Well, Friday!

So, I've been gone most of this week- out of town with no internet- so I haven't done much blogging. I'm hoping to correct that for next week. I've got a bunch of new stuff I want to try, so I'm excited to get back into things.

If you are visiting from the hop, Welcome! I'm glad to see you! Be sure to leave your blog url in the comments if you do visit so that I can return the favor! Also, feel free to enter my giveaway! It's a great book, and it's open for another few days! You know you want to! :)

I've also got some great things planned for the upcoming weeks. Another giveaway ready to go and a few author interviews as well. It should be pretty great, so stayed tuned!


Thanks to both Parajunkee and Crazy for Books for hosting these great memes! I have a lot of fun with them, and can't wait to get hopping around!

Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I know I haven't been posting about it much, but this review is also a part of Once Upon a Bookcase's Body Image and Self-Perception month. Head on over and check out all the other wonderful reviews available.

In my mind, an eating disorder is the ultimate manifestation of both poor body image, and a distorted self-perception. I graduated with a BS in Psychology last December, and in one of my undergrad classes, we devoted a large percentage of time to discussing eating disorders and where they stem from. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is one of the best books I've read this year, and I would say that it is the best book I've ever read that handles eating disorders.

Lia is a young girl who has been suffering from anorexia for several years. She's been hospitalized twice, and the family tries to help keep watch over Lia, and make sure she is eating. They weigh her regularly and prepare meals and 'watch' her eat. But Lia is clever, and she is unable to give up her disorder. She cleverly lines the pockets of the robe she is weighed in with quarters and smears food on a plate before dumping it down the garbage disposal to give the appearance of having eaten. For a long time, Lia feels like she is in control and that losing all this weight makes her powerful. However, after the death of her former best friend, Cassie. Lia's world begins falling apart and she loses control over her life. Toward the end of the novel, she begins to make observations and gains new understanding that gives the reader hope she will overcome her illness.

I think one of the most telling sentences in this book is when Lia really starts to realize what this disease is to her, and where her motivation to starve herself comes from. She keeps obsessive track of her weight, and gives herself goals- I'm 105 lbs? I need to be 100. And on from there. She steps on the scale one day and the number reads 89. Her thoughts, "I could say I'm excited, but that would be a lie. The number doesn't matter. If I got down to 070.00, I'd want 065.00. If I weighed 010.00, I wouldn't be happy until I got down to 005.00. The only number that would ever be enough is 0. Zero pounds, zero life, size zero, double-zero, zero point. Zero in tennis is love. I finally get it. (emphasis added, pg. 220)

I think that there is too much focus placed on the body-image problems facing people who suffer from an eating disorder, and not enough attention given to their warped views of themselves. In one of my undergrad classes, we discussed this at length, and talked about new research being developed that suggests the root causes for many people suffering from eating disorders stem from far more than the desire to be skinny or even the desire to control at least one aspect of their lives. Although both of those play a role in the formation of the disorder, the new research suggests that these eating disorders actually stem more from the desire to disappear. Subconsciously they view themselves as unworthy of love, and that because of their flaws or imperfections, they are not worthy to take up space. So, they are literally trying to starve themselves out of existence. They don't necessarily want to die, but neither do they wish to live. It's scary research, but it's research that makes a frightening amount of sense. That LHA was able to grasp that idea and articulate it so well with just a small paragraph, and a simple sentence speaks volumes to me about her skill as a writer, and her ability to develop believable and realistic characters. Lia just breaks my heart. 

One of the most powerful aspects of the novel is also potentially distracting. LHA uses the strike through text to signify the difference between what Lia was thinking and what Lia actually said. Or, it could be what Lia thought vs. what she knew she was supposed to think. Either way, the strike through offers additional insight into the mind of Lia, and enables us as readers to better understand what she's really thinking.

I recommend this book to everyone, even though I know it won't be for everyone. LHA doesn't pull her punches with this one, and I really felt that I was living the life of an anorexic teen along with Lia. And let me tell you, it was not comfortable. It was scary, painful and terrifying. I can only imagine how much worse it would be for someone actually suffering through this. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book as soon as possible. But I warn you, don't pick it up expecting a light read that will fill a few hours. This novel is gripping, intense and horrifying. It is one of the best books I've read all year and I just can't bring myself to give it anything but my highest rating. It is basically amazing in every way. Way to go Laurie, for creating a book that gives us such a vivid portrait of a young anorexic girl who suddenly understands what it is to live.

Here we go!!

As I mentioned in my rather long post yesterday, the daily- real time- release of One Child begins today! In fact, day one has already posted! I just read it, and I've got a good feeling about this one! If you haven't already heard about it, I definitely recommend that you do so NOW! You can go back and read my post yesterday HERE, or you can click HERE, HERE and HERE for information from the publisher, author and a press release respectively. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about this!!

Anyone reading it along with me?! Tell me!! I'd love to know your thoughts!

This is like, the greatest marketing idea EVER!

I received an email a few days ago from the publishers at enthrill asking me if I would be interested in reviewing  a new book with a very new and innovative marketing design. Enthrill is a brand new publisher, getting set to launch their first book in the next few days. Knowing that they would lose out against the huge publishers if they tried to compete using their traditional marketing methods, they are launching this book as an ongoing project. The idea is so huge, so unique, and so new that I was ready to accept their review offer without even having read the book. Ya, it's that cool! So what is it you ask. Well, let me tell you!

The book is called One Child and it's written by internationally bestselling thriller writer, Jeff Buick. That right there is enough to interest me. I love me some espionage, suspense and crazy action. However, what really drew me to this story was their publishing model. I hinted at it before, but now I'm going to tell you all about it.

There will be two major release days associated with this novel. First is July 27th, followed by August 25th. Save those days, because they are important. August 25th is the official release date for the final published copies of this book, or the complete e-book edition, if that's your preference.

However, (and this is the really cool part) beginning July 27th, (tomorrow) this novel with be released in installments. This novel takes place in real time. Fans of 24 might want to take note of this. But, it's pretty cool for everyone else too! How does this work? Well, I'll see if I can explain it a little better. This novel takes place over 30 days. With events involving U2 (the band) and Halima, a young girl living in Afghanistan, we watch and read and experience these events along with the characters. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it!

Not only do we get to read the action along with the characters, but they are also creating an interactive reading experience. The characters have facebook pages- and they respond to you! They have filmed 4 different video sequences to coincide with various events within the story to give you an idea of what living on the front lines of Afghanistan is like and more! It boggles my mind what they are doing with this book, and I think it's amazing! You can read a press release with more information HERE, you can read more about the plot of the novel at the author's website, found HERE, and you can sign up to read along with me HERE.

For just $10 you will receive each daily release, furthering the tale of Halima as she discovers her role within the world. And, if you aren't totally sure immediately that this is something you will just love, they are offering the first 8 days of this new novel free. You can preview the story, test the waters a little bit and read along for free. Just got to the website found HERE and sign up for your free trial today. And, if you sign up a little late, each of the previous releases will be sent to your mailbox so you can catch up to the rest of us. There's nothing to lose!

