Review: Startled by His Furry Shorts & Love is a Many Trousered Thing - Louise Rennsion

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (I bet you're thinking Hoorah hoorah new covers at last!)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 25, 2006
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 278 p. (with glossary)

Now see, these here are the new covers. I think I might do a Georgia Nicolson cover post at the end of the week because, she has a lot of covers for her books.

First Line:
"I can't believe I am once again on the rack of romance."

Favorite Line: (2 lines really)
"Call-me-Arnold did his sermon seated at our feet on a beanbag. I think it was mostly about ice cream."



Where I got it: Library
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (mmm pastries)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: June 24, 2008
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 265 p. (with glossary) + 11 p. EXTRAS

First Line:
"Run away, run away!!!"

Favorite Line:
"But I was still trapped in the bathroom with no makeup on, with a Luurve God just two inches of wood away."


Don't forget to enter my contest here.

Review: Away Laughing on a Fast Camel & Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers - Louise Rennison

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Gordy looks so ridiculous!)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 276 p. (with glossary)

It seems to me that the first thing Georgia is doing in every book is looking out her window. I appreciate that this is followed in nearly ever book.

First Line:
"Gray skies, gray clouds, gray knickers."

Favorite Line:
"Still, at least he is reading me rubbish and not trying to play tickly bears with me."




Where I got it: Library
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (I still like the new covers better I think.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: June 1, 2005
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 312 p. (with glossary)

First Line:
"Sun shining like a big yellow shining...er, warmey planet on fire thing."

Favorite Line:
"My ears feel like prostitutes."



Don't forget to enter my contest here.

Review: Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas & Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants - Louise Rennison

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (Was good for when it came out, but they have since redone the covers.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: May 14, 2002
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 183 p. (with glossary)

Georgia is back yet again in the "further, further confessions of Georgia Nicolson." Georgia must travel with her family to Och-aye Land (Scotland) where there is nothing to do but hang out at the 24-hour supermarket with the local Jock McThicks. When she finally returns she is excited about her debut as OG (Official Girlfriend). But will Georgia's Red-bottomosity get the best of her since Dave the Laugh seems to still be somewhat interested or does she only have eyes for the sex god? And what the hell are nunga-nungas!?!?! (answer:breasts)

First Line:
"Looking out my bedroom window, counting my unblessings."

Favorite Line:
"I said to Mutti, 'Why doesn't the man you live with go for a job of combination cat molester and teacher?'"

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (Was good for when it came out, but they have since redone the covers.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: March 4, 2003
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 214 p. (with glossary)

Here for your entertainment are the even further confessions of Georgia Nicolson. By book four you either hate Georgia or you love her hilariosity and start talking like her and thinking like her and in general being much much cooler than you were.

I think from here on out I shall only be posting The vitals and the first and my favorite line. Also I will post anything I feel is overly relevant. Point being to avoid spoilers, because even though these don't necessarily keep you on the edge of your seat they do have a slight air of Gasp! What's going to happen next? to them.

First Line:
"I've just seen a sparrow be quite literally washed off its perch on a tree."

Favorite Line:
"I will have an early night to prepare myself for heavy snogging duties."

Don't forget to enter my contest here.

Review: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging & On the Bright Side, I 'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God - Louise Rennison

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (Was good for when it came out, but they have since redone the covers.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 26, 2000
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 247 p. (with glossary)

Georgia Nicolson is you're typical England teenager. She has issues with her appearance and wants to snog a sex god. After hooking up with a few less than savory lads, like the Whelk boy and Mark the Big Gob, she finally sets her sights on a sex god, Robbie. The only problem is Wet Lindsay, Robbie's girlfriend. Join in Georgia's misadventures of teenagedom, as she tries to overcome all the bad and make everything fabbity fab!

This book is a laugh, this whole series is a life. If you enjoy British books and laughing then you should most certainly pick this up. At some parts I laughed myself to tears. Georgia Nicolson is very ridiculous. I love the format of this book. It is written as Georgia's diary, which allows for much amusement as she narrates and can therefore continue being ridiculous. This book is such a fast read though and the glossary in the back is hilarious. So if you haven't read and/or heard of these books before now is the time to start reading them.

First Line:
"Dad and Uncle Eddie round, so naturally they had to come and see what I was up to."

Favorite Line:
"Talking of breasts, I'm worried that I may end up like the rest of the women in my family, with just the one bust, like a sort of shelf affair."

