"Story Time" by Edward Bloor

"All I know is this," Kate told her brusquely. "I'm not going to Lincoln with you on Monday morning, I'm going to Whittaker. And I'm not going home with my mother and fatehr tonight, I'm going home with just my mother. So I guess I don't believe in wishes coming true, either. If I really want good things to happen, and bad things to stop happening, it'll take more than wishing. I have to act. And I have to act now."

Kate and her uncle, George, are regular kids. Kate is in eighth grade, Uncle George is in sixth. Kate is ready to go to Lincoln middle school and play Peter Pan in the play, and George is ready to learn things and invent things as well.
And then Uncle George passes the entrance exam to the Whittaker Magnet School.

Before they know it, both Kate and George are absorbed into the Whittaker Magnet School district 'octopus' and are attending the school with the highest scores on standardized tests. Although George is excited to be in a place where his genius is appreciated, Kate is not too happy to be in with the 'mushroom children' and personal assistant to Heidi Whittaker, the girl who dresses like a 'Swiss Milkmaid'.
But when eerie things begin in the school, neither of them know what to expect. With the help of a woman who only speaks in nursery rhymes, Kate's mother June, the staff of the White House, and a whole cast of other characters (Whether willingly or not), the two children will uncover a mystery that stretches back to the founding of the school, and nothing will be the same again.

Kate stared at the supine figure of Walter Barnes. She felt a pang of sympathy for the old librarian. but that pang was quickly replaed by another feeling, a feeling that something big had just happened. She didn't know what it was, exactly, but she did know this: It was something that the Whittaker-Austins, with all their money and all their power, could not control. It was a first chink in their armor. Perhaps it was a door to a door to a door that would lead her out of there.

I rather enjoyed this book.
As a homeschooler, it fills me with a sort of righteousness when I read about the failings of the public school system, and this book is a criticism of said system of schools. With a school that only focuses on standardized tests (much like many schools nowadays actually do), it emphasizes the positive aspects of imagination, art, fantasy, and whimsy.
This book is also written somewhat like A Series of Unfortunate Events or Pepperment in the Parlor, so if you liked any of those books, I believe you'd like this one. Sort of in that J fiction and yet... aimed for older people type of writing. It's interesting.

I have to say, however, that I did not particularly like Kate until near the end of the book where she goes through a character change. Uncle George was cool, however, and I liked some of the other characters as well.
Also, although I think the ending was okay, it wasn't spectacular or anything to be overly impressed with. I'd recommend this book, but I'd also say not to expect anything mind blowing from it.

"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 Falcon" by Jackie French Koller

"Sure." I heard Jim's pen scribbling again. "Our time's about up anyway. Just one more question, though. Do you have any idea why so many unusual things happen to you?"
"Yeah," I snarled. "God hates me."

Luke Carver is a 17 year old who can't seem to help getting in trouble. Every time he goes anywhere, he seems to get in trouble. He messes up so many times that it sure seems like God hates him. After all, how else would he get into such wacky, horrible situations?

Luke has secrets, though. There are things he hasn't told anyone. He hasn't even told his journal the full truth. After all, if it isn't his fault, why does he have to tell anyone?

"Yes," I said quietly. "I'm fine." Then I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat. I was tired, too. So, so tired...
Just like I am now.

This was one of the shortest books I think I've read. It was, strangely, also one of the most interesting. It was one of those books where you think that it's not going to be that gripping, but then you find yourself wondering, throughout the day, what's going to happen next.

I really liked the way that the author pulled out the mystery of what happened to Luke before the book started. It was really interesting, even though it wasn't as "dark" as they made it out to seem. It was interesting, though.

I would actually recommend this book to anyone who really liked The Catcher in the Rye, mostly because the writing style seemed quite similar to me, and it's about the same sort of aged guy.

All in all- pretty good of a book.

"Jane Jones: Worst. Vampire. Ever." by Caissie St. Onge

For someone who had, prior to that week, never broken a school rule, I'd sure made up for it in two days. I'd become a one-woman crime wave! Okay, maybe just a one-girl minor-infraction machine. Still, I'd gotten pretty bold.