I will be posting periodic updates in the weeks to come as I read this book. Most will be a fairly short post, just letting you know how my reading is going, what I've thought about the releases so far, and all that good stuff. Then, the day before the final release (because I'm cool enough to get to read it early) I will post my final and full review. I'd love to have people read along with me! If you are interested in reading with me, or if you sign up, let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts and share about this fantastic idea.

I've never come across a publishing idea any where near to this before, and I am wicked excited for it! I hope everyone else is too! Let me know what you think!

Interview with author Jennifer Echols!!

                                                        Alright everyone, here it is!
My interview with Jennifer Echols, the wonderful author of Forget You! Click HERE to read my review!

Jennifer was kind enough to agree to an interview after I read and loved Forget You. She is also the author of several other books for teens, including Going to Far, another romantic drama, and several romantic comedies, including Major Crush, and The Ex Games. 
You can learn more about Jennifer and her books at her website, found HERE.

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First, I would like to say a huge thank you to Jennifer for agreeing to take part in this interview. It's great to have this chance to talk with you.

Ashley, I really appreciate the interview. Thank you!

So, when did you first start writing stories?

I think I was working on my first novel in third grade or so. My mom was reading Watership Down, which is about rabbits. My novel was about squirrels.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I was interested in writing, art, and music, and I pursued all three into college. My first college major was music education and composition. I wanted to be a composer and a high school band director. I was so interested in music intellectually, but I just wasn’t good enough. Writing was a creative outlet I felt much more comfortable with. In fact, I wrote a short story about band for the college literary magazine, people seemed to like it much better than any music I’d ever written, and I never looked back.

Why do you write young adult novels? Was that a conscious choice, or something that just sort of happened?

I finished writing my first novel when I was 20 and still reading YA myself. After that I wrote YA and adult, back and forth, but I guess YA was a part of me when I got my start and I never left. I still think YA novels are some of the best books out there.

Do you have any plans or desire to switch over to the Adult side of the aisle?

Since selling my first YA novel, I have written three adult novels, but they haven’t sold. Every time this happens, it breaks my heart, but publishing is a hard business and I knew this going in.

You already have several published novels out. Both comedic and dramatic. Were there any unique challenges to writing Forget You that you hadn't come across before?

This book is probably the one that’s most personal to me. The characters and events are fictitious, but I have felt all Zoey’s pain before. I have been that good girl who makes bad decisions. So I’m finding it a little harder than usual to share this story and listen to what other people say about it and about her.

Which of your books was the most challenging for you to write?

Endless Summer, because it is a sequel, and everything had to match what I’d written in The Boys Next Door.

Do you ever just sit back and think, "Wow. I'm a writer!"

Yes I do. Every single day I make sure that I reflect on the long, hard road I traveled to get here, and I am thankful that I finally have the career I always wanted.

I love getting new book recommendations. So, I have to ask. What do you read? What are your favorites?

Kiss It by Erin Downing and The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting were absolutely wonderful. And I hope everybody will check out the amazing When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer, which is coming out in November. One of the coolest things about being an author is that you get to read other writers’ novels before they’re published!

Are there any books you can identify that have had the most impact on you as a person, and as a writer?

The best class I ever took was an American Moderns course at Auburn University. We read The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner, The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, A Lost Lady by Willa Cather, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and the collected poems of T. S. Eliot. Every one of these books made me see the possibilities of writing in a new way. The only book we read that wasn’t new to me was The Great Gatsby, and this wonderful professor made even that seem brand new. Have you ever taken a class like that?

Do you have a current work-in-progress? If yes, is there anything you can share with us about it now?

I’m finishing my next romantic drama for MTV Books. It will be published in July 2011, and it is called This Novel Has Such A Fabulous Title That I Can’t Even Tell You, or possibly OMG This Is The Best Novel Title Ever. My editor and I haven’t chosen which one yet but I will let you know.

Well, thank you so much Jennifer for answering all my questions!
My final question, just because I love them, what is your favorite pair of shoes?

In 2005 I ran my first 10K and the end of my middle toe kind of fell off. It was just a really bad blister. So I went to a local running store and said to the owner, “Please choose a pair of shoes for me that will not make my toe fall off,” and he did and I am on my fifth pair. They are Nike Equalons. This is probably not what you were asking, LOL!
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This was an awesome interview! Thanks again Jennifer for taking the time to talk to share with us! I'm looking forward to your new release, and to picking up some copies of your older books. And, if I ever decide to run a 10K, I'm definitely going to be looking for some Nike Equalons!

TBR- Read-A-Thon Update...

Well, I know I posted to say that I was going to take part in this cool TRB read-a-thon, and I was so excited, because I had a bunch of books I needed to get read but... Life kind of got in the way. This week was much busier than I had anticipated, and I ended up getting very little reading done. I didn't do too much in the way of reviewing either.

However, this did motivate me to finish reading one of the books on my TBR that had been there for a while, so that's a positive thing. I wish I had gotten more reading done, but I had way too many other things going on. Hopefully, I'll be able to knock the rest of these books off my TBR soon! We'll see how that goes!

Review: A Journey into Tomorrow by Veronica Camille Tinto

Note: I received this copy for review courtesy of the author.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted to review the collection of personal poetry, A Journey into Tomorrow by Veronica Camille Tinto. I enjoy the occasional bit of serious poetry, and hadn't read one in a while, so I accepted her offer.

While I'm not sorry that I accepted the book for review, it was definitely not what I expected. Some of the writing (pause) techniques that were used confused me and left me unsure of what she was trying to convey. Her overly frequent use of the ... symbol got old really fast. It really broke up the flow of the poetry and stunted my ability to truly appreciate the emotions being conveyed. I admit to using the ellipsis occasionally when it suits my mood. But, I use it occasionally.  Tinto uses it copiously. In the first 10 poems (all less than one page long), the ... showed up 96 times. Trust me, I counted.

I also feel that Ms. Tinto was trying a little too hard to be eloquent, expressive and literary that the emotions and the point were often lost along the way. It's not really easy to explain unless you've read the poems, but some of them feel really stiff. I think she just tries too hard.

I know that each of these statements sound negative, but I don't mean to imply that I got nothing out of this book. More often than not, I was able to understand the emotions she must have been feeling as she wrote, especially toward the end of the book as I became more accustomed to her writing style. It was obvious reading these poems that she really felt what she was saying. She wrote these poems as a way to help her get a handle on the challenge's life was sending her, and a lot of them do portray that emotion very well. It's not a book that you can just breeze through, the poems are best read slowly and spaced apart. I think that this book and these poems have a lot of potential. I think that with some editing, and a little bit of work, these poems could be really good.

Friday already?! Well, ok. Let's hop!

