Memory Monday: Welcome Ems! Our second Guest!

Hello everyone, and welcome to Memory Monday, guest blogger edition! I'd love to welcome Emily, or Ems, someone I've known for a very long time. She's prepared a lovely post to share with all of you about her childhood reading experiences, so stop, stay a while, and let us know what you think!

Info:
Ems:  30-something book reviewer, book lover, library haunter, old bookshop fiend, and general bibliophile. Currently a graduate student in Education at Idaho State University, with plans to become the greatest advocate of books the public school system has ever seen. Working on a novel herself, which may or may not see the light of day. It doesn’t really matter, since writing is almost as cathartic as reading for her.

Ems blogs about books and life, at In which Ems reviews books and Some days I'm just plain philosophical, respectively.
Post:
I fell in love with reading at a very young age, thanks to my mom. One of my earliest memories is of her reading to me from a Babar book. Oh, how I loved Babar! I’d have done anything for that elephant, not to mention all his friends. It was the book I’d request over and over. Knowing what I know now about how kids get attached to books, I’d kind of like to give my mom some kind of award for reading it to me so many times.

Not only did Mom read Babar, but she read everything. We were forever reading. I feel very lucky to be the oldest child, because I had her undivided attention for almost 2 ½ years! My other siblings aren’t nearly the readaholic that I am.  They didn’t get as much solo Mom-time as I did. To be fair, I was probably hanging around begging for books during their solo Mom-time.

Mom and I read just about everything under the sun. She introduced me to Barbapapa, Amelia Bedelia, The Little Golden Books, Charlotte and Wilbur, a mouse named Ralph, Sylvester the donkey, and the list goes on and on. The characters lived for me back then, and they still do. I can’t read a childhood favorite without getting a little bit choked up.

I love that she never felt obligated to stick to ‘age appropriate’ books with me. She just read. When we’d go to the library, I’d get to pick some and she’d pick some for me. She made sure that I had exposure to a wide variety of authors and illustrators. I know that it’s because of her that I’m such a bibliophile.

Because of my mom, I learned to read early too. She kept a list of books that I’d read by the time I was four years old, and it’s hundreds of books long. I really wish I could find that list now. It’s around here somewhere, but eludes me. The list isn’t just picture books either. I read my first chapter book (Babar, of course) when I was three. Nothing could stop me. By the time kindergarten rolled around (I was four years old for kindergarten), I was already reading on a fourth grade level and had read every book we owned multiple times. I got my own library card at five.

I learned that if there’s one thing I’m going to replicate with my own kids, it’s reading aloud to them and showing them that Mom loves to read too. (My mom doesn’t really read that much herself, ironically. I don’t know why she decided it was so important to read to me, though I’m forever grateful for that.) I’ve got to model reading for pleasure to them so they see that it’s a pretty okay pastime to have. As a future teacher, it’s something I’ll pass on to my students as well. Hey kids, it’s okay to love reading! It’s okay to get lost in books! It’s the cool thing to do!

Thanks so much Emily! That was a wonderful post! I love that you mom kept a list for you, and I hope you find it soon! That would be a treasure!

If you would like be be a guest blogger on a future Memory Monday, fill out this form, or send me an email!

How do you feel about lists?

I love book lists. And reading books from those lists. It's part of why I like challenges so much. I love being able to cross a book off my list. It makes me feel like I'm definitely accomplishing something. I love them! Whether it's a list I put together myself, like the Fill-in-the-Gaps reading challenge, a prize list, like the Newbery Award, or the Printz Award, or a list that someone else compiled, like the BBC's Big Read, I love them.

But, my sister mocks me. Especially when I find a book I didn't particularly like because I was reading from a list. (Gay-Neck, I'm looking at you!) It hasn't changed my reading preference- I simply point out the books to her that I read and loved because of lists, especially the ones I then recommend to her.

But, it does make me wonder. Am I the only person who loves reading lists? Does anyone else search for great book lists to add to their to-read piles, and gleefully highlight/cross-out the books from said list once they've been read?

So, I'm asking you, because that's what book blogs are for, right? Communication and the sharing of brilliance? So, who out there is like me, and loves them some reading lists? And, who is like my sister, laughing at the rest of us as we stumble through that (hopefully rare) bad addition? And, why? What makes them attractive, or repulsive to you?

Review: A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner is the fourth book in The Queen's Thief series. If you missed them before, here are my reviews for the previous books, The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. I believe I mention that the books just keep getting better and better as the series progresses, because Eugenides is just totally hardcore like that, and I love watching his mind work.

Although Eugenides is in this book, he is no longer our main character. This is, instead, the story of Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis. He goes missing sometime during either Queen or King, and this is the story of what happened after his disappearance.

I enjoyed this one, really, I did. It's just that, I don't like Sophos the same way I like Eugenides. He's a great person, and interesting to read about, he just doesn't have the same appeal that Gen does. Part of that is because I expect a certain something out of these books, largely because of how Gen's mind works, and that was missing from this book. And, because the book is told by Sophos, we see a different side of Gen. Not that he's changed any, but the attitude of the viewer is different, which means I didn't much care for the Gen we see in this book, and that made me very sad.

Although I missed Gen, I did really like watching Sophos grow and develop as a person, and as a ruler. When we first meet him in Thief, and at the beginning of this story he is almost completely lacking in confidence, and he's a little bit awkward. But after being kidnapped, and sold into slavery, he finds himself and begins to grow and change into a strong character, who will eventually make a very strong king of Sounis.

The political intrigue was even more layered in this book than in the previous books, because you are dealing with the intrigue in Gen's palace, Sounis in general, and among the Souni Barons who kidnapped Sophos in the first place, not to mention those pesky foreigners that keep popping up. I thought it was handled very well. The resolution gave me shivers, which can only mean good things for a book like this.

Although I do prefer Gen as the main or focal character, there is no denying that this is still an excellent addition to the series. Turner is a great writer, able to craft a brilliant story and really draw the reader in. I recommend giving the series a chance if you haven't already. I know there's a 5th novel planned for the series, and, as much as I love Sophos, I really hope Turner takes us back to Gen.

Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went by Gayle Forman is the highly anticipated sequel to If I Stay, one of the best books I read last year. (click to read my review)

If I Stay was amazing. If I let myself, I could go on and on about that book, but I've already written that review, so I'm going to limit myself to one adjective. If I Stay is one of those books with characters that seriously move you and become real to you. You hurt with them, feel with them, love, cry, and bleed with them. So, I'm not even a little embarrassed to admit that when I found out Gayle Forman had written a sequel from Adam's POV 3 years later, I made some really interesting noises, jumped up and down a little bit, and had to take a break from my computer because I couldn't get my heart rate down. It shouldn't surprise anyone that this is/was my most highly anticipated novel of 2011.

