YA Romance Challenge

The 2010 YA Romance Challenge

2010-03-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Read six YA romance novels between April 1, 2010 and November 30, 2010.
Romance should be a strong element with the story. But it doesn't have to be the only element.
All genres are allowed.
They can be part of a series, or stand-alones.
They can be long or short.
Audio books are allowed.
Some re-reads are allowed, but try to have at least two new-to-you books.

To sign up for the challenge, leave a comment. If you'd like to contribute reviews to this blog, let me know. I'll be happy to send you an invite. But I'll need your email address. (It is not a requirement that you join the blog or that you write reviews.)

The challenge host is Becky from Becky's Book Reviews.
The challenge blog is http://teenromancechallenge.blogspot.com/

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2009-04-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Katsa is a Graceling, a dangerous one. In the Seven Kingdoms, sometimes children are born with mismatched eyes, a sign that they have been blessed (or cursed) with an extreme skill in some area...climbing trees, baking, juggling, mind reading, killing. This last one is Katsa's Grace and she has been manipulated into using it to carry out her uncle's (the king of one of the Seven Kingdoms) orders, mainly killing and torture. But then during a mission she encouters a man, Po, who is obviously Graced in combat skills and it was a tough fight for her to win. Though she should have killed him she let him live. This decision would alter the course of Katsa's life permanently...and she's not at all sure it's for the best.

Okay, I LOVED this book. Loved it. I loved Katsa and Po and how their relationship develops. I love how Katsa herself changed and things she learned about herself on her journeys. The only thing I didn't love is that it seemed that Katsa was so completely anti-marriage that it almost felt like the author was trying to tell me what she thought about marriage and it probably only caught my attention because I am all about marriage. :) Still, that's one minor thing compared to the whole wonderfulness of the story. Kristin Cashore has apparently two more books planned that are set in this world. I can't wait.

Forest of Hands and Teeth

2009-04-09T20:54:00.001-07:00

Ryan, Carrie. 2009. (March release. Available Now) The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Random House. 310 pages.

My mother used to tell me about the ocean. She said there was a place where there was nothing but water as far as you could see and that it was always moving, rushing toward you and then away. She once showed me a picture that she said was my great-great-great-grandmother standing in the ocean as a child. It has been years since, and the picture was lost to fire long ago, but I remember it, faded and worn. A little girl surrounded by nothingness.

Our heroine, Mary, has a dream. A dream to leave the safety of her village and find this ever-mysterious ocean her mother romanticized through stories. Mary has always been taught that her village is all there is. Well, all that remains of pure humanity at the very least. Her village is surrounded by a forest--the forest of hands and teeth. Outside the fences and walls of her village, the Unconsecrated roam. Zombies. They're an ever-present threat, but as long as the fences hold. As long as the guardians protect the borders from breaches, then life goes on normally. They're raised to respect the Sisterhood, respect the Guardians, respect the rules of society. And one of the rules is that all young people should make the commitment to family and marriage. All eligible young men and all eligible young women should go through the strict rituals and vows and settle down, start families of their own. Mary has always assumed that her life will follow this course. But after several years of being passed over, she fears that she may have to join the Sisterhood and dedicate her life to God. The idea doesn't thrill her--or the Sisters.

On the day when a young man, Harry, does ask to court her--and courtship almost always leads to marriage--the siren interrupts her response. A breach. The zombies. The two rush to safety. But in a way, it's too late, Mary's life is forever changed. Her mother, Mary's mother, has been bitten by the Unconsecrated. The decision remains...kill her now out of mercy, or let the disease overcome her and release her into the Forest. Her mother's choice? To join her husband who is among the Unconsecrated. Days later--after her mother's release into the Forest--her brother returns angry and vindictive. Jed. He kicks Mary out of his home. Forces her to join the Sisterhood. Harry, it seems, has not gone to her brother. He has seemingly withdrawn his interest to court her, to marry her. While she did not love Harry, she did have a long friendship with him, with his family--his brother, Travis, and his sister, Beth.

But now...now she's being forced into the Sisterhood...forced to dedicate herself to a God she can't believe in. How could God have allowed both her father and mother to have become Unconsecrated? How could God have allowed her brother to turn his back on her? How could God have allowed her sister-in-law, Beth, to miscarry? In just a few days, her life have become a mess, a disaster. It soon becomes apparent--within minutes really--that the Sisterhood is not what she thought. They are more than what they seem. That there are dangerous secrets. That the Sisterhood poses a threat to her very life.

What's a girl to do when there are no choices that can lead to a happy ending?

How could I ever do justice to this book? Seriously. It's so intense. It's so exciting. Full of danger and secrets and betrayals and hopes and fears and love and loss. It's incredibly fast-paced, near-impossible to put down. It's dark and dangerous--not light and cheery. But it's so compelling, so well-written, that I just have to sing its praises.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Graceling

2009-04-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Cashore, Kristin. 2008. Graceling. Harcourt. 471 pages.

In these dungeons the darkness was complete, but Katsa had a map in her mind.

I loved this book. I did. It's YA Fantasy at its best. A story of seven not-so-perfect kingdoms: Nander, Wester, Estill, Sunder, Monsea, Middluns, and Lienid. The story of the Graced--and those royalty who seek to control and manipulate them. A story of a girl, Katsa, and the boy that loves her, Po. A story with secrets and betrayals. A story with plenty of punches. A bit violent? Maybe. But that's because our heroine, is "graced" with the power of killing. Or is she?! Who are the graced? Well, the graced are those born with two different eye colors. For example, Po has one silver eye, one gold eye. I can't quite remember what two colors Katsa has...(don't hate me!) but I know that those that are graced are often ostracized by others. It's hard for others to look them in the eye, to treat them as "normal." The graced are those with special abilities, enhanced traits. The power might be a gift with livestock or the power to read minds. True, a large part of the people's fear... for both Po and Katsa... is that both are graced in fighting, in combat. Po is the Prince--seventh prince--of Lienid. Katsa is the niece of the king of Middlun, Randa.

When we first meet Katsa she is on a mission. A mission to save an old man, a Lienid, a man in the royal family of that kingdom who has been kidnapped and held prisoner; he is the grandfather of Prince Po, though when she seeks out to rescue him, she doesn't know of Po. It is on her way out--mission successful--that she stumbles into Po. Though she knows that it would be safer if she killed him--he's a witness to her "crime" after all. Yet something about him makes her hesitate. She gets a feeling that they're on the same side. That he is not her enemy--witness though he may be. So she merely bonks him on the head and lets him be.

Doesn't sound quite like love at first sight, does it? Yet as these two born-fighters struggle with each other, train with each other, struggle with their feelings, a great love is born...but is it a love that can last?

I won't go into all the details. I don't want to spoil the plot. But life seems to have thrown these two together for a reason...and it will take everything they have for the good guys to win...this is one exciting read!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Eyes Like Stars

2009-04-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

Mantchev, Lisa. 2009. (July Publication) Eyes Like Stars. Feiwel and Friends. 368 pages.

Part of me knows that it's mean to tease you. To taunt you with how very very wonderful a book is...and then reveal that it isn't going to be available until July. But. I can't resist. Why? Because I am head over heels in love with this book. I didn't just love it. I didn't just love, love, love it. I LOVED it. Take my normal enthusiasm of a book that I've gushed about in the past and multiply it a couple of times. Then you'll begin to understand how giddy this book made me.

The fairies flew suspended on wires despite their tendency to get tangled together.

Who are these fairies? None other than Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed. (These four are from Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream). Our heroine, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith, counts these four fairies as her closest friends. And they do have a bit in common: they're all mischievous. (In a good way.) Beatrice--as far back as she can remember--has lived in the Theatre. Her bedroom? One of the sets. Her friends? The characters from all the plays ever written. Her love interest? A minor player, a pirate from The Little Mermaid. (He's only ever had one line.) Her forbidden playmate whom she loves-to-hate and hates-to-love? Ariel from The Tempest.

When we first meet Beatrice, she's in trouble and doesn't even know it. The Theatre Manager has decided that it is time--past time really--for Beatrice to go. To leave her home, her friends, the only life she's ever known. His excuse? She's not contributing to the theatre. She--and others along side her--plead with him; he grants her a few more days to prove that she has what it takes, that she belongs there.

Her idea? To be a director! Though their productions generally never require a director--after all the originals know their lines backwards and forwards and then some--but if she were to change it up, change it around...then...maybe just maybe she'd find her place. Thus she seeks to recreate Hamlet...to give it an ancient Egyptian setting.

But life is never this easy, right? You know there are bound to be conflicts! I am not going to say much more. I don't want to spoil it. But it is oh-so-magical. It is fun and playful. It is giddy-making.

Here's the blurb--in case I haven't already persuaded you to put this on your wish list:

All her world's a stage.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She's not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own.
Until now.

Welcome to the Theatre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Theatre by The Book--an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family--and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.

Great premise, great characters, great writing, great cover...this book has it all.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Zombie Queen of Newbury High

2009-04-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Ashby, Amanda. 2009. Zombie Queen of Newbury High. Penguin. 199 pages.

Mia Everett was doomed.

Fun but ever-predictable, this one is a light-hearted read that I tended to enjoy. Predictability. It isn't always a bad thing. Yes, I knew who our heroine would end up falling for by page seven--and I can guess you might as well. But did I enjoy it? Yes. Mostly. Mia is a not-so-popular girl who wants to hold onto her popular boyfriend. Despite the fact that they've been dating for several weeks--five dates and counting--she's insecure in the relationship. Feels threatened, and perhaps rightfully so since her guy is being pursued by a cheerleader who doesn't know the word no. So Mia and her best friend, Candice, seek out a spell--a love spell--to keep Rob, her boyfriend, right where he belongs: by her side. But this spell has some unintended side effects. It's not a love spell at all. And it doesn't just effect Rob--it infects the whole senior class and the teachers who were present at the senior assembly. Fortunately for Mia, someone is there, a witness to it all. Someone who will do anything and everything to keep the situation contained. His name is Chase. And for better or worse, Mia and Chase have to work together or life could get very very messy.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2009-03-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Book of A Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

306 Pages.

In this book, Lady Saren and her maid, Dashti, were sentenced to be locked in a tower for 7 years because of Saren refusing to marry the man her father chose for her. Dashti takes care of Saren while they are in the tower, even conversing with Saren's true love, Khan Tegus, for her when Saren was too depressed to. The two girls eventually escape the tower before the 7 years were up, and find Lady Saren's kingdom destoyed, and her family murdered. They make their way to Khan Tegus' land, where it will take courage, caring, and wit to defeat the bad guy and get a happily ever after ending.

This book is based on a Grimm fairytale "Maid Maleen", which I have never heard of. I enjoyed the story. In this story, the maid Dashti was a very strong, nuturing, loyal character, who was willing to help the Lady Saren long after most people would have abandoned her. Hale does a good job of describing the tower, and the darkness within it.

One thing that I did not like was that the timeline was confusing to me. The book is written in diary form, and the days are numbered, but after they escape, Dashti starts back at Day 1 (as a symbol of their new freedom). It therefore made it hard for me to follow how long things took, time-wise. Other than that, there wasn't much that I didn't like about this book.

While this was not my favorite Shannon Hale book, I do think that it was a really good read, and recommend it to everyone.

The Squad

2009-03-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. 2008. The Squad: Killer Spirit. Random House. 324 pages.

Once upon a time, I thought that the cheerleaders at my high school were no more capable of intelligent thought or true athleticism than the average dachshund. Suffice to say that unless the wiener dogs of the world have been holing out on me--big time--I was very, very wrong.

This book is the sequel to The Squad: Perfect Cover. Both books are great fun in a quirky, sarcastic meets Alias kinda way. Both books star a teen girl, Toby, who unexpectedly finds herself chosen to be a cheerleader. But not just any cheerleader, no, the super-fun, undercover-spy, working-for-the-government, top-secret, glitter-wearing kind of cheerleader. Transitioning from proud-loner to popular-cheerleader hasn't been easy for Toby. The first book is about the recruitment and Toby's first few weeks. The second book opens a few weeks after the close of the first novel. It's fall and homecoming is approaching. But a big case has come up as well. The book balances both the danger and treachery of spies working on a tricky case and the typical high school melodrama centering on homecoming, football, pep rallies, and homecoming courts. (Who will be Queen? Who will be princess? Who will go with whom to the dance?) You can read an excerpt from the book here.

What I love most about this one? Besides the general snarkiness of Toby? The friction-filled, chemistry-packed always-on-the-verge-of-developing relationship between Jack and Toby (or "Ev" as he calls her short for "Everyone knows Toby.") This is the scene right after Toby learns that she has been nominated for Homecoming Queen...along with all the other members of the cheerleading squad.

"Fancy meeting you here." Jack spoke into the back of my head, but I knew it was him.
Darn Noah. Darn the PTA president. Darn Hayley Hoffman.
"Aren't you going to say something, Ev?"
I muttered an expletive under my breath, and Jack smiled.
"That's my girl."
"I'm not your girl," I said sharply.
He stepped closer, until the rest of the crowd felt miles away by comparison. "You could be."
There were times when I almost couldn't restrain myself around him, times when I wanted to kiss him again so badly that my lips literally hurt. This wasn't one of them. He was being suave and smooth, and I wasn't falling for it.
"Yeah," I said, "and I could also tattoo an anorexic pterodactyl on my navel, but I'm not planning to do that either."
"Anorexic pterodactyl." He repeated my words, and the self-assured smirk on his face was replaced with repressed amusement. "Sounds more like a butt tattoo to me."
It was comments like that one that did me in. He could wax poetic about me being his girl or how beautiful I was or whatever from now until graduation, and it wouldn't inspire anything in me other than the desire to spell out for him just how much of a tool I thought he was. But the moment he started snarking or quipping or admiring my snarky quippiness, I was a goner.
"I'll make you a deal, Ev. You go to homecoming with me, and I'll save you from having to go to the God Squad after-party."
He knew how to sweet-talk a girl. He really knew how to sweet-talk a girl....

But will she say yes? Did she say yes? Can she survive long enough to get to the dance? Read and see!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Appears at YA Romance Challenge by permission :)

The next challenge...

2009-02-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

Read six YA romance novels between March 1, 2009 and June 30, 2009.
Romance should be a strong element with the story. But it doesn't have to be the only element.
All genres are allowed.
They can be part of a series, or stand-alones.
They can be long or short.
Audio books are allowed.
Some re-reads are allowed, but try to have at least two new-to-you books.

If you'd like to be added to the blog so you can contribute reviews, leave your email address in the comments.

To sign up, leave a comment.

The challenge host is Becky from Becky's Book Reviews
The challenge blog is http://teenromancechallenge.blogspot.com

Discuss...if you will...

2009-02-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

I've got a few things on my mind...and so I thought it would be fun to open up a discussion. If no one wants to play, that's fine. But I hope I have a few takers that want to share their thoughts and opinions. If you want to answer on your own blog, you can. But leave a link. Or you can just share your thoughts in the comments. But I really am curious as to what YOU think.

First set of questions....

What do you expect out of a romance?

Are there things you're pleased to see?

Are there things that turn you off in a book?

Do you judge romance in the same way as you judge other books?

Which do you prefer? Historical romance or contemporary romance?

Do you expect historical romance to be mostly accurate to the times in which they're set? Or are you fine with modern characters playing dress up?

The challenge is almost officially over...

2009-02-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to leave a link to any wrap-up post you might have written, please do so in the comments. If you'd like to leave just a list of books you read, that's cool to. Did you have a favorite book? Did you discover a new author that you love? Would you be interested in another YA Romance challenge?

Darcie's wrap-up post.
Becky's wrap-up post.

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

2009-01-31T21:53:00.000-08:00

Historical England, boarding school, magic and realms, strange creatures, evil forces, and a group of teenage girls: these make up the Gemma Doyle trilogy. The Sweet Far Thing picks up where Rebel Angels left off.

Gemma and friends are back at Spence Academy and under the watchful eyes of their headmistress, Mrs. Nightwing, they learn decent manners, curtsies, and everything else ladylike. Gemma is unable to fit in with the mindless chatter and gossip of the other girls at her school. She feels that there’s more to life than just attending parties and dancing with men.

Now Gemma holds all the magic of the magical realms where she and her friends, Felicity and Ann have been going. She’s expected to share the magic with all the tribes in the realms but not so soon. Since Felicity desperately needs a Lady Markham to sponsor her debut in order to claim her inheritance, she needs some of Gemma’s magic to make it happen. As for Ann, well, she needs some magic to escape from being a miserable governess.

What about the beautiful Pippa who’s stuck to wander in the realms forever? Felicity is always delighted to spend time and play with her best friend. However, Gemma feels that there’s something suspicious about Pippa and that she must be careful around her.

In the meantime, Gemma keeps having dreams/visions of a lady in a lavender dress. The lady seems to be trying to tell her something but no sound comes out from her. Who is she? Is she dead or alive? What is she trying to say? What is the Key and what in the world is the Tree of All Souls? Absolutely mysterious and frustrating!

Gemma also needs to find out why the school is restoring the ruined East Wing now. Many years ago, two girls supposedly perished in a fire that destroyed the East Wing but they survived anyway. One of the girls was Gemma’s mother. The other girl, Circe, became an enemy and murderer. It is also said that the then headmistress, Eugenia Spence, sacrificed herself to the Winterlands. The Winterlands is an evil place, by the way.

Oh no, I did not forget the handsome and elusive Kartik. He returns to stay with the gypsies and occasionally has little secretive chats with Gemma. He keeps telling her that he’ll leave someday which only irritates and saddens her. His old brotherhood, the Rakshana, is also on the lookout for him as he failed to kill Gemma in the previous book.

That’s quite a lot to digest, isn’t it? Well, you can expect much more than that from this 819-page book. There are five acts and there is a quote at the beginning of each act. In truth, I enjoyed reading every page of this book even though it took me more than a month to finish it.

Some things I just didn’t like though. I thought Gemma’s friends selfish, especially Felicity. Most of the time, I felt that Felicity’s only using Gemma to enter the realms so she could be with Pippa. I’m also quite surprised at Ann who eventually leaves Gemma alone in her troubles too. Like Gemma, I thought that perhaps her friends are only her ‘friends’ because she has magic which can reduce or wipe out the unpleasantness in their lives. Well, nobody’s perfect.

Besides her school chums, Gemma has to deal with Kartik, Pippa, Miss McCleethy who’s watching her every move, Fowlson who’s working for the Rakshana, her father who’s addicted to laudanum, and her obnoxious brother, Tom. She definitely has a lot on her plate.

I’m quite sad to see the end of the Gemma Doyle trilogy. It’s been a thrilling journey following Gemma, her friends and their battle against being helpless women in a rigid English society that expects little and yet so much from them.

Cross-posted here.

