The Brain Lair

Friday, July 13, 2012

Tracing Stars by Erin E Moulton - Review and Giveaway

Tracing Stars
Erin Moulton (facebook | twitter)
Publisher: Philomel/Penguin (May 2012. 240 p. $16.99. 978-0-399-25696-7)
Source: author
Genre: Realistic (theater)
Rating: 4/5
Buy it: Amazon | Indiebound

"I mean, if life is crummy, don't expect life to be great just because you wished on a shooting star. It's just a meteor meeting the Earth's atmosphere...There's nothing magical about it. It's just science."

Indie Chickory has always lived with her head in the clouds. But after a day of one too many mishaps, including the disappearance of a beloved pet, Indie convinces herself it's time to join the real world. She'll enter 6th grade in the fall, so this is the perfect summer to re-invent herself and, hopefully, grow closer to her sister, Bebe. On her way to normalcy, Indie meets Owen. Owen is just in town for the summer. He's a quirky kid, like Indie is, er was. His "observational log" is full of notes about inventions, people he's met, and anything that catches his interest. He and Indie quickly hit it off. But for new Indie that could prove to be a problem.

Moulton's Tracing Stars captures the sister's relationship perfectly. Bebe and Indie struggle between pulling together and pulling apart as they each try to find their own identities. Bebe, being the oldest, has slightly more pull, and she uses that, sometimes to Indie's detriment. I love the seaside town descriptions. Moulton's writing clearly describes the shops, the streets, and the wonderful tree house that Indie and Owen modify. Tracing Stars builds in an unhurried summery style. Moulton uncovers the true Indie Chickory for us, warts and all. She's a real girl with real problems and makes decisions we may not agree with but makes sense for who she is. I recommend this one and would buy 4 copies. Definitely one for a 4 - 6th grade book club to read and discuss. I would pair it with Nice and Mean by Jessica Leader.

About the Author

pic courtesy author

Erin E. Moulton graduated with an MFA in Writing for Children from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2007. She is the author of Flutter: The Story of Four Sisters and An Incredible Journey (Philomel/Penguin 2011), and Tracing Stars (Philomel/Penguin 2012).

Erin is co-founder of the Kinship Writers Association and is currently the YA librarian at the Derry Public Library. Erin lives in Southern New Hampshire with her husband and puppy where she writes, reads, drinks tea and dreams. You can visit her online at www.erinemoulton.com or on Facebook as Erin E. Moulton (Author), or find her on twitter @erinemoulton.

Check out my interview with Erin E Moulton.

Giveaway

Would you like a signed hardcover of Tracing Stars?

Just fill out the form!

US ONLY!

July 13, 2012 - July 16, 2012 11:59pm

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Tracing Stars by Erin Moulton - Interview

Tracing Stars
Erin Moulton (facebook | twitter)
Publisher: Philomel/Penguin (May 2012. 240 p. $16.99. 978-0-399-25696-7)
Source: author
Genre: Realistic (theater)
Rating: 4/5
Buy it: Amazon | Indiebound

Tracing Stars is what Indie and her sister, Bebe, do when they need to make an incredibly important wish. And this particular summer, after 5th and 6th grades, when they are starting to grow apart, when they make separate friends, when Indie suffers a loss, every wish is incredibly important. Indie wants to re-invent herself and Bebe wants to help, but at what cost? Tune in July 13, 2012 when I review Tracing Stars!

Here, Erin E. Moulton answers my questions about work, writing, researching, and sticking up for the people you care about. Oh, and the importance of reading.

1. What type of librarian were you and why aren't you one now?

Actually, I am a librarian currently. Not by schooling, but because it is something I am pretty ok at, I guess. I also have the benefit of a great boss and team at work who can get me up to speed with questions that would be more easily answered if I had an MLS. I used to work as an educational director. Before that, a theater technician. And somewhere in between, I was a tutor. I have worked with kids throughout most of my careers, and I currently am the teen librarian at the Derry Public Library. I love the 12-18 age group. They are wonderful, inventive, smart and honest.