Hey everyone and thanks for visiting my blog! Welcome if your coming by from the hop, and hello to my regular readers. Fear not, I should have a review posted later today, so this Friday won't all be about new people... :)

Anyway, if you are visiting here, please leave me a comment with your blog url so that I can hop you back. I love to see new blogs and read what other people are thinking!

Also, please feel free to enter my current giveaway! You can find information about that HERE. I'm giving away TWO copies of Jennifer Echols' newest release, Forget You to two lucky readers. You don't have to be a follower to enter, just leave me a comment on the giveaway post!

I am participating in the follow/hop at both Crazy-for-Books and Parajunkee's View. Both have some really fun and interesting blogs! These hops have been a great experience for me! I love 'meeting' new readers and finding new blog writers!

To answer Jennifer's questions this week- painful, but I'm almost done! :)

Thanks for stopping by everyone, and happy reading!

                                    

GIVEAWAY!! Forget You by Jennifer Echols GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Like I promised, I'm back to offer you a chance to win Forget You by Jennifer Echols!! In case you missed my review, you can read it here.

I have been offered a copy of this new release to giveaway to TWO of my lucky readers! How great is that?!
The contest will run from today, July 22 until August 5 at 11:59pm. The winners will be announced that Sunday or Monday, depending on how quickly the winners respond to my email.


So, what do you have to do in order to win one of these great books? Not much. Just leave me a comment! Information on what that comment (or those comments) need to say/include is listed below.


So, to ENTER: Leave me a comment that says, YES! I would like to win! (Or some variation on that theme). Please, make sure that you leave your email address so I can contact you if you win! If I don't know how to contact you, I can't send you a book!

The winners will be selected from the entrants by a random method. I will send an email within 24 hours of the contest closing to the winners. I will give you 48 hours to respond, after which I will have to select a new name for the prize.


Nervous at only one chance to enter?! Alright, fine. I'll give you a few ways to stack your hand.


EXTRA ENTRIES:


*Be a follower of my blog. This is not a requirement, but I will give you extra entries for it. +2 for being an old follower (before 7/22) and +1 for being a new follower.


*Read and comment on my review of Forget You, found HERE.This MUST be a meaningful comment that shows me you actually read my review. 'Great review, sounds awesome' will not count. +1


*Spread the word! Leave me a link in the comments section, and I will give you +2 extra points for each link you provide, up to 8 extra. This includes blog posts, sidebars, tweets, facebook, etc. Just pass along the word.


*I also conducted an interview with Jennifer Echols. Click HERE to read the interview. Leave a meaningful comment there as well for another +1 entry.


Alright, so what are you waiting for?! Leave me a comment letting me know how many entries you have! I'm pretty easy going with this, and don't care if you leave them all as one comment, post each individually, or a combination of the two. However, IF you are leaving multiple comments for your entry, you MUST include your name or other identifier in each comment so that I know all of them belong to you.


Also, ONLY U.S. entrants are eligible. Sorry guys, but the copies are coming from the publisher, and that is what they asked!

Review: Forget You by Jennifer Echols

This book was a free copy courtesy of the publisher. They sent me the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. And, stay tuned for an exciting giveaway! 

Forget You by Jennifer Echols was a surprise to me. I saw this book popping up on several blogs and thought it looked like it would be a fun read, a little bit of fluff to break up the monotony. So, when given the opportunity to review this book, I took it. And I am so glad that I did. I haven't been this surprised by a book in a while. The characters in this story were far more complex and realistic than I expected, and there was far more depth to the the story than I had anticipated.

This novel had a brilliant cast of characters, most of whom were very well done. Zoey, our main character, felt like a real person to me. Her reactions to the traumatic situations she found herself in were very realistic and I thought her emotions translated from page to person very well. Doug was also pretty intense, but in a really good way. Although there were some moments when he was a little bit extreme, I generally thought he was really sweet. He always seemed like he was trying to take care of Zoey and like he was looking out for her. Ya, there were times when he was a little underhanded and sneaky about it, but I can't really seem to find it within myself to blame him.

I also thought that the story was wonderfully crafted in a way that made the events critical to flow of the story completely plausible. I loved that we were introduced to Zoey and got to know her before the car crash that took her memory from her. I don't think I would have enjoyed the story half as much as I did if I were to meet Zoey as she was waking up from the wreck, or the day after. Even though the wreck happens toward the beginning of the story, the information and character background we receive from and about Zoey is critical to understanding her actions later in the story.

My only major complaint with this novel was Zoey's incredible naivety regarding her boyfriend (and I use that term loosely) Brandon. In the beginning of the book, she mentions more than once that she knows Brandon better than anyone else, and that she is the one he talks to about his girl 'problems'. She knows exactly who and how he is but she seems to believe none of that matters now, with her because they started out as just friends. I found her blinders (and blind faith) a little hard to believe. She's just too smart and level-headed in other situations for me to really believe her on this one. I'm definitely with Doug there... Although I did have a hard time believing that Zoey would really be that naive, Echols does a good enough job setting the stage for it that I'm willing to overlook it. Zoey is really struggling to come to terms with her life right now and she's trying to figure out how to just get through each day. It makes sense that she would look for someone to lean on, or lose herself in. But, she was still to adamant about that relationship. And I don't much care for him anyway.

With the rest of the characters, I feel like Echols gave them just enough personality of their own that they weren't quite stock characters forced to rely on cultural stereotypes to have anything to offer. And that worked for this novel. The focus should have been on Zoey individually, and then together with Doug. Which it was. Brilliant! Too often in this genre I see authors too caught up in one extreme or the other. They tend to focus so much on the romantic couple that the secondary characters barely get more than a name and a label or, they take the entirely opposite position and give their secondary characters so much personality, background and time that it becomes tedious and awkward. Echols somehow managed to find what I think is just about the perfect balance between the two. Not all of the characters are equally important, and I feel we got to see as much of their personality as their importance warranted.

Overall, I think this book was a great read, one I'm glad I had the opportunity to pick it up. This is a great novel to pick up when you are in the mood for a fairly light read, but it also makes you think. This story raises some tough questions, things that a lot of YA books in this genre don't even try to handle. I loved that this book gave us a story with meat to it while still being an enjoyable read about a young teen romance. For those of you still looking for a great beach read, I would recommend giving this one a shot.

Thanks again to the publisher for sending me my review copy!

Click HERE to read my interview with Jennifer Echols!

Check it out!

Hey everyone!

I want you to run over and check out Shelly's blog, Write for a Reader. I've been working with her a little and I now have a guest post up over on her site. It's my review of Where the Red Fern Grows with just a few minor changes. It also includes a short bio and a photo as well. She's got a fun blog, so head on over and check it out! Leave us both a comment and let us know what you think!