What do you think of when you hear "vampire"? Do you think, fabulous life style? Do you think, sexy undead creature who will never die? Do you think, Dracula?
You probably don't think, "Blood intolerant, flat chested, teenage girl from the Dust Bowl who is forced to live to eternity".
So, basically, you don't think of Jane Jones.

Jane's life is pretty wacked up. She's lived for years, moving around with her family, who just happen to also be vampires. Her brother is a genius, but forced to be a preteen forever. Her dad works long hours during the day (eesch), for minimal pay. Her mom wants to do her best for her daughter, but doesn't really know how, and Jane?
Esh.
If Jane's life sounds weird as it is, what's the adjective when
1. Her favorite teacher starts acting strangely
2. She's accused of being bullimic
3. Two boys, one alive one vampire, fall for her simultaneously
4. She finds a "cure for vampirism"?

Something sharp hit me right between the eyes and before I knew what was happening, I was on the floor defending my life. When I finally got the better of my attacker, I stood up and discovered, to my horror, I 'd been fighting with a pair of antique skis and a long moth-eaten wool robe that had fallen on me from what I now saw was an overstuffed closet.

This was a pretty... interesting book. Unusually, I actually found it humorous, and I enjoyed it. I liked the fact that Jane wasn't fabulously beautiful or rich, but on the other hand, I also think that that card has been played a little two often in the past few years. This is definitely not "good literature" but I don't think I lost any brain cells from reading it. I'd recommend it only as a "I'm bored what can I read" sort of book, or when you've read a big heavy book and need some fluff to recover from it. Or, you know, if you love vampires of all forms and are just looking for another book to read.

Also, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who can't take any jabs at the myths of vampires, vampire slayers, or teenagers.

"Anna and the French Kiss" by Stephanie Perkins

“Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.  As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?”-goodreads

Wow. This book surprised me. You’ve probably noticed by reading my reviews, I don’t read contemporary that often. I mean, sure, I like a good Sarah Dessen novel, I really liked The Summer I Turned Pretty books, and Five Flavors of Dumb is one of my new favorite books, BUT I read a lot more science-fiction/paranormal/dystopia/mystery/horror stuff as compared to anything supposedly based in reality. I’m not sure if that’s because I like to read about things other than reality or because I think most so-called ‘realistic’ fiction seems so very unrealistic to me, or something else, but regardless, picking this up was REALLY out of the norm. I mean, read the title and description, look at the cover. Geez. Chick-lit-y central, yes? In fact, I really wouldn’t have picked up this book, but I’ve read so many good reviews about it and I kept seeing it at libraries and bookstores and such and thought, hey, I’ll give it a try. It’s just a book. Maybe I’ll dislike it… but so what, you can’t like everything!

While out of my regular-reading-zone, this book amazed me. I pretty much loved it. Of course, I adored European-American love interest St. Clair, and I really liked Anna’s spunky sarcasm and intelligence, but that’s not all (I’m going to try to never say ‘that’s not all’ again because reading that in my head, it sounds like an infomercial). The flaws. If this book was anywhere near perfect, though nothing is, it was because of the character’s flaws. I realize that makes no sense. But it’s because everything wasn’t perfect. Anna and St. Clair didn’t immediately fall for each other. This book was not just completely about their puppy-love. This was not a simple scenario of, ‘girl goes to study abroad, finds perfect boyfriend, lives happily ever after, lalalalalala’. They had their problems and obstacles. There were other characters with the same. Their families were completely dysfunctional at best. I liked that a lot. Most importantly about Anna&St. Clair, first and even in the end I think, they weren’t just boyfriend/girlfriend. They were best friends. Also, the setting: amazing. Paris. So descriptive in a way that didn’t bore me at all, but I really got the feel of it. Additionally, I’m on my second year of French so when a character said something in French, rather than waiting for them to explain it or figuring out what they were saying in the context, I understood it.That has nothing to do with the book itself but I thought it was cool!

So I guess the moral of this story review, is that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover/description/concept (even if they're a total cheese-fest) or assume you won’t like it, heck, you shouldn’t judge that way in most areas of life-- gosh knows, you’ll probably be wrong, like me. :P

"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...

"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.

