"Geek Fantasy Novel" by E. Archer

As any aeronautical engineer will confirm, fairies do remarkably well in unicorn-drawn carriage crashes. Their strategy is simple: Keep to the center of teh carriage and fly with quivalent speed against the rapidly decreasing velocity of the vehicle.

Ralph Stevenson has been taught never to wish for anything. As anyone will tell him, wishes are dangerous and should therefore be avoided. As an extreme geek growing up being teased by his peers, he has also learned not to mingle with people.
So Ralph focuses on his video game designing.
When he is suddenly jerked out of his day to day life by an invitation to go visit his relatives in Europe, his parents immediately say no. But Ralph has other ideas, and soon sneaks off to visit his odd British relatives.
But that's not all...
Ralph is soon whisked away into magical lands where bunny rabbits explode, where narrators mess with the story line, where teddy bears work as headsets, and where you never exactly know what's going to happen next.
Not even the narrator.

Prisoners magically trapped beneath planks of flooring do moderately well. The otherwise death-hastening wood serves like the lap restraint on a roller coaster.

I really did like this book a lot. It was some random novel that my mom picked up at the Salvation Army and gave to me one day at piano lessons. The name is interesting, and the synopsis/back cover are as well. This book was original, it was witty, it was funny, it was clever, and it was geeky.
The concept in particular was fascinating, and I don't think I've ever seen a book where this has been done before... Not to mention the fact that the characters are simply brilliant. I loved them all. Even Chessie. Even the narrator.
Maybe particularly the narrator?
Either way, this was an amazing book.

Axe-wielding duchesses, however, make out substantially worse. And unfortunately, an axe-wielding duchess careening about a carriage is a problem for everyone.

"The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey" by Lisa Papademetriou

They had disappeared. All that was left was the copy of Queen of Twilight and two smoking coals.
The clerk stared for a minute, then did the only reasonable thing he could think of. He pressed a button on the intercom.
"We need a cleanup in the checkout aisle," he said.

What would you do if you were transported into a fantasy book with someone you were completely different from?
That's the situation that Heather and Veronica, two teenage girls, find themselves in when they both reach for the same copy of the school's assigned reading... The Queen of Twilight.
Suddenly, they're transported into a magical world.
And let's just say their journey doesn't start out so well.

After accidentally killing the heroine of the book, they're left in a pickle. Only one person can get them out of the book, and back home... But he doesn't get his powers back until the end of the (Real) book... And who knows how that's going to work now that the plot has already changed?
The only way to get out?

To play along to the end.
But as they try to battle the evil Queen of Twilight and her sisters, the Duchess of Breakable Objects and the Countess of Uncomfortable Humidity, they might find out that appearences can decieve...

"My, you dwarves have such cultured phrases," Chanttergee told Veronica s he listened to her, wide-eyed. "Would you teach Chattergee some of your foreign tongue?"
At that, Veronica unleashed some of her most creative and colorful expletives, which caused the squirrel to gasp in admiration and burst into applause.

DO read this book if you enjoy silliness.
DON'T read this book if you take your fantasy novels seriously.
DO read this book if you enjoy a quick read.
DON'T read this book if you get offended by people making fun of teenagers.
Because all of these things feature quite strongly in the book.

I, for one, rather enjoyed this book. Sure, sometimes both of the girls got on my nerves. Sure, it sort of annoyed me about the jabs at D&D being a "geek" game (even though it is).
But all in all?
It was really entertaining, and a fast read.
Everything that YA books dream of becoming...

"City of Orphans" by Avi

"The streets of 1893 New York are full of life: crowded, filthy, dangerous. If you are a newsboy like thirteen-year- old Maks Geless, you need to watch out for Bruno, leader of the Plug Ugly Gang whose shadowy, sinister boss is plotting to take control of all the newsies on the lower East Side. With Bruno’s boys in fierce pursuit, Maks discovers Willa, a strange girl who lives alone in an alley. It is she, stick in hand, who fights off the Plug Uglies--but further dangers await. Maks must find a way to free his sister Emma from The Tombs, the city jail where she has been imprisoned for stealing a watch at the glamorous new Waldorf Hotel. Maks, believing her innocent, has only four days to prove it. Fortunately, there is Bartleby Donck, the eccentric lawyer (among other employments) to guide Maks and Willa in the art of detection. Against a backdrop alive with the sights and sounds of tenement New York, Maks, as boy detective, must confront a teeming world of wealth and crime, while struggling against powerful forces threatening new immigrants and the fabric of family love."-goodreads

I haven't read a really good middle-grade in quite a while (aside that I'm currently re-reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" at a snail like pace to go along with Pottermore). I don't read middle-grade very often, but when I do I usually enjoy it (well, actually, specifically, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I enjoy any kind of book, as long is it's good, to me. That's the obvious requirement, and that's all.) "City of Orphans" fulfilled the good book requirement as well as the 'good middle-grade since I haven't read one in a while' requirement.