Snowed In- Rachel Hawthorne

2008-12-22T16:09:00.003-08:00

I was trying to get in the Christmas mood, so I decided to read books about Christmas and winter time. I absolutely love Rachel Hawthorne because I can vividly imagine everything that is going on in her books. Snowed In is about a girl named Ashleigh who just moved to an island in Northern Michigan with her mom, who decided to open a bed and breakfast in an old victorian house. Ashleigh is flattered when her mom names it after her, however, she neither is a morning person, nor likes to cook or clean.

Ashleigh is the girl who doesn't have boyfriends; she just dates. This begins to pose a problem, because in the school she will be attending, there are about 12 people in each grade. The first person she meets, Nathalie, thinks it's weird that she doesn't have a boyfriend, because everyone on the island has a boyfriend. Ashleigh then meets Chase, the island 'player' according to Nathalie. When Ashleigh accepts a date from him, Nathalie warns her to be careful.

The next morning, Ashleigh meets Josh, who she first describes as a 'lumberjack.' He is working on the bed and breakfast with his dad. Ashleigh is attracted to Josh, but she finds out that Josh is Nathalie's boyfriend. She didn't know this before because Nathalie only referred to him as "my boyfriend" and never by a proper name.

Although Ashleigh still has feelings for Josh after this finding, she gives Chase a chance, only to find out that Chase has a secret himself.

This is the perfect winter read if you are looking for something light and happy. The ending, although extremely predictable, was still cute. Rachel Hawthorne creates the perfect mood for a winter romance, and provides it in a quick but entertaining read. If you just want to curl up with a blanket and hot chocolate, this is the book for you!

The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson

2008-12-14T19:47:00.001-08:00

I have read many many fairy tales in my time...but I had never heard this one. I guessed when I first put the book on my reading list that it would somehow connect with the Wild Swans tale...not so.

Doucette's two older sisters are Swan Maidens - girls who were born with a swan skin who can not only transform into swans but work magic as well. Doucette is stuck being the responsible third daughter who will someday marry and run her parents estate. More than anything she wishes she were a Swan Maiden and able to fly away from the criticism of her mother and the boredom she feels at the thought of doing household tasks for the rest of her life. The only thing that brings her a hint of happiness is talking to Jaume, one of the shepherds.

But everything in Doucette's life changes the instant she discovers a hidden swan skin and decides to fly away.

Oh how I loved this book. It was a one day read...one of the stay up until it's so late your eyes hurt reads. Doucette was such an interesting character - she had aspirations and failures and desires and disappointments. She just didn't know herself. So typical of young girls. Even when she had what she thought she wanted she doubted herself. She loves Jaume but finding out she is a Swan Maiden changes their relationship in ways that may be irreparable.

Ever by Gail Carson Levine

2008-12-14T19:33:00.001-08:00

To save her aunt's life, Kezi makes a choice - a choice that will lead to her death. Olus, the god of the winds, has fallen in love with Kezi and will do anything to save her. In Gail Carson Levine's mythological romance, both Kezi and Olus will have to face what they fear the most to be able to be together.

The questions of destiny, faith, and sacrifice are all explored in Levine's original tale which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

2008-12-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

Melissa Marr's urban fantasy features Aislinn, the mortal girl who sees faeries, and Keenan, the Summer King of the faeries. Keenan's mother, the Winter Queen, is determined to see her son's power fade. For Keenan to save his Court, he must find the Summer Queen - a mortal who must risk becoming fey to find out if she is the one. Aislinn quite likes being mortal and, with her best friend Seth, must figure out a way to help Keenan and keep her own independence.

Wicked Lovely was a great romance. The faerie story was just dark enough and the ending tied enough loose ends to not be irritating while waiting for the next one, Ink Exchange, which I plan on reading at some point.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

2008-12-14T19:30:00.000-08:00

This modern Beauty and the Beast tale begins in a chatroom for those who have experienced unexpected changes - people like the Little Mermaid and the Frog Prince. The Beast, Kyle Kingsbury, is a ninth grader who has a pretty easy life - his father is wealthy and he is the king of a popular group of friends. But Kendra, a strange girl in his English class sees what he really is...and then makes Kyle see it for himself. When Kyle is transformed into a Beast he is given two years to earn love and a kiss. But finding a girl in New York when you look like Kyle does is a little tricky. Maybe impossible.

Alex Flinn's new version of one of my very favorite fairy tales does not disappoint. She has Kyle's teen selfishness and attitude captured perfectly and his relationship with Lindy, the girl forced to keep his company because of her father's greed, is wonderfully romantic.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

2008-12-13T02:39:00.001-08:00

"Fans will burn the midnight oil to finish and then gnash their teeth awaiting Breaking Dawn”, so says VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) on the back cover of Eclipse. I did burn the midnight oil to read this book. In fact, I stayed up well past midnight so that I could read until my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer! That’s how interesting this book is – something I can’t say for New Moon.

So Bella has made up her mind to become a vampire, as soon as possible if she can have things her way. She desperately wants to sleep with Edward too. Nevertheless, Edward wants to get married first before transforming Bella and doing anything with her. Bella thinks that getting married right after high school would initiate unwanted gossip among her high school friends and other people. She’s also worried about what her parents might think about her.

If you have read the previous two books, you’d know that a wild and vicious vampire called Victoria is after Bella. She wants to finish off Bella just like how Edward destroyed her mate, James. In short, Victoria is just looking for revenge. So during the whole book, Edward’s family and the werewolves are spending most of their time protecting Bella.

Besides that, Jacob, Bella’s best friend who can also turn into a werewolf, is determined to win Bella’s heart. He keeps hinting to her that she harbours feelings for him too although she adamantly denies it. Even though Bella insists that she only has eyes for Edward, Jacob won’t give up and is willing to fight for her until she becomes a vampire. Even Bella’s father, Charlie prefers Bella to spend time with Jacob and not Edward. You have to give credit to Edward who is way too polite and decent towards Charlie despite Charlie treating him like part of the wall.

What’s fascinating is that there are stories in this story. Rosalie ends up being quite nice to Bella and shares her story. Jasper who’s had a terrifying past also shares his own story to make Bella understand more about vampires and territories. During a bonfire party at Jacob’s place, the elders of the council told the history of how werewolves came to be in their tribe.

There wasn’t a dull moment in this book. I enjoyed reading the conversations between Edward and Jacob. I thought Edward quite selfish when he totally forbids Bella to visit Jacob fearing that she might get hurt since Jacob’s part werewolf. And did Bella have to take so long a time to finally realize the way she feels for Jacob? I’m also appalled at the way Bella treats Jacob. She was rude to him, kept scolding him and basically insults him whenever she can. I’m surprised he took it all so well and continued being easy going.

The ending was absolutely heart-wrenching though. I have to get Breaking Dawn and see how things continue for the humans, the vampires and the werewolves.

***Cross-posted here.

The Opposite of Invisible

2008-12-11T11:18:00.001-08:00

Gallagher, Liz. 2008. The Opposite of Invisible.

Some girls have journals. I talk to my poster.

Once you meet Alice, you'll want to either be her, or be her best friend. Okay, maybe I can't safely guarantee that. But I sure did love Alice. When we first meet Alice, we see an invisible girl. Not an outcast, not a loner. But someone usually invisible with the popular people in her school. Her best friend is a guy named Jewel. But he's not just her best friend, in a way he's her only friend. But then Simon enters the picture. He's newish. He's popular. And he notices--really notices--Alice. The more time she spends with Simon, the less time she spends with Jewel. And soon that friendship is threatened. What's a girl to do when two guys want to be with her? When she likes them both?

There is something so right about Gallagher's writing. It's satisfying, appealing, easily accessible. The characters. The storytelling. This one just begs to be read.

He looks at me.
He keeps looking at me. With those eyes.
Then he does something amazing. Puts his fingers under my chin.
Simon Murphy, whose perfect girl had to be a cheerleader. That's what I thought. That's what Jewel and I joked about.
He kisses me. He kisses me with candy still on his lips.
So quickly I'm not sure it really was a kiss.
If it was, it was my first.
My heart is trying to beat itself out of my chest. I hope he can't feel it. I hope he can. My toes are bent up in my shoes.
Then he kisses me again, for real. (43)

And here's her description of her planet wobbling moment with Jewel

Jewel is just ahead of me. I stumble and he turns around to grab my hand. We each have our junk shop bag in one hand, and now we have each other's fingers in the other...Jewel keeps my hand. We let our bags rest on the stone.
Then my planet wobbles.
His hand.
That wanting-to-be-close feeling starts to come over me again. I have the urge to lay my head on Jewel's sweatshirt, on his shoulder. To feel how solid he is.
Did kissing Simon release something in me? Or would I feel this way toward Jewel right now anyway?
As if we're at the slow-motion point in a movie, Jewel reaches across my body to my cheek. He pulls my face toward his. His fingers feel like hot ice. They're cold but they burn me.
My eyes close as he kisses me.
I kiss him back, a dream I've never had.
This kiss is so soft, it's almost like rain falling on my face.
I've never realized the softness of Jewel's hair before.
His skin.
Jewel kissing me, me kissing him, feels like a rocket.
Like blastoff.
Finally, I pull away.
I'm thinking we shouldn't be doing this. I'm thinking it feels too real...
He says "Wow."
I think, Tell me about it.
I think, Have you honed your mind-reading skills yet, 'cause I hope not...(52-53)

I'll leave the rest to your imagination...as to who she chooses. The Opposite of Invisible is the perfect kind of teen romance. I definitely recommend it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Ten Cents A Dance

2008-11-06T11:15:00.001-08:00

Fletcher, Christine. 2008. Ten Cents a Dance.

Ten Cents a Dance is a book I enjoyed. A great deal enjoyed. But it could make a movie that I would just love and adore. Set around 1940-1941, the novel follows the adventures and misadventures of a teen girl, Ruby Jacinski, who is charmed away from the meat factories by the glamor and allure of a local dance hall. Instead of slaving all day for a very small paycheck, she could be dancing the night away at a taxi dance hall. Ten cents per dance. A nickel is hers to keep. A nickel is the dance hall's share. And her partners almost always tip as well. It may be small--a nickel, a dime--or a bit larger--half-dollar or dollar. Sometimes they even offer to take her out for a meal and/or to another after-hours club. (The men can buy the rest of her dances for the evening to the club and she can clock out early.) Sometimes they give her money or gifts as well. Of course, they're hoping that these lead to something else. They want much more than a dance for their trouble if they're going to spend more than a dime or two on her. It's a sometimes dangerous game that Ruby is playing with herself. And of course, Ruby's mother is a bit clueless about her daughter's new job. Easily placated by lies that her daughter is a telephone operator.

Whose idea was this in the first place? Ruby heard about the dance halls and the opportunity to earn up to $50 a week from the local bad boy, gangster-wanna-be Paulie Suelze. He's a guy that everyone warns her about, but no one can keep her from. Even as she's accepting all these favors from men--and these favors include a smooch or two--she's secretly sneaking around with Paulie. A guy who's not even remotely bothered that "his girl" is running around all hours of the night with men paying her to keep them company. Sounds suspcious doesn't it?

The characters are well drawn, and the plot kept my interest throughout. Definitely something I'd be happy to recommend to those that love historical fiction--especially world war 2 themed historical fiction.

I won't go into all the details. But this one is nicely layered in culture (among other things). The music. The movies. The dances. The clothes. The hairstyles. I just think this would make a great movie--so you could see the whole picture of what life is like.

There is an actual song from the 1930s called "Ten Cents A Dance."

Songwriters: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers (1930)

Ten cents a dance, that's what they pay me
Gosh, how they weigh me down
Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys
Tough guys who tear my gown

Seven to midnight I hear drums
Loudly the saxophone blows
Trumpets are tearing my eardrums
Customers crush my toes

Sometimes I think I've found my hero
But it's a queer romance
All that you need is a ticket
Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance

I admit I like the cover of the ARC better than the final cover.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Spectacular Now

2008-11-06T11:13:00.000-08:00

Tharp, Tim. 2008. The Spectacular Now.

So it's a little before ten a.m. and I'm just starting to get a good buzz going.

The first sentences does indeed set the stage for this YA novel which was recently nominated for a National Book Award. The narrator, Sutter Keely, often refers to himself as "God's Own Drunk" and it's not a bad description seeing as how he likes to drink all day and all night seven days a week. He likes to party. He likes to cut classes. He does smoke weed occasionally. And you can't keep him from telling jokes and stories. Sound like good boyfriend material?

Cassidy doesn't think so. Sure, he's a great to hang out with. But he's not that great a listener. And he's afraid of commitment. He's crazy about her, but she wants someone who's really to grow up just a bit now that their graduation is just a few months away. She wants someone who isn't always thinking of himself first.

After their break up, Sutter happens to take on a pity project. A girl by the name of Aimee. How do they meet? He wakes up in a stranger's lawn after a hard day's night of drinking (and driving--he can't remember where he left the car). She's the paper girl delivering papers. She's a nerd to the core. Loves horses too. Has big dreams. Never had a boyfriend. Sutter wants to change all that. Not that he wants to be the one to date her...but he wants to make her dateable. This is how he describes his interest with her to one of his friends:

"Hey, I told you--I'm not going to ask her out for a date. Let me repeat, she is not a girl I'm interested in having sex with. Not now or any time in the future. I will not have sex with her in a car. I will not have sex with her in a bar. I will not have sex with her in a tree. I will not have sex with her in a lavator-ee. I will not have sex with her in a chair. I will not have sex with her anywhere." (103)

Most of his friends disapprove of this project. After all, chances are he'll just end up breaking her heart if she falls for him. But Sutter won't be dissuaded. Show of hands...how many people think he'll end up being with Aimee?

The Spectacular Now probably isn't for everyone. There is a lot of drinking. A lot of drinking and driving. Light drug use. Definite language. Definite sex. Here is a guy with little respect for himself, so he does find it difficult to respect others. As long as he can be the life of the party, the class clown, the funny guy who can make anyone and everyone smile, then it's easy for him to pretend that his life is good--spectacularly good. But these good times can't last forever, can they? What is underneath the surface of this bad guy?

It's difficult to discuss this one without giving away too much of the plot. And while some aspects of the plot are predictable, I'd hate to spoil it for anyone.

Here is what the publisher has to say:

SUTTER KEELY. HE’S the guy you want at your party. He’ll get everyone dancing. He’ll get everyone in your parents’ pool. Okay, so he’s not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men’s shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram’s V.O., life’s pretty fabuloso, actually.Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee’s clueless. Aimee is a social …+ read moreSUTTER KEELY. HE’S the guy you want at your party. He’ll get everyone dancing. He’ll get everyone in your parents’ pool. Okay, so he’s not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men’s shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram’s V.O., life’s pretty fabuloso, actually.

Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee’s clueless. Aimee is a social disaster. Aimee needs help, and it’s up to the Sutterman to show Aimee a splendiferous time and then let her go
forth and prosper. But Aimee’s not like other girls, and before long he’s in way over his head. For the first time in his life, he has the power to make a difference in someone else’s life—or ruin it forever.

It is set in Oklahoma, by the way, which is refreshing. Not too many books do the whole small-town-in-OK thing.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

How To Hook A Hottie

2008-11-06T11:11:00.001-08:00

Ferraro, Tina. 2008. How To Hook A Hottie.

Tina Ferraro is the author of Top Ten Uses For An Unworn Prom Dress. A book that I unashamedly loved last year. But I wasn't so head-over-heels for How To Hook A Hottie. Kate just didn't charm me as much as Nicolette. And there is no comparison between Jason Dalrymple "Dal" and Jared. While Jared left me a bit giddy, Dal failed to impress. Now I am NOT for even one minute assuming that your response as a reader will automatically match mine. You may love Kate and Dal. And you may think this book has the essence and charm of a perfectly satisfying YA romance.

The premise. Kate DelVecchio is a senior with a dream. She wants to earn $5,000 before graduation. If she accomplishes this, then her parents will give her the money saved for college and allow her to follow her own dreams instead. Now Kate has never been popular. Not a nerd or outcast by any means, but completely ignorable by social standards that rule the halls of her school. But when a cute jock, Brandon, asks her out. She says yes. Almost as a dare. To see if he really and truly means it. She's not into him. Not really. And she thinks he's not into her...he's just into her good grades. They go on one little date. But the word soon gets out that they're a couple. Then he leaves town for a week or two.

Kate has now been elevated in the social standings. She has seemingly landed one of the cutest guys in her class. And now everyone wants her advice, wants her help. Essentially they want to know "how to hook a hottie." So she goes into a matchmaking business. She's got her project--earning $5,000--in mind the whole time. Her partner in crime is one of her oldest and dearest friends, Jason Dalrymple called "Dal." She needs him for perspective. And she needs him to be the one to find out if the guys (in question) are into the girls (her clients). They split the profits.

Brandon is out of the picture. Dal has a girlfriend. And Kate is living a lie. She's not into Brandon, but people think she is. And she's falling for Dal even though she knows he's supposed to be off limits. She can't admit to him that she likes him, can she? That would be mean to try to come between him and his girl, right?

And the business side of romance isn't all that she thought it would be. I'm going to stop there. Because even though I found it a bit predictable, I don't want to chance spoiling it for others.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

2008-09-24T12:33:00.001-07:00

rating: 4/5
genre: young adult romance

Lou is a typical high school kid - going to a high school full of other typical high school kids. When a new girl comes to class one day, looking nothing like your typical high school kid, life begins to get interesting. Her name is Stargirl and Lou has a hard time figuring out what to DO with such a girl. Wearing pioneer dresses to school? Serenading the cafeteria with a ukulele? Looking for the GOOD in people?? As much as Lou wants to like her, high school is not an easy place to be different and this makes relationships complicated things.

The language in this book is superb. Spinelli is not writing down to teens and often the book has an almost poetic appeal:

I liked the feeling moonlight gave me, as if it wasn't the opposite of day, but its underside, its private side, when the fabulous purred on my snow-white sheet like some dark cat come in from the desert.

I love how this book deals with the issue of being popular - whether or not it is something to strive for and how kids in high school can loose themselves in the quest for popularity. The romance in this novel is sweet, fresh and innocent - the heart racing backdrop to the never-ending crises that come up in school. I can't wait to put this one in the hands of my daughter a few years down the road - I think it'll be the catalyst for some very interesting discussion.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

2008-09-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

I liked the feeling moonlight gave me, as if it wasn't the opposite of day, but its underside, its private side, when the fabulous purred on my snow-white sheet like some dark cat come in from the desert.

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

2008-09-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

rating: 3/5

Remy never knew her dad. He was a musician who left her mom and died before Remy could ever get to know him - all she has of her dad is a song he wrote to her when she was a baby. Subsequent husbands (aka step dads - four, to be exact) don't do much to convince Remy that true love is even a possibility. The summer before she heads across the country for college is supposed to be a carefree one - she has no desire to leave behind any attachments - especially with a guy. So when Dexter, the clumsy, curly haired musician decides they've "got something," Remy is quick to shut him down. Bless his heart, that darling, optimistic boy gets under her skin until she has to finally decide whether or not real love is even worth trying.