Antony John, the author of Five Flavors of Dumb hosted a giveaway on his site for a copy of his novel and his ARC of Where She Went. Not gonna lie- I freaked out a little bit. I got my #1 most anticipated book along with a book I've heard nothing but good things about and had been interested in reading. Made of Awesome! So thanks Antony for giving me a copy, and thanks Gayle for writing such great stuff. Now, I'm going to tell you why I loved it. Also- I'm going to assume, if you are reading my review, that you have already read If I Stay, and this review is full of spoilers for If I Stay. (Actually the existence of a sequel is a spoiler, but I digress.)

Although this was my highly anticipated book, I was a lot scared of it. I loved If I Stay, and I thought the story was perfect as it was. I didn't think it needed anything else. What if the sequel wasn't as good? What if it ruined the way I viewed Adam and Mia?! The synopsis tells us that they aren't together anymore, and that Adam has a girlfriend. Who is not Mia. After I got this book in the mail, I stared at it for a few days, scared to open it in case my expectations and hopes were dashed into the dirt. How can you top a story like If I Stay?!

The answer? You don't. You just finish the story. Where She Went is Adam's story. On the outside, Adam's life is perfect. He's got the rich and famous rocker lifestyle, complete with gorgeous girlfriend, but he is miserably unhappy and suffers from some serious anxiety about crowds. He hasn't talked to Mia in years, and everyone knows better than to bring her up around him. This is the story about what happens when fate gives them a possible evening together, and they decide to take it.

Where She Went does not have the emotional impact of If I Stay. It can't. If I Stay is Mia trying to decide if she is going to live or die, and Where She Went is dealing with the aftermath of that decision, and Mia and Adam's break-up. But the magic of both these books is not the situation our characters find themselves in, but the characters themselves. The connection I shared with them as a reader was so strong I knew how they would react or feel as they did. I felt with them.

It was so interesting being inside Adam's head this time around, and I feel like that is the real strength of the novel. He is still struggling with his role in bringing her back, only to lose her. He promised her that if she would live, he would let her leave him if she needed to, as long as she was alive in the world, somewhere. But, I don't actually think that he believed she would. So when she does, he takes it really hard. Which is, ironically, when he wrote the music that made his band such a success.

Where She Went is told in the same style as If I Stay. We only hear what Adam is thinking, the story takes place entirely in one evening, and a lot of the details are supplied by relevant and revealing flashbacks. This is how we learn why Mia left and what their lives were like after the accident. And, it's not really a pretty picture. Things have been rough for them.

Mia's story was scary in it's simplicity. Everything in her story pivots around one crucial event, one major decision- My family is gone, do I stay, or do I go? Adam's story is more complex. Outwardly, his life should be perfect but he's a mess. And people are not quite as understanding or empathetic that you miss your high school girlfriend as they would be about missing your entire family. Although, as I mentioned before, this story can't have the same emotional impact as If I Stay did, the emotion is definitely there, and the story is more complex, more layered. Adam has more he has to deal with than Mia did, and he handles stress in very different (often unhealthy) ways.

I could talk your ear off  (or eyes...) about this book all day long. But, to at least appear/pretend that I know how to be concise, I'm going to leave you with the knowledge that this book is wonderfully brilliant and the perfect follow up to If I Stay. Nothing else would have worked for Mia and Adam. Love it or hate it, this was undeniably their destiny and I loved being there to watch them fulfill it.

Review: Father of Lies by Ann Turner

Father of Lies by Ann Turner is set in Colonial Massachusetts, just before the start of the Salem Witch Trials. 14 year old Lidda is struggling to find her place within her family and Salem Village. She's always been different. She's a dreamer who loves to dance beneath the trees and hates the restrictive garb she is required to wear but she lives in a time period that expressly forbids each of these behaviors.

As if her life isn't hard enough, Lidda has suddenly begun hearing the voice of a man inside her head. She doesn't know what's going on, but she knows it isn't good, and more importantly, she knows she cannot tell anyone. Especially when the charges of witchcraft start flying around. Lidda's new internal friend has enabled her to distinguish between truth and lies and her newfound insight is creating problems. She believes that these so-called 'afflicted girls' are nothing but bored and powerless girls spreading lies to gain importance and power for themselves. But, she also knows that if she says anything, the repercussions will be devastating.

As soon as I heard about Father of Lies, I knew I was interested. The Salem Witch Trials has always been one of my favorite periods of history to learn about, and I love historical fiction interpretations of the Witch Trials.

Somehow, when I read the description initially, I picked up on the Salem Witch Trials, and missed the fact that our main character is bi-polar. When I started reading the book, several of Lidda's traits struck me as strange, and I thought to myself that Lidda seemed Manic Depressive (the correct diagnostic term for bi-polar disorder) or in the early stages of Schizophrenia.

I'm going to interrupt my review of the book to make a comment about research. My Bachelor's degree is in Psychology. I found myself questioning the research Ann Turner did on Manic Depression. It wasn't that her information (the symptoms of Lidda) was wrong, exactly, more like incomplete. I felt like her research came more from a google search than legitimate, peer reviewed research. Her cycles of mania and depression were more what popular culture tells you should be happening than what current research says is what happens. I felt like much of Lidda's symptoms are pop cultural misconceptions, and not what is actual research tells us happens. I also felt that the symptoms Lidda demonstrates are more indicative of the beginning stages of Schizophrenia than Manic Depression. I don't want to take up my entire review with the current research on Manic Depression, so if you want to know more, shoot me an email and I'll discuss it with you in more detail.

Anyway, other than my minor annoyances with inconsistencies in Lidda's symptoms, I really enjoyed Turner's perspective on the Salem Witch Trials. I've always believed that the 'afflicted girls' were making it up. There are a lot of theories out there about why these girls made the claims they did, but what has always made the most sense to me is the idea that the girls made up the initial stories to keep themselves out of trouble, and things spiraled out of their control. Once things got so out of hand, the girls knew they couldn't stop it because they would be in even more trouble than the initial trouble, and they were, for the first time in their young lives, important, influential and listened to. These young girls, with ultimately no control over their own lives were able to control and dictate the fate and future of their entire village.

This is very similar to the viewpoint Turner takes, but the eyes in which she has us view that world is incredibly unique. Lidda really is hallucinating. She does experience many symptoms, that if mentioned, would make people believe she was either tormented by a witch, or in league with the devil herself. So, it was very interesting to watch a young girl who was 'afflicted' in the midst of the 'pretenders'. Her perspective and evaluation of the girls who claimed to be tormented by witches was very intuitive and insightful. At one point, while talking to Ann Putnam, long believed by historians to have been the ringleader, and driving force behind the accusations, Ann tells Lidda that she is afraid of what is happening, but her eyes and facial expression instead show excitement. It is the same with each of the girls Lidda talks to. They claim to be afraid, but each of them is clearly caught up in the drama and undeniably excited by the attention and newfound power.

