52 Reasons to Hate my Father by Jessica Brody - Review

52 Reasons to Hate My Father 
Jessica Brody

Reviewed by Isabella (Bellanush)

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Genres: Realistic
Release Date: July 3, 2012

Source: Publisher- Farrar, Straus and Giroux (thanks you for the ARC!)

I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot of the same humor that was in her first book. It really kept my attention for the most part and I enjoyed seeing what the world is like from the rich perspective. It really reinforced something that my parents have told me for a long time; that if you
have money, it doesn't mean it makes you happy.

I really liked how that the story showed that lesson. I liked Luke's character a lot but I had to agree with Lexington when she said he was kinda stuffy. But he proved us wrong in the end and turned out to be a really fun character.

But I didn't appreciate Lexington's whining in the beginning of the book at all. I know it goes with the whole rich, spoiled heiress thing but I really hate when people act like that so it got on my nerves. I was extremely happy when that part of the book was done. I also wish that she had spent more time on the jobs. We got in depth into some of them but I would have enjoyed it a bit more if we could have gotten a little more involved in some of the jobs that she did end up enjoying such as the florist job.

But, overall, I really did enjoy reading this book. I hope she comes out with a new one soon.

Author Stuff
Website - Jessica Brody
Twitter - @JessicaBrody
52 Reasons to Hate My Father excerpt

Crossposted on Goodreads.

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Batty About Books - Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac - End

Welcome to another edition of

Batty About Books!

We've been reading Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac and today we wrap it all up!

Dragon Castle is the story of Prince Rashko, a fifteen year old whose parents are away. Their castle has been invaded and only Rashko, his brother Paulek, and a handful of servants are there to defend it. But the invaders, Baron Temny and Princess Potenshie, are not as they appear. Magic seems to be involved and they are not overtly hostile. What's their plan? Rashko decides to consult his Uncle Josef who tells him to read the story of his great ancestor Pavol. The story stirs Rashko's memories and he knows what he needs to do.

This final part may contain SPOILERS! Proceed with caution. As usual, my thoughts are in blue and Maria's responses are in purple. Please visit Maria's blog at Maria's Melange to read her first takes on the Dragon Castle.

Dragon Castle - Part 1
Dragon Castle - Part 2

Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac - The End
I was at turns intrigued and bored by this ending. I just wanted...more.
Maria: I completely agree with this wrap up!

I found I wasn’t as invested in the doings of Rashko/Pavol as the book wound down. I was way more interested in Paulek. Even though he was more of a secondary character, I “knew” him better and cared what happened to him. Rashko’s fate seemed clear from Part 2 and I just waited for Bruchac to put things into words but it wasn’t necessary. His actions were wholly predictable.
Maria: Yes! That is exactly it. I kept getting those little glimpses of the other characters, and I found it very frustrating that we didn’t get more of it. Especially with the way the book wraps up, I feel like Bruchac let me down on giving me more about those other characters.

I liked that the two jugglers were princesses who’d been affected by Temny but I wanted more of their story.  When did the Dark Lord invade their lands? How did they escape? Had they been following Temny all along and waiting for this moment? Why were they on the tapestry?  Was it really necessary that they changed their names? No one seemed to know who they were no matter what names they used.
Maria: Yes! I “get” that they are supposed to be part of the story because they are Karoline’s spirit reborn (Okay... maybe that’s what was meant?). But there was so much lost when Bruchac didn’t expand on their tale. Maybe alternating perspectives along the way would have given us more of what we wanted?

So Potenshie had a very different relationship to Temny than daughter. I still don’t understand how their powers increased unless it was being near the pouch. But the pouch and the dragon spelled their defeat, so no, I still don’t understand. Why pose as the daughter? Why did the return so many years after Pavol’s reign? Did I miss an explanation of whatever changed that made them believe this time would be different?
Maria: Yeah.... no, you didn’t miss anything (unless I missed it too!) I saw no reason why Potenshie should be his wife versus his daughter. Neither role gets mentioned at the start of the tale, or during any of the Dark Lord scenes. So I thought this addition just was confusing and not really needed.

