[IBelieve]

This is the Official Book Review Thread where you can post reviews of books you have read. Here's an example of how to post a review.

Title: Missing You

Author: Meg Cabot

Summary:
Ever since a walk home on a particularly stormy day, Jessica Mastriani has had an ability like no other. She became known worldwide as Lightning Girl—a psychic who could find the location of anyone, dead or alive. Jess finally had no choice but to embrace her newfound talent, and ended up lending her skills to the U.S. government.

But her work for them has taken a terrible toll, and Jess resurfaces months later a shadow of her former self, her powers gone, Lightning Girl no more. Her only hope is starting over in a new place, a big city where nobody knows her. It's only when Rob Wilkins unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep that she's forced to face her past. Rob, all the way from back home, needs her help. But how can Jess, her powers gone, find anyone, let alone the sister of a man she once loved . . . when she can't even find herself?-- amazon.com

Review:
Missing You is a wonderful end to the 1-800 series. If you read any other books in the series, you have to read this one. The time gap between the fourth book and this one gives Jess a chance to mature and change, but even though she may be more mature and less violent, she still has a few of her old tricks up her sleeve.

I highly recommender this book to anyone who likes supernatural YA books.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0060874309.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
(You can also post the cover of the book.)

[crazy_bookworm]

Title: The Thieves of Ostia

Author: Caroline Lawrence

Summary:
Flavia Gemina is brilliant at finding things, so it's natural for her to solve mysteries. The daughter of a ship's captain living in Ostia, the port of Rome, in AD79, she acquires a gang of three friends who help her. There is Jonathan, the Jewish boy (and secretly a Christian); Nubia, the African slave girl; and Lupus, a mute beggar boy. Together they work out who severed the heads of the watchdogs that guard people's homes, and why he did it.

Review:
This is the first book in the Roman Mysteries series, 18 books are planned. I loved this book, it had me hooked from the beginning. There were lots of suspence and some funny parts too. It may sound a bit dull as it is set in AD79, but I found it just as good as books set in today. There are many Greek myths told as well, which I found very interesting. The books get even better as the series goes on, so after you are done reading this one, be sure to read the rest!

I would recommend this book to mystery lovers!

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/images/lawrenceostia.jpg

Grace x

[balletlover]

Title: Alice on Her Way

Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Summary: It's the moment Alice has been looking forward to for years -- her sixteenth birthday is coming up, and that means getting her driver's licence, with the freedom that entails. And before that important milestone, there's another delicious taste of freedom awaiting Alice and her friends -- a class trip to New York City, promising some serious partying once chaperones have gone to bed.

But sophomore year and driving lessons are a lot harder than Alice thought they would be, and then there's the problem with her new boyfriend, who is sometimes too attached to her. The older Alice gets, the more complicated her life seems to become.


Review: I think that this is the best Alice book so far. It has everything a good book needs. It has funny parts, but at the same time it has deep, serious parts that really make you think which make the Alice books so good. In this seventeenth book in the Alice series, you can really tell Alice is growing up and having new expeiences. But it still is always the same funny Alice in certain ways.
This book is good for anyone who likes romances, or just general teen books. The website says it is for ages 14+, but I read it (and I'm only 13) and it didn't bother me at all.

Cover: (This is the first picture I've ever posted, so it might mess up.)
http://www.simonsays.com/assets/isbn/0689870914/BC_0689870914.jpg

Read it!

:badgrin: katie :badgrin:

[balletlover]

^Yay! It worked.

[Alethea]

Title: Wuthering High

Author: Cara Lockwood

Summary:
Welcome to Bard Academy, where a group of supposedly troubled teens are about to get scared straight.
When Miranda, a slightly spoiled but spirited fifteen-year-old from Chicago, smashes up her father's car and goes to town with her stepmother's credit cards, she's shipped off to Bard Academy, a boarding school where she's supposed to learn to behave. Gothic and boring and strict, it's everything you'd expect of a reform school. But all is not what it seems at Bard....

For starters, Miranda's having horrific nightmares and the nearby woods are eerily impossible to navigate. The students' lives also start to mirror the classics they're reading -- tragic novels like Dracula, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre. So Miranda begins to suspect that Bard is haunted -- by famous writers who took their own lives -- and she senses that not all of them are happy. Complicating things even more is the fact that Ryan Kent -- a cute, smart, funny basketball player who went to Miranda's old high school -- landed himself in Bard, too. And the attention he's showing Miranda is making some of the other girls white as ghosts. Something ghoulish is definitely brewing at Bard, and Miranda seems to be at the center of ominous events, but whether it's typical high school b.s. or otherworldly danger remains to be seen.


Review:
This book was amazing. Suspenseful and mysterious. Miranda and the rest of her friends are completely well capture and in depth. The plot line is well developed. The popular references are funny as well as the classic fiction references that are weaved into the book. Miranda is funny and just an average...WELL, nevermind. You can find out for yourself. You start off thinking Miranda is basically your average self-centered rich girl(which she can be at times), but you see her come out of her shell when she falls into places at Bard. The supernatural aspect was amazing. I can't wait for more!

Plus, Heathcliff! HOT!

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/11380000/11381357.jpg





Title: The Scarlet Letterman

Author: Cara Lockwood

Summary:

The second book in the Bard Academy Series.
Miranda Tate and her closest friends have been let in on a powerful secret: their teachers are famous dead writers.
After a heroic first semester, Miranda's got Bard Academy's ghost faculty in her debt, a new boyfriend in hot basketball player Ryan Kent, and she's just turned in a paper about The Scarlet Letter that she's sure is A material. But when the Bard Queen Bee, Parker Rodham, claims she's attacked in the woods, Ryan is all too happy to play bodyguard. Then teachers start disappearing and the campus is abuzz with news of the Hooded Sweatshirt Stalker -- not to mention sightings of a monster in the woods. But it's Miranda who feels like a moving target when she is accused not only of plagiarism but of suspicious involvement in the attacks!

Meanwhile, rumors are flying about what it really means that Miranda's wearing Ryan's varsity letterman jacket. And she just can't shake her nagging feelings for Heathcliff, who entrusted her with the locket that keeps him in the "real" world even though every one else thinks he's back where he belongs, in the pages of Wuthering Heights. Is he the campus stalker? Does she like him more than she likes Ryan? And how is that possible if he's only a character from a book?

Review:

The action and suspense is a bit sharper in the first book but the second book doesn't disappoint. All the characters are back. And on their guard. Except in every possible way things go bad(god, the story of highschool). Miranda has to deal with things that every average teenage girl might be faced with. She handles it quite well and you see a bit deeper into her character. If you like Wuthering Heights, you'll enjoy The Scarlet Letterman. And I, for one, cannot wait for the next one. (Did I mention Heathcliff yet? Because, god, he's amazing).

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/12070000/12077128.jpg

[nonabugg]

Title: The Boyfriend List

Author: E. Lockhart

Summary:

Quote

From the Publisher
Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it's unusual, but give her a break, she's had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),

lost her best friend (Kim),

lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),

did something suspicious with a boy (#10),

did something advanced with a boy (#15),

had an argument with a boy (#14),

drank her first beer (someone handed it to her),

got caught by her mom (ag!),

had a panic attack (scary),

lost a lacrosse game (she's the goalie),

failed a math test (she'll make it up),

hurt Meghan's feelings (even though they aren't really friends),

became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)

and had graffiti written about her in the girls' bathroom (who knows what was in the boys'!?!).

But don't worry, Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.

But her work for them has taken a terrible toll, and Jess resurfaces months later a shadow of her former self, her powers gone, Lightning Girl no more. Her only hope is starting over in a new place, a big city where nobody knows her. It's only when Rob Wilkins unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep that she's forced to face her past. Rob, all the way from back home, needs her help. But how can Jess, her powers gone, find anyone, let alone the sister of a man she once loved . . . when she can't even find herself?-- amazon.com

Review:
This book is definitely not your regular chick-lit. Although the read can be light, it touches areas we, as teenage girls, can all relate to. I liked Ruby because she wasn't a complete freak but not a snob either; a girl just trying to fit in. The way the story is told makes us follow the book to reveal the whole plot and why Ruby is in the situation she is in. I loved how it broke cliche but wasn't extreme.

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/10800000/10802832.gif

[nonabugg]

Oops, I forgot to erase some of Missing You summary. I was using your example as a reference.

[xox-C@ndii-xox]

Title: Saving Francesca

Author: Melina Marchetta

Summary:
[Blurb:] Francesca is at the beginning of her second term in Year Eleven at an all boys' school that has just started accepting girls. She still misses her old friends, and, to make things worse, her mother has had a breakdown and can barely move from her bed.

But Francesca has not counted on the fierce loyalty of her new friends, or falling in love, or finding that it's within her power to bring her family back together.

Review:
Saving Francesca made me cry. It was crazily hilarious, with a typical teenage-novel-type plot. I loved how it portrayed a girl going through a difficult time in life, and even in the end, it's still not quite a happy ending, but, still a happy ending nevertheless. There are so many little things which made me laugh; the things you would laugh about with your friends. I found it easy to relate to, and it was all the small things which pieced it together. It made me smile, the ending. I think Francesca, her story, and the title connected really well.