I really liked Maks, the main character. Throughout the novel, he deals with a whole lot of problems amicably but realistically. He experienced set backs and not everything went as planned, and that seems to happen too much especially in middle-grade. It wasn't a complete fairy tale. Willa was pretty epic too, tough girl who's also sensitive (which has been done a million times, but still). While I thought the characters were likable, I 
didn't necessarily think they had as much depth as I would have liked... 

The overall plot was good, well paced, a mystery that kept you reading to find out who the crook was, and when I did find out I was pretty sad for -insert character here-. I also liked that between the writing and the few illustrations scattered through out I felt the book come to life-- which is really important for the middle grade genre, I think (but any genre for the most part!)! The voice is quite important too and I thought that was also great. The bottom line: A great historical, stand-alone, middle-grade novel!

Thank you Simon&Schuster for the opportunity to review this book, readers, as usual it in no way affected my opinion!

"Five Flavors of Dumb" by Antony John

“The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig. 
The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits. 
The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?  Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb”-goodreads

“Five Flavors of Dumb” was NOT dumb. I didn’t know what to expect when picking up this book at the library, all I knew was that the cover was cool and the concept sounded really interesting-- rather musically themed book in which there’s an upcoming band, named Dumb, managed by a deaf girl.

Well. Let me set expectations for you, reader, then: It was fabulous.

The voice was different, sarcastic at times, emotional at others, real and raw the whole time. I adored main character Piper. Her dry humor, cleverness, and mostly matter-of-fact attitude made her likable, interesting, and unique. She was emotional, she went through a lot, and she was deaf and wishing to hear the music, really hear it, but she never gave up. I loved Piper’s brother, too. The whole premise of the band and the group of mis-matched misfits labeled as Dumb for the purpose of their rockstar dreams was a little bit cliché, as was the ending, but it didn’t hinder the whole book. I liked it because it wasn’t sugar coated; there were struggles, complicated family relationships, problems outside of being deaf, the problem of being deaf and living anyway (living MUSIC for that matter) and none of that was ignored. It all melded together for an epic book.

"Repossessed" by A.M. Jenkins

"Shaun... did something happen today? Anything out of the ordinary?"
Well, Shaun died, but other than that...
"Nope," I told Shaun's mom. "It' s just been a normal, regular day."

Kiriel doesn't like the term "demon". It's far too negative. He prefers "Fallen Angel", which is the proper technical term, anyway.
Though he doesn't really enjoy his job, either.
Kiriel isn't an "important" demon... His job is simply to reflect misery back onto the souls in hell. That's all. Nothing more important.
The big guy hasn't even paid any attention to him. Only important fallen angels get attention from God.
And trouble makers.

When Kiriel discovers that hell doesn't blow up when he doesn't do his job, he decides to take a vacation. It's not like he's ever had one before... Who cares if it's technically against the rules? Maybe it'll get him some notice in the end.

So he steals a body. The boy who it used to belong to was barely using it anyway, so what does it matter that he takes over for a few days?

Through the body of Shaun, a typical slacker highschooler, Kiriel discovers what it's like to be a human. And he likes it.
But how long does he have before the body is "repossessed"?

Whatever the reason, they punish themselves. I merely oversee; I don't actually do anything about anything.
Mine is a useless occupation.

I really liked this book. It was a very interesting point of view, reading from the head of a demon. Surprisingly, although Kiriel decides to see what's so enjoyable about sinning, he seemed to be one of the more innocent characters in the book. He had a very interesting outlook on the life he leads in Shaun's body, and I actually ended up agreeing with his points.
So, I think the author did very well making him a relatable character.

Besides that, it was just a very interesting book. Some of the themes can be carried over and related to our own lives... Especially us teens. You know, the whole, "my place isn't important," "my job isn't important" "no one notices me", and all that crap.

I also liked how it made fun of teenagers, and our lives.

You have to be warned however, that there are quite a few mentions of sex in this book, and some swearing. So if those sorts of things concern you, I wouldn't read this book.

"Supernaturally" (Paranormalcy, #2) by Kiersten White

(The description for this book is spoiler-y for the first book. If you wish to view it anyway and find out more information, check out the goodreads page here. This review might also contain spoilers for the first book, "Paranormalcy". I suggest you read that review (linked) instead if you haven't yet read it. YOU ARE WARNED.)

"Paranormalcy" was SO fun and awesome-mazing (that is not a word, that is my, er... creative license?). Obviously, any book that practically makes fun of the paranormal creatures and their stereotypes that we love (and love to hate) and has a main character that dreams of having a locker rather than paranormal butt-kicking, with a pink taser affectionately named Tasey as a side-kick MUST be awesome, and so Paranormalcy was.

