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Showing posts with label friendships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friendships. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Dystopia in Space

Here's another addition to my favorite genre of dystopic science fiction. Across the Universe is such a good read and very very intriguing and suspenseful. Can you imagine you and your family being cryogenically frozen because Earth is in bad shaped and then loaded on to a space craft to travel 300 years to a new planet and then waking up to find out that you never made it to the new planet? Plus your family is still frozen and life on the ship is more oppressive than the Nazi regime. This book is a must read for all you mega dystopia fans just like me. Dystopia in Space rules!!!



Across the Universe by Beth Revis 2011

A cryogenically frozen 17 year old girl named Amy is thawed out and meets and falls for Elder the future ruler of the space craft she is aboard called the Godspeed. The ship is headed for a new planet and houses the remaining humans from Earth. No one knows that the ship is several hundred years off schedule and may never even make it to the new world because they are under the influence of a heinous and tyrannical ruler who idolizes Adolph Hitler. Rivas' idea of humans freezing themselves and taking a 300 hundred year space flight to a new planet was very intruiging, but also very creepy. The thought of being frozen and with thoughts and dreams flowing during the span of the flight time sounds horrendous. After Amy is unfrozen the story begins to unfold that things did not go exactly as the humans had planned when concocting the journey to a new world. Amy and Elder begin to unfold the truth, which in turn will change both of their lives forever. This book is great because it really has that "what if?" factor that keeps you reading to find out what really happened to change the course of the Godspeed.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Real Deal

This week’s featured genre is realistic fiction. What I find interesting is that I am a huge fantasy lover and at the same time I love to read realistic stories as well. I feel that young adult realistic fiction has a lot to offer teens today because many of the topics focus on the issues that they are going through at the time. Some of the books that I have read lately have touched on suicide, depression, drug addiction, and child abuse. These issues may not come up in the average teens daily lives, but I think that working with teens has brought me a lot of insight on how they think and deal with things and it can be very helpful for them to read fictional stories that help them to understand that the world is a very big place and they are going to encounter so many different issues as they learn and grow and get older. With that said, realistic fiction can sometimes be a downer, but as with all things in life it has its ups and downs, which makes for pretty great reading most of the time. So here are a few of my favorites and I highly recommend that you read them because they are awesome!

"A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it."

~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

As always, Happy Reading To You!


An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (2006) Michael Printz Award Honor 2007

What can I say about this book? Well, for starters, it is brilliant and funny and just plain amazing! John Green has a fantastic way of weaving humor into the mundane world and does it with such style that reading this book feels like watching a movie or taking a ride on a Ferris wheel. Colin Singleton is a child prodigy who never made it to a full blown genius and boy that saddens him. He loves to make anagrams and can anagram his ass off in any given situation. Alas, poor Colin has girl issues and he just can't seem to get over the break up with his girlfriend Katherine. Oh and by the way, she is the 19th Katherine that he has gone out with over the course of his 17 year life.
The story just keeps getting funnier and funnier and his best friend Hasan is hilarious too with his smart quips and snide namecalling. The two are always badgering each other with a barrage of insults, but of course there are some compliments in there somewhere I just know it. The two decide to go on a road trip and by golly they end up in some back woods town in Tennessee called Gutshot, and it's there that they meet the adorable Lindsey Lee Wells. From there on things just get funnier because Lindsey has a boyfriend named Colin who the guys nickname TOC which stand for "the other Colin" and Colin decides to come up with a theorem for why he has been dumped by so many Katherines. This lively coming of age tale is wonderfully written and is quite spunky and full of life. I would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a good book to read that is totally engaging and will have you laughing and crying and cheering in the end for Colin Singleton and his friends. An Abundance of Katherines was also a 2007 Michael Printz Award Honor Book.


Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan (2010)

I’m gonna start this out by saying that John Green is totally brilliant! Ah, but you knew I was going to say that right? Of course, I also have to give props to David Levithan for this one too. This is one of the few novels written in alternating points of view that I totally loved because it just works. This book is definitely a wild ride for anyone who reads this book. The story is told in two different voices and these voices are two different characters both named Will Grayson.

Even though the book is titled after these two, one thing for sure is that the whole story focuses around the biggest person of all in the story and that is the magnanimous Tiny Cooper. Tiny is such a fun, spontaneous, and joyous young man, and a sheer force of love and power to be reckoned with. That is why both Will Grayson’s find him so irresistible. The first Will Grayson is Tiny’s best friend and confidant, the other is his love interest. By a strange chance meeting the first Will Grayson meets the other in a seedy porn shop called Frenchie’s. This chance meeting alters both of their lives forever. Add to the mix, Tiny’s amazing and genius life story, which is a musical that is written, directed, and produced by none other than Tiny himself. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is an inspirational tale that is creatively written, seductively cool, and so uncontrollably witty you’ll find yourself crying at times and laughing out loud uncontrollably. A must read for anyone that loves a good story!


Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams (Simon & Schuster, 2010)

Sisters Lizzie and Hope are only one year apart and best friends until Lizzie suddenly tries to end her life. Hope can’t understand why Lizzie would do such a thing and their mother has never paid much attention to either of them. Hope had been having awful nightmares which she really felt like she was awake and Lizzie had been having crying fits for a long time before she tried to kill herself. What does all of this mean? Hope must figure out the puzzle while Lizzie wastes away in a mental institution, and unravel the secrets that will lead her to save her sister. Written in verse, Williams has created a riveting story that is very edgy and provocative!
This novel caught my attention straight away as it is completely written in verse. It is extremely emotional and written very tastefully. The glimpses we as the reader get into Hope’s life are incredible and as I read I became overwrought with grief for her and her sister. This book reminded me that there are so many children out there being abused even by their own parents, which is really very tragic.
I would recommend this book to older teens that enjoy reading realistic fiction on various life issues. It is a fairly fast read because reading the verses goes a lot faster than regular text. I think this book is for older teens because of the nature of the situations involved in the story and the seriousness of suicide and sexual abuse.

Friday, June 03, 2011

This Guy Is Definitely Not Lost


The Lost Hero is an incredible story! Rick Riordan always comes through with awesome characters that you can't help but love and a storyline that is gripping and adventurous. I have to say that Riordan is very very hot right now. This book had an excellent weaving of Greek and Roman mythology which made for quite an interesting tale. It even inspired me to check out a book on Roman mythology in order to see the differences between the Greek and Roman god and goddesses. I loved the characters Piper, Leo, and Jason. They were all well developed and proved to be incredible progtagonists all in their own special way. I especially loved Leo Valdez and his quick comebacks, funny disposition, and mesmerizing fire and mechanical abilities. Keep on writing books Riordan because you got it going on dude!

Saturday, May 07, 2011

Freaks Can Be Fun



Hey What's up Mrs. Librarian Lady? I was thinking of reading some new books but was not sure cause there's so many out there. I'm in 8th grade right now and going to high school next fall so I was wondering if you know any good books that have anything to do with high school and meeting new people. I like the books that you read and recommend all the time!

Thanx a bunch

SweeteeBee

Hi there SweeteeBee!

I'm so glad you asked about new books because I know what you mean about there being so many out there! I try to read as much new stuff as possible just to stay in the loop. Right now I am reading the 3rd book in the "Forest of Hands and Teeth" series called "The Dark and Hollow Places" by Carrie Ryan and the 2nd book in the "Hush, Hush" series called "Crescendo" by Becca Fitzpatrick. I haven't finished them yet, but they are really really good! I also just finished "The Red Pyramid" by Rick Riordan and have to say that I love love this one! I'm waiting to get my hands on the next one. The book that I have in mind for you is Monster High by Lisi Harrison author of "The Clique" series. This is a really clever book that deals with high school issues in a freakish and fanciful way. I think you will really like this one and there is also a television show on Nickelodeon based on the novel too!


"Monster High" by Lisi Harrison

Melody Carver is no stranger to being an outcast because she used to be considered homely and ugly at her old school in California. Hopefully her new nose job will help her at her new school in Salem Oregon. On the flip side, being green and a descendant of Frankenstein make Frankie Stein have to seriously hide her differentness in order to not create a total mob against her. Both of these girls are striving to fit in with their new surroundings without giving away their deep-seated fears. Both Melody and Frankie try to make friends, but they still feel left out. Frankie has to deal with her family not wanting her to come out of the closet about her monster origins. After a wild night at the homecoming dance everyone will have to re-evaluate who’s hot and who’s not in this adorable tale. Harrison hits the mark by mixing monsters, ghouls, and freaks with the age- old problem of teenagers trying to fit in. The message is clear that whoever or whatever you are, it’s best to just be yourself no matter what.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Wintergirls


I'm back!! I read a lot of books over the winter break and I have been inspired to start reading again on a weekly basis.


Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is an amazing book. The writing is excellent and the story is extremely gripping. Basically you'll be on the edge of your seat while reading this book. It is the story of Lia who is a senior in high school. Lia suffers terribly from anorexia and she hurts herself by cutting. She has already been in the hospital for her sickness and she is under careful watch by her dad and step-mom. She has to be weighed everyday and she has to try to stay at a healthy weight. Lia has visions of weighing less than 80 pounds and she sneaks around at night doing exercises and starves herself. She has no idea that she is hurting herself to the point of nearly dying. Meanwhile, we find out that Lia's best friend Cassie has died mysteriously and everyone including Lia is wondering what really happened. Lia goes back to the place where Cassie died, which actually spurs her to start to go into a backward spiral. Can Lia turn her life around? It will take more than just hope and wishes. She will have to make the choice herself and build up all the trust that she has lost from her family.

I highly recommend this book as it touches on a very serious and disturbing disorder that is now not only related to young women, as is reaching out and affecting young men as well.