I highly recommender this book to anyone who thinks this sounds; well, good, I guess. I wouldn't really put a label on this book, but it was really fantastic.

http://ink.news.com.au/ink/images/689/bigdeebo.jpg

[~*Lavender_ia*~]

Title: Company

Author: Max Barry

Summary: A bitingly funny take on corporate life. At Zephyr Holdings, no one has ever seen the CEO. The floors are numbered in reverse, the Mission Statement could mean almost anything, and the beautiful receptionist is paid twice as much as anybody else, but does no work. One of the sales reps uses relationship books as sales manuals, and another is on the warpath because somebody stole his donut. In other words, it's an ordinary big company. Or at least, that's what everyone thinks. Until fresh-faced employee Jones - too new to understand that you just don't ask some questions at Zephyr - starts investigating. Soon Jones uncovers the company's secret: the answer to everything, what Zephyr Holdings really does, and why every manager has a copy of the Omega Management System. It plunges him into a maelstrom of love, loyalty, management, and corporate immorality - and whether he can get out again... now that's a good question.

Review: This is, quite simply, THE funniest book I have read in a LONG time. I've never worked in an office environment, but my mother works for a government department, so I always hear her complain about the stuff that Company makes fun of.

Zephyr Holdings is completely useless. No one knows what it does, and no one bothers to ask. Jones, the protagonist, joins the Training Sales department. TS only sells its products to employees WITHIN Zephyr itself. The whole operation is ridiculous.

One continuing storyline is that of Roger and the stolen donut. This is as big a crime as stealing the crown jewels as far as he's concerned. After getting fellow sales employee Wendell fired for the theft (also he wanted Wendell's parking space), it emerges that poor Wendell had nothing to do with it at all. Feeling no remorse at all over his part in Wendell's demise, he continues the investigation until the truth is uncovered.

There are so many ridiculous parts of the plot, I can't list them all. But it's just hysterically funny. My favourite part by far is when Management tries to reduce the amount of breaks employees take to smoke - by establishing a little fenced off enclosure called SMOKERS CORRAL, complete with pictures of cartoon cows with cigarettes hanging out their mouths. It's completely demeaning and fantastic.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/1400079373.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

READ IT! I loved it.

Mia :)

[the_tall_girl]

Title: Glass Houses

Author: Rachel Caine

Summary:

[Summary of triology/series]
For Claire Danvers, high school was hell, but college may be murder.

Bad enough she got on the wrong side of Monica, the meanest of the her new school's mean girls ... but now she's got three new roommates, all with secrets of their own. And the biggest secret of all isn't really a secret, except from Claire: Morganville is run by vampires.

It's a good thing Claire's friends have her back, and Claire herself is the smartest 16-year-old advanced placement student the town's ever seen. She's going to need all the advantages she can get to survive Morganville ... much less manage a degree.

___________________________________________________________________

[Summary of Glass Houses alone]
Welcome to Morganville, Texas.

Just don't stay out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero.

When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

Review: If you haven't read this book yet, you have NO IDEA what you're missing! I alsolutely LOVE this book! [The second one comes out in TWO days! Eeek!] Anyway, I LOVE Claire! She has this witty, sarcastic, yet dark personality! And vampires! I mean, come on! Who DOESN'T love vampires! I love the fact that it's like a college with campus and everything and how Rachel Caine entwines everything so delicately and the plot! OMG! The plot is AMAZING! TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I can't even stretch how awesome this book is! Anyone that reads it will absolutely LOVE it! I mean, it's THAT good. I really can't wait till April third! Ahhh! It's driving me nuts! And some characters....wow...they leave you breathless. HOT! Grr. Why can't they be real, man?
Anyway, read it to find out! You will SO love it! *takes deep breath* Rachel Caine is amazing.

http://www.rachelcaine.com/glasshouses_sm.jpg

[the_tall_girl]

I don't know if I'm allowed to do this on this thread, but...

Sample Chapter:

GLASS HOUSES BY RACHEL CAINE

CHAPTER ONE

On the day Claire became a member of the Glass House, somebody stole her laundry.

Claire's hand, reaching into the crappy, beat-up washing machine, found nothing but the wet slick sides of the drum, and -- like a bad joke -- the worst pair of underwear she owned, plus one sock. She was in a hurry, of course -- there were only a couple of machines on this top floor of Howard Hall, the least-valued and most run-down rooms in the least-valued, most run-down dorm. Two washing machines, two dryers, and you were lucky if one of them was working on any given day and didn't eat your quarters. Forget about the dollar bill slot. She'd never seen it work, not in the last six weeks since she'd arrived at school.

"No," she said out loud, and balanced herself on the edge of the washer to look down into the dark, partly-rusted interior. It smelled like mold and cheap detergent. Getting a closer look didn't help.

One crappy pair of underwear, fraying at the seams. One sock.

She was missing every piece of clothing that she'd worn in the last two weeks. Every piece that she actually wanted to wear.

"No!" She yelled it into the washer, where it echoed back at her, and slumped back down, then kicked the washer violently in the dent made by all the other disappointed students before her. She couldn't breathe. She had some other clothes -- a few -- but they were last-choice clothes, oh-my-God-wouldn't-be-caught-dead clothes. Pants that were too short and made her look like a hick, shirts that were too big and too stupid, and made her look like her mom had picked them out. And she had.

Claire had about three hundred dollars left to last her for, well, months, after the latest round of calling out for pizza and buying yet another book for Professor Doofus Rufus, who didn't seem to have figured out yet what subject he was teaching.

She supposed she could find some clothes, if she looked around, that wouldn't totally blow her entire budget. After all, downtown Morganville, Texas was the Thrift Shop capital of the world. Assuming she could find anything she could stand to wear.

Mom said this would happen, she thought. I just have to think. Keep my cool.

Claire threw herself into an orange plastic chair, dumped her backpack on the scratched linoleum, and put her head in her hands. Her face felt hot, and she was shaking, and she knew, just knew, that she was going to cry. Cry like the baby they all said she was, too young to be here, too young to be away from mommy.

It sucked to be smart, because this was where it got you.

She gulped deep, damp breaths and sat back, willing herself not to bawl (because they'd hear), and wondered if she could call Mom and Dad for an extension on her allowance, or use the credit card that was "just for emergencies."

Then she saw the note. Not so much "note" as "graffiti," but it was addressed to her, over the painted cinder-block wall above the machines.

DEAR DORK, it read, WE FOUND TRASH IN THE MACHINES AND THREW IT DOWN THE CHUTE. IF YOU WANT IT DIVE FOR IT.

"crap," she breathed, and had to blink back tears again, for an entirely different reason. Blind, stupid rage. Monica. Well, Monica and the Monickettes, anyway. Why was it the hot mean girls always ran in packs, like hyenas? And why, with all the shimmery hair and long tanned legs and more of Daddy's money than Daddy's accountants, did they have to focus on her?

No, she knew the answer to that.

She'd made Monica look stupid in front of her friends, and some hot upperclassmen. Not it had been all that hard; she'd just been walking by, heard Monica saying, that World War II had been "that dumbass Chinese war thing."

And by simple reflex, she'd said, "It wasn't." The whole lot of them, slouched all over the couches in the dorm lobby, looked at her with as much blank surprise as if the Coke machine had just spoken up. Monica, her friends, three of the über-cool older frat boys.

"World War II," she'd plunged on, panicked and not quite sure how to get out of what she'd gotten herself into. "I just meant -- well, it wasn't the Korean War. That was later. World War II was with the Germans and the Japanese. You know, Pearl Harbor?"

And the guys had looked at Monica and laughed, and Monica had flushed -- not much, but enough to ruin the cool perfection of her makeup. "Remind me not to buy any history papers off of you," the cutest of the guys had said. "What kind of dumbass doesn't know that?" Though Claire had been sure none of them had, really. "Chinese. Riiiiight."

Claire had seen the fury in Monica's eyes, quickly covered over with smiles and laughter and flirting. Claire had ceased to exist again, for the guys.

For the girls, she was brand new, and unwelcome as hell. She'd been dealing with it all her life. Smart and small and average-looking wasn't exactly winning the life lottery; you had to fight for it, whatever it was. Somebody was always laughing, or hitting, or ignoring you, or a combination of the first two. She'd thought when she was a kid that getting laughed at was the worst thing, and then -- after the first couple of schoolyard showdowns -- getting hit jumped up to number one. But for most of her (brief, two-year) high school experience, being ignored was worse by far. She'd gotten there a year earlier than everybody else, and left a year ahead of them. Nobody liked that.

Nobody but teachers, anyway.

The problem was that Claire really loved school. Loved books, and reading, and learning things -- okay, not calculus, but pretty much everything else. Physics. What normal girl loved physics? Abnormal ones. Ones that were not ever going to be hot.

And face it, being hot? That was what life was all about. As Monica had proved, when the world had wobbled off its axis for a few seconds to notice Claire, and then wobbled right back to revolve around the pretty ones.

It wasn't fair. She'd dived in and worked her ass off through high school. Graduated with a perfect 4.0, scored high enough on the tests to qualify for admission to the great schools, the legendary schools, the ones where being a Brainiac mutant girl-freak wasn't necessarily a downside. (Except that, of course, at those schools, there were probably hot tall leggy Brainiac mutant girl-freaks.)

Didn't matter. Mom and Dad had taken one look at the stack of enthusiastic thumbs-up replies from universities like MIT and Cal Tech and Yale, and clamped down hard. No way was their sixteen (nearly seventeen, she kept insisting, although it wasn't really true) year-old daughter going to run off three thousand miles to go to school. At least not at first. (Claire had tried, unsuccessfully, to get across the concept that if anything would kill her budding academic career worse than being a transfer student in to one of those places, it was being a transfer student from Texas Prairie University. Otherwise known as TPEwwwwwww.)

