In My Mailbox (06)

Sarah Mail!

This week was a bit slower for books but on the other hand, I was very excited to receive both of these titles!

For review:
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han (review next week and a contest!)

Bought:
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen (from Amazon's bargain books. $3.60!)

In My Mailbox is a fun way to share what books have arrived and what you are looking forward to reading. It is hosted by The Story Siren.

And a little self-promotion... Have you entered to win A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness yet?

Have you read these titles? Do I have much to look forward to in the Dessen book?

Royal wedding time!

The royal wedding is almost upon us! I know I'll be up early, early in the morning, tweeting away I'm sure. I'm very excited to see what Kate wears and to see all the pomp and circumstance!

If you're up extra early too and want to chat on twitter, I'm whtabtpineapple and would love to hear your thoughts on what is going on across the pond.

Review: Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

Bitter End is the kind of story that only too accurately depicts the abusive relationships many teens fall into and never get out of. It is scary, sad, difficult to read, but also a topic that needs to be more open and fortunately, Jennifer Brown tackles this topic with honesty.

Synopsis: When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole — a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her — she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate . . . someone who truly loves and understands her.
At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass, though, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats.
As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose — between her "true love" and herself.

Alex has never truly felt loved by anyone. Yes, she has two great best friends, but they don't fill the hole in heart from her mother's death, from her father's neglect, from her sister's cattiness. They are not there for in the way she needs them to be but one person is. Cole. From the moment they meet he shows blatant interest in Alex, in what she does, what she is interested in, and just about everything about her. He makes her feel special and, even though she does not say so at the beginning of their relationship, he makes her feel loved. There is a connection and a sense of security in knowing this boy wants to know more about her, wants to be part of her life.

But then it all goes wrong, in a horrible, horrible way and Alex enters the cycle of abuse, where she feels shame, loathing, fear that others will think she is at fault or worse, stupid for staying with him, and perhaps, the most difficult feeling of all, still loving him despite the pain and humiliation he causes her. How do you reconcile those feelings?

I don't think Jennifer Brown gets it exactly right but it's darn close and really, there is no "right" in a situation like this because every person is going to deal with their emotions differently. Alex takes her pain and lashes out at others, causing pain herself because she has no other outlet of expressing her fears about what is happening to her. She has to create enemies out of those who have cared for her for so long.

This is a very visceral book. When Alex feels Cole hitting her, the reader feels it also. It is the kind of violence that resonates and causes self-loathing in Alex, even when that feeling should not exist. Alex and Cole are caught in this vicious pain cycle, both in different ways and while Alex definitely bears the brunt of it, there is no doubt that there is a reason for why Cole acts the way he does and yeah, I felt a sliver of sympathy for him. But not much.

What Jennifer Brown does so well is showing, through actions and dialogue, how Alex gets cut off from her real loved ones, the people who do love and care for her even though they don't always show it in the best way. Even when her family and friends try to help, it only leads to her being cut off even more. it is a slow process but it is brutal.

I won't spoil what Bitter End means but I thought it became a powerful statement in the book. It became a hurtful thing, rather than something beautiful and whole. It was an interesting statement throughout the course of the story.

This is a book you'll want to read for yourself because I think it's going to leave a different impression on every reader. Also, your teens who devour Ellen Hopkins I think will fall headfirst just as easily into this book. Abusive teen relationships truly need to be showcased more because they happen all too frequently. I think Jennifer Brown has paved the way for this somewhat taboo topic to be discussed amongst teens and adults.

Other reviews:
Karin's Book Nook reviews Bitter End
Stacked reviews Bitter End
Abby the Librarian reviews Bitter End

ARC received from publisher.

Picture this!

In all honesty, covers are not a big deal to me. I don't pay all that much attention to cover trends and while I may notice a really bad cover or a really good cover, it's the contents of the book that is way more important to me. But what I do love about covers is finding out how a cover came to be! Fortunately there is a great blog to do just that. Author Melissa Walker does a feature called Cover Stories where she promotes and enlightens readers to the process of how a particular book cover was created. If you haven't been to her blog before, it's definitely something you'll want to check out because I think the stories make great display ideas for your teen areas in the library.

Here are a few of my favorite cover stories:
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper
Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer
Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
Faithful by Janet Fox

If you haven't visited Melissa's blog yet, it's definitely worth perusing! And, for some fun YA cover snark, definitely check out That Cover Girl. You'll laugh and you'll wonder why some publishers made the cover decisions that turned up on bookshelves. But, you'll also learn about the cover making process too which is just awesome.

Manga review: Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

 Side note from Sarah: I am not really a manga reader, no matter how hard I try to be. I know it's really popular with my teens but I still lack in that area as a librarian and reader. Fortunately, after reading Nicole's review I am inspired once again to make a better effort in this area of my collection. I met Nicole via a Twitter connection (She is @coleyinct). I was very fortunate to have her interested in writing a manga review for my blog and voila, here it is, and it's a good one! So, leave comments! Thank you Nicole for being a guest reviewer here at YA Librarian Tales.

When I found out that Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata – creators of the uber-poplar Death Note manga – had created a new series called Bakuman, I was more than curious. But a new manga that follows the daily lives of two teen boys…how could that compare to something like Death Note, with a Shinigami death god and the adrenaline filled battle of the minds between high school student Light and the creepy but charismatic detective, L?  Some risks really pay off, and Bakuman is a series that grabs readers from the very first chapter and doesn’t let go.  It is not just the story of two high school boys experiencing the typical highs and lows of teen life – it is the story of two teens having the courage to do both proclaim a dream AND to courageously put significant effort into pursuing that dream.

At the start of our story, we meet Moritaka Mashiro (aka Saiko) – an average student getting ready to apply for high school. It is that time in life where young adults start to choose which paths they want to walk down and what careers seem promising.  Students like Mashiro recognize the need to prioritize academics and tests and give up on childhood dreams and fantasies. Mashiro long ago decided that he would probably just go with the flow and do what was expected of him – choosing some standard salary position in a company.  While Mashiro is an excellent artist, he decided that pursuing a career as an artist would be too big of a gamble. After all, the uncle he adored and admired had himself been a manga artist who had seen little success in his own career before he died at a young age. However, when fellow classmate Akito Takagi discovers some of Mashiro’s drawings by happenstance, a great partnership is formed. Takagi is passionate and motivated by a deep desire to fight against expectations to make a career out of something he truly loves. Takagi loves manga and is confident that he can write good stories, but he needs the artistic skills of Mashiro to make this dream plausible. With some persuasion and encouragement, Takagi helps Mashiro to once again open himself up to the possibility that some risks are worthwhile, and doing something you love as a lifelong career is one of those worthwhile risks.

