do their bidding during the day...enter Abby Normal, a sweet freak girl who helps them out.

Abby was what made this book for me. Every so often the book is told from the point of view of her journal and I loved her voice. She is really funny, but honest too. The characters in this book were all hilarious from the Animals (Tommy's group of friends who stock groceries and go frozen turkey bowling at night) to William and his large cat (he's a homeless dude with a really big cat). This book was a funny vampire story and not scary at all. The only heads-up that I need to say is that there is a lot of foul language. It's funny, but foul. There are also a few sexual situations in the book. So if you don't mind that and want to run around San Francisco with a bunch of vampires and vampire killers, then have at it. I would recommend this book to older teens and upper classmen who can handle the language and suggestiveness more. Too much for middle school.

Grade: B

The Dead Fathers Club - by Matt Haig

2009-04-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

I love Shakespeare and am always interested to read new versions and reimaginings of Shakespeare's classic stories. The Dead Father's Club is a modern day Hamlet and it was pretty good.

The main character is a young boy named Philip Noble. Philip's dad was killed in a single car accident. Losing a parent is bad enough, but after his father's funeral, Philip is visited by his father's ghost. Philip's father tells him that he was murdered by Philip's Uncle Alan, and that Philip must murder Alan in order for his father's ghost to move on and escape "the terrors." The Dead Fathers Club is the story of what Philip decides to do about his Uncle.

One feature of this book that makes it different is the narration. The book is narrated from Philip's point of view and has no punctuation except for periods at the ends of sentences. The voice reminded me of The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time.

I enjoyed this version of the Hamlet story, but at times, I lost interest. I didn't get overly angry with characters or emotionally moved to feel for them much, even Philip, who is the main victim in the story. The way he contemplates what he has to do is very different than the real Hamlet (who is in his twenties). I just didn't get into this book that much. I would recommend it to people who know the Hamlet story and who want to read a new version of the tale. If you liked Curious Incident, you might also like the voice in this book.

Grade: C

I'm excited about...

2009-03-20T13:41:00.001-07:00

I just got these two yesterday and am very excited. More to come as I hopefully get some time to read this weekend. I am still working on The Dead Father's Club and will moving on to one of the many books on my to be read soon pile...so many books so little time.

Also Known As Harper - by Ann Haywood Leal

2009-03-17T16:50:00.001-07:00

Harper Lee Morgan and her brother, Hemingway were both named after famous writers because her mother loves stories and literature so much. Harper's mom is a hard-working woman who does her best to take care of the kids. Times have been hard, thought, since Harper Lee's dad left. Even though Hemingway doesn't remember everything about Daddy, Harper does, and she doesn't really even want him to come back. Life gets even more complicated, though, when Harper returns from school one day to find all her family's belongings sitting in the front yard. Their house is locked shut and they are kicked out. They sleep in their car and then get a room in a motel. Harper's life is turned upside down. She writes her poems as she goes through all of this, but she'll probably miss her school's big poetry reading contest because she has to stay home with Hemingway while her mother looks for work.

This was a wonderful book about family and making it through tough times. I enjoyed Harper Lee Morgan as a narrator very much. She lives up to her name by being as spunky and thoughtful as the real Harper Lee's Scout.

Harper's poems are good and I enjoyed hearing how she experienced a situation twice, once through the narration and then again in the poem. Harper is so observant and sharp; I appreciated her views.

Not only was Harper a good narrator, but there were other colorful characters as well. Winnie Rae Early is the mean girl that Harper fights with. Loraine is a young girl that doesn't talk after she lost everything in a fire. And finally, Dorothy was a kind old lad who looked like a bag lady at first, but Harper Lee learns there's a lot more to people than what you notice on your first glance.

I liked this book because it was real. Some books out there are all about getting messed up on drugs and the subject matter is extreme. Those books are good and important, but this story just seemed pure. Harper is there for her mom and brother. Plush, we are all hearing about economy blues and how people are losing their jobs and that is just what happens here.

Grade: B

Because I Am Furniture - by Thalia Chaltas

2009-03-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

Written in poems, Because I Am Furniture, tells the story of a high school girl named Anke who lives with her family whose life seems great from the outside...but in reality, there's a lot going on in Anke's home that no one knows about.

Anke's father is abusive to everyone else in her family, but not her. She witnesses her father's violent behavior but is never directly a recipient of it. Anke doesn't talk to anyone about it and just goes to school and does her best. She is silent and invisible.

