Subscribe via RSS Feed

Category: For Teens

Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

[ 5 ] May 25, 2011

Reviewed by Meghan Saldecki

It’s been three years since the tragic accident that devastated Mia’s life and three years since she left her rock star boyfriend, Adam. He was not just another musician, but a full-blown, everywhere-he-goes-he-gets-recognized rock star.

Music is Adam’s dream, or at least it was. Now, he’s an empty shell. He goes through the actions of interviews and shows and everything associated with his rock star life in a blur of people and panic attacks.

Mia’s a rising star in the classical music world and one night, Adam finds himself at one of her concerts. He intends to just sit and listen to the music, but fate has other plans for them. She invites him backstage and before he knows it, he’s on a tour of her favorite haunts in New York, and one wild ride of emotions.

I loved If I Stay, and Where She Went was only more of the same, in a very good way. I devoured it and I’m sure it’ll be one of those books that stays with me for a long time.

Gayle Forman wrote Where She Went from Adam’s perspective, three years after the accident, making him twenty-one. At first I was leary about it being more like an adult novel, but Forman maintained the young adult feel. It was heart breaking to realize that everything that Mia went through affected not only her, but everyone around her as well; everyone saw how the accident changed her.

Gayle Forman certainly took my emotions on a ride with her beautiful and realistic writing. I cried at the end, something I did not do for If I Stay. Where She Went had a different kind of heart break, one that really hit home: losing someone you love, not fatally, but mentally, emotionally, even physically. Having that anxiety and constant fear of something, everything.

Now, if I haven’t totally convinced you how great these two books are, I’ve completely failed. They are wonderful, fast, heart wrenching reads – I recommend you read them now!

Rating: 5/5

Meghan is a 17-year-old book blogger. She likes to read and write in her spare time and would like to become a published author one day.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Dutton Juvenile. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

View Post

Review & Giveaway: Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

[ 214 ] May 22, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

17-year-old Anna Ryan is less than thrilled when her father informs her that they are moving away from everything she has ever known: her friends, her school…and the place where her mother died. But Crystal Cove, Anna’s new home, is where her parents fell in love and where Anna was born. Pretty quickly the charming beach town wins Anna over, as she begins to appreciate its handsome lifeguards (especially one named Tyler Evans) and its rich history–fascinating and sometimes devastating.

Being back in Crystal Cove and meeting people who once knew her mother is keeping Anna lost in the past when she should be focusing on the present and future. Every time she tries to question her father about her mother, he clams up. If Anna wants to know the truth, she’ll have to find it out for herself.

Sarah Dessen is absolutely correct in saying that Jessi Kirby’s Moonglass is “an incredible first novel”. Kirby’s vivid descriptions of the ocean, sea glass, and mythical tales made me feel as if I were right on the beach experiencing Anna’s life right along with her. She takes her time revealing the secret of Anna’s mother, and developing the romance between Anna and Tyler. This is not just another candy-sweet coming of age story; I absolutely loved Tyler, but this is less about first loves and more about growing up and accepting loss.

Moonglass is so well-plotted from Anna’s memories of she and her mother searching for sea glass in the moonlight (which Anna calls “moonglass”) to the snippets of history of the Crystal Cove residents. I knew those histories were important, and it was beautiful and heartbreaking to finally reach the moment where Anna’s present intersected with the past.

Moonglass is a perfect book in every way, a book that I will cherish and share with my own daughter someday; I can’t wait to read and fall in love with it all over again.

Rating: 5/5 (first 5 star rating I’ve given!)

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Giveaway:
I have 2 copies of Moonglass to give away!

Mandatory entry: Please comment here and include your e-mail address.

Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
- Subscribe via e-mail, follow or subscribe to the feed. You must verify the subscriptions. (1 entry each)
- Enter another current giveaway and tell me which one you entered (1 entry each)
- Share this giveaway on a social network of your choice. Click the “Share/Save” button at the bottom of this post (1 entry each)

This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on June 10, 2011.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

View Post

Review & Giveaway: Wishful Thinking by Alexandra Bullen

[ 156 ] January 27, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer J.