Needless to say (but bam, I just did) I was VERY EXCITED for the sequel, "Supernaturally". It was also awesome. Ohhhh and remember that time I thought there were only going to be two books in this series and then Supernaturally ended and I was like 'WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? THIS IS THE END? NOOOOO.' Fortunately, I looked it up, and I must have been miss-informed. There's another! Endlessly (due out 2012). Anyway, back to the reviewing thing. I was surprised that it didn't start right after Paranormalcy left off but a few months later, however, I didn't mind. It was nice to see how Evie was doing, more acclimated in the 'normal' life that she wanted so badly ('How IS she taking to that?', you ask. Read and find out, why don't you?!?). All of the characters we love are back. Evie and Lend are still all awwwww (with maybe a few bumps in the road...). Emotions ARE running high and there are difficult decisions all over and standing in Evie and other's path. We're also introduced to a hyper-crazy new character, Jack. All I can say is my first impression of him was RIGHT. (Not saying whether that impression was good or bad.) But I was still pretty surprised, well, when I turned out to actually BE right. Very importantly, the sarcasm and sparkles in the epic writing is back-- my favorite part. :)

The bottom line: An epic, shiny, surprising sequel! Readdd ittttt (or Paranormalcy, if you haven't)!!!

"Imaginary Enemy" by Julie Gonzalez

Dear Bubba,
Remember when I asked you to hook me up with some visibility cream? Well, forget that. I don't need it anymore. Send vanishing cream instead. I really need to disappear.
Insincerely,
Harriet Hairdresser
(Alias Gabriel)

Jane has always survived in the same way.
Being a slacker, being sarcastic, mouthing off, not doing her homework, and writing letters to Bubba.
Bubba?
Short for Beelzebub.

Bubba is her imaginary enemy, and Jane blames him for everything in her life that goes wrong. A milk spill? It's Bubba's fault. Something stupid she says? Bubba put the words in her mouth.
Let's face it. It's just easier to blame everything on someone who doesn't exist, than it is to face up to the things that are going wrong.

And when Jane's relationships with her next door neighbors, with herself, and with her life in general start going downhill, that's exactly who she blames.
Bubba.

But what if she gets a letter back?

"You two little spies really need a new hobby,"   I said, reaching for my math book. "Have you considered stamp collecting? Quilting? Drowning each other?"

This is probably one of the more imaginative books I've read this year. (Get it? Imaginative? heh.) I usually think about imaginary friends, and how they are awesome, but I don't usually consider how the opposite would work. But this author did, and it was very interesting.

I really liked the character of Jane, but I think my absolute favorite character would have to be her half brother, Luke. Luke is a pretty cool guy. (But like I said. I like Jane as well.)

The thing I really didn't like was the main character's reaction to homeschoolers. When her next door neighbors and her brother and sister become homeschooled, she's very negative about it. I also think that the author portrayed homeschoolers in a fairly negative light, but that might just be me and my biased position.

I don't really have much else to say on this book, except that it was very well written, and very, very funny. And witty. The main character's jabs and remarks were just so creative it was hard not for my mind to be boggled.

Oh. And it's a short read. ☺

"Shelf Life" by Robert Corbet

"Listen," she said, "to be fired from this job you'd have to run naked through the deli with a string of gourmet sausages round your neck. You'd have to cover yourself in cream cheese and dangle a smoked trout between your legs. Even then, they'd just move you to the dairy section. Nobody gets fired form this place. You leave when you're ready to, or else when you die."

Louisa is holding down two jobs, and works every moment. She also happens to be employee of the month.

Adam is a slacker who likes the idea of anarchy and who wants to get fired the moment he arrives at the supermarket.

Jared and Dylan are sharing a secret with a customer in the candy isle.

Chloe might be pregnant, but doesn't know who the father would be. She also quit what would have been her dream job, except for one detail.

Stephen is gone.

Tessa doesn't fit in with the girls, but can't hang out with the guys.

Abdi is finding out just what it feels like to be respected in America.

Rahel is marrying someone she doesn't even know.

Wyn is a human database, who doesn't tell her secrets.

Life working in the supermarket might not be the perfect job, but these teens know how to survive. Yes, that means surviving customers who can't understand why light bulbs keep breaking, or who don't get why long life milk still goes bad. And, yeah, that includes dealing with how to get a girl flowers.. when she works at the flower check out. And maybe it also includes the teens' crazy home lives, though the reasons for those being in the supermarket vary from teen to teen.
All in all, maybe the supermarket is actually giving the teens the "important life skills" they need.
Maybe.

Another worker stopped to see what was going on.
"Andy, this is Andy," said Jared, introducing them.
"I'm Adam."
"My name is Abdi."
Each glanced at the other's  name tag and nodded. Then, together, they all stood and stared at the old man.