So here she was, stuck on the crappy top floor of a crappy dorm in a crappy school where eighty percent of the students transferred after the first two years -- or dropped out -- and the Monickettes were stealing her wet laundry and dumping it down the trash chute, all because Monica couldn't be bothered to know anything about one of the world wars big enough to rate a Roman numeral.

But it isn't fair! something in her howled. I had a plan! An actual plan! Monica slept late, and she'd gotten up early, while all the party crowd was comatose and the studious crowd was off to classes, just to do laundry. She'd thought she could leave it for a couple of minutes to grab her shower -- another scary experience -- and she'd never even thought about anybody doing something so incredibly low.

As she bit back her sobs, she noticed -- again -- how quiet it was up here. Creepy and deserted, with half the girls deep asleep and the other half gone. Even when it was crowded and buzzing the dorm was creepy, though. Old, decrepit, full of shadows and corners and places mean girls could lurk. In fact, that summed up the whole town. Morganville was small and old and dusty, full of creepy little oddities. Like the fact that the street lights only worked half the time, and they were too far apart when they did. Like the way the people in the local campus stores seemed too happy. Desperately happy. Like the fact that the whole town, despite the dust, was clean -- no trash, no graffiti, nobody begging for spare change in alleyways.

Weird.

She could almost hear her mother saying, honey, it's just that you're in a strange place. It'll get better. You'll just have to try harder.

Mom always said things like that, and Claire had always done her best to hide how hard it was to follow that advice.

Well. Nothing to do but try to get her stuff back.

Claire gulped a couple more times, wiped her eyes, and hauled the arm-twisting weight of her backpack up and over her shoulder. She stared for a few seconds and the wet pair of panties and one sock clutched in her right hand, then hastily unzipped the front pocket of the backpack and stuffed them in. Man, that would kill whatever cool she had left, if she walked around carrying those.

"Well," said a low, satisfied voice from the open door opposite the stairs, "look who it is. The Dumpster diver."

Claire stopped, one hand on the rusted iron railing. Something was telling her to run, but something always told her that; fight or flight, she'd read the textbooks. And she was tired of flighting. She turned around slowly, as Monica Morrell stepped out of the dorm room -- not hers, so she'd busted Erica's lock again. Monica's running buddies Jennifer and Gina filed out and took up flanking positions. Soldiers in flip-flops and low-rise jeans and French manicures.

Monica struck a pose. It was something she was good at, Claire had to admit. Nearly six feet tall, Monica had flowing, shiny black hair like waist-length satin sheets, and big blue eyes accented with just the right amount of liner and mascara. Perfect skin. One of those model-shaped faces, all cheekbones and pouty lips. And if she had a model's body, it was a Victoria's Secret model, all curves, not angles.

She was rich, she was pretty, and as far as Claire could tell, it didn't make her a bit happy. What did, though -- what made those big blue eyes glow right now -- was the idea of tormenting Claire just a little more.

"Shouldn't you be in first period at the junior high by now?" Monica asked. "Or at least getting your first period?"

"Maybe she's looking for the clothes she left lying around," Gina piled on, and laughed. Jennifer laughed with her. Claire swore their eyes, their pretty jewel-colored eyes, just glowed with the joy of making her feel like crap. "Litterbug!"

"Clothes?" Monica folded her arms and pretended to think. "You mean, like those rags we threw away? The ones she left cluttering up the washer?"

"Yeah, those."

"I wouldn't wear those to sweat on."

"I wouldn't wear them to scrub out the boy's toilet," Jennifer blurted.

Monica, annoyed, turned and shoved her. "Yeah, you know all about the boy's toilet, don't you? Didn't you do Steve Gillespie in ninth grade in there?" She made sucking sounds, and they all laughed again, though Jennifer looked uncomfortable. Claire felt her cheeks flare red, even though it wasn't -- for a change -- a diss against her. "Jeez, Jen, Steve Gillespie? Keep your mouth shut if you can't think of something that won't embarrass yourself."

Jennifer -- of course -- turned her anger on a safer target. Claire. She lunged forward and shoved Claire back a step, toward the stairs. "Go get your stupid clothes already! I'm sick of looking at you, with your pasty skin -- "

"Yeah, Junior High, ever heard of sunshine?" Gina rolled her eyes.

"Watch it," Monica snapped, which was odd, because all three of them had the best tans money could buy.

Claire scrambled to get her balance. The heavy backpack pulled her off balance, and she grabbed on to the banister. Jen lunged at her again and slammed the heel of her hand painfully hard into Claire's collarbone. "Don't!" Claire yelped, and batted Jen's hand away. Hard.

There was a second of breathless silence, and then Monica said, very quietly, "Did you just hit my friend, you stupid little *%^##? Where do you think you get off, doing things like that around here?"

And she stepped forward and slapped Claire across the face, hard enough to draw blood, hard enough to make flares and comets streak across Claire's vision, hard enough to make everything turn red and boiling hot.

Claire let go of the banister and slapped Monica right back, full across her pouty mouth, and for just a tight, white-hot second she actually felt good about it, but then Monica hissed like a scorched cat, and Claire had time to think oh crap, I really shouldn't have done that.

She never saw the punch coming. Didn't even really feel the impact, except as a blank sensation and confusion, but then the weight of her backpack on her shoulder was pulling her off balance, staggering.

She almost caught her balance, and then Gina, grinning spitefully, reached over and shoved her backward, down the stairs, and there was nothing but air behind her.

She hit the edge of every stair, all the way to the bottom. Her backpack broke open and spilled books as she tumbled, and at the top of the stairs Monica and the Monickettes laughed and hooted and high-fived, but she only saw it in disconnected little jerks of motion, freeze-frames.

It seemed to take forever before she skidded to a stop at the bottom, and then her head hit the wall with a nasty, meaty sound, and everything went black.

She only remembered one more thing, in the darkness: Monica's voice, a low and vicious whisper. "Tonight. You'll get what's coming to you, you freak. I'm going to make sure."

It seemed like seconds, but when she woke up again there was somebody kneeling next to her, and it wasn't Monica or her nail-polish mafia; it was Erica, who had the room at the top of the stairs, four doors down from Claire's. Erica looked pale and strained and scared, and Claire tried to smile, because that was what you did when somebody was scared. She didn't hurt until she moved, and then her head started to throb. There was a red-hot ache near the top, and when she reached up to touch it she felt a hard raised knot. No blood, though. It hurt worse when she probed the spot, but not in an oh-my-God-skull-fracture kind of way, or at least that was what she hoped.

"Are you okay?" Erica asked, waving her hands kind of helplessly in mid-air as Claire wiggled her way up to a sitting position against the wall. Claire risked a quick look past her up the stairs, then down. The coast looked Monica-clear. Nobody else had come out to see what was up, either -- most of them were afraid of getting in trouble, and the rest just flat didn't care.

"Yeah," she said, and managed a shaky laugh. "Guess I tripped."

"You need to go to the quack shack?" Which was college code for the university clinic. "Or God, an ambulance or whatever?"

"No. No, I'm okay." Wishful thinking, but although basically everything in her body hurt like hell, nothing felt like it had broken into pieces. Claire got to her feet, winced at a sore ankle, and picked up her backpack. Notebooks tumbled out. Erica grabbed a couple and jammed them back in, then ran lightly up a few steps to gather the scattered textbooks. "Damn, Claire, do you really need all this crap? How many classes do you in a day?"

"Six."

"You're nuts." Erica, good deed done, reverted to the neutrality that all the non-cool girls in the dorm had showed her so far. "Better get to the quack shack, seriously. You look like crap."

Claire pasted on a smile and kept it there until Erica got to the top of the stairs, and started complaining about the broken lock on her dorm room.

Tonight, Monica had leaned over and whispered, You'll get what's coming to you, you freak. She hadn't called anybody, or tried to find out if Claire had a broken neck. She didn't care if Claire died.

No, that was wrong. The problem was, she did care.

Claire tasted blood. Her lip was split, and it was bleeding. She wiped at the mess with the back of her hand, then the hem of her t-shirt before realizing that it was literally the only thing she had to wear. I need to go down to the basement and get my clothes out of the trash. The idea of going down there -- going anywhere alone in this dorm, suddenly terrified her. Monica was waiting. And the other girls wouldn't do anything. Even Erica, who was probably the nicest one in the whole place, was scared to come right out on her side. Hell, Erica got hassled, too, but she was probably just as glad that Claire was there to get the worst of it. This wasn't just as bad as high school, where she'd been treated with contempt and casual cruelty -- this was worse, a lot worse. And she didn't even have any friends here. Erica was about the best she'd been able to come up with, and Erica was more concerned about her broken door than Claire's broken head.

She was alone. And if she hadn't been before, she was scared now. Really, really scared. What she'd seen in the Monica Mafia's eyes today wasn't just the usual lazy menace of cool girls versus the geeks; this was worse. She'd gotten casual shoves or pinches before, trips, mean laughter, but this was more like lions coming in for the kill.

They're going to kill me.

She started shakily down the flights of stairs, every step a wincing pain through her body, and remembered that she'd slapped Monica hard enough to leave a mark.

Yeah. They're going to kill me.

If Monica ended up with a bruise on that perfect face, there wasn't any question about it.


Erica was right about the quack shack being the logical first stop; Claire got her ankle wrapped, an ice pack, and some frowns over the forming bruises. Nothing broken, but she was going to be black and blue for days. The doctor asked some pro forma questions about boyfriends and stuff, but since she could truthfully say that no, her boyfriend hadn't beaten her up, he just shrugged and told her to watch her step.

