Review: Vampire High - Douglas Rees

Where I got it: Inter-library Loan
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 2 stars (I don't like that's it's so cartoon-y and what is he doing with that eye there?!??!)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 9, 2003
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 226 p.

Cody Eliot did not approve of his parents move from California to Massachusetts. He missed the water and his old life. When he flunks out of Cotton Mather his dad decides it's time for a change, and enrolls him into Vlad Dracul. Cody gets accepted very quickly on the terms that  he is will try out for the Water Polo team. After noticing how odd everyone is and rescuing one of his classmates, he is let on to a secret; everyone in the school is a vampire. The only non-vampires are his water polo teammates. They need a water polo team so they can continue to get state funding, and since vampires can't go in water they let in some humans to form the team. Cody doesn't like the fact that just because he's human he doesn't get graded for real and decides to do something about it. All the changes he is making however is causing the principal a lot of discomfort. Will the principal expel Cody or will Cody end up saving the school and helping his fellow classmate?

This was a really fun book. It was a refreshing change of pace from the drama-induced vampire romances that seem to be plentiful. This was just a really fun book about a kid who ends up in a school of vampires and tries to make some friends even though he is very different. I think this will appeal to younger kids entering the YA genre, as well as YA veterans. It is mild in content and Cody and his friends are an odd bunch to watch. Occasionally Cody would same something out of character, an obscure reference or an oddly SAT-sounding word, but overall his voice was spot on. I also enjoyed all the chapter titles(What to Get for the Vampire Who Has Everything, How to Become a Marked Gadje Without Even Trying). I certainly look forward to reading about their sophomore year. I recommend this to anyone who wants a fun vampire novel.

First Line:
"This all began the day I came home with straight Fs."


Favorite Lines:
"Every book inside was a copy of Dracula. Shelves and shelves of it in English, but there was a section that has it in other languages, too. Every other language, it seemed like."

Teaser Tuesday #34

This week's Teaser Tuesday is from Ninth Ward - Jewell Parker Rhodes

(page: 54)

"I can smell the trees, flowers, and bacon. Everybody in my neighborhood loves bacon."

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!

Review: Winter Longing - Tricia Mills

Where I got it: Arc from the publisher
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 3.5 stars (it's simple but pleasant, it looks like a love story)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 12, 2010
Publisher: Razorbill
Page Count: 266 p.


You know that friend you grow up with and end up starting to have feelings for when you get older? Well, this is the case with Winter and Spencer. Soon after Winter confesses her feelings to Spencer he has to leave to take an airplane license test. When Spencer never returns and a plane wreckage is found up in the icy mountains of Alaska, Winter is crushed. She can't even turn to her friend Lindsay who is also suffering from the loss of Spencer. Soon though, Winter's next door neighbor seems to be interested in more than being neighbors. He is there for her trying to get her back to normal instead of hiding in her house hoping for Spencer to come back over those mountains.

This was a heart-breaking novel about a girl who loses a boy so soon after finally getting him. It's harder to lose someone you've just started dating, because there was no time for the relationship to turn sour. I really enjoyed the character's in this novel and their authentic emotions. Everyone dealt with their grief differently which I thoroughly appreciated. At one point Winter is at a hockey game and finds herself cheering along, this I can totally relate to. When you're at a school game and all of a sudden the school spirit and the adrenaline of the game just takes you and your cheering and groaning with the rest of the crowd. I also loved that they did actual homework. They had study-groups that weren't necessarily relevant to the plot but are a necessary evil in a book about teenagers. So many books lack that aspect that realistically consumes most of a teen's life. I enjoyed that between the chapters there were little snippets of the past and then later on quotes. It broke up the chapters nicely and added more of a background to Spencer and Winter. I do wish however that they were either all background story or all quotes. I think it's a little weird to suddenly switch. I would settle for alternating between the two also. I just didn't like how it was all background info and then all quotes. The novel seemed too long however, not a lot of new things happened and it was a little repetitive at times. It reminded me of (oh god a Twilight comparison) when Edward had left Bella in New Moon and she just sits around moping and being a hollow shell of a person and all that. It just seemed to go on unrealistically too long with not a lot in between. Maybe I'm being insensitive, but I mean I know she's upset and now can we fast-forward to when she moves on. (I guess I'm just not sappy enough) Overall this was an enjoyable story about love, loss and moving on to new things even when it seems impossible.