I really liked this book. It was funny, witty, and just all around entertaining. After I finished the book, I still wanted to keep reading. Some of the situations in the book that the workers run into were just so completely outrageous, and yet, at the same time, completely plausible.

The only part of this book that I didn't especially like were some of the weird endings for people. Like the fact that you don't ever find out if Chloe is pregnant or not. It's just... kind of weird.

But besides that, I think this book is one of my favorites, and I'd definitely recommend it to most teens.

"City of Bones" (The Mortal Instruments, #1) by Cassandra Clare

“When Clary Fray witnesses three tattoo-covered teenagers murder another teen, she is unable to prove the crime because the victim disappears right in front of her eyes, and no one else can see the killers. She learns that the teens are Shadowhunters (humans who hunt and kill demons), and Clary, a mundie (i.e., mundane human), should not be able to see them either. Shortly after this discovery, her mother, Jocelyn, an erstwhile Shadowhunter, is kidnapped. Jocelyn is the only person who knows the whereabouts of The Mortal Cup, a dangerous magical item that turns humans into Shadowhunters. Clary must find the cup and keep it from a renegade sector of Shadowhunters bent on eliminating all nonhumans, including benevolent werewolves and friendly vampires.”-goodreads

Everyone seems to love The Mortal Instruments series; and everyone and their mother seems to have recommended them to me. (That might be a slight exaggeration. Might.) It’s a very popular series, and I think that’s partly the reason I waited so long to read it-- unfortunately, books don’t always live up to their hype. But, I read Clockwork Angel, the first book in the Infernal Devices; a prelude to TMI. That book was impressive! So eventually, I picked up City of Bones.

City of Bones is indeed a captivating story.  There are kick-butt characters with rather different personalities, and I enjoyed how there were many characters with good development, not just the main character or a few others. I really liked Simon and Clary (not as in a couple, as in, they’re my favorite characters.) It’s definitely a page-turner, I could hardly put it down and finished it in 2 days even though it’s almost 500 pages.

This is that part where I randomly interrupt my own thoughts and go, AWW Jace&Clary. They sounded like great characters/a great couple (are they? Aren’t they? Read the book.) Unfortunately, probably also due to the popularity of the series, I’ve been spoiled everything to do with them, as well as other elements of the series. But I still enjoyed it, although I would’ve liked to be more surprised. (SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE. Spoilers suck. Mark your flipping spoilers. Everyone slips up once in a while, but like, ALL the spoilers with no mark? No. ESPECIALLY FOR SEQUELS.)

"Pay the Piper" by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

Not watching some dumb TV show while Mars made spooky commentaries. 
Yet somehow Callie believed Alabas. Believed what he was saying. Believed him down in the urpy part of her stomach. And afraid she was going to be sick, she slipped away and ran out the nearest door marked EXIT.

Callie, a fourteen year old girl from Massachusetts, doesn't expect anything exciting to happen in her town. She lives in the sort of area where the biggest crime is a boy running away from home and hiding in the neighbor's tree for a night.
In fact, even the bands that play in her town are.. well... fairly unknown. None from her top 5 ever get there... Heck, none of her top 20 have ever played in her town.

When the announcement comes that Brass Rat- a band who plays somewhere between folk and rock- is having a show in her town... Callie is shocked. Sure, Brass Rat might not be on even her top 20 (maybe her top 25, though), and she might prefer either straight rock, or straight folk... But it's definitely more than she expects to happen.


But sometimes, things aren't always what they seem... And you should be careful what you wish for. Strange as it might sound... it just might be time to pay the piper.
But what if they can't?


"And one thing I am certain I did not mention..." Gringas spoke calmly as the creature popped the screaming horse into its mouth whole, "is that the guardian is immune to magic."
Sighing, Alabas pulled two long knives from twin sheaths at the small of his back. "You did indeed leave out a few details, my lord."

As most of my friends know, I love retellings of fairy tales. I eat them up. Not quite literally.
So, when my mom gave me a stack of books, and I found out that one has to do with the Pied Piper, I knew I  had to read it. Even if it wasn't quite a retelling. (Not quite.)

So, I read it... And I really liked it!
The characters (particularly Gringas) were very interesting. I found Callie a bit flat, but she was still fairly fun to read about, anyway. Nicky was... Amazing. He acted just like a little brother, and Callie's annoyance at him was spot on.
I also thought the conflict about being the middle child was interesting, as well, if a little bit dramatized. (I know quite a few middle children... They do not seem scarred from life from their birth order.)

I have to say, also, the ending was amazing. At least the one about Gringas. The one with Callie was... a little forced, as was the bit before the ending, but the last few pages? Genius. I loved them. Well. I loved Gringas in general, which might not be good. Oh well.

Either way, I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone else who likes a good retelling of a fairy tale. I have another one of the "Rock 'N' Roll Fairy Tale" books on my book shelf, and thanks to this one, I'm definitely planning to read it.