The dragon had seven heads that each had to be cut off - here I felt Bruchac was using “the rules of magic” to extend this section unnecessarily.  If, as he pointed out later, magical abilities of objects decreased after 3 uses, why didn’t Pavol defeat the dragon after 3 tries? It felt like overkill (pun intended).  
Maria: I love that our slightly snarky humors are blossoming on this one *chuckles* Yes, I agree. Needing seven heads was a bit too much. I would have preferred he stick with 3 as his magic number here, and intensified some of the earlier battles.

Hm. There were just too many things left unexplained. How did the magical objects work? We saw some of it with Pavol but I never understood how either boy knew what to use when. Rashko calling on the winds was pretty cool but how did he know? Sometimes, “it just came to him” or “somehow he knew” is just not enough for me. I would have liked to see more of the parents.  If they were able to come home when Rashko called, were they always able to come home? Why didn’t they? Yes, I can put things together because I’ve read enough fantasy to understand how many things work. But, will this fly with the middle grader? I dare say that those who love fantasy would ALSO understand it’s working, even if it’s in a subconscious manner. So, this book would go over just fine, I guess. Overall, a solid read. Not great but not bad either.

Maria: I think it “came to him” because Pavol was within him... but I get that sense without feeling like Bruchac did a good job revealing that bit. I also agree with you about his parents. Maybe they were trying to allow the boys to manage on their own? Maybe they wanted Pavol to be able to “come through” the kids? Even so, that wasn’t explained - or pulled through the text - enough to really be a good explanation. I wanted MORE about the faeries. I was disappointed by that. I was really hoping for more about the “in-betweeners” at the end since it was brought up periodically.

I liked Dragon Castle and would give it a 3 of 5. You can find more books Science Fiction/Fantasy for Middle Grades at the Cybils site.
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This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers- Review

Reviewed by: Aneeqah's Not So Real Life
.....................................................................................
This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Genres: Paranormal, Apocalypse, Urban Fantasy
Release Date: June 19th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
My Review:

First of all, thank you so much to HarperCollins and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book! However, this did not affect my thoughts on this book, or my review.

In this book, we meet five kids who have made it to their school as a refuge from the outside world, where a zombies are attacking and eating all the people. Our main character, Sloane, doesn't really want to be alive right now, she was actually planning to commit suicide. They story is about the 5 kids trying to survive.

So, let's start with the good. This is my first zombie book, and I must say, the zombies were pretty well-thought out. Everything made sense zombie-wise, basically, you got bitten, died, and came back as a zombie and ate other people . It was really simple, and frankly, creepy. Like, really creepy, they were that realistic. It gave me the shivers.

The whole book was also pretty compelling to read. I kept wanting to know what happened to the characters. There were a few suspenseful moments throughout the book, so that kept the book flowing pretty well.

Now, what I didn't like as much. Let's start with Sloane, the main character. I'm just going to say it how it is: I didn't like Sloane, at all. Many times, I wanted to punch her, so much that I almost threw my Kindle on the tiled flooring [that wouldn't have been good, now would it have?]. I'm glad I resisted the urge though, because then I would have to buy a new Kindle... So anyways, Sloane a very frustrating character. She did some stupid things in my opinion, and I couldn't understand her at all. And she made the stupidest decisions ever.I never connected with her, never felt bad for her. She just seemed like a stupid brat to me. Sloane practically ruined the whole book for me.

Also, so many people die at random times, I just got frustrated even more. People just kinda disappear, people just die randomly, it was just yuck. Especially at the end. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't go any further.

The ending was also something that turned me off from this book. I didn't understand it at all, and it was so cliff-hangery is that a word?]. Since this book is a stand-alone, I wanted an ending that would leave me satisfied, and this ending did not. At all. It could have used an epilogue, or something so that we could at least learn what happened to the characters.

Overall, this book had a great concept, but there were a lot of things that really turned me off, so I couldn't really enjoy the books. I would say to give this book a shot if you like survival stories and zombies [and your okay with extremely angering characters].






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Librarians vs Teachers - Summer Throwdown!

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Come one! Come All! 

Teachers and Librarians that is!

Are you a teacher or librarian that loves to read? 