In this first volume of Bakuman (Dreams and Reality), readers watch Mashiro break out of his apathetic shell as he and Takagi start to take the first steps toward becoming professional “mangakas,” with Takagi writing the stories and creating the story boards and Mashiro doing the art. And in a surprising twist, both Mashiro and Takagi find that they also have the support of both friends and family as they give into their passions and commit themselves to the effort of becoming professionals.  Another interesting element to the story is that Mashiro begins to learn more about the deceased uncle he admired in the process of following that uncle’s own career path.  Interestingly, there is also a romantic component to the overall story – the girl Mashiro likes (Azuki) has agreed to marry him once they both achieve their dreams. However, as one would expect in a shonen manga, the romantic elements never overwhelm the story or take center stage. Mashiro’s devotion to Azuki remains a sweet backdrop to the main action, the most important function being that it drives Mashiro to want to achieve his dream by the time he’s 18 years old.

Bakuman is a story that is relatable to anyone who has ever had a dream and been willing to put in effort to achieve it. Readers can’t help but get behind Mashiro and Takagi and route for the success of their manga. Furthermore, to anyone who is a fan of manga itself, the series is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at exactly what it takes to get manga published. Keeping with that concept, writer Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata even share some of their own draft storyboards at the end of each chapter, showing readers an example of how their own work for Bakuman goes from draft to final print format.

Bakuman is a compelling and ultimately addictive read, with volumes 1-4 currently released on U.S. shores. I am eagerly awaiting future volumes. Who needs Shinigami death gods when you have teen boys fearlessly taking on the mysterious, complex manga publishing world?

Nicole Dolat, MLIS

A Discovery of Witches book and button giveaway!

Have you read A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, the first in her All Souls trilogy? If not, here's your chance to win a copy of the book, along with some fantastic buttons promoting the book!

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES begins on a late September afternoon when Diana Bishop, a bright, young historian studying amidst the ancient stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian library, calls up a medieval manuscript of alchemical illustrations. As soon as she picks it up Diana realizes that the book—Ashmole 782—is an enchanted object of untold power. As it turns out, Diana is not only a first-rate scholar of seventeenth- century chemistry but also a descendant of a long and distinguished line…of witches. She’s spent her adult life distancing herself from her supernatural destiny, and after a quick look at Ashmole 782 she sends the book back to the stacks and her magical history with it.


However, Diana isn’t the only one who has noticed that the manuscript has resurfaced, and her discovery immediately sets the fantastical underworld stirring. It soon becomes apparent that Ashmole 782 is a coveted treasure that’s been lost for centuries and Diana is the first and only being that has met the terms of its spell. Soon she finds herself beset by members of all three magical species—daemons, witches, and vampires—who swarm upon Oxford, seeking the text. She finds a crucial ally in Matthew Clairmont, a dashing geneticist and a vampire, whose preeminence in his field has been achieved after years upon years upon years of study. The two team up despite an age-old enmity between their species, becoming closer over candlelit dinners, supernatural yoga classes, and a trip to Matthew’s ancestral home (well, castle) in southern France.

As their challenges grow, so do Diana’s powers, and together she and Matthew must battle the forces rallying against them to unlock the secrets of a manuscript whose pages promise clues to a mysterious past and uncertain future. Equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense, A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES is a mesmerizing and addictive read.

Deborah Harkness is a professor at history at the University of Southern California.  She has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships, and her most recent scholarly work is The Jewel House:  Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution.  She also writes an award-winning wine blog, http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/.

Sounds good doesn't it? Very intriguing! It is an adult book but it has a lot of potential for YA readers I think and I know it's going out like hotcakes at my library. Here is your chance to win your own copy. All you have to do to enter is fill out this handy form. The contest runs until May 29, 2011 and the prize will be coming directly from the publisher, so big thanks to Viking/Penguin.

Also, don't forget, after you read the book, to vote for which actors you think should play the main characters, Diana and Matthew.

Enter to win A Discovery of Witches!

Review: Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton

I've been in a bit of a YA reading funk lately. It seems like everything I've been reading has been rather depressing. They are good stories but I just haven't been in the mood to deal with some of the heavier topics I have been reading. I've been looking for something lighter, a bit silly, and just plain fun. I found it in Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton.

Synopsis: Anna is dreading another tourist-filled summer on Dune Island that follows the same routine: beach, ice cream, friends, repeat. That is, until she locks eyes with Will, the gorgeous and sweet guy visiting from New York. Soon, her summer is filled with flirtatious fun as Anna falls head over heels in love.
But with every perfect afternoon, sweet kiss, and walk on the beach, Anna can’t ignore that the days are quickly growing shorter, and Will has to leave at the end of August. Anna’s never felt anything like this before, but when forever isn’t even a possibility, one summer doesn’t feel worth the promise of her heart breaking…. (Goodreads)

Anna has been feeling a bit like a third wheel since her two best friends, Sam and Caroline, became something more than friends. Anna is happy for them but she is also a bit envious as she has never connected with a guy in anything beyond a crush. Then, she meets Will. He is a summer tourist on her small island home off the coast of Georgia. Normally the tourists, the "shoobees" are nothing more than a summer nuisance. But not Will. He's seventeen, he's from New York City, and he is crushing on Anna just as much as she is. It's adorable and sweet and plenty awkward.

This book epitomizes summer in the best way. Sun, sand, beaches, ICE CREAM (and some very delicious ice cream at that!), a cute boy, and Boardwalk adventures. It's the kind of book that threw me immediately into summer and had me craving the freedom and fun that comes with summer. Anna and Will are adorable (I'm totally going to overuse that word in this review). They both blush, stammer, struggle to come up with topics of conversation at first as they get to know each other, and in general are a great example of a fun and sweet romance for teens.

There isn't necessarily three-dimensional character development but you definitely get a sense of who Anna is, what she wants from life. I thought Anna was fleshed out enough for the story. You see her envy of her friends and her own excitement in finding a guy who she likes and who likes her as well. You understand her sadness and knowing, once summer comes, their relationship may just disappear but I thought Michelle Dalton handled this aspect perfectly and I thought the ending was right on par with Anna. It just fit.

Will is adorable. He is not a bad boy, he's not necessarily a nerd, he's just a guy who is going through some stuff at home and finds companionship and like with Anna. He has a really fun relationship with his older brother, Owen, and I really enjoyed their onscreen time together. Another aspect of this story that I liked was that Will just seemed normal. Like a guy I would have known in high school. He has no weird dark secrets and he is not afraid to show Anna that he likes her, even as he does it some funny and clumsy seventeen year old boy ways.