On her 18th birthday, Hazel Snow’s foster father hands her an envelope with her birth certificate and the name of the woman who gave her up so many years ago. Desperate for answers and to know where she came from, Hazel sets out to find her. When she discovers that her mother will be at a fundraiser, Hazel makes plans to be there to meet her.

She takes a beautiful dress she’d picked up months earlier at a thrift store to a seamstress named Posey, hoping to have it back in time for the event. But when she opens the garment bag prior to the event, she discovers she’s been given the wrong dress! With nothing else to wear, Hazel slips into the replacement dress and continues with her plan, only to discover that she’s attending a funeral instead.

Fervently wishing that she could have known her mother when she was still alive, Hazel finds herself transported back in time just before she was born. Armed with just the dress on her body, a mysterious note from Posey, and two more dresses with wish-granting capabilities, Hazel befriends the woman who would give birth to her, falls in love, and finds out where she truly belongs.

In Wishful Thinking, Alexandra Bullen recaptures the magic from her debut novel Wish, this time tackling unplanned pregnancy. I was enthralled by the relationship between Hazel and her birth mother, eagerly turning one page after another to find out how their story would end. Just about everything in this thought provoking novel is unpredictable, and I found myself in tears as I read the last few pages.

Bullen’s talent for putting emotions into words and creating memorable and heartwarming characters are sure to keep you coming back for more and more.

Rating: 4/5

Check out our review of Wish and Alexandra Bullen’s guest post!

[amazonify]0545139074[/amazonify]Giveaway:
I have 1 hardcover copy of Wishful Thinking to give away!

Mandatory entry: Please comment here and tell me something you enjoyed about this guest post.

Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
- Subscribe via e-mail, follow or subscribe to the feed. You must verify the subscriptions. (1 entry each)
- Enter another current giveaway and tell me which one you entered (1 entry each)
- Share this giveaway on a social network of your choice. Click the “Share/Save” button at the bottom of this post (1 entry each)

This giveaway is open to US residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on February 22, 2011.

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Point Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

View Post

Review & Giveaway: Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

[ 120 ] January 17, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer J.

Lizzie Bennet is a scholarship student attending the prestigious Longbourn Academy. Because of her social status, it has been very difficult for Lizzie to make friends with the other students, but she takes comfort in her friendship with Jane and Charlotte.

The school is abuzz with plans for the upcoming prom, and Jane has her hopes set on attending with Charles Bingley, a sociable guy that she’d dated casually before he left to study in England for a semester. Lizzie is pleased to meet Charles, but can’t say the same for his friend Will Darcy. Once Lizzie admits to Will that she’s a scholarship student, Will’s attitude toward her takes an ugly turn. Though Will tries to make amends with her, Lizzie’s pride stands in the way.

When Darcy starts invading her work environment and several social events bring the two together, Lizzie begins to sense there is more to Will than she imagined. After meeting Wick, a former friend of Darcy’s, she learns what she believes to be the truth about Darcy’s nature.

I don’t re-read many books, but I have read Jane Austen’s timeless classic Pride and Prejudice no less than 5 times. I generally tend to shy away from most retellings because I always end up slightly disappointed, but I was pleasantly surprised and delighted with Elizabeth Eulberg’s retelling.

I loved Lizzie and Darcy in this interpretation, especially how she fit their story around date proposals for the prom. Eulberg’s Darcy had some noticeable differences from Austen’s Darcy, especially in matters of dealing with Wickham. Will Darcy has a more hands on approach with dealing with Wickham, and even Lizzie has a hand in giving him his just desserts.

Even though this is a very familiar story, there are still some original takes on it and a surprising twist at the end that I couldn’t have predicted. Prom and Prejudice will be a terrific stepping stone to Jane Austen’s literary classics for young girls, though women (and some men) of any age will be able to appreciate it as well.