TBR- Read-A-Thon

Today, I stumbled across another read-a-thon, hosted by Kristen over at Bookworming in the 21st Century. It's a TBR pile read-a-thon, which is great for me, because mine is getting a little out of control and I'm running out of space for it. I don't have a lot of space right now, so most of my things that are not immediately necessary and urgently needed (i.e. clothing and something to eat off) are in storage. Sadly, this includes a vast majority of my books. While there are some exceptions, I've tried to only put the books into storage that I've already read, keeping all those that need to be read out. And, or course, there's all the books I keep buying as well. Any book I've purchased within this year is lying around. So, when I stumbled across this read-a-thon, it seemed like a great excuse to knock off some of those books, and finish off a bunch of review copies...

I also plan to do much better with my review posting while I read. I've been a little lax lately, and I have a stack of books that I've read sitting by my desk waiting to be reviewed.

The read-a-thon started today, but it lasts until this Sunday, July 25. That's a long time to read! I did some reading today, but not a ton, so I'm going to start in earnest tomorrow. For right now, my goal with be one book and one review a day, while also making an effort for a second review. We'll see how it goes! I plan to read mostly books I already own, but I think I might slip a few I have out from the library in as well. That stack it just as unmanageable!

HELP!-
I also think some help in deciding which books I should read would be very helpful. One of my favorite ways to get a book recommendation, when I have a ton to read and am not sure where to start is to ask people for a few random numbers. I have all my books in a pile, waiting to be read, and I number the pile accordingly. So, if I could ask a favor- I'd love to get comments from you, my readers, with a 1-3 numbers from 1-30. I will then pick through your 'recommendations' and decide what to read from there. I do have a few books that I've already decided need to be read within the next few days, so this will definitely help me get the motivation I need to get those out of the way!

Thanks everyone and happy reading! If you want to sign up to read with us, head over here.

Review: Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt

This review is also part of Once Upon a Bookcase's Body-Image and Self Perception month. More information is viewable here.


Cynthia Voigt has been one of my favorite authors since I read her Tillerman Saga in elementary school. After those 7 books, I was eager to read more, because that's what you do with an author you love, right?! I read several more of her books before I lost interest in a lot of my old favorites in favor of Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Christie. Real life drama, trials and pain didn't hold a candle to trying to figure out the mystery before someone else died. However, as I've gotten older, I find myself drawn more and more to those stories I loved when I was younger- stories of people facing terrible obstacles and learning to overcome.

Izzy, willy-nilly by Cynthia Voigt is a novel I skipped over as a kid that I now wish I had not. It was painful, gritty, realistic and honest. How is it all of those things you ask? Because of Izzy (Isobel). Izzy is a great character. Although the book begins with her in the hospital after her car accident, we learn through interactions with other characters and Izzy's own thoughts that before the accident she was a nice, well-liked, intelligent person. She was one of three sophomores on the cheerleading squad and learning Latin, she gets along well with almost everyone and has a lot of friends. So really, she was your average high schooler. Can I just add that I loved that Voigt gave us a genuine person for a cheerleader, and not those flat, stereotypical, petty awful girls most stories seem to portray cheerleaders as?! (Sometimes, a cheerleader is just a normal person too...)

Anyway, back to Izzy. She accepts an offer for a date to a party from a senior she isn't interested in simply because he's a senior, and really, how cool is that?! Turns out, when said senior is over-confident in his driving abilities while under the influence, not so cool at all. Before I get into the real meat of Izzy's struggles, I want to address one more thing- At the party, when she asks her date to take her home (she's conscious of her curfew!) she notices that he's a little bit drunk. Another senior (one she actually has a crush on) offers to take her home. Her date takes issue with that, and, not wanting to seem any lamer than she already does for needing to make it home for curfew, she blows it off as no big deal. She acts like everything will be fine, and leaves with a boy, knowing that he is too drunk to be a safe driver. Turns out- he drove the car into a tree. What bad things have happened to you because you wanted to 'save face' and what bad things have you managed to avoid?

Izzy wakes up in the hospital, broken. They try to stabilize her leg, but as another fever comes on, and the infection spreads, they are forced to amputate her right leg, removing everything just below the knee. A previously active, healthy, lovely young girl is suddenly rendered basically immobile and completely unable to do many of the activities that previously felt completely natural. At first, she doesn't realize just how serious things are. And then, she uses her walker for the first time. Izzy slips into a deep depression she tries desperately to hide from those close to her. Her family tries to be supportive and they are there for her, but they don't know how exactly to treat her. Her mother tries to act as if Izzy will go right back into the life she left behind- all her same friends, all the boys calling, everything. It's hard for Izzy, because she knows that nothing is ever going to be the same again. Already her friends are drifting off. None of them really know how to talk to her anymore, and it's obvious every time they talk to her, or come to see her that they are deeply uncomfortable with the situation, until, for the most part, they just stop coming. Enter Rosamunde. Rosamunde is a girl in Izzy's grade who doesn't seem to care what other people think. She dresses to be comfortable, and speaks exactly what she's thinking. There is very little guess work involved in a conversation with Rosamunde and this comes as a relief to Izzy. Everyone steps lightly around her, careful to avoid any subject that might upset her or make her aware of her new disability. Instead of tiptoeing around, Rosamunde laughs at the line of left shoes, all lined up together in Izzy's closet, missing their mates.

Izzy has never had to struggle with self image before. She really had everything going for her. Popularity, a loving family, an active and healthy body, etc. Right after the accident, she isn't truly capable of dealing with these changes, because anything related to this has always been so far out of her realm of experience. I don't know how Voigt manages it, with this and every other book I've read, but Izzy was so real. Her voice was powerful and authentic. I felt almost voyeuristic watching her suffer at night when no one was around, suffering in silence with all the lights turned off, so no one would suspect she was still awake. Because her suffering was so realistic, it was incredibly empowering to watch as slowly, day by day, she faced awkward situations and learned how to deal with them. Rosamunde was there for her the whole time, sticking around to push, pull and prod her into life again, and sticking around long enough to help her up when she's down.

I don't know how I would handle something as devastating as loosing a limb. It changes every part of your life and is something that never 'goes away.' It's always there, and will always remain a part of you that you need to learn to live with and accept. While I definitely hope that I am never forced to deal with something as traumatic as losing a limb, I hope that I handle it as well as Izzy. It isn't easy for her, and it takes a long time to get there, but Izzy learns how to accept her new life. And, once she stops thinking of herself in terms of 'crippled' she finds that it's easier for others to overlook that as well.

What am I missing?! or Why I don't particularly like Shel Silverstein

I want to like Shel Silverstein. Really, I do. I feel like I failed a part of childhood because I've never been much a fan. I read a few books when I was younger (or had them read to me) and I didn't much care for them then (The Missing Piece, The Giving Tree) although everyone else seemed to love them. The Missing Piece was repetitive, dull and completely pointless by the end, and The Giving Tree is about a horribly selfish little boy who thinks he can talk to a tree... I guess I just missed how it's more about unconditional love, because I don't think love should inspire selfishness.