In all honesty, this is just the book I needed to read. It was fun! It was just nice and I mean that in the highest way possible. It had some humor and it had a great sense of summer. Librarians, definitely add this to your summer reading lists because I can see it easily hopping off the shelves for girls. It has a pretty girly cover even. Clearly, it's not a "boy" book but you never know! Teens may just surprise you. I'm excited to read something else by Michelle Dalton.

Other reviews:
Irresistible Reads reviews Sixteenth Summer
Letters Inside Out reviews Sixteenth Summer

ARC reviewed from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab! Thanks S&S!

In My Mailbox (05)

Sarah Mail!
Only one book arrived in my mailbox this week but I was so excited to receive it that I had to share. I'm a big fan of Libba Bray's so I cannot wait to read her newest book, Beauty Queens. Thank you book fairy W! (Sorry for the poor quality everyone. I was too lazy to dig out my actual camera.)

In My Mailbox is a special feature from The Story Siren.

What did you get in the mail this week? Have you read Beauty Queens yet?

Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

I always look forward to a new Meg Cabot book and indeed, I was highly anticipating Abandon because not only is it Meg Cabot, but it's based on the myth of Persephone and Hades, one of my favorite myths. (It's the tragic romantic in me!) Meg Cabot definitely gives Abandon her own spin.

Synopsis: Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.
But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.
Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.
But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld. (Goodreads.com)


Pierce Oliviera is an NDE. She's had a near-death experience and lived to tell about it. In fact, she's even got the souvenir to prove it. It's a special necklace given to her by John Hayden, a man she met while in the Underworld. Yes indeed, Pierce has been to the Underworld and survived. In fact, she's escaped and well, isn't telling the tale because she has enough people thinking she is crazy. That is why she has moved back to Isla Hueosos with her mother. It's time for a fresh start. Only Pierce has a lot more on her plate than a fresh start. She has the mysterious John tracking her every movement. She has the Furies after her. And, somehow or another, she got roped into participating in Coffin Night, the big tradition at her new high school. So yeah, she's a girl with a lot going on. And really, it's only about to get worse.

This book is all about the big set-up. It sets up how Pierce died, how she escapes, and why she is still connected to John. It also sets up many of the problems that occurred after her near-death experience. It is a lot of exposition, a lot of flashbacks, and not nearly enough real time for this reader. And to top it all off it's told in a very disjointed manner, perhaps even more disjointed than Meg Cabot can sometimes be in her writing. When I started the story, I had a difficult time in keeping track what was present, what was past, and where all these connections were coming from. It eventually worked itself out but I feel like the connecting moments could have been developed a bit smoother.

Pierce is a typical Meg Cabot character. There is a satisfying sameness about Meg Cabot's leading female characters, qualities that appear in each character, no matter the book, that make reading a new Meg Cabot book like meeting an old friend again. I like this quality, I am not knocking it at all. With Meg Cabot, I know what to expect character wise and that's fine by me. It's her other storytelling qualities that make the difference and yet again, she spins a good tale. Once I started following along better, I was pulled into the wacky island antics of Isla Hueosos, its ancestry, and its myths.

Meg Cabot always makes high school seem fun to me again. Even when we all know the truth, that high school can be a total pain in the butt, I get drawn into how she represents it. Coffin night tradition? Yes please! A high school where being a D-wing student is not at all cool (though in my mind, D-Wing conjures up happy memories of The Mighty Ducks and Joshua Jackson so you know, I'm not complaining) and a magic necklace that spots evil in teachers? Only Meg Cabot could make a high school experience like this.

So am I ready for the next book, tentatively titled Underworld? Why yes I am! And while we're on the subject of Meg Cabot's upcoming projects, Ms. Cabot, I would love to see you return to your contemporary YA fiction roots with a new, non-paranormal, story. Seriously, would make my day.

Abandon didn't quite go as planned for me but it proved, in the end, to be the start of an intriguing premise.

ARC provided by publisher.

Book Expo America 2011!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it much here on the blog but come May, I am heading to New York, New York, to spend time at Book Expo America! If you aren’t sure what BEA is, definitely check out their website. It has loads of information about this major publishing event. I am incredibly psyched for many, many reasons, and frankly not all of it’s because of books. I’m also excited because in conjunction with BEA, the second annual Book Blogger Con is happening and I am attending this event also. It is a great event to not only increase your blog’s networking and presence amongst other bloggers, but we get to learn from each other. I think that’s what I’m really excited about. It’s a conference dedicated to all things blogging: developing your style and presence online, blogging for niche markets, and more.

And of course, with these two events come the opportunity to meet so many people I’ve only talked to online. And there are plenty of them! I think more than anything it’s the people aspect that convinced me this opportunity was too good to pass up. Yes, it’s can be a bit pricy but it’s also something if you’re passionate about blogging and books, that is worth participating in. At least, I hope so after I attend. I’ve heard great things about last year’s conference so I’m hopeful that this year’s will be even better.

Also, it’s in New York! I haven’t been to New York since 2007 so I’m extremely excited. I am meeting some people I have known for years as they come into the city at my bequest. I mean, honestly, that’s friendship. I am going to go see Dan Radcliffe’s play, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and I’m going to go to the Harry Potter exhibit that opened this April. Plus, it’s just New York! I love the atmosphere of this city so I just cannot wait to be back.

I’m hopeful that BEA will be a rewarding experience. And just plain fun too. I’m excited to get some autographed books, to meet authors, to attend the Teen Author Carnival, and in general to just experience authors and writing again. Not too many YA authors make it out to Colorado and if they do, they are usually in Denver which can be hard for me to get to unless it’s a weekend. (Yes, I am so whining here. I want more YA writers in Colorado!). And more than likely you’ll see a few contests on the blog after BEA. I hope to pick up some books to use for giveaways because that’s also part of the fun!

If you are a blogger attending BEA or BBC, I’d love to connect with you! If you have any wise past experience from attending these events, please let me know in the comments because I’m sure there is so much good advice floating out there that I’ve missed.

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent is the kind of book that leaves you hopping as a reader because it is a lot of action. Fighting, knives, fear simulations, and more, it makes the pages of this story vibrate with energy.

Synopsis:In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Beatrice Prior has lived in the faction, Abnegation, all her life. But she is now sixteen and it is time for her to take the test that will determine what faction she will live in as an adult. Unfortunately, her tests are not only inconclusive, they prove that she is a Divergent which is a bad, bad thing to be in a society divded between Erudite, Amity, Dauntless, Abnegnation, and Candor. At sixteen, Beatrice is supposed to define one faction, not a mixture. She is scared and nervous of the choosing ceremony as she fights her strong abnegnation and dauntless tendencies, in the end, choosing Dauntless as her new faction. She leaves behind everything she has ever known, including her family.