He wrote her an excuse note, too, and gave her some painkillers and told her to go home.

No way was she going back there. Truth was, she didn't have much in the room -- some books, a few photos of home, some posters ... she hadn't even really had a chance to call it home, and for whatever reason, she'd never really felt safe there. It had always felt like ... a warehouse. A warehouse for kids who were, one way or another, going to leave.

She limped over to the Quad, which was a big empty concrete space with some rickety old benches and picnic tables, cornered on all sides by squat, unappealing buildings that mostly just looked like boxes with windows. Architecture student projects, probably. She heard a rumor that one of them had fallen down a few years back, but then, she'd also heard rumors about a janitor getting beheaded in the Chem Lab and haunting the building, and zombies roaming the grounds after dark, so she wasn't putting too much stock in it.

It was mid-afternoon already, and not a lot of students hanging around the Quad, with its lack of shade -- great design, considering that the weather was still hovering up in the high '90s in September. Claire picked up a campus paper from the stand, took a seat carefully on the blazing-hot bench, and opened it to the HOUSING section. Dorm rooms were out of the question; Howard Hall and Lansdale Hall were the only two that took in girls under twenty. She wasn't old enough to qualify for the co-ed dorms. Stupid rules were probably written when girls worse hoop skirts, she thought, and skipped the dorm listings until she got to OFF CAMPUS. Not that she was really allowed to be living off campus; Mom and Dad would have a total freakout over it, no question. But ... if it was between Monica and parental freakage, she'd take the latter. After all, the important thing was to get herself someplace where she felt safe, where she could study.

Right?

She dug in her backpack, found her cell phone, and checked for coverage. It was kind of lame in Morganville, truthfully; out in the middle the prairie, in the middle of Texas, which was about as middle-of-nowhere as it was possible to get unless you wanted to go to Mongolia or something. Two bars. Not great, but it'd do.

Claire started dialing numbers. The first one told her that they'd already found somebody, and hung up before she could even say "thanks." The second one sounded like a weird old guy. The third one was a weird old lady. The fourth one ... well, the fourth one was just plain weird.

The fifth listing down read, THREE ROOMMATES SEEKING FOURTH, huge old house, privacy assured, reasonable rent and utilities. Which, okay, she wasn't sure that she could afford "reasonable," she was more looking for "dirt cheap," but at least it sounded less weird than the others. Three roommates. That meant three more people who'd maybe take up for her if Monica and company came sniffing around ... or at least, take up for the house. Hmmmmm.

She called, and got an answering machine with a mellow-sounding, young-sounding male voice.

"Hello, you've reached the Glass House. If you're looking for Michael, he sleeps days. If you're looking for Shane, good luck with that, 'cause we never know where the hell he is -- " Distant laughter from at least two people. "And if you're looking for Eve, you'll probably get her on her cell phone or at the shop. But hey. Leave a message. And if you're looking to audition for the room, come on by. 716 West Lot Street." A totally different voice, a female one lightened up by giggles like bubbles in soda, said, "Yeah, just look for the mansion." And then a third voice, male again. "Gone With The Wind meets The Munsters." More laughter, and a beep.

Claire blinked, coughed, and finally said, "Um ... hi. My name is Claire? Claire Danvers? And I was, um, calling about the, um, room thing. Sorry." And hung up in a panic. Those three people sounded ... normal. But they sounded pretty close, too. And in her experience, groups of friends like that just didn't open up to include underage, undersized geeks like her. They hadn't sounded mean, they just sounded -- self-confident. Something she wasn't.

She checked the rest of the listings, and felt her heart actually sink a little. Maybe an inch and a half, with a slight sideways twist. God, I'm dead. She couldn't sleep out here on a bench like some homeless loser, and she couldn't go back to the dorm; she had to do something.

Fine, she thought, and snapped her phone shut, then open again to dial a cab.

716 Lot Street. Gone With The Wind meets The Munsters. Right.

Maybe they'd at least feel sorry enough for her to put her up for one lousy night.

The cabbie -- she figured he was just about the only cab driver in Morganville, which apart from the campus at TPU on the edge of town only had about ten thousand people in it -- took an hour to show up. Claire hadn't been in a car in six weeks, since her parents had driven her into town. She hadn't been much beyond a block of the campus, either, and then just to buy used books for class.

"You meeting someone?" the cabbie asked. She was staring out the window at the storefronts: used clothing shops, used book shops, computer stores, stores that sold nothing but wooden Greek letters. All catering to the college.

"No," she said. "Why?"

The cabbie shrugged. "Usually you kids are meeting up with friends. If you're looking for a good time -- "

She shivered. "I'm not. I'm -- yes, I'm meeting some people. If you could hurry, please ...?"

He grunted and took a right turn, and the cab went from Collegetown to Creepytown in one block flat. She couldn't define how it happened exactly -- the buildings were pretty much the same, but they looked dim and old, and the few people moving on the streets had their heads down and were walking fast. Even when people were walking in twos or threes, they weren't chatting. When the cab passed, people looked up, then down again, as if they'd been looking for another kind of car.

A little girl was walking with her hand in her mother's, and as the cab stopped for a light, the girl waved, just a little. Claire waved back.

The girl's mother looked up, alarmed, and hustled her kid away into the black mouth of a store that sold used electronics. Wow, Claire thought. Do I look that scary? Maybe she did. Or maybe Morganville was just ultra-careful of its kids.

Funny, now that she thought about it, there was something missing in this town. Signs. She'd seen them all her life stapled to telephone poles ... advertisements for lost dogs, missing kids or adults.

Nothing here. Nothing.

"Lot Street," the cabbie announced, and squealed to a stop. "Ten fifty."

For a five minute ride? Claire thought, amazed, but she paid up. She thought about shooting him the finger as he drove away, but he looked kind of dangerous, and besides, she really wasn't the kind of girl who did that sort of thing. Usually. It was a bad day, though.

She hoisted her backpack again, hit a bruise on her shoulder and nearly dropped the weight on her foot. Tears stung at her eyes. All of a sudden she felt tired and shaky again, scared ... at least on campus she'd kind of been on relatively familiar ground, but out here in town it was like being a stranger, all over again.

Morganville was brown. Burned brown by the sun, beaten down by wind and weather. Hot summer was starting to give way to hot autumn, and the leaves on the trees -- what trees there were -- looked gray-edged and dry, and they rattled like paper in the wind. West Lot Street was near what passed for the downtown district in town, probably an old residential neighborhood. Nothing special about the homes that she could see ... ranch houses, most of them with peeling, faded paint.

She counted house numbers, and realized she was standing in front of 712. She turned and looked behind her, and gasped, because whoever the guy had been on the phone, he'd been dead-on right in his description. 716 looked like a movie set, something straight out of the Civil War. Big graying columns. A wide front porch. Two stories of windows.

The place was huge. Well, not huge -- but bigger than Claire had imagined. Like, big enough to be a frat house, and probably perfectly suited to it. She could just imagine Greek letters over the door.

It looked deserted, but to be fair every house on the block looked deserted. Late afternoon, nobody home from work yet. A few cars glittered in the white-hot sunshine, finish softened by a layer of dirt. No cars in front of 716, though.

This was such a bad idea, she thought, and there were those tears again, bubbling up along with panic. What was she going to do? Walk up to the door and beg to be a roommate? How lame-ass was that? They'd think she was pathetic at best, a head-case at worst. No, it had been a dumb idea to even blow the money on cab fare.

It was hot, and she was tired and she hurt and she had homework due, and no place to sleep, and all of a sudden, it was just too much.

Claire dropped her backpack, buried her bruised face in both hands, and just starting sobbing like a baby. Crybaby freak, she imagined Monica saying, but that just made her sob harder, and all of a sudden the idea of going home, going home to Mom and Dad and the room she knew they'd kept open for her seemed better, better than anything out here in the scary, crazy world ...

"Hey," a girl's voice said, and someone touched her on the elbow. "Hey, are you okay?"

Claire yelped and jumped, landed hard on her strained ankle and nearly toppled over. The girl who'd scared her reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her, looking genuinely scared herself. "I'm sorry! God, I'm such a klutz. Look, are you okay?"

The girl wasn't Monica, or Jen, or Gina, or anybody else she'd seen around the campus at TPU; this girl was way Goth. Not in a bad way -- she didn't have the sulky I'm-so-not-cool-I'm-cool 'tude of most of the Goths Claire had known in school -- but the dyed-black, shag-cut hair, the pale makeup, the heavy eyeliner and mascara, the red-and-black striped tights and clunky black shoes and black pleated miniskirt ... very definitely a fan of the dark side.

"My name's Eve," the girl said, and smiled. It was a sweet, funny kind of smile, something that invited Claire to share in a private joke. "Yeah, they really named me that, go figure. It's like they knew how I'd turn out." Her smile faded, and she took a good look at Claire's face. "Wow. Jeez, nice black eye. Who hit you?"

"Nobody." Claire said it instantly, without even thinking why, although she knew in her bones that Goth Eve was in no way bestest friends with Preppy Monica. "I had an accident."

"Yeah," Eve agreed softly. "I used to have those kinds of accidents, falling into fists and stuff. Like I said, I'm a klutz. You okay? You need a doctor or something? I can drive you if you want."