"Becoming Chloe" by Catherine Ryan Hyde

"How do you spell 'beautiful', Jordy?"
"B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay. If you're sure. I know how to spell 'ugly.'"
Too bad. I would've liked it better the other way around. But I guess she hasn't had much practice on "beautiful." I guess it's one of those things that just never came up.

Jordy is by himself.
He's okay with this.
He's living in New York City without a job or a family.
It's just a bad week in his life.

And maybe it'd actually work out for him.
But then comes Chloe.

Chloe- or Wanda Johnston- looks like she should have the perfect world.
But if she had a perfect life, why would she be living in a cellar?
Why would she be okay with all the bad things that happen to her?

As Jordy takes Chloe into his care, he starts to realize that everything isn't right with her.
She needs help.
But if she won't talk to her therapist....
And she won't take the antidepressents...
What is he going to do?
And if he himself doesn't quite believe that the world is a beautiful place...
How can he convince Chloe that it is?

She jumps up and grabs me. The way I'd expect her to grab on if she was about to fall off a twenty-story building. Then again, maybe she is, and I'm just too blind to know it.
"I'm scared, Jordy."

I absolutely adored this book. I ended up rewriting my synopsis of the book multiple times because I couldn't do it justice.
This book is amazing.

First of all, the writing is pretty epic. It definitely sounds like young adult is saying it, but at the same time it's so poetic that it's beautiful just to read it. The author deals with some themes that I sort of find myself dealing with sometimes in my life, so that was very, very nice.

Secondly, I really like Jordy. I mean, Chloe was alright, but I really liked Jordy.
First of all, he's gay. This is very helpful for this book specifically, because it means it doesn't fall into the "girl and boy take roadtrip, they fall in love" sort of book. (Which, I admit, I thought it was going to be.)
Secondly... He's very realistic. I like that, too.
And lastly... He gives up so much to help Chloe, and he doesn't complain. But even though he doesn't mind that he's helping her (because she ends up being his best friend), he doesn't not appreciate the good things that come to him. I liked that.

Also, this book is so emotional. Especially at the end, I found my self crying, because it was just so perfect. It ended perfectly, but right before the end I felt like... "It's over. It's over. Their trip. They've come to their end of the road. And that's sad. But it's okay."
(I was going to say something here, but I realized that it would be a spoiler. So you're just going to have to read the book to find out sort of what I was going to say. ;) )

"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.

"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.

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

George and Lenny are not much alike. While George is quick and intelligent, Lenny is large, with the mind of a small child. Yet they travel together, working as laborers in California vegetable fields, George protecting Lenny, and Lenny following George like a faithful pet.

When they find themselves working for a cruel rancher named Curley, all they hope and dream for seems closer than ever. Within a year, it seems that they'll have their own cabin, and will be living off the fat of the land, as George puts it. But catastrophe strikes in the form of a flirtatious woman, and this time even George cannot save Lenny from himself.


One of the things I really liked about this book is all the detail paid to the characters' manners of speech. When you read the book, you can almost hear the characters speaking, the dialogue is so clearly portrayed.

In this book, I think the author, John Steibeck, is not only trying to demonstrate the hard lives that the laborers had. I think he is also trying to teach several lessons, or at least put his opinions out about a couple of subjects.
One of the things I think he is trying to point to is that, in his opinion, females are the root of most evil. My reason for thinking that is because, in this book, the only women who are mentioned are either whores, or are trouble-makers who bring disaster upon the heads of George and Lenny.
Despite this outlook, I believe that this is an important book to read, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

"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."

"Cloaked in Red" by Vivian Vande Velde

"Cloaked in Red" is a collection of small stories, re-telling -with different elements, characters, and details- the story of "Little Red Riding Hood". The book opens with the author jestingly pointing out all of the problems with the original "Little Red Riding Hood" stories; vague characters and story, a mother that clearly should pay better attention to her daughter who is either to young or to stupid to venture out in the woods on her own, a clearly unobservant girl in a red hood, and more... There are eight different stories in the book and the author's introduction.

I liked this book! It was cool, different characters and elements emphasized humorously, including "Little Red Riding Hood" not always being the main character in the story. I also think that if you got this book, and wanted to just read a story or two at a time in-between books to get a good laugh it's great for that too. It was really funny. My favorites of the stories were probably: "Granny and the Wolf" and "Deems the Wood Gatherer". The author's opening at the beginning was one of my favorite parts as well. I thought the "Red Riding Hood Doll" was rather creepy (but in a good way, isn't creepy good once in a while?). I'm thinking four stars for this collection of humorous versions of the classic fairy-tale!