Rating: 4/5

Giveaway:
I have 2 copies of Prom and Prejudice to give away!

Mandatory entry: Please comment here and tell me something you enjoyed about this guest post.

Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
- Subscribe via e-mail, follow or subscribe to the feed. You must verify the subscriptions. (1 entry each)
- Enter another current giveaway and tell me which one you entered (1 entry each)
- Share this giveaway on a social network of your choice. Click the “Share/Save” button at the bottom of this post (1 entry each)
- “Like” Elizabeth Eulberg’s page on Facebook (2 entries)

This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents. Deadline to enter is midnight on January 30th.

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Big Honcho Media. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

View Post

Review: Plain Kate by Erin Bow

[ 4 ] January 12, 2011

Reviewed by Coy M.

Erin Bow’s masterpiece, Plain Kate, takes place in a time when shadows are used to communicate with the dead, everyone believes in superstition and curses, and magic stalks people. It is into this world that Kate is born, and the one she is raised in.

Daughter of a wood-carver, Kate learned to carve wood with a knife long before she learned to talk or walk. Growing up, her skills of carving charms gave her the name of ‘witch-blade’. But everything changes for Plain Kate as her father dies, leaving her nothing but a simple drawer in the marketplace to live in. After spending months in the market, Kate desperately wishes to change her life, especially after the townspeople accuse her of being a witch. Enter Linay, a stranger who sees Kate’s misery and who gives her a chance to escape the town. He even grants her her heart’s desire…all in exchange for her shadow.

After meeting up with the Roamers and starting her life anew, Kate realizes that it’s not as easy living without a shadow as it seemed. Worst of all, a mysterious fog covers the countryside, seemingly following Kate, ruining crops and destroying people, striking fear in everyone. As a consequence, Kate realizes that Linay’s witchcraft and magic have darker results than she ever imagined, and she sets out in hopes of finding him and making him reverse his evil doings.

Plain Kate is a wonderful coming-of-age book about magic, heartbreak, bravery and sacrifice. While many would be fooled to believe otherwise, the book is very dark and haunting. Nonetheless, it is enjoyable in its poetry and minor humor; the readers will come to find that the protagonist Kate is anything but ‘Plain’.

Rating: 4.5/5

Coy M. is pursuing a degree in writing, which is a great passion of hers. She also enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Arthur A. Levine Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

View Post

Review: Smile for the Camera by Kelle James

[ 2 ] December 28, 2010

Reviewed by Vera (Luxury Reading)

Kelle James was 16 – and looked like 13 – when she waved goodbye to her abusive father and set off for New York City. Hoping to make it as model, she set up shop at the iconic Barbizon Hotel for Women. One go see with Ford Models later, she was told that she was too short and would never model in “this city”.

Kelle did manage to get signed with My Fair Lady modeling agency, but actual jobs were slow to materialize. Kelle and fellow aspiring model Rayna bonded over their shared dreams, and equally shared homelessness, with Rayna looking out for her more innocent friend. Together, they endured living on $3 a day in a storage room of the modeling agency, crashing at abandoned and rat infested apartments and being prey to every “borderline pedophile in Manhattan”.

In her memoir, James recalls her experience as a young model in 1970s New York, as well as her inadvertent participation in a famous murder trial. While at My Fair Lady, she befriended Buddy Jacobson who was convicted – wrongly in her opinion – of brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend’s fiance (read the story here).

Smile for the Camera is a candid and honest account by a woman who persevered despite the odds, and who managed to tell her difficult story with a healthy dose of humor. At times, I had the feeling that James was relying too much on flashbacks and not delving enough into what her experiences in New York really meant. However, I appreciated any amount of introspection (difficult as it must have been) and James’ story kept me turning pages, eager to learn her fate.

This book was provided free of any obligation by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

View Post

Review: Wish by Alexandra Bullen

[ 8 ] November 26, 2010

Reviewed by Jennifer J.