While the story is compelling (the writing is often humorous and I was engaged enough to want to find out how it would all end up), I just did not like Remy as a character. I know that her attitude was a result of a harsh and reality-filled upbringing with step-dads coming and going like the latest fads, but I still found it grating on me. I didn't like how much Remy depended on alcohol and one night stands to help her feel better about her refusal to commit to one boy. I don't doubt that there are real teenagers out there like this, or who have friends like this - and probably they would really love this book. I can imagine that it may even be great for some teenage girls to have Remy as a character they can relate to. But for me, the foul language and stupid choices got in my way of enjoying the love story.

Princess Ben by Catherine Murdock

2008-09-09T20:30:00.001-07:00

Because I loved Dairy Queen so much, I thought I would try another one by Catherine Murdock. Princess Ben's parents were killed under mysterious and tragic circumstances and she becomes an important pawn in the royal marriage game. Princess Ben is not a typical princess. She has lived with her parents outsidse the palace and has had no training about life at court. She is admittedly overweight and completely non-fashionable. And she isn't interested at all in changing.

After her parents die she is forcibly moved into the palace and is"tutored" by Queen Sophia, her aunt who Princess Ben hates with a blazing passion. When Sophia punishes what she sees as Ben's insolance by locking her in a tiny out of the way room, Ben discovers a passageway to a room that contains the things she needs to learn magic.

Another element in the story is the threat of takeover from a neighboring kingdom and Ben's hatred of Florian, its prince. There were some fun twists in this story. The end completely surprised me. I think Ben dwelt a little bit too much on her weight and really was kind of a brat sometimes but the story is about how she grows up and takes upon her the responsibility of being royalty and I liked how that change took place. I wish there was a bit more romance but I I always want a bit more romance. Still, it was fun.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

2008-09-09T20:14:00.001-07:00

rating: 4/5

Probably from the title you can tell that this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - but what you won't guess, I bet, is that this version is told from the Beast's point of view, not Beauty's. Not only that, but when we meet Kyle (aka the Beast) he's living in modern day New York City, perfect in every way except for the fact that he is unabashedly self-absorbed and, really, a complete jerk. Even Daddy's money and his good looks can't save him when a witch decides that the only way to change his heart is to make his outside as beastly as his insides and the spell won't be broken until he finds true love and she has to love him back.

The story is, of course, familiar. I love how the author was able to convert it so seamlessly from a cottage and a castle in the forest into a preppy private school and a Brooklyn brownstone - the plot felt full of new life and promise. My favorite part, though, about this retelling was Kyle's voice -his teenage sarcasm and his undeniable need for love that he would never admit. It was a pleasure to watch him stretch beyond himself and dig deep to find beauty and passion in a girl who had always existed far below his radar. The romance was genuine, completely satisfying and it didn't end at the climax. We got to enjoy our characters for a little while beyond the end that we knew was coming, unusual for a fairy tale. Despite a little bit of preachy dialogue about judging people on looks alone, Beastly is still a great blend of old and new plots and characters - this book's a winner.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

2008-08-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Not that I had any doubts, but any book that comes highly recommended by Leila, Erin, Shelf Elf, Abby and Becky is one that I'm going to absolutely love. I've been wanting to get my hands on this one for a while -- since Leila's review, actually -- so I did a little happy dance when I checked (one of many times over the months) and it was at the library. I put a hold on it, and I couldn't wait to delve into it when I got it home. (I did have to wait -- nearly a week -- because I really needed to finish The Three Musketeers. But as soon as I finished that one...) I have to say that I had an absolute blast.

Basic plot: Scarlett Martin has turned 15, which means -- since her family owns and lives in a hotel in New York City -- she has just been "given" a suite to take care of. That means, however, that she automatically becomes the go-to person for whomever stays in that suite. In this case, that would be Mrs. Amberson, a former theater diva who has come back to NYC after years in Thailand. Scarlett's life -- for better or for worse -- is at the mercy of Mrs. Amberson, and as a result, so is the rest of her family. Thankfully (or not) that ends up involving not only romance (for Scarlett), but a dash of revenge and deception not to mention theatrical intrigue (involving Hamlet of all things).

Suite Scarlett is your quintessential romantic comedy. That's not to say it's cliched or boring or formulaic; quite the contrary. There's just enough suspense and twists and conflict to keep me interested on a non-romantic level. I loved every minute of the ride that Maureen Johnson put me through-- lots of laughs and smiles and swoons, but also curiosity about how it was all going to turn out -- from the initial dedication: "This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever played a dead body on stage or screen. It takes a big actor to lie on the ground and keep quiet. Droop on, my lifeless friends." All the way through to the very last sentence.

The best thing -- aside from the laughs; I love it when an author actually gets me laughing out loud -- was the characters. They're so vividly drawn that you feel that you could sit in some coffeshop chatting with them about the weather. I especially liked Scarlett -- just the right balance of innocence and cleverness spiced with a bit of daring -- and who has me wrapped around her little finger from the get-go. But, in addition to her, I absolutely loved just about everyone else. Spencer, her 19-year-old brother, was just one of those guys you want to pack up and take home. Lola (she's 18, just graduted and trying to figure out what to do with her life) was a bit uptight, but I could tell that she really cared about the hotel and about her family. (A side note: I really liked how family-centric this novel was.) Maureen, 11, was a bit of a prick, but for a good reason. And even she managed to find a way to make me like her. Mrs. Amberson was a riot, and I liked Eric (he's the love interest -- Johnson, among her other talents, does a good job with the chemistry between the two of them), even though he was a bit earnest for my taste. Then again, a little bit of Southern earnestness never hurt a novel.

I could go on gushing... but I'll just leave it up to you to go find the book so you can gush about it yourself.

Just about perfect (for a YA romance, anyway).

Cross posted at Book Nut.

Breaking dawn by Stephenie Meyer

2008-08-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well. I got around to reading this over the weekend. I'm not going to weigh in on the controversies. (Though I do have to say that people who get all worked up over a work of fiction are a bit uptight. And, yes, I know I get lumped in that. I got all upset about Eclipse, after all.) I'm also not even going to try for a spoiler-free review. You've been warned.

Initially, I wasn't excited about reading the book, but I actually became curious about it afterAndi's review . I kept reading reviews though, and I have to admit that I knew more than my fair share going in. So, I can't say if my reading experience is entirely fair: I was bored. Honestly. For about 3/4 of the novel. I think part of is that Meyer needs a long break from writing. This horrid writing schedule Little, Brown -- at least one book a year! -- is keeping her on is showing. The stories are lame, the writing is bad, the editors are lazy. Either that, or intimidated. Because there was an awful lot of unnecessary passages in here. Did we really have to have all that leading up to the wedding? Did we really have to have all that with the pregnancy? Did we really really have to have all that waiting?? It seemed so pointless. Cut a good two to four hundred pages out and this might -- MIGHT! -- have been a decent novel.

I complained about this in the Host, and it fits here: Meyer has pacing problems. Just when the book starts to pick up, she grinds it to a halt with pages and pages of description (really? Khakis and a sweater pullover? How quaint!) that do nothing for the plot. It was frustrating.

But, I didnt' think it wasn't that great. I kept rolling my eyes. It just felt so over the top. From the super vampire sperm (okay, I can accept that; Meyer is inventing her own vampire lore, after all) to the super half-vampire baby (and I agree: the name is horrible) , to Jacob imprinting on the baby (oh, puh-lease. What a consolation prize. Can't have Bella? Here, have her baby instead. Ugh.), to Alice conveniently arranging the entire ending. Bah.

I liked it better than Eclipse, but that's not saying much. I think Twilight's the best, though, and I have to say that I'll keep recommending that one. But with one caveat: don't bother reading the rest. They're not nearly as good.

The reviews that I read:
Heather's review
Corinne's review
Tricia's review
Becky's review
Leila's review
Julie at Best Books' review

Cross-posted at Book Nut.

Suite Scarlett

2008-08-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

Johnson, Maureen. 2008. Suite Scarlett.

"The Hopewell has been a family-run institution on the Upper East Side for over seventy-five years."

"Perhaps it sounds like a wonderful thing to be born and raised in a small hotel in New York City. Lots of things sound fun until they are subjected to closer inspection. If you lived on a cruise ship, for example, you would have to do the Macarena every night of your life. Think about that." (15)

The Martin family has owned the Hopewell hotel for years--several generations--and they want to instill a good work ethic in each of their children: Spencer, 19, Lola, 18, Scarlett, 15, and Marlene, 11. As each child turns fifteen, they are given a suite within the hotel that is theirs to manage. When their suite is occupied, it is their responsibility to see to their guest's needs. Since the family is struggling economically, the family has entered a crisis period. Each handles the stress in their own way. Spencer, the oldest, is an actor. He is doing everything in his power to make a go of it. He goes to audition after audition after audition. His parents have given him a deadline: get hired--Broadway, TV, movies, commercials, anything, etc. Or face the facts and seek another career--enroll in culinary school. Lola has a steady job, or so she thinks, but will her love life prove to be her undoing? Marlene is a tyrant--no other way to phrase it. A cancer survivor, she thinks that that entitles her to rule the world. And Scarlett? Well, Scarlett is about to have a summer experience that will either make her or break her. She's just turned fifteen, just been given her own suite, and just had her first guest arrive. Mrs. Amberson. Life at the Hopewell will never be the same again.

There is a depth to the relationships and characters in Suite Scarlett. There's a good amount of humor as well. I think most will like this one, and some will even love, love, love it.

This book had me from the dedication. "This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever played a dead body on stage or screen. It takes a big actor to lie on the ground and keep quiet. Droop on, my lifeless friends."

Also of note, the author's bio on the jacket flap, "Maureen Johnson lives in New York City. She wonders if you have read any of her previous books: The Key to the Golden Firebird, the Bermudez Triangle, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Devilish, or Girl At Sea. It's okay if you haven't; she is sure to like you anyway. Unlike Scarlett, Maureen does not live in a hotel, but she wishes she did."

Nothing Pink

2008-08-08T10:11:00.001-07:00

Hardy, Mark. 2008. (November release date). Nothing Pink.

First sentence: My father begs people to come down to the altar, to get right with God.

As a preacher's kid, Vincent, has many reasons to feel uncomfortable. Not wanting to bring shame to his father and mother, but wanting to remain true to who he is, he has quite an internal dilemma. You see, he's gay. He's always known he was gay. And though he's never even held hands with a boy, he feels guilty about his homosexuality. In fact, every altar call his father gives, he feels drawn to make the walk down the aisle, to pray once again that he be delivered from this shame, from this sin. Time and time again he's prayed. He's read his Bible, his whole Bible--three times. He knows all the hymns. He's listened to all the sermons. God is never far from his thoughts--not really--and this closeness with God is something he longs to experience. Yet his gayness, his homosexuality, is part of who he is. And it is something that he wrestles with through the book, Nothing Pink, as he experiences his first love with another church-going boy, Robert Ingle. And as he falls in love, he begins to love himself just the way he is. How could loving someone be wrong, he reasons with himself? Vincent's journey is one from self-loathing to self-acceptance. The question for Vincent is simple but profound...can Vincent be a gay man who loves God? Or does accepting his sexuality mean turning his back on God. Both his spirituality and his homosexuality are part of who he is, part of his identity.

Set in the late seventies or possibly even the very early eighties (I'm judging based on cultural references to John Travolta, Barry Manilow, Commodores, The Dating Game, Farrah Fawcett, Wild Wild West, Mork and Mindy, Three's Company, Emergency.) the novel is rich in detail and character development. This is one of the first truly compelling male/male romances I've encountered where it seems authentic and not "issue"y if that makes sense. In other words, this book goes beyond stereotypes and has layer upon layer. It's a very human book. (I'm used to seeing books where there is always a "gay" best friend that plays a very limited role in the book as a whole. They're always stereotypically the same. And always just sidekicks. There for straight-women to confide in, shop with, and have crushes on. This one is a rather refreshing change from all that.

How They Met and Other Stories

2008-08-08T10:10:00.001-07:00

Levithan, David. 2008. How They Met and Other Stories.

How They Met and Other Stories is a short story collection for young adults. The themes? Love and romance, lust and desire, heartache and joy. What may or may not surprise you--depending on how familiar you are with the name David Levithan--is that most of these stories are about same sex couples. Not all of the stories are, there are a handful of stories featuring straight teens, but most aren't. One review says of Levithan that he is, "Best known for his positive, normalizing portrayals of teen relationships --- regardless of sexual orientation --- Levithan's stories focus on those longings that are the common denominators for the human heart." There are eighteen stories in all. And they do vary in quality. For example, he features a handful of stories that he wrote when he was a teen in high school. Obviously, they are not of the same quality and depth as some of his newer works. They do, in fact, show just how far he has come through the years. And I think it was rather brave to publish them. (Goodness knows, time does change things. Even a difference of a few years--the stories and poems I wrote in high school that I thought were so "good" and showed "promise" were excruciatingly cringe-worthy when I read them again just a few years later.) Do I have any favorites? Yes. I enjoyed Starbucks Boy, The Alumni Interview, The Number of People Who Meet On Airplanes, Flirting With Waiters, and What A Song Can Do the most. It's not that the others weren't good. Most of them were, but those five were my favorites. Other reviews: Little Willow, TeenReads.com, Flamingnet.

Cotillion

2008-08-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Heyer, Georgette. 1953 (Reprinted in 2007) Cotillion. Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.

First sentence: The saloon, like every other room in Arnside House, was large and lofty, and had been furnished, possibly some twenty years earlier, in what had then been the first style of elegance.

It may not have you at hello, but this Regency romance is quite satisfying by the end. Quite happy-making actually. Though the first few chapters may take some patience, by the time the action moves to London and out of the country, this book begins to shine. It is the story of a young woman, Kitty, who stands to inherit a bit of money if she will marry one of her "cousins." Mind you, in this situation, the term is used loosely in that Kitty was an orphaned child an old man had taken in and raised. These "cousins" are his great-nephews. There are five: George (who is married so he's ineligible), Hugh, (a clergyman), Foster (the Mama's boy of all Mama's boys), Jack (who doesn't bother to show up because he's too busy gambling and being a Rake) and Freddy. Kitty, who is just a girl of eighteen or nineteen, wants to get out of the house, out of the country, and she sees a sham engagement to Freddy as her way out. If they become engaged, then surely he must take her to London to meet his family. He must. And if she should get some shopping and socializing in--operas and balls and such--then so much the better. Kitty, honest girl that she is, doesn't try to fool him. She's upfront from the start. This "phony" engagement is her idea from start to finish, and Freddy does take some convincing there at the start.

Soon after their arrival in London, Kitty begins her stay with her future-sister-in-law, Meg. Meg is married, but her husband is out of town. Out of the country in fact. And Meg sees Kitty as a way to have a chaperon or companion that isn't all-too-clever in the ways of the ton. Also for Meg taking on Kitty as a project is fun for her. London is a whole new world for Kitty. New places to see, new people to meet, and a few old acquaintances to bump into as well.

Georgette Heyer's Cotillion reads like a cross of Fanny Burney and Jane Austen. In particular, Burney's Camilla and Austen's Emma.

While I found all of the novel to be enjoyable, the last hundred pages were incredibly so. The pace quickens dramatically and everything seems to happen all at once. All the small little details that were introduced one by one in the first half of the novel all begin to come together quite rapidly. The clearer the big picture becomes, the more satisfying it is.

Definitely recommended to historical fiction fans especially if you love Regency Romance.

Lady of Quality

2008-08-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Heyer, Georgette. 1957. Lady of Quality.

"The elegant travelling carriage which bore Miss Wychwood from her birthplace, on the border of Somerset and Wiltshire, to her home in Bath, proceeded on its way at a decorous pace." (1)

Lady of Quality's first line may not sparkle as much as Austen's famous one, "IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." But just give it time. Trust me. This one has everything and more that you'd expect in an Austen novel: wit, humor, romance, quirky characters, as well as a few genuinely likable ones.

Such is the case with Lady of Quality. Miss Annis Wychwood is almost thirty years old. And in that time, the Regency period, thirty might as well have been sixty. Spinster is spinster no matter if you're thirty, blond, and witty or wrinkly, gray, and stubborn. But Annis is comfortable in her singleness. Or at least she prefers to see herself as comfortable. It helps that in Annis' situation, she's wealthy enough to have her own house and household. (By household I mean servants and such). If Annis had to live under her brother's roof, well, it would be a different story altogether. She does NOT get along with her brother, Geoffrey, though she does get along in a way with her sister-in-law. Yes, folks might think it a bit strange that she'd rather be independent and living on her own--and a good day's travel away from her brother and his wife--but they've become accustomed to it. But when our novel opens, Annis is about to do something a bit more unexpected, a bit more shocking.

Lucilla Carleton is just a young thing--not even eighteen--when she decides to run away from her aunt. (Her aunt is her primary guardian.) Her aunt wants her to marry the son of her father's best friend. A man, Ninian, that she's practically grown up with. It's not that she doesn't like him. But she doesn't like him like him. At least she says as much. As does he when given the opportunity. (The two like to bicker about how they don't want to be together.) Annis comes across this bickering pair on her way to Bath. Their carriage (or vehicle) has broken down--a problem with one of the wheels. Annis is too much of a lady to leave the poor girl in distress. She invites the young woman to come with her, to stay with her. Through their trip and the first day back at home, Annis hears all about Lucilla, her aunt, Ninian, and his over-bearing parents the Lord and Lady Iverley. Lucilla has runaway it's true but it's because her aunt is passive aggressive. She manipulates through tears and pleas and looks.

What is Annis to do? Welcome her home to this girl she barely knows yet instantly likes? Or send her packing with much tears of distress? She decides that the girl must write a letter to an aunt. She'll be allowed to stay with Miss Wychwood in Bath, it's true, but it's a temporary solution to the girl's problem. But this nice letter home has unattended results. Her aunt being of the nervous sort on the best of days writes a letter--a tear-soaked and illegible letter to the girl's legal guardian--Lucilla's Uncle Oliver. Oliver Carleton.

The last thing Annis expected was to be visited by Oliver Carleton. A man (from London) with the reputation of the worst sort. A truly grumpy, stubborn sort of man who speaks without thinking of the consequences, who enjoys speaking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth come what may. Obey society's nicety-nice rules? Not a chance! A man with a sharp but witty tongue comes to Bath to get to the bottom of this mess. He doesn't want Lucilla. He's not there to take her away, he's there to investigate this woman, this stranger who has interfered and butted into his business, his family.

Let the fun begin.