She gestured to the street next to them, and Claire realized that while she'd been sobbing her eyes out, an ancient beater of a black Cadillac -- complete with tail fins -- had been docked at the curb. There was a cheery-looking skull dangling from the rear view mirror, and Claire had no doubt that the back bumper would be plastered with stickers for bands nobody had ever heard of.

She liked Eve already. "No," she said, and swiped at her eyes angrily with the back of her hand. "I, uh -- look, I'm sorry. It's been a really awful day. I was coming to ask about the room, but -- "

"Right, the room!" Eve snapped her fingers, as if she'd forgotten all about it, and jumped two or three times up and down in excitement. "Great! I'm just home for break -- I work over at Common Grounds, you know, the coffee shop? -- and Michael won't be up for a while yet, but you can come in and see the house if you want. I don't know if Shane's around, but -- "

"I don't know if I should -- "

"You should. You totally should." Eve rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't believe the losers we see trying to get in the door. I mean, seriously. Freaks. You're the first normal one I've seen so far, Michael would kick my ass if I let you get away without at least trying a sales pitch."

Claire blinked. Somehow, she'd been thinking that she'd be the one begging for them to consider her ... and normal? Eve thought she was normal?

"Sure," she heard herself say. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Eve grabbed her backpack and slung it over her own shoulder, on top of her black silver-studded purse in the shape of a coffin. "Follow me." And she bounced away, up the walk to the gracious Southern Gothic front porch to unlock the door.

Up close, the house looked old, but not really run-down as such; weathered, Claire decided. Could have used some paint here and there, and the cast-iron chairs needed a coat, too. The front door, seen up close, was actually double-sized, with a big stained glass panel at the top.

"Yo!" Eve yelled, and dumped Claire's backpack on a table in the hallway, her purse next to it, her keys in an antique-looking ashtray with a cast-iron monkey on the handle. "Roomies! We've got a live one!"

It occurred to Claire, as the door boomed shut behind her, that there were a couple of ways to interpret that, and one of them -- the Texas Chainsaw Massacre way -- wasn't good. She stopped moving, frozen, and just looked around.

Nothing overtly creepy about the inside of the house, at least. Lots of wood, clean and simple. Chips of paint knocked off of corners, like it had seen a lot of life. It smelled like lemon polish and -- chili?

"Yo!" Eve yelled again, and clumped on down the hall. It opened up to a bigger room; from what Claire could see, there were big leather couches and bookshelves, like a real home. Maybe this was what off-campus housing looked like. If so, it was a big step up from dorm life. "Shane, I smell the chili, I know you're here! Get your headphones out of your ears!"

She couldn't quite imagine Texas Chainsaw Massacre taking place in a room like that, either. That was a plus. Or, for that matter, serial killing roommates doing something as homey as making chili. Good chili, from the way it smelled. With ... garlic?

She took a couple of hesitant steps down the hallway. Eve's footsteps were clunking off into another room, maybe the kitchen. The house seemed very quiet. Nothing jumped out to scare her, so Claire proceeded, one careful foot after another, all the way into the big central room.

And a guy lying sprawled on the couch -- the way only guys could sprawl -- yawned and sat up rubbing his head. When Claire opened her mouth -- whether to say hello or to yell for help, she didn't know -- he surprised her into silence by grinning at her and putting his finger over his mouth to shush her. "Hey," he whispered. "I'm Shane. What's up?" He blinked a couple of times, and without any change in his expression, said, "Dude, that is a bad-ass shiner. Hurts, huh?"

She nodded slightly. Shane swung his legs off the couch and sat there, watching her, elbows on his knees and hands dangling loosely. He had brown hair, cut in uneven layers that didn't quite manage to look punk. He was an older boy, older than her, anyway. Eighteen? A big guy, and tall to match it. Big enough to make her feel more miniature than usual. She thought his eyes looked brown, but she didn't dare meet them for more than a flicker at a time.

"So I guess you're gonna say that the other chick looks worse," Shane said.

She shook her head, then winced when motion made it hurt even worse. "No, I -- Um -- how did you know it was -- ?"

"A chick? Easy. Size you are, a guy would have put you in the hospital with a punch hard enough to leave a mark like that. So what's up with that? You don't look like you go looking for trouble."

She felt like she ought to take offense about that, but honestly, this whole thing was starting to feel like some strange dream anyway. Maybe she'd never woken up at all. Maybe she was lying in a coma in a hospital bed, and Shane was just her lame-ass equivalent of the Cheshire Cat. "I'm Claire," she said, and made an awkward wave. "Hi."

He nodded toward a leather wing chair. She slid into it, feet dangling, and felt a weird sense of relief wash over her. It felt like home, although of course it wasn't, and she was starting to think that it really couldn't be. She didn't fit here. She couldn't actually imagine who would.

"You want something?" Shane asked suddenly. "Coke, maybe? Chili? Bus ticket back home?"

"Coke," she said, and, surprisingly, "and chili."

"Awesome choice. I made it myself. The chili, not the Coke." He slid off the couch, weirdly boneless for his size, and padded barefoot into the kitchen where Eve had gone. Claire listened to a blur of voices as the two of them talked, and relaxed, one muscle at a time, into the soft embrace of the chair. She hadn't noticed until now, but the house was kept cool, and the lazy circle of the ceiling fan overhead swept chilly air over her hot, aching face. It felt nice.

She opened her eyes at the sound of Eve's shoes clomping back into the room. Eve was carrying a tray with a red-and-white can, a bowl, a spoon, and an ice pack. She set the tray on a coffee table and nudged the table toward Claire with her knee. "Ice pack first," she said. "You can never tell what Shane puts in the chili. Be afraid."

Shane padded back to the couch and flopped, sucking on his own can of soda. Eve shot him an exasperated look. "Yeah, man, thanks for bring me one, too." The raccoon eye makeup exaggerated her eyeroll. "Dork."

"Didn't know if you wanted zombie dirt sprinkled on it or anything. If you're eating this week."

"Dork! Go on and eat, I'll go get my own."

Claire picked up the spoon and tried a tentative bite of the chili, which was thick and meaty and spicy, heavy on the garlic. Delicious, in fact. She'd gotten used to cafeteria food, and this was just ... wow. Not. Shane watched her, eyebrows up, as she started to shovel it in. "'Sgood," she mumbled. He gave her a lazy salute. By the time she was halfway through the bowl, Eve was back with her own tray, which she plunked down on the other half of the coffee table. Eve sat on the floor, crossed her legs, and dug in.

"Not bad," she finally said. "At least you left out the oh-my-God sauce this time."

"Made myself a batch with it," Shane said. "It's got the biohazard sticker on it in the fridge, so don't *%^## if you get flamed. Where'd you pick up the stray?"

"Outside. She came to see the room."

"You beat her up first, just to make sure she's tough enough?"

"Bite me, chili boy."

"Don't mind Eve," he told Claire. "She's hates working days. She's afraid she'll tan."

"Yeah, and Shane just hates working. So what's your name?"

Claire opened her mouth, but Shane beat her to it, clearly happy to one-up his roomie. "Claire. What, you didn't even ask? A chick beat her up, too. Probably some skank in the dorms. You know how that place is over there."

They exchanged a look. A long one. Eve turned back to Claire. "Is that true? You got beat up in the dorm?" She nodded, hastily shoveling more food in her mouth to keep from having to say much. "Well, that totally blows. No wonder you're looking for the room." Another nod. "You didn't bring much with you."

"I don't have much," she said. "Just the books, and maybe a couple of things back at my room. But -- I don't want to go back there to get stuff. Not tonight."

"Why not?" Shane had grabbed a ratty-looking old baseball from the floor and tossed it up toward the tall ceiling, narrowly missing the spinning blades of the fans. He caught it without effort. "Somebody still looking to pound you?"

"Yeah," Claire said, and looked down into her fast-diminishing chili. "Guess so. It's not just her, its -- she's got friends. And ... I don't. That place just -- well, it's creepy."

"Been there," Eve said. "Oh wait, still there."

Shane mimed throwing the baseball at her. She mimed ducking.

"What time is Michael getting up?"

Shane gave her another mock throw. "Hell, Eve, I don't know, I love the guy but I don't love the guy. Go bang on his door and ask. Me, I'm gonna go get ready."

"Ready for what?" Eve asked. "You're not seriously going out again, are you?"

"Seriously, yeah. Bowling. Her name's Laura. If you want more details, you're gonna have to download the video like everybody else." Shane rolled off the couch, stood up and padded off toward the wide stairs leading up to the second floor. Where, Claire guessed, the bedrooms were. "See you later, Claire."

Eve made a frustrated sound. "Wait a minute! So what do you say? You think she'd do okay here, or what?"

Shane waved a hand. "Whatever, man. Far as I'm concerned, she's okay." He gave Claire one quick look, a crooked and oddly sweet smile, and bounded up the stairs. He moved like an athlete, but without the swagger she was used to. Kind of hot, actually.

"Guys," Eve sighed. "Damn, it'd be good to have another girl in here. They're all like, yeah, whatever, and then when it comes to picking up the place or washing dishes, they turn into ghosts. Not that you have to like be a maid or anything, I mean ... you just got to yell at 'em until they do their part or they walk all over you."

Claire smiled, or tried to, but her split lip throbbed, and she felt the scab break open again. Blood dribbled down her chin, and she grabbed the napkin Eve had put on the tray and put pressure on it. Eve watched in silence, frowning, and then got up from the floor, picked up the icepack, and settled it gently against the bump on Claire's head. "How's that?" she asked.