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (Was good for when it came out, but they have since redone the covers.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 10, 2001
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 243 p. (with glossary)

Georgia is back again in this outrageous sequel to Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal snogging. This time she's got the sex god, but not for long. Robbie breaks it of with Georgia because he thinks she is too young. So Georgia has to devise a plan to show her maturiosity and irresistibly, she needs a red herring. Since when Robbie broke it off he told her she should see Dave the Laugh, Georgia figures he's the perfect person to help her win Robbie back. But can Georgia keep him as a red herring or will Dave the Laugh be too much of a good thing?

First Line:
"Staring out of my bedroom window at other people having a nice life."

Favorite Line:
"It came out of her bum-oley with such force that she lifted off my knee."

Don't forget to enter my contest here.

National Georgia Nicolson PANTS! WEEK!

That's right ladies and gents. I have officially(without any real officialness) declared it PANTS! Week in honor of the one and only Georgia Nicolson. For those of you thinking I'm off my rocker (and those who have lived under a rock since the 90's) Georgia Nicolson is the master of Hilariousoity brought to you in part by Louise Renninson.Yes, yes and you will notice above a picture of our lovely Georgie as portrayed in Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging the(alright) movie which combines the first two books in her series. SO... since it is PANTS! week we will have a giveaway. For either the first book in the series(for those of you who don't already have them) or for the newest book; Are Those My Basoomas I See Before Me? Please specify in the comments which one (or both you greedy buggers;) that you are hoping to get if in fact I call your name. There will be two Winners each will get one of the books. This contest is open INTERNATIONALLY! To enter leave a way for me to contact you below along with (I hope you didn't forget already) your choice(s) of book(please say both if you would like to enter for either book). Extra points if you comment on my book reviews that will be happening all this week (don't forget PANTS!). This contest will most likely end on May 1st so don't miss it! Good luck and good day!

This is Louise Rennison------>
Here's a little snippet about her from her website:
"When Louise was 15, her parents decided to emigrate to Wairakei in New Zealand. Its main claim to fame is that it had some of the most violent geothermal activity in the world. “When we had Sunday lunch in the back garden, the tables heaved and lurched around, and the trees went backwards and forwards. That was because underneath the table, underneath the earth’s surface, thousands of cubic feet of molten steam was trying to get out … and kill us!” Louise’s dad had his shoes blown off by a rogue bore."

In My Mailbox #39

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

Bought/swapped:

Emily the Strange: Lost Days - Rob Reger, Jessica Gruner and Buzz Parker

13 Elements you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel:

1. Mystery
2. A beautiful golem
3. Souped-up slingshots
4. Four black cats
5. Amnesia
6. Calamity Poker
7. Angry ponies
8. A shady truant officer
9. Top-13 lists
10. A sandstorm generator
11. DoppelgÄngers
12. A secret mission
13. Earwigs

Emily the Strange: 13 years old. Able to leap tall buildings, probably, if she felt like it. More likely to be napping with her four black cats; or cobbling together a particle accelerator out of lint, lentils, and safety pins; or rocking out on drums/ guitar/saxophone/zither; or painting a swirling feral sewer mural; or forcing someone to say "swirling feral sewer mural" 13 times fast . . . and pointing and laughing. 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green and David Levithan

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Seeing Red - Frank Beddor

Wonderland finally seems as if it's getting back to normal. Queen Alyss is back on the throne, and reunited with her childhood sweetheart, Dodge. But the fight for Wonderland is far from over. King Arch, in nearby Boarderland, is conniving to overthrow everything for which Alyss and her friends have fought so hard. Even worse, King Arch has found an ally in the recently returned Redd, who has been biding her time and gathering new and evil assassins in the Catacombs of Paris. With enemies circling and danger looming, someone close to Alyss lets her down-and threatens the future of Wonderland forever.

How to Buy a Love of Reading - Tanya Egan Gibson

To Carley Wells, words are the enemy: the countless SAT lists from her tutor, the “fifty-seven pounds overweight” assessment from her personal trainer, and most of all, the “confidential” Getting To Know You assignment from her insane English teacher (whose literary terminology lessons include “Backstory is Afterbirth” and “Setting is Nobody’s Slut”). When he tells her parents that she’s answered “What is your favorite book?” with “Never met one I liked,” they become determined to fix what he calls her “intellectual impoverishment.” They will commission a book to be written for Carley that she’ll have to love—one that will impress her teacher and the whole town of Fox Glen with their family’s devotion to the arts. They will be patrons—the Medicis of Long Island. They will buy their daughter The Love Of Reading.
Impossible though it is for Carley to imagine ever loving words, she is in love with a young bibliophile who cares about them more than anything. Anything, that is, but a good bottle of scotch. Hunter Cay, Carley’s best friend and Fox Glen’s resident golden boy, is becoming a stranger to her as he drowns himself in F. Scott Fitzgerald, booze, and Vicodin.
When the Wellses move writer Bree McEnroy—author of a failed meta-novel about Odysseus’s voyages through the Internet—into their mansion to write Carley’s book, Carley’s sole interest in the project is its potential to distract Hunter from drinking and give them something to share. Instead, as Hunter’s behavior becomes erratic and dangerous, she finds herself drawn into the fictional world Bree has created and begins to understand for the first time the power of stories—those we read, those we want to believe in, and most of all, those we tell ourselves about ourselves. Stories powerful enough to destroy a person.
Or save her.