Had you already planned on catching up with books you missed during the school year! 

Think you can read "competitively"?  

Join us for the first (and hopefully not last) 

School Librarians vs Teachers 

Summer Throwdown!!

This is going to be one fun, amazing, summer reading challenge you don't want to miss!

Complete details at Heise Reads and Recommends!

The Rules
Rule #1 - the #summerthrowdown will run from June 18th - July 17th
If you are less than half done with a book before the 18th, you can finish it on the 18th and it will count! But, if you are NOT done with a book by July 17th - it does NOT count!

Rule #2 - team with the most points at the end of the throwdown wins
Under 50 pages = 1/4 point
50 - 150 = 1/2 point
151 - over = 1 point

Rule #3 - This should be fun for everyone!
While trash talk is welcomed and expected, remember, we are teachers and librarians! No hits below the belt!

The Sign Up
Pledge your allegiance - Join the #summerthrowdown challenge
Keep track of points - Use this handy-dandy spreadsheet after you sign up. Make sure to choose the correct Librarian or Teacher tab at bottom!

The Buttons
You can't have a challenge without a button! Download and display yours!

The Why
Jillian (@heisereads) and Brian (@brianwyzlic) do this fantastic contest between their sister classrooms.  To read more about it visit Jillian's blog, Heise Reads and Recommends or Brian's Blog, Wyz Reads, where they tell you What is This #Throwdown Thing Anyway.

I asked Brian, nicely, about it on twitter and he threw down the gauntlet! Ok, Sherry actually threw it down.  Brian picked it up and ran away with it! Teachers! You can't beat them, but you can read more than they can!

For a more logical and easier to understand post about The #SummerThrowdown please read this post by Jillian at Heise Reads!

Batty About Books - Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac - Part 2

Maria (@mselke01) and I are reading together 

and we are now 

Batty About Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac

Dragon Castle Part 1 - here. In part one we met Pavol, whose family was murdered by the Dark Lord. Pavol was raised in the forest by Uncle Tomas and Baba Marta. When he was ready he was sent on a quest. Pavol's story is intertwined with that of Rashko. Prince Rashko's parents are away on a mysterious trip and while they are gone, strangers are trying to take over the castle. Paulek, Rashko's brother is no help as he appears to be under the spell of Princess Poteshenie. How do these two stories connect? We try to find out.

This second installment contains a prediction that came true which is also a spoiler. Skip the surprise if you haven't read the book yet!

Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac - Part 2 - p114 - p228
Prediction: Something in the castle is making Poteshenie stronger.  

Maria: Yes - they do talk about how both she and the Baron have changed. Perhaps it is the proximity to the pouch or other magical items? Maybe they are connected to the dragon? Ooo... new thought. Maybe she IS the dragon or a descendant? Hadn’t thought of that! She could be the dragon! But, didn’t Pavol kill the dragon? Wait, no he only killed one so far...

Wonder: Why is Black Yanosh hiding from Baron Temny and Princess Poteshenie? 

Maria: Good catch! I hadn’t noticed that one. Now that you mention it, I’m curious about that, too.

More Wonder: What is the significance of the items that Pavol finds and puts in his pouch? 

Maria: That brings up an item I forgot to put on my thoughts. When he picked up the iron ring I immediately thought the connection to faeries. Then he started grabbing other items and I wondered why the others were significant.

Surprise: The Baron is Dark Lord! 

Maria: Yep. I liked that bit.

Question: Who is the mysterious Karoline? 

Maria: I have a thought about that in my comments. I think she is the queen, and that Pavol is the king. Faerie blood and all that.

Storyline thought: I like how Rashko’s story has stopped moving while we the reader as well as Rashko learn more about Pavol’s quest. 

Maria: I do like some of that - where Rashko almost ponders the same things I’m pondering. It also makes it easier to keep track of things when only one plot is moving at a time.

Overall thoughts: I thought this section was a little draggy. I wonder why Bruchac broke up Pavol’s story to go back to Rashko with Anya and Josef? That slowed it down for me and I lost Rashko’s voice. He sounded too much like an adult to me. 