After the tragic death of her twin, Olivia Larsen is having a difficult time adjusting to life without Violet. Everything is harder without Violet–making friends, choosing the right wardrobe, and even interacting with hot guys. Moving to a new city offers Olivia the perfect opportunity to start over, but all she can think about is the past. If she could just have her sister back, her life would be absolutely perfect. When a stunningly beautiful ball gown promises the gift of one wish, Olivia doesn’t hesitate to wish for her sister to be alive again.

Now with Violet’s ghostly presence at her side, Olivia’s life is slowly getting back to normal. With a bit of prompting from Violet, Olivia is starting to make friends and gaining a confidence in herself that she never had before. With just two wishes left, Olivia must learn that magic can’t solve everything–especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

Wish, the debut YA novel from newcomer Alexandra Bullen, is an enchanting and believable story of two sisters blended with just the right touch of magic and the bloom of first romance. She has realistically captured the unbreakable bond that sisters–especially twins–have with one another. Though Wish primarily focuses on Olivia, Violet was a very strong presence. In situations where Olivia faced a lot of internal struggle, Violet was often the much desired comedic relief.

I appreciated that the magical elements in Wish did not dominate the entire story. Even with a few inaccuracies regarding Violet’s abilities and limitations as a ghost, I was not distracted from enjoying the overall themes presented in Wish. As I neared the end of the novel, I wasn’t quite ready to be done with Olivia’s and violet’s stories. Wish ended in a such a way that I was perfectly satisfied with its conclusion; it doesn’t need a direct sequel. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Alexandra Bullen continues to write other books which include a small tailoring shop, beautiful gowns, and magical surprises for its unsuspecting patrons.

Check out Alexandra Bullen’s guest post for Luxury Reading!

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Point. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

View Post

Review: The Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Ivie Harrison

[ 7 ] November 19, 2010

Reviewed by Jennifer J.

Mette Ivie Harrison’s The Princess and the Snowbird begins with a unique fairy tale about the snowbird, thought to be extinct, and with it all hope for the future of animals and mankind. Told from two alternate points of view, The Princess and the Snowbird is the unlikely love story of Liva, the daughter of the hound and the bear from Harrison’s previous novel The Princess and the Bear, and Jens, his town’s outcast. Jens possesses no tehr-magic, the magic of Man which is abused and used only to take life for the pure enjoyment of it.

Liva and Jens couldn’t be more opposite from one another: Liva has been raised with loving parents, whereas Jens is cruelly abused and mistreated by his father and his peers. Convinced he can survive and find happiness in the forest, Jens leaves behind the only home he has ever known and creates a new one for himself amidst the animals. Fate brings Liva and Jens together, urging them to unite to stop the Hunter, who has set out to destroy anyone who possesses the aur-magic, the magic to communicate with animals.

Liva is stubborn and sure, like her mother the hound, and brave and strong, like her father the bear. Jens is at times weak and naive, but courageous and sure-footed when the situation is dependent on his actions. The romance between Liva and Jens is sweet, but not overpowering, and does not dominate the main plot line. Through the main characters, we feel the emotions of both animals and humans, and learn that we are not as different as we might think.

[amazonify]0061553174[/amazonify]The Princess and the Snowbird and its companion novels are unlike any other Young Adult fiction. They are beautifully written with deep purpose, compelling characters, and a message readers will be left pondering for some time after. This third novel in the series is darker and more tragic than its predecessors, hauntingly beautiful and complex. I was reintroduced to characters I grew to love in both The Princess and the Hound and The Princess and the Bear, and reminded of the fragility of life and each of our great purposes in the circle of life.

The Princess and the Snowbird can be read without too much confusion as a stand-alone, but to understand and embrace fully the world of these characters and the motives behind the humans, it’s best to read them in the order they were published.

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by HarperTeen. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
View Post
Page 1 of 212