North of Beautiful - Justina Chen Headley

Born with a port-wine stain birthmark covering her entire right cheek, Terra Rose Cooper is ready to leave her stifling, small Washington town where everyone knows her for her face. With her critical, reproachful father and an obese mother who turns to food to deflect her father's verbal attacks, home life for Terra isn't so great either. Fueled by her artistic desires, she plans to escape to an East Coast college, thinking this is her true path. When her father intercepts her acceptance letter, Terra is pushed off-course, and she is forced to confront her deepest insecurities. After an ironically fortuitous car accident, Terra meets Jacob, a handsome but odd goth Chinese boy who was adopted from China as a toddler. Jacob immediately understands Terra's battle with feeling different. When Terra's older brother invites her and her mother to visit him in Shanghai, Jacob and his mother also join them on their journey, where they all not only confront the truth about themselves, but also realize their own true beauty.

 
Lost It - Kristen Tracy

...if your best friend were plotting the annihilation of a small, furry neighborhood poodle? Or if your parents up and moved to an Outward Bound-type survival camp in the middle of the desert? How about if your grandmother bought you new bras and underwear -- and you actually thought they were a teensy bit, umm, sexy?
Most people would not react well.
Tess Whistle's junior year of high school is off to a fairly bizarre start. One might even say her life is spiraling out of control. But with her sense of humor firmly intact and her first real boyfriend on her arm, Tess is dealing with the ridiculous twists quite well, thankyouverymuch.
Just wait until her shoes explode.

How I Found the Perfect Dress - Maryrose Wood
On a bike tour of Ireland last summer, Morgan Rawlinson fell for Colin, the hunky guide, and entered a portal that turned her into the goddess Morganne. Now she’s back to her painfully normal life and her relationship with Colin has fizzled to the occasional e-mail…until he writes saying he’s coming to Connecticut—just in time for the prom.
But when he arrives, he’s exhausted. It seems that when Morgan crossed the portal as Morganne, a spell was cast on Colin. In his dreams he’s being forced to dance ’til dawn with the faeries, who want to boogie with him for eternity. Somehow she has to break the spell on her date, help plan the prom, and find the perfect dress. Oh, what a night…


Mr. Darcy, Vampyre - Amanda Grange
Amanda Grange's style and wit bring readers back to Jane Austen's timeless storytelling, but always from a very unique and unusual perspective, and now Grange is back with an exciting and completely new take on Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, this tale is full of danger, darkness and immortal love.

Life, After - Sarah Darer Littman 
Everything changes for Dani and her family when a truck loaded with explosives detonates outside the AMIA building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing her beloved aunt and unborn cousin. Because of the ensuing political upheaval, economic hardship, and emotional toll, Dani's family moves to the U.S. It is a terrifying place--new school, new language, new hardships--and Dani's angry father is turning into a stranger, more so everyday. Just when Dani thinks she is about to lose it, she befriends Jessica, one of the girls who has been cruelly teasing her since she arrived.
It is the most unlikely of friendships. Jessica is wealthy, groomed, spoiled. But Jessica has a past that only Dani can understand. She lost her father in 9/11. It is a friendship that allows them both to heal in unexpected and surprising ways, and changes them and their families forever. 


Won: from The Story Siren

Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
Tender Morsels is a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, a world given to her in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters grow up in this soft place, protected from the violence that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever—magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Liga’s refuge. Now, having known Heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?

Title links bring you to GoodReads pages, Author links bring you to their website. What did everyone else get this past week?

Review: 13 Treasures - Michelle Harrison

Where I got it: ARC from Little, Brown and Co.
Rating:  5 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (U.S. cover your left) 5 stars (U.K. cover your right)
Genre: Middle Grade
Publication Date: April 12, 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 353 p.

Tanya sees faeries and as she knows she is the only one. When her mother gets sick of the destruction the faeries leave behind (for Tanya to take blame for) she ships Tanya off to her grandmother's. Here Tanya starts to find clues about faeries and how to protect herself. Though she may not be protected enough. She tries to let Fabian in so that together they might solve some of the mysteries, but without the second sight, he's not too much help. With all the mystery surrounding the manor and nearby woods, Tanya has quite a few things to figure out. Without the right help, she might find herself caught in the faerie realm.