Maria: I agree. The thing that I liked the least in this section was the plot device where Rashko “is” Pavol during his story. I didn’t think that was needed. I was doing just fine keeping their stories straight without using this technique.


For the rest of the story - check out Maria's thoughts over at Maria's Melange.


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48 Hour Book Challenge - Wrap Up Post

(Cue Rocky Music; picture me running up a wide staircase with books held over my head) Yippee! I finished the 48 Hour Book Challenge and met my goal of 20 hours!

This also means I donate $20 to Reading is Fundamental (RIF)!

Books Finished
Black Heart by Holly Black - 296p
Cat Girl's Day Off by Kimberly Pauley - 331p
The List by Siobhan Vivian - 332p
Firelight by Sophie Jordan - 323p

Books Started
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets JK Rowling - 47p
Ultraviolet by RJ Anderson - 179p

Totals
Time Read - 20h 30m
Books Read - 4
Pages Read - 1508
Blogging (this is only post!) - 57m

Whew! It was a busy weekend and it was hard carving out the time to read.  The Amazing Dancer was here which means lots of shopping.  I was lucky to leave a graduation party early, otherwise I wouldn't have made it! It was wonderful to remove some books from the TBR pile. Expect short #bookaday reviews of each finished book later this week.

As always, Thanks to MotherReader (@MotherReader) for sponsoring such a wonderful challenge to kickstart my summer reading! Also, a big thank you to all the people who stopped by to encourage me on the blog and on twitter! I didn't get to do much of that this year but I really appreciate your time and comments!



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48 Hour Book Challenge and Summer Bookaday

It's party time! As noted by my esteemed colleague @libraryfanatic: The second awesome reason to be a school librarian - summer's off to read! And what better way to kick off my summer and my summer reading than to join MotherReader's 48-hour Book Challenge and The Book Whisperer's Bookaday Challenge!

Courtesy: MotherReader

48 Hour Book Challenge
MotherReader's two-day reading fest runs from Friday, June 8, 2012 at 7am to Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7am.  You get to pick your 48 hours in that time frame.  There are rules including your hours must be in a row! But you can do as many or as few as you want!

I'm going to try to for 20 hours this year! I'll start at 8 pm Friday and end 8pm on Sunday.  I have a few errands and a graduation party, but should have the time pretty much to myself!

Courtesy: Read, Watch, Connect

Bookaday Challenge
This will be my THIRD year participating in Donalyn Miller's Bookaday fun! Each year the challenge is to average a book each day of your summer vacation.  If you are only off for a week - try to read 7 books!  The books can be anything you want! Graphic Novels? Check! Picture Books? Check! An homage to Ray Bradbury? Check! Check! Check!  You can read one book one day, 7 books a different day! It's so awesomely un-stressful you may read beyond your goal!!!!

I'm officially off from Friday, June 8 to Sunday, August 12, 2012. That's 66 days! So my goal is to read 66 books before I go back to work on Monday, August 13th! So exciting!!!!

Join!
If you want to join in the fun of one or both challenges, click the headline links! If you just want to see what people are doing, follow the twitter hashtags #48hbc and #bookaday.  And, guess what? #Bookaday lasts forever! We use the hashtag whenever we finish a book!!! So check it out and find some new reading materials and some new friends!

Now I need to gather all the books! All the books!
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It's Monday: What Are You Reading - 6/4/12

Check out Teach Mentor Texts with Jen and Kellee to find more #kidlit bloggers joining in this special meme. 

In The Past
I finished 10 books these past three weeks.

Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews - Mock Printz

Starters by Lissa Price - interesting. Old people rent young people's bodies in order to be young again. And the young people get to eat and possibly find shelter.

Boy21 by Matthew Quick - Mock Printz

How to Survive the Apocalypse by Lucas Krauss - recommended by Amazing Dancer - Boy meets girl. Girl is highly religious. Boy decides he can be religious too!

The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Note to Their Younger Selves edited by Sarah Moon - Great book put out by Scholastic. I gave away two copies!

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons - recommended by Amazing Dancer - girl gets arrested because mom had her out of wedlock. 17 years ago. She needs to find mom and break her out of jail. Ex-Boyfriend turned soldier decides to help. Can she trust him?