Anke begins to find her voice, though, when she makes the volleyball team. She meets some new friends and gains confidence. But can she stand up to her father? Can she help her sister, brother and mom realize that what's happening to them is not ok?

I enjoyed this book. I kept turning pages because I wanted to find out what Anke did and what she experienced. This was a fast read and I think many young adult readers would like it. It really shows details about living in an abusive home that might look ok from the outside.

Grade: B-

Return to Sender - by Julia Alvarez

2009-03-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

I really learned a lot about illegal immigration from this book, and Tyler and Mari are still in my head. The book wasn't preachy at all, just a glimpse into how illegal immigration affected these characters.

Tyler is about to turn 12 when disaster strikes his family farm in Vermont. His grandfather dies, his older brother is leaving for college, and his dad is hurt badly in a tractor accident. With no one to work the farm, Tyler's family hires three Mexican men for help. The only problem is that these men are illegal immigrants. Mr. Cruz, one of the men, also has three daughters, one of whom, Mari, is in Tyler's class at school.

At first Tyler is very unsure of all these changes. He knows that his parents should have hired these men, but he sees how much they help him and his family. They are angels that help save the farm. Tyler learns about them and from them and develops a very strong friendship with Mari.

Each chapter is told from each Tyler and Mari's point of view. It was nice to see how each of them interpreted different events.

I liked how this book just showed a story of two families trying to make it in America. No matter what the government says or what the news or t.v. people say, this issue affects good people and children and is important. Some immigrants help us here and others do not. We must hear their stories and understand as much as we can.

Grade: B

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

2009-03-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

LOVED THIS ONE!!

Frankie Landau-Banks was a normal dorky freshman at Alabaster Prep, tagging along with her senior sister and trying hard just not to embarrass herself or her sister too much.

Sophomore year, however, was very different. Frankie got taller, filled out a bit, and was, well, a much hotter chick. She gets noticed by the guy of her dreams, Matthew Livingston. Matthew is great, but Frankie can't seem to really get him to understand her. She's not like other girls. She's way smarter and not concerned with the normal high school girl stuff. Frankie wants power, and to be noticed, and to fit in...even with the guys.

When Frankie finds out about a secret society at Alabaster, the Loyal Order of Bassett Hounds, she immediately wants to know more and desires to be a part.

This book uncovers Frankie's plans to figure out the Loyal Order and to become a part of something historic at Alabaster.

I loved Frankie. She is a cool girl. She's pretty and smart, but she is hard core crazy sometimes, too and knows what she wants. She thinks about things more than most of her friends and sees opportunities for social commentary in even the smallest (and largest) of pranks. She gets what she wants and goes after her goals with an almost psychotic passion.

This book has some awesome pranks in it. It also shows boarding school life, which is fun, especially if you went to normal high school. Frankie's passion stuck with me and I felt that I wanted to do something crazy after reading this book, but it also made me remember that it's cool to be a strong woman that not every guy understands. Girls are powerful and can be great leaders and I love that Frankie always stayed true to herself, even when she could have given in and taken the easy way out.

I loved this book. It is very deserving of its Printz medal and is one of my favorites now.

Grade: A

Wesley the Owl - by Stacey O'Brien

2009-02-22T12:49:00.001-08:00

I haven't read an animal story in a long time, and this one was amazing. It touched my heart and taught me things about nature and animals that I didn't know before.

Wesley the Owl is about a young woman named Stacey who is given the opportunity to take a baby barn owl home and raise him. The biologists at CalTech where she works can't keep him, and Stacey could learn a lot about him and record he findings for them while raising him at home. She agrees and takes the baby owlet home and they live together and develop an amazing relationship for the next nineteen years.

I was blown away by the things that this bird did. He was so cute and his antics were adorable, hilarious, weird, sweet, and a little scary every now and then. A lot of us have dogs and cats as pets, but this owl seemed to be more like a person, like a thinking, feeling being than any dog or cat I have yet to meet.

I usually don't read a lot of nonfiction...but I raced through this book, eager to follow Wesley's growth and watch the two become closer and closer. You will love this book if you pick it up - no doubt about it. It is sweet and heartwarming. If you are bored and blah here during these last weeks of winter, pick up this book and it will warm you right up.