"Better." It was. The ice began to numb the ache almost immediately, and the food was setting up a nice warm fire in her stomach. "Um, I guess I should ask ... about the room ..."

"Well, you have to meet Michael, and he has to say yes, but Michael's a sweetie, really. Oh, and he owns this place. His family does, anyway. I think they moved away and left him the house a couple of years ago. He's about six months older than me. We're all about eighteen. Michael's sort of the oldest."

"He sleeps days?"

"Yeah. I mean, I like to sleep days, but he's got a thing about it. I called him a vampire, once, 'cause he really doesn't like being up in the daytime. Like, ever. He didn't think it was real funny."

"You're sure he's not a vampire?" Claire said. "I've seen movies. They're sneaky." She was kidding. Eve didn't smile.

"Oh, pretty sure. For one thing, he eats Shane's chili, which God knows has enough garlic to explode a dozen high-quality Dracs. And I made him touch a cross once." Eve took a big swallow of her Coke.

"You -- what? Made him?"

"Well, sure, yeah. I mean, a girl can't be too careful, especially around here." Claire must have looked blank, because Eve did the eyeroll thing again. It was her favorite expression, Claire was sure. "In Morganville? You know?"

"What about it?"

"You mean you don't know? How can you not know?" Eve set her can down and got up to her knees, leaning elbows on the coffee table. She looked earnest under the thick makeup. Her eyes were dark brown, edged with gold. "Morganville's full of vampires."

Claire laughed. Eve didn't.



Review: Don't you just love it? I'm going to go and reread the book again. Lol I'm sorry. I'm alway exited about this book. I always tell anyone that I know about it. :D

[IBelieve]

Title: Life As We Knew It

Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer

Summary:
It's almost the end of Miranda's sophomore year in high school, and her journal reflects the busy life of a typical teenager: conversations with friends, fights with mom, and fervent hopes for a driver's license. When Miranda first begins hearing the reports of a meteor on a collision course with the moon, it hardly seems worth a mention in her diary. But after the meteor hits, pushing the moon off its axis and causing worldwide earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, all the things Miranda used to take for granted begin to disappear. Food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes, come to her small Pennsylvania town; and Miranda's voice is by turns petulant, angry, and finally resigned, as her family is forced to make tough choices while they consider their increasingly limited options. Yet even as suspicious neighbors stockpile food in anticipation of a looming winter without heat or electricity, Miranda knows that that her future is still hers to decide even if life as she knew it is over.--Jennifer Hubert, amazon.com

Review:
This novel was amazing. The whole time I was reading it, I felt like I was Miranda, feeling hopeless as the temperature got colder and colder and the food supply less and less. I felt connected to each member of her family and found myself willing them not to die. This is an incredible novel that I think everyone should read.

http://www.harcourtbooks.com/images/bookcovers/150/0152058265_150.jpg

[Pink*Snowflake]

Title: Lucky T

Author: Kate Brian

Summary: Carrie Fitzgerald is the luckiest girl: She is the only sophomore on the varsity basketball team, she always had the lead in the school play, and she has the cutest boyfriend in school. Carrie Fitzgerald is also the most superstitious girl: She attributes all of her good luck to a Moroccan T-shirt that her father sent her from one of his distant jaunts around the world. When her mother accidentally donates Carrie's lucky T to Help India and her good luck starts running out, Carrie does what any logical girl would do -- she travels halfway around the world to get it back. But as she scours a foreign land for her luck, she finds a lot more than she ever expected. She's going to need more than luck to find her way back home again.

Review: This book was very intruiging, and absolutely funny. It shows the power of the mind, and how friendships and families can be twisted by one little thing. I loved that Carrie was very spunky and sporty, but sort of glamesque, anyway. This is a great book, a great author, and a great way to spend your time.

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[Cabot~Fan]

Title: A Break With Charity (A Story of The Salem Witch Trials)

Author: Ann Rinaldi

Summary: (stolen from Amazon.com)
Boredom and frustration in a small Puritan town provide fertile ground for a band of teenage girls to incite and nurture deadly mischief. Susannah English, caught between the desire to be a part of the group and her revulsion toward their wickedness, finds herself an unwilling party to what would become the Salem witch trials. A graceful blend of fiction and history, Rinaldi's incisive and thoughtful narrative brings to life a dark period in America's past. The reader is confronted with conflicting and disturbing issues: lies masquerading as divine truth, courage, trust and the terrifying power of a rising tide of hysteria. The artful placement of Susannah as an observer provides a 360-degree view of the causes and effects of inexplicable mass persecution. At the same time, the author's quiet, factual style stands in a soothing contrast to her inherently shocking and histrionic subject matter. Finely tuned, well researched and very accessible, this novel ranks with Rinaldi's finest work. Ages 10-up.

Review:
I read this book as an independent lit circle book, and I really think that I will read more of this author. Even though this type of book usually doesn't appeal to me, I really thought that the accuracy with history of the Salem Witch Trials tied in really well, while still providing a fictional but moving story about a girl who struggles to speak the truth in a time when it seems like everything is at stake.

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~Chelsie ♥

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: Fairest

Author: Gail Carson Levine

Summary: (stolen from Amazon.com)
In a world in which elegance, beauty, and singing ability are revered, Aza is bulky, awkward, and homely. Her saving grace is that she can sing and has a gift of voice manipulation that she calls illusing. Through a chance meeting at her familys inn, a duchess invites Aza to act as her companion and accompany her to the palace to attend the kings wedding. When the beautiful new queen discovers Azas gift for throwing her voice and for mimicry, she sees a way of protecting her reputation and disguising her own lack of talent. Pressured by the womans threats upon her family, Aza deceives the court into believing that Ivi is a gifted singer. When the ruse is discovered, Aza is forced to flee the castle in order to save her life. Through her adventures, she discovers her own strength of character, learns about her true heritage, and decides that her physical appearance is not worthy of the stress and worry she has wasted on it. The plot is fast-paced, and Azas growth and maturity are well crafted and believable. Readers will enjoy the fairy-tale setting while identifying with the real-life problems of living in an appearance-obsessed society. A distinguished addition to any collection.

Review:
As a fan of other Gail Carson Levine's books-Ella Enchanted and The Two Princesses of Bamarre, especially- I was super excited to read this book. And it turns out that it is just as good as the others. It's smart and clever without sounding too overwhelming or confusing, and it's a book that once you get into it you can't put it down. You can sympathize with Aza, and I found myself rooting for her the whole way.

In typical fairytale fashion, it has a happily ever after ending, but that's part of what adds to the charm. It's one of those books where you know how it's going to end, but how the character gets there is more important than where she winds up.

This book is good for a light and fluffy (and quick, if you're me) read, and I would recommend it to someone in the mood to disappear, if only through the pages of a good book.

Okay, that sounded kind of corny, but it's true. I love Gail Carson Levine...

http://webcontent.harpercollins.com/images/large/0060734086.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[jessinia]

OMG! I read both of the above, and I have to recommend Fairest. You're right. It is great. BWC was a bit scary, but well written. If you likedd it, Chelsie, read Fifth of March. It is also by Ann Rinaldi, and is an EXCELLENT book. Now. My review:

Title: Artemis Fowl

Author: Eoin Colfer (Did you know is name is pronounced Ee-in?)

Summary: (I came up with this...)

Artemis Fowl is a mastermind. A criminal mastermind to be exact. He believes in Magic, but at his advanced mind, he wants to prove it's true. By accessing a great book of Fairies, he slowly puts the UnderGround Fairy World into danger. But these aren't your Run-of-the-Mill fairies. They will do anything to protect their secret world, and Captain Holly Short is one of them. She's 8 inches high, armed and dangerous. Will she reach the great Artemis? Only time will tell. And as you read you will ask yourself over, and over... How does a boy of 12 get into so much trouble? Because he wants the Fairies' Gold. And he will let nothing stand in his way.

http://www.yourlibrary.ws/ya_webpage/ritba/ritba02/artemis.jpg

Review:
Wow. This book is excellent. It has 4 sequels:
Artemis Fowl and the Artic Incident:
~Artemis goes on a mission around the world to save his father, whom had been long supposed dead. But he needs help and the Fairies owe him... He needs a power source and it begins with an M...

http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageType-100/1069-1/{63CAE1AF-5686-422F-BCF3-B50C1C864E29}Img100.jpg

Artemis Fowl and The Eternity Code:
~Artemis has sucessfully stolen Fairy technology. But now that he has accidentally befriended them, he will not harm them any longer. When one of Artemis schemes finally ends tragically in the lost of an old friend, Artemis's friends feel they must help him... But someone is doing something to manipulate and destroy the Fairy World and rule the surface...

http://www.audiobooksonline.com/shopsite/media/Artemis_Fowl_Eternity_Code_compact_discs.jpg

Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception:
~Opal is angry. Outsmarted and defeated, she waits out her time for revenge... Somone will pay...with their lives...

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/9310000/9314488.jpg

And lastly, and all new:

Artemis Fowl and The Lost Colony:
~Demons. A time tunnel created to keep the demons out of time and space is detiriorating. Demons are appearing everywhere and the Fairy folk are helpless to predicted where the next one will land on Earth. But someone can predict the time with their superior intellect, and his name is Artemis Fowl. But this time, someone else is in the game. And she's only twelve years old...

http://www.ada.lib.oh.us/images/newbook%20images/artemis%20fowl.jpg

__________

Phew! That was alot!

