Category: Books Read-2013

Title: Legend (book 1)
Author: Marie Lu
Pages: 305

Source: I purchased this book through the Scholastic Book Club from my son’s school.

About The Book:
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic”s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic”s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country”s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June”s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family”s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias”s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

I was beyond thrilled when I saw Legend in the February Scholastic Book Club Catalog that I got from my son’s teacher. I quickly ordered it and was thrilled to see that it was in paperback because looking online at the online retailers I see its not coming out in paperback for a few more months and I have been dying to read it and for some reason this particular order came in super fast which was good for me.

This was one of the hyped books in 2011 at BEA. I didn’t get to attend that year but I had kept this book on my radar and more so when I was able to get Prodigy at BEA in 2012. I knew I really wanted to read it as soon as I could and I am thrilled that I actually can read Prodigy now. Although I am bummed because book 3 hasn’t been announced yet.

I started reading this on Sunday and I really had a hard time putting it down, I finished it up last night. I was trying to pace myself but once I got half way I just couldn’t put it down. There is so much action and suspense that you don’t want to put it down. I love books like this and it seems like its been awhile since I read a book like this.

I love reading dystopian books especially ones that could possibly be what the future would be like. This takes place in Los Angeles in 2130. The world that Marie creates is very believable and I could see that happening.

The book is told in alternating points of view from two of the main characters Day and June who are both 15 years old. The both live different life styles in the Republic. June has the life of luxury and is rich and smart while Daniel (AKA Day) is living his life on the streets and is the most wanted criminal in the Republic. Both June and Day don’t know each other until a tragic event brings them both together. Will the truth come out?

You might think that having the story told in two points of view might be confusing but its not because Day got his story told in a bold print and June’s was in your typical print. Plus at the top of each chapter their names were lightly printed. I love when they make the text or format different when its told in more then one point of view. I found out that in the hard cover that the print was in different colors as well something my copy didn’t have.

Like I said the story takes place in what use to be known as Los Angeles. Its now know as the Republic and a war has broken out dividing the western coast up and the Republic is fighting with the Colonies, their neighbors. The Republic is broken down into sectors rich, poor and poorer and its done based on test results from The Trials. These results determine your life.

Basically what happens in is that when every child turns 10 years old they have to take a test called The Trials and from their its determined where you will be place in the Republic and basically how you life will turn out. How it works out is like this scores under 1000 means you fail and the Republic sends officials take you and do what they want with you. Scores of 1000 to 1249 means you are barred from school and are basically poor. Scores of 1250 to 1449 will allow you to continue your education and attend the college of the Republics choice and scores of 1450 to 1499 gives you the right to finish high school and to attend one of the top four universities in the Republic and then your hired by congress and you live the life of luxury.

So June scores 1500 the best you can get and Day fails so he is taken by the Republic and his family thinks he is dead but he isn’t he has managed to escape and since then has been on the run from the Republic. I have to say that when I read that Day failed badly on the trials I was a little surprised because he seems to be very smart, creative and athletic. Could there possibly be a mistake?

I liked how not alot of characters were introduced in the story. Just characters the play a part in telling it. I loved Day and even though he was wanted by the Republic he did what he could to support his family even if it meant endangering his life. I think he knew once his mother’s house was marked with a star from the plague that things wouldn’t be great.

As for Judy I have to admit that she eventually did grow on me. She was an adventurous person (very smart) and was so set on getting justice for her brother that she was like a horse with blinders on. Will she see what is really going on and what actually happened?

I am curious to see where the story will take the reader in Prodigy. Will be discover more about June and Day? What about what happens with the Republic and the Colonies? Will a few of the other characters be written about in this book? So many questions left unanswered.

This was Marie Lu’s debut novel from 2011 and her follow up novel Prodigy is set to be released very soon. I am actually off to read Prodigy now.

Title: Send Me A Sign
Author: Tiffany Schmidt
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Pub Date: September 2012
Pages: 304

Source: I borrowed this from my local library.

About The Book:
Mia is always looking for signs.

A sign that she should get serious with her on-again, off-again soccer-captain boyfriend. A sign that she’ll get the grades to make it into an Ivy-league school. One sign she “didn’t “expect to look for was: “Will I survive cancer?” It’s an answer her friends would never understand, prompting Mia to keep her illness a secret. The only one who knows is her lifelong best friend, Gyver, who is poised to be so much more. Mia is determined to survive, but when you have so much going your way, there is so much more to lose.

From debut author Tiffany Schmidt comes a heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting story of one girl’s search for signs of life in the face of death.