Beatrice, rechristened "Tris" in Dauntless, has always admired the bravery and recklessness of the Dauntless teens who ride the trains with abandon. Little does she know quite how difficult it is to actually be Dauntless, especially when being Dauntless is not at all what it first appears. Violence, fighting, courage, and the abhorence of all things abnegnation make Tris's Dauntless life difficult and scary. But she has strength in her and it will hopefully transcend the obstacles she is currently facing.

I felt like I was reading parts from so many other books while reading Divergent. The rivalry between Tris and Peter reminded me very much of Harry and Malfoy's rivarly towards the end of the Harry Potter series, as it grew more violent and filled with viotril. The games that the Dauntless played with its initiates reminded me of Ender's Game. The ease with which children are trained for violence had a touch of The Hunger Games to it. That's not to say that this book isn't quite original, because it is, but I just couldn't escape some of my personal reading history while diving into this story.

I'll be honest, I never dive too deeply into the complexities of world building, so if there are major problems with the world Veronica Roth has created, I probably did not notice them. What I did like about this world was exploring it, particularly the world of the Dauntless with its chasms, dark corridors, and danger filled simulations. It seemed like a very Slytherin-esque "common room" even though the Dauntless are not necessarily Slytherin. (See, even in my review I cannot help thinking of other books.) Veronica Roth sets the stage very well for the image of the fearless and brave Dauntless who have to defy trains, jumping from high places, and living by a chasm that could easily be a death sentence. It adds very well to the differences between Tris's life with the abgnenation faction and her new life amongst the dauntless.

As I was reading this, I couldn't help but think here is yet another character in a dystopian story where she has no real friends in her old life. Suddenly, in her new life, she makes friends easily and find acceptance. This is not necessarily a bad thing I just wish I could read a story where friendship transcends both the "old" and "new" way of life. (Also looking for a dystopian title featuring a male as the main character.) Friendship in all its forms comes to mean a lot to Tris and she sees the jealousies of it, the beauty of it, and the brutality of friendship. It is not an easy road to acceptance amongst the Dauntless, especially as the only "Stiff" (a term for the Abnegnation). There was one character in particular that really frustrated me with his character arc. I knew something was coming, I just wish it hadn't happened because I wanted to be able to retain some sympathy for this character.

This story is actually going to be a great fit for girls and boys. There is so much action that it moves the plot forward at a rapid pace. Training, intense fight scenes, night-time adventures of capture the flag, but also romance, friendship, and trying to stay true to your own values. This is a close to 500 page story but fortunately there is a draw here and while there are periods of more contemplative story, there is a great amount of adventure and daring also.

As you can probably tell from my review, this isn't always the most original in terms of story but yet, and here I go contradicting myself, it was original enough to keep me hanging on. The ending is rather blah because it is clearly a set-up for the next book in the series (which I'm just tired of in general). It was almost sad to have the ending be so anti-climactic just because there was so much great build-up and deft storytelling that I was a bit bereft to be left hanging at the end without a clear end in sight.

Divergent kept me entertained. It is yet another YA dystopian so don't go into expecting anything too far out of the subgenre. Roth has me intrigued enough to want the second book which I cannot say happens too easily in this publishers world of the endless series. Definitely keep this book on your radar if you enjoy this subgenre in YA literature.

Other reviews:

Presenting Lenore reviews Divergent

Confessions of a Book Addict reviews Divergent

Chick Loves Lit reviews Divergent

ARC provided by Amazon Vine.

Review: The Anti-Prom by Abby McDonald

Ok, I love me a good Prom story. I have no idea why as I did not attend any of my school's proms. I was very content with just going to the parties with friends after. However, I love a fun prom YA story and that is what this book is. Just plain fun! And even better, the cover actually matches what the characters are wearing!

Synopsis: Three unlikely allies team up for a night of rebellion, romance, and revenge in a high-stakes dramedy from acclaimed young author Abby McDonald.

They’ve spent years at the same high school without speaking a word to one another, but that’s all about to change. Popular Bliss was having the perfect prom until she found her BFF and boyfriend making out in the back of a limo. Bad girl Jolene wouldn’t be caught dead at the prom, yet here she is, trussed up in pink ruffles, risking her reputation for some guy - some guy who is forty minutes late. And shy, studious, über-planner Meg never counted on her date’s standing her up and leaving her idling in the parking lot outside the prom. Get ready for The Anti-Prom, Abby McDonald’s hilarious, heart-tugging tale about three girls and one unforgettable prom night.

Prom night goes all wrong for three teens who have never even talked to each other. Bliss is the queen of the in-crowd. She has it all: beauty, popularity, and a hot boyfriend. Unfortunately, she discovers that boyfriend making out (and more) with her best friend. Talk about betrayal.


Jolene (and yes, every time her name came up I started singing the song) was forced into prom. But she does have a hidden agenda, unfortunately, that agenda is all letdown because well, apparently a certain guy just did not care enough about her to make the effort to come. Jolene is the school bad girl, getting into trouble and causing her mom endless worry. She is an outcast but she thought there was someone who cared about her. Apparently not. But when Bliss approaches her, begging for help to get back at her best friend and boyfriend, well Jolene decides she may as well get some of her own dirty deeds done.


And then there is shy Meg who is basically invisible at school. Neither Bliss nor Jolene knows much about Meg. She was roped into going to prom by her stepmom and father, who set up a date for her. Unfortunately that date bailed and Meg is humiliated. She just wants to be normal. She just wants to be seen and to have the typical high school experience for once. Well, she is about to get a high school experience, it just isn't typical. When Bliss and Jolene need a getaway car, Meg is it. And thus begins a wild, wild night.


I love when books take place in a very short time frame. If the author can make it work, I really admire the writer because frankly I think it would be easy to get bored in a story that takes place in such a suppressed amount of time. But Abby McDonald gets it right and it is a wild night for sure as these three girls, strangers, become something on the way to friends. Bliss has to consider what is truly important to her. Jolene has to let go of her anger. And Meg, well she has to live a little.


I enjoyed all three characters, though I do think Meg somewhat got the short end of the character straw. Her story just wasn't quite as compelling and that may be because the author didn't reveal too much about why Meg was so withdrawn until near the end of the book. She was also not the center of the action for much of the story. However, I totally enjoyed her chats with Scott, a college boy, and the Joss Whedon and The Craft references Meg was pulling out. She is obviously hiding her wit behind a shy facade!

Bliss and Jolene are definitely full force personalities that actually have a lot in common if they would look beyond their high school cliques. They both take no guff from anyone and try to be in control of every situation. They clicked better for me together, while Meg more slowly worked her way into the group. But it did even out and I was impressed with how these girls started to open up to each other.