Lidda's interactions with her hallucination are also intriguing, and are somewhat designed to make us question whether it is a legitimate hallucination, or an actual demonic possession. I felt strongly for Lidda. Colonial Salem would have been a difficult and frightening time to live for anyone, but it would have been made far worse by the addition of a disorder that no one understood, that makes you question your own sanity.

Overall, I did truly enjoy this book. As I mentioned, the examination of the afflicted girls by someone who truly did have a mental condition was fascinating, original and well done. I personally would have liked the story better for several reasons if the author had not labeled it 'bi-polar' but it worked very well as a plot device. The characters were strong and their relationships believable and well thought out. The descriptions of live in Salem Village were believable and well thought out.

This book boasts an original main character in a story that's been told before. If you are at all interested in the Salem Witch Trials, I do recommend this book.

(Note, this might not be the actual final cover, but I don't care- I like this one better, so I'm using it. :) )

*Disclaimer: This book was received through Around the World Tours.

Memroy Monday- I Can Read!!

I-Can-Read! Can you read? Really?! Me too! We should read together! But, we're just little kids, what should we read? I know... I know! Lets read these I-Can-Read books! Doesn't that sound great?! Ya, I thought so too!

Did any of you read those lovely I-Can-Read books? We had quite a few of them while I was growing up, and I remember loving them. I would listen to my mom read them to me, and as soon as I was old enough, I would read them over and over again. These books, especially the ones I actually grew up reading are on the same mental shelf as the Serendipity books I reviewed earlier this month. I was in the local thrift store on my way home from work the other day and found a group of 8 Serendipity books and 3 of these I-Can-Read books, and I just had to buy them! I already owned a few, and buying more just makes me feel happy inside, like I'm buying a childhood memory to save it. :)


My very most favorites were Danny and the Dinosaur and Zack's Alligator. I also loved Little Bear, Arthur's Honey Bear, and The Big Balloon Race. Not to mention Magic Secrets. I practiced those little magic tricks on my babysitters, and thought I was just so clever!

These books are just so great for beginning readers. I remember when I reached the stage that your regular picture books were too easy for me to read, but I still liked looking at the pictures. (Shoot, I still like looking at pictures). I needed something harder than a picture book, but I wasn't ready for 'real' books yet. So, I read these and the Serendipity books by Stephen Cosgrove. I felt like such an accomplished reader. They were 'real' books, and now, I was a real reader.

Do you remember reading through the I-Can-Read series? They have tons of books, including all the Amelia Bedilia, many of Dr. Suess's books, and on and on. I want to have a large collection of these in my home for any future kids, because they are old favorites of mine, and I think they are great reading tools for young kids.

What are/were your favorite I-Can-Read books? What books helped make you feel like you were really readers? I'd love to hear from you! Leave me a comment, or fill out my guest blogger form/send me an email to be a guest blogger!

Bloggiesta Update- Day 2

This morning was very unproductive for me. I didn't get very much accomplished, at all. I watched Twitter update, compulsively checked my email, visited the bloggers who came to my site and started about 5 posts that I just saved for later because I couldn't concentrate. I can claim, 1, maybe 2 hours of productivity here.

However, after I got home from my grandmother's 85th birthday party, I was a lot more productive. I:

• created a flavicon for my blog (see me?! How cool is that! :) ). (Hey Lady)
• copyrighted my blog (and seriously wished I had done it sooner, because I don't know a way to back track for my 2010 posts) 
• graded my website and have started looking into ways to boost my rating (Bookish Ruth)
• updated my Review Policy, my About Me page, and my review listing. (Devourer of Books)
• re-signed up for Google Alerts (Emily's Reading Room)
• changed all my old post titles to Review: Name of Book, Author, which makes everything uniform and easier to find, and will make future posts easier to plan.
• updated GR. it now has all the reviews from my blog. (I wasn't missing that many... Yay!)
• visited 10 or so new Bloggiesta bloggers, read all their About Me pages (if they had them) and left comments! Both on reviews and their Bloggiesta posts!

After the birthday party, I think I spent about 6 or 7 productive hours getting things done. :) 

Tomorrow, I would like to:

• create a button for ME and for Memory Monday
• add a share bar to my posts
• look into the Other Posts You Might Like Widget (any suggestions?)
• convert my RSS feed. 
• actually finish writing up some new posts and Memory Monday ideas. I probably won't get 9 reviews, but I'd like to write up at least 4 more reviews. 
• finish visiting the blogs I follow
• visit new blogs, plan to visit even more
• clean out my email
• read... 

Bloggiesta Update- Day 1

Well, today was a bit of a crazy day. I'm staying with family (my Grandma's 85th birthday party is tomorrow) and there have been large amounts of people in and out of the house all day. Which means, I'm a bit easily distracted. :)

Anyway, I did manage to get two Memory Monday posts ready to go, as well as one review. I do plan to write up at least one more before I go to bed tonight, but I also want to visit a few more blogs, so we'll see what I actually end up doing.

I also visited several blogs and left encouragements and comments. I've found some new blogs I want to come back to, and I'm excited to find a few more.

I also took part in a few of the mini-challenges, and have saved a few more to work on over the next two days.

Oh, and I decided that whatever I'm doing for the SEO stuff is going to have to be enough, because I have no idea what I'm doing, and the articles I tried reading didn't make a whole lot of sense. This is probably a combination of not quite knowing exactly what the terms they used meant (although I did usually have a decently good idea) and being tired from working and then staring at a computer screen. So, I've kind of given up on the SEO stuff. I did Google variations of my blog name, and I do pop up right about the top, so right now, I'm good with that.

I plan to spend tomorrow working on my buttons and some more reviews, and well as visiting a bunch of the blogs I follow, as well as the Bloggiesta blogs. I know there are a lot of great blogs out there, and I'd like to add a few more to my 'follow' list, especially since I plan to clean up my list a little bit.

Although I spent a lot of time with the appropriate windows up and open, I probably only spent about 4 hours today actually working on Bloggiesta. But, I'm staying up a little later tonight than is wise to get a little more done, and I plan to be much more successful tomorrow. How did your first day go?

My first Bloggiesta!

I'm really excited to be participating in Bloggiesta this year. The last Bloggiesta happened June of 2010, right after I started my blog. Although it looked like a lot of fun/really cool, it also seemed like it would be a little overwhelming to do Bloggiesta and be a brand new blogger. So, I hovered and stalked but didn't participate.