Anyway, in the last little while, I've tried again to read Silverstein because everyone I know loves him. So, I read my nephews' favorite, Don't Bump the Glump, my brother-in-law's favorite, Where the Sidewalk Ends, my friend's favorite, The Giving Tree (tried it again, still didn't care for it) and a few others just for good measure. I read Falling Up, A Light in the Attic, and Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book. I genuinely enjoyed A Light in the Attic and I thought Uncle Shelby's Adult Primer was morbidly funny but was not at all impressed with any of the others. Each book does contain some poems that I really enjoyed, but as a whole, I felt that there were better things I could be doing with my time.

I do enjoy reading these books with young kids, because they just seem to love them, but reading them by myself is boring. I think perhaps the utterly and absurdly ridiculous is wasted on me. I like a little ridiculous in my life, but these just seem to much, almost like they are trying so hard to be funny. Some of them are legitimately great but most of them just don't do it for me.

So tell me- what am I missing? What is it about Shel Silverstein that everyone loves but I just can't seem to get?! Can any one fill me in here? I'm at a loss.

(Not to mention his pictures igg me out... I can't decide if he's a lumberjack or a creepy old man...)

It's Friday, which means it's again time for the hop!

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for visiting from the hop! I hope you like what you see, and please, feel free to look around, leave me some comments and let me know what you think about my blog! I'd love to hear from you! If you do leave a comment, please include a link to your blog so that I can come check out what you have to offer!

I don't have the hop pictures up today because my computer has decided today that it doesn't like me. However, I will try to update throughout the weekend to get the pictures up. I am taking part in the blog hop at both Crazy-for-Books and Parajunkee's View, so whichever you are visiting from, HI!

Jen at Crazy for Books asked us this weekend what book we are most excited for. I don't know that there is one that I can pick... For a really long time, I've been refusing to read books in a series if the series hasn't been finished yet, because I hate waiting for the next installment. But, I've decided that I should lift that just a little, because sometimes, anticipation is half the fun, and I've been missing out on some great sounding books. So, right now, I guess I'm just excited to get started on some of these great series that I've been missing out on.

Let me know what you think!

Review: Tenderness by Robert Cormier

This review is posted as part of Once Upon a Bookcase's Body Image and Self-Perception Month.

Have you ever found yourself rooting for the bad guy? Knowing that the character deserves every bad thing coming his way, but hoping that, somehow, things will work out better in the end? I don't know that I had ever truly experienced that before reading Tenderness by Robert Cormier. I generally prefer (ahem-totally love) reading books where the bad guy totally gets his comeuppance. I'm all about hard-core justice for my villains. Mercy?! *Scoff,* What's that. Don't you know what he's done?!

Reading this book changed that. This is the first time (or at least the only time that comes immediately to mind) where I have truly felt bad for our bad guy. Other times when the bad guy is pitiable or shown mercy, it is because they aren't really all that bad, merely misunderstood. Eric Poole may be misunderstood. That's a distinct possibility. But, there is no denying the fact that he is bad. He's a sociopath. When we meet Eric, he's been in a Juvenile Facility for the last three years for the cold-blooded murder of his mother and step-father. Or course, it was justified because of the 'severe abuse' Eric has been living with, so the state tries him as a juvenile instead of an adult, which means he will be released after he turns 18 and his record will be expunged. No one knows about the three young girls Eric murdered, or so he thinks.

If I had to sum up my thoughts/feelings/idea of this novel in one sentence, it would be revolve around the quote that begins this novel: "To know the pain of too much tenderness"- Kahlil Gibran. One generally equates tenderness with only positive things. It brings to mind images of gentleness, kindness and love. But, what about the idea of too much tenderness? Is that possible? Apparently. Lori and Eric are searching for that tender emotion. Almost every action is driven by this desire to experience tenderness. They are always seeking it, they look for and find it in all the wrong places and they never grasp it for long. It creates intense dysfunctions within each character.

Eric kills young girls to find it and Lori subjects herself to all manner of unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances to feel it. Their paths cross and Lori decides that Eric is the one who can give her what she seeks. She goes with him, knowing that he murdered his mother and step-father (but he was so abused!) and later discovers that the murmurs about Eric killing young girls is also true. But, Eric is tender with her. She loves him. She informs Eric that she will stand by him, ignoring his past and assisting him in the future if he will simply remain tender with her. And how can he refuse that, especially once he begins to care for her, as much as he is capable of caring for anyone.

If we only heard from Lori's perspective, it would be incredibly easy to hate Eric and despise him for the crazed cold-blooded killer he is. But, he isn't, is he? I still don't know. We also hear from Eric. While Eric never demonstrates any remorse for what he's done, he too merely desires a little tenderness in his life. Before his mother remarried, she and Eric had a very close relationship. The man she married and Eric do not get along at all. Eric despises him and he thinks Eric is rather in the way. Eric seeks compassion and tenderness from these girls and finds that the only way he truly feels able to experience it is upon their deaths. However evil that is, I can't hate him for it. He seems genuinely puzzled when the main detective on the case calls him a monster and surprisingly, I found myself agreeing.

By the end of the novel, he seems genuinely concerned for Lori's welfare. He takes care of her, makes her feel special and begins to show her what she has been searching for. And there is no doubt that by the end, he truly cares for her. Although abrupt and a bit jarring, the ending suited the story perfectly. It was tragic, but it was the only way to end the story and be true to each character. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that I ended up heartbroken for each of our main characters. None of them really received their happy ending.

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time, and one that will influence my thoughts as well. I can't imagine someone with such a low image and perception of themselves that they would be willing to subject themselves to what Lori willingly puts herself through before and after meeting Eric. What would drive an attractive young woman to such lengths and who is to blame for not teaching this girl that she has value all on her own. This is a story that will both warm and break your heart and one that will linger in your thoughts long after you've turned the last page.

Read-A-Thon Wrap Up

It's Thursday which means my first Read-A-Thon has ended. I had a lot of fun with this, and I'm really glad I participated. I got a lot of reading done, and I enjoyed the mini-challenges I took part in.

I did really well the first day. I finished 3 1/2 books and I took part in 2 of the mini-challenges. Tuesday was busier for me and I didn't get nearly as much accomplished. I did one mini-challenge and read most of the rest of the half book I'd started Monday. Yesterday was another productive day and I finished one book and read 2 others as well as two picture books with my nephews.

So, hear is my final book list:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein    
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang   
Izzy, willy-nilly by Cynthia Voigt   
Falling Up by Shel Silverstein  
Zlateh the Goat by Isaac Bashevis Singer    
Hansel and Diesel by David Gordon (picture)
Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman (picture)


I didn't get nearly as much blogging done as I would have liked and I don't have any read-a-thon books to post immediately but look out for them over the next several days. They'll be coming. That's my goal for today and tomorrow- to get most, if not all, of my read-a-thon books ready for review. We'll see how that goes but I will start posting them soon!