2. Some of the characters' names are so unique. How did you come up with them? ( Indie, Bebe, Mr. Squiggles, Mr. Lemur)

Sometimes names just peek in and then they are gone in a flash. By that I mean, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking on character’s names. Indie was a natural choice because she finds her individuality. Mr. Squiggles, well, in my head Mr. Squiggles just looks like a Mr. Squiggles. Actually, now that I am looking really close, he kind of looks like the Swedish Chef. But Mr. Squiggles is a fun sounding name for a guy who makes fried calamari. There really is no special formula, I am afraid, and that is why I have a sort of lame answer. They literally just pop into my head and I usually go with the flow.

3. As a middle school librarian, we remark often how the new sixth graders are emotionally so far from the seventh graders. How did you capture that so well between Indie and Bebe?

Huh, I am glad I hit on that. I hadn’t done it on purpose, but it is a good thing that it worked! I do have three sisters, though, and I am the second oldest. So whenever I am working with a sister relationship I try hard to look at relationships I know and get the pecking order straight. Because I am second oldest, I get the benefit of knowing what it is like to feel like a big sister AND a little sister. I bet that is where the authenticity came from J.

4. Do you have a diary? I mean an "observation log'? If so, what's your deepest, darkest secret?

Oh, I have lots and lots of journals. I can’t tell you my deepest darkest secret because then it would no longer be a secret. Don’t worry, it’s not like I murdered anyone. I will tell you, though, that if you look in my old journals, you will be super confused. When I was in 7^th grade I was reading Romeo and Juliet, and liked to write in iambic pentameter.

Then I got to 9^th and 10^th grade, I liked to read things in Middle English so I started throwing in middle English symbols and words. Especially with the TH and CH digraphs.

Around the same time I was questioning grammar, apparently. I know, what is there to question? NO idea. But I was, Rebelling/against;the proper”way of doing things--. You see what I mean.

In college I was relatively good about record keeping. Now, I do a lot of lists and chicken scratch story boards. I feel pretty certain no one will ever be able to decipher them, but will probably burn them before I die. Well, I’ll burn all but one that has a treasure map in it.

5. Indie is always reciting fish names and making fish faces. What type of research did you have to do about fish and fish names?

The fish faces were easy. I had to step in front of a mirror a few times to describe it right. I had to look at the fish of course and compare it to my own face, which was both comical and complicated.

I did do some research for the fish names. It didn’t require a whole lot because of the context it was used in. Instead of Indie using a lot of fish terminology, she uses a lot of names. So I looked up and made a list of Atlantic Ocean fish. I worked with that to make sure she didn’t repeat herself too much.

I think most of the technical language is in the theater parts. I used to work in the theater and I worked in theaters in Boston when I was right out of college, I have that filed away in the back of my head.

6. Is there any truth behind the story of The Lobster Monty Cola?

No! Well, I mean, there is no golden lobster --to my knowledge--that likes to drink Coca-Cola. However, there are golden lobsters and they are one in 30 million. Though, it is important to note: I have been told that even golden lobsters, when boiled, will turn red. So you wouldn’t know if you were at Red Lobster and were chowing down on Monty!

7. Have you ever had a friend you wished you'd stuck up for? If not, how did you dream up that scene with Indie and Owen?

There was one incident on the playground when I was in second grade where I should have stuck up for my little sister. A kid had her by the arms and was swinging her around. I thought he was going to let go and she would go flying. I didn’t want to escalate the whole situation, so I was playing it cool, trying to stand close by and not scream. I joked around like it wasn’t bothering me. My little sister, who was being swung around, did the same: laughed like it didn’t bother her. Luckily, he got bored of it and set her down and we went on our merry way.