This year, however, I plan to participate fully! I have a lot of things that I would like to get done, more than I expect I will actually able to accomplish. However, I want to make it a priority to mark off at least half of my to-do list, something that I generally say I will do, but rarely, actually, do.

So, what do I want to do? Well, I'm glad you asked! I want to:

• Get caught up on reviews. I used to write reviews right after I finished the book. Now, I don't write the review until I'm ready to post it. Idealistically, I'd like to get completely caught up. Realistically, I'd like to write/schedule at least 9 reviews. 
• Write up advance Memory Monday posts- at least 3.
• Memory Monday Guest Bloggers- 
• Fairy Tale Fortnight! Work out reviews, button formatting, etc.
• A button for Memory Monday, and for my blog (finally...)
• Update all my pages, especially the Review Archive and Review Policy. 
• Make sure my Goodreads reviews are up to date with my blog reviews. 
• Clear out the blogs I follow- Meaning- Visit every blog I follow and read 5-7 posts well. Leave comments, interact etc. If I can't figure out why I'm following them- stop. 
• Visit more blogs, and follow new blogs that I know I'm going to like better/more. 
• Work out some ideas I've been having for discussion topics into actual posts. 
• Explore the 'You might also like these posts' feature.
• Finish reading at least one of the three books I'm currently reading (so I don't feel guilty taking away blogging time by reading...)

I doubt I'm going to get everything I want to done, which is why I didn't actually list everything I thought about  maybe doing, but there you have it. Hopefully, I'll get a lot accomplished, but I don't know. 

I'd love to hear about what you are doing for Bloggiesta! Leave me a comment (preferably with a link...!) and I'll come check out what you are up to, and cheer you on!

Review: Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves is the wonderfully morbid story of two sisters, the daughters of a notorious serial killer, who find a way to fulfill all their deepest, darkest desires, and not get caught.

Fancy and Kit live in a small Texas town that is unlike the rest of the world. It's a 'gateway' town, full of doorways that take you to other places. Unwittingly walking through a doorway could place you anywhere from the other side of town, to the other side of the universe. Or maybe a different universe altogether.

Somehow, Fancy is able to access these doorways on her own, giving her a glimpse of what she calls the 'happy place'. The way she accesses this places changes over the course of the book. Initially, it's like looking through a small window, where Fancy is able to glimpse what is going on within, but eventually, it grows to allow her (and whoever she chooses to bring along) entrance. After learning how to enter the happy place, Fancy and Kit decide it's the perfect way to cover up their increasing number of crimes, enabling them to commit murder without leaving any evidence.

How great does that sound?! I'll admit I'm fascinated by serial killers and this chance to watch the daughters of a serial killer examine their inner demons seemed too good to pass up. I was initially a little wary about the mystical sounding setting, but it ultimately worked out very favorably. Rather than being a strange addition to the story, the strange town made the story just surreal enough that I 'believed' an awful lot of the unbelievable we were presented with. And I must say, although it wasn't really what I was expecting, I was not disappointed.

The only major complaint I have with this book is the 'dialect'. In almost every way, Fancy and Kit are very well spoken. But, almost every time they talk about going to do something, it's written gone- 'I'm gone do this'. It felt at odds with the rest of the writing and dialogue. Very little of their speech reads as uneducated, except the 'gone'.

Other than this small annoyance, this is a great book. A little disturbing, and a lot morbid to be sure, but great nonetheless. Fancy and Kit were fascinating. In the beginning of the book, they are seen as very close sisters, happiest when they are together. However, as the book progresses, it becomes more and more clear that their relationship to each other is more of a very unhealthy dependence and Fancy, ever resistant to change, begins to cling to Kit with a tenacity that is frightening and unsettling.

Of the two sisters, Fancy was my favorite. Kit is far more open to new ideas and willing to accept change than Fancy, and she is more open with herself. Fancy, on the other hand is very... self-contained. She keeps the important parts of herself close, withdrawing from the world to the point that much of the town thinks she's mute. She is also a perfect example of the saying, 'still waters run deep'. There is an awful lot more to that girl than you initially expect, and I warn you- don't be the one to change the way this girl's world turns!

I also loved that once the girls realized they might be making a habit out of killing people, they tried to be good about being bad. Instead of targeting neighbors, and just anybody, the way their father did, they go after the bad guys, and the criminal, abusive, and just plain bad members of society. They even give them what amount to the equivalent of a trial to see if they can defend themselves. It makes for some highly entertaining reading.

This isn't a book that I would recommend to everyone, and I will say that it's probably best for older teens, but I loved it! It is deliciously morbid, while being entertaining at the same time. If you're a little on the fence about this one, I strongly recommend giving it a shot. Dia Reeves is a writer I'll be watching for, and I definitely need to find me a copy of Bleeding Violet now. She creates great characters, likable but flawed with insane descriptions. I never felt like I was given too much or too little information, and I was always left wanting to know more.

*Disclaimer: I received this as part of Around the World Tours.

Review: Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins is further proof that Ellen Hopkins is made of awesome and is a brilliant writer. She writes a lot of tough stuff, and she writes it honestly. I could say a lot about Hopkins brilliant poetry, but it's all been said before. I've said it before. So this time, I'm going to focus on the characters, and their stories. (Although the poetry really is genius.)


Tricks is the story of 5 teenagers. Some of them come from normal, happy families, some of them do not. Each of them have something they struggle with, and that struggle ultimately leads them on a path that none of them ever expected to take.

Our main characters are: Eden, whose father is an Evangelical preacher, and whose mother is abusive, hypocritical, and self-righteous; Seth, a gay teen struggling to accept himself in a small mid-west town, where everyone, including his father (and his dead mother), believes homosexuality to be a sin against God; Whitney, a girl struggling to be herself in the shadow of the 'perfect' older sister, loved and coddled by her workaholic mother, ignored by her mother, and desperate for someone (anyone) to love her; Ginger, who has spent her whole life looking after her younger siblings while her mother earns money as a prostitute; and Cody, whose awesome mom, and lovingly supportive step-dad are keeping a secret that will change their family forever.

While each of these characters have their own independent struggles, they are, for the most part, surprisingly well-adapted and well rounded characters. They all seem like good people. But it was incredibly scary to watch how quickly their lives spiraled down into disaster. It's amazing to me to see how fast it can all fall apart.

As you might have heard, or guessed from the title, this is a book dealing with teen prostitution. I don't know anyone who actually believes that this is a life that could ever touch them. I admit I myself have wondered how anyone could reach the point where they would be willing to sell their bodies to support themselves. It boggles my mind. But now, after reading this book it scares me. Because it can happen to anyone. None of these characters set out with the idea that becoming a prostitute was a great way of life. Ginger personally abhors it, because of her mother and the damage it has caused to her mother and their family. But each of them finds themselves in a situation where they don't believe they have any choices left.