I first heard about this book last year just before BEA and it was one of those books that I really wanted to get but sadly was unable to get. It has been on the top of my wish list since then and I was so thrilled when I saw this sitting on the new release shelf at my library. I knew I had to bring it home to read.

I have to say I am exactly like Mia. I always look for a sign and know that there is a hidden message in things. I have always been like that.

I have to start off by saying that the book is really good and once I read what it was about and that Mia had cancer I figured it wouldn’t end well and that there would be a ton a tears shed so I made it a point to sit with Kleenex near by.

Mia is your typical popular high school girl. She is a cheerleader and is sort of dating the captain of the soccer team (Ryan) and he is like your typical guy and he never fully wants to commit to a relationship. He would rather play the field so to speak.

When Mia begins to develop unexplained bruising her parents become concerned and take her to the Dr. Mia thinks its nothing seriously until the doctor informs them that she has leukemia. Mia’s world turns upside down and she is trying her best to cope. Her mother is in denial and her father is in information overload.

Mia and her mother decide to keep it to themselves and not tell anyone. The only one who knows is Gyver (yes short for Macgyver, oh how I loved that show) and he is a friend whom she has known all her life, from next door. Mia thinks that once she does her round of chemo that things will go back to normal and no one will know what has gone on with her.

Well you know that won’t happen because if it did then that would be the end of the story right?

When school starts again Mia and her friends make a pack to remain single in their last year of school. Well when Ryan hears about this pack its almost like he wants what he can no longer have. He almost makes it his mission to date Mia and I think as much as Mia would like it she just can’t do.

Now in every young adult book you have to have the love triangle. You wonder who will get the girl in the end. Will it be that super sweet guy next door or the jock. This is exactly what Mia must decide will it be Gyver, her childhood friend who was there through thick and thin and stayed by Mia’s side throughout the whole chemo or will it be Ryan, the jock who likes to play the field?

I liked Ryan and loved that he wasn’t really portrayed as a bad guy that you just wanted to hate although at times I wondered if he really wanted Mia or just the idea of having what he couldn’t have. Now I have to say for me I was personally rooting for Gyver. He just came off to me as the sweet guy next door.

Who will Mia choose to be with? What will happen when her world comes crashing down and she has to try and mend fences with her friends? What will her friends say when they finally find out?

I really enjoyed this book and I think Tiffany has a promising career as an author and I look forward to reading her future books.

Title: The Talk Funny Girl
Author: Roland Merullo
Pub Date: August 2012
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Pages: 304

Source: I received this from the publisher for my honest and sincere review

In one of the poorest parts of rural New Hampshire, teenage girls have been disappearing, snatched from back country roads, never to be seen alive again. For seventeen-year-old Marjorie Richards, the fear raised by these abductions is the backdrop to what she lives with her own home, every day. Marjorie has been raised by parents so intentionally isolated from normal society that they have developed their own dialect, a kind of mountain hybrid of English that displays both their ignorance of and disdain for the wider world. Marjorie is tormented by her classmates, who call her “The Talk-funny girl,” but as the nearby factory town sinks deeper into economic ruin and as her parents fall more completely under the influence of a sadistic cult leader, her options for escape dwindle. But then, thanks to a loving aunt, Marjorie is hired by a man, himself a victim of abuse, who is building what he calls “a cathedral,” right in the center of town.

Day by day, Marjorie’s skills as a stone worker increase, and so too does her intolerance for the bitter rules of her family life. Gradually, through exposure to the world beyond her parents’ wood cabin thanks to the kindness of her aunt and her boss, and an almost superhuman determination, she discovers what is lovable within herself. This new found confidence and self-esteem ultimately allows her to break free from the bleak life she has known, to find love, to start a family, and to try to heal her old, deep wounds without passing that pain on to her husband and children.

By turns darkly menacing and bright with love and resilience, The Talk-Funny Girl is the story of one young woman’s remarkable courage, a kind of road map for the healing of early abuse, and a testament to the power of kindness and love.

When I was contacted to review the book I really wanted to read it because it sounded really good and I honestly tried several times to pick it up to read but in the end i would put it back down.

Finally as we rolled in to 2013, I told myself that I really needed to sit down and finish this no matter what and that is what I did this past week. I haven’t been feeling very well these last few days so I took to curling up on the couch and reading.

Before sitting down to officially write my review I took to amazon to see what others thought and felt and sadly I feel as though I am in the minority. Everyone has loved the book and I think that’s what makes us all a special group because not everyone will love every book so with saying that please don’t leave me hate comments because we are all entitled to our opinions.