I'm not quite sure what made me love this book so much exactly, but it is now one of my favorites. I loved the little snippets of folklore and I loved Tanya and Fabian. They were really fun and curious kids. I wish Fabian's scientific mind came into play more, it seemed like a wasted idea. One thing that I am curious about is why when that burned hair(it makes sense when you read it) and lots of it for that matter, why did no one smelled it? If you burn a small clump of hair it stinks and it is a very distinct gross smell. Yet no one in the book commented on it. I found that a bit bizarre. I did love all the mysteries and the twists and turns and little "a-ha" moments. This is a truly remarkable debut and I certainly look forward to Michelle Harrison's next endeavor. Check this out if you are looking for a darkly mysterious novel about fey.


First Line: "She was aware of their presence in the room before she even awoke."

Favorite Line: "The tip of a matted ginger tail was just visible from the side of the grandfather clock. It flicked once in agitation."

Review: Party - Tom Leveen

Where I got it: ARC from Princess Bookie's Around the World Tours
Rating:  4.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (eye-catching, but missing that certain something that makes it WOW)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 27, 2010
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 228 p.

Eleven kids go to a party. Eleven different kids go to the same party. Eleven different kids go to the same party and have different experiences that at some point during the night become the same experience. Each person is there for their own reasons, and you're about to find out what those reasons are and how this night will play out.

I loved how this story was written, each chapter a different perspective. I enjoyed how the stories overlapped and continued so that some scenes got two different angles to describe them, but the story kept on moving. The characters all get to connect and interact, sometimes in good ways(love<3) sometimes in bad(fight-scene 0_0) ways. This story flowed so nicely even when the perspective changed. It's like the camera zoomed out on one person and rewound the scene a little on it's way to the next person than resumed. This book was very realistic, because the party wasn't completely outrageous. Everything that happened could have happened without any stretch of the imagination. It's sad, it's heartwarming, it might make you laugh or get angry but you'll enjoy it. This is definitely a book to check out; a fast, fun read.

First Line: "I'm the girl nobody knows until she commits suicide."


Favorite Line: "He leaned forward and read every letter of the scrolling captions like they were they Raider's secret playbook."

Review: Whisper - Phoebe Kitanidis

Where I got it: ARC from One ARC Tours
Rating:  3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (mmmmmm)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: May 1, 2010
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Page Count: 281 p.

Joy has a gift. She can hear peoples desires. The other women in her family can too. Joy uses her power to help people, she always tries to give them what they want. Joy loves her gift, but her sister, Jessica, tells her it's a curse. Joy can't believe this about her gift, especially when Jessica just seems to try and make everyone miserable. But when Joy starts hearing peoples darker desires she wonders if maybe her sister was right. When she hears a whisper from her missing sister, she knows she has to save her, even if she has to get help from someone she barely knows but might be able to relate to.

I really enjoyed this book. The idea of Whispers(people's desires) is one I've had yet to read about in this recent paranormal outbreak. This was a great debut novel and I am looking forward to the rest of Joy's story, if there is in fact more to come. This book definitely needs a sequel though, to help explain a lot of what is missing from this first book. Also I feel like some of the characters could use some extra developing. The romance in this novel seemed pretty all of a sudden, though I guess fiction mimics life. Not all connections are nicely mapped out, but they didn't seem that connected at all until the end. I appreciate the growth Joy experienced throughout this novel and how she learned to stand up on her own. She seemed really clingy and pathetic in the beginning, so it was nice that she could grow up. Phoebe Kitanidis is an author to look out for. I feel like there will be many great things to come.

First Line: "My sister showed me how to Hear a Whisper when I was three."


Favorite Line: "We wasn't even a real spider."

Review: Guardian of the Dead - Karen Healey

Where I got it: ARC from Little, Brown and Co.
Rating:  5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (the lips should be red)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 1, 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 345 p.

Ellie is just a normal girl in a New Zealand boarding school. She has a best friend, Kevin and she has a crush on a boy. She worries about curfew and getting caught with Kevin spending the night. When she bumps into(literally) her crush, her eyes start to open and she's about to find out that things are not always as they seem.