Each of these stories are strongly emotional, which, I believe is the real strength to Ellen Hopkins writing style. I've read many books written in poem form and have never felt the emotion in the writing that seems so effortless in a Hopkins novel. Each character is painfully real and demands that we see them as real people, with real feelings, and real struggles. They dare us to judge them. Dare us to say we would have done any differently and beg us to understand and love them anyway. There is depth to these characters, not just on the pages, but that pores out around us. We need more writers like Hopkins that understand what it means to live, to hurt and to keep on anyway.

This really will be the last one...

So, I'm entering another challenge. Sigh... But, in my defense, I actually think I'll be able to accomplish most of this challenge without trying too hard to find books I need to read, several of which I know are already on my to-read soon list. This will just... give them priority.

So, I'm joining the Kick Ass Heroine Challenge, because it's nice to focus on the super hard core female in literature. :)

You can read as many books as you want, but the minimum is 12, which is just one a month. And, since a lot of the recent fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi stories have seriously wicked female MCs. I've read a few recently, and plan to read several more soon, so it's not too much of a stretch to include a few more. I'm going to be 'safe' here, and just aim for 12, and if I happen to read more, more power to me.

So, call me crazy, but here I go! :)

Review: Songs of a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson

Songs of a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson is a book with a lot of emotion, and a lot of heart. Calle is a young teen whose entire life is completely lacking in stability. Her dad left when she was very little, and her mom has bounced from relationship to relationship ever since. And with each new relationship (and often without them) they move to a new town. The mom drops a penny onto a map of California, and that's where they go next. That type of lifestyle is hard on anyone, but especially a teenager. Calle wants to fit in, to belong, but it's never a good idea to make new friends or get comfortable in an area when you know your mom could decide to pack up and move again at any time.

My heart hurt for Calle. Her mom tried to be a good parent, but it's fairly clear that she doesn't know how to be herself, which makes it awfully hard to take care of a teenager. The mom is always reinventing herself, and Calle desperately needs stability. Her mom is also very tight-lipped. She won't tell Calle anything about her absentee father, other than he left them a long time ago. Calle keeps asking questions, trying to understand where she comes from, but her mom refuses to answer her questions, even when the lies and contradictions are staring her in the face. Like the letter Calle finds from her dad in her mom's drawers, that make is obvious he's been trying to write to her for a long time, but her mom always hides the letters. When Calle confronts her about this, her mom focuses on the snooping, and refuses to address the letter itself. It really bothered me. There comes a time when you can't 'protect' your child anymore, and keeping the truth from them hurts them far more than any truth can.

Calle herself also bothered me a little bit, especially in her 'relationship' with Sam. I understand why she is initially attracted, interested and drawn to Sam. I really do. But after the third or fourth time he ignores her or treats her like trash, I started to wonder why on earth Calle bothered talking to him again. I understand that he has his own demons to wrestle, but that doesn't excuse his behavior, especially since he never really apologizes, or tries to make it right. Calle let herself be pushed around and stepped on by this kid over and over again and it really bothered me. I wanted her to be happy and I just didn't think this kid was the way to make that happen.

There was also a lot of drama surrounding the father. I know a large portion of the plot was Calle's mom keeping information from her, but I really wished we had been given more information about Calle's dad, both past and present. And, I won't spoil anything, but the resolution with dad was also rather unsatisfactory to me.

However, those two grievances aside, I really enjoyed this book, and especially appreciated Calle as a narrator. I don't blame her for being a little bit... soft. She's a teenager who has had no stability in her life, desperately looking for it. She speaks to that lonely teenager everyone has living inside them, that just wants/wanted to be accepted and be loved. For all the drama and tough stuff life has handed to her, she's remarkably strong and adaptable. She deals with a lot more than I've ever had to, and I was impressed by Calle many times. Although, I do have to say, she's a bit of an over-discloser. She shares an awful lot of personal and private information with an lot of people. I can't decide if she's just open about her life, or if she hasn't quite gotten the hang of who should hear what information, and when.

I also loved the idea of Calle's song journal. She strongly links music to memories, and writes down the memories and the songs associated with them, so she can hold on to them and keep them a part of herself. I smiled a lot reading this book, because I really like a lot of old music, and I recognized a lot of the songs that are associated with Calle's memories. I spent the next couple of days humming Mr. Tambourine Man which has a lot of significance to Calle.

I'd definitely recommend this book. Calle is a great character, and I think there is a lot to be learned from her and her story.



*Disclaimer: I received this book through Around the World Tours.

Memory Monday: Welcome Zohar!

Welcome everyone, with an especial welcome to Zohar! He is our very first guest blogger! I'm really excited to have him with us! Read is post, comment and let us both know what you thought, and then head on over to his site for a visit!

Bio:

Zohar is a father, husband and a new book blogger. He reads usually likes history and non-fiction books but generally reads everything he can get his hands on. His blogs features Pulitzer winning biographies, historical fiction, non-fiction and even graphic novels. You can find him at Man Of La Book

Post:
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My rating for Treasure Island - 5

About:

“Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson is an 1883 fictional adventurous and classic pirate story. The book follows Jim Hawkins, a young man, who has found a treasure map and with the help of friends hires a crew to find the treasure. But the crew has their own plans.

Thoughts:

I read "Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson as a young boy and always remembered it as one of my favorites. Recently, as part of a classics book club, I read it again.

The two main characters of the book, Jim Hawkins and Long John Sliver have certainly cemented themselves as two of the most intriguing and dimensional characters in literature. I was happy to reconnect with them almost as if they were old friends.

The first half of the book was a breeze to read, but the second half was a bit more difficult due to the pirate’s slang, cumbersome metaphors and tongue tied conversations. However, I quickly re-discovered that those quirks were part of the charm of the book. Even Jim Hawkins admits he has trouble understanding the narrative – so I wasn’t alone.

I read the Barnes and Noble classics version, which came with a fascinating biography of Stevenson especially regarding “Treasure Island”. The book was actually written for Stevenson’s stepson, after painting the island he started the novel and completed 15 chapters. Stevenson finished the book in Switzerland writing a chapter a day.

Unknowingly, Stevenson created much of the pirate lore which we have been accustomed to. The pirate speaking almost unintelligibly, a parrot on his shoulder, missing a foot and ready to double cross his best friends for a buck or two.