I feel like the friendship that starts to develop between the girls was actually authentic. I mean, seriously, the adventures they went on (which you have to take with a grain of salt considering some of the legal practicalities that could have happened) would indeed have bonded them closer together. I will say, the end felt a tad too mushy for me, as if they were all suddenly best friends. I would have liked it to be a bit more up in the air but that is a minor quibble.


Basically, this is just a fun, quick read. Drama, secrets, boys, and a prom night that is anything but expected. Abby McDonald books make me smile and that is what I enjoyed most about this. A little escapism into the prom experience, in the best way possible.


ARC provided by Around the World Tours.

Review: Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith

Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith is a book I went to with several assumptions already in place. I knew this was going to be a story of a girl who was desperate to get back her boyfriend who suddenly deserted her. I also knew this boyfriend was going to be a total asshat (totally right on that, by the way.) What I didn't know was would Joy come out of this stronger as a person, as her own person?

Synopsis: WHO ZAN IS: Blow-your-mind brilliant. Stop-your-heart gorgeous. Hold-your-breath clever. WHO ZAN WAS: Joy’s boyfriend. WHY JOY NEEDS HIM BACK: So she can breathe again. WHAT THAT MEANS: An elaborate road trip involving a SAAB 900, Sprite, and Barry Manilow. Oh, and Noah, Zan’s irritating-but-almost-charming ex-best friend. Original and insightful, quirky and crushing, Joy’s story is told in surprising and artfully shifting flashbacks between her life then and her life now.

Joy is simply sad and heartbroken without Zan in her life. Her only goal is to find a way to get him back. It is in some ways disturbing, parts sad, and parts pathetic. Everyone in Joy's life, her friends at least (cause her parents do not make much of an appearance in this book) know that Joy is better off without Zan, that he was a total tool, but does that help any? Of course not. Joy wants him back and she will get him. To do so, she needs to drive to Claremont, California, her hometown, and convince him to take her back, to make things right again. Her unwitting road trip companion is Zan's best friend, Noah Talbot, a "Soccer Lovin' Kid" (aka as really popular) and someone Joy has no time to put up with. Noah, and the other Soccer Lovin' Kids are the reason Zan left Haven. He did not want that perfect life, he wanted something else. Oh Joy, how simple you think this all is.

Thus, in Noah's classic Saab, they head from Utah to California in a quest that Noah knows will go badly. But he is truly just a plain old nice guy and heck, he was ditched by Zan too, he wants some answers. Will these two get them?

The power in this book lies oddly enough in Zan's power over Joy and how she perceives herself before, with Zan, and then after, without Zan, and then, after again after she realizes Zan is not the answer she was searching for. Joy does not come away from this  book wholly changed and bearing the knowledge that she does not need Zan. She still wants him, wants what she thought their relationship was anyway, but she finally realizes that maybe he was not good for her, that something was off balance in their "relationship" and Joy needs to take a hard look at herself too in that respect. She also comes to some realization that she has been an awful friend, somewhat of a snobby and awful person, and that is something she wants to rectify. How she gets those answers? Well I cannot spoil that for you of course but it does involve Barry Manilow.

Another aspect of this book I enjoyed is Joy's Mormon lifestyle. It wasn't slammed into my face in the story but it was a part of who Joy was, something she did not want to let go of, even though Zan openly mocked that. She was true to her church and you know, she enjoyed some of the more innocent things in life style. Sleepovers with her friends, baking cookies, sleepover games (yes, she is almost a high school senior), but I liked that simplistic part of her life. That is who Joy was, even as she professed to look down on those very same things.

Sadly, Joy was a character who changed for a boyfriend and that is something I typically cannot abide. But I went into this book KNOWING that so it wasn't exactly a huge surprise. The journey then was how she could perceive herself post-Zane. Would she become a stronger individual, more able to look at her own accomplishments and her positive qualities without putting them in some context of a guy? I was not totally convinced of this aspect but at the same time, I knew Joy was getting there. The ending was really perfect for the story, very much an open ending with I think some reader understanding that Joy still has a ways to go before she gets there, wherever "there" is, but she is trying and her quest for Zan has lent her strength she did not know she would originally get.

I love the cover of this book but that's mostly because I love the stool they are standing on. Those are library stools! This scene does not take place in this book at all so I have no idea where the cover inspiration came from.

This is not a perfect story but it fit Joy very well, and it gave me clues into who she is without the facade of having to have a boyfriend, having to have Zan. She was selfish, sometimes cruel though she didn't mean to be, didn't give people a chance, and well, this sounds like she could be the most unlikable character ever but in fact she is just a teen girl who found someone she thought was her match. It has happened to many a girl (including yours truly) so it's not like I can condemn her for hope. It's the journey after that left me curious as to the type of girl she would be and you know, she definitely is not half bad.

I haven't touched on Noah too much because while he is a solid guy, a nice guy, and some layers were revealed as the story went on, he isn't the star, though he isn't the perfect shell Joy thinks he is either. He just wasn't the catalyst for my emotional responses in this story so I don't have quite as much to say about him.

Back When You Were Easier to Love is a solid second story from Emily Wing Smith. Not perfect not amazing in a way some stories are for me, but real and atrocious in its reality at times. That can make for good reading and in this case, it did.

ARC received from Around the World Tours.

Other reviews:
All Consuming Books reviews Back When You Were Easier to Love 

Review: Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

A friendship is brutalized in the most permanent of ways in debut author Kimberly Marcus's Exposed.

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Liz is Photogirl—sharp, focused and confident in what she sees through her camera lens. Confident that she and Kate will be best friends forever.
But everything changes in one blurry night. Suddenly, Kate is avoiding her, and people are looking the other way when she passes in the halls. As the aftershocks from a startling accusation rip through Liz's world, everything she thought she knew about photography, family, friendship and herself shifts out of focus. What happens when the picture you see no longer makes sense? What do you do when you may lose everything you love most?(B&N.com)

When Liz's "forever-best" friend, Kate, suddenly stops talking to Liz, to ignoring and hiding from her in school and basically severing all ties in their friendship, Liz does not understand what is happening. Yes, they had a fight at their slumber party, but it's not the end of their friendship, surely? But then Liz finds out just why Kate is avoiding her. And it is a horrendous accusation, an accusation that will tear their friendship apart. Forever-best cannot stay the same when your brother has raped your best friend, right?

Perhaps just from the last sentence, you can tell where I fall on the spectrum of did he or didn't he. In my mind, Mike did rape Kate, it was clear as day that it was not a consensual sexual act. But for Liz, the question is not nearly so easy to answer. She does not want to believe that of her brother of course. How can someone she loves do something so awful to someone else she loves, someone who has been a part of their family also?