Break out your dictionary and brush up on your Māori   mythology. Karen Healey deftly crafts a tale which combines modern day with ancient legends. If you love mythology you will love this book. I really appreciated that our main character, Ellie, was not weak. She wasn't overly powerful, but she could hold her own for the most part. I also love that at one point she does have to question or at least drastically come to terms with the going-ons that crop up around her. Normally the characters just accept everything that is going on and no one thinks to stop and say "hmmm... well that's not right?". She was so real and just amazing. There was romance and legends and betrayals and of course an EPIC BATTLE! This book kept me on my toes. I was never sure what might happen or if someone was going to throw in the towel. If you don't have a copy of this book, you need to get one as soon as possible. This debut can not be missed. This book is not for the faint of heart however. There are parts that might make your skin crawl or your stomach churn. Not a lot of those parts, but you've been warned. Ellie's the best Heroine I have read so far. I look forward to who Karen Healey will introduce us to next.

First Line: "I opened my eyes."

Favorite Line: "I worked steadily, touching the note in my pocket every now and then to make sure it was still there, like tonguing a sore tooth."

Teaser Tuesday #27

This week's Teaser Tuesday is from
Girl Goddess #9 - Francesca Lia Block

(page: 141)

"Her mother sat Tweetie on her lap and fed her frozen peas until she stopped crying. Tweetie thought they tasted like candy, while unfrozen peas were mushy and not as sweet."


Teaser Tuesday is brought to us by Should be Reading.
Rules:
1) Grab your current read
2) Open to a random page
3) Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4) BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

In My Mailbox #38

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

 For Review:

Nightshade - Andrea Cremer (Thanks Penguin!)

 I am so excited to read this one and so excited I received it! What a great surprise!

While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and on her eighteenth-birthday she’ll become the alpha female of the next generation of Guardian wolves. But Calla’s predestined path veers off course the moment she saves the life of a wayward hiker, a boy her own age. This human boy’s secret will turn the young pack's world upside down and forever alter the outcome of the centuries-old Witches' War that surrounds them all. Click Here to visit the Nightshade website.

Shadow Hills - Anastasia Hopcus (Thanks Egmont!) My review

After her sister Athena's tragic death, it's obvious that grief-stricken Persephone "Phe" Archer no longer belongs in Los Angeles. Hoping to make sense of her sister's sudden demise and the cryptic dreams following it, Phe abandons her bubbly LA life to attend an uptight East Coast preparatory school in Shadow Hills, MA -- a school which her sister mysteriously mentioned in her last diary entry before she died.

Party - Tom Leveen (Princess Bookie's Around the World Tours)

It’s saturday night in Santa Barbara and school is done for the year. Everyone is headed to the same party. Or at least it seems that way. The place is packed. The beer is flowing. Simple, right? But for 11 different people the motives are way more complicated. As each character takes a turn and tells his or her story – one character per chapter – the eleven individuals intersect, and reconnect, collide, and combine in ways that none of them ever saw coming.

Bought/Swapped:

If the Witness Lied - Caroline B. Cooney

Jack Fountain knows that what’s happened to his family sounds like the most horrible soap opera anyone could ever write. But it happened—to Jack; his parents; his sisters, Smithy and Madison. And to his baby brother, Tris. What made it worse was that the media wanted to know every detail.
Now it’s almost Tris’s third birthday, and everything’s starting again. Aunt Cheryl, who’s living with the Fountain children now that their parents are gone, has decided that they will heal only if they work through their pain—on camera. The very identities they’ve created for themselves are called into question. In less than twenty-four hours their fate will change yet again, but this time they vow to not be exploited and to discover the truth.

Slept Away - Julie Kraut

Laney Parker is a city girl through and through. For her, summertime means stepping out of her itchy gray school uniform and into a season of tanning at rooftop swimming pools, brunching at sidewalk cafes, and—as soon as the parents leave for the Hamptons—partying at her classmates’ apartments.
But this summer Laney’s mother has other plans for Laney. It’s called Camp Timber Trails and rustic doesn’t even begin to describe the un-air-conditioned log cabin nightmare. Laney is way out of her element—the in-crowd is anything but cool, popularity seems to be determined by swimming skills, and the activities seem more like boot camp than summer camp.
Splattered with tie dye fall out, stripped of her cell, and going through Diet Coke withdrawal, Laney is barely hanging on. Being declared the biggest loser of the bunk is one thing, but when she realizes her summer crush is untouchably uncrushable in the real world, she starts to wonder, can camp cool possibly translate to cool cool?
Summer camp might just turn this city girl’s world upside down! 

Skinned - Robin Wasserman

Some miracles come with a price . . .
Lia Kahn was perfect: rich, beautiful, popular. Until the accident that nearly killed her.
Now she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can't ever truly die.

Zombie Haiku - Ryan Mecum

Perfect for zombiephiles, video game addicts, grindhouse nostalgists, and horror movie fanatics, Zombie Haiku is the touching story of a zombie's gradual decay told through the intimate poetry of haiku. From infection to demise, readers will accompany the narrator on a zen journey through deserted streets and barracaded doors for every eye-popping, gut-wrenching, flesh-eating moment right up until the inevitable bullet to the brain. Plus the book is illustrated with over 50 photos from the zombie's eye and designed with extra blood, guts and pus!