Read-A-Thon Update

Hey everyone! Today has been so much fun! I've done more reading today than I have in a long time! I managed to read three and a half books today! I feel like that is quite an accomplishment, especially because I had a lot of other things going on today too! I read:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (533 pgs.)
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silversteing (169 pgs.)
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (232 pgs.)
and I started Izzy, willy-nilly by Cynthia Voigt.

I didn't get much blogging done today, (maybe tomorrow) but I did take the time to check out the mini-challenges posted today, and try my hand at those. I don't know if I have an answer to each challenge today, but here goes-

Over at Book Crazy we were asked to pick our favorite book or character and find a song or image that describes the book or person. This is hard for me because I can never pick just one favorite. However, the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld has been on my mind a lot recently, so I decided to pick a song for them.
Joydrop is a very unknown Canadian band from the 90s. They sing one of my most favorite songs, and I believe parts of the song describe various elements of this series almost perfectly. The song is called Beautiful. 



The Uglies series (full review later) takes place sometime in our future, after our bad eco-habits have destroyed the world. (more or less...) Our main character is Tally, and all she wants is to become a Pretty and move into Prettytown. It's what you do when you turn 16 and it's what everyone waits for. Westerfeld took this idea of being "Beautiful like you" and crafted a story around it.

The verses of the song are all begin with the line, "If I were beatiful like you". She sings about her desire to be beautiful and all the doors or opportunities that would open up for her. (They'd do anything to please me; I'd never be at fault; I'd have so many friends; etc.) And the chorus sings, "But that will never be, cause I'm not beautiful like you, I'm beautiful like me."

Tally grows a lot during this series, and one of the biggest things that she must learn is how to accept herself and the others around her for who they are and how they look before surgery. She must accept that she is "beautiful like me." I love this song. It is one of my all time favorites, and I love thinking about how this song fits in with this series. If you've read the series and you listen to this song, I would love to hear your thoughts! Tell me if you think my song matches up well!

Over at The Eager Readers we are asked about our favorite fictional couples and which people we would like to see cross over between novels. This one was also hard, because I don't read a lot of romance so I was struggling to come up with anyone besides Elizabeth and Darcy... However, after scanning my bookshelf, I came up with a few couples that I just adore. So:

Enna and Finn from Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern. Enna is one of my favorite characters from this series- so full of life and fire (haha... aren't I funny!) and Finn is just such a solid steady guy. I love what he is willing to do for Enna even if sometimes I wanted to smack her a little bit... He rocks.
Harry and Corlath from Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword because I just love this book, okay?

Warning- my crossover couple DOES contain SPOILERS so BE CAREFUL READING!!

The cross over couple is significantly harder for me, because I don't generally think about books in relation to others, at least not in terms of characters meeting. To me, they remain separate and individual. I'm not thinking- Oh! These two characters would go great together unless they are both characters in the same series... So, the couple that I am crossing over is not because I somehow think they would be absolutely great together as characters, and more because I really want both characters to end up happy, and given the nature of each book, there is almost/maybe/possibly sorta kinda a chance they would meet in some futuristic/past alternate reality in space... (confused? Ya... Me too...)

So, my couple would be Gemma Doyle from Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty series and Georyn from Sylvia Engdahl's Enchantress from the Stars. Both are characters who are ultimately denied their perfect happy ending, but I love them both and want them to be happy. But, I don't want to break up some other happy couple to give that to them...

The other couple I would love to see 'together' would be Elizabeth Bennett with Heathcliff and/or Darcy with Catherine. NOT because I think they would be a good match, but because I would love to 'watch' Darcy or Elizabeth tear into the respective Wuthering Heights cast member... I think it would be great to watch Elizabeth tell Heathcliff what a soulless waste of breathing space he is, and listen to Darcy berate Catherine for her incredible selfishness and manipulation. I did actually enjoy Wuthering Heights. It is probably high on my list of classic favorites, but I would never wish either of the leads (or really any other character for that matter) on any one... Ugh. What an unpleasant bunch of people!

I might give the challenge hosted at I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read a chance tomorrow, but none of the chapters I've read so far have inspired me to song.

That's all for my update tonight. This post is long enough already! Let me know what you all think, and I am, of course, open to reading suggestions for the next two days of the read-a-thon!

My first Read-A-Thon!!

Today is the first day of the Once Upon a Read-A-Thon and I am so excited! It's my first read-a-thon, and really the first big activity I've participated in since starting my blog. I have a huge stack of 'possibilities' so that I will never be at a loss for something to read and I'll have choices so I can read whatever strikes my fancy.

My goal for this read-a-thon is to finish at least 6 books, and I also want to have the outlines of a review for each of them sketched out by the end of Wednesday, if not the full review. I plan on doing a wrap up post that includes which books I finished and a short sentence or two to briefly mention how I felt after finishing, but I'll save the real review for later and I'll post the reviews throughout the upcoming week. I might change my mind on that though. It will undoubtedly be nice to take a few breaks and come blog for a while.

Right now, my tentative reading goals include:
Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
A Light in the Attic and/or Falling Up by Shel Silversteing
Coraline and/or The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

We'll see how it all goes, but I'm super excited to participate! If you are participating as well, leave me a link so I can track your progress as well! And of course, recommendations from this list (or any other) on what I should read first/next are welcomed and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated!

Wish me luck and here I go!

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth...

I am going to preface this post by saying that I do not hate Twilight. I actually enjoyed reading the books. (More on that later.) HOWEVER, no matter how much I do or don't enjoy reading Twilight there are some things that should just not be messed with.

This weekend, while visiting other bloggers through the hop, I came across this lovely site by Lily called After the Fall. I was enjoying myself, just browsing through when I noticed a post discussing how Jane Austen received a Twilight makeover. Excuse me?! A what?!

Let me explain. Apparently, the people at HarperTeen thought it would be a good idea to reissue several much beloved classics with new covers to generate more interest from Twilight lovers. Allow me to illustrate:

In Twilight we see loose elements of Pride and Prejudice threaded throughout Bella and Edward's relationship. To capitalize on this, we now have the recovered version seen here. It has the black background with the red and white floral motif, similar font and a tag line. (I agree with Lily- they gave Jane Austen a tag line?! Ugh!)



In New Moon, we have elements of Romeo and Juliet. They can't seem to find a happy ending, I'd rather die than live without you etc.
So, they gave Shakespeare a new cover. Shakespeare!! Seriously, what is this world coming to?!

In Eclipse, the literary connection comes from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. (Although, as much as I enjoyed that book, I definitely don't think I would want my relationship compared to Healthcliff and Catherine- can we say dysfunctional and unhealthy?!)






As if it's not bad enough that they took these three classic pieces of literature and capitolized on their connection to Twilight, apparently it is now the thing to use to draw the teenage girl demographic to classics. Don't believe me, just look at what they've done to Jane Eyre. 

I meant it when I said that I bear Twilight no ill will. I enjoyed the books for what they are and I like the fact that the books do not pretend to be something that they are not. I can't believe that there are people who think this is a good idea! To me, it implies that without Twilight, these books would not actually be worth reading. I'm sorry, but that's bull!