"Uncommon Criminals" by Ally Carter

"Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life: Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.
There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long — and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous, and that is . . . the emerald is cursed.
Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all, she has her best friend — the gorgeous Hale — and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses and realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.
Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules."-goodreads
Uncommon Criminals is my favorite book that I’ve read by Ally Carter so far! It was thrilling, captivating, witty, and interesting sequel to Heist Society! While you could probably read Uncommon Criminals without having read Heist Society-- I definitely recommend that you do though, it was amazing as well!

One of my favorite things about both Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals is that they’re very intelligent books. All of the characters are rather witty, especially Kat. There’s random facts and bits of trivial information scattered over each page, which helps to make everything so interesting.  The settings of Uncommon Criminals (as well as its predecessor) are impeccable. The book takes place all over the world, and it’s written so that you can see all in brilliant depth in your mind.

The voice is amazing. The writing flows at a perfect pace, never a dull moment or a slow spot-- but never so fast that you miss anything major. The characters are great (again)! Kat is very relatable and a grand heroine for the books. Hale is still… HALE. J Very likeable and loyal to Kat and the gang. There are so many surprising elements to the story, and there are even bits toward the end where you, the reader, feels as though they’re being conned-- but not in a bad way-- because everything is not what it seems.

Overall, if you liked Heist Society you absolutely must read Uncommon Criminals. If you haven’t read Heist yet, you have to do that. Now. These books are awesome! I really, REALLY hope that there is a third (or 10. Never enough heists, you know.)  book.

"Side Effects" by Amy Goldman Koss

I'd left my notebook and everything in the car, or I might have done a drawing of that weird wire thing with the colored beads, which exists only in doctor's waiting rooms. I wondered what was supposed to be fun about it. All I'd ever want4ed to do was get the beads off the damn thing so I could play with them.
Izzy can't find a single book where the person lives. The person with cancer. The patient. In every single one she finds, they all die at the end. The best she's found is one where the kid gets super powers from the cure.
This is a problem.
Because Izzy has cancer.
After waking up one morning to find that she still has swollen glands from her flu, her world turns upside down. She's rushed to the hospital, and stabbed with a bunch of needles. She's soon part of another world, with it's own slang, with it's own people.
This is her book. Her book about traveling down that path to hell, and then traveling back.

Ah! I thought, This must be the mental illness bonus for kids with chemo cards! Feeling the pain before the stab!

I really liked this book. It was funny, well written, and Izzy had her own voice. She seemed very human, and I could find myself believing that this could actually happen.

I don't have a lot to say on this book (don't hate! It's only 143 pages long!), but I'd definitely recommend it.

"The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" by E. Lockhart

"Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:Debate Club.
Her father's "bunny rabbit."
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Landau-Banks. No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer.
Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew's lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way."-goodreads

I mean, READ THE DESCRIPTION. Read it. Doesn't that sound witty/epic/amazing? This book is just plain LEGIT. I couldn’t think of a better word for it. I loved pretty much everything about it, and wish I had read it before-- if only because by now I would’ve been on my billionth or so re-read. The characters, the story, and the voice… Just amazing!

The voice. This has to be my favorite thing about the book. It was different than anything else I’ve ever read, so extremely unique. Words! There were word-plays, grammar geeking out, a copy-editor boyfriend, and even out of the story, just the narration, WORDS were used. When I say words I mean peculiar words that you don’t use often, advanced words, whatever you like but the way they were used was awesome. The book was just plain intelligent, without being overly so like it was unrealistic or you have to look up words or something.

The characters. Frankie is awesome. She’s probably my new favorite female protagonist in YA, as well as one I could really identify it. She was sarcastic, intelligent, and ambitious. There are lots of sarcastic/smart/whatever characters in the world but Frankie’s character development was pretty much flawless and I think it was also very realistic. She was very smart but she also seemed like a normal teenager. The other characters were fabulous too, Trisha, Frankie’s roommate was likeable and had a personality although we didn’t see that much of her. When she was around in the story she was really epic because her mom was a psychologist, so whenever she was giving Frankie advice and such she always did everything with psychological stuff and it was fascinating. The boys, the bassets, the dogs, whatever you’d like to call them were great too, all in their own ways.

The story of the bassets and the secret societies and the story of the school was great as well. The school being designed the way it was with its traditions and suitably its secrets or ‘secret organizations’ were good too. All very interesting.

Anyway. Sorry for the huge review but I just didn’t know how else to do this book justice. It was so legitimate. Intelligent, humorous, fascinating, very quirky, just all around a great book!