My biggest surprise upon reading “Treasure Island” as an adult was that I realized that the story is not about Jim Hawkins, but about Long John Silver. Granted that usually the villain in any book is usually more colorful and fun than the upstanding protagonist – but this discovery has taken by surprise. Silver’s moral ambiguity is well known but just how amoral the character is I never fully realized as a naïve child (even though I have become a naïve adult).

I was happy to discover that “Treasure Island” truly deserves its status as a beloved classic. The story is suspenseful and the adventure can be enjoyed by children of any age.

Synopsis:

In the mid 18th Century at a seaside village in south-west England Jim Hawkins, the young son of the keepers of the Admiral Benbow Inn, meets and old seaman named Billy Bones. Quickly Jim discovers that Bones is a pirate and that his old crewmates want Bones’ sea-chest.

Bones dies and Jim opens his sea-chest to collect the money owed to the inn – only to discover a mysterious oilskin packet. The packet is a detailed map of an island Jim, together with Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney, hire a crew to sail to the island.

But the crew are not the honest sailors they think they are and the sea-cook, Long John Silver, turns out to be the most dangerous one of them all.

Giant Huge Challenge Post

Alright... So, I have this problem, where I see a great/really interesting challenge, and I just feel like I need to sign up for it/participate in it... So, although these lists may change, (added to...) here is a tentative post including all the challenges I wish to participate in for 2011. Most of these have quite a bit of overlap, so that isn't too bad, but I also think I might be crazy... :)

So, first, I have my new Fill in the Gaps: 100 Books project. (first link takes you to my post, second takes you to the official blog) I won't waste the space repeating my list here...

Next, I'm participating in two challenges hosted by The Book Vixen: The Out Do Yourself Challenge, where you try to read more books in 2011 than in 2010. This one might be trickier than I expected, because I'm finished at 250. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to list which books I think I'll try, but I'll probably be working toward reading around 260 books next year...

She is also hosting a fun YA of the 80s and 90s Challenge. It's pretty flexible in terms of which books, how many etc, but I've decided to try for 15-30. I think a lot of these are going to end up as rereads, because there are a lot of great books from this era that I miss, and really want to read again, so it will probably end up about half and half.

This brings me to my next challenge, which is the Read Me Baby, One More Time Challenge hosted by Midnight Book Girl. The goal here is to reread old favorites. This gives me a great excuse to read books I've been wanting to reread, but have felt guilty about because of all the other books I have waiting to be read. But, I don't care. Some of these books just need a reread! I'm going to sign up for the highest level, which is 13-20 books reread, because many of the books I want to reread are part of a series. Like, Harry Potter and The Tillerman Saga. Both childhood favorites,  both with 7 books. Easy, right?! :)

I've also decided that I need to shrink my personal: Own and Need to Read list, so I'm participating in the Off the Shelf Challenge, hosted by BA Reading Challenges. Again, I don't have an actual list of which books I plan on reading, but I will update as I go. And, I'm trying for the On a Roll level, which means I'll be trying to read 50 books I owned before Jan. 1, 2011.

Going along with the above challenge, Adam over at Roof Beam Reader is hosting his 2011 TBR Pile Challenge. You have to read 12 books that have been on your TBR list for over a year, so no 2010 pub. dates. My post about this challenge is HERE, so you can see what I want to read.

I also have discovered that I really enjoy reading Multicultural fiction, and I want to make a conscious effort to read more. So, I've joined the POC Reading Challenge, hoping to get more books read with main characters who are different from me. One of the reasons we read is to learn, and I definitely know I have a lot to learn here. Any recommendations would be especially helpful!! For this challenge, you set your own goals, and I want to read at least 12 multicultural/POC books. That's only one a month, so I'm hoping that my actual numbers will be closer to 24 or 36. We'll see how I do! :)

And then, my final challenge- Among the Muses is hosting a Fairy Tale Reading Challenge! I LOVE Fairy Tales! How great that there is a challenge just about them! :) I'm aiming for 4-6, but I'm hoping to get more than that. And, this challenge goes along great with Misty @ Book Rat and my Fairy Tale Fortnight Event in April! Mark that down, if you haven't already! :)

Also, as a personal challenge, I want to start commenting more on the blogs that I read. So, I've decided that over the next little while, I want to visit every blog I follow and click on 5-7 reviews. Read the reviews, comment on at least half, and make sure I know why I follow them. I'm sad to admit that there are some blogs I don't read, that I follow. Not sure why I followed in the first place, but there are several blogs I follow who primarily review books I don't read... So, I'm going to try and remove the blogs I don't read, and then I can find even more blogs that I will! :)

So, what challenges are you participating in? And, I'm pretty sure I'm nuts!

Flashback Review: The Last Grail Keeper by Pamela Smith Hill

This review isn't about a book I read recently. It's about a book I read back in 2009, that I didn't really like all that much. I reviewed it on Goodreads and I came across it again as I was browsing through my book lists. It made me laugh so hard I decided to post it on the blog for all of you to read, and probably laugh at too. (posted exactly as taken from GR)


The Last Grail Keeper by Pamela Smith Hill

I am deciding between 2 and 3 stars right now, wishing, once again that GR offered a half star system. This book was definitely not a favorite. I felt that the writing style was weak, and juvenille. It was written in first person from the perspective of a young girl. I feel that because of this, the author felt the need to make every other thought Super exciting! And Wow! and Can you believe it! and Oh goodness! There were at least three exclamation points on half a page. Wow!

I also felt that the story itself was weak. In a fantasy story, there needs to be a suspension of disbelief for the story to function properly that just wasn't there for me. Always with the swirling purple dragon shapes, and the time sparkles. Magic and visions stop being interesting after the 8th time in 15 pages they are refered to. (I didn't count, but it mentioned them constantly).
Then, the bad guys. I'm sorry, but what evil, hard core, time-changing, future destroying, MAGICAL bad guy is going to let the little girl he is trying to destroy pick his pocket to retrieve her magical necklace because he is too distracted on the telephone?! I mean, really. Come on!

There were too many things in this story that I found hard to believe, and the character development was weak throughout the whole story. The only explaination for the evil witch fairy Morgan Le Fay (that anyone who has ever heard any Aurthurian Legends KNOWS is EVIL) for really being one of the best good guys is that- all the women of Camelot wear two faces. That's it. I thought the story could have had potential, but was very disappointed in just about every aspect of the story.

No story line was fully developed, all of the characters were depressingly one-dimensional, and there was nothing in the story that convinced me I should beleive what was happening. It felt contrived and slapped together, and I was very disappointed. I haven't been this bored reading a book in a long time.
  
      Writing this review, I just talked myself out of another star. I still think 2.5 would be the best rating, but right now feel that 2 comes closer to what I feel than 3.

Books Read in 2010

I'm archiving this page as a post to make room for Books Read in 2011!!