Otherwise, I think I held up with integrity. I THINK. High School friends correct me if I am wrong. I read a lot as a kid. I think reading teaches you things like empathy and loyalty and what it feels like in another’s skin. So honor, loyalty and empathy were very important to me growing up. If there was a circumstance that required me to be bold, well, I would be bold. For example, my mom always worked with the mentally ill and I grew up around many people who were either mentally ill or in need of other special services. I often had to correct my acquaintances on their notions of people they dubbed as “strange and crazy.”

Don’t get me wrong, my friends kept me in line as well. We had a good community and looked out for each other.

Honestly, that scene was VERY hard for me to write. I was concerned Indie would come off as callous and thoughtless. I was annoyed with her weakness. However, she needed to hit her weakest moment in order to grow, so I had to send her to the brink. I had to grit my teeth and write through it a few times. In that moment, I love Owen and Sloth so much more than Indie. Sloth who says, “Shhh, Shhh, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.” That’s something I honestly believe, and have believed for a long time.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

I am NOT The Walrus by Ed Briant - Review and Giveaway

Memento Park pic courtesy Ebriant.com

Toby, Zack, and friends live and breath around the coastal town of Port Jackson, somewhere in England. How do I know it's England? They were playing Rugby and said things like "bollocks" and "blimey, mate". The Port Jackson and surrounding areas, down to the bus stations, were vividly portrayed. I could almost smell the water and really wanted to go visit. I could especially picture the walk Toby and Michelle took around the park.

Toby's borrowed his guitar from his brother Shawn, who's off in the Navy, and he needs to fix it before the show. He can't afford to have any work done so he does it himself. Finding the note inside the p-bass sets off the mystery. Should he try to find the owner of the note and risk having to return the guitar? How long has the note been in the guitar anyway? Being a stand-up lad, Toby tries to right what might have been a wrong done to someone long ago. Only things turn just a little bit scary and creepy and he wishes he hadn't bothered.

I am not the Walrus is at times charming and at times alarming. The budding relationship between Toby and Shelly is sweet and fun.
" I thought you two were getting along like a house on fire." "More like a house of pain".
I thought Toby's character was realistic and smart-alecky in a good natured way. Shelly's and Zach's characters could have used a bit more fleshing out but overall they came across as believable, too. I had a qualm with Rupert. Not so much his character as his character defect. It was unrealistic based on all his actions throughout the book - showing up in different places and the scary chase. So, that kind of marred the ending for me.

I also had a tough time with the beginning of the book. The horoscopes at the start of some of the chapters threw me off as I kept trying to figure out their significance to the rest of the chapter and wondering how they fit. They seemed like an unnecessary element. The middle of the book was solidly written. You got to know Toby and his absent brother Shawn. The story moved logically as we followed Toby's footsteps while trying to uncover the mystery of the bass. Things seemed to fall apart when Toby confronted Rupert near the end.

Overall, the story is humorous and fast-paced. Kinda like Gilmore Girls as a book. Only with boys so not as pop-culturey as it is one-linery. I would give it 3.5 copies and recommend it to the language arts teacher as a decent addition to her mystery unit. I would also give it to students who like music as you don't find many books that cover the arts for this age group. Other bonuses is it's not about sports and the kids take the bus! Too many young adult books feature characters who have cars at their disposal!

Ed Briant on right Pic courtesy Ebriant.com

About the Author
Ed Briant grew up in Brighton, England, but now lives just outside Philadelphia, where he writes, illustrates, and creates the popular comic strip "Tales from the Slush Pile." He has two daughters, teaches creative writing, and plays the alto saxophone (quite badly). Choppy Socky Blues was his first book for young adults. He can be found online at ebriant.com.

Giveaway

One copy of I Am (Not) the Walrus by Ed Briant along with a guitar pick, is up for grabs.

Just fill out the form with your name, email address, and twitter handle if you have one.

Open to US Residents only.

July 10, 2012 - July 13, 2012 11:59 pm.

One entry per person.