First Line:
"The drone of a plane engine stopped me in my tracks, and the adrenaline surged through my veins."

Favorite Line:

"Bookish girl and hot hockey player--in what world besides fiction did that kind of pairing happen?"

In My Mailbox #49

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

Won:
From Holly Cupala a 2 chapter Sneak Peak at her book Tell Me a Secret (signed) and a TMAS bookmark. Thanks:)

 In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own.

Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears. Stripped of her former life, Miranda must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister’s demons and her own. 

For Review: From Penguin Thanks:)
Matched - Ally Condie

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion. 

Bought/swapped: 
The Dark Divine - Bree Despain (my review)

Grace Divine—daughter of the local pastor—always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared and her brother Jude came home covered in his own blood.

Now that Daniel's returned, Grace must choose between her growing attraction to him and her loyalty to her brother.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, she learns the truth about that mysterious night and how to save the ones she loves, but it might cost her the one thing she cherishes most: her soul.  

Poison: a novel of the Renaissance - Sara Poole (arc)

In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring within the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover the plot that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness.
Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordano defies all convention to claim for herself the position of poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul.
Navigating a web of treachery and deceit, Francesca pursues her father’s killer from the depths of Rome’s Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself. In so doing, she sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation with ancient forces that will seek to use her darkest desires to achieve their own catastrophic ends.

Wicked Girls: a novel of the Salem Witch Trials - Stephanie Hemphill

Wicked Girls is a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials based on the real historical characters, told from the perspective of three young wo...more Wicked Girls is a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials based on the real historical characters, told from the perspective of three young women living in Salem in 1692—Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam Jr.
When Ann’s father suggests that a spate of illnesses within the village is the result of witchcraft, Ann sees an opportunity and starts manifesting the symptoms of affliction. Ann looks up to Mercy, the beautiful servant in her parents' house. She shows Mercy the power that a young girl is capable of in a time when women were completely powerless. Mercy, who suffered abuse at the hands of past masters, seizes her only chance at safety. And Ann’s cousin Margaret, anxious to win the attention of a boy in her sights, follows suit. As the accusations mount against men and women in the community, the girls start to see the deadly ramifications of their actions. Should they finally tell the truth? Or is it too late to save this small New England town?


So that's what I go this week. What did you all get? 

(title-links lead to goodreads author-links lead to author websites) 

Super pretty The Lost Saint Cover...

So I know this was revealed a few days ago, but maybe some people didn't see it. It's very pretty and I am so excited to own a copy of this gorgeous sequel. Let's hope the inside is just as amazing!
Feel free to stop by on Bree's blog to tell her your oooo's and ahhhh's and if you share this cover with others you can enter a contest to win some pretty awesome YA novels.

Peace!

Review: The Pack - L.M. Preston

Where I got it: Finished copy from Publisher (Phenomenal One Press)
Rating: 1 stars
Cover Rating: 0 stars (No thanks. This girl looks nothing like Shamira and she never uses a sword like that. Also her right hand isn't holding the sword.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 1, 2010
Publisher: Phenomenal One Press
Page Count: 315 p.

Shamira is blind, but that doesn't stop her from hunting down the bad guys that are kidnapping kids all over Mars. The bad guys have even started kidnapping members of The Security Force, which is near impossible.  Shamira may have to start to trust people if she is going to bring Monev down. She doesn't know if she's ready for it, but she knows she doesn't have a choice.

I really enjoyed this novel for the first few chapters. After that, whoever was editing this book seemed to take a mini-vacation, since the writing just went downhill. The idea of the story was really good (kids being kidnapped on Mars leads to other kids forming an underground uprising) but that is where it stops. There are a lot of editing mistakes, but nowhere on my copy does it say that this is an uncorrected proof, so I'm assuming this is what people who buy it will see. There was a lot of dialogue and it seemed forced most of the time.  The kids didn't speak like kids and some of the lines seemed to come from adult romance novels. Some of the action scenes tell us they were action-y instead of actually being action-y. The love interest in this book bordered on obsessive, he was pretty odd. Really though I had high hopes for this novel when I began, but was quickly and thoroughly disappointed again and again. Maybe someone else will enjoy this novel, the bottom line is I didn't and I can't recommend it.

