Crossed

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that I loved the first book in this trilogy, Matched.  I love even the symbolism on each of the covers on these books.  It's no accident that Cassia is safely in her bubble on the first cover and coming out of the bubble carefully (with her foot) and by force (with her hand) on this cover.  In this installment, Cassia follows her heart and lets it lead her to the person with whom she wants to be.  He's keeping a secret, and he doesn't feel it's his secret to tell.  Will Cassia find the guy she seeks?  Will the government keep interfering with her plans?  Read this next installment to find out!  (I'm trying to write this vague for those of you who haven't read the first one yet). 

Fins are Forever

This is one of the things I love about reading books on my Kindle.  When I finished reading Forgive my Fins, my Kindle asked me, "If you liked that one, would you like to download the sequel?" (or something along those lines).  My answer?  Of course!  The book was on my device in less than a minute.  How cool is technology?
Lily's cousin Doe is out of control. Lily's dad, the mer king, sends Doe to Lily on land to get her back on track.  When Doe does everything Lily tells her not to (including going after a guy Lily thinks is totally wrong for her), Lily wonders what her father was thinking.  After a visit from an old friend and many twists and turns, the story goes to a very unexpected place.  I love it when books surprise me and take me somewhere I didn't see coming!  Follow the adventures in one of the classic literary themes that "Things are not always as they seem."  

Forgive my Fins

This is another of the Lonestar books from this year.
Lily Sanderson is a normal girl...who just happens to be a mermaid princess.  She has to meet a man and fall in love or else lose her place in the line of succession.  Guys underwater aren't to her liking, so she gets in touch with her human half and moves to land.  She's picked the perfect guy.  He's dreamy.  He likes to swim.  And he might actually know she exists.  She creates a plan to tell him how she's felt for the last three years, but someone gets in the way, and things go terribly wrong.  Through a series of misadventures and the opposite of anything Lily might have chosen, she learns what she really wants.  I really enjoyed this book!  It was a fun read!

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

This was another book club book which is classified "adult."  If you've read The Help, this has a very similar setting.
Follow the journey of a young lady who struggles with the unusual quirks of her mother's mental illness.  When her life takes a dramatic turn and she moves to a new town, CeeCee wonders what "normal" really is.  Luckily, she's surrounded by love and people who support her as she learns life lessons.  You laugh.  You cringe.  And you get really frustrated with people...maybe even hate one. 
If you're interested in books like this, let me start you off with some from our library like The Great Gilly Hopkins (one of my all-time favorites that I used to teach at my old school). 

Zen and the Art of Faking It

Another Sonnenblick.  Can you tell I like his writing? 
Follow the adventures of a boy who finds himself in a new town.  His father is a bit of a swindler, and it always means that the family has to relocate and start again.  The boy has gotten good at reinventing himself in each new town.  In this town, inspired by a chance to shine in his social studies class, the boy decides he's going to be a Zen master.  He goes to the library (imagine that...a librarian liking a book where the main character makes good use of his library  :), and the librarian helps him find materials to study.  The boy stays up hours learning the ways of Zen and impressing his classmates the next day with principles he's just learned.  Will the girl he's trying to impress figure him out?  Will the librarian (who happens to be his teacher's sister) rat him out?  What happens when he's put to the test in a basketball change.  Read Zen and the Art of Faking It to find out!

The Heretic's Daughter

I read this for a book club to which I belong.  It's classified as an adult book, so it's not in our library.  However, if you're at all interested, let's start  you with The Witch of Blackbird Pond or Ann Rinaldi's book A Break with Charity.
I've always been intrigued by the Salem Witch Trials (ever since a wonderful English teacher named Mrs. Bailey recommended The Witch of Blackbird Pond to me.  I LOVED it!).  This book takes real people who were accused in Salem and fictionalizes what their day-to-day life must have been like.  Follow a family as they move to a new town, care for an ailing family member, invoke town gossip, and ultimately are imprisoned for things they did not do.  You will be amazed by the strength of character and endurance through difficult times.  Great book!

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

What motivated me to read this at first was the fact that this book's sequel, Ever After, won a Lonestar Award this year.  Come to find out, this book won a Lonestar, too.
Imagine if one day,  you're taking care of your little brother, helping with his breakfast like you usually do, when he falls.  His nose starts bleeding, and you can't get it to stop.  What follows is a trip to the emergency room and an awful diagnosis...leukemia.  Your mom has to quit her job to take your brother to all of his treatment appointments, and your dad doesn't know how to deal with it all.  Your family goes over $20,000 in debt, and things are looking bleak.  Also in there, you're getting behind on your work, and you can't figure out the mysterious ways of the girls in your life.  Follow the adventures of figuring out life, the importance of friendship and family, and the very sarcastic, quick-witted narrative of the main character in Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.  I laughed, I cried, and I loved the book!