Chomp by Carl Hiassen - different from other Hiaasen MG fare.  This one is much more YA with lots of action and near-death experiences compounded by a drunken father and a crazed reality tv star.

Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross - fun read. Not the best written but filled with entertainment, action and romance.


Hush by Elise Chayil - recommended by Amazing Dancer - A Chassidic community turning their back on a nine-year old leads to a coverup that one member still can't get past. So sad!

Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross - more fun!

In the Present
Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac - Batty About Books next book.  Check out Part 1.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling - hoping to read the whole series and watch each movie this summer.

In The Future
This Friday, June 8, 2012 starts the 48 Hour Book Challenge and Summer #Bookaday! I'm so excited that once again these start at the same time for me! Last year I met my goal of 15 hours. This year I hope to do 20 hours! I'll post about both on Friday but in case you can't wait - here's my post from last year - NO Summer Slide and 48HBC.

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Middle School Fantasy-Science Fiction Suggestions

DEMCO LABEL

Here's a list of books I am suggesting to a language arts teacher for a student who just finished 6th grade.  Was told he enjoyed reading and liked Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.  The family wanted more books in the student's favorite genre, Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Part of the list is courtesy of Kellee Moye (@kelleemoye) of Teach Mentor Texts and Cindy Schnell (@cindyschnell1) who are both teachers as well as avid readers! Thanks, ladies!


Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Auxier
11th Plague by Hirsch
The Limit by Landon
Divergent by Roth
Legend by Lu
City of Ember by DuPrau
Uglies by Westerfeld
Leviathan by Westerfeld
100 Cupboards by ND Wilson
The Unwanteds by McMann
House of the Scorpion by Farmer
Mortal Engines by Reeve
Ender's Game by Card

GAYLORD LABEL

The Roar by Clayton
Dark Life by Fall
Amulet of Samarkand by Stroud
Skullduggery Pleasant by Landry
Trash by Mulligan (not fantasy or scifi but actiony and suspenseful and good)
Tankborn by Sandler
Epic by Kostick
Knife of Never Letting Go by Ness
Dragon Castle by Bruchac
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Gidwitz
Breadcrumbs by Ursu
The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Deedy

Both Cindy and Kellee listed books I did not include so please check out their twitter streams for more ideas! This list is also limited to my having read the books (or currently reading: Dragon Castle) and not knowing who the student is.

Keeping in mind that this is male tween, what would you add or subtract from the list??

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The Letter Q - Review and Giveaway - Part 4

The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes To Their Younger Selves
edited by Sarah Moon
Arthur A Levine Books
978-0-545-39932-6
$17.99

We've all heard of the "It Gets Better" or the "Dear Bully" campaigns. Scholastic took those projects a step further and gathered over 60 authors to write letters to their younger LGBTQ selves. What a great way to reach those teens who may be struggling to hang on.

Monday - Friday, I will highlight a different young adult author, as well as Arthur Levine himself, and give you an excerpt. (UPDATE: HAD TO SKIP ONE DAY SO WILL RUN TO SATURDAY, JUNE 2)


Brian Selznick
As a fan of Andrew Clements, I've always loved Selznick's work.  When he stopped illustrating for Clements, I was heartbroken. Then he wrote The Invention of Hugo Cabret and my heart stopped hurting from pain and exploded with joy. And then he wrote Wonderstruck. And I didn't know I could feel so much.  Visit him at  - Brian Selznick.


Selznick responds to a letter he wrote to his future self when he was thirteen.

Did I marry someone? Is she nice? Well...this is the question that surprised me, because I'm the only person who knows what you were really thinking at thirteen when you wrote it...So, to answer your question: No, I didn't get married to a woman, but I did fall in love...and we've been together for almost fourteen years now.

Giveaway

Open to US Residents only. 

Enter by completing the form below. 

Be sure to leave your email address so that we can contact you.

The giveaway is open from
May 28, 2012 - June 1, 2012 11:59pm EXTENDED TO JUNE 2, 11:59PM!

You may enter once per day. 
2 copies will be given away.

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