First Line:
"She often walked this way home listening for all the familiar sounds."

Favorite Line:
"It was night out, but it made no difference to Shamira, for she lived in the dark most of her life."  

Teaser Tuesday #33

This week's Teaser Tuesday is from Winter Longing - Tricia Mills

(page: 54)

"Now, I stood outside the door to the school on Monday morning, wondering how I'd ever make it through the first hour, let alone the entire day. The familiar concrete structure felt like a foreign land as I stared at it."

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!

Middle Grade Monday #1

Okay so I know Green Bean Teen Queen has her Tween Tuesday. This is a little different (I guess). Middle Grade Monday will be a feature I host here every other Monday (hopefully). This feature will be all about middle grade novels and their authors. Some weeks I'll have book reviews, some weeks I'll have author interviews and some weeks I may just show covers and talk about which books I look forward to reading. Maybe we can even have book discussions. Feel free to join in on this feature from your own blog. I'll have a Mr. Linky on all my MGM posts so that people can check out what you have to share this week.
The only rule for MGM is that it has to be Middle Grade related. No Adult, YA or picture books allowed!

This week's MGM I'd like to talk about 43 Old Cemetery Road. There are two books in this series by Kate Kline(illustrated by M. Sarah Kline) so far. The first one is titled Dying To Meet You and the second is Over My Dead Body. I just finished reading them and I thought they were really fun. The book is written in letters, newspaper clippings, legal documents and other such things that the characters use to interact with each other. The first book is about an author named Ignatius B. Grumply (I.B. Grumply) who rents a Victorian house for the summer. Of course, upon renting it he did not realize that there was an 11-year-old boy and his cat (and a ghost) that he was in charge of as per the rental agreement he had his attorney sign for him. Throughout the book Mr. Grumply is having trouble believing that ghosts are real and blames the young boy, Seymour, for all the strange things that happen. Eventually he realizes that it may not be just the boy after all.
I just thought these books would be excellent for reluctant readers. There are some nice vocabulary words in there and great illustrations. These books were a very fast read for me and just fun. I certainly will be trying to get the kids who think they don't like to read to read these books. After these books they might like to tackle books like The Name of This Book is Secret, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, or maybe even The Graveyard Book.
So these are definitely a nice quick read and something you could have in younger grade classrooms. They are funny and entertaining and have great illustrations.

In My Mailbox #48

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

 For Review:
Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick
(YES YES YES!!! Thanks Simon & Schuster!)
For my review of the first book in this series click here.

Bought/swapped:
Fairy Tale - Cyn Balog
Morgan Sparks and Cam Browne are a match made in heaven. They've been best friends since birth, they tell each other everything, and oh yeah- they're totally hot for each other.

But a week before their joint Sweet Sixteen bash, everything changes. Cam's awkward cousin Pip comes to stay, and Morgan is stunned when her formerly perfect boyfriend seems to be drifting away.

When Morgan demands answers, she's shocked to discover the source of Cam's distance isn't another girl- it's another world. Pip claims that Cam is a fairy. No, seriously. A fairy. And now his people want Cam to return to their world and take his rightful place as Fairy King.

Determined to keep Cam with her, Morgan plots to fool the fairies. But as Cam continues to change, she has to decide once and for all if he really is her destiny, and if their “perfect” love can weather an uncertain future. 

Radiant Shadows - Melissa Marr
Sorceress - Celia Rees
Swollen - Melissa Lion
Samantha only wants to be loved. By her father, by her best friend, and now by the new boy at school, Farouk. The more time Sam spends with him, the more she can’t stop thinking about him. To escape, Sam runs track at school, finishing every race, but never pushing herself to the limit.
Sam and Farouk spend afternoons at the beach where divers risk their lives to jump off high cliffs into the churning water below. Like the divers, Sam risks herself to be with Farouk, growing more and more attached to him, longing to feel safe enough to let herself go and show her true feelings.

So, I did not post summaries for the sequel-type books because it might spoil it for some people. Title links go to goodreads.com author links go to the author's website.
So what did you all get? 