I am NOT the Walrus excerpt.

Check out Ed Brian't guest post where talks about a family who is all about deception.

Monday, July 9, 2012

I Am (NOT) The Walrus by Ed Briant - Guest Post

I am NOT The Walrus
Ed Briant (website)
Publisher: Flux (July 2012. 228p. $9.95. ISBN 978-0-7387-3246-6)
Source: netgalley/BlueSlip Media
Genre: Realistic (Beatles cover band)
Rating: 3.5/5
Next Tour Stop: Guys Lit Wire
Buy it: (Amazon | Indiebound)

I Am (Not) The Walrus by Ed Briant follows Toby as he tries to find the last legal owner of a p-bass fender caster guitar he is almost sure his brother stole! In the meantime, he's got just enough time for his yet unnamed cover duo (The Nowhere Men? The Sand Tigers?) to open for the Disappointed Parents, fall in deep, deep like, and stay one step ahead of the guy who wears sunglasses at night.

I'll review I Am Not The Walrus (and giveaway a copy!) on July 10, 2012 but for now Mr. Briant tells us where he got the idea for Toby's family background. A background you can't fully believe!

I used to have this friend whose family was known as “the salt mine.” All of them, the mother, father, and three sons, were so devious, that everything they said had to be taken with––at the very least––a grain of salt, or preferably with an entire salt mine.

The funny thing was, though, they weren’t bad people, but they were just into deviousness. They were into deviousness like other families were into fondues, or snorkeling. If you pay a visit to a snorkeling family any conversation will soon veer towards subjects such as how cold the ocean is this year, or which of their friends have recently been carried off by barracudas. This family was the same. They just liked being evasive, even when there was no obvious reason for being evasive.

One summer I bicycled over to their house just as they were packing up the car to go on vacation.

“Where you off to?” I asked my friend.

He shrugged, then glanced over each of his shoulders in turn. I think he was making sure his parents weren’t listening. “Um . . . France,” he said, leaning close to me. “We’re going to France.”

I got back on my bike, waved at my friend and his parents, then said, “Bon voyage!” The parents gave each other baffled looks while my friend seemed suddenly fascinated by a gap between two slabs of paving on the sidewalk.

The next time I saw him, he was nicely tanned and it was two weeks later.

“Here,” he said. “Souvenir.” He tossed me a key ring with the word Spain stamped on it. I was just about to say I thought you were going to France, but I stopped myself.

What would be the point? It was just the way he was.

Ed Briant

We stayed good friends until a year later when he joined the army, and we lost touch. I heard through the grapevine that he’d ended up in Military Intelligence, which is a nice finish to the story. Now he can be as devious as he likes with the Russians, or the Iranians, or whoever we aren’t on good terms with at any given moment.

I suppose Toby’s family is a bit like that, especially his mom and his older brother. It’s not so much that they’re going to tell you blatant lies. It’s just that whatever they do tell you will be slightly off to one side of the truth.

For Toby’s friend, Zack it’s no big deal. He knows Toby and his family, and adjusts his expectations accordingly. For Toby himself, though, it is more of a problem. He’s on the rebound after being chucked by his girlfriend Katrina, and one of the reasons she gives for dumping him is that he’s dishonest. Toby, being a conscientious kind of bloke, takes this to heart and resolves to become meticulously honest from here on in.

But Toby’s resolve is put to the test when he encounters Rupert. Rupert’s a psychopath, and you can’t really tell a psychopath where you live, no matter how nicely he asks you, and Rupert doesn’t even ask nicely.

So, Toby has to go back to his old habits of being evasive, because who but a crazy person wouldn’t be evasive when a psychopath asks you where you live?

Toby’s older brother Shawn has a different kind of dishonesty. He’s a thief, and thieving requires a certain amount of dishonesty, but he’s never more dishonest that he absolutely needs to be. He assumes everyone knows that he’s a thief, so he’s evasive about where his goods come from in order to protect his clients in the event that someone gets curious.