I can't stop you from purchasing these editions. I can't stop anyone from purchasing these editions. But I warn you- no matter how much I like you, if I see you with one of these covers or I hear that you have purchased them, I will judge you.

To read Lily's original post, click here.

Review: Go Ask Alice by "Anonymous" (aka Beatrice Sparks)

WARNING: This review contains more spoilers than normal. 

When I first picked up this book, I, like most readers, had heard that this is a true story. Go Ask Alice is marketed as the true diary of a 15 year old girl detailing the destruction of her life after becoming involved with drugs. (Not true, but, more on that later.) 

In high school, I kept a journal. A very detailed journal. (I filled 9 large notebooks in 2 years...) Although absolutely nothing in my life relates to or compares to what Alice experienced, I did keep a journal during the same age bracket Alice was writing. Reading this book as if it were her diary was interesting for me, because I did not recognize this as an actual diary of a young teenage girl. Very little of the book focused on typical teenaged drama. She touches on major crushes, glosses over losing her virginity and gives an intensely colorful and detailed description of the wonderful colors and feelings experienced while high on acid... Hmm... 

The writer of this 'journal' rarely felt 15 to me. Her writing was too advanced and cohesive to be the true ramblings and musings of a lost (and generally high) 15 year old trying to sort out her problems and her life. It just wasn't realistic. The few times the narrator felt 15 were after being ostracized from her peer groups. She expresses feelings of confusion and loneliness that range true but even those passages were so short as to almost be an afterthought. I read this believing it to be true, but was confused more than once and had to really stop to think about it. No 15 year old I know writes or talks like this. 

(I am about to SPOIL the ENDING. You have been warned.)  Perhaps the most disappointing thing about this novel was the ending. It leaves you with a feeling of hopelessness. Rather than being a triumphal story about a young girl overcoming her addictions, or a cautionary tale about a life of excess, it is a tale to those addicted to drugs that there is no hope for you. The end will never come, and you will be a user until you die no matter how hard  you try to get away from it. Alice has got her life back on track. She is clean, living with her parents and she even has a new boyfriend who knows her past and accepts her for who and how she is. Everything seems to be going so well for her. It seems so hopeful and wonderful. So what happens? In an 'afternote' we are told that 3 weeks after Alice wrote the last page in her diary (remember, she's clean now) she ODs and DIES! Really?! She cleans herself up so that she can die in the end?! Sigh... 

Okay. Now that I've told you why I didn't love this book, I should tell you that I did like it. It made me sad. It broke my heart. Although it wasn't always delivered in a perfectly believable manner, the situations Alice discovered herself in were traumatic and portrayed quite well. If nothing else, this book made me feel. For the most part, I was able to ignore the parts of the story that didn't ring perfectly true until I had finished the read. It's a short book, and one that I would say is definitely worth the read. Even though some of the descriptions and the writing itself isn't always on the level a 15 year old would use, the language of emotion was. When Alice did speak about her emotions, I found myself easily believing the sincerity of the narrator's emotions, especially when feeling lost, lonely and homesick.  

So, although overall I DID enjoy this book, and I DO recommend it, I am going to warn you now- This book is a work of fiction, no matter what you have heard otherwise. Check out snopes.com for the specifics about this book. And, read the copyright page! It clearly states that this book is a work of fiction. My recommendation to you- Read this book knowing that it is NOT really the anonymous diary of a teenager addicted to drugs and is instead someone's story of what could happen to you if you find yourself mixed up with drugs. It's a horrifying tale that doesn't need to be marketed as non-fiction to accomplish it's goal. I would have enjoyed this book much more had I know beforehand that it wasn't really true. 

Blog hopping!

Hey everyone and thanks for stopping by! I'm glad to see you visiting from the hop! This week has been pretty crazy and I haven't posted as much as I would have liked, but next would should be lots of fun, so I'm pretty excited to get back to more regular posts. Next week I'm participating in the Once Upon a Read-A-Thon as well as focusing more time and attention to the Body Image and Self-Perception Month reading and reviewing I'm working on. (See details in my post here.) Feel free to include comments, encouragements, thoughts etc. and check back next week and later this month for more updates!!

To answer Jen's question over at the Crazy for Books blog hop, my favorite authors change regularly. I have several favorites from early childhood (Willo Davis Robers, Mary Downing Hahn etc) some from middle childhood/early teen years (Mary Higgins Clark, Robin McKinley, Cynthia Voigt, Ann Rinaldi etc etc etc) and now that I've reached adulthood, I don't think I can actually decide. I read so many great authors, and am exposed to so many more all the time, that I think my favorite authors are now defined by the best books I've read recently. Wow... Such a hard question! I just love books, which makes (almost) all authors great by association!

Please, feel free to check out my contest, details found here.  Feel free to enter! Just write me a short sentence and have fun with it! Even if you don't want to win anything, or aren't interested in the dictionary, I love reading random sentences and would love to see what you can come up with!
And of course, leave me a comment to let me know how you found me, and leave a link back to your blog so I can stop by, check it out and say HI back! It's such a great way to find new blogs! Be reading you soon!

Review: Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi

I know this post is a few days late, (been crazy busy) but I wanted to celebrate America's Independence Day with a review of a childhood favorite set during the Revolutionary War, because without that war, and the brave people who fought it, we wouldn't have an Independence Day.

 Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi is the one of three reasons I decided in 8th grade that it was okay to read and enjoy more than murder mysteries. (Robin McKinley is reason one and two but more on that later.) Because this book is one that I credit with vastly expanding my literary horizons, I'm going to tell you that this book is basically amazing. However, I understand and recognize that if I were to read this for the first time now, I imagine my rating would be more along the lines of pretty awesome. Thus, the dual tag.

Time Enough for Drums is enchanting. Jemima, (Jem) our heroine, is a strong, well crafted character. Although she is young, she has strong convictions, intense loyalties and a vast capacity for love and other emotions. When war breaks out between the colonies and the British, Jem knows which side she'll be rooting for. Her and her family and strong patriots who believe in what the colonists Americans are fighting for. Imagine the outrage when headstrong 15 year old Jem is forced to suffer through tutoring sessions with that horrid Tory John Reid. Although John has been a friend of the family for some time, Jem is none too fond of him. He is a strict tutor who demands respect and compliance and tells her what to do. Plus, he's a Tory.

I'll admit, this book is fairly predictable. It isn't terribly hard to figure out some of the major plot points, but in this story, that almost seems irrelevant. It doesn't matter that the storyline flows in a relatively straight and predictable manner, because Jem has such a hard time walking along it and that is where we find the great elements of this novel. There are also enough offshoots and unexpected moments that the story never feels trite or contrived. It is in large part due to those small side routes that we are able to see a true change in Jem from the spoiled and stubborn young 15 year old girl who will abandon her lessons at the drop of a hat (or the whinny of her horse) into a responsible, mature and determined young woman. War changes people. It changes some for the better, while bringing out the worst in others. Jem is one of the strong ones, truly changed for the positive and I consider myself lucky that I was able to watch her grow and learn what it means to be an adult.