Jess the Shocker :blink:

[Cabot~Fan]

jessinia, on Apr 20 2007, 12:05 AM, said:

OMG! I read both of the above, and I have to recommend Fairest. You're right. It is great. BWC was a bit scary, but well written. If you likedd it, Chelsie, read Fifth of March. It is also by Ann Rinaldi, and is an EXCELLENT book.

Ah, thank you Jess. I'll be sure to look into that, and not just for my sake but for my friend Lara, since she's not turning into a huge Ann Rinaldi fan also...

Now, I just have to say that these book reviews are addicting... it's too bad more people don't do them, since they're not too hard and they really help a lot...

Title: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Author: Rachel Cohn (she write's Norah's POV) and David Levithan (he write's Nick's POV

Summary: (stolen from Amazon.com)
Grade 9 Up What happens when two witty, wise, but vulnerable teens meet by accident at a chaotic punk rock club? They fall in love, of course. While both are dealing with the fallout of failed relationships and the infinite hurt that accompanies them, they are questioning everything about themselves, their friends, and their future paths. The passion and intelligence of these characters, along with the authors' intimate knowledge of and complete respect for their audience, make this novel unique. Told in alternating chapters over the course of a single night, the narratives create a fully fleshed-out picture of both teens, informed by their love of music, their devotion to their friends, and their clear-eyed view of the world. These kids don't drink or do drugs and it's solely their obsession with music that takes them to these clubs. One of Norah's relatives calls her a potty mouth, and that's no exaggeration. Throughout the book, the expletives fly fast and furious, but they are more about personal expression and in-your-face attitude than about strong emotions. Yet, there is also considerable depth and sensitivity. Norah explains the Jewish concept of tikkun olam the responsibility to heal a fractured world and Nick comes up with an original spin on it. There are many heart-stopping, insightful moments in this supremely satisfying and sexy romance. A first-rate read.

Review:
Well, after skimming the reviews on Amazon just now I'm kind of happy, because mostly all of them were good reviews. :D And I'll start this off by saying that yes, this book says the f-word A LOT and yes, it's kind of mature. But then I will go on by saying that this book made me laugh out loud. Which is good for me, because any book that has my attention like that is officially a Good Book. If a book makes me laugh it doesn't mean it's The Best Book Ever, but it will definitely be a Good or Great Book.

And now I'll say that it was, in my opinion, a Great Book. It just had this feeling to it, where everything was so interesting and different and I could really tell that Rachel Cohn and David Levithan are different people and yet they still sound like they belong writing together.

Still, I say this book is meant for 9th or 10th grade up, like the above summary says, because it is mature and I also don't want anyone getting mad at me for not mentioning that in my review, or if someone went to go read the book and were pleasantly surprised...

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0375835318.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_V45526075_AA240_.jpg

~Chelsie ♥♥

[the_tall_girl]

Title: A Certain Slant of Light

Author: Laura Whitcomb

Summary:
In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: For the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen--terrified, but intrigued--is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

Review: Oh...my...god! I absolutely loved this book. It is so fantastic, it blew my freaking mind away. It's so romantic and yet paranormal. James is hot. I love ghosts. I love the ending. I loved how they borrowed bodies so that they could be together. I loved how the author entwined everything together like that. It's absolutely brilliant. I recommed this book to everyone... Though it's a fifteen and over kind of book. Lol Oh my god. It's one of my favourite books. I'm serious. It takes a lot for a book to be at my top list. It's that good!

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/assets/product/061858532X.gif     

[Don't you just love the cover? Kind of creepy when you look at it closely, but it's awesome!]

[Chelsie, I so wanna read Fairest now! It sounds SO interesting! I'm gonna go on Amazon as soon as I get home!]

[~*Mrs.Cullen*~]

Title: The Book of Luke
Author: Jenny O'Connell

Description:(from back of book)

Emily Abbott has always been considered the Girl Most Likely to Be Nice -- but lately being nice hasn't done her any good. Her parents have decided to move the family from Chicago back to their hometown of Boston in the middle of Emily's senior year. Only Emily's first real boyfriend, Sean, is in Chicago, and so is her shot at class valedictorian and early admission to the Ivy League. What's a nice girl to do?

Then Sean dumps Emily on moving day and her father announces he's staying behind in Chicago "to tie up loose ends," and Emily decides that what a nice girl needs to do is to stop being nice.

She reconnects with her best friends in Boston, Josie and Lucy, only to discover that they too have been on the receiving end of some glaring Guy Don'ts. So when the girls have to come up with something to put in the senior class time capsule, they know exactly what to do. They'll create a not-so-nice reference guide for future generations of guys -- an instruction book that teaches them the right way to treat girls.

But when her friends draft Emily to test out their tips on Luke Preston -- the hottest, most popular guy in school, who just broke up with Josie by email -- Emily soon finds that Luke is the trickiest of test subjects . . . and that even a nice girl like Emily has a few things to learn about love.

Review:

OMG! this book was soo good, I loved it. The plot is probably one that everyone's heard of before but still..its really good.
It kind of reminded me of This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen(but thats just me) but if you liked that then I think you might like this one.
Well as you can tell I'm HORRIBLE at reviews so I'll just stop now lol but...yeah I would really recommend this book =]

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/1416520406.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_V22163295_SS500_.jpg

[Cabot~Fan]

^^ Julia, when you finish Fairest let me know what you think of it, because so far the vast majority of people I know who've read it have liked it, and I was kind of curious when you said you wanted to read it...

^ I loved This Lullaby, so even though you think you suck at reviews just saying that makes me want to go read The Book of Luke, and I haven't even read the summary yet.

~Chelsie ♥

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: Scribbler of Dreams

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Summary: (stolen from Amazon.com)
It's the Crutchfields v. the Malones in this lush Romeo and Juliet story about two related California families that have hated each other for generations, even though (or perhaps because) they own adjacent tracks of ocean-view land. Like the rest of her family, 17-year-old Kait Malone blames the Crutchfields for everything, particularly now that her father's in jail for killing Robert Crutchfield in what the Malones claim was an accident. Money is short, because the Malones refuse to sell any of their land, so Kait and her sister must transfer to the public high school under assumed names. And then the unthinkable happens: Kait falls head over heels in love with a beautiful boy named Bram--who turns out to be a Crutchfield. As their romance deepens, Kait's lies about her identity grow ever more complicated. She clings to her conviction that the Crutchfields are monsters--except for Bram--although this belief grows harder and harder to sustain as she meets his family. When Bram's mother loans her the crumbling journals of one of the two sisters who began the feud, Kait finds the truth is a source of compassion. Yet she still postpones her revelation to Bram, as tension builds and the situation finally escalates out of her control. But all ends well, and teen romantics will heave a satisfied sigh at the happily-ever-after ending. (Ages 12 and older)

Review:
Wow... that's all I can say. Less than a day it took me to finish this book, and it kind of got me thinking. I don't really relate to Kait Malone, but I FEEL for her. I can imagine what she's going through, and we kind of have a lot in common when it comes to the whole thing she goes on about, which is her regret.

Let's just say this is a teen romance with meaning, and no sex scenes. Yet it's still beautiful and easy to understand, even though I doubt many of us have gone through what Kait has. But I can feel for her and I can see her pain through glimpses into her private journal, and then I fell in love with the book. It's books like this that make me want to be a wonderful writer, because this is just doing it for me...

http://www.harcourtbooks.com/images/bookcovers/150/0152045694_150.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[*dreamer*]

i love this thred especily when i dont know what a book to read!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: Lover Revealed, A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood (the fourth novel, to be exact)

Author: J. R. Ward

Summary: (stolen from Amazon.com)
Newbies to Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood may struggle to fill in the backstory, but these erotic paranormals are well worth it, and frighteningly addictive. The six "brothers" are vampires: enormous, tattooed, tormented warriors who protect other vampires from destruction by the "lessers," desouled humans in the evil Omega's Lessening Society. Hero and ex-cop Butch is the only human allowed into the Brotherhood's inner circle, but Butch is no mere human, a fact suspected by one of his vamp colleagues, and confirmed by the sinister plans of the Omega. The book is fully committed to its urban sensibility, the vampires' rarified language (a glossary is provided) and their revved-up sex drives, and it all works to great, page-turning effect (with the notable exception of a chick lit–like attention to designer brands). Though Butch's love interest, the virginal, aristocratic vampire Marissa, initially elicits more annoyance than empathy, she grows a spine as the book progresses and Butch's destiny comes to light. In just two years, the first three books in the series have earned Ward an Anne Rice–style following, deservedly so; this entry should prove no less popular.

Review:
First I will start by naming all the other books in this series, in order.

Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed, and the upcoming
Lover Unbound

Anyways, those are the books. And I guess I could say you don't really have to read them in order, but then again you do. It's one of those series where you won't miss a whole hell of a lot, but then again there's little things.

Plus, I think this series just took a dark turn. Before, it was all sort of light and fluffy, well, as light and fluffy as a vampire romance/war story could be.

Except now, it's so much better. Butch is probably my favorite character, and I can't really tell you why because I'd give away an important plot point, but let's just say Butch ain't gonna be sitting on the sidelines anymore.

And now that I have to actually wait months for the next book to come out, I am going to be dying knowing what happens with Butch... and Vishous, which is going to be awesome. I absolutely adore this series...