Moon Over Manifest

I will eventually take a course where we read many of the books that won the Newberry Medal of Honor.  I decided to try to get ahead and read this one.  At first, it was just...okay.  I'm so glad I was patient with it, though!  The characters were endearing, and by the end, I loved the way every part of the story worked together for the twists and turns at the end I didn't see coming. 
Imagine if you're living in the depression era and your father, the only family you've ever known, sends you to a strange town to live with a friend of his whom you've never met.  What follows is an induction to a strange town with a unique past and a strange cast of characters.  From bootlegging, deceit, plague cures, and love and loss, this is an EXCELLENT book! 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

  I must start by saying that this is an "adult" book and will not be able to be in our library.  If you're interested in it, I'd love to talk to you about it and answer any questions you have.  If your parents have questions, I'd be happy to talk to them about it.

This book has to be in my all-time Top Ten Books, and that's saying something for a reading teacher.  :)  I've read this book twice (I suppose we could get into semantics, because I listened to part of it on audio), and I've loved it both times.  With the movie coming out, I figured you should know that it started as an amazing book.
Enter Jackson, Mississippi in 1961.  People are still doing goofy stuff, like judging people based on the color of their skin.  People whose skin is darker live in a different side of town, earn different wages for the same jobs, and cannot use the same facilities as white people.  This is the time of "separate but equal" and water fountains and restrooms which were labeled for "colored" people.  Follow the story from three different points of view, Aibileen, Miss Skeeter, and Minny tell the good and the bad about what it's like to work for the women of Jackson. 
Movie/Book Trailer of The Help (I found that I had to turn off the music at the top of the page and the comments throughout the trailer).  Based on the trailer, I have high hopes for how it will compare to the book.

MIA?

I'm sure you guys have thought I've been Missing in Action (MIA) these last few months.  In fact, I have been traveling and working on so much homework that I haven't had time to update this blog as much as I would have liked.  Rest assured that I was out having life experiences and working on homework which will make me a better librarian for you.  I can't wait to see everyone next week when school starts!  Come by to check out the new books, some of which are "hot off the presses."  :)

Specials (Uglies Trilogy Book 3) by Scott Westerfeld

Things never work out like Tally plans.  She wanted to be part of The Smoke, but the accidently brought Special Circumstances straight to The Smoke with her tracking device.  She wanted to think clearly, but the medicine she thought was supposed to help her severely hurt her friend.  She wanted to be with the guy of her dreams, but he couldn't forgive her.  In this third installment, Tally is now a member of Special Circumstances.  She's a member of an elite group of "cutters," who cut themselves for fun.  They have special tattoos and go on secret missions for Dr. Cable.  Tally thinks this is the life she has chosen, but always in the back of her mind is a nagging thought about David.  Where is he?  What is he doing? 

What would you be willing to do if the government told you to do something?  Would you do it and follow blindly?  Would you resist?  What if there were consequences for resisting?  This continues the struggle of free-thinking vs. societal rules, and it takes that struggle to new heights.  See what Tally does for those about whom she cares.  See what happens when the world they think they know changes. 

Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls Book 3) by Maggie Stiefvater

For Grace and Sam, time is never on their side.  Imagine swinging quietly on your swing one day, only to be carried away by wolves.  These wolves didn't act like normal wolves, and one saves you from being killed.  From that point forward, you are fascinated by him.  Eventually, you meet him, and you have a "summer romance."  That's all it can be, because as the temperature changes, your love shifts into a wolf.  Such is the plight for Grace and Sam.

This is the third book in the series and one of my favorites, partially because Cole plays such a big part in all of the story.  The wolves are desperate to find a way which makes them human for longer.  That plan is rushed when a girl turns up dead, and the town believes it was at the hands of the wolves.  A hunter in town gets special permission to corner all of the wolves by helicopter and shoot them all.  Will they be able to show the wolves how to move to another location in time?  Will they ever solve the mystery of what makes them shift?  Why did Beck really make a new "batch" of wolves?  Who was Beck really?  Read the page-turning conclusion to the series, Forever.

Sisterhood Everlasting: A Novel by Ann Brashares

  Return to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants...ten years later. 

