YA Book Challenge List

(Don't remember what challenge I'm talking about? Read about it here!)

You can see the latest four books I've read for J. Kaye's awesome challenge in the sidebar, but I realized that I hadn't left any space for a complete list! So I'll update this post every time I read a new book, and try to link to the reviews I write, too.  I'm part of the supersize challenge, which means I'm challenging myself to read 75 young adult books or more this year!

What I've got so far:

1. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
2. Glass by Ellen Hopkins
3. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
   
4. Angela 1: Starting Over by David A. Bedford
5. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
6. The Ghost, the Eggheads and Babe Ruth's Piano by Larry Sweitzer
7. Impossible by Nancy Werlin
8. Wake by Lisa McMann
9. Madapple by Christina Meldrum
10. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
11. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
12. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
13. Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip M. Hoose
14. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
15. Frostbite by Richelle Mead
16. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
17. Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates
18. Fade by Lisa McMann
19. Gone by Lisa McMann
20. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples
21. Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates
22. Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachman 
23. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld 
24. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
25. Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
26. Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
27. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
28. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
29. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson  
30. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
31. Mississippi Jack by L.A. Meyer
32. City of Secrets by Mary Hoffman
33. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
34. Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix 
35. The Prophecy by Gill James
36. White Cat by Holly Black
37. Night Runner by Max Turner
38. Waves by Sharon Dogar 
39. Naya Nuki: Shoshoni Girl Who Ran by Kenneth Thomasma
40. Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Bahija Lovejoy
41. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
42. Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin 
43. Ash by Malinda Lo 
44. Rapture of the Deep by L.A. Meyer 
45. Mistwood by Leah Cypress
46. Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway by Kirkpatrick Hill
47. Neela: Victory Song by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
48. Epitaph Road by David Patneaude 
49. Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
50. Hothouse by Chris Lynch
51. Wild Roses by Deb Caletti
52. The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla
53. Looking for Alaska by John Green
54. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
55. All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
56. Max and Menna by Shauna Kelley
57. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

New Year's Resolutions #2

Welcome to New Year's Resolutions, or all those classic books you "should" be reading, but don't really want to. But I only talk about the really cool ones, that ones that are classic books for a reason! This week's theme is speculative fiction.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (Amazon/IndieBound).  Even those who don't have to read it in school usually end up reading this one on their own, one of the few books in history to win both the Hugo and the Nebula Award (two of the highest prizes for science fiction novels) and generally acknowledged even by those who dislike the genre as one of the most amazing examples of character development ever written.  A touching and sometimes brutal exploration of the concept of child prodigies, the pecking order and the potentially devastating effects of xenocide, the novel follows young genius Ender Wiggin from his selection as a six-year-old as an elite general of Earth's forces against a vicious alien enemy through his years at Battle School.  The novel also follows his similarly gifted but headstrong elder siblings, Peter and Valentine, as they shake the political foundations of their world.  An eventual 10 sequels followed, not to mention more forthcoming and dozens of short stories.

 
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Amazon/IndieBound).  In the future, who will control women's bodies?  So reads the tagline for this chilling, controversial masterpiece of speculative fiction for mature teenagers only.  In a dystopian future empire called Gilead, a land of declining birthrates, a women employed as a "Handmaid" - a fertile surrogate mother for a man with an infertile wife - tells her story.  Known only as Offred, she knows that only as long as she can conceive is she valuable to her country, and one rebellious misstep could spell death.  She remembers the days when she and her husband could live without fear with their young daughter without fear, the days when women could hold jobs, wear whatever they wanted, and best of all, read.  Compulsively readable and sickeningly realistic at the same time, this book will keep you guessing until the last page - and linger with you a long time after that.

The Time Machine (Amazon/IndieBound) and The War of the Worlds (Amazon/IndieBound) by H.G. Wells.  Words fail when it comes to describing these dated but still incredibly relevant science fiction tales.  Closer to novellas than actual novels (and certainly easier reads than my first two resolutions), along with The Invisible Man, these are among Wells's better known pieces, and also among the first true science fiction novels ever written.  The Time Machine is about a scientist traveling to the future expecting to find a perfect world, instead uncovering something much more terrifying; The War of the Worlds is a similarly horrifying tale of the invasion of Earth by a far technologically superior race of Martians intent on exploiting our planet's natural resources and killing its warm-blooded inhabitants.  And yes, it is the novel that the recent movie starring Tom Cruise was based on!  It's hard to imagine a science fiction fan who hasn't read these two, and for good reason: They're short, scary and excellent, and a chilling exploration of humanity's past mistakes and the future ones we are bound to make.

Check back next Saturday for more New Year's Resolutions!

Shiver

 Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

ISBN 9780545123266

Associate links: Amazon/IndieBound

Grace has always been fascinated by the wolf pack she’s watched for years in the shadowy forests behind her backyard—especially by her favorite golden-eyed wolf, the one who saved her life from a vicious attack by the rest of the pack when she was small.  Since Sam was seven years old he has spent summers as a human, winters as a wolf; fighting to keep his secrets and himself.  When they finally meet and fall in love under mysterious circumstances, it becomes clear that this is an enchanted summer that neither of them will ever forget.  It is also Sam’s last before he loses himself…forever.