*If there is a link, it will take you to my review. If I received the book from another blogger, I will link them after the title. 

1. I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil, and I want to be Your Class President- Josh Lieb

2. Ellen Foster- Kaye Gibbons

3. The Red Pony- John Steinbeck

4. Johnny Tremain- Esther Forbes (NB)

5. Rifles for Watie- Harold Keith (NB)

6. Scorpions- Walter Dean Meyers (NBH)

7. Wild Orchid- Cameron Dokey

8. The Winter Child- Cameron Dokey

9. What My Mother Doesn't Know- Sonya Sones

10. What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know- Sonya Sones

11. Punkzilla- Adam Rapp (PH)

12. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes- Chris Crutcher

13. Ransom My Heart- Meg Cabot (Mia T.) 

14. Goddess of Yesterday- Caroline B. Cooney

15. That Was Then, This Is Now- S.E. Hinton

16. Book of a Thousand Days- Shannon Hale

17. A Visit to William Blake's Inn- Nancy Willard (NB)

18. Skellig- David Almond (PH)

19. Crazy Jack- Donna Jo Napoli

20. Everything on a Waffle- Polly Horvath (NBH)

21. I am Not Joey Pigza- Jack Gantos

22. Hoot- Carl Hiaasen (NBH)

23. Freaks, Alive on the Inside- Annette Curtis Klause

24. Burned- Ellen Hopkins

25. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks- E. Lockhart (PH)

26. Prom Nights from Hell- Anthology

27. The Girl Who Could Fly- Victoria Forester

28. The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold- Francesca Lia Block

29. The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom- Margarita Engle (NBH)

30. Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta (PA)

31. Rabbit Hill- Robert Lawson (NB)

32. The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural- Patricia McKissack (NBH)

33. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian- Sherman Alexie

34. Unwind- Neal Shusterman

35. I Capture the Castle- Dodie Smith

36. Wintergirls- Laurie Halse Anderson

37. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem- Vivian Vande Velde

38. Go Ask Alice- "Anonymous"

39. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village- Laura Amy Schiltz (NB)

40. A Corner of the Universe- Ann M. Martin (NBH)

41. Gentlehands- M.E. Kerr

42. The Thirteenth Princess- Diane Zahler

43. Hard Love- Ellen Wittlinger (PH)

44. A Certain Slant of Light- Laura Whitcomb

45. Bella at Midnight- Diane Stanley

46. The Lovely Bones- Alice Sebold

47. Chalice- Robin McKinley

48. Because I am Furniture- Thalia Chaltas

49. The Unfinished Angel- Sharon Creech

50. Prom- Laurie Halse Anderson

51. Elijah of Buxton- Christopher Paul Curtis (NBH)

52. The Goose Girl- Shannon Hale

53. Enna Burning- Shannon Hale

54. River Secrets- Shannon Hale

55. Forest Born- Shannon Hale

56. The View from the Cherry Tree- Willo Davis Roberts

57. The Princess and the Bear- Mette Ivie Harrison

58. Night- Elie Wiesel 

59. You Don't Know Me- David Klass

60. A Kiss in Time- Alex Finn

61. Palace of Mirrors- Margaret Peterson Haddix

62. Push- Sapphire

63. Calamity Jack- Shannon Hale

64. Hostage- Willo Davis Roberts

65. Going Bovine- Libba Bray (PA)

66. Sold- Patricia McCormick

67. When You Reach Me- Rebecca Stead (NB)

68. Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits- Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson

69. Legally Correct Fairy Tales- David Fisher

70. The Castle Corona- Sharon Creech

71. Ugly- Donna Jo Napoli

72. Inside Out- Terry Trueman

73. Scared Stiff- Willo Davis Roberts

74. The Invisible- Mats Wahl

75. Black Pearls- Louise Hawes

76. Violet Eyes- Debbie Viguie

77. One of those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies- Sonya Sones

78. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793- Jim Murphy (NBH)

79. When Dad Killed Mom- Julius Lester

80. I Had Seen Castles- Cynthia Rylant

81. Fever, 1793- Laurie Halse Anderson

82. Daughter of the Flames- Zoe Marriott

83. Imaginary Lands- Anthology

84. You Remind Me of You- Eireanne Corrigan

85. PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God- Frank Warren

86. PostSecret: The Secret Lives of Men and Women- Frank Warren

87. PostSecret: A Lifetime of Secrets- Frank Warren

88. If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't be Hard: and Other Reassuring Truths- Sheri Dew

89. PostSecrets: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives- Frank Warren

90. By the Time You Read This, I'll be Dead- Julie Ann Peters

91. The Diamond Secret- Suzanne Weyn 

92. Letters from Rifka- Karen Hesse

93. Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow- Susan Campbell Bartoletti (NBH)

94. The Twits- Roald Dahl

95. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl

96. Echo- Francesca Lia Block

97. The Cybil War- Besty Byars

98. Summer of My German Soldier- Bette Greene

99. The Map of True Places- Brunonia Barry (Lori @ TNBBB)

100. Full Tilt- Neal Shusterman

101. The Book- M. Clifford (Lori @ TNBBB)

102. Where the Sidewalk Ends- Shel Silverstein

103. When You Reach Me- Rebecca Stead (NB)

104. Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa- Francis Kalnay (NBH)

105. how i live now- Meg Rosoff (PA)

106. Tenderness- Robert Cormier

107. When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw- Isaac Bashevis Singer (NBH)

108. The Invention of Hugo Cabret- Brian Selznick

109. A Light in the Attic- Shel Silverstein

110. American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang (PA)

111. Izzy, Willy-Nilly- Cynthia Voigt

112. Falling Up- Shel Silverstein

113. Zlateh the Goat and other Stories- Isaac Bashevis Singer (NBH)

114. John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth- Elizabeth Partridge (PH)

115. Forget You- Jennifer Echols (Review copy)

116. Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure- Allan Richard Shickman (Review copy)

117. Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country- Allan Richard Shickman (Review copy)