Grade: B

Dope Sick - by Walter Dean Myers

2009-02-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

Fiction

186 pages

Dope Sick tells the story of a young man named Lil J who has gotten himself into a world of trouble. How he ended up in an abandoned, rat-infested building with a strange man named Kelly is a long story, and Myers's book shows you glimpses into Lil J's life that show us how he came to be stuck in this run-down place and how he plans to escape from the cops outside...if he escapes at all.

After a drug deal gone bad, Lil J's friend Rico ends up shooting a cop which sends Lil J on the run. When he runs into Kelly he thinks that man is just some homeless dude, but Kelly turns out to be much more.

Kelly talks to Lil J about his life and throughout the book Kelly takes Lil J back to important moments from his past. Lil J sees mistakes that he made and Kelly offers him a chance to look back at his life and decide what he should change.

I liked this book. Lil J and Kelly live in a rough world of drugs and gangs. Myers captures the language of the street with these characters and others, but also helps readers and Lil J himself take a good objective look at the life choices Lil J made. Kelly doesn't push Lil J at all; he just shows him how his life went, and we along with our main character can see things that Lil J did wrong that he could go back and fix. It's tough to read about some of Lil J's drug use, but it's also good to understand why he felt driven to do such things. Lil J isn't glad about the decisions he's made, but he alone has the power to change them. No matter how bad things get, we always have a choice of what to do next. Hopefully we can move away from bad choices and make better decisions. What will Lil J do? End it all? Try to get better? Keep on down the same path? Kelly helps him see the different stories of his life and hopefully he will make the right decision. Read to find out.

Grade: B-

The Knife of Never Letting Go - by Patrick Ness

2009-02-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

Todd Hewitt is a young boy about to turn thirteen, but his life is a little different from ours. He lives on a different planet, settled years when men ventured out for new lands in search of peaceful harmony on a new Eden. He lives in a town with no women. He can hear the thoughts of all the men in his town. He can hear the thoughts of animals, too...but they don't usually have too much to say. This makes for a very Noisy life for Tood, the last boy in Prentisstown. Strange as his life may be, Todd works on his farm with his guardians Ben and Cillian and lives his life the best he knows how. Until one day, all that he has known is called into question. Used to constant Noise, Todd hears something different one day when he is own in the swamp - silence. Once he and his dog, Manchee, give this thought away, he learns that the town he has lived in his entire life isn't what he thought it was. Ben and Cillian immediately get Todd out of town, sending him off into the swamp without an explanation, carrying only his rucksack and a book with a map, a journal written by Todd's mother years ago. What was the silence Todd heard? Where is he supposed to go now? What is wrong with all the men in Prentisstown, and why doesn't he know the true history of his hometown?

The Knife of Never Letting Go follows Todd on his journey out of Prentisstown into a world that he didn't even know existed. REad and follow him on this amazing adventure. He has Manchee at his side, but will soon find a very unexpected friend in the swamp to be by his side as he battles the evil he finds in the New World.

I was disappointed when I finished this book. Not because it was bad, but because I couldn't immediately begin reading book 2 of the Chaos Walking series...and believe me, you will want to begin book 2 right away. I got wrapped up in this book from the very beginning, thanks to chapters that urge you on and exciting, quick-paced writing that takes you into the midst of the action. Luckily, the book is divided into six sections, so when I had to make myself put it down, I read to the end of a section and waited until the next day to pick back up.

Todd is a brave young man who is good at heart, unlike many of the "bad" guys you meet in this book. He just wants to figure out what is going on in his world and make sense of all the Noise around him. He hears so much and needs to find out what is true.

This book is great for people who like action/adventure. It also is good for people who like science fiction...it does have some aliens (spackles) but the sci-fi details don't drive the story, the characters and struggles do. So even if you aren't to keen on science fiction, I still think you could get drawn into the plot of this book.

I was also reminded of Pullman's Dark Materials series when I read this. The main characters here in Chaos Walking are similar to Lyra and Will in Pullman's story.

Grade: A

Back!

2009-02-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why I deleted my other Mrs. Wood's book blog...but I did. But I am back and going to keep up with reading and discussing all the books I am reading here on this new page. Mostly I will be reading young adult, but I will also chime in on some of the British lit that I am reading with my seniors this year.

So far in 2009 I have read:

The Graveyard Book - by Neil Gaiman

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

1984 - George Orwell

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Firmin - Sam Savage

All great!

I am working on The Knife of Never Letting Go right now, and it's really intriguing so far.

Once I am done...back to the book blogging.

Happy reading to all!