Toby’s mom, on the other hand, is an expert at deviousness. She skirts the truth about Shawn to protect Toby, but really, isn’t her deviousness more to protect Shawn? Take a look at the scenes between Toby and his mom. It seems like it’s beyond her capabilities to give Toby a straight answer about anything. She lies to him, and then pretends the lie is a joke. He can’t phone her at work. She can’t even give him the long-distance code when he tries to make a call to a neighboring town.

Toby’s mom is without a doubt a virtuoso among salt-miners.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a REVIEW and GIVEAWAY. One copy of the book along with a guitar pic will be up for grabs! Open to US Only!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker - Blog Tour

Age of Miracles
Karen Thompson Walker (website | facebook | twitter)
Publisher: Random House (June 2012. 288p. $26. ISBN 978-0-8129-9297-7)
Source: TLC Book Tours/Publishers
Genre: Science Fiction (days grow longer)
Rating: 3/5
Buy It: Amazon | Indiebound
Tour Stops: TLC Book Tours

Julia looks back to the fall of her eleventh year when the days started getting longer. The slowing was short at first, only an additional 56 minutes, but gradually each day became longer and longer. Soon the people are divided into Real Time people, who used the rising and setting of the sun to determine activities, and Clock People, who stuck with 12 hours for a morning and 12 hours for a night, no matter the lightness or darkness of outdoors. Some people can handle the incessant hours of daylight but for some, it causes mental and physical breakdowns. Even the animals aren't spared in the environmental nightmare. And, of course, whatever was hidden by darkness, comes to light.

Age of Miracles moves slowly, perhaps to mimic the slowing of time in the book. "Time was harder to waste. The pace of living seemed to slow." There was a lot of telling. This happened. This happened. This happened. I felt as if I was reading this through a haze. Intentional? Julia's character felt older to me, I know she was looking back over a decade and that clouded her memories. How do we tell the story of our younger selves without the insight of now? That literary technique stopped me from getting to know Julia and so I didn't care about her story as much as I could have. Life as We Knew It (Susan Beth Pfeffer, 2008 ) takes on an environmental change, the moon getting too close to the earth due to a meteorite, and recounts the effects of this change through diary entries left by Miranda, the main character. Using the diary as device gave the story a sense of immediacy, a sort of "you where there" feeling that Age of Miracles lacked for me.

Watching how the time changes affects everything, we see the evolution from just a little worry to realizing that we can't fix this and need to deal with it. The family becomes Clock people, buying blackout curtains, going to school/work in the middle of darkness (can we still call it night if it's actually 7am?) doing their best to act as if everything is normal. This separation of people eventually becomes a physical one as the Clock people become suspicious of the Real Time people and start to treat them differently. I enjoyed exploring the idea of Clock People vs. Real Time People. Walker looked at the ways our biological clocks could change. Or not. Do we need a certain amount of sunlight? What about our food sources? Could we get the same nutritional value, or even output, using artificial means? I also liked when the people skipped a day, just like Samoa did December 30, 2011!

Trailer

Friday, June 29, 2012

Batty About Books - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Source: Wikipedia

This week the Batty About Books duo is discussing

Fahrenheit 451- The Movie

Last week, in honor of Ray Bradbury's passing, we read and discussed the classic, Fahrenheit 451. This week we watched and compared the movie.

Fahrenheit 451 - Francois Truffaut (director)
Overall I didn’t like the movie. I’d seen it before, but not this close to reading the book. The differences between the two were startling. I understand that a director and a script writer have to make decisions on how best to make a book visual, but I felt as if they changed the underlying themes.
Maria: I am pretty sure I haven’t seen this movie before. I agree, there are always things that need to change in a screen adaptation. I often have students watch a movie version of a book we’ve read. I’d say a major goal is to NOT change the overall meaning of the story... major fail here.

