Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Ghost's Child

I love Sonya Hartnett. Surrender was such a deep book - a multilayered book. But The Ghost's Child was pretty straightforward even while mixing fantasy with reality.

Still, I think this book is more of an adult title than a teen one. I can think of a few teens I'd like to have read it right away and see what they think of it.

Now I just have to wait for it to arrive at the library!

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

Bleh. I didn't like this book. But something must be good about it because I was compelled to read it to the end.

Basically, the main character is an alien hunter whose parents were killed by the #1 bad guy alien on the planet. And now he is out to kill all the bad guy aliens on "the list." This book follows him through is quest to find and kill #6.

The interplanetary setting is somewhat cool. But the characters seriously fell flat for me. And the prose just seemed forced the whole time. I'll be interested to hear teen reviews.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Skin Hunger

Kathleen Duey used a very cool writing method with Skin Hunger. The chapters were alternatively narrated by a teenage boy who is stuck in a dark magic school and a farm girl turned city girl who may have gotten in over her head with her new roommates.

How these two characters are related is a mystery until the very last page. Clues are dropped along the way as to what the connection may be but the truth does come out in the end.

Speaking of the end, I was left wanting MUCH more. I realize this is advertised as "Book One" but such an anticlimactic cliff hanger really made me mad!

All in all, it was a really good book. I liked the voices of the characters as well as the setting and the mystery. Can't wait for the next one!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Willoughbys

Lois Lowry is such an amazing writer. Whatever she does, it is fantastic. So when The Willoughbys came through the library I immediately got my grubby little hands on a copy and gobbled it up in no time flat.

The book is "an old fashioned story" about careless parents of 4. The parents don't love the kids and the kids don't love their parents. A certain turn of events brings a baby into the picture and the Willoughby children give her away to a reclusive millionaire.

The kids end up orphans and their new nanny is just what they need.

It's a funny story - clean and quick. I imagine it will get lots of attention from Lemony Snicket fans. And hopefully many others as well.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Invasion of the Plush Monsters

We had a really fun program the other day making plush monsters.

I originally got the idea from Craft Magazine (seen to the left). Basically, what we did was draw free-form monster figures on some felt, cut out and sew.

It was loads of fun and just to prove it, here are a few pictures from afterwards:






The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine

This is another one that was just "eh" for me. I liked the idea of the book - a mother leaves her husband and 2 sons for another man. Dad is a workaholic and big bro is a pothead musician. Main character Dylan is mixed up about a lot of things including the gal in his life.

But for me, the characters fell flat. They were not dynamic or believable as real people. The band members were all stereotypes and no one really struck me as someone I could meet on the street.

One thing I really liked is this Australian saying "She'll be apples" which apparently means everything's gonna be just fine. I'd love to hear someone say that in real life now that I know what it means!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Rumors

Rumors by Anna Godbersen was another satisfying tale of the late 19th century New York City elite. It was full of both scandal and beauty. The details in the story as well as the interwoven storylines make it a very juicy tale.

It won't end up on my top 10 list but I can see why lots of ladies out there would fawn over it.

Plus, the cover is stunning.




Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Crossroads

I don't know why but I really hate to say that I didn't like a book. Especially if I finish it. I sort of feel like there are enough books out there in the world that if I pick one up that I don't like, I shouldn't feel obligated to finish it. So when I finish a book, I hope I can say I liked it.

But this time I don't know what to say. I just finished The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein and it was just ok for me. It had a cool premise and fun dialog but it won't be one that sticks with me for ages.

But if you like a good ghost story with some nice twists and a bit of mystery, this might be the book for you!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Ender's Game

The coolest gifts I've ever received have all been books. That being said, I was uber-excited when I saw that the attendees of the Edwards Luncheon in Anaheim at ALA were receiving a copy of Ender's Game by award recipient Orson Scott Card.

The lunch was great, dessert was fantastic, and the speech...well...the speech was a speech. (Sorry Mr. Card; I don't have a very long attention span).

And the book? It was great. Every once in a while I read a science fiction novel that sucks me into the world created by the author. I love it when good books can do that. Another one that pops into my mind along the same lines is A Wrinkle in Time.

Ender was a pretty cool (albeit precocious) young man. I was rooting for him all the way. I hated his enemies and (sometimes) even his loved ones. I kept wondering how the whole thing was going to get "wrapped up" near the end of the book when Ender was still just "practicing". But it was a really cool way to end. Totally unexpected.

Usually I'm not a huge sci-fi person but this book is a classic YA piece and should be read and recommended by all who serve teens.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Paper Towns

I'm still giddy. At the Printz reception (which rocked) I saw John Green and M.T. Anderson chatting it up and I had just finished Paper Towns so I got the courage to approach John Green and he was really cool abou tit an he signed my ARC. Whoooppee! How cool!

For all the hype this book is getting, I was building it up to be a major cool book in my mind. And it sort of disappointed. Margo Roth Spiegelman is a character that I cannot place in real life. I found the book to be highly unrealistic. One thing I did like about the book was the Omnictionary.

A question I'd love answered about the book: Why honeybunny? I got sort of sick of that word.