Anyways, this is a sort of paranormal romance, so it's kind of mature. Just had to add that.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41QYP-OUVAL._AA240_.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[cheermeon]

Title: You Don't Know Me

Author: David Klass

Summary:You think you know John? Well, let's see . . . What bathroom fixture did his father have in mind at his birth? Does algebra have a use, besides torture? Who is Glory Halle-lujah? Who is Violent Hayes? What do they want? Who or what are the Lashasa Palulu? Why do fools fall in love? How can anyone who is fighting a secret battle for his life know anyone? And how can they know him?



Review: This is a good book about a teenager that lives in a war zone, an era of his life, where violence is spruued. I strongly recomend it.

Cover:

[cheermeon]

Dang it the cover didnt come up! Heres a link
http://www.commonsen...s/3173_orig.jpg

[cheermeon]

Here is the pic:

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: Twisted

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Summary: (stolen from Amazon)
High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background—average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn’t believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy—and Tyler’s secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world. In Twisted, the acclaimed Laurie Halse Anderson tackles a very controversial subject: what it means to be a man today. Fans and new readers alike will be captured by Tyler’s pitchperfect, funny voice, the surprising narrative arc, and the thoughtful moral dilemmas that are at the heart of all of the author’s award-winning, widely read work.

Review: Wow... that's my one word. After reading Prom I had given up all hope for the unique-ness that Laurie Halse Anderson had brought to the book world with Speak and Catalyst, but now my hope is restored. I loved this book, probably because it's the only book of its kind I've ever read, it was believable, it didn't have the expected sappy ending, and it captured my full attention. I honestly could not put this book down, and I laughed and I was rooting for Tyler the whole book.

Note: Definitely not approapriate for middle school or younger readers, but then again it is at the reader's discression, just a forewarning.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0670061018.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Got another review comin' up shortly :P

~Chelsie ♥

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: A-List 8: Heart of Glass

Author: Zoey Dean

Summary: (stolen from Amazon)
The New York Times bestselling series about the scandalous lives of rich and famous teens in Beverly Hills, California.

High school is officially over and that means one thing for the A-List: time to party! But the celebration is cut short when unlikely pair Anna and Cammie find themselves in an even more unlikely situation--caught trespassing on a celeb's beach estate--and are forced to don steel handcuffs along with their Tiffany tennis bracelets. Luckily, the girls are spared a summer stuck in tacky orange jumpsuits when their hotshot lawyer lands them a cushy community service gig: helping plan a fabulous charity fashion show! But while it may seem like a plush job, Anna and Cammie are in for a challenge. Can the girls handle the pressure of the vicious fashion world? Or will they fall to pieces faster than a cheap Louis Vuitton knockoff?

Review: Okay, yeah, it's preppy and full of rich prissy girls, but I can't help it that I'm addicted to this series. And after reading American Beauty I was so worried that the rest of the series would go down the hole, but I was pleasantly surprised. This book is my second-favorite in the series, if only because Cammie was so much more nice and Anna is finally starting to get over her guy problems, and I am just dying to know what happens in the next book.

My only problem right now is the lack of Adam, because Adam has always been my favorite character because he's always been the one most like me (sad, I know)

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yO5qf4SxL._AA240_.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[Cabot~Fan]

It appears as if I am the #1 reviewer in this thread... well, I guess if I can't be #1 Reviewer on Amazon then this is second best ;)

Anyhoo... let's get on with it...

Title: Cupcake

Author: Rachel Cohn

Summary: (stolen from Amazon)
When Cyd Charisse moves from San Francisco to start a new life in New York City, she leaves behind her family -- and her true love, Shrimp.


She wants to find a cool job, the city's best caffeination and most perfect cupcake, and a hot new love. But the reality of CC's new life hits some unexpected obstacles, including a broken leg that renders her immobile; the joy and aggravation of sharing an apartment with a roommate who's also an older brother; and a tasty selection of guys -- none of whom measure up to Shrimp.


Then, just when CC starts to get her new life on track, her old love returns. Shrimp has given up on his plans to live and surf in New Zealand and arrives in NYC with nothing to do other than to be with CC. And this time CC is determined that she and Shrimp will not repeat their old mistakes.


This third book about reformed hellion Cyd Charisse is just as unforgettable as Gingerbread and Shrimp.

Review:
Okay, I probably liked this book better than the first two, Gingerbread and Shrimp. I liked how CC grew up a bit, and she actually appears to learn something. The ending was sad and yet perfect at the same time, and throughout the book it was just the right amount of Shrimp-ness that made the book about him, but not completely about him.

So, overall, my favorite out of the series. And now I am REALLY sad that it's over, and I'm going to miss this series more than I would have expected.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/514Z5TRB7HL._AA240_.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[Bella Catarina]

Title: Mercy

Author: Jodi Picoult

Summary Grazie Amazon.com
What could have been a competent, topical novel about a mercy killing becomes, in Picoult's hands, an inspired meditation on love. The setting is Wheelock, Mass., a slightly eccentric town where most of the residents are of Scottish descent, where weddings end in a blood vow, the name MacDonald is "painted on an alarming number of mailboxes" and police chief Cameron MacDonald doubles as clan chief and protector. On a seemingly ordinary day in Wheelock, Jamie MacDonald, a cousin of Cameron's, drives to the police station and announces: "My wife here, Maggie, is dead, and I'm the one who killed her." Cam finds himself saddled with a murder case and a conflict of interest: his cousin has given in to the pleas of his cancer-ravaged wife to kill her, and he's come to the clan chief to confess. But as police chief, Cam must also prosecute. On the same day, Cam's wife, Allie, the local florist, hires Mia, a violet-eyed beauty with a genius for flower arranging. Allie gets involved in Jamie's case, and Cam, who has spent his life in service to his community and his clan, falls in love with Mia and begins an affair that will bring his marriage to the breaking point and change it profoundly. Like Jamie, Allie is the marriage partner who loves more. "It's never fifty-fifty," says Jamie. As Jamie's court case proceeds, Picoult plumbs the emotional core of both marriages. The pace of the trial is slow, but Picoult pays loving attention to her central characters, fashioning a sensitive exploration of the balance of love.

Review
Although I really loved this book, I couldn't help but want to burn it every time that Cam and Allie fell into bed, disregarding his marriage completely. Not counting that this book was really one of those that is able to really get under your skin and think about your own morals. Is it possible to love someone so much that you'd do literally anything for them, including lie, cheat, even kill? As Picoult weaves this sad, fragile tale, you can't help but think... and wonder... and be amazed.

Her writing seems to draw a gray cloak around everything, encasing all things in truth... and the reality that we live in.

While this isn't my favorite of her books, I would recommend this. However, I would recommend this only to mature readers. But that's just me.

http://www.jodipicoult.com/covers-aus-nzl/allenunwinmercyDec02.jpg

[Crazygal5000]

Title: The Black Magician Trilogy: 1: The Magicians' Guild, 2: The Novice, 3: The High Lord

Author: Trudi Canavan

Summary:(Stolen from Amazon.co.uk)

Book 1: Each year the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city streets of beggars, urchins and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they believe. As the mob is herded from the city, Sonea, a young street girl, furious at the authorities' treatment of her family and friends, hurls a stone at the shield, putting all of her rage behind it. To the amazement of all who watch, there is a flash of blue light and the stone passes straight through the barrier and cracks a magician on the temple, rendering him unconscious. After five hundred years of order, the guild's worst fear has been realised - an untrained magician is loose on the streets. She must be found, and quickly, before her uncontrolled powers unleash forces that will destroy both her, and the city that is her home.

Book 2: Sonea knew the other novices in the Magicians' Guild all came from noble families and that, as a former slum-dweller, she could expect to be treated as an outsider, but she little realised the level of animosity she would face from her fellow students. The sons and daughters of the most powerful families in the realm, her classmates seem determined to see her fail - even if they have to engineer her failure themselves. Dannyl and Rothen offer Sonea what help they can, but when someone starts spreading malicious rumours about her, Akkarin, The High Lord, steps in to put a stop to it. But, Sonea may soon wish she was still enduring the taunts of her peers, for in accepting the protection of the guild's high lord she may have embraced a far bleaker fate. It seems that Akkarin harbours a secret that is far darker than his magician's robes. Taken into his confidence, Sonea must keep the truth hidden. But, by doing so, is she showing loyalty to the head of her guild, or making the worst mistake of her life?

Book 3: In the city of Imardin, where magic and power walk hand-in-hand, a young street-girl, adopted by the Magicians' Guild, finds herself at the centre of a terrible plot that may destroy the entire world...Sonea has learned much at the Magicians' Guild and the other novices now treat her with a grudging respect. But she cannot forget what she witnessed in the High Lord Akkarin's underground chamber - or his warning that the realm's ancient enemy is growing in power once more. As Akkarin reveals more of his knowledge, Sonea does not know who to believe, or what she most fears. Could the truth really be as terrifying as the High Lord claims? Does an ancient power threaten them all? Or does the guild face a threat from a much closer source?

Review: Even though it's nearly a year since i read it, i absolutely LOVED this book :) I reccomed it to anone who like Harry Potter or any magical books, 'cause this book would beat Harry Potter in a race! and thats saying something :a_smil08: Trudi is a very, VERY good writer, it's amazing how in her books how at the beginning you don't really get what everything is in that world but it all becomes clearer and clearer throughout! At the end of the trilogy, in the last book, you are very sure to cry because it is the saddest ending EVER!! So read it, read it, READ IT!!!

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n102/Crazygal5000/51-ggbwSRLL__SS500_.jpg

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: Bras and Broomsticks

Author: Sarah Mlynowski

Summary: (stolen from Amazon)
Grade 6