If you'd like to find out more about "Cloaked in Red" go to Vivian Vande Velde's website here, and the bit on it on the Marshall Cavendish website here.
  
Thank you very much Marshall Cavendish for the review copy! 
Note to readers receiving a review copy  in no way influences my reviews, these are my honest opinions people!!!!

Gentlemen by Michael Northrop

It was the way it moved under the blankets, the way it shifted around. It seemed to have, I don't know, joints or something. I mean, furniture can have joints, like a lawn chair or whatever, but that was no frickin' lawn chair."
Mixer, Tommy, Bones, and Micheal (yes, it's spelled incorrectly. Blame his parents) are close friends. They're also not the type of people you mess with. Bones has been held back a year, and routinely beats up people for no apparent reason. Micheal's dad permanently damaged his, Micheal,'s face. Mixer gets in trouble for talking back to teachers. Tommy is... well, Tommy's nicer than the others, but still tough. Tommy, Mixer, and Micheal all have to go to another year of school. That's how they know Bones.
Everyone's scared of them.
Except for their English teacher. Their very weird English teacher. Who calls people like them "gentlemen" or the girls "ladies"?
And when Tommy mysteriously disappears one day after making trouble in math class (Darn that lisp of his), it looks suspiciously to Micheal, Bones, and Mixer, that their teacher knocked him off.
After all, what else could be in the bag?
As he goes along, Micheal learns what makes a friend, and what tears friends apart. He learns secrets about things he used to take for granted. He learns things aren't always as they seem.
First of all, was there a sale on commas? Second, that's a long way to go to say that the dude was broke and decided to duck his landlady. After an hour of that I needed a break and maybe an aspirin.
I got this book because, well, it has an interesting premise. An English teacher knocking off a student? A thing about friends? Mysterious circumstances? AWESOME! So I read it. And it was pretty good. Um... the ending is bizarre though. Just warning you. And there's swearing, violence, drinking, and smoking. So it's not the best role model book, either. But besides that, I really liked it. I'd give it about... three and a half stars.

Love, Football, and Other Contact Sports by Alden R. Carter

Kicker. Can be identified by his clean uniform, small size, nervous tics, and a perplexed frown that seems to be asking, "What am I doing here?" Kicks the ball as far as he can (a kickoff) to start the game. He will then jog down the field, hoping to avoid any further involvement in the play, an exceedingly intelligent thing to do leading the casual observer to wonder what mental aberration caused him to engage in a contact sport with large people in the first place.
This book is a series of a couple of stories dealing with mostly love and football at Argyle Highschool. The mostly main character is Ken Bauer, and Randy "the Doughnut" Schmidtke, but involving everyone from "Elvis"- a "latino beauty", Rollin Acres (Ken's best friend) and his girlfriend Sandy Dunes (who everyone jokes should start a golf course together and call it Rollin acres-Sandy Dunes), Ken's cousin Rebecca, and a dozen other characters. An unpopular girl gets help from an unexpected source. A football player discovers that he loves little kids. A feminist girl gets a jersey on her desk, and an old lady is reunited with her lover.
"Ah, my friend," he said, "karma's character is of necessity mysterious or it would not be karma. It is like cement in the hands of the Builder, who of simple bricks makes many wondrous forms." "What is that supposed to mean?" "I am not sure. I just made it up. It is worth thinking about, though."
I originally picked this book up thinking it was by the author of "I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you"... but it's not. I read it anyway- a little bit wary. After all, it's not normally the type of book I read. I read fantasy and fluff and mystery. Not goofy highschool stories which aren't really one continuous string of story line. I really did like it, though. I thought the first two things in the book- "A Girl's Guide to Football Players" and "A Football Player's Guide to Love" were equally hilarious. :) I'd give this book about 4.5 stars and recommend you to read it. Because they have seperate stories, and they are all short, and not at all dangerous, I think, I got a feeling of "this is the end" every time I finished a story. So, it gained points for that. :)

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