Silly Saturday

Here's to sharing things...

video from andymerv @youtube.com
photos from icanhazcheezburger.com

Review: Life, After - Sarah Darer Littman

Where I got it: ARC from my collection
Rating: 4 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Pretty and nice colors. I don't see it relating to the book that much, but I still like it.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: July 1, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Page Count: 276 p.

There was a time when Dani considered herself just another, normal, girl. However, after the crisis her father became a different man and with that their lives started to change for the worse. When her father finally accepts the fact that they aren't doing very well in Buenos Aires he moves them all to America. Here Dani and her family must start over. Dani has to think and speak in a foreign language, she  has to leave behind all her friends and her boyfriend and try to make new ones. She finds friends in very unlikely places and learns what it means to be connect with someone through a similar experience.

This was an enjoyable read. I really appreciated the little snippets of Spanish thrown in here and there.  It would certainly help you if you know some basic Spanish, but if you don't it doesn't detract from the story really. At times this book was really slow going(maybe I just didn't feel like reading) but I always wanted to know what Dani had to face next. I can't imagine having to up and leave your country and have to go to a place where everything is different. I really enjoyed reading about Dani and her life. It was nice to see the similarities and differences between her culture and American culture. Though she was suffering on this very global scale, she still had all the suffering that comes with adolescence. She was teased and had crushes and boyfriends and had to make new friends in a new place. This story really shows how sometimes you should really find out what is going on with a person to make them the way they are before instantly judging them. If you like contemporary fiction that speaks of other cultures then this book is certainly for you.

First Line:
"Normal kids were happy when the bell rang at the end of the school day."

Favorite Line:
"I wondered if this was how a snake felt right before it shed its skin and slithered along without everything that identified it before."  

Teaser Tuesday #32

I'm doing two teasers this week because, why not?!

(page: 64)

"But the last opera I had seen was in the 1740s, in Paris. I shook my head--I remembered that night too well."

(page: 55)

"The craft started to descend, and she felt the change in pressure, which was more enhanced than when she flew on Mars. They landed smoothly at the Earth Space Pad."

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 #47

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

 Bought/Swapped:
The Best and Hardest Thing - Pat Brisson
Fifteen-year-old Molly Biden has always been studious, dependable, some might even say saintly. And she’s sick of herself. So when she spots mysterious bad boy Grady Dillon, she devises a plan to make herself over into someone new, someone who will attract Grady’s attention. She succeeds—but a little too well. When Molly discovers she’s pregnant, she’s forced to make the hardest choice of her life.

This addictively readable portrayal of Molly’s struggle to accept her pregnancy and the fact that her life will never be the same is told entirely in poetry, from sonnets to haiku.

The Everafter - Amy Huntley 
Madison Stanton doesn't know where she is or how she got there. But she does know this - she is dead. And alone in a vast, dark space. The only company Maddy has in this place are luminescent objects that turn out to be all the things she lost while she was alive. And soon she discovers that, with these artifacts, she can reexperience - and even change - moments from her life.
Her first kiss.
A trip to Disney World.Her sister's wedding.
A disastrous sleepover.In reliving these moments, Maddy learns illuminating and frightening truths about her life - and death.

The Shapeshifters: The Kiesha'ra of the Den of Shadows - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Five shapeshifter novels—one fascinating read!

Hawksong
Danica Shardae, an avian shapeshifter, will do anything in her power to stop the war that has raged between her people and the serpiente—even pretend to be in love with Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, and accept him as her pair bond. But will Zane strike as swiftly and lethally as the cobra that is his second form?

Snakecharm
A surprising union has brought peace to the avians and serpiente. Soon a child will be born to carry on their royal lines. But Syfka, an ancient falcon, is claiming that one of her people is hidden in the avian and serpiente land. Is Syfka’s lost falcon just a ruse to stir up controversy among them?

Falcondance
Nicias is a falcon, the son of two exiles from Ahnmik, and images of this distant island have always haunted his dreams. When his visions become more like reality, his parents send him back to the homeland—and a royal falcon—they’ve tried their best to forget.

Wolfcry
Oliza Shardae Cobriana is heir to Wyvern’s Court, home of the avians and serpiente, whose war with each other ended just before Oliza was born. But hatred is slow to die, and Oliza’s serpiente suitor is found beaten in avian land. How can she be expected to lead a unified society if her people still cannot live peacefully together?