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys

A celebration of the most important relationship in a straight girl's life;her gay best friend. Thanks to iconic duos such as Sex and the City's Carrie and Stanford and the title characters of Will & Grace, the love affair between straight women and gay men has moved into the mainstream.
Never before, though, has a book looked at these friendships in the real world. The editors, themselves best friends, have put together this collection of hilarious and poignant never-before-published essays that explore this unique relationship. In addition to stories about single girls and gay guys bonding over shopping sprees and brunch, these stories chronicle love and lust, infatuation and heartbreak, growing up and coming out, and family and children.

Black-Eyed Suzie - Susan Shaw

I actually got a chance to meet Susan Shaw when she came into our library one day. She was really nice and even offered to sign our copy of The Boy From the Basement. 

"I live in a box with four sides, tall and brown. I cannot get out."
So opens the story of a twelve-year-old girl trapped in a devastating psychological prison. In it, she sits with arms wrapped around her legs, feet on the cushion of the family's gold living room chair, knees pressed against her chin. Seeking only to be "good enough," she remains motionless and silent for hours on end, feeling the walls of her prison pressing against her. To make sense of her world, Suzie must piece together a puzzle that involves seemingly unrelated clues--a broken bicycle, a torn picture, peacock feathers, ducks swimming in a pond on the hospital grounds, and a batch of burned cookies. Together, these pieces reveal a secret that is likely to change Suzie's life forever--and give her an opportunity to regain her voice and reclaim her spirit. Susan Shaw's compelling novel is an inspiring story about a child who, with patience and guidance, overcomes immense problems and regains control of her life.

The Realm of Possibility - David Levithan 

Here’s what I know about the realm of possibility—
it is always expanding, it is never what you think
it is. Everything around us was once deemed
impossible. From the airplane overhead to
the phones in our pockets to the choir girl
putting her arm around the metalhead.
As hard as it is for us to see sometimes, we all exist
within the realm of possibility. Most of the limits
are of our own world’s devising. And yet,
every day we each do so many things
that were once impossible to us. 

So, titles link to GoodReads pages to add yo your ever-growing TBR lists; authors link to author pages and all summaries were taken from somewhere(probably author pages and goodreads). So what did you all get this week?

National Library Week Links

So in honor of National Library Week, I thought I'd link to some pages that I have been checking out that are sucessfully honoring libraries and librarians alike. Enjoy!

Author, Jo Knowles wrote a great post about how everyone is welcome in puclic libraries.

Kate of The Neverending Shelf is doing a lot of great posts this week including a post of ALA's top 10 most challenged books, a post about Her library and how you can help out your own library easily, and a guest post by Helen Murdoc about School Librarians.

Leap Books wrote this great post where they interviewes librarian, Dr. Leigh Ann Jones, and let us in on the secret life of librarians.

Steph Su wrote a nice post a few weeks ago with tips on donating books to your library. 

Kristen from Bookworming in the 21st Century did a post about The Calling of a Librarian, a post about How Libraries Struggle and she too did an Interview with School Librarian Helen Murdoc.

Also, the PAYA (bringing YA to PA) Spring Auctions are open, so drop buy and bid on some great items.

And I leave you all with a link to the greatest comic strip about libraries EVER!




HAPPY READING!

Review: Mockingbird - Kathryn Erskine

Where I got it: ARC from Princess Bookie's Around the World Tours
Rating:  4.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (I like the pronunciation for the title)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 15, 2010
Publisher: Philomel
Page Count: 235 p.

Caitlin has Asperger's Syndrome and she has lost the one person who understood and was helping her "not act so weird".  Her brother, Devon, was always helping her by telling her what not to do. When he gets shot in a school shooting though, he is gone from her life forever. Now Caitlin has to find her own way to make friends and find closure, even if she needs a little help from her counselor.

This was a very touching novel. I had mistaken this for The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney, which is a very different story. I was not disappointed by this one though. This novel really got inside the head of someone who looks at the world a little differently than most people. It talks about loss and how much it affects everyone in a community and how some people have a harder time getting on afterward. Kathryn did an excellent job capturing the children's grief and Caitlin's journey into finding closure. I loved the relationship with Caitlin and her father. In the book she compares them(after her brother has) to Atticus and Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird. Her father is definitely strong like Atticus because you can see how hard it is for him to cope with the loss of his wife and son while taking care of Caitlin. He is very patient. This book should be a must read for any middle school or high school student. It has so many good aspects that will help people not only understand Asperger's but also to understand how everyone feels grief a little differently.