"Never Slow Dance with a Zombie" by E. Van Lowe

"Principal Taft's 3 Simple Rules for Surviving a Zombie Uprising:
Rule #1: While in the halls, walk slowly and wear a vacant expression on your face. Zombies won't attack other zombies.
Rule #2: Never travel alone. Move in packs. Follow the crowd. Zombies detest blatant displays of individuality.
Rule #3: If a zombie should attack, do not run. Instead, throw raw steak at to him. Zombies love raw meat. This display of kindness will go a long way.
On the night of her middle school graduation, Margot Jean Johnson wrote a high school manifesto detailing her goals for what she was sure would be a most excellent high school career. She and her best friend, Sybil, would be popular and, most important, have boyfriends. Three years later, they haven't accomplished a thing!
Then Margot and Sybil arrive at school one day to find that most of the student body has been turned into flesh-eating zombies. When kooky Principal Taft asks the girls to coexist with the zombies until the end of the semester, they realize that this is the perfect opportunity to live out their high school dreams. All they have to do is stay alive...."-goodreads

This book was very peculiar. If I was required to give my opinion of it in three words I would say "Surprisingly, bizarrely epic!". I had no expectations whatsoever of this book (nothing against the author or anything, I don't mean it like that); I'd never seen or heard of it before the book fair where I picked it up at and the description reads like a middle-grade geek to popular and all of a sudden it's perfect world type of book. So often when I have pre-conceived ideas about books (or anything, really, I suppose) I am wrong. This one, I was wrong simply because I underestimated it.

Never Slow Dance with a zombie starts out and basically the main character just wants to be popular and she has one of those super nice, very sensible, best friends. I kind of went... oh... no.... but then, on top of the lessons you would think would come along with a book like this, it was sooo funny. At the beginning I was just like... how could that happen? With the zombies taking over the school and everything and no one even knows why/how/etc...? But then I went... duh. I'm over thinking this. Of course I'm not supposed to believe it, this book is supposed to be fun and funny, regardless of its plausibility!

That being said, Never Slow Dance with A Zombie was hilarious! It was very peculiar (I don't want to call it weird. I've been calling a lot of really dark books weird and this one is anything but). I thought it would be very gory because it's about zombies and it wasn't (not that I would have minded, heh heh). The whole situation the school was in was really amusing. The characters were good, as I said, I really liked Sybil. The geeks were funny. Also, that ONE girl that wasn't really a zombie... I saw that coming. In a good way.

"Aphrodite's Blessings; Love Stories From the Greek Myths" by Clemence McLaren

"If I were racing against someone as handsome as Milanion," Filomena said, "I'd let him win... by just a little." She gestured with thumb and index finger.

Atalanta, princess, has been brought up to be an athlete. When her father and his advisers decide, however, that she must get married, she is terrified. The fate of married women is clear- to be kept inside all the time, except with their husband.
But it gets worse.
Her father decrees that if any man can win a race against Atalanta, they will be her husband, and rule over Arcadia. But if they lose? Death.
Atalanta doesn't want the men to die... But which is worse? To marry away your life... Or to destroy someone else's?
...
Everyone knows not to boast too much. Say the wrong thing, and the gods will punish you thoroughly.
Well.
Maybe not everyone.
Andromeda's mother is beautiful... And boastful. When she says that she and her daughter are more beautiful than all the daughters of Poseidon, everyone is worried, except for her. Andromeda is engaged to a wealthy (if short and old) man, she's still beautiful, and the gods never really pay attention to mortals... do they?
But, if the myths are true, and the queen is wrong... How are they to be punished?
...
Psyche has been gifted with amazing beauty, but it seems like it won't do her any good. When a message from a god comes, however, telling Psyche's family to wed her to a mysterious "Lord of the Hidden Valley", Psyche is hopeful.
But even when all seems well, trouble comes in the form of a jealous sister. When Psyche unknowingly ruins her happiness, how far is she willing to go to get it, and the man she loves, back?

Everyone admired my courage, yet it wasn't really courage. I simply wasn't as frightened as they expected me to be. I was actually relieved that I would not have to look at my father's solemn face, or listen to my sisters whispering about me any longer. Even in a wealthy family, an unmarried girl is a burden, because of the shame she brings. I was ready to remove that burden.

I quite liked this book. Greek myths fascinate me (heck, all myths fascinate me), and it was interesting seeing them written out in this way, from the girl's point of view. I found a lot of them to be much more emotional this way, and the characters were interesting.

However. The problem I had with this book was mostly about the last story, of Psyche. I like the story, but I did not like how things just seemed to happen in her favor, with no explanation. I know this isn't the author's fault, but what I do credit the author with is saying something along the lines of "I wouldn't know why until later", and then just not explaining it after all.

Besides that, though, I did like this book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the stories anyway.

"Peak" by Roland Smith

"You messed up, Pete."
"Peak," I said.
"Like in 'mountain peak'?"
"Right."
"Weird name."
"Weird parents."