Wyvernhail
Hai, daughter of a falcon mother and a deceased cobra father, is considered a mongrel by most, an ally by some, and a friend by few. When Hai’s cousin abdicates the throne of Wyvern’s Court, Hai has visions of destruction. Now she will do anything to protect her new home—even if it means betraying the very people who need her most.

Waiting on Wednesday #27

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine!

This week I'm waiting on The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge.
A series set in a Lovecraftian industrial city in an alternate 1950s that centers on a mechanically gifted young girl approaching her 16th birthday, the age at which everyone in her family goes insane, leaving it up to her to unravel the mystery of their madness--and save the world.
It is 1955...but not the 1955 you know. The Witchcraft Scare polarizes America. Magic is outlawed and practitioners are burned. And one girls has discovered that magic is neither fiction nor fairy tale, but very much alive...
Aoife Grayson is a month shy of sixteen, the age when everyone in her family goes mad. An orphan in the steam-powered city of Lovecraft, Massachusetts, Aoife escapes the confines of her repressive boarding school and along with her best friend Sam and outlaw guide Dean, sets out to discover the secret of her family's madness. What she discovers is a world of forbidden magic and faerie curses, and a dark secret that has shadowed the Grayson family for generations. Aoife must choose between keeping the secret or keeping her sanity, and unravel the dark machinations of the Winter Court of the Fae before it's too late to save her city...or herself.
 
 
Ummm.. yes please. Unfortunately this doesn't come out until Feb 2011. It does however give me something to look forward to in the new year.

Review: Paisley Hanover Kisses and Tells - Cameron Tuttle

Where I got it: ARC from the Publisher (Penguin)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (*shakes head* it's just not Paisley, this model is too old and not red-headed.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: July 8, 2010
Publisher: Dial
Page Count: 346 p.

Paisley Hanover is back! Well... she's in detention, but she will be back. She's dying to know the result of the class elections. But, when she finds out it may not be quite the result she was looking for. When Paisley's UnFriends and PopFriends start to mingle and pick up a "Vive la Résistance" sort of attitude Principal Canfield better watch out. People like Miss UnPleasant, but they love Paisley Hanover. Which is what gets Paisley stuck in a Bermuda Love Triangle, love. With a protest that is all about her but rarely seems to include her, two boys vying for her attention and a newspaper deadline, this is certain to be another interesting few days of life at Pleasant Hell(oops I mean Hill ;).

Again we get to follow Paisley around. Though, this time things are kicked up a notch. We finally get to figure out why Jen (her best-y) was so weird in the first novel. The Paisley Hanover books seem to pack a lot of action into just a few days, which is very realistic to high school drama and the general chaos of it. I really enjoyed all the twist and turns and all the random protests. I don't have a whole lot to say about this second novel. It was laugh-out-loud funny at some parts and very nicely paced. The love triangle is very fascinating and all of the character's emotions seem genuine and true. If you enjoyed the first book, then you certainly have to read this one. They are both fun and liad-back reads just in time for summer(as long as you don't mind reading about more school).

First Lines:
"There are thirty-seven blue lines on this page of notebook paper, 134 greenish flecks in the tile next to my right foot, and seven rock-hard chunks of dried up gum stuck under this table. Gross."

Favorite Line:
"The arthritic claw of death chomped down on my shoulder, followed by a wave of hoots and laughter all around me." 

An excellent huge contest from Bree Despain!

What you see above is the official trailer for The Dark Divine. Bree wants as many people as possible to see it so that they can get really excited about The Dark Divine (my review) and the sequel The Lost Saint. As incentive she is giving away a huge prize package to one lucky winner, based on how many views this trailer gets. Read more here. So make sure you watch this trailer and then go to Bree's website and enter yourself for a chance to win a ton of great ARCs and possibly even a 16G Apple ipad. So hurry up and enter contest ends July 14th.

In My Mailbox #46

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

As you can see above my cat Percy wanted to help me take pictures of my books this week. He likes them too.

Bought/swapped:

Little Miss Red - Robin Palmer

Sophie Greene gets good grades, does the right thing, and has a boyfriend that her parents— and her younger brother—just love. (Too bad she doesn’t love him.) Sophie dreams of being more like Devon Deveraux, star of her favorite romance novels, but, in reality, Sophie isn’t even daring enough to change her nail polish. All of that changes when Sophie goes to Florida to visit her grandma Roz, and she finds herself seated next to a wolfishly goodlooking guy on the plane. The two hit it off, and before she knows it, Sophie’s living on the edge. But is the drama all it’s cracked up to be?

