Mockingjay!!!

So last night after a fantastic supper of feta and spinach pizza (yum!) I decided I needed to download the new Suzanne Collins book on my Kindle before going to bed and catch a few chapters to keep up with the rest of you. An hour later, I was still up reading. Yes (!) it's that good. So far...that is. I would say I'm about 35% through with it, but so far it's had me riveted since page one.

This one has a different feel to it than the others of the series although I've heard that it's absolutely amazing by my equally geeky YA-reading friends in my SOIS program at UW-Milwaukee. I had one friend who didn't like it, but she mentioned that her beloved Katniss wasn't as tough in this one as in the others. I think she'd doing just FINE so far and so what--really, isn't it about time someone looked after Katniss instead of the other way around? As far as heroines go, she has my vote. Hands down.

You'll want to put a copy of this on hold if you haven't already. If nothing else, you've got to see how this ends. Peeta or Gale?? And because I'm geeky I don't mind telling you that I've been Team Peeta since the beginning! Cheers!

The Space Between Trees....

I'm not going to lie. I picked this book up because it seriously has one of the coolest covers I've ever seen. You might not be able to see from the photo, but the tree is literally cut out of the book jacket which makes this mystery book tantalizing---literally--from front to back. I'm about half way through at this point and am enjoying it immensely.

Here's the synopsis from School Library Journal:

Grade 8 Up—Sixteen-year-old Evie is an outsider with a vivid imagination. She makes up stories for herself and others to make life in her small Midwestern town tolerable. When a childhood friend, Zabet McCabe, is murdered, Evie is thrust into a story beyond her wildest imaginings. Her little habitual deceptions, usually so harmless, get her entangled with grieving Mr. McCabe and Zabet's emotionally unstable and reckless best friend, Hadley Smith. Hadley is obsessed with finding Zabet's killer, and Evie lets herself get dragged into her increasingly paranoid and dangerous investigation. This dark and suspenseful coming-of-age story builds steadily to a violent climax. Evie is a skillful storyteller, perceptive and thoughtful, with a dry sense of humor. She is especially sensitive to disingenuousness in others, particularly in her mother, with whom she has an emotionally distant relationship. As a result, she fixates on the only genuine person in her life: taciturn Jonah Luks, on whom she has an unrequited crush. Evie adds beauty and excitement to the mundane with her fantasies, but only grows as a person when she faces reality and reaches out to the people around her. Readers who have ever felt like they don't fit in will find it easy to empathize with the teen's struggle to connect to others, and anyone can relate to the disillusionment that comes with growing up.

And you can read it before Halloween too...which makes it perfect!!

Fat Kid Rules the World..........

Troy is fat. Really fat. At nearly 300 pounds Troy thinks the only thing worth accomplishing is throwing himself in front of a moving train. That is until he meets Curt, the local teen guitarist/heart-throb whose genuine interest in Troy makes him reconsider what life is ultimately about.

A great addition to the world of YA fiction, this book tests the boundaries of friendship and family ties while humorously integrating themes such as drug-use, obesity, and growing up.

Troy is not only a sympathetic character, he is a unique one that truly makes the reader feel what it must be like to be an alienated teenager in the 21st century. I highly recommend this one. It can be read in one sitting---only 200 pages or so and is totally worth the time. It was a Printz Honor book a few years ago....read it. You won't be disappointed.

Wimpy Kid Bus Comin' Ur Way???

Having just announced a five-million-copy first printing for The Ugly Truth, the fifth book in Jeff Kinney’s bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Amulet Books is preparing to take the Wimpy Kid show on the road with its second annual ice cream truck tour. Last year, one ice cream truck visited 40 U.S. libraries while promoting the fourth book, Dog Days. This time, two identical trucks will travel different routes, visiting bookstores across the country and in Canada.


The routes the two trucks will follow.The ice cream truck tour begins August 15 and runs through August 28. Each truck will have 26 events, with stops that take them up and down the East Coast and into the Midwest. One truck will visit bookstores in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois; the second will stop in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, and Vermont. Purple ice cream treats (to match the cover of the new book) will be given away at each event; for every treat, Abrams will donate one children’s book to nonprofit organization First Book.


“This is the best kind of promotion,” said Abrams president and CEO Michael Jacobs in a statement. “Ice treats for fans and booksellers, and more than 25,000 new books donated to First Book to help programs across the country serving children in need. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has helped turn young readers on to books, and through this tour we are thrilled to help build the excitement for more books and build foot traffic for booksellers.” The Ugly Truth goes on sale November 9, and a box set of the first four books will be available in September. A full tour schedule is available on the Abrams Web site.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore....

A reminder that we have a TAB meeting this week Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
In other news....

I've been reading "Graceling" by Kristin Cashore after hearing wonderful things about it from many of you. I was shocked by how readable the book was and although I'm normally not a HUGE fantasy reader, the writing and the imagery are enough to take even a skeptic like me in. Katsa, the heroine of the story, is "graced" with the ability to fight and survive unlike anything the kingdoms have seen. Her king regularly has her carry out missions for him that she ends up despising, and so turns on him and flees his kingdom in order to stay true to herself and not inflict pain on innocent people.
She leaves king Randa's kingdom with Po, another Graceling who has the ability to read minds in the hopes of finding out which kingdom had previously kidnapped Po's grandfather. In the meantime, a love story develops and Po and Katsa become a big more than friends.
There is one adventure after another this epic (!) novel, and I can easily see why the ALA voted it a "Notable Book for Teens." Read this one. You'll love it.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox...A Review

I just finished reading "The adoration of Jenna Fox" and because I like it so much, wanted to pass along a review to you.

Jenna Fox wakes up after being in a coma for over a year and hardly remembers anything about her family, herself, or the accident that put her there. Yet, slowly she begins to piece events of her previous life together and she realizes that what her friends and family are telling her are lies. Jenna's obligations to her family and her moral obligations collide in this tour-De-force of drama, romance, and a bit of science fiction. I would recommend it to anyone--male or female--who enjoyed the Hunger Games, Feed, or the the Forest of Hands and Teeth. It's a mystery that will have you pondering the future far past turning the final page...

Book Trivia

Okay guys, I got 20 out of 24. See if you can beat my score!

How good are you at trivia and other mind games? Do you know your book covers? Sporcle.com provides a variety of mind games including "Can You Name The Book?" Check out how well you know your books!