Peak Marcello, as his name suggests, is a climber. His mom and dad, both mountain climbers, started him climbing at an early age, and his mom has encouraged him his whole life.
Climbing is about to get him in trouble though.
Peak has climbers itch- the climbing wall at the gym isn't big enough anymore- so he finds bigger things.
Like skyscrapers.
When Peak is busted climbing the Woolworth Building, he knows he's in trouble. But how much? The court wants to sentence him to three years in jail, but his mom and stepfather, Rolf, aren't about to let that happen.
When Peak's long lost father, Joshua, shows up unexpectedly, Peak is offered a deal by the court. He can disappear off radar for several years, or he could go to jail.
Peak chooses to disappear.
His father takes him to Tibet, where he springs a surprise on fourteen-year-old Peak: Peak is going to try to be the youngest person to ever climb Everest.
With the help of Sun-jo, Peak's new friend; Zopa, a mysterious monk from Joshua's past; Joshua himself; and a whole bunch of other characters, Peak attempts the climb.
But is he willing to put everyone's safety at risk to reach the top?

Yash helped Sun-jo set his rig, and when he got it on we looked at each other and started laughing.
We were going to live.

I liked this book. No. I really really liked this book. I found myself wanting to just read the book, no matter what. My copy got returned to the library in much worse condition than when I checked it out, and I can confidentially say that this is one of the best books I've read in the past two or three months.

The thing that I really liked about this book were the characters. They were well developed, and interesting. I found myself sympathizing with Peak during his experiences... I think the author did a very good job of making Peak human, so you could really get inside his head. On the other hand, he also definitely had his very own voice and personality. I can't think of too many fourteen-year-olds who would be happy to share their birthday with their twin half-sisters.
Besides Peak, the characters I liked the most were Rolf, Peak's stepfather, and the characters who make up the film crew.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books with tough moral decisions, but who don't mind having adventure in there as well.

"The Rules of Survival" by Nancy Werlin

But how come there don't seem to be any rules about when you ought to help others survive? Rules telling you when that's worth some risk to yourself? Callie and I were working so hard for you, Emmy, but as far as I could see, nobody else cared at all. For any of us.

Matthew, Callie, and their half sister Emmy, live in a world of fear. They are ruled by it, controlled by it, they live their life by it. It's what keeps them safe, most of the time.
Safe from their mother.
Safe from Nikki.
Nikki, their mother, has issues. She only comes home at two or three in the morning, often drunk. She brings home men, she swears. She's obsessive about her children's love- they must love her, and only her, or they will pay. They will be sorry. She will take her revenge.
It's not the only think that Nikki can be obsessive about, Matthew and his siblings learn.
When Matthew and Callie track down a mysterious Murdoch, that Matthew saw in a store, their mother takes control. Within weeks, Murdoch and Nikki are dating, and life seems amazing for the three children.
Until it happens.
When Nikki goes psycho in front of Murdoch, he dumps her, and the children's lives are thrown in to chaos. It's back to the old mother, but worse.
And when Nikki starts obsessing over Murdoch, Matthew knows they have to get away.
Fast.

What we knew was that her homecoming was always the cue for a play- an elaborate production of live theater.
I was the director of our theater, arranging the stage set, telling you and Callie to take your places, prompting you to do or say this or that, whisper-feeding you lines of dialogue and bits of business. "Don't forget to hug her!" "Go get her some Advil and a glass of water, fast." "Ask her if she'll help you with your homework later, she likes that." "Stop stomping around, she'll go ballistic."

I really liked this book, for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I really liked the characters. Matthew, the narrator, was interesting. He had his own realistic, normal, yet very heroic, mind set. I could identify with him, yet at the same time I sort of looked up to him as a role model. I like main characters like that.

The book was written in the form of a very, very long letter from Matthew to his half sister, Emmy. As such, it has some detours, footnotes from Matthew, and it's written in the sort of way that you would expect a letter to be written. He's talking to Emmy, and it shows. I like that. It doesn't feel unrealistic, like "let's write a letter... now it's going to be told from third person POV and I'm only going to say it's a letter at the beginning and end."

Third of all... Nikki was evil. I found myself completely living in fear of her myself, at least while I was reading the book. She was... unpredictable, and I think the author did a very good job of making her act in the way you expected her to, as Nikki.

All in all, a very excellent book.

"Boy Meets Boy" by David Levithan

"GUESS WHAT!" I said. She jumped, then tried to pretend she hadn't been surprised. Since she didn't closer her book-she only marked the page with her finger-I knew I didn't have mch time.
"What?" she asked.
"I'm gay!"

Paul, a sophmore at a school where the cheerleaders ride motorcycles and the homecoming queen is also the football star, has it easy. He knows who he is. He knows how to deal with it. His family is accepting, he has good friends, and his life is generally pretty good.
It gets better.
When Paul meets Noah, they know they're meant to be. Immediately they get together, and they think they're destined for each other. Sure, Paul is going through a tough time...
But even with an ex boyfriend of Paul's, who won't seem to go away; Paul's best friend, Joni, who's dating a jerk and who might not be Paul's best friend anymore; His other best friend, Tony, who's having trouble at home; and all the rest of his friends' problems, they think they can muddle through.
Until Paul blows it, big time.
But maybe, just maybe, everything has to fall apart, before it can get back together.
Paul can hope, anyway.

