Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Jill S. Alexander: The Sweetheart of Prosper County

One Word Summary: Bullies
More Words: Since I'vre read TSOPC I've come to the conclusion that Texas is a much more interesting place than I thought. FFA! Catfishing! Family Owned Hardware Stores! The book won a TAB* sticker on the cover-err I don't know what that means. Teens in my area like the story? Well, I liked it. The 'issues' got over simplified (& there were a lot) and I'm not sure if there was a romance. Still, I think I might go and get me some cowgirl boots.

Synopsis: Austin Grey wants to be someone. Her action plan is to win a spot on the hood of a fancy car in The-No-Jesus-Christmas Parade. She's going to raise a rooster, join the FFA and tell the school bully where he can stick it. Along the way she'll make some new friends and she'll learn that being someone means liking who she is.

Take Home Message: Make friends, everyone is worth knowing, except for spoilt bullies
Dedication: for my husband, Jon, who never gave up on the girl from Texas

Rate: 2 prizewinning roosters

Write/Story Scale: I read about this type of rating on another blog. I liked the idea, I'm stealing it. Sorry other blogger I dont know how to make links yet or I would give you credit.

Feiwel and Friends 2009

Monday, August 16, 2010

Megan Whalen Turner: A Conspiracy of Kings (Queen's Thief Series #4)

One Word Summary: Sophos
More Words: I love this series. I like the way MWT writes intrigue- she doesn't make my head spin and she's never annoying. Reading one of her stories is like being on a ride at Disney Land. You can just sit back, enjoy, look around, take pictures. Everything is going according to plan. Gen's convoluted plan; but he always lands on his feet. He's like a cat.

Dedication: To Diana Wynne Jones, thank you for the stories and for the leg up.
Synopsis: Sophos believes he's a poet and not a king. When his Uncle, Sounis, dies and leaves the country in turmoil Sophos races to his friend for help. Only Gen is now Eugenides, the king of Attolia. Their once easy friendship is encumbered by politics. Can Sophos man up and save his country from civil war and the Mede invasion? Will the paltry army Gen has spared to him help?
Rate: 3 pockets
Harper Collins 2010

Jaclyn Moriarty: The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie


One Word Summary: Poisonous
More Words: Jaclyn Moriarty, isn't that a great name? And her writing is hilarious. And she's from Australia. Her stories are like very expensive clocks. The Ghosts of Ashbury High is her latest novel, I'm excited to read it.

The Key to Understanding Teenagers:

  1. They have a tendency toward reverie
  2. They have trouble judging distances
  3. They have difficulty with anti-climax


Synopsis: Nobody likes Bindy. She wouldn't believe it if you told her because she's the smartest and friendliest person she knows. What she doesn't see is that she's also the most annoying person anyone knows. To give her credit, she is trying to click with her peers. But it's not easy, especially since her life is falling apart. Could someone be trying to kill her? Poor girl.

Rate: 3 venomous snakes

Scholastic 2006

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Carrie Ryan: The Dead-Tossed Waves

One Word Summary: Survival is not enough
Synopsis: It's years after Mary escapes the forest of hands and teeth. Her daughter, Gabry, only wants to stay inside the walls that keep her safe. Except one night she sneaks out with her friends. It should have been safe enough. No ever one got caught, or hurt, before, until this one night. And now, Gabry must leave the safety her home forever.
More Words: I thought I was done zombies, but I read a review in the New Yorker about the surge in Dystopic Writing for YA and I thought maybe I should try to understand the genre better. Really though, zombies creep me out. And books like The Uglies don't make me happy plus they become boring after book 5. And books like Feed are truly depressing. Anyhow, this is a great reference book if you worry about surviving a Zombie Apocalypse.

Rate: 2 mudo
Delacorte Press 2010

Kate Brian: Fake Boyfriend

One Word Summary: Let's go to paris

More Words: My husband asked me why I didn't just close the book and turn out the lights. I think my perpetual groanings and moanings were keeping him awake. Do other people talk to their books? Anyhow, the story is ridiculous, which makes if fun. I think Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys is better if you want to pretend you're twelve again.

Synopsis: Isabella's boyfriend dumped her two weeks before prom- after she's paid for everything. AND despite his slimy two timing ways she'd take him back in a heartbeat. What's a best friend to do but make up a fakeboyfriend on myspace for Isabella to fall in love with. Only if he's fake, how can he take her to prom. What's a bestfriend to do?

Quotes:
"Unbelievable," Vivi said, leaning back in her chair and crooking her arms behind her neck. "Less than an hour to make up a whole person"

Rate: 1 passport


Simon & Schuster 2007

Catherine Gilbert Murdock: Front and Center



One Word Summary: Birdhouse in your soul
More Words: D.J. is a great character. She's got an authentic voice and she's strong the way we, or at least I, would like to be strong. This is her third installment, and it's still pretty good. Bravo to CGM.
Synopsis: It's winter semester for D.J. She's back at school and just trying to stay in the background. Except everyone's on her case to be a basketball star.

Quotes:
"Everyone has this huge hangup about walking, like it's the most important thing you can do after you break your neck."

"I swear, every person I know gets far ore satisfaction from doing good deeds than receiving them. Maybe that's the whole point in the end, all of us putting up with good deeds, tolerating them as best we can, counting the minutes until we have the opportunity to reciprocate"

Questions:
Why do we all hope our first love will be our only true love?
Rate: 3 swooshes

Houghton Mifflin 2009

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Rating System

5- This book makes the world a better place

4-This book is worth reading more than once

3.5- This book will lodge itself in your longterm memory

3-This book is worth sharing with friends

2-This book has merit

1-This is a book that someone worked hard to write

Monday, August 9, 2010

Sharon Shinn: Angelica

One Word Summary: Angels
More Words: This is the fourth book in the Samaria Series. I haven't read the others. This one is great. The alien culture is diverse, the story is interesting, the characters are solid, and there's just enough parallelism to our reality to give a person ideas to chew on.
Synopsis: An unknown enemy is annihilating isolated communities in Samaria (a continent on a planet colonized by humans who've forsaken most technology and have adopted a peace loving theocracy). While the government struggles to protect the population, the Archangel-elect is trying to manage his domestic issues. He has one rebellious younger sister, and one fiancee who is still in love with a former partner, and a host of angels to manage. Basically he's trying to save the world and everyone in it all alone.
Rate: 3 arias
Penguin Putnam Inc., 2003