I should tell you ahead of time that this is listed as an "adult" book and is not allowed to be in our library.  If you're interested in reading this book, feel free to talk to me about it. If your parents are wondering about it, I'm happy to discuss it.
Follow the adventures of Tibby, Carmen, Bee, and Lena now that they're older.  They're still figuring out life, and they still need each other just as much, but it's harder to keep in contact when "real life" sets in.  Suddenly, there are demands, like teaching, being a famous actress, being in a serious relationship, and taking care of the needy.  All of that is moved around when one of the four girls decides they need another trip to Greece together and purchases plane tickets.  Tragedy strikes, and the girls reel from the consequences.  It shakes everything they've thought they knew to the core.  Will their friendship survive?  What do you do when you're not sure you knew the people who have been like sisters your whole life?

Radiance by Alyson Noel

Those who are familiar with The Immortals series by Alyson Noel will be recall Ever's sister, Riley.  Imagine being in a car accident and going with your family to a bridge.  Your parents cross over the bridge.  You're all set to go with them until you look back and see your sister.  She's not crossing the bridge.  You don't know why.  At the last second, you go after her.  As a result, she goes back to live, and you end up in a sort of in-between world, not really alive and not really dead.  You've got to learn how to do everything anew, and you still want to do what you can to help your sister.  You've always looked up to your big sister, and it's hard to watch her having such a hard time adjusting to life without you guys. 

This book is told from Riley's point of view, enlightening us on what she's doing on the times when she's absent from Ever's narrative and showing us her thoughts and feelings.  You follow her as she essentially learns to "ghost hunt" and help souls move on from the ever-nerdy Bodhi.  Along the way, she learns to be confident in who she is and does what she can to help Ever.  Those who have read The Immortals will enjoy this companion piece.

Passion by Lauren Kate

This is the third in the Fallen series.  Imagine watching yourself fall in love over and over again throughout time with the same man, only to have that love lead to your destruction and death.  Continue to learn the history of Luce and Daniel's love story as she tries to unravel the mystery.  Why does she always die?  At what point is their love so strong she bursts into flames?  How does she feel about Daniel each time?  What kind of person is she before she knows him?  One of the things that makes this book special is that you get to travel through time with Luce, learning about her life in the south on a plantation, all the way to Versailles, France in 1723.  This is the first book which is told from both Daniel and Luce's point of view, which makes it that much more interesting.  I'm looking forward to the last book in this series.  :)Btw, this is me with the author, signing my copy of the book.  How cool is that?

Jace?

Those of you who have been in my class for the last two years know how much I love The Mortal Instruments series and specifically Jace.  Jamie Campbell-Bower (see left) has been cast to play Jace in the movie.  I'm not sure if I see it yet, but in her blog, MI author Cassandra Clare sings his praises.  Cassandra Clare's blog  She is the inventor of Jace, and I trust her writing.  Still, I'm not sure.  What do you guys think?

Storm Warning 39 Clues Book 9

I have to be honest.  For a while, the 39 Clues books somewhat lost my interest.  It was like "Oh no.  Amy and Dan trusted the wrong person, and bad things happened.  Again."  In Storm Warning, Linda Sue Park really took the story to a different place, not just because we went to Jamaica, but because the story had different twists and turns.  Can Amy and Dan really trust Nellie?  What is the deal with the Madrigals?  What were Amy and Dan's parents really up to all those years?  In this book, readers begin to see Grace's master plan in action, with the addition of new characters and some surprising twists with old ones.  This was a great book to get me back into this series!

Dead is not an Option "Dead is" Book 5

Drama continues to swirl around Daisy Giordano.  One of her sisters is dating a werewolf, and the other is dating a vampire, which makes things tense.  Then when werewolf kids and vampires start getting attacked around town, things get worse.  There's even talk of cancelling the senior prom!  Will Daisy be able to solve who's behind the attacks and keep her family together?  What will happen when she and Ryan graduate from Nightshade High?  Will she ever free Lil and Balthazar?  Read the 5th installment in the Dead is series, Dead is not an Option.

Book Trailer for the 4th installment, Dead is Just a Rumor.

Matched Book Review

Can you imagine letting the government pick your husband/wife?  In Cassia's life, the government controls everything, from her meals, to the clothes she wears, to her career.  She's never thought about questioning it.  Until they make a mistake.  Cassia is matched with an ideal guy, but she's haunted by an "accidental" almost-match.  With thoughts from her grandfather and some help from dead poets, Cassia is left with a tough choice.  Should she trust the life the government has chosen for her or blaze her own path?  Haunting and thought-provoking, read Matched by Ally Condie. 

 Matched Book Trailer

Check out these poems referenced in the book.

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

"Crossing the Bar" Poem

536 Ode Poem