118. A Journey into Tomorrow- Veronica Camille Tinto (Review copy)

119. I know I am, but what are You?- Samantha Bee (Review copy)

120. Before I Fall- Lauren Oliver

121. Figgs and Phantoms- Ellen Raskin (NBH) 

122. If I Stay- Gayle Forman

123. Tiger Eyes- Judy Blume

124. A Season of Gifts- Richard Peck

125. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History- Art Spiegelman

126. Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began- Art Spiegelman

127. Jonathan Livingston Seagull- Richard Bach

128. The Report Card- Andrew Clements

129. The Tales of Beedle the Bard- J.K. Rowling

130. The Hundred Dresses- Eleanor Estes (NBH)

131. Knee-Knock Rise- Natalie Babbitt (NBH)

132. Coraline- Neil Gaiman

133. The Little Prince- Antoine de Saint Exupery

134. Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad

135. The Wonder Book- Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Bri Meets Books)

136. Over Sea, Under Stone- Susan Cooper

137. The Dark is Rising-Susan Cooper (NBH)

138. Greenwitch- Susan Cooper

139. The Grey King- Susan Cooper (NB)

140. Silver on the Tree- Susan Cooper

141. One Child- Jeff Buick (Review copy)

142. Firelight- Sophie Jordan (ARC tour)

143. The Cricket in Times Square- George Seldon (NBH)

144. The Thyssen Affair- Mozelle Richardson (Review copy)

145. Morning is a Long Time Coming- Bette Greene

146. The Duck Song- Bryant Oden (Review copy)

147. Feed- M.T. Anderson

148. A Northern Light- Jenniger Donnelly (PH)

149. The Upstairs Room- Johanna Reiss

150. Ash- Malinda Lo

151. Looking for Alaska- John Green (PA)

152. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins

153. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins

154. Mockingjay- Suzanne Collins (The Good, the Bad & the Ugly)

155. This Lullaby- Sarah Dessen

156. Just Listen- Sarah Dessen

157. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park- Steve Kluger

158. To Be a Slave- Julius Lester (NBH)

159. The Phantom Tollbooth- Norton Juster

160. A Day No Pigs Would Die- Robert Newton Peck

161. The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights- Russell Freedman (NBH)

162. The Chocolate War- Robert Cormier

163. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist- David Levithan & Rachel Cohn

164. Extraordinary- Nancy Werlin (ARC tour)

165. Crank- Ellen Hopkins

166. Liam the Leprechaun- Charles A. Wilkinson (Review copy)

167. Glass- Ellen Hopkins

168. It's Like this, Cat- Emily Cheney Neville (NB)

169. Miracles on Maple Hill- Virginia Sorenson (NB)

170. Alphabet Woof- Doreen Cronin (Review copy)

171. Pirate Treasure- Benjamin Flinders (Review copy)

172. The Lost City of Atlantis- Benjamin Flinders (Review copy)

173. A Step from Heaven- An Na (PA)

174. The Body of Christopher Creed- Carol Plum-Ucci (PH)

175. The Duff- Kody Keplinger (ARC tour)

176. Hattie Big Sky- Kirby Larson (NBH)

177. Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun- Rhoda Blumberg (NBH)

178. Tales from Silver Lands- Charles J. Finger (NB)

179. The Princess and the Snowbird- Mette Ivie Harrison

180. Tangerine- Edward Bloor

181. The Forest of Hands and Teeth- Carrie Ryan

182. Saving Francesca- Melina Marchetta

183. Graceling- Kristin Cashore

184. Hunger- Jackie Morse Kessler

185. Fire- Kristin Cashore

186. The Thief- Megan Whalen Turner (NBH)

187. Little Brother- Cory Doctrow

188. 26 Fairmount Avenue- Tomie DePaola (NBH)

189. Stuck in Neutral- Terry Trueman (PH)

190. The First Part Last- Angela Johnson (PA)

191. Low Red Moon- Ivy Devlin (ARC tour)

192. Fallout- Ellen Hopkins (ARC tour)

193. Carver: A Life in Poems- Marilyn Nelson (NBH)

194. The Great Fire- Jim Murphy (NBH)

195. In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World- Virginia Hamilton (NBH)

196. Fallen- Lauren Kate

197. The Magic Circle- Donna Jo Napoli

198. Flipped- Wendelin Van Draanen

199. Paranormalcy- Kiersten White (ARC tour)

200. Personal Demons- Lisa Desrochers (ARC tour)

201. Losing Faith- Denise Jaden (ARC tour)

202. Mountain Born- Elizabeth Yates (NBH)f

203. When the Stars Go Blue- Caridad Ferrer (ARC tour)

204. The Queen of Attolia- Megan Whalen Turner

205. Being Jamie Baker- Kelly Oram (ARC tour)

206. Torment- Lauren Kate (ARC tour)

207. Hope in Patience- Beth Fehlbaum (ARC tour)

208. You- Charles Benoit (ARC tour)

209. The Replacement- Brenna Yovanoff (ARC tour)

210. Room- Emma Donaghue (ARC tour)

211. I'd know you anywhere- Laura Lippman (ARC tour)

212. The King of Attolia- Megan Whalen Turner

213. Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery- Russell Freedman (NBH)

214. Sisters Red- Jackson Pearce (ARC tour)

215. Somewhere in the Darkness- Walter Dean Meyers (NBH)

216. The World Above- Cameron Dokey

217. Love, Inc.- Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout (ARC tour)

218. Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath- Stephanie Hemphill (PH)

219. Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Spies- Donald J. Sobol

220. Star Crossed- Elizabeth C. Bunce (ARC tour)

221. The Trouble with Half a Moon- Danette Vigilante (ARC tour)

222. Lipstick in Afghanistan- Roberta Gatley (Review copy)

223. Hole in my Life- Jack Gantos (PH)

224. The Body Finder- Kimberly Derting

225. Eve's Harvest- Anthology (Odyssey Books)

226. Revolution- Jennifer Donnelly (ARC tour)

227. The Other Side of Dark- Sarah Smith (ARC tour)

228. Angelfire- Courtney Allison Moulton (ARC tour)

229. Tricks- Ellen Hopkins

230. Daughter of Xanadu- Dori Jones Yang (ARC tour)

231. Case Closed? Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science- Susan Hughes (Review copy)

232. Matched- Ally Condie (ARC tour)

233. Fixing Delilah- Sarah Ockler (ARC tour)

234. Girl, Stolen- April Henry (ARC tour)

235. Pegasus- Robin McKinley (ARC tour)

236. Desires of the Dead- Kimberly Derting (ARC tour)

237. A Conspiracy of Kings- Megan Whalen Turner

238. Anna and the French Kiss- Stephanie Perkins (ARC tour)

239. Babe in Boyland- Jody Gehrman (ARC tour)

240. Cloaked- Alex Flinn (ARC tour)

241. Unearthly- Cynthia Hand (ARC tour)

242. Songs for a Teenage Nomad- Kim Culbertson (ARC tour)

243. The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories- O. Henry

244. Where She Went- Gayle Forman (Antony John)

245. Brooklyn Story- Suzanne Corso (review copy)

246. North of Beautiful- Justina Chen Headley

247. The Memory Bank- Carolyn Coman (GR 1st reads)

248. Willow Run- Patricia Reilly Giff

249. America the Beautiful- Sri Chinmoy (review copy/audiobook)

250. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner- Stephenie Meyer