Oliver and Annis. Oh the sparks will fly. Despite her claims of being ancient and spinsterly, Oliver can't help thinking that she's entirely unsuitable for chaperoning his niece. She should be the one being courted and pursued and wooed by men. She's beautiful. She's witty. She's intelligent. There's just a certain something about her that he can't ignore. Annis never in a million years thought she'd feel this way, this maddeningly confusingly wonderful feeling. She can't stand him; and yet, she keeps hoping she'll see him again.

For anyone who loves Much Ado About Nothing and/or Pride and Prejudice, Lady of Quality is for you. It is a wonderfully giddy-making novel.

Heyer's novels are rich in detail combining history and romance with wit and charm and some unforgettable characters. If you're looking for a place to start, I'd highly recommend beginning with Lady of Quality.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

2008-08-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

Above all, mine is a love story. Unlike most love stories, this one involves chance, gravity, a dash of head trauma. It began with a coin toss. The coin came up tails. I was heads. Had it gone my way, there might not be a story at all. Just a chapter, or a sentence in a book whose greater theme had yet to be determined. Maybe this chapter woul've had the faintest whisper of love about it. But maybe not. Sometimes, a girl needs to lose.

I listened to Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin on audiobook, and loved it. It's a fun book about a girl who suffers from amnesia and can't remember the last four years of her life.

At the beginning of the book, Naomi Porter and her best friend Will, co-editors of the school yearbook, are in the school parking lot. They decide with a coin toss who should go back to school to retrieve a camera. Naomi loses, so she has to go back, but trips down the stairs and hits her head. As a result, she suffers from amnesia: she can't remember anything beyond sixth grade, anything from the last four years of her life.

Naomi feels like she's a different person from the one she cannot remember. She cannot remember her best friend, her parents' divorce, or her father's fiancèe. She cannot understand why she even liked her boyfriend in the first place.

The main themes of the book are identity and change. As a matter of fact, the novel is divided into three sections: "I was", "I am", and "I will". Naomi's reflections on who she is and who has she become reflect an identity crisis, triggered by a loss of her most recent memories.

I liked this book very much. Following Naomi's love story was fun and refreshing. The outcome might not be the most original, as I was able to anticipate the ending from the middle of the book on. But still, a fun book, one I'd recommend to lovers of YA fiction.

Cross-posted at Out of the Blue

He's With Me- Tamara Summers

2008-08-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

The summer is finally here, and Lexie can't wait to start camp with her twin brother Colin. She thinks they are going to do Arts and Crafts, only to find out that both of her assumptions are wrong. Lexie's mom signed her up for tennis camp, and also informed her that Colin won't be attending. Jake, Colin's best friend and Lexie's crush, will also be at the tennis camp, but he will be in a more advanced class.

Before camp begins, Jake comes over and tells Colin and Lexie his dilemma. Bree, the most popular girl in school, has a crush on him, but he doesn't want to date her. Bree will also be at the camp, but she will be training to be a lifeguard.To make Jake unavailable to Bree, Colin has decided for Lexie to pretend to be Jake's girlfriend, so Bree will stop bothering Jake. This is what Lexie has been waiting for, only she wants to be his real girlfriend and not his pretend one. As the summer heats up, it's hard to tell fact from fiction and who is pretending anymore.

Like any summer read, there's not a whole lot to this book. It is very elementary, and is extremely predictable, but then again what teen book isn't. I enjoyed this book, but it's not one I would recommend to everyone. I think if it's at the library or you don't have to pay for it, it's worth it, but I don't think I would pay full price for it.

Hot Mess: Summer in the City

2008-08-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hot Mess: Summer in The City- Julie Kraut and Shallon Lester

Emma Freeman can not wait to have start her last summer of high school. She has been looking forward to life guarding with her boyfriend of officially 9 and a half months, Brian, who just graduated from high school. Things start off rough from the beginning, and Emma realizes that he summer may not live up to her expectations. When Brian goes away for 3 days to college orientation, Emma doesn’t receive a phone call or any responses to her texts and messages. When Emma finally gets an answer on his phone, it isn’t him. It is some college girl, talking about how Brian was “all tied up” at the moment.

Heartbroken, Emma knew she couldn’t stay upstate in Bridgefield, NY all summer, so she decided to take action into her own hands. Her father had been pushing an internship in The City, so Emma decided that she was going to go. She had no idea what it was, but she knew it couldn’t be worse than life guarding with Brian. She finally convinced her best friend Rachel to come with her. Even though Rachel was looking forward to her Jewish Summer Camp job, she figured a summer in The City would be a lot better.

The girls think this summer will be glamorous and fun, yet they have no idea what they are getting into. Their parent’s have given them enough rent money for each person to pay 800 dollars a month, and then also enough for a hotel room for a few nights. Emma decides that she would be the one to take the initiative to find a few apartments to look at the next day. They feel that it won’t be as hard as people seem to make it out to be, but they learn that all the good ones have a catch. After two days of hell, Emma and Rachel were thinking about giving up, but then they decided to go to one more. And that was how they ended up with Jayla, a Manhattan socialite who probably hasn’t worked a day in her life.

After they move in, Emma and Rachel begin their jobs. At first, Rachel doesn’t know what to expect at her internship for a feminist online magazine, because she thinks it will be overrun with lesbians. And Emma realizes that she doesn’t know the first thing about what MediaInc actually is. And to top it all off, her boss, Derek is a complete nut. He raps to bad 90s music, harasses Emma, and insists on being called Dorfman.

When they are not working, Emma thinks this will be a great bonding time with Rachel, but soon Rachel has been taken over by online dating and she can’t hang out with Jayla, because she is always partying. The one time Emma actually goes out with Jayla, she meets this adorable guy named Colin. Emma lies to him and tells him that she is actually out of college, thinking that she will never see the guy again. Needless to say, Colin actually works for MediaInc, and things go haywire from the start. She spends her day trying to hide from him, or at least trying for him not to find out she’s actually an 18 year old high school intern.

This book is the perfect summer read. The authors show the realities of The City. It allows the readers to imagine the “perfect” summer, and also allows the readers to live vicariously through the lives of Emma, Rachel and Jayla. There were a few little things that bothered me, but most of the time I enjoyed it completely. I was always anxious to see what would come next, and to see the next guy Jayla would bring home. It kept me on my feet and kept me entertained, exactly what I was looking for in a summer read.

Review: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

2008-07-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm officially in love with this author now. This was the second book I've read of hers now, and I loved it, just as I loved the first one (Just Listen.) I know she's been around awhile and I'm kind of late "discovering" her, but that's cool because I still have lots to pick from and catch up on!

This one was about a girl who's struggling with her father's death. Both her and her mom aren't dealing with it too well, not talking about things and such. She tries to be perfect for her perfect boyfriend, but learns that really isn't the way. During the summer, while he's gone to "brain camp" she meets some new friends that help her to see things a little differently and help her to break out of the rut she's put herself in since her dad died.

Wonderful story. I really look forward to catching up with all her other books!

Poison Study by Maria V. Synder

2008-07-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

RATING: 5/5

This book has been recommended to me by many people. I wondered if it would live up to my expectations and what do you know? It totally did.

Yelena is "rescued" from execution when she is given the opportunity to be the food taster for the Commander. Which of course, means, that if someone attempts to poison the Commander, she's poisoned first. She decides the trade off is worth it and enters life in the castle. She works under Valek, the second in command, who teaches her the skills she needs to detect poisons.

Life in the castle isn't as simple as just that. Her escape from execution didn't please a few key people - and Yelena has to be constantly on guard. As she makes friends, learns to defend herself and finds skills she never knew she could control, she becomes privy to much of the political intrigue in the country.

Poison Study's plot is intricate and action packed. We get magic, a society with exacting rules and punishments, murders, power hungry fiends and, don't you worry, love. My sister, who read this before me, promised it would be a good book for my young adult romance challenge. It took a fair amount of reading before romance entered the scene, but when it did, it was gratifying. I enjoyed trying to figure out which man would be a good fit for her as the other action was happening. Yelena is a force to be reckoned with and this book grabbed me and wouldn't let me go until I finished it.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

2008-07-27T11:18:00.001-07:00

Elizabeth Bunce created what I think is a fantastic new version of the Rumplestilskin story with this novel. Set in an industrial era, Charlotte Miller is trying to keep her family's woolen mill running after her father passes away. She and her sister Rosie are forced to deal with the mill's debts, their scheming uncle, the superstitions of the mill workers, and a mill that does not seem to want to run anymore...as if it has a will of its own.

I have always thought the story of Rumplestilskin was full of gaps though this is not atypical of fairy tales. It is a story I have never read a truly satisfying version of, where the actions of the characters make sense. A Curse Dark as Gold absolutely did. Charlotte's desperation to save her family and their business clarify why a mother would promise to give her firstborn child to a sinister figure. Jack Spinner's past explains why he would care about children at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Randall, Charlotte's husband, is wonderful. Their courtship seemed to develop in an appropriate way for the setting Bunce created. However, their relationship also demonstrates the potential destructiveness of secrets and lack of communication.

13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson

2008-07-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was drawn to the cover of this one in the bookstore one day back when I was contemplating joining the YA Romance Challenge, and after reading the back copy, I thought it sounded just about perfect.

It's not a romance, though. Not really. There is a romance in it, but it's mostly a bildungsroman for girls (if you can apply that word to girls): a story about a girl who is living a comfortable life, and manages to find the confidence to... well... be a bit uncomfortable.

Ginny's aunt has died, and the summer she is 17 (though I was never clear: is she or is she not still in high school? If she is, then she's going to be a very old senior, since she'll be 18 in August; if she isn't, then, I never really got that), she receives a letter (with $1000) from her aunt with a set of instructions to fly to London. The catch: well, there are lots of catches, but the big one is that her aunt has died recently. Ginny is off to discover what her aunt wants her to learn, but mostly she's just on an adventure. And a pretty good one at that.

Em's biggest criticism of the book (which I read recently and which is why it's stuck in my mind) was that it was completely implausible for a 17 year old to go knocking around Europe by herself. And I completely agree. But, having been forewarned of that implausibility, I was more than able to set it aside and enjoy the adventure -- and Maureen Johnson's writing -- for what it was. A whole lotta fun.

Cross-posted at Book Nut.

Bloom- Elizabeth Scott

2008-07-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

I know this already has a post, but since it was my second book for the YA Romance Challenge, I will post mine anyway.

When I first started reading this book, I thought it would be like every other teen book. Granted, some parts are very similar, but there were many twists that kept me engaged in this book.

Lauren, a high school senior, has the perfect boyfriend, Dave. They have been dating for over a year and everything seems perfect. He's popular, gorgeous, he respects her, he takes her to church, and his family loves everything about her. The truth though, Lauren believes she is far from perfect. She knows she doesn't deserve someone like Dave. She also begins to feel bored with the relationship they have. She doesn't know what's missing, until she finally experiences something new, and that something new is Evan, a guy from her past.

The book is also about friendship. Her relationship with Katie, her "so-called" best friend, doesn't really know anything about Lauren's life. It's not her fault though; Lauren just can't bring herself to tell Katie how she really feels about Dave, or about the problems she has with her family. Also, Lauren feels like they don't have anything in common, other than the fact that they both have boyfriends. Then Gail, a girl in her music class, comes into the picture, and Lauren begins to open up and tries to be friends with someone she actually has something in common with: the love of music.

This book is a tale all about relationships: friendship, love, and family, and it definitely is different from any book I've read. Elizabeth Scott has a way with words that not only keeps the reader engaged, but also helps relate to the characters, by showing not only their positives, but also their flaws. By the end of the book, you will be able to relate to Lauren, even if nothing like this has ever happened in your life. You feel her emotions and her struggles and you know how hard it is for her to do the right thing. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has had to choose between what may seem right and what really is right.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend- Daria Snadowsky

2008-07-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is my first book for the YA Romance Challenge

Book description:

Before this all happened, the closest I'd ever come to getting physical with a guy was playing the board game Operation. Okay, so maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's not like there were any guys at my high school who I cared to share more than three words with, let alone my body.
Then I met Wes, a track star senior from across town. Maybe it was his soulful blue eyes, or maybe my hormones just started raging. Either way, I was hooked. And after a while, he was too. I couldn't believe how intense my feelings became, or the fact that I was seeing—and touching—parts of the body I'd only read about in my Gray's Anatomy textbook. You could say Wes and I experienced a lot of firsts together that spring. It was scary. It was fun. It was love.

And then came the fall.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend, by Daria Snadowsky was one of the most addictive books I have ever read. Although it has a similar plot to most other teen books, Snadowsky is more frank and explicit than most other authors. I was not expecting this but it didn't keep me from devouring the book in a single day.

The main character, Dominique (Dom), is an aspiring medical student, who is extremely focused on her academic work and getting the scholarship she needs so she can become a doctor. She meets Wesley, a track star from another school in the city, when she attends a football game with her friend Amy. Amy is the wild one of the two, having random hookups with guys she hardly knows, but when she sees Dom's reaction to Wesley, she thinks it's time for her friend to get in on the action.

For a while, Dom and Wesley are just friends. This was the part of the book that was the most addictive. You kept waiting for something, anything at all to happen, but Snadowsky waits until the perfect moment to let the big reveal happen. Finally, when they start dating, Dom is afraid about how inexperienced she is, yet she realizes that Wesley is in a similar situation.

They begin to have many firsts together, and Snadowsky explains their encounters very vividly, such as the struggles they have with some of their firsts. One of their firsts was making out in his car for so long that the windows fogged up. The police officer pulled her out of the car, and Dom started worrying that it would be her father, who is the police chief. Things seem to be working fine, until they each go their separate ways for college. They have an ideal, like many high school couples, that nothing will change. They face many challenges, and new thoughts and discoveries are made along the way. The fact that they are in different schools adds to the strain of their relationship, and Wesley becomes distant.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book is the fact that Snadowsky didn't glamorize sex and make it sound like everything is perfect about love. There are times when it is awkward, hard, or even downright horrible, but you have to take the good with the bad. She creates Dom as a real person: one who experiences self doubt, struggles, challenges, first love, self discovery and even heartache, all within a period of less than a year.

This was a great first novel by Daria Snadowsky, and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next time.

Looking for Alibrandi

2008-07-19T00:28:00.000-07:00

If someone comes up and asks me what nationality I am, I'll look at them and say that I am an Australian with Italian blood flowing rapidly through my veins. I'll say that with pride, because it's pride that I feel.

Today I finally finished listening to Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta in audiobook. I had been listening to it for a while now, and I'm glad I finished it. It's an interesting story about Josie Alibrandi, an Australian girl of Italian descent (her grandparents were Italian and emigrated to Australia).

The book covers Josie's last year of school at St Martha's, a Catholic private school which she attends thanks to a scholarship. She often doesn't get along with her rich classmates, partly because of her Italian descent (she is labelled a "wog"), and partly because she's an illegitimate child and has never met her father.

That is, until now. Because in her last year at school, Josie meets her father, Michael Andretti. At first she resents him, but then they learn to get along and love each other.

Josie also has an interesting love life. At first she has a crush on John Barton, a rich, handsome boy from a private school, but then she gets to know Jacob Coot from Cook High better, and falls in love with him. The two have an on-and-off relationship, and they often fight throughout the novel, partly because Josie wants to be a barrister, while Jacob is less ambitious and simply wants to become a mechanic.

The two most influential people in Josie's life are her mother, Christina, and her maternal grandmother Katia. At the beginning of the book, Josie has a strained relationship with her grandmother, who is always concerned that people will talk. Throughout the book, however, Josie learns to love and understand Nonna Katia, and even learns a secret she's been keeping al her life.

This is a coming-of-age story for Josie: she learns who she is, and what's the place she wants to be in the world. I enjoyed this book very much, and woudl recommend it to lovers of YA novels.

Cross-posted at my blog, Out of the Blue.

It's a Mall World After All by Janette Rallison

2008-07-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Book: It's a Mall World After All by Janette Rallison
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: A-

I've discovered a new favorite author! The librarians recommended her books to the teen summer reading group this year, and so we checked out a couple of her books. Then I went to her book signing one day, chatted with her, and bought a couple of her books there. So then when I joined this group, I knew her books would land on my list for sure.

This is a very fun book! It's very easy reading and takes only a couple of hours or so. Very light hearted, face-paced funny stuff. It's about this high school girl who works at the mall. She sees all kinds of things there and starts relating it too her life. But the main story is how she thinks her best friend's boyfriend is cheating on her. So she goes all out to prove it. She gets herself into all kinds of crazy jams.

I can't wait to read more.

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher

2008-07-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

RATING: 4/5

Ruby's Jacinski's life would be hard for anyone, but the fact that she's 16 makes it nearly unbearable. She's living in the stockyard district of Chicago, bottling pig's feet for a living so that she, her mother, and her younger sister can survive. The 1940s, when this book takes place, were an interesting intersection, technologically speaking. Ruby is living, virtually, a turn of the century lifestyle. She shares a bathroom with all the other people in her building. They have an icebox, a coal stove, no warm water. And literally five blocks down, people have electric refrigerators and private bathrooms.

Ruby wants out. A man she meets gives her a tip about "taxi dance halls," and suggests that she would make a good dancer. After creating a suitable cover story for her mother, Ruby dives headfirst into the underworld of Chicago nightlife. Earning ten cents per dance and working with girls who are willing to do more than dance with the men they meet, Ruby gets a quick and dirty education. There are people from all sides hounding her - crazies she meets at the dance hall, fellow dancers, her mother, her sister. And, as the book goes on, Ruby finds herself falling in love.

I couldn't put the book down, and her story is a very unique and intriguing one. I just kept thinking "no no no no, Ruby!! Don't do that, you idiot!!" She was a teenager living in a world with real life gangsters and dime a dozen prostitutes. She is a tough cookie - throwing punches more than once, but she was also so naive and made such horrible choices. While I'd say this is definitely a young adult book, it really deals with very adult issues and while there is definitely romance, I can't say it is particularly romantic.

The author took great care to be historically accurate. She paints an excellent picture of one of my favorite cities - and because my grandmother grew up during this time in this same city, I know she even got the feel and language of the city just right. She's given us a completely new look at the WWII homefront and I'm glad I read it.

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

2008-07-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

I read Stargirl a while back (pre-blog; the review of it is exactly one sentence long), and remember really liking it. I think what I really liked was Stargirl herself; I remember liking her individuality, her fearlessness in the face of peer pressure. However, it's been years since I read this, and that was a bit of a mistake in picking this one up. It picks up right after Stargirl ends, and if you don't remember the end of that one, you'll be a bit lost in this one. At least for a little while.

It's not that reading the first is crucial to enjoying Love, Stargirl; it's not. I enjoyed it. But I did feel like I wasn't enjoying it as much as I could have, had I read Stargirl more recently.