Clarisse - she was WAY too old. Not even sure why she still lived with her uncle. She didn’t convince me that she was this happy-go-lucky young lady at all. It answers my book question on why she was so young in book - made the story more believable. This just seemed odd.
Maria: Agreed. This was one of my complaints as well. She just made no sense, and didn’t really impact Guy the way she needed to.

Fire Chief - did not understand why he kept berating those two young firemen. Was it to show us how mean he was? His stiffness was the exact opposite of the chief in the book. You would not be afraid of him, you would more likely make fun of him. He seemed odd.
Maria: Yes! I can’t believe I didn’t mention that one. His character was so engaging - rich - and almost believable in the book. In the movie, though, I didn’t understand him at all! All the characters seemed stiff (though that’s partly the acting of the time). They all seemed fairly doped up for the entire movie.

Faber - why did they chose to leave him out? The idea that Montag needs a mentor to help him make the transition from firestarter to reader makes sense. He doesn’t use that part of his brain. Leaving Faber out leaves too much for Montag to figure out on his own. Odd choice.
Maria: The only thing I could think of is that adding Faber into the story adds more complexity - and more length to the movie. I know we’re used to movies that are close to or over 2 hours, but I think movies were shorter back then. I agree, though, losing this character caused us to make huge jumps in logic. Faber was so critical to Guy’s development.

Linda - Did they change her name because they made the her so much younger? And prettier? I pictured her as old and worn out and drugged. In the movie she was young and vibrant and used drugs yes but the her overdose was not believable. They changed so much about her it was as if she was a new character! This was like the opposite of Clarissa - she was more like how I pictured Clarissa to be! Odd!
Maria: I always find it odd when they change a character’s name. I know I put a lot of thought and effort into the name choices for my characters - and I think a name holds so much weight. I did picture her more like this movie version than you did - like a overly bored socialite - but they made her way too vibrant. Kathy: “Too vibrant” - yes, that’s what was missing and you are right, she would have been just an “overly bored socialite”. She was only supposed to be about 30 or so, so fairly young but her only life consisting of the “family”.

The Hound - where was he? I thought Montag’s fear of him in the book was an integral part of the story. Instead they used another fireman to turn on Montag. I wasn’t able to understand that character’s motivation - unless he was jealous of Montag’s promotion. No real character development from him struck me as odd.
Maria: Yes! Montag and the hound was a bit part of the book. Montag’s growing realization that humanity’s use of technology only reflects the violence within them. Maybe they didn’t’ have the budget for this effect? Though I can’t imagine it would have been that hard. Maybe something else about the 60s that would lead them to remove the robot from the story?

The Family - so creepy. Not inviting and engaging at all. I would have been turned OFF by them not felt like I should watch them 24/7. It was a little funny how they included her name in the show but they were clearly NOT concerned with her or her thoughts. They were just odd.
Maria: The “cousins” were SO incredibly bizarre! Creepy and disturbing. Again, I think Bradbury did a remarkable job describing his vision of the entertainment system in his book - and they completely ignored it. Did they even READ the book when they wrote this movie? Kathy: Haha! Exactly! It’s like when you hear a student talk about a book and you know they have no clue because they only read the book or heard others talking about it!

Housing - I liked the firehouse and Montag’s house. I didn’t like the houses they showed in the beginning. They were too sturdy and I thought the houses would be more easily burnable.
Maria: Hmm... I thought they looked like they belonged in the 60s. I guess I get why they wouldn’t want them to look too futuristic - the goal of the story is to feel “near future”, I think. But it’s like they could only say “hey, doors might open on their own” and that was the only nod to futurism at all. Even the phones looked ancient, and there were no “seashells” except when she went to bed. That appeared to only be her way to hear the tv without disturbing Guy’s sleep.

Televisions - what happened to the wall? That could have been done with a green screen! Yes, they had them in every room, but they didn’t seem immersed in them which is the impression I received from the book.
Maria: This was - honestly - the very first thing that pulled me right out of the movie. This would have been so easy to get right!