Magic Study - Maria V. Synder
Pretty Monsters - Kelly Link
Kelly Link has lit up adult literary publishing—and Viking is honored to publish her first YA story collection. Through the lens of Link's vivid imagination, nothing is what it seems, and everything deserves a second look. From the multiple award-winning "The Faery Handbag," in which a teenager's grandmother carries an entire village (or is it a man-eating dog?) in her handbag, to the near-future of "The Surfer," whose narrator (a soccer-playing skeptic) waits with a planeload of refugees for the aliens to arrive, Link's stories are funny and full of unexpected insights and skewed perspectives on the world. Her fans range from Michael Chabon to Peter Buck of R.E.M. to Holly Black of Spiderwick Chronicles fame. Now teens can have their world rocked, too! 

Review:

Dracula in Love - Karen Essex
From the shadowy banks of the River Thames to the wild and windswept coast of Yorkshire, the quintessential Victorian virgin Mina Murray vividly recounts in the pages of her private diary the intimate details of what transpired between her and Count Dracula—the joys and terrors of a pas­sionate affair and her rebellion against a force of evil that has pursued her through time.

The One That I Want - Allison Winn Scotch

So what did you all get?

Anastasia Hopcus is having an awesome contest!!!!!

As you all might know from my review of Shadow Hills I think it's definitely a book you should all pick up. It is released on the the 13th which is coming up mighty fast. Right now though if you head on over to Anastasia's blog you can win yourself a signed copy. If my review isn't enough to make you want to read it, check out the sneak peak of Chapter 1 below and also check out Vania's trailer for it (it's excellent). So head on over and secure you entry today;)
Shadow Hills CH1

Blog-o-versary contest extended(because I'm broke)!!!!!

You heard right you now have until July 31st to get your entries in (maybe I'll end it sooner *shrugs*)! So go on and enter with some more points. Post more twitter links, post on more sites. Write me another book poem! Whatever and I will be adding more winners + books now that I have extended it so stay tuned! So if you haven't entered or if you want more points click on the picture and enter! Thanks!

Review: Rose Sees Red - Cecil Castellucci

Where I got it: ARC tour hosted by Cecil Castellucci
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (pretty and simple, I like it)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 1, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Page Count: 197 p.

Rose lives next to a Soviet Russia compound in New York. Everyday, there are men in suits outside, KGB or CIA(you can tell by their eyebrows).When Rose chose dance at The Performing Arts School instead of following her friend Daisy to Bronx Science, she lost a friend and was shunned from the group. She is too shy to really open up and be vulnerable at her new school and therefore hasn't made any friends. That is until the girl from across the street (in the compound) decides to befriend Rose because Yrena feels trapped over there. And then, one day Caitlin and Callisto (two out of a set of triplets) beckon her over outside of their school, this is the beginning of something new for Rose and even if she can't feel it today will change her forever.

Oh, to be young and carefree again! This book takes place mostly during one long and glorious day. As you read the words you are really watching a movie it's so easy to see the scenes play out before you. You can hear the rise and swell, and eventual fade out of the soundtrack. Cecil did an amazing job writing so vividly as to really make you feel like you are alive and there. I really loved this book, it was realistic but oh so amazing. It takes place in 1982 which I had assumed from the way they talked and dressed. It was very early 80's. This was a great little one night in the life of some kids trying to find out who they are. Cecil writes in a clear and perfect voice, about dancing, about emotions, about being a kid in a big city. Though really, this story could take place anywhere. Sure New York has all these sights to see, but a big point in this story is being able to see how beautiful your city is through somebody else's eyes (especially if you squint). A definite coming of age story that rings true through many generations. I say if you like realistic fiction, if you're trying to find out how to be yourself, or if you are a YA librarian, this is a must read for you.

First Line:
"I was black inside and so I took everything black."

Favorite Line:
"We all breathed in and out as one as we watched them become smaller and smaller until they were impossible to see in the sky."

And like I said, I couldn't help but get a vivid soundtrack in my head. I think these songs make up the book quite nicely(although I am limited in my own world of music).