The book follows Stargirl for a year, presumably, the year following her and Leo's falling out. She's moved to Pennsylvania, and she's back to being homeschooled. It's written in diary form -- the world's longest letter to Leo -- and it follows her daily life with her quirky friends. There's the boisterous five-year-old, Dootsie; the angry and aggressive 11-year-old, Alvina; Betty Lou, who hasn't left her house in nine years; Charlie, who spends his days at the gravesite of his dead wife; Arnold, who's one sentence is "Are you looking for me?"; and last, but not least, Perry. Perry may (or may not be) interested in Stargirl. For herself. But he's got issues -- a deadbeat dad, a stealing habit, and a harem -- and Stargirl's not sure whether or not she's interested in him. Or in love, since her heart's still broken because of Leo.

I had different expectations for this book -- it's a cute, sweet little book, but I wanted it to soar. I wanted a different resolution than I got (though the one I got was satisfying in its own way). There were fun antics, but Stargirl wasn't the strong, independent, trend-bucking person I remembered. Perhaps she wasn't meant to be -- Leo did shake her foundation (at least I gathered that) -- but I missed the free-flowing, uniqueness of Stargirl.

I wanted to like this one a whole lot more than I did. Which is too bad. Because I really liked my memory of Stargirl.

Cross-posted at Book Nut.

The Juliet Club

2008-07-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Kate is: Organized. Smart. Determined. Rational.
Kate has: recently been dumped by her boyfriend. And been accepted to the first-ever Shakespeare Seminar in Vernoa, Italy.
Kate needs: to fall in love again. Most likely with a dark-haired man with a foreign accent. (They're the best kind, after all.)
Kate thinks: that love is stupid. And that she can avoid it. (HA!)

Giacomo is: Dark Haired. Italian. Impetuous. A Flirt. A Heartbreaker.
Giacomo has: recently dumped his girlfriend. And is forced to attend the first-ever Shakespeare Seminar, since his mother is the one who organized it.
Giacomo needs: to fall in love. Most likely with a stubborn American who turns out to be irresistible.
Giacomo thinks: that Americans, this Shakespeare Seminar and everything else is stupid. And that he'll manage to flirt with everyone and never fall in love. (HA!)

My rational, critical brain thought the whole time I was reading this book: "These are stereotypical characters, doing predictable romantic plot things, without much emotion, and without much suspense or innovation." My non-rational, romance-loving, July-fluff brain thought the whole time I was reading this book: "I LOVE this! This is so TOTALLY perfect! YAY for Kate and Giacomo -- GREAT chemistry by the way -- and everyone else. Love RULES!"

The July-fluff side won. I loved this book.

Cross-posted at Book Nut.

2008-07-08T02:37:00.000-07:00

I hope you're ready, because you're about to listen to the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why.

I had started reading Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher last year, but couldn't finish it. The idea of a young girl committing suicide gave me too much anguish, and I was forced to leave the book unfinished.

A few days ago I decided I could give this book another try, and picked up the audiobook instead. I was hooked, and remained breathless until the end. The narration is fast-paced, and keeps the reader glued to the page (or in my case, to the earplugs).

Thirteen Reasons Why begins with Clay Jensen finding a shoebox full with audio tapes on his porch. The tapes were recorded by Hannah Baker, Clay's classmate and crush, who committed suicide two weeks earlier. But before taking her life, Hannah recorded thirteen sides of audio tapes--one for each people she blames for her suicide. Now the tapes have to be passed along from person to person, otherwise they will be revealed in a very public manner.

Clay begins to listen, at first with puzzlement, then with anguish and desperation, to the voice of the girl he was in love with, and to whom she never confessed his true feelings. He listens to a series of mean acts committed by Hannah's schoolmates, which brought her to suicide. However, Hannah isn't without blame herself. She could have stopped a rape and a car accident, but did neither.

Is Thirteen Reasons Why a teen romance book? Yes, and no. It is both less and much more than that. It is more of a mystery book, in which the story behind Hannah's depseration and suicide is slowly revealed. But it is also a romance book, in that Clay was in love with Hannah, and regrets never telling her, because he was too afraid to be rejected.

The strong point of this book is the mixture of Hannah's voice in the tapes and Clay's thoughts and comments as he listens to them--almost as if Clay finally talked with Hannah, while he was unable to do so when she was still alive. Moreover, if you listen to this in audiobook form, you can listen to Hannah's tapes exactly as Clay does, which adds immediacy to the story.

At the end of the story, Clay has changed--now he knows which signs to look for, and can help other people if necessary. Therefore, the story ends on a hopeful note--with the hope that Hannah's story might have taught something to those who listened to it.

This is a book you won't forget soon--a book which will crawl under your skin.

Twilight

2008-07-06T08:38:00.001-07:00

I first discovered Stephenie Meyer while at Barnes and Noble. I had an appointment, which I arrived early for, and wanted to pass the time browsing in the store. As I was leaving, I noticed a huge display for Host. It was soon to be released and the display also showcased her other books. Twilight was in the center of the table and the cover caught my eye. I didn't have time to pick it up as it was time for my appointment.

About a week later, I was in Border's and saw another display for Host. I remembered Twilight and set off to find it. I was surprised to find it in the Young Adult section. And further surprised to find it was about vampires. I don't do vampires; I don't watch vampires movies and never read a vampire book. So, my interest quickly faded.

While doing an Amazon.com search, I stumbled across Twilight and became fascinated with the rave reviews. My curiosity took over and decided to add my name to the wait list at my local library. Needless to say the wait list was long and I soon forgot about it. Last week I went to the grand opening of new library and found brand new copies of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Without thinking, I quickly grabbed them off the shelves. I just finished reading Twilight, in less than 24 hours, and I have to say I'm glad my curiosity moved me out of my comfort zone. This book wasn't what I expected it to be at all.

Bella Swan moves to Forks, WA to live with her estranged father, Charlie. Her mother has remarried and plans to move to FL with her new husband. On Bella's first day at her new high school, she notices Edward sitting across the cafeteria with his siblings. Immediately, Bella is drawn to him and begins to ask questions about him. During her Biology class, the only seat available is next to Edward. He takes an immediate dislike toward Bella, which is so strong, it frightens her.

She struggles with the intensity of his reaction to her, while at the same time trying to understand her new emotions that she has when she thinks about Edward. As Bella finds out more interesting facts about Edward and his family, she learns about a myth. A myth that is so unbelievable, yet somehow explains the mystery of Edward.

Twilight is a love story. A love story about being with someone who is different than you, but yet you are willing to sacrifice yourself to be with your one true love. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

(This post can also be found here.)

Geek Magnet

2008-07-05T15:30:00.001-07:00

Scott, Kieran. 2008. Geek Magnet.

Okay, so I was dizzy with power. Can you blame me? It was the first day of rehearsals for the spring musical, Grease, at Washington High and I, KJ Miller, was the stage manager. The woman in charge. The first junior ever to be granted this most prestigious position.

KJ Miller. How to describe KJ? Well, there's the obvious. She's a geek magnet. She draws some geeky undesirables close to her. Fred. Glenn. Andy. Perhaps because of all the buzzing geeks near her, KJ is not quite as popular as she'd like to be. She's not in the outer rings of the social strata, but she's far from being "in" with the in crowd of beautiful people. With great power comes great responsibility. KJ now has some power at least when it comes to the drama folks. And this new-found power has brought someone new to KJ's life: Tama, Tama Gold. And Tama has something KJ wants more than anything: power and sway over KJ's crush, Cameron. KJ loves Cameron. And Tama, well, Tama sees that as her "in." As the "star" of the show, Tama, wants--no, needs--KJ to be on her side.

Tama easily agrees to setting KJ and Cameron up. Knowing that by 'befriending' KJ, the power to rule the show, rule the production, would be within her reach. After all, boys can be distracting.

The first rule Tama sets for her new best friend is that KJ has to stop being nice to the geeks, to the nobodys. She had to start being mean, being firm, being direct. KJ needed to cut free and clean from those holding her back. Who would want to date her if all her friends were dorks and geeks?

There is one person, however, that KJ still listens to. Robbie. The male lead of the play. Robbie. A guy she sees as being so wonderfully himself. He didn't hang out with the cool people, the beautiful people. But that was his choice. And that choice makes all the difference to KJ. She sees him as anything but a geek. Robbie wants Tama. KJ agrees. This requires much plotting together. This cozy together time that is oh-so-predictable.

If Geek Magnet has a flaw it is that it is ultra-predictable. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure some folks will find it enjoyable and satisfying. To me, as an adult, I found KJ a bit too self-absorbed. KJ wasn't exactly shallow. Far from it in some areas. KJ's life isn't easy. She has an alcoholic father, a mother in denial, and a younger brother that is absent-though-present. (It's weird how many scenes this brother is in, yet he never made an impression.) While KJ's relationship hate-and-angst filled relationship with her father takes up some space, the rest of her family just fades into the backdrop.

The romance. Well. I thought it lacked a bit. I thought Robbie and KJ definitely had some chemistry. But, predictably so, they were almost the last ones to know it. And the resolution, the closing scenes where they're drawn together...well, they technically get the job done, but I was hoping for a bit more fireworks.

Where Geek Magnets might pick up some fans is in the drama department. For readers who have a love for drama, for theatre, for musicals, for Grease in particular...I think this one might work better. It does spend a good majority of time behind-the-scenes pulling together a musical production. Actors. Directors. Props. Costumes. Dress rehearsals.

I think other readers would probably like this one better than I did.

Read the first chapter here.
Other reviews: Flamingnet, RomanticTimes, ReaderViews,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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What My Mother Doesn't Know

2008-07-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

I won What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones at a giveaway hosted at Ready When You Are, C.B. So thank you, C.B. James, for sending it to me! This book belongs wonderfully in my YA Romance challenge (and, of course, in my YA challenge).

The first thing I noticed about What My Mother Doesn't Know is that it's written all in free verse. Each short chapter consists in a poem, and all the poems together narrate the story of Sophie, a fifteen-year-old girl.

The title refers to the fact that Sophie has a distant father and a mother who seems more interested in her soap operas than in her life. For the rest, she's just your average teenager: she goes out with dark, sexy Dylan, covertly chats online with "soulmate" Chaz, but secretly harbors a crush for shy, quiet Murphy. Over time, Sophie learns to distinguish between lust and love, and thus is able to find true love.

What makes this book different from other teenage romances is the use of free verse to narrate the story, which makes the narration seem quite like a genuine outpouring of feelings and emotions. For example, see this poem:

WINTER KISS

our cheeks
burning with the cold

the tips of our noses
numb

our icicled lips
bump clumsily

then suddenly
melt together
warming us better
than any cup of steaming cocoa ever could

This kind of emotions are something everyone can relate to, thus making What My Mother Doesn't Know an instant favourite of mine. A book to keep on the bedside table, read and re-read.

Highly recommended.

Cross-posted at Out of the Blue.

Big Fat Manifesto

2008-07-04T17:24:00.001-07:00

Vaught, Susan. 2008. Big Fat Manifesto.

This is the third 2008 novel I've read this year (within the past two weeks actually) that deal with "weight" in one way or another. Each of these books (Looks, Artichoke's Heart, and Big Fat Manifesto) is unique from the others. Each is in some ways flawed. Some more than others, but still none is perfectly perfect.

Jamie D. Carcaterra is a writer on her high school's newspaper. At the beginning of her senior year, Jamie starts a new column. A column she hopes will win her the National Feature Award for outstanding journalism. Her column is a manifesto of what it's like to be a "fat girl."

"I am so sick of reading books and articles about fat girls written by skinny women. Or worse yet, skinny guys. Tell me, what in the name of all that's cream and chocolate do skinny guys know about being a fat girl?
The fat girl never gets to be the main character. She never gets to talk, really talk, about her life and her feelings and her dreams. Nobody wants to publish books about fat girls, by fat girls, or for fat girls, except maybe diet books. No way." (1)

Thus begins the book and her first "fat girl" column. Jamie is a great character. She may be a fat girl but she's not your stereotypical fat girl: lonely, friendless, dateless and a person who is lacking in ALL self-esteem and confidence.

Let me shoot down a few myths right now, before you even set up a stereotype:

Myth number one: Speak gently to poor Fat Girl. She can't help her terrible disability.
Myth number two: Poor Fat Girl needs to be educated about her problem.
Myth number three: Poor Fat Girl laughs to hide her tears.
Myth number four: Poor lonely Fat Girl can't get a date.
Myth number five: All poor Fat Girl wants to do is lose weight. (2-4, largely abbreviated)

Chapter one: "I have two must-achieve-or-die goals this year. The first do-or-die is probably the easiest: Write the best Fat Girl feature series ever, expose the politics and social injustices of being a fat female in today's world, and win the National Feature Award to ensure my collegiate funding. The second do-or-die, related to the first, is earning admission to Northwestern University." (6)

Jamie's voice is wonderful. I loved it. I especially especially loved her Fat Girl columns. They were true. They were authentic. They were needed. The novel focuses on Jamie's life. Her mostly crazy, often chaotic life where she is juggling writing, acting, and studying on top of having a boyfriend (Burke) and several girl friends (NoNo and Freddie). Her parents hardly enter into the picture at all. The central plot of this one is her relationship with two guys: Burke and Heath, her editor-in-chief. Burke, her boyfriend, is a Fat Boy himself. However, he decides to have weight-loss surgery. A decision that Jamie can't quite support with her head and her heart. Surgery is risky and dangerous and so drastic a step, isn't it? And if he has the surgery, how much of him--his personality, his life-style--will he lose along with all those pounds? Will she still be his fat-girl goddess once he's a muscular hunk? Heath, her editor, becomes a close friend. He's there for her and with her when all the chaos of her life begins to unfold--Burke's surgery, the columns continuing media circus, etc. (The local media has picked up on her "fat girl" columns and decided that Jamie is dangerous and promoting a "fat" lifestyle just because she's not a lonely, depressed, pitiable girl with NO self esteem or self-worth. Because she's fat and okay with being fat...she must be a menace to society, right????)

I loved almost everything about Big Fat Manifesto. However, if Big Fat Manifesto has a weakness then it is in the character development of minor characters. NoNo and Freddie are nothing more than one-sided stereotypical characters. (Freddie the side-kick lesbian; NoNo the sidekick vegetarian, animal-rights protester.) They lack the "flesh" they need to stand on their own. Burke, Jamie's boyfriend, is more developed than Freddie and NoNo, however, he doesn't have that sparkle and depth that a proper boyfriend should. Heath, on the other hand, seems to have a charm and substance and vitality that I noticed from his first introduction. But Jamie? Jamie's development is complete.

Other reviews: Melissa in Estella's Revenge, TeenReads, Teens Read Too, ProperNoun, Tales from the Rushmore Kid, MatriFocus, Curled Up, Oops, Wrong Cookie, Book Divas, Alternative Teen Services, Review & React, Abby the Librarian,
*if you've reviewed this one, you can leave a link in the comments and I'll add you in*

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Slam

2008-07-03T10:36:00.001-07:00

I picked up Nick Hornby's latest novel, Slam, from the library last week. I knew the theme was going to be teenage pregnancy, so I wasn't too excited. But then I was caught up into the story.

Sam is just your regular sixteen-year-old boy. His passion is skateboarding, he plans to go to college to study art and design, and he has a girlfriend named Alicia. His hero is skating legend Tony Hawk; Sam has a poster of him in his room and talks to it. The poster "talks" back, even if it's only in quotations from Tony Hawk's autobiography, which Sam knows by heart.

So, things are going well for Sam. Until he gets his girlfriend pregnant. He's confused; he doesn't want to be a dad so young. But then Tony Hawk makes him travel forward in time--so that he can see what his life will be, or could be, if he makes certain decisions. These visions help Sam to realize what he really wants to do.

As I already mentioned, the subject of teenage pregnancy doesn't make me too excited, especially if, like in this case, a former teenage mother has a child who commits the same mistake (it makes me think back to The Bad Mother's Handbook, or to TV shows like One Tree Hill).

But here, the narrating voice is witty, amusing and real, almost like a 21st century Holden Cauldfield, and I liked this very much. I also find it interesting that the original is considered a YA book, but in Italy it is marketed as a book for adults. Maybe this is because, except for the younger age of the main character, this book isn't so different from all the others by Nick Hornby, which is a good thing.

I'd recommend this book to all Nick Hornby's fans, because they won't be disappointed.

Cross-posted at Out of the Blue.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

2008-07-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

Book: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: A-

I finished my first one for this challenge. Well, I hope it counts because it didn't really have much romance in it. A little.. hints here and there. I ached for more! Oh, well!

BUT... it was a great fairy tale, complete with princes, talking animals, bad trolls, a mean mom and an evil queen. But instead of a damsel in distress, we have "the lass" who is actually a very strong girl and gets stuff done!

I loved the hint of a "beauty and the beast" story and all the references to Norwegian culture. This one is actually based on a Norwegian fairy tale called "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" one I've never heard of.

Anyway, I loved it! Great story! Read it when you're in that fairy tale mood!

The Truth About Forever

2008-07-02T03:44:00.000-07:00

It was a lot of work to be perfect. If you didn't want to break a sweat, there was no point in even bothering.

I listened to The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen book in audiobook form last summer, then picked it up again last week for a re-read. I remember how I loved this book the first time, and i loved it even more when reading it on the page. It's the perfect book for my YA Romance Challenge, and of course fits wuth the YA Challenge, too.

Sixteen-year-old Macy Queen has a long, boring summer stretched out in front of her. While her boyfriend is away at Brain Camp, she will sit at the library information desk. In her spare time, she will study for her SATs or help her mother plan her open house events, while grieving for her father recent and unexpected loss. But when she meets and joins the chaotic crew of Wish Catering, everything starts to change. She makes new friends--lively Kristy, introverted Monica, and most of all, Wes. A guy who thinks flaws are what make a person interesting. Wes helps Macy understand that being perfect isn't that important after all.

The main theme in The Truth About Forever is being perfect. After losing her father, Macy is scared and tries to cope by controlling everything she can: her clothes, her appearance, her grades, how others perceive her. While striving to be perfectly organized, she doesn't realize that she has stopped living. It's Wes who reminds her that flaws are more interesting than perfection. The esxperience with Wish Catering allows Macy to let go, have fun, and start living her life again.

I think Wes is the most interesting character of the whole book. I mean, a guy who thinks perfection is boring, does he even exist in real life? But this point of view fascinated me, because that's what I always thought myself: flaws and peculiarities make people interesting, while perfection isn't that great in itself.

I loved this book to pieces, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Cross-posted at Out of the Blue

Stealing Heaven

2008-07-01T19:10:00.001-07:00

Scott, Elizabeth. 2008. Stealing Heaven.

I love Elizabeth Scott. I do. It's true. Bloom and Perfect You were excellent examples of YA romance at its best, its finest. Stealing Heaven is the third novel by Elizabeth Scott.

First sentence: "My first memory is staring through a window into a house that isn't mine."

Meet Danielle. (Or Dani). Though if you were to meet her yourself, she would probably be using a different name. Danielle and her mother, you see, are professional burglars. Yes, you read that correctly. Her mom raised her daughter to be a criminal, a thief. Silver rules their lives.