Television shows - they actually had the news playing at some point. Where was the fun and loud noise? Montag and Linda watched a show together! Also, when her friends were over - they were barely paying attention to the show, instead they were all talking.
Maria: I hated how they handled the television, sets and shows. So much of what I got from it was just the overwhelming CONSTANT noise, commercialism, etc. Yet this was missing completely from the movie. Again, did they read the book?

Book Burning - They mostly burned the books outside of the house. It was daylight. These choices were the opposite of Bradbury’s. What happened to all the contrasts of light/dark? Or even the types of light itself? And Montag wore special clothing to burn the books. That made the books more important and the invasion of television less so.
Maria: This was a startling change. Think how amazing the visuals on this could have been! Movies are supposed to be a visual experience, so why did they fall down on this area?

S-E-X - What about the scene on the tram where EVERYONE is touching themselves? The innuendoes from the blood changing men? The scene with Montag and Linda after she was cleansed? Was this just a French thing?
Maria: Heh. So true. Though if other things had been done well I could have understood this. I saw it as people craving true sensory input (rather than the sterile input from a screen). But the fact that they completely removed the “living life - experiencing life” message from Clarisse, this seemed like a bizarre side scene. Ah! that makes sense.

Police - a little “big brother” ish with the way they answer the phone Listening. Also why was it necessary to cut people’s hair? The police played a more prominent role in the movie. They even completed files on the “perpetrators” that were then sent to firemen. AFTER they’d already burned those people’s books.
Maria: I’m betting this ties in with the 60s mentality. Honestly, what a cool high school media literacy project this could be! Study the 60s and then watch the movie to pull out the possible reasoning for the movie choices.

River - First, flying policemen? That didn’t even make sense. And how did he know when they were gone if he was under the tarp? Why was there only one boat there? Also, he found the river much too easily. The chase scene was so much less dramatic without the hound. And the pretend chase? He ran around the fire department and got shot? No tension at all. And what about the people at the river? They weren’t even hiding! They were loud so it didn’t make sense that the government didn’t know they were there. Why were they allowed to congregate like that? I did like that they were like a family with people of all ages. And also that people’s names were changed to reflect the book they’d memorized. I didn’t like that the guy from the beginning of the movie and Clarisse were both there, but I guess it worked for the movie.
Maria: Can I also say that I didn’t like the way it just ended? Yes, the bombing in the book was extreme - but I thought it was more powerful. I also laughed when I saw the flying police officers. So they can do that - but not have wall sized televisions? So strange!

Well, have you read the book or seen the movie? Or both? We'd love to hear what you think about all this. In the meantime, pop on over to Maria's Melange to get her side of the (visual) story!

I'm an Amazon Associate. Links may redirect to Amazon.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Next Great Read

If you work in a school setting or have access to book reading students, you know they have one question -

Do you know any good books?

My snarkastic answer varies based on my relationship with said student. I've even setup a Good Books table, an idea I lifted from Bookends, but sometimes they just want ideas from me.

And just like the students, every now and again I turn to twitter and I ask my version of that question:

The most tweeted book was See You At Harry's By Jo Knowles. I've been avoiding that book because I heard it made people cry! That's the reason I haven't read Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness yet, even though I adored the rest of the Chaos Trilogy!

I like how Patrick and Cynthia also threw in some extra books. I haven't read Lions of Little Rock by Kristen Levine, One for the Murphy's by Lynda Mullaly Hunt or The Candymakers by Wendy Mass yet. I've got 2 of 3 here!

We had two nods to Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. It's one of our June selections for Mock Printz 2013 on Goodreads and I've been avoiding it the same as See You At Harry's!

And then we have a variety of other books!

The only one I haven't read is the Sophie Kinsella book. I've read The Mini-Shopoholic and loved it and keep forgetting to pick up smething else of hers.