This book does some interesting things. Liz is so used to capturing moments in time with her photography, to being able to look at something and know what it portrays. But her world is shaken when Kate accuses her brother of rape and suddenly, photography, her passion above all else, fails to provide the black and white world she needs. Her brother is no longer just her older brother, he has an "otherness" about him that I would categorize as evil, though Liz never goes so far as to do that. And Kate, her best friend, is a total stranger.

Written in free-verse poetry, the book is told through Liz, which is all fine and good and it gave me many insights into her relationship with Kate, and even Liz's relationship with her own family. What I never got a good handle on was Mike. There just were not enough scenes for me to define him as anything other than rapist. I'm not sure if there was meant to be more of a question in readers' minds about what really happened that night, but there was no question from me. From his interactions after the rape, and how Liz writes about it, well, he had guilty stamped all over him. The case was never built for me as a reader as to whether this was more of a gray event than it should have been. I could not connect with Mike as "the brother," "the son," "the good friend" because he became, almost instantly, the rapist for me. Poetry usually does not work for me as a writing narrative so I was a bit leery coming into this book and well, it didn't quite work for me. There remained that disconnect.

That being said, the power in this book is seeing these two friends on opposites side of the fight, even as Liz starts to realize that the side she truly wants to fight on, is one she cannot. There is one poem that sticks out in my mind even upon closing this story and it is where the heart of the story lies. In friendship and how something so cataclysmic will change the course of friendship forever, even for two girls who thought they were each others "forever-best." Exposed is a powerful story and it tackles rape in a way that worked better for me than in Daisy Whitney's Mockingbirds, even as I still felt a bit disconnected from the story as a whole. Nonetheless, an important story to include in library collections because it will speak to many, many teens.

Author Interview: Kim Harrington!

I am very excited today to bring you an interview with 2011 debut author Kim Harrington. She is the author of Clarity, which I recently reviewed. It's a fabulous paranormal story and will definitely cleanse your paranormal palate, as it did mine. As soon as I finished the book, I knew I had to talk with this author about the fabulous character she created in Clare, and so much more. So, with that, here are some of the oh so very interesting things author Kim Harrington has to say about Clarity, and more!

1. The amateur sleuth investigation in Clarity was one of my favorite aspects of the story. What type of research did you do to incorporate the mystery into your story?
I visited a few psychics to experience their different styles (and for fun!). I also did a bit of research on how Gabriel could be involved in police work without relying completely on nepotism from his father. I found out about the Explorer program through some wonderful people on a criminal justice online forum.

2. If you had to choose between Clare's talent, Perry's talent, or Starla's talent, which one would you prefer to have and why? Would you use it for good or evil?
If I had Starla’s talent, I would definitely use it for evil and that’s why I should never be allowed to have that one. Perry’s gift would creep me out. So I would pick Clare’s ability. It’s also the least-intrusive into a normal life, in my opinion.

3. Did you grow up in a town like Eastport? What is your favorite part of summer?
I grew up in a regular suburban town about forty minutes from Cape Cod where CLARITY is set. But my father is from the Cape so we spent a ton of time there, and he told me a lot of stories about what it was like to be a teen in a tourist town. My favorite part of summer is the hot weather. I’m cold nine months out of the year. I’m cold right now!

4. Have you read any great YA titles lately that you would like to recommend and rave about?
I really enjoyed HOURGLASS by Myra McEntire, which is coming out in June. It was a wonderful mix of paranormal, mystery, and a touch of sci-fi.

5. I love Clare's sarcastic sense of humor, how she gripes about her family yet loves them to pieces, and so much more. What is your favorite aspect of Clare as a character?
I love her sarcasm, her loyalty to her family, and that she stands up for herself rather than being a doormat. I wish I could have been more like her at that age.

6. Any clues about the second book in the series, because I really, really want it now!
He he he. Let’s see what I can say…. It’s called PERCEPTION and will be out in March 2012. It's been done for a while now. I've seen the cover and, though I can't share it for a few more months, take my word for it--it's gorgeous. Plot-wise, Clare will have another mystery to solve and a big decision to make. That’s all you get for now! :)

7. When you need to veg in front of the TV, what are you watching?
Right now, I’m watching season five of Friday Night Lights on DVD. It’s bittersweet. I’m loving every minute, but it’s sad knowing this is the last season. I also enjoy Fringe, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, and Modern Family.

8. Clare often mentions that she wants to be able to sit in her room and just listen to music. What would be some of Clare's favorite bands?
It’s funny you should ask that! I just posted a Clarity playlist on my blog a few days ago. Each song has a chapter or scene that I felt went along well with it.

Thank you so much Kim! I know I for one cannot wait to read Perception and see what is in store for Clare. To find out more about Kim, read her blog, find her on Facebook or connect with her via Twitter.

Review: Clarity by Kim Harrington

Clarity by Kim Harrington is one of the most fun paranormal stories I have read in ages. Clare Fern is a memorable and sarcastic amateur sleuth who makes the story come alive.

Synopsis: Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most? (Amazon.com)

Favorite part of this book is, hands down, Clarity "Clare" Fern. She is tired of being the freak of her local high school. She wants to be normal, but yet, she still feels compelled to help her family business. Yeah, she'd rather not have her "gift" but she is not going to ignore her family because of it. I really liked that for the most part, the Fern family is a tight clan. Clare has a great relationship with her older brother, Perry. They have a great sibling relationship, filled with blatant sibling teasing and mocking, but also support and help. Even when Perry was at his lowest, and even when Clare let doubts creep in, they were there for each other. But she also realizes that Perry, great brother though he may be, is not exactly a Prince when it comes to how he treats women with his very easy love 'em and leave 'em ways. Likewise, while Clare is sometimes frustrated with her mom peeking into her mind so easily, she obviously loves and respects her mother.

Clare is such a vibrant character. From the moment you open the book, when she dumps her drink on a local waitress, and class enemy, to the very end when Clare just wants to prove her brother's innocence, you know she is going to be a memorable character. She is sassy in the best way possible, without going over into the annoying sassy territory. Clare just seemed like a real girl to me, someone I could have been friends with at that age. Yeah, she leads a complicated life what with the visions, but she also enjoys the wonderful things about life: the beach, boys, music, the Boardwalk, and even helping others.

I am a big Veronica Mars fan and this book reminded me of Veronica's amateur sleuthing skills. In the same way that I was able to buy into Veronica being a skilled detective as a high school student, equally I was able to buy into Clare being this rather smart detective. She put the boys to shame, that is for certain, with her quest to find answers. She took some risks with the case, doing some things that could have been defined as illegal, but again, if I could buy into Veronica's shenanigans, I could definitely follow along with Clare's hijinks. It just worked for me in the context of the story.