"Because of silver I can pry the molding off a window without making a sound. I know how to test for plate even though I don't usually need to. I can drive a car, climb into a house, deal with growling dogs. I know exactly how much your average nineteenth century tea service weighs--in troy ounces, even, and how many pieces it has.
For silver I learned to read, write, work numbers. For silver I learned the names of every plantation from Virginia to Florida. I can tell you which ones we've visited, which ones we want to, which ones we never will. I can tell you how to find someone's house no matter where it is. I can tell you what to do if there is silver inside.
The story of my life can be told in silver: in chocolate mills, serving spoons, and services for twelve. The story of my life has nothing to do with me. The story of my life is things. Things that aren't mine, that won't ever be min. It's all I've ever known. I wish it wasn't." (103)

It wasn't necessarily easy to make a thief a sympathetic heroine. But if anyone could do it, it would be Elizabeth Scott. Danielle, though eighteen, has spent her whole life being manipulated, crafted, trained to do her mother's bidding. That doesn't excuse it. And Danielle would be the first to admit it. Danielle knows that her life is wrong. She's aware that this is the last thing she should be doing. She wants a normal life, a normal family, a normal everything. She just doesn't know how to break away from her mother. She doesn't know how to say no, to reject this lifestyle without rejecting her mother.

Life is complicated. Danielle learns this perhaps for the first time when she and her mom enter the town or community of Heaven. This is the first place--that we know of--where Danielle gets a glimpse of what life could be or should be. A glimpse of what it would be like to have a friend, to have a boyfriend. The love interest. Kyle. Any guesses on his occupation?

I can't say that Stealing Heaven would be my first pick of Scott's three novels. But it was a good, solid read.

You can read the first three chapters here.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Artichoke's Heart

2008-07-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Supplee, Suzanne. 2008. Artichoke's Heart.

I love, love, love this one. I do. Rosemary Goode is our narrator. And she's a great one. Here's how it begins: "Mother spent $700 on a treadmill 'from Santa' that I will never use. I won't walk three blocks when I actually want to get somewhere, much less run three miles on a strip of black rubber only to end up where I started out in the first place. Aunt Mary gave me two stupid diet books and three tickets for the upcoming conference at Columbia Stated called "Healing the Fat Girl Within." (I'm sensing a theme here). Normally, I'm not a materialistic sort of person, but lets just say this was one disappointing Christmas. At least Miss Bertha gave me something thoughtful, a complete collection of Emily Dickinson poems (so far my favorite is I'm Nobody!), and Grandma Georgia sent money." (3)

Weight. I'm not denying this one is about weight. Rosemary, "Rosie," is struggling with weight, it's true. But she's struggling with so much more than just weight. This novel is just as much about family--dysfunctional and strange and lovable--as it is about weight. Set in a small town in Tennessee, Rosemary is the "fat" daughter of a single mom with a very bossy and nosy sister. (Don't even get me started on Aunt Mary!!!) They own a beauty shop where Rosie often works helping out.

Rosie authentically captures what it is like to be a teen who is unsatisfied with herself, her family, her life. It captures the experience of growing and becoming and transforming. Blending humor and sarcasm with glimpses of raw truth, Artichoke's Heart is practically perfect in capturing both the angst and hope of teen life.

I loved Rosie. Loved her. I loved Kyle. (Loved, loved, loved him.) And I loved the developing relationships throughout the novel especially the changes that occur between Rosie and her mom. It is difficult, extraordinarily difficult to love and appreciate someone who constantly nags and criticizes. Rosie learning to move past and look beyond her mother and her aunt's often-cruel-and-harsh treatment and seeing the bigger picture is unbelievably wise beyond her years.

This is a novel with heart and soul and substance. It's a novel that gets it right. I'm not saying that Rosie could accurately represent *every* 'fat girl' experience. Each individual is different, of course, and there are always differing circumstances and issues and back stories. (Rosie tends to binge. Not every overweight person does. Portion control is not the issue with some folks.) But the novel does do a good job in realistically portraying the fact that weight isn't really about food--either eating too little, too much, or not the right kinds of food. It's emotional. It's psychological. It's so much more than just food.

This scene, one of my favorites, occurs just after Kyle, a cute basketball playing jock asks Rosie if she'd like to come to see him play in a game:

"Get to class, Miss Goode!" I heard Mr. Lawrence shout from behind me. "Climbing a few stairs won't kill you!" Two thoughts pulsed through my head simultaneously. 1) What would become of all the fat girls in the world if people just treated them nicely? 2) The only people who call me Rosie instead of Rosemary are the ones who loved me. Kyle had just called me Rosie. (80)

http://www.suzannesupplee.com/my_books/mybooks.html

Other reviews: Oops, wrong cookie, enduring romance, YA New York,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Sign Up Here!

2008-07-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

The rules

Read six YA romance novels between July 1, 2008 and February 28, 2009.
Romance should be a strong element within the story. But it doesn't have to be the only element. Realistic fiction (contemporary). Historical. Fantasy. Science Fiction. Retold Fairy Tales. All genres are allowed.
They can be part of a series, or stand-alones.
They can be long or short.
Happy books are NOT a requirement
Audio books are allowed.
Up to three movies can be substituted for books. So you could watch 3 movies, read 3 books if you prefer.

Sign up by leaving a comment. Please leave your email address as well if and only if you want to sign up to contribute to the blog. For example: laney_po AT yahoo DOT com

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

2008-07-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

This book, without a doubt, is a book for nerds. I don't think it matters what kind of nerd -- I'm only a book nerd, after all, with a dabbling of music and math nerditry -- but I think you might have to be at least a little bit of a nerd to truly enjoy this book. (And since I think most people are at least a little bit of a nerd...)

Colin -- former child prodigy and recent high school graduate -- has a tendency to not only date girls named Katherine, but to get dumped by them. After the most recent dumping -- by Katherine XIX -- he and his friend Hassan decide to go on a road trip. They end up in Gutshot, Tennessee, where they learn a little about themselves, about relationships, and about trusting in the unknown.

That's the basic plot, anyway. What I really liked about the novel, and the reason I think it's worth it to read, is the footnotes. I'm an obsessive footnote reader, which sometimes gets in the way of the reading experience. But in this case, they made the book for me. They were snide, funny, and oh-so-John Green (at least the way he comes off in his vlog). And the afterword/appendix was fascinating, too (although Green wrote that it was "optional" to read.) The book was pretentious, like Looking for Alaska, but in this case the pretention wasn't taken so seriously and therefore worked better. Sure, Colin was soul-searching, looking for the Truth and the Meaning of Things. But it wasn't so weighty, so oppressive a search as Miles's was. And I think Green's style works better when he's not being so Heavy. (A side note about the language: it was cleaner than Looking for Alaska, but only because there's a wonderful homage -- which I didn't know was one until they spelled it out for me -- to Norman Mailer. If you've read him -- I haven't -- you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, well, then, you'll either have to read some Mailer, or read this book.)

I'm glad Green's writing books (especially ones where the nerd gets the girl, and it doesn't come off as forced or contrived); it's about time nerds got some respect. And Green's just the person to give it to them.

Cross-posted at Book Nut.

Eclipse

2008-06-11T18:25:00.002-07:00

Spoiler free review of Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Meyer, Stephenie. 2007. Eclipse.

If you're like me, you've been waiting for the release of Eclipse since five seconds after you read the last page of New Moon. It's been eleven months of waiting. Eleven whole months of wondering just what would happen next between Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black. Eleven months of wondering if this next book would be the one...the one where Bella's biggest dreams come true.

What does Eclipse offer readers? It has more Edward and Bella than New Moon. (But don't count out or young werewolf, Jacob. Jacob has not gone away. Bella doesn't want him to go away. Not on most days.) It has plenty of action as well. As with Twilight and New Moon there are bad guys--vampires actually--who are out to get Bella and friends. Which as you know always leads to an exciting climax complete with chase scenes and close calls. (But if you're a fan you've come to expect this. So my telling you this is not a spoiler!) After all, if it's talked about in the prologue on the first page...it's not really a shocker. It has action. It has romance. But it also has more family interaction. Whose family? Well, Bella's to a certain extent. But mainly Edward's...after all if she accepts his arrangement she'll be part of his family for life. This is something that I really enjoyed. We get more back stories on how this vampire family came to be. For example, we see how Rosalie came to be a vampire (152-168) and they have their first and only heart-to-heart talk. And we also hear Jasper's story for the first time (287-309). I have always loved Edward. And Alice, well, she's been fleshed out in the other books--both Twilight and New Moon--but for me this is the first time I really appreciated the ensemble cast of Cullens.

Another highlight, for me, was the presentation of werewolf folklore. Bella attends a bonfire with Jacob--as a friend not a date. (239-260)

Eclipse is exciting, fast-paced, full of action and romance. It is emotional. It is intense. It is wonderful. Did I love it as much as Twilight? No. I wouldn't expect to be as head over heels in love with any sequel. Twilight will always be my favorite and my best. But I thought the novel was good. The release of New Moon saw some skeptics who were thoroughly disappointed and hated the way the direction was going. That appears to be happening with Eclipse as well. Some are completely disenchanted with the series. And that is okay. Really. If I were in charge would I have done things differently...yes. There were slight things--things that could add up to a good bit of frustration if you kept count and read with initial mindset that the novel was going to be a bitter disappointment--that annoyed me in the book. So don't expect the book to be perfect. No book is perfect in every way. But try to keep an open mind.

I can't believe you're reading Wuthering Heights again. Don't you know it by heart yet?

Not all of us have photographic memories, I said curtly.

Photographic memory or not, I don't understand why you like it. The characters are ghastly people who ruin each others' lives. I don't know how Heathcliff and Cathy ended up being ranked with couples like Romeo and Juliet or Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. it isn't a love story, it's a hate story.

You have some serious issues with the classics, I snapped.

Perhaps it's because I'm not impressed by antiquity. He smiled, evidently satisfied that he'd distracted me. Honestly though why do you read it over and over? His eyes were vivid with real interest now, trying --again-- to unravel the convoluted workings of my mind. He reached across the table to cradle my face in his hand. What is it that appeals to you?

His sincere curiosity disarmed me. I'm not sure, I said, scrambling for coherency while his gaze unintentionally scattered my thoughts I think it's something about the inevitability. How nothing can keep them apart -- not her selfishness, or his evil, or even death, in the end...

His face was thoughtful as he considered my words. After a moment he smiled a teasing smile I still think it would be a better story if either of them had one redeeming quality.

I think that may be the point, I disagreed. Their love is their only redeeming quality.

p. 28

http://stepheniemeyer.com/
http://stepheniemeyer.com/eclipse.html
http://stepheniemeyer.com/ecl_playlist.html
For a less enthusiastic review which contains a few spoilers
BookBinge's review of Eclipse; again not so enthusiastic; again has spoilers

New Moon

2008-06-11T18:25:00.001-07:00

Meyer, Stephenie. 2006. New Moon.

Life is far from normal for Bella Swan during her senior year of high school. True, her life is full of drama and boy troubles, but for Bella who sees herself as a danger magnet life holds much much more. Edward Cullen, her ever-handsome boyfriend who just happens to be a vampire, breaks her heart when he leaves after Bella receives a near-fatal paper cut at her eighteenth birthday party. Realizing that his family no matter how determined to avoid human blood, can within seconds be overwhelmed with tempation and violence leads him to place Bella’s safety ahead of his own desires. To say that Bella is devastated is an understatment, she becomes zombie-like in her loss, a fact which is finally realized when Bella and one of her friends are watching a Zombie movie. “It wasn’t until almost the very end, as I watched a haggard zombie shambling after the last shrieking survivor, that I realized what the problem was. The scene kept cutting between the horrified face of the heroine, and the dead emotionless face of her pursuer, back and forth as it closed the distance. And I realized which one resembled me the most. . . But it was ironic, all things considered, that, in the end, I would wind up a zombie. I hadn’t seen that one coming. Not that I hadn’t dreamed of becoming a mythical monster once--just never a grotesque, animated corpse. . . It was depressing to realize that I wasn’t the heroine anymore, that my story was over.” (106) But Bella’s story is far from over. Reintroduce into the picture, Jacob Black, the young man who first shared with Bella the fact that she was falling in love with a vampire, this new friendship reenergizes Bella’s existence and gives her a reason to continue on. But is her friendship with Jacob any safer for her than her relationship with Edward was? Or is Jacob hiding a dangerous secret of his own? Is Edward out of the picture for good, or will he make a comeback to try to reclaim her heart?

Stephenie Meyer’s novel NEW MOON, sequel to TWILIGHT, is an exciting read, and one that I highly recommend.

http://stepheniemeyer.com/

Twilight

2008-06-11T18:24:00.003-07:00

TWILIGHT is a great YA novel that successfully captures the "heart" of a teenage girl experiencing the dramas of daily high school life (and family life) and the dark and dangerous world of vampires. Bella Swan is the daughter of the town's police chief. She is new to the town, and on her first day of classes she notices one boy that stands out above all the rest--a loner with pale skin, purplish eyelids, and perfect face and body. As the weeks and months unfold, her "strange" attraction becomes harder and harder for her to deny. Stranger still is his reaction to her very presence. Sometimes he goes out of his way to avoid even being in the same room with her, and at other times he is a perfect gentleman. He even saves her life! As she begins to get to know her mystery man, Edward, she falls madly in love with him despite his warnings that they shouldn't even be friends...let alone romantically involved...but warnings go unheeded as this passion grows leading to a thrilling conclusion. The first in a series, Twilight is too good to miss.

Be sure to read my review of New Moon, the sequel, which I posted in August.

http://stepheniemeyer.com/

Twilights: For Over-Obsessive Twilight Fans

Twilight Lexicon

First Impressions

2008-06-11T18:24:00.001-07:00

Sachs, Marilyn. 2006. First Impressions.

Can reading a piece of literature change your life? If you had asked our heroine, Alice Burns, she would have answered a resounding “no” . . . that is until one magical Christmas vacation. The book begins with Alice receiving devastating news--well, devastating news for an A student anyway--she has just gotten a C+ on her paper on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Ever merciful, her teacher gives her a way to redeem her grade: reread the book and rewrite the paper over Christmas vacation for a chance at a better grade. While Alice hates the book--considers it a tragedy for “poor” Mary--she hates the idea of a C on her record more. Can reading the book with an open--even imaginative mind--change her life and the lives of those around her? You wouldn’t ordinarily think so . . . but Sachs weaves a magical and ultimately satisfying tale of family, friendship, and first love. Whether you’re a fan of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or just a fan of YA romance, First Impressions is an enjoyable read.

http://marilynsachs.com/

If I Have A Wicked Stepmother...

2008-06-11T18:22:00.001-07:00

Kantor, Melissa. 2005. If I Have A Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

Connor Pearson knows who I am, I found myself thinking. He knows my name. Of course, my name was just about the only thing he did know about me, but it was something. After all, what did Prince Charming know about Cinderella besides her shoe size?

Lucy Norton is one bitter, angry teen. After her father remarried, she finds herself moving across the country to live with her new stepmother and two stepsisters while her father, who is a lawyer, stays and finishes up on his cases. In her new home, she is given the unfurnished basement room with the promise that furniture will come soon. Meanwhile, she is told to make do with cardboard dresser drawers. Needless to say, seven months later, Lucy still has no furniture and is living in a room with only an air mattress. No closet. No dresser drawers. No tables. No chairs. No desk. Nothing. So who wouldn't be mad? The stepmother has had time to furnish and decorate every other room in the house. And Lucy's dad is deaf to her complaints. Yes, as Lucy sees it...she is the modern-day Cinderella. For her, Cinderella is a state of mind. As long as she's Cinderella she can't be herself. She can't face reality. The reality??? Her stepmother and stepsisters are not wicked. The reality? Her Prince Charming, Connor Pearson, is anything but a Prince. (As a reader you find yourself questioning...and she is attracted to him because of...?????) But as long as Cinderella is a game she plays with herself, she can't make peace with reality and who she really is. Cindrella is a victom role she plays for the majority of the novel. It's a role where she is always right. The poor girl who is so sweet, so right, but so unjustly treated.

Chapter One of If I Have A Wicked...
http://www.melissakantor.com/

Sloppy Firsts

2008-06-11T18:20:00.002-07:00

McCafferty, Megan. 2001. Sloppy Firsts.

Sloppy Firsts chronicles the second half of her sophomore and the first half of her junior year in high school. Upset by the loss of her best friend, Hope, who moved away in December, she spends a lot of time focusing on what is not going right in her life. None of her other friends are good enough. There are no guys she wants to go out with. There is nothing she wants to do except complain. Not that I'm entirely unsympathetic, but surely she could have found something worth focusing on other than complaining...after a month or so. Sloppy Firsts is a novel about friends, boys, family life, dating, shopping, etc. The highlight of the novel--it's redeeming factor--is her strange new relationship with Marcus Flutie. Marcus is an 'outsider' of sorts. He is a nonconformist. Known to have had more than his fair share of women, booze, and drugs. Yet, she's oddly drawn to him when he begins seeking her out. He teases her. It's not flirting so much as teasing. He says things that he knows will provoke her. Irritate her. Why? He speaks the truth. For example, he recognizes her distaste for her shallow, superficial friends. He calls her on her stuff. (Which is probably why the reader likes him so much!) But during their junior year, their relationship deepens. Suddenly, he's her cure for insomnia. A phone call at midnight each night...in which they discuss anything and everything...and she's a new person. She doesn't know if he likes her likes her. She doesn't know if she likes him...but she thinks deep down that she just might. Which is why their relationship is flirting with danger. Does she really know him? Does she want to know him know him? Is she ready to give her heart away to a reformed druggie? Should she?

Heavy on profanity, but full of humor. This one had me giggling with glee and smiling with secret pleasure. I can honestly say that without the presence of Marcus this book would not have hooked me. It would never have moved beyond a bitter, sarcastic, angry teen documenting the silliness and shallowness of her skanky friends. She hates her supposed friends. She hates so much of her life. Marcus makes her think. Marcus makes her a better person...he releases her from her trap.

http://www.meganmccafferty.com/

Confessions of a Not It Girl

2008-06-11T18:20:00.001-07:00

Kantor, Melissa. 2004. Confessions of a Not It Girl.

Jan Miller is a senior in high school who's convinced she is destined to lead the world's least fabulous life.