After giving my very lengthy wishlist to my father for Christmas, this is one of two books he picked.  He picked it because he liked the cover.  And it’s a very, very pretty cover that sets the mood for exactly the kind of book it is—a magical, tragic, mindless kind of romance as cold and lovely as its Minnesota setting.

A setting which, by the way, I enjoyed—even if I felt that, like Stephenie Meyer’s version of Forks, Washington, the author didn’t quite manage to capture the feel of the place she was writing about.  Trapped inside by my own frigid Minnesota winter, though, I couldn’t have cared less: I found it impossible to put down!

Stiefvater deftly managed her tricky double-point-of-view style, easily distinguishing Grace’s ever-practical, inquisitive, slightly grating voice from Sam’s quieter, artistic, sentimental one.  (And in my humble opinion, you can forget Team Edward versus Team Jacob, because Sam was a more sensitive, enjoyable love interest than either of them!)  The lack of a love triangle was refreshing as both Sam and Grace worked together to stay together through thick and thin, and no matter how quickly or unrealistically they fell in love, the way they stayed in love was beautiful, fragile and convincing; unlike 98% of the supernatural romances out there.  And the best thing about it, in my opinion, was that the focus was not on the supernatural, but rather on the humanity—and the choices that shape us. 

All in all, it’s hard to imagine a better way to spend a snowy afternoon and escape from your own life for awhile.  I can’t wait for Stiefvater’s future work, and hopefully a sequel!

The Final Verdict: A superb supernatural romance head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd.  Four out of five stars.

Happy Birthday to me!

Hard to believe that today - or actually yesterday - it's after midnight?  Anyway, it's hard to believe that I'm fifteen!  And have been blogging in some form for almost a year.  Things change fast, I guess.  So today I had an awesome day with friends and family, went to go see Avatar in 3-D and loved it, and then proceeded to spend more time with family till now.  Pretty amazing way to spend a birthday.  And no, I didn't get any books, but the gift cards received over Christmas should tide me over for a long time.  I hope.

Anyway, the holiday season is officially over for me!  No more gifts for another year.  Here's the tally the last time I checked:

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
The White Garden: A Novel of Virginia Woolf by Stephanie Barron
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Not to mention the Target shopping spree:

Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Wake by Lisa McMann
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Impossible by Nancy Werlin

So stay tuned for reviews!  Thank you to my very generous family and friends.  I know you think I'm difficult to buy for, but in my opinion you did a wonderful job.  I hope everyone else had as happy a holiday season as I did.  Happy reading!

Facebook fan page

Good news, everybody! I finally got around to setting up a Facebook fan page here. Keep track of new posts, contests, and more, and don't forget to invite all of your friends to become fans, too!

Also, I'm looking for ways to make this blog a little more user-friendly - when I originally started it, I had NO idea how to run a blog and now that I've wised up some more, I'm in desperate need of feedback! So if you could comment on this post with whatever you think could be improved, it would be much appreciated. Thanks, and happy reading!

Bottom Beach

 Originally reviewed and published at www.readerviewskids.com as a Free Review (see Disclosure in Accordance with FTC Guidelines) 

Bottom Beach by E. Laurent

ISBN: 9781432739645
Associate Links: Amazon/IndieBound

After weeks of disturbing nightmares, Yvonne Elyseé reluctantly consults a psychiatrist to get to the bottom of her dreams.  A book of poems written in her childhood and a deep-rooted fear of the Bottom Beach of her childhood seem to hold the keys, so Yvonne must return to her family and her roots to find the answers.  First of all, an important distinction between the voice and the story.  E. Laurent’s cheerful, no-nonsense voice is a pleasure to read.  This story was not.  So let’s start from there. 

This story is a classic example of what happens when two of the most-quoted rules of fiction writing go wrong:  One, write what you know, and two, “find the conflict!”  Writing what you know is a good thing.  But this story bore uncanny parallels to the author’s own life—a move from Dominica to the Virgin Islands to the United States, for example.  In fact, it runs so parallel that the author seems to be talking more about her own life than her characters’—and that leaves the story without the slightest bit of distinctive voice.  And as for “finding the conflict”?  This story is cheerful and buoyant to a fault, to a point where it becomes cloying and chirpy and downright annoying to read.  Never have I read a story more lacking in bite or impact than this one.

But also, never have I read a book more tantalizing.  Laurent’s vivid descriptions of Dominica and Bottom Beach were fascinating and well-written, and her grasp of everything island was a delight to read—obviously, because she’s lived it!

The problem was, it should have been longer.  The problem was, there was no story arc.  the problem was…I could go on.  However, it doesn’t change the fact that E. Laurent has put herself out there as a talented author, even though most likely her characters will be nothing special, and neither will her plots.  But if she can continue to take us to her homeland as beautifully and engagingly as she very nearly did here, instead of focusing on the stigma of seeing a psychiatrist and difficult family relations, I know that I would continue to read.

The Final Verdict: I look forward to future work—despite how short this novel fell. Three out of five stars.