First Line:
"It looks like a one-winged bird crouching in the corner of our living room."

Favorite Line:
"I push my head farther under the sofa cushion but it doesn't swallow me up like I want it to."

Review: A Little Wanting Song - Cath Crowley

Where I got it: ARC from Princess Bookie's Around the World Tours
Rating:  4.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Eye-catching and combines the elements of the inside book designs nicely. )
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: June 8, 2010
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 263 p.

Charlie Duskin loves music.  She loves the way everything in this world has it's own sounds that combine to make the sweet songs of life. She only sings by herself now though, except when she sneaks a song she's recorded onto somebody's CD. Her mother and her grandmother have both died and this has somehow managed to pull her dad and her further apart, instead of closer together. She is sick of living in the shadows, she wants people to notice she's not that uncool.
Rose Butler is the girl next door to Charlie's summer getaway.  She has a boyfriend who's constantly getting in trouble and her best friend seems to follow him. She just wants to get out of the small, nothing town. She won a scholarship to go to a school in the city, but her mom won't let her go. Rose decides that maybe if she buddies up with Charlie, she might just be Rose's ticket out of here.

This was a very emotional novel. Well-written and breath-taking. I loved how Rose and Charlie's stories intertwined and overlapped. I really enjoyed reading the little bits of Charlie' songs that were interspersed between chapters. I do have to say I find it weird that Dave wore singlets all the time. Maybe this is an Australian thing? (no offense to Australia) They aren't overly attractive. This novel showed some typical teens struggling against problems many of us face; absent parents, crushes, bad choices, trying to make something of oneself. This novel shows the growth of at least two people into much better versions of themselves. They become stronger and much more self-assured. This was a beautiful, fun, funky read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As far as realistic fiction goes this was a pleasant, well-paced read.

First Line:
"Dad and I leave town in the early dark."

Favorite Line:
"She's yelling at forever
That's been breathing down her neck"

In My Mailbox #37

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

Bought/Swapped:

The Beach - Alex Garland

 In our ever-shrinking world, where popular Western culture seems to have infected every nation on the planet, it is hard to find even a small niche of unspoiled land--forget searching for pristine islands or continents. This is the situation in Alex Garland's debut novel, The Beach. Human progress has reduced Eden to a secret little beach near Thailand. In the tradition of grand adventure novels, Richard, a rootless traveler rambling around Thailand on his way somewhere else, is given a hand-drawn map by a madman who calls himself Daffy Duck. He and two French travelers set out on a journey to find this paradise.

What makes this a truly satisfying novel is the number of levels on which it operates. On the surface it's a fast-paced adventure novel; at another level it explores why we search for these utopias, be they mysterious lost continents or small island communes. Garland weaves a gripping and thought-provoking narrative that suggests we are, in fact, such products of our Western culture that we cannot help but pollute and ultimately destroy the very sanctuary we seek

The Princess Bride - William Goldman ( I love this movie but have never read the book... so I figured it was time!)

 The Princess Bride is a true fantasy classic. William Goldman describes it as a "good parts version" of "S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure." Morgenstern's original was filled with details of Florinese history, court etiquette, and Mrs. Morgenstern's mostly complimentary views of the text. Much admired by academics, the "Classic Tale" nonetheless obscured what Mr. Goldman feels is a story that has everything: "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."

If I Stay - Gayle Forman

On a day that started like any other…
Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the one decision she has left—the most important decision she’ll ever make.

Fool - Christopher Moore

A man of infinite jest, Pocket has been Lear's cherished fool for years, from the time the king's grown daughters—selfish, scheming Goneril, sadistic (but erotic-fantasy-grade-hot) Regan, and sweet, loyal Cordelia—were mere girls. So naturally Pocket is at his brainless, elderly liege's side when Lear—at the insidious urging of Edmund, the bastard (in every way imaginable) son of the Earl of Gloucester—demands that his kids swear their undying love and devotion before a collection of assembled guests. Of course Goneril and Regan are only too happy to brownnose Dad. But Cordelia believes that her father's request is kind of . . . well . . . stupid, and her blunt honesty ends up costing her her rightful share of the kingdom and earns her a banishment to boot.

Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere.
And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And Lumatere is safe.
Until the 'five days of the unspeakable', when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And an imposter king takes the throne.
And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.
But ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light... 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky 

A trite coming-of-age novel that could easily appeal to a YA readership, filmmaker Chbosky's debut broadcasts its intentions with the publisher's announcement that ads will run on MTV. Charlie, the wallflower of the title, goes through a veritable bath of bathos in his 10th grade year, 1991. The novel is formatted as a series of letters to an unnamed "friend," the first of which reveals the suicide of Charlie's pal Michael. Charlie's response--valid enough--is to cry. The crying soon gets out of hand, though--in subsequent letters, his father, his aunt, his sister and his sister's boyfriend all become lachrymose. Charlie has the usual dire adolescent problems--sex, drugs, the thuggish football team--and they perplex him in the usual teen TV ways. [...] Into these standard teenage issues Chbosky infuses a droning insistence on Charlie's supersensitive disposition. Charlie's English teacher and others have a disconcerting tendency to rhapsodize over Charlie's giftedness, which seems to consist of Charlie's unquestioning assimilation of the teacher's taste in books. In the end we learn the root of Charlie's psychological problems, and we confront, with him, the coming rigors of 11th grade, ever hopeful that he'll find a suitable girlfriend and increase his vocabulary.

Sapphique - Catherine Fisher

Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside. Outside, Claudia insists he must be king, but Finn doubts even his own identity. Is he the lost prince Giles? Or are his memories no more than another construct of his imprisonment? And can you be free if your friends are still captive? Can you be free if your world is frozen in time? Can you be free if you don't even know who you are? Inside Incarceron, has the crazy sorcerer Rix really found the Glove of Sapphique, the only man the Prison ever loved. Sapphique, whose image fires Incarceron with the desire to escape its own nature. If Keiro steals the glove, will he bring destruction to the world? Inside. Outside. All seeking freedom. Like Sapphique.

The River - Mary Jane Beaufrand

Following her father’s emotional breakdown, Veronica moves with her family from Portland to tiny Hoodoo, Oregon, where her parents open an inn. Her father’s condition improves and her mother, a celebrity chef, is just fine, thank you. But Ronnie is bereft, unable to get over all the things she’s left behind in the big city. And then the young girl she’s been babysitting dies—an accidental drowning, the authorities think, but Ronnie’s not so sure and sets out to investigate. Beaufrand does a nice job of building suspense and integrating a gradually developing romance that surprises Ronnie and will satisfy readers. Less rewarding is the gradual unraveling of the plot and an ending that is at once predictable and anticlimactic. Nevertheless, the characters are appealing, the setting is well realized, and there is more than enough suspense to satisfy most mystery fans.

Won:

Good Girl's Guide to Getting Kidnapped - Yxta Maya Murray

Won during Princess Bookie's Contest Craze from Shanyn at Chick Loves Lit

 The pace never slows in this gripping novel that begins when 15-year-old Michelle blasts past her competition at a regional track meet. What even her best friend, Kiki, doesn’t know is that Mish is running just as hard from her past, when she was known as Princess P, the daughter of a leader in one of South L.A.’s toughest gangs. While her family is in jail, Michelle has turned her life around with the help of a great, if neurotic, foster dad. Then the gang resurfaces and kidnaps Kiki and Michelle. In her powerful narrative, Michelle slides into gangsta mode, explaining jargon and gang behaviors to Kiki, and uninitiated readers, without distracting from the story. The characters are all developed and memorable, especially Michelle and Kiki, who almost hurtle from the pages, and the sense of place is vivid. Even as the cinematic action and violence races along, readers will never lose track of the story’s driving question—can Michelle ever leave her past behind?—as they race to the ambiguous conclusion.

For Review: From One ARC Tours

Whisper - Phoebe Kitanidis

Joy is used to Hearing Whispers--to walking down the street and instantly knowing people's deepest, darkest desires. She uses this talent for good, to make people happy and give them what they want. But for her older sister Jessica, the family gift is a curse and she uses it to make people's lives--especially Joy's--miserable. Still, when Joy Hears a mysterious and frightening Whisper from Jessica's own mind, she knows she has to save her sister, even if it means running away with a boy she barely knows--a boy who may have a dark secret of his own.

So what did you all get?

Simply Saturday

I just wanted to have a cover share today.... first I will share some similar covers. I know a lot of people do this and I'm not sure who started it, so if it was you... or you know who started it please leave it in the comments. FANKS!

 There are clearly some difference between the Man or Mango and the Feed covers, but really baldy back of head = look-alikes.

This picture was really just cropped differently and Colors were altered a bit. It is a really great image though, so I can see why they would use it. Based on the titles alone they both seem to fit with the image.

Okay again some key differences between Leap of Faith and Cracked Up to Be. I'm sure this is probably from the same photo session at least. Both of them look great and fit in with the stories though.

And now some great covers that I'm sure you've all seen but that are beautiful and I want to but them here anyways.

Okay that's all for today.