Jem finds herself in many tough situations that really challenge her thinking, and force her to evaluate who she is, what she wants from life and what she is willing to sacrifice in order to achieve it. Some of the decisions Jem is forced to make are incredibly hard and have the potential to be seriously detrimental to the people she loves and cares for. These decisions were handled in an honest and realistic manner that made Jemima's character all the more real.

I also believe Rinaldi did a wonderful job contrasting the colonists with the British without turning the British or the British sympathizers into villains or stock characters. They were people too standing up for what they believed in, and trying to act as they found best. Rinaldi is also a master at knowing just how much information to include. She added just enough of the history within the story that I learned something but I never felt overwhelmed by all the details shoved into every single crack and crevice in the story. It always makes for awkward reading when you come away with the feeling that the author just had to show off how much research they did. This tends to bog the book down heavily and really disrupt the flow of the story. There was none of that in this book. Rinaldi transports the reader back in time, allowing us to experience life along with Jemima. There were moments after reading this book (every time) where I halfway expected to walk out of my house into the cobblestone streets in my petticoats and bonnet to fetch fresh fruits from the market. And I was almost always disappointed when I realize I'm a few hundred years late. (And then I remember indoor plumbing and tic-tacs and I'm happy again.)

Time Enough for Drums is a story that I connect with on several levels. I love Jemima's strong patriotism, her desire to do what she believes to be right and her fierce devotion to those she loves. I respect the choices that characters make when they are fighting to preserve what is most dear to them. And yes, there's also that part of my that just loves the happy ending.

One of the most amazing scenes in this book is when Jemima stands at the bottom of the Courthouse steps listening to community members read the Declaration of Independence. Although she doesn't stay for the entire reading (sigh... what a bummer) the emotions of the nameless characters experiencing it with her seep from the pages. You can feel the excitement and the energy is almost tangible. Perhaps it is because our Independence Day just passed, but at this moment, if I were able to visit one day or one event in history, I would choose to attend one of the readings of the Declaration of Independence. It is such an important and decisive moment in American history. It means so much to me personally, but I can't even begin to imagine how much more it meant to the people it was written for. They felt the bonds of tyranny and this document was the first blow to those chains. How powerful would it have been to have listened to those words read for the first time, and truly begun to believe that you could be free.

Although it is not the most complex story I've read about the revolutionary war, nor the most intense, it is one that has stayed with me over the years because of the emotions it invokes. It leaves me with a strong feeling of love and support for my country. (As well as the strong desire to hug my sister and tell her how much I love her.)

Anyone want to read with me?

I have some exciting events coming up this month with the blog that I am going to be participating in.

Throughout this month, I will be participating in Once Upon a Bookcase's Body Image and Self-Perception month (BI&SP). I will be reading and reviewing several books relating to body image along with many other great bloggers. The books I have (tentatively) planned for are the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt, Tenderness by Robert Cormier, and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Have any ideas for books that would be a great addition?! Let me know! It would be great to have as much support and participation on this topic as possible. If you have recently read a book that you think applies to this topic or have any planned to be read soon, sigh up with us! If you don't have a blog, or don't want to commit to a complete sign up, send me a message, and I'll include your review on my blog as a guest post!

I believe that this is a very important topic that is too often ignored. It gets a lot of lip service, but not a lot of action. Lets all do something this month to shed more light, attention and action on this topic. Go out and tell someone that you love them, and remember that you are who you are, and you are wonderful that way. Never let anyone tell you that the way you look is wrong.

From July 12-14, I'm also going to be participating in the Once Upon a Reading Challenge. You can check it out at Pure Imagination, Candace's Reading Blog or Reading Angel. Sign ups begin tomorrow, July 5th! It's a great excuse to just sit back and read for a while. They are hoping to have a lot of participants, and it should be a lot of fun. They have some great prize packs planned as well, so head on over a join with me, and tell all your friends!

One Month Already?!

****CONTEST CLOSED*****

Wow. I can barely believe that I've already been blogging for a month. It definitely hasn't felt like it's been that long. I've loved it so far, so I definitely have to send a big thank you to my sister who finally pushed me to start the blog I'd been thinking about for months. She's great with the motivation, so thanks Cic!

So, to celebrate passing the one month mark, I've decided to hold my first contest/giveaway. I think it's a fun way to say thanks to all my readers for being so great. For this first contest, I want it to be about having fun with words, because that's why we are all here, right?!

I started my Word of the Day just over a week ago and decided that this would be a fun thing to incorporate into a contest/giveaway. So here it is!

To Enter:

All you need to do to enter is write me a sentence. Take one of the words I've used for my word of the day, past or present, (found here) and use it as creatively as possible in a sentence, and post it as a comment. The best/most creative sentence (as determined by myself, above mentioned sister and a well-read friend) will win!
For your entry- Please make ONE comment that includes your entry AND your email address, so I can contact you if you win. In a SECOND comment, add up any extra entries you've earned. (Please make sure that you are clearly identified in each post, and that it is clear which two posts belong to you. If I don't know who you are, I can't contact you when you win.) You may add the second comment at any time as long as I can clearly find which sentence belongs to you. 

You may enter 1 (one) sentence.

The winner of the best sentence will receive their choice of a new dictionary or thesaurus as well as a custom-made bookmark incorporating their winning word. I will also tag the the winner's blog in the wrap up post, and highlight their blog in a reader's spotlight section.

If I receive enough entries, I will also use a random number generator (or my nephews pulling a number from a hat) to choose a second, random winner.

The random winner will receive both a custom bookmark and a blogger spotlight as well.

Although you may only have one sentence entry, you may gain extra entries for the random drawing by doing the following:

• follow my blog (+2 for old followers, +1 for new)
• become a fan of my facebook page, viewable here
• promote this contest elsewhere. (tweet, sidebar, post, facebook etc.) Please provide links! +1 for each, up to 2 extra. 

This contest will end on Sunday July 11 at midnight MST. All entries must be received by them. The winner will be posted on either July 12 or 13, depending on the availability of my judges. Due to shipping costs, I will only be able to ship the bookmark internationally. Please mark whether you are an international entry or not in you initial post!! 

You do not need to be a follower to enter this contest, although it will gain you extra entries in the random drawing. However, for some future giveaways, being a follower will be a requirement, and I will always offer something extra to those who were followers before the contest's publication date. 

Keep in mind that this contest is meant to be fun! I want everyone to enjoy themselves. I would love to have people enter even if they are not interested in winning a dictionary or bookmark (although really, who ever has enough bookmarks!) because I want this to be a fun way to celebrate the one month birthday of my blog. So have some fun, and please, come help me celebrate and give me some great sentences!