I also really, really liked that this book was not all about the love triangle. Yes, there are a few boys of possible love interest. Justin, the ex-boyfriend, and Gabriel, the son of the new police chief. However, like Jia of Dear Author actually pointed out in her review, I'm actually hoping Boy C (Nate) becomes something more than a friend. I thought there was possibilities there.

Maybe I have just been craving summer, but the fresh, limitless wonderfulness of summer was truly a presence in this story. The Boardwalk, the hot sun, the tourists and the local hangout place, Yummy's, it all just screamed summer to me and I cannot wait to give this book to some teens at my library as I know they are going to respond to the summer appeal. This is one of those books you can read in the dead of winter but still feel that warm summer sunshine breeze even when it's below zero outside.

Clarity had quite a bit of hype built around it for me as a reader since all I was hearing was positive things. Fortunately, this is one book where the hype worked for me. I fell into this story and didn't want to stop reading. Kim Harrington is a debut author to keep your eye on and tomorrow, I have an interview with her so stay tuned. And definitely read Clarity, it will have you laughing and get you in the mood for summer.

Other reviews:
Write Meg reviews Clarity
My Friend Amy reviews Clarity
A Good Addiction reviews Clarity
Kimberly of Stacked reviews Clarity (The review that convinced me to pick this book up!)

Romance Roundup: April 2011

It's Romance Roundup time on YA Librarian Tales! Here are some of the romance titles I reviewed with recent April releases.

Black Ties and Lullabies by Jane Graves
My One and Only by Kristan Higgins
The Chase by Erin McCarthy
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
Pleasure Me by Monica Burns
Any Man of Mine by Rachel Gibson
Sinners on Tour: Rock Hard by Olivia Cunning
Already Home by Susan Mallery
The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis

Favorite recent romances reads: Pleasure Me and Already Home. Definitely take a chance on these stories!

Review: Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

I wanted to like Invincible Summer. I wanted to like it so much! It started off well enough but I just couldn't ever truly like it.

Synopsis: Across four sun-kissed drama-drenched summers at his family's beach house, Chase tries to come to grips with his family's slow dissolution while also finding himself in a chaotic love triangle, pitted against his own brother in pursuit of the girl next door. Invincible Summer is a gritty, sexy, page-turning read from a talented teenaged author that readers won't want to miss.

Unfortunately this book had two major things I just could not ever truly like or enjoy in any major respect. The first is relatively minor. I hate Camus. I have disliked him so much since college and this book uses Camus very liberally. I groaned every time one of the teens would suddenly start quoting him. It just seemed... so unrealistic and frankly, really pretentious, to have these kids memorize Camus and use it competitively against each other. If you don't have a big problem with Albert Camus, you may stand a better chance with this book than I did.

The second story flaw for me was one of the main characters. Chase McGill. I hate to say this but honestly, I was thrown out of this story so much because of Chase and how he did not at all seem like a teenage boy to me. Yes, he wanted sex and in fact, gets quite a bit of sex, but the way he talked, the way he relied on his brother, it was almost incestuous in its nature (FOR ME! only me.) He seemed like a girl, truly, I could not relate to him as a guy at all. I don't know why because the other brother, Noah, was much more masculine written, for me anyway. And in the author's previous book, Break, all her male characters definitely seemed very masculine. Chase just seemed very effeminate and it really took me out of the story. And considering he is the narrator, well that's a lot of jumping out of the story.

What I did like: Gideon. I also feel like Moskowitz writes dysfunctional families with a high level of ease. This family was chaotic as hell and it worked because of the problems they were facing. I also think the author did a fantastic job of capturing the fleeting feeling of summer, how you can never quite grasp it because it is over before it even begins half the time. Summer came alive for me in this book.

The book is about so much more than two brothers in love with the same girl. Thank goodness because I needed something else to hold my attention and Noah definitely does that. He is a fairly complex character and I would have loved if this book was written from his point of view instead of Chase's. Alas, not to be. Chase and I just never connected. I think this book is going to work well with lots of YA readers, but for me it was mostly a miss.

Invincible Summer releases in April 2011.

ARC received from Around the World Tours.

Review: The Summer Before Boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin

The Summer Before Boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin is a whimsical and poignant (my overuse of this word is going to kill me but truly this is a poignant story) about two little girls on the verge of growing up and maturing, but at very different speeds.

Synopsis:
Julia and Eliza are best friends, spending the summer together. Julia's mother is serving in the National Guard and Julia spends all of her time trying not to think about what could happen. So the girls lose themselves in their summer, hanging out at the resort where Eliza's father works. But when they meet a new boy, neither one of them is prepared for what it does to their friendship.
Nora Raleigh Baskin delivers a poignant look at the way a first crush can come between best friends and the importance of hanging on to the time you have as a kid before rushing into growing up. (B&N.com)


Julia and Eliza are twelve year old best friends but things are changing for Julia. Her mother is currently deployed in Iraq and Julia is staying with Eliza for the summer while her father works. It should be an ideal summer for these girls except that Julia worries constantly about her mother and then, suddenly, experiences a new kind of worry. Boy worry. The kind where you wonder if your hair looks okay, if you are "glistening" from the sun, where you carefully plan out your moves for the day in the hopes of seeing him. But Eliza is not on the same page. She is still in a world of make-believe, where the girls become captives and have to trek around the mountains. She still yearns to play with dolls. Julia finds those desires fading as reality has touched her world in new ways.


This is a coming-of-age story in that restless, uncomfortable way that can only come from turning twelve to thirteen years old. Such an awkward age group, where things do change dramatically but not at always at the same speed for close friends. I enjoyed the reality of this situation, as Julia wavers between being a child and enjoying her imagination, creating games and scenarios with Eliza, while at the same time, she longed to escape that because she wanted to pursue new desires. She did not want to lose Eliza and in fact, Julia still greatly enjoyed playing Lynette and Lester, playing dolls, but at the same time, it was obvious that she was maturing faster than Eliza. The author created a good case for this maturity by showing Julia's worries over her mother. Will her mother return from Iraq? Will she come back different, like her classmate Peter's dad? Julia has been forced to grow up sooner because of her family life.

And while I was thoroughly enjoying the reflections Julia was going through, part of me wondered if a twelve-year-old reader would truly be able to identify with Julia in this way. Julia is extremely self-possessed and seemingly all too aware of the changes she is going through. I'm just not sure how authentic this will be when being read by tweens of this age. For me, I found it to be very true-to life, but that is based upon reflection on this point, on having the maturing to step back in time and examine my own feelings while growing up. Can you do that when you are actually that age, in the moment, experiencing those feelings? I'm just not sure.

Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed this story. It has a childlike quality to it that matches the changes Julia is going through. She is not quite a child but not nearly a teen. At one point, she receives her first cell phone and I thought that was a great demarcation of her life before and then after, when she starts experiencing feelings for boys. These feelings cause unintentional conflict in her relationship with Eliza, unintentional slights and cruelties that build up until even Eliza cannot ignore what Julia is doing. The setting also proves to be perfect for this book. Summer, that time when everything is warm, sunny, and wonderful, but where subtle changes often take place, rendering someone new and changed by the time fall comes along.

Intertwined in this story is also the stories of women serving in the military. I loved the little snippets that the author includes in the narrative. When Julia's mom is shipped overseas, she becomes somewhat more involved in what it truly means to be a woman serving in the military and that reflects very nicely in the story.

This is a charming story with sadness, hope, and changes. The Summer Before Boys is going to please the tween set even if they perhaps will not always connect with the deeper emotions that Julia is bringing to the surface. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this story, somewhat bittersweet and melancholy in its portrayal of growing up, but with the wonders of childhood still evident on the pages.

ARC from Around the World Tours.

Colorado Teen Lit Conference Wrap-Up

This year's Colorado Teen Lit Conference was another great success. The organizers always put on a truly fun and outstanding conference. (Also, I love conferences that are one day only. No fuss, no muss.) I had a great time attending and judging by all the teens, librarians, and teachers in attendance, everyone else did too!

The morning started off with a key-note speech from Rachel Vail. I will totally admit, I have not read any of her books yet but after hearing her speak, I'm definitely more inclined to. She was funny, poignant, and just genuinely nice. I could just tell. My coworker went up to her after her speech to get some books signed, as we did not plan to stick around for the signing in the afternoon, and the author was incredibly gracious about signing the books, getting a picture. It's always inspiring to hear authors speak I think, when they are good speakers, and Rachel Vail definitely was. Plus, she had these adorable glasses that, even though I am quite happy I no longer wear glasses, I was still very envious of.

The first session I attended was a local author panel and I got to hear Sarah Ockler (!!!) speak. In my head, I've been saying her last name as "Ah-ckler" and in fact, it is "O-kler" as the O in front designates, lol. I also heard Alane Ferguson, Carrie Vaughn, Ronald Cree, and Traci Jones speak. They are all local Colorado authors and it's amazing to think how much talent this state has in its writers. I already sense my TBR pile growing.

The second session was when I was presenting so instead of attending another session, I presented, obviously. I had 55 people in attendance which makes me so happy. And so many teens too! That's what I love about this conference. It's a conference for teens just as much as it is for professionals. And the teens were the best part of my audience because they asked tons of questions about the books I was talking about. My presentation was The Underdog of the YA World: Contemporary YA Fiction and I hate to say it, but this was a crowd that needed some education on contemporary teen writers. Not so much the teens themselves, but the librarians, definitely. I had one teen ask if Stephanie Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss lived up to the hype and I was pleased to be able to say that in fact, for me, it definitely did. There was not one person in attendance who had said they had heard of Courtney Summers (or at least they didn't acknowledge it when I asked) so that made me sad. But now they know so it works out. Also, I loved the teen who called me out for putting Stolen in my "country/rural life" category. It made me laugh. To me, it felt like the presentation went very well. Got some laughs, got audience participation and questions which is usually always a good sign. Every time I present it gets a bit easier which for me is a relief. If you're interested in seeing my presentation slide for whatever reason, let me know and I can email it to you. After the presentation, Sarah Ockler came up and introduced herself because she recognized my twitter name which made me feel incredibly awesome, I will be honest. She is a very nice writer! Her next book will be out next summer and it revolves around ice skating and there is a cute hockey player involved so I already know I'm going to love it. :)

Then it was lunch time which was a relief because I was starving. During lunch, Pete Hautman was the keynote speaker and he was hilarious. I love the fact that he is a Minnesota writer too, it's like my past and present converging. Fortunately I have read a few of Pete's books and was able to identify when he named some of his novels and the process he went through in writing them. He was another genuine, great speaker and I had a great time listening to him. It amazes me that this conference is able to pull such big name authors.

The third and final session I attended revolved around the Colorado Blue Spruce Awards which is an award where teens nominate the books that win. Only teens can vote so it is truly an award about which books teens are actually reading. I actually didn't attend to go to this presentation but the one I was going to go to, about bullying, was so full that I decided to change rooms.

I was also lucky enough to get a signed copy of Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. Seriously, a wonderful, wonderful author who was just so nice. In fact, every author there in attendance just seemed incredibly gracious and patient with all of us wanting autographs and pictures. I forgot my camera this year sadly so no picture of me with any author but I was quite pleased by my signed book. And then it was over. I usually don't stay for the teen/author question panel because it's a two hour drive back home and it's nice to have some time left in the day. But as usual, this conference was a totally wonderful experience. I also had the chance to meet Katie of Katie's Book Blog who was presenting about blogging and you can also read her recap.

Next year, one of the keynote authors is Maggie Stiefvater so I can only imagine how popular the conference is going to be. Now I just have to think of another good topic to present because I truly love presenting at this conference.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask away!

Month in review: March 2011

Here's what I read in March 2011:

35. So Much Closer by Susane Colasantie (3/3/11)
36. Jemima's Secret by Lynne Graham (3/4/11)
37. Miles From Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams (3/5/11)
38. Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell (3/5/11)
39. Badd by Tim Tharp (3/6/11)
40. Black Ties and Lullabies by Jane Graves (3/8/11)
41. Bayou Dreams by Lynn Lorenz (3/11/11)
42. My One and Only by Kristan Higgins (3/11/11)
43. Abandon by Meg Cabot (3/12/11)
44. The Chase by Erin McCarthy (3/13/11)
45. Secrets by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur (3/15/11)
46. Hourglass by Myra McEntire (3/19/11)
47. I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan (3/20/11)
48. Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard (3/20/11)
49. Pleasure Me by Monica Burns (3/25/11)
50. Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh (3/25/11)
51. Stay by Deb Caletti (3/26/11)
52. Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (3/26/11)**
53. Already Home by Susan Mallery (3/26/11)
54. Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh (3/27/11)**
55. Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh (3/31/11)**

Total books read: 22 (WHOA! I haven't read that many books in one month in a long time.)
Favorite book read: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh and I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
Most disappointing book read: Like Mandarin (too much hype and it didn't live up to it for me.)

I only read 13 books in March 2010 so I truly surpassed March from last year.

I also had several re-reads in March. I've become inspired to re-read Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series with the release of Kiss of Snow and that's just what I'm doing.

So, how did you do in March 2011? How many books did you read?