The book is about a young seventeen year old girl named Marjorie and she lives in a rural part of New Hampshire with her parents (who I honestly have to say I didn’t like from the get go. I thought the mother would encourage the father to punish Marjorie at any chance and for any reason) and she is basically isolated from the world and people until an outsider comes to town and reports to the authorities about this young girl (when she was 9 years old) so she goes to school. At first she is having a hard time but quickly makes up for lost time and is now finally in the same grade as her peers. Although she stands out with the way she looks and talks she makes the best out of it and becomes a hard worker.

As the story progresses we discover that Marjorie is being abused at home by her parents. Which honestly I have a hard time reading these kinds of books because I always wonder what kind of parents or people would purposely hurt someone who is defenceless? The abuse is stemmed from the Pastor at the church the family attends. He thinks its perfectly fine to douse them (taking them down to a river, no matter what time of the year, and pouring cold water on them), boying (forcing the girls to wear boy clothes and be treated like a boy for the punishment period) and facing (forcing them to wear a bag over their heads and being poked by people of the church) This was another part of the book that bothered me. I just think its wrong.

Almost at eighteen years old Marjorie is told she must find work to support her family. Her father is on a life time disability and her mother doesn’t work. Living in a small rural area work can be hard to find and more so for her because of her speaking which I found was another reason I couldn’t get into the book it was just to hard for me to read and enjoy. I find it hard to believe that she would speak like that because she started school at the age of 9. Why didn’t some teacher step in? She wasn’t that isolated. Plus no one in the community spoke like that, it was just her parents.

So despite the way she spoke she finds work with Sands (a stone mason) who has bought the old burned down church to rebuild and turn into a Cathedral. Throughout the book he teaches her the way and what to do. She is enjoying it. I think this is the one bright spot in her life. She soon finds out that there is more to Sands then meets the eye. In a good way. Sands knows her aunt Elaine and I honestly think he brought Sands into the community so that he could keep an eye on her. Making sure she was safe and okay. Which I loved and you could see her aunt was doing what was best and trying to help her.

Another worry for Marjorie was the fact that young girls were going missing in and around her area. I was always curious to who was involved and how it would play out throughout the book. Would Marjorie be a victim to that? I was honestly shocked when it was revealed because I had no idea as nothing lead to that person.

I wish I could have enjoyed the book more and I feel so bad writing a negative review but I honestly just didn’t enjoy it.

Have you read it? If so what did you think?

Title: Struck By Lightening
Author: Chris Colfer
Pub Date: November 2012
Publisher: Little Brown
Pages: 272

Source: I purchased this book with my own money.

About the book: Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips who blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application; his goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker.

At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, Struck By Lightning unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school.

The film Stuck By Lightning is set to be released by Tribeca Film later this year and features Colfer’s own original screenplay. Colfer also stars in the film alongside Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Hyland, and Polly Bergen.

I have been anxiously awaiting this book and I bought it almost as soon as it came out. Sadly at the time that I bought it I was in a reading funk and it sort of just sat there until today. I decided that since it was not a big book that I would make the effort to read it in one sitting if possible.

Well it was possible and I managed to read it in a few hours. I have to say right off that I am a huge fan of Chris Colfer (I got to listen to him speak at BEA and met him when he signed my book. He was so sweet and nice). I read and enjoyed his first book The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell and I am anxiously awaiting book two in that series (which as of right now I have no idea when that will be) . I think he is a fantastic story teller.

What can I say about Struck By Lightning? I loved it and it was a nice read and a great book to get back into reading with in my opinion. I can’t wait to see this when it comes out as a movie. I just hope there isn’t too much a change from the book to the screen.

Anyways Struck By Lightning is about Carson Phillips who is an outcast at his high school and he dreams about the short amount of time he has in this small town. He can’t wait to get out of there. Carson is a very smart guy and everyone knows it so that’s what makes him different from his class mates. At times he can be a total jerk and really obnoxious but that makes him who he is.

The book is basically told in a day to day life of Carson. I loved the part towards the middle of the book when he is trying to get into North Western and is told to make a literary magazine and at first no one is one board until he starts to black mail his fellow students . How will that end?

One of the things I loved about Carson was that no matter what he went through he lived for his dream of getting out of there and making it big. Not once did he loose sight of that dream like so many tend to do when they are in that kind of situation.

Which I think is the moral of the story and so many kids need to hear this…no matter what people might say or do to you, just remember you can be who you want to be don’t let others tell you differently. Be strong and hold on to that dream.

I have to say it looks really good and honestly I don’t see anyone else playing the role of Carson Phillips expect Chris. He is perfect for this role.

Does this interest you?