CONFESSIONS OF A NOT IT GIRL follows the story of Jan Miller and her misadventures in and out of love on the high school scene. She is your typical boy-crazy girl who may be more in love with love than any actual boy she meets. But then again, she is young. She has all the time in the world to mature and learn some hard lessons. I really liked Confessions of A Not It Girl. It was funny. It was entertaining. It was just so right in that light-hearted m&m's way. The book's central focus is on whether or not Jan can get the guy. The guy in question: Josh. Josh is the stepbrother of a little girl she babysits. He's also in her English class which prompts this:

Only that morning Mr. Kryle had been my favorite teacher and English my favorite subject, especially since we had just finished reading Romeo and Juliet, which, only that morning had been my favorite play. English stopped being my favorite subject, Mr. Kryle stopped being my favorite teacher, and Romeo and Juliet stopped being my favorite play at approximately 10:56 AM eastern standard time, which is when Mr. Kryle ruined my life by calling me up to the front of the room to act out the last scene in the play, the one where Romeo finds Juliet sleeping in the tomb and thinks she's dead (14).

When Josh is cast as Romeo, Jan might have looked a little too eager to be kissed. Which is why I not only need to change English classes but most enroll in the government's witness protection plan immediately (17).

After a dozen or so similar missteps, it's easy to see why Jan thinks her love life is doomed. But could love be just around the corner? Could she be misreading the signs and signals of guys in her life? Can she finally figure out this thing called love before graduating from high school?

Read Chapter One of Confessions of A Not It Girl
http://www.melissakantor.com/

Cures for Heartbreak

2008-06-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Rabb, Margo. 2007. Cures for Heartbreak.

'If she dies, I'll die' are the words fifteen-year-old Mia Pearlman writes in her journal the night her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Twelve days later, Mia's mother is dead, and Mia, her older sister, and their father must find a way to live on in the face of sudden unfathomable loss.

Cures For Heartbreak has it all: humor, sadness, love, laughs, and embarrasing firsts. There are so many things I loved about this novel. Mia is a great true-to-life character. Whether she's resorted to bringing out all her stuffed animals from the closet to give her comfort, to her first date, to her obsession with romance novels, to her first experiences loving a boy, to her fears about her father's health, to her worries about normal teenage life...it's all in the details. And the details are here.

I was always daydreaming, getting a crush on some guy. Unrequited or not, during even the most awful day a crush could change everything--it could make you forget the two classes you failed last semester, and the general overall suckiness of your life. A crush removed the world, at least for a little while (139).

It was a romance novel entitled Larissa's Love Royale, which I'd bought in the gift shop. It wasn't one of those romances with a subtle cover that try to pass themselves off as ordinary books, either. No. This was all luscious bosom, gold embossed letters, and tanned male chestage, set on a Renaissance pirate ship (109)

In romance novels this would change everything. A hand holding on page fifteen and you knew for certain, no matter what, that the couple would end up together, that not even 350 pages of pirates, wars, family deception, or evil twins could keep them apart. That's what I liked about those books. I wanted to believe when I read them that that kind of love was possible and real, that it truly existed (217).

Part of me knew that it was unrealistic to hope for something, to transform our brief meeting into some whirlwind of eternal devotion...I wasn't sure what I'd do if I didn't have Richard to think about. Even if it was unrealistic for us to be together now, what was to stop us from connecting in the future, like the characters in a romance novel, meeting on page two and again on page two hundred? I could see Richard and myself at more appropriate ages...me, having graduated from college, in a job (anything but social worker), until some minor incident--a friend's baby, a sprained wrist--took me to the hospital. Years would have passed--no matter. He'd have been through girlfriends, many of them, but never married. In hours, it would happen as we'd always known it would: we'd kiss outside the hospital, a deep, shocking kiss, and the other doctors, the passengers in traffic, the visitors, the social workers--the whole world--would stop and stare in surprise(61-62).

http://www.curesforheartbreak.com/

Goy Crazy

2008-06-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

Schorr, Melissa. 2006. Goy Crazy.

Every now and then, a YA romance comes along that sweeps me off my feet. That makes me happy. That makes me giddy almost. Goy Crazy has just joined the list. Rachel Lowenstein is a teen girl (15 or 16) who dreams of finding love. She knows that it's not likely to happen soon...not at her brother's bar mitzvah...not at her local high school...but she can't help wondering what it would be like to have a boyfriend. The book opens at her brother's bar mitzvah. We've got Rachel who has calculated the "average" age of men in the room to be thirty. (That's what happens when you average in the the over forty (or over fifty) crowd with the under fourteen crowd.) What is on her mind most of all is avoiding an awkward dance with the boy next door, Howard Goldstein, with whom she has a love-hate relationship. (Think Much Ado About Nothing.)

First line: "There is no way I'm dancing with Howard Goldstein." p. 1

But then she notices the rather cute busboy, Luke. The two share a few words together. But even though they only shared a few minutes conversation together, she can't help thinking there was a connection between them. A strong connection. She's convinced almost that Luke is her soul mate. Her destiny. The problem? He's not Jewish. He's Catholic. Irish Catholic. She feels that her parents wouldn't understand, couldn't understand this love match. (Not that it's a love match anywhere but in her imagination, but still...) So the story begins.

How does a Jewish girl go about getting a goy's attention? Does Luke appeal to her because he is off limits? Their relationship strictly forbidden? Is her desire more about rebelling against her overprotective parents? Or is Luke really just a wonderful guy she'd be crazy not to fall for?

With over-protective parents, best friends in crises, teen cliques, peer pressure, and the always there and sometimes insulting boy-next-door, GOY CRAZY has it all including Rachel's rewritten version of the Ten Commandments.

http://www.melissaschorr.com/currentnovelx.html

Notes On A Near-Life Experience

2008-06-11T18:13:00.002-07:00

Birdsall, Olivia. 2007. Notes on a Near-Life Experience.

I want to know how adults decide when the truth is necessary and when it isn't, and if there's some kind of an age requirement for it. Like, does getting a driver's license or the right to vote also mean it's time for you to know why your aunt Lucinda was in that hospital for two months when you were eight, or what really happened to your dog when it mysteriously vanished three weeks after its fourteenth birthday? The strange thing is that the truth has this way of seeping through, leaking out, even when you build walls and dams and work as hard as you can to contain it. It's like even when no one tells you what the truth is, somehow, eventually you just feel it. Even if you don't want to. (37)

Mia is fifteen-going-on-sixteen when her father leaves her mother, and her family begins to change practically overnight. No more bologna sandwiches for lunch. No more family time at the dinner table. No more family rounds of Jeopardy. Allen, her older brother, and Keatie, her younger sister, each react differently. Allen turns to drinking, partying, and skipping school. Keatie reacts by living in denial. Pretending that none of this is real. That this isn't her family. That this new reality is not permanent. And Mia? She responds by isolating herself. She's not in denial exactly. She knows her parents won't be getting back together--her dad's new girlfriend is proof of that--but she doesn't want this new reality to be spoken. To be shared. So she starts keeping one thing after another from her best friend, Haley. With so many things going wrong, it's good for one thing to be going right. In the midst of the fallout, it seems her brother's best friend, Julian, has finally, finally noticed that she existed as more than a pesky little sister. Could this be true? Could her life-long crush finally be hers?

Notes on a Near-Life Experience presents a family in crisis. Each have troubles of their own. Each needs a little guidance in how to communicate with the others in a healthy way. It is a funny, honest look at families.

Top Ten Uses For An Unworn Prom Dress

2008-06-11T18:13:00.001-07:00

Ferraro, Tina. 2007. Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress.

TOP TEN USES...is a guilty pleasure providing ultimate satisfaction to this reader. While other Librarian Choicers steered clear of selecting TOP TEN USES...during our last meeting (in March), I happily put it among my books. Why? The glorious pinkness of the cover--loved the polka dots. The Barbie-esque girl on the cover with her perky pony tail, big eyes, and pouty lips. Her high-heeled shoes. The pinky perfection of the prom dress. Judging a book by its cover is something we all do. Other people might have felt this book had to be stupid or friviolous or frilly because of the Barbie-girl image. Me? I wasn't afraid of the Barbie-esqueness. I embraced it. I didn't care at the moment if it provided warmth or depth. I just was looking for a fun, light read. I got that, and so much more.

Meet Nicolette Antonovich. She was a sophomore in high school dumped carelessly by Rod "Rascal" Pasqual two days before prom. Now, she's a junior in high school. She still has a crush on the juvenile boy who "broke" her heart and "ruined" her dream of the perfect prom night with the ever-so-perfect dress. There is Alison, her best friend. And, don't count out, the boy-next-door, Alison's very own brother, Jared. Jared, who seemed so ordinary. Jared who seemed like such a jerk. Such a brothery jerk. Now, almost out of nowhere, Jared is her right-hand man, the boy who is picking up the pieces. The boy who is LISTENING and SUPPORTIVE and always there for her. Could these one-time enemies, be on the way to true love??? And what will Alison do if her brother and best friend hook up and leave her out??? And why is she still holdiing on the dream of wearing that perfect prom dress? Why does it still contain the magical "essence" of all her romantic hopes and dreams?

Narrated by Nicolette, TOP TEN USES is a funny, honest look at life. Nicolette is a likeable girl. Jared is a VERY lovable guy. There are real problems. Bigger problems than an unworn prom dress. More than fluff is found within the pages. Deeper characters than you might be expecting. There is romance. There is friendship. There is family drama. And there are lists. Lists of reasons why the prom dress is still useful...

#10 Create a human-sized nest in which to hide from the world--primarily people you'd rather not be related to.
#7 Drape it over your bead, for while you may never be prom queen, at least you'll sleep in princesslike splendor (and avoid mosquito bites).
#5 Run the silky pink fabric up the school flagpole in solidarity with all girls who've been cruelly ditched, dodged, and dumped.
#4 Cuddle material; insert thumb in mouth, and do your best Linus impression until you can feel and act your age again.

Sitting in geometry the next morning, I made a startling discovery about my life. About life in general. (Besides the obvious that learning geometry was a waste of perfectly good brain cells.) I decided that life was like that Chutes and Ladders game you played when you were little. You spin the wheel and move your Mini-Me in a slow and steady progress toward Ultimate Happiness. Unless you land on a ladder that sends you racing to new heights. Or on a slide that tumbles you down, down, down... (53)

http://www.tinaferraro.com/

E. Lockhart

2008-06-11T18:12:00.001-07:00

Lockhart, E. 2005. The Boyfriend List.

This past week, among my lighter reading, I have read The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart and its sequel, The Boy Book. Both books were great fun, I must admit. They reminded me, in a lot of ways, of the Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison. (For the record, I love Georgia! So it is meant as a compliment.) The books are full of plenty of drama. Drama over friendships. Drama over boys. Drama over gossip and lost reputations. The books, in some ways, focus on the chaotic and ever-changing world of social hierarchies in high school. Ruby Oliver is a girl who seems to have it pretty good. She's relatively popular--far from being an outcast or loner. She's got a boyfriend. She's got three best friends. But then within a one-week period, everything flip flops. Her best friend, Kim, steals her ex-boyfriend, Jackson. They had only been broken up two or three days. (So you KNOW there is bound to have been suspicious activity beforehand leading to the break up.) Crushed that she has been rejected by both her boyfriend and her former best friend--who essentially tells her that she wasn't any good for Jackson and that she was "the one" for him. What's worse than losing your boyfriend and your best friend? Losing the rest of your friends too. Nora and Cricket take Kim's side. They choose the boyfriend-stealer! (What were they thinking???) And then when Ruby 'accidentally' kisses her ex at a school dance, she's branded as the slut. Never mind that six or seven days before, these two were an established item. They had been going out for six months! Kim has him for two or three days, and he's suddenly branded lawfully hers??? With a slashed reputation, few remaining friends, and no pride...it's no surprise that Ruby finds herself having panic attacks and needing to go to a shrink. (Her term, not mine.) Can Dr. Z help Ruby through her many dramatic issues?

Lockhart, E. 2006. The Boy Book.

The Boy Book, the sequel, begins the next school year. Ruby and former friends are now juniors in high school. Ruby has begun to patch things up with one of her friends, Nora, but the others remain angry, bitter, and vengeful. Jackson is as mysterious as ever. One minute he'll be passing Ruby notes pretending they're still friends. He'll be inviting her to a party on the weekend. Ruby is very confused by the mixed messages. Why is Jackson suddenly remembering she exists now months after their break up? Is it because Kim is out of the country for the semester? Possibly. Is it because he's a dumb boy? More likely. Especially since she sees him with his arms around another girl. So it's not that he's after her...he's after any girl he can get. Which is a relief in a way in Ruby's opinion. It's not about her. It's never been about her. That is HIS pattern. He cheats on his girlfriends. This book is all about Ruby discovering her true self. Realizing her patterns. Realizing how her choices effect her and those around her. There is still a lot of drama about boys and friends and gossip. Overall, it is good fun.

Shannon Hale's Book of A Thousand Days

2008-06-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hale, Shannon. 2007. Book of A Thousand Days.

Based on a tale from Brothers Grimm, Book Of A Thousand Days is an exciting read about a maid, a lady, two suitors, mistaken identities, disguises, love, and war. Dashti, our narrator, is a maid to the Lady Saren. The two, when the book opens, are being locked away in a dark tower because of the lady's refusal to marry the man her father has chosen: Khasar. The other suitor, the one she was secretly betrothed to, Khan Tegus, has been rejected by her father. The pair will remain locked away in the tower--under guard--for seven years. There is a cellar in the tower with what her father deems enough food for two to last seven years. But, let's say that the father didn't count on his girl's greediness nor the hunger of the rats.

Dashti is our heroine from the onset. Though she is a maid, she is the one our heart goes out to. She is the one we know is worthy of so much more. Saren, well, Saren is sullen and whiny and miserable and selfish and clingy. The book is a diary of their time together...their fears, their hopes, the dangers, their losses, etc.

I can't really relate much more without giving away too much...but I must say that this book was INCREDIBLE. I loved the story, loved the characters, loved the plot twists, loved the ending. It was satisfying from cover to cover.

This book--according to Amazon--will be released September 18, 2007. It will be released in the UK in March 2008.

Behind the scenes of Book Of A Thousand Days.
Miss Erin's review of Book Of A thousand Days.

Crazy in Love by Dandi Daley Mackall

2008-06-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Mackall, Dandi Daley. 2007. Crazy in Love.

"Okay, so I do hear voices in my head, but they're all mine. And before you go dialing Psychiatrists-R-Us, consider the fact that I'm going to need all the help I can get just to have a fingers-crossed, fighting chance of getting through today" (1).

Mary Jane is a girl with problems. Not life-threatening problems, but problems nonetheless. These problems concern her reputation. You see, at a class get-together—a Julius Caesar film-watching get-together—Mary Jane was seen chatting with Jackson House. No big deal, right? Wrong. Jackson House is the boyfriend of one snooty Miss Popularity, Star Simon. When Mary Jane and Jackson leave the party to go pick up a case of diet coke, the rumors start flying. Though they were only gone for four minutes and did in fact return with the aforementioned diet coke, the rumor going round is that Mary Jane knows how to have a good time.

Is Mary Jane smart enough to deal with Star, Jackson, and what's left of her reputation?

Read the rest of my review in The Edge of the Forest. If a new edition has been posted already, check the archives.

Tips On Having A Gay (EX) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones

2008-06-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Jones, Carrie. 2007. Tips on Having A Gay (EX) Boyfriend.

Tips On Having A Gay (Ex) Boyfriend covers one week in the life of high school senior, Belle Philbrick. The book opens on Saturday, the day that her boyfriend tells her a startling truth: I won't ever love another woman because I'm gay. Belle's reaction is one of shock obviously: It isn't every day that my high school boyfriend, Eastbrook High School's Harvest King, for God's sakes, tells me he's gay. It's not every day that the Harvest Queen is dumped in the middle of a road in my mother's silly subdivision with the stars watching the humiliation and the dogs barking because they want to come help tear my heart out and leave it on the cold, gray ground. It isn't every day that my entire world falls apart. Not wanting to become one of those whiny girls that complains all the time about their exes, Belle promises to give herself one week where she's allowed to be miserable, to whine, to complain. One week to get over Dylan, the boy now in love with Bob. (Bob. Dylan. The new couple on campus.) What's worse for Belle than knowing that he's already found someone new? How about hearing that Bob and Dylan were seen making out together in some parking lot? How about having to be near Bob in German class all week? How about catching Bob and Dylan buying condoms at the drug store? Take your pick. Belle's not having an easy time tolerating her ex's new squeeze.

During the course of this week, she relies on her best friend, Emily, and on someone she never expected to confide in, Tom, a boy she's known for ages. A boy that's always teased her. Belle's week has ups and downs. It has its moments of humor, and its moments of heartache. Plenty of confusion to go around. Some anger as well.

Top Ten Reasons Why I Can't Believe I've Been Dumped For Bob

1. He hums during German class.
2. His glasses are thicker than the soles on L.L. Bean hiking boots.
3. He smells funny, like mothballs or something, mixed with metal.
4. He hums Beatles songs in German class.
5. He's in band.
6. He scratches his head too much.
7. He hums Beatles songs in German class OFF-KEY.
8. He wears tighty white underwear that show his butt because his pants are always doing that working man's smile thing on him.
9. He hums Beatles songs in German class OFF-KEY and taps his FEET in time.
10. He's a boy.

Belle's voice is honest and funny. And Tips On Having A Gay (Ex) Boyfriend is an enjoyable read. I can't say too much more without revealing any spoilers...but I really enjoyed this one.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

2008-06-11T18:07:00.001-07:00

Zevin, Gabrielle. 2007. Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac.

Who are you? Who are you really? Are you the composite of your memories? Do your memories make you you? What would you be--who would you be--without your memories? Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac tells the story of Naomi. It's divided into three parts: "I Was," "I am," and "I Will." Here is how it begins:

Above all, mine is a love story.
And like most love stories, this one involves chance, gravity, a dash of head trauma.
It began with coin toss.
The coin came up tails; I was heads.
Had it gone my way, there might not be a story at all. Just a chapter or a sentence in a book whose greater theme had yet to be determined. Maybe this chapter would have had the faintest whisper of love about it, but may not.
Sometimes, a girl needs to lose.

Is that accurate? Is Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac 'above all' a love story? Yes and no. It's more and less than a love story. Naomi is a teenage girl. The co-editor of the high school year book. Her co-editor is her best friend, Will. The coin toss. The camera has been left behind. Someone needs to go back inside and get it. Naomi is 'fated' to do it. The trip back to the parking lot with the camera ...well, it ends with her at the bottom of the front steps with a concussion.

As you have guessed by now, she wakes up with amnesia. She's a junior in high school with no memories past the age of twelve. Her 'rescuer' is James Larkin. Her boyfriend is Ace Zuckerman. Her best friend is Will. Her father. These are the people in her life trying to tell her who she is, who she was, what she's like, what she does. But everything feels off for Naomi. Nothing feels right. Everything feels different, feels weird, feels foreign. Her boyfriend? She doesn't know what she ever saw in him. Her best friend? Well, he knows too much, expects too much, hopes too much, needs too much. The only people she feels comfortable with are the ones that didn't know her before her accident.