All in all, I've a few books to move up in the TBR pile. I hope to get to the ones I missed in the next week or two! In the meantime, See You At Haw-ees! (Yes, I started it. But I will not cry!)

Are there any YA books that you've read and loved this year? Share titles in the comments!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown - Review and Giveaway

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown (website | twitter)
Publisher: Delacorte Press/Random House (book page)
Source: publisher
Genre: fantasy (killer mermaids)
Rating: 5/5
Buy it: Amazon | Indiebound

Merpeople are serious grudge holders. When Calder White was a wee merman his mom was killed waiting for Tom Hancock to fulfill his promise to her. The Whites have never forgiven the Hancock family. They've finally located Jason Hancock, one of Toms's descendants, and have a chance to pay the family back. By killing one of them! A life for a life. Calder's job is to use his earthly charms to get close to the Hancock family so he and his sisters can take them down.

These are killer mermaids! Not only do they want to get revenge but they also prey on humans. They feed off emotions. The happier the human, the more satiated the merperson! Creepy!

Calder tries his best to separate himself from his three evil mermaid stepsisters. He migrates at least a plane ride away from them every winter. But as soon as things start to warm-up, he can't resist his older sister Maris pulling him back to her side. Really, they are all linked and can see what the other person is thinking. His only way free is to get Maris to sever the connection.

Wait, did I mention that Jason Hancock has two daughters? One Calder's age? Can you see where this is going? Lies Beneath has the same premise as many other "I want to be with you but I will probably kill you. No hard feelings. It's just my nature" type of books but Greenwood Brown kept it from being cliched. Her engaging writing style and the relentless forward motion of the plot made it hard to put the book down. So I didn't. You won't want to either!

Hang on, do not be deceived by this cover, as georgous as it is. Lies Beneath is narrated by Calder White, a boy mermaid, er, merman. So, I'm guessing that's Lily on the cover. Deceptive even in it's beauty. Kinda like the merpeople. Well played, Anne Greenwood Brown, well played.

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Cat Girl's Day Off by Kimberly Pauley - bookaday #2

Cat Girl's Day Off
Kimberly Pauley
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5

I picked this one because of the cover. It's awesome in it's simplicity. Cool looking Asian kid who reminds me of one of the Amazing Dancer's friends. Big fluffy pink cat. What choice did I have but to pick it up?

Natalie's lives in family of super-Talented people. They work for the government. Natalie, however, has a Talent she disparages, she can understand and talk to cats. Not all animals, though. Basically, cats. So right there you know there are going to be some laughs because cats are notorious for their superiority. As a "Kat"hy I know what I'm talking about. JK!

Natalie and her celebrity-obsessed friends get caught up in a kidnapping personality swapping gig that they need to use Natalie's Talent to foil. Hilarity and hi-jinks ensue. Especially since the celebrities are remaking Ferris Beuller's Day Off!

I liked the cast of characters and the twist with who was kidnapped. It was a little slow in parts but mostly fun. I also enjoyed the mostly realistic setting.

This one's put out by Tu Books. They are an imprint to watch!

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Black Heart by Holly Black

Black Heart (Curse Workers, 3)
Holly Black
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Fantasy
Source: purchased

This is the final book The Curse Workers trilogy. We are reunited with Cassel who desperately wants to gain Lila's forgiveness. He's also being "trained" by his brother, Barron, to be a government agent when he leaves school. Add to this trying to negotiate the strained relationship between his roommate Sam and Sam's ex-girlfriend, Daneca.

Black Heart is about lies. The ones we tell to protect loved ones that just end up being the ones that hurt. I really enjoyed this one but it didn't really feel like the end to me. Or I just don't want to see the end of Cassel.

About the cover - they changed the cover on me after I'd already bought books 1 and 2. I loved those covers so much more than these new ones. I thought they old ones had character. Also, now my set doesn't match. Book!

Bookaday #1
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