"Oh, honey," she says when I'm done with my wallowing. "It's like my grandma used to say: Just when you think life's got you in a gutter, a tornado will come along and destroy your house."
"And then you rebuild?" I ask.
"Well, she never mentioned that part, but I suppose it could happen."
I am not cheered up.

This is definitely not the type of book I regularly read. First of all, it's a romance. Second of all, it's a YA romance. Thirdly, it's a YA gay romance.
But hey.
You gotta try new things, right?
Keeping that in mind...

I really liked this book. A lot. It was very funny, and very well written. I was having "cute spasms" (basically where I get so overwhelmed with the cute content that I freak out and can't do anything) the entire length of this book. The characters were well developed, interesting, original, and fascinating. Even though a lot of the conflict didn't happen until about half way through the book, I still found myself wanting to read on, just because I cared about what happened to them.

The plot was interesting... Though you could definitely tell it was a YA book... In hindsight, a lot of the things that happened seem very formulated, but reading it, it was intriguing.

I really liked this book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who just wants something slightly different to read. :)

"So what's up with you?" I ask.
"Not much."
"And how are things?"
"Fine."
RRRRRRRRR. I make a loud game-show-buzzer noise. "I'm sorry," I say, "we don't recognize 'fine' as an acceptable answer. We see it as a conversational cop-out. So please, try again."

Chicks with Sticks (It's a Purl Thing) by Elizabeth Lenhard

"Oooh, check out the badass knitter." Tay laughed. "Keep her away from any spray-pant cans, you guys. She's gonna start leaving tags in alleys."
Scottie straightened up suddenly.
"You just gave me another idea," she said.
"Oh no," Tay said, flinging her stripy scarf around her neck. "No more! I've had all the bonding I can handle for one night."
What do you do when your best friend seems to have totally turned on you?
What do you do when your favorite aunt has just died?
What do you do when your mom and dad are distant, and look through you not at you?
What do you do when your life is falling apart?

These are the questions Scottie has to ask herself. She doesn't really have any answers, until her great aunt teaches her to knit. Suddenly, even though she's labeled as a geek, a nerd, and undesirable, everything seems to be okay. It's like the yarn and the needles are magic. Or maybe it's just KnitWit, the knitting shop she starts taking lessons at.
But whatever is magic, there certainly seems to be some.
When Amanda starts knitting with Scottie too, and they are joined by two new friends, Tay and Bella, everything seems to be going right for Scottie.
But how long can the knitting keep it's magic?
Bella lowered her hand and allowed herself a little smile.
"Thanks, you guys," she squeaked. "This stuff would be twice as scary without you. I mean, I feel like I don't even know who I am all of a sudden. But I also have this incredible urge to figure it out, like, immediately."
I, personally, found this book incredibly entertaining.
It was witty, funny, interesting... The knitting terms were completely correct, and I loved the way that the author made everything seem so serious, at the same time that the book itself didn't exactly seem to take itself seriously.

The only few problems I had with this book were that (a) I'm not exactly sure I liked how the author portrayed homeschoolers (Bella is a homeschooler. Bella is also a nutjob.), and (b) I found a lot of the "no one is seeing me as myself!" things annoying, when none of the characters were actually acting like themselves.

But besides that, I liked this book. I'd give it 3 stars, and recommend it in particular to female teen knitters. ;)

"Heist Society" by Ally Carter

"When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.
Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way." -Ally Carter's website

I loved Heist Society. I thought the Gallagher Girls books (I've admittedly only read the first two) were really cute (fluffy cute, but cute), and when I found out Ally Carter had written another book, about a family of thieves rather then a school for spies I had to read it. I'm so glad I did, it was awesome! I liked it better then the GG books, and I finished it and practically wanted to re-read it again. I liked the whole idea of the thieves and 'the family business' and everything. I liked the characters a lot, I thought Kat was a great heroine to lead the story and well, Hale was pretty awesome. Also; are we going to find out Hale's first name in "Uncommon Criminals"?? Anyway, it was a pretty adventurous and cool story. There were unexpected twists and turns and everything, and I just liked the way the whole thing unfolded. For me, there really were no slumps in the story (times where it seemed slower then others, etc..), and it was a pretty quick read. I liked how a lot of it revolved around the different paintings and everything, and that there was travel so the setting changed. It reminded me a lot of an Alex Rider book, except with a heroine and they're thieves, not spies.

Anyway. If a relatively quick read with adventure, awesomeness, good characters, by the author Gallagher Girls with an Alex Rider feel- you should really look into "Heist Society".