Can Naomi find out who she is? Who she really is? In the midst of these identity crises, Naomi fluctuates on who she wants to be with, who she likes, who she loves, who she's attracted to. [But it's more than that. Her hobbies, her interests, her likes and dislikes...they've changed.] This isn't the story of one boy and one girl. It's the story of a girl who 'feels' several different personas and find potential love interests with each persona she adopts. Which one is really her? Who does her heart really belong to?

So I'd say this is a story all about identity. All about choices. About being authentic. About being yourself. About not being afraid of changes.

I enjoyed this one. But I didn't love, love, love it. I had a few problems with it. But overall, I'd say it was a good reading experience.

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti

2008-06-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

Caletti, Deb. 2007. The Nature of Jade.

When you live one and a half blocks away from a zoo like I do, you can hear the baboons screeching after it gets dark. It can scare the crap out of you when you're not used to it, as I found out one night after we moved in. (5)

Jade, our narrator, is a girl with a fondness--a semi-obsession--with elephants. She loves to visit the zoo, of course, and she also loves to watch the elephants online on the zoo's web cam.

Watching them isn't always thrilling and action packed, but I don't care. See, what I really like is that no matter what high-stress thing is going on in my world as a whole (Christmas, SATs, natural disasters, plane crashes, having to give a speech and being worried to death I might puke), there are the elephants, doing their thing. Just being themselves. Eating, walking around. They aren't having Christmas, or giving a speech, or stressing over horrible things in the news. They're just having another regular elephant day. Not worrying, only being. (7)

One day while watching the elephants on her computer, she sees a boy--a teen boy--with a baby. He's in a red jacket.

You pass a bunch of people in a day--people in their cars, in the grocery store, waiting for their coffee at an espresso stand. You look at apartment buildings and streets, the comings and goings, elevators crawling up and down, and each person has their own story going on right then, with its cast of characters; they've got their own frustrations and their happiness and the things they're looking forward to and dreading. And sometimes you wonder if you've crossed paths with any of them before without knowing it, or will one day cross their path again. But sometimes, too, you have this little feeling of knowing, this fuzzy, gnawing sense that someone will become a major something in your life. You just know that theirs will be a life you will enter and become part of. I feel that sense, that knowing, when I look at this boy and this baby. It is a sense of the significant. (10).

But Jade isn't just a girl who likes animals--likes the zoo. She's a girl with an anxiety disorder.

It wasn't like I panicked every time I was somewhere high up, or in an enclosed space, or during a storm. It could be none of those things, or all of them. I could (can) panic in a car, a new situation, any time a person feels a twinge of nerves. It's a twisted version of Green Eggs and Ham: I could panic in a train! I could panic on a plane! I could panic on the stairs--I could panic anywhere! (17)

It goes on to say:

People who have these panic attacks sometimes have "social anxiety," which means, basically, you don't want to go out in the world. But I think sometimes they've got their cause and effect screwed up. Would you want to get on a bus if you thought your body might do this? Would you want to be in a crowd of people? Sitting in Math? That kind of fear, that kind of physical out-of-control is . . . well, private. Anyway, I am not my illness. "Girl with Anxiety," "Trauma of the Week"--no. I hate stuff like that. Everyone, everyone, has their issue. (17-18)

I like that Jade doesn't let this issue define her. She doesn't let it control her. It's there. It's never completely gone. But she is so much more than just a girl with anxiety.

The book is in some ways your typical teen novel. Girl likes boy. Girl wants boy to notice her. Girl gets excited when he does. Girl has friends to talk and gossip with, etc. But most typical teen novels with high school narrators aren't focused on elephants, zoos, and volunteering. Most love-interests in these kinds of books aren't single fathers or sole caretakers of young children. So it is a YA romance novel. But it's a bit more than just a YA romance novel. And like many YA books it deals with a teen defining and redefining herself. Finding out who she is and what she wants and seeking out, discovering, what it will take to get there.

I loved this novel. I did. I would read certain passages and they would just ring true. The inner-thoughts of a girl with anxiety? So right on. So true. So authentic.

My inside voice too often screams unreliable things at me, misinformation--that I am in danger, that someone I love is in danger, that now is the time to panic, to flee. I am happy, because it is just so good to know that it can give a whispered message, a simple, quiet knowing, and that it can be right. (34)

I just love the style. I think Caletti definitely has a gift with words...

Every big happening has a moment of plunge, that moment of decision, usually instantaneous even if you've been thinking about it forever. That now! Toes at the edge of the pool, looking at the water, one toe in, looking some more, and then, suddenly, you're in, and it's so cold, but nice, too, and you don't even remember where in there you decided to jump. (104-105)

So, I'd definitely recommend this one.

http://www.debcaletti.com/index.php

Sara Zarr's Sweethearts

2008-06-11T18:05:00.001-07:00

Zarr, Sara. 2008. Sweethearts.

A dripping faucet.
Crumbs and a pink stain on the counter.
Half of a skin-black banana that smells as old as it looks.
If I look at these things and at nothing else, concentrated on them and stay still, and don't make any noise, this will be over soon and I can go home without Cameron's dad ever knowing I'm here.

In that image-packed opening to the prologue, we meet Jennifer Harris, a fifth grader, who followed her best friend, Cameron, home from school on her birthday. He told her he had a special gift just for her. What she didn't know--couldn't know--was that Cameron's father was an abusive man. A rageful man.

Some memories are slippery. There are things I want to remember about Cameron Quick that I can't entirely, like the pajamas he wore when he used to sleep over, and his favorite cereal, or how it felt to hold his hand as we walked home from school in third grade. I want to remember exactly how we became friends in the first place, a definite starting line that I can visit again and again. He's a story I want to know from page one.

Isn't that a great opening? That's the first paragraph of chapter one. Jenna is now in high school. (I want to say 17, but it could be 16 or 18.) She's Jennifer no longer. Jennifer was lonely, miserable, teased, picked on, a cry baby who wore her heart on her sleeve. Jennifer was an outcast. A loser. Jenna, well, Jenna is transformed. She's beautiful. She's popular. She's scared and sensitive on the inside (at times) but doesn't show it. Jenna Vaughn. J.V. Cool kid at last.

Sweethearts is the story of what happens to Jenna's life when Cameron Quick comes back from the dead. Okay, this isn't supernatural. Her mother let her believe a lie "for her own good" of course. Cameron Quick moved away quickly, suddenly, without a word, without a trace. The facts? His mother had finally worked up the courage to leave her husband. Cutting all ties to the past. Trying to start over--out of sight--somewhere new, somewhere they couldn't be found.

Can Jenna reconcile her past with her present? Does her heart still have room for her former best friend?

Sweethearts is a wonderful novel. I loved it. I really and truly loved it. The writing, the style, the characters, everything about this novel was so good, so right, as close to perfect as a writer can hope to achieve. Sara Zarr's powerful imagery is just fabulous in my opinion.

There are moments I missed being Jennifer the way you can miss versions of yourself when you get a totally new haircut, or a favorite pair of jeans finally wears out. Even though it was sad that I'd spent so much time home alone eating and reading, the truth was that those were some of my favorite memories. Getting lost in a book with something sweet or salty or hopefully both, like stacks of crackers with butter and jelly, seemed, in some ways, the closest I'd gotten to complete and total happiness. (66)

*Note I read an ARC of this.

Elizabeth Scott's Bloom

2008-06-11T18:03:00.001-07:00

Scott, Elizabeth. 2007. Bloom.

Ever wished for an intelligent take on VALLEY GIRL? You know, the 80s movie that presented a girl with the "perfect" boyfriend and friends...but who secretly wanted more. She wanted a different boy who wasn't so perfect. Who wasn't so stereotypically supreme. So deliciously popular. The movie was far from perfect, stress on the word "far," but it had its moments. The ending is still one of my all-time favorites. The song "I'll Melt With You" still gets to me. Why bring it up? Bloom is for me a smarter version of Valley Girl. No, it isn't set in the valley. There are no annoying accents or slang. But it's captured part of the essence in my opinion. Everything that I loved about Valley Girl is what I loved in Bloom. I am not trying to cheapen the book by comparing it to an old movie. I'm not suggesting the plot lacks originality. It IS a familiar story line. But it is done well. (Here's a secret: this was one of my favorite Barbie plot lines growing up.) The plot. The characters. They work for me. Now I can only speak for myself, but BLOOM works for me. Elizabeth Scott has added depth to this familiar story.

Lauren is our heroine. She has the perfect boyfriend, Dave. He's a star athlete. He's popular. He's got a great family. He's nice. He's pure. He's a perfect gentleman. He's religious. (He's saving himself for marriage.) Every day Lauren walks down the halls of her high school and sees hundreds of girls from freshman on up drooling over her boyfriend. He's so perfect that everyone wants him. There's not a girl who wouldn't give anything to be in her position. But Lauren can't help feeling that something is missing in her life. Sure, she's got a great boyfriend. But there's no passion. No chemistry. No friction. They never fight. They never disagree. Sure, she's happy to have him. But she's a little bored too when she's honest with herself. Katie is Lauren's best friend. Katie's life is far from perfect. With both of her parents being neglectful and essentially out of the picture (for various reasons), Katie has the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers: Gerald and Harold. The thing I liked about Bloom was that this novel was more than a book about Lauren. There were other characters that were developed. Other characters that mattered. Katie is one of them.

Enter Evan Kirkland. The not-so-perfect boy. The not-as-popular boy. Not-so-stereotypically dreamy guy. The new boy. From the moment she saw him in world history class, she can't stop thinking of him. All day. All night. Evan is in her thoughts. From his dirty fingernails. To the bruises on his hands or arms. Every little thing about him. She can almost sense him coming down the halls. It's like her body knows when he is coming her way. Evan. Her dirty little secret. When she first starts taking rides with him, she thinks she can keep her feelings under control. After all, she has a boyfriend. Everyone KNOWS she has a boyfriend. Evan knows.

One thing is certain, Lauren will have to make some choices and soon...how can a girl choose between her so-called perfect life and a new life full of risk and uncertainty. Dave is safe. He's known. She knows exactly what he's thinking. She knows exactly what he expects of her. Of where he wants their relationship to go. But Evan. Such an unknown. Such a risk. Such a thrilling risk. Does he like her? Does he want her? Would he treat her right?

Lauren isn't a copycat heroine. She has depth. She has personality. One of my favorite things about her? She loves to read. She wants to go to college and major in English. She wants to be a librarian. That is the kind of character I can relate to. Understand. Love. She isn't the perfect girlfriend. The perfect best friend. The perfect daughter. She isn't perfect. She's human. She has strengths, but she has weaknesses as well. It is the very fact that she's so "real" that will make this book memorable.

What can you expect from Bloom? Familiar storyline. Unique, well-developed characters. One very nice romance.

http://www.elizabethwrites.com/

Elizabeth Scott's Perfect You

2008-06-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Scott, Elizabeth. 2008. Perfect You.

Perfect You cemented, for me, the fact that Elizabeth Scott is without a doubt the next Sarah Dessen. In other words, a writer whose books CANNOT be missed because they are so utterly perfectly right. My first introduction to Elizabeth Scott came last May when I read and reviewed Bloom. If you haven't read it yet, you don't know what you're missing. Okay, that's not doing Scott much service. If you're a girl who loves realistic teen romance novels that make you grin from ear to ear then you should definitely seek out Elizabeth Scott's books. There, that's more specific.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing her last fall.

On to Perfect You.

Vitamins had ruined my life. Not that there was much left to ruin, but still.

How many novels have you read like that? Not many I'm betting. It continues, "I know blaming vitamins for my horrible life sounds strange. After all, vitamins are supposed to keep people healthy. Also, they're inanimate objects. But thanks to them I was stuck in the Jackson Center Mall watching my father run around in a bee costume."

Even if I wasn't previously familiar with Scott's work (or her blog), I think I'd be intrigued by the bee costume. It's a fact that teens are embarrassed by their parents. Often. A bee costume I think everyone can agree on is just cause for embarrassment. Our heroine, Kate, is a sophomore whose life has gone from middling to worse. She's never been popular. She's never been one of those girls who with a toss of her hair and a flash of a smile gets the guy. But her life has always been somewhat normal.

Not anymore.

When Kate's father has a light-bulb moment involving a bottle of Perfect You vitamins, Kate's world begins to collapse. He quits his job, rents a booth in the mall, and proceeds to tormenting his family by living out his dream. The family goes from functional to dysfunctional very very quickly. But even with her home life in chaos, it would all be okay if her best friend in the entire world was speaking to her.

Anna. Anna was her best friend. Her best friend. They told each other everything. They were always there side by side through it all. Neither girl being popular. Neither girl getting the guy. Neither girl the life of the party. But it was all okay. They had each other, right?

When the novel opens, Anna and Kate are long through. Anna having lost considerable weight over the summer is now an IT girl. She's popular as can be, and is dating one of the hottest most popular guys at school. Kate is so very beneath her now.

Dumped by her best friend and forced into working at the geeky vitamin booth at the mall while her dad practices new ways to humiliate her, she thinks life couldn't get any more complicated.

Enter Will.
Enter Grandma.

Oh, this novel is so good. So very, very good. Elizabeth Scott is a master at characters. Both Bloom and Perfect You have weight and substance. Yes, romance is involved in both. But life is always more complicated, more complex than just that. Her writing is for the heart, the mind, and the soul. Life. Love. Friendship. Family. School. Life isn't always beautiful. It isn't always fair. Its full of beginnings and endings. Some times you have to go with the flow.

I loved Kate. I loved her story. I highly recommend it.

I think this one would pair well with Sweethearts by Sara Zarr. It also vaguely reminded me of Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. (Except, and here's the thing, Sloppy Firsts and the subsequent sequels always annoyed me in parts. Perfect You was a better match for me.) Notes On a Near-Life Experience by Olivia Birdsall is another one that comes to mind. And of course Sarah Dessen fans should definitely try Elizabeth Scott.

Little Willow's review of Perfect You.
Bookshelves of Doom's review of Perfect You.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

What I'd recommend

2008-06-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a good place to begin with this challenge...I'd recommend the following to get you started.

You really must give Stephenie Meyer a try. Twilight is the first in the series. I won't lie. Not every single reader falls head-over-heels in love with it. Some are really really really enthusiastic about it. Some love it. Some just like it. And a few really don't get what the buzz is all about. But give her a chance, you might just find something you love!

I'd also say that Sarah Dessen is a must read. I've read all but one of her novels, and I've never ever been disappointed. Every fan has their favorite Dessen book. Personally, I loved The Truth About Forever the best of all. But other fans would swear by other titles. Lock & Key. Keeping the Moon. Just Listen. That Summer. Someone Like You. Dreamland.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is another fun choice. Like Twilight, it has some rather vocal and enthusiastic fans. It is the first in a trilogy.

Elizabeth Scott is a newer author, her first book was released in 2007, but already she is one of my favorites. Bloom, Perfect You, and Stealing Heaven would be good choices as well. I've read the first two. Stealing Heaven will be one of my choices for the challenge.

Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. If you're looking for the twinkie of romance novels, look no further. This book is fun and flirty. Light and frothy, yes, but oh-so-fun.

If you're looking for a little fantasy to add into the mix, then read Shannon Hale. She's a definite must read. I'm not saying you'll necessary love love love her as much as I have. But you just might.

If you'd like I can post some reviews ahead of schedule so you'd get a feel for the books and authors.

Why you should consider contributing to the blog...

2008-06-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Share reviews of your challenge reads
Share recommendations of favorite books, favorite authors
Share favorite quotes
Post your list for the challenge
Share teen-fiction related memes

The three Challenge buttons

2008-06-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

More on Romance Novels

2008-06-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

She propped up some cushions to lean against, and then she looked around for something to read. Her eyes fell on the books that Amanda had left behind. Why not try one of those? She picked the one with the dark-haired beauty on the cover and opened it at random:

In the candlelight, Blaine's eyes glittered like jewels. Clarissa caught her breath as he leaned toward her. What a magnificent man he was! His square jaw, his thick glossy black hair, his wide shoulders--her heart raced. When he reached out and stroked her cheek, she trembled all over. "Blaine," she said. "You must never leave me. I want to be with you always."

Nickie raised her eyes to the rain-spattered window. She tried to imagine feeling this way about someone. First she pictured Martin, with his hazel eyes and short red hair. Did she think he was magnificent? Not really. He seemed nice, and he was on the side of goodness. But he didn't make her heart race. She pictured Grover instead. His hair was cute, in a floppy sort of way. He was smart and interesting. He had a sense of humor, if you liked that kind of humor. But he was also a bit peculiar. She had no idea if he was on the side of goodness or not. And she certainly wouldn't say he was magnificent. If he stroked her cheek, would her heart race? No. She would think it was weird and creepy. Did she want to be with him always? Definitely not. It was hard to imagine wanting to be with anyone always. They'd be times when you wanted to be alone, or with someone else.

She turned a few pages and read some more:

Clarissa fled down the stone steps to the wind-swept beach, her raven tresses flowing out behind her. She scanned the empty sands, and when she saw no sign of Blain, a great cry of anguish escaped her lips. She could not live without him! She would sooner die!

Nickie shut the book. There was no doubt about it: if that was love, she was not in love with Martin or Grover. She could live without either of them perfectly well.

From THE PROPHET OF YONWOOD by Jeanne DuPrau, p. 169-170

Quotes on Romance Novels

2008-06-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

I was always daydreaming, getting a crush on some guy. Unrequited or not, during even the most awful day a crush could change everything--it could make you forget the two classes you failed last semester, and the general overall suckiness of your life. A crush removed the world, at least for a little while (139).

It was a romance novel entitled Larissa's Love Royale, which I'd bought in the gift shop. It wasn't one of those romances with a subtle cover that try to pass themselves off as ordinary books, either. No. This was all luscious bosom, gold embossed letters, and tanned male chestage, set on a Renaissance pirate ship (109)

In romance novels this would change everything. A hand holding on page fifteen and you knew for certain, no matter what, that the couple would end up together, that not even 350 pages of pirates, wars, family deception, or evil twins could keep them apart. That's what I liked about those books. I wanted to believe when I read them that that kind of love was possible and real, that it truly existed (217).

Part of me knew that it was unrealistic to hope for something, to transform our brief meeting into some whirlwind of eternal devotion...I wasn't sure what I'd do if I didn't have Richard to think about. Even if it was unrealistic for us to be together now, what was to stop us from connecting in the future, like the characters in a romance novel, meeting on page two and again on page two hundred? I could see Richard and myself at more appropriate ages...me, having graduated from college, in a job (anything but social worker), until some minor incident--a friend's baby, a sprained wrist--took me to the hospital. Years would have passed--no matter. He'd have been through girlfriends, many of them, but never married. In hours, it would happen as we'd always known it would: we'd kiss outside the hospital, a deep, shocking kiss, and the other doctors, the passengers in traffic, the visitors, the social workers--the whole world--would stop and stare in surprise(61-62).

From CURES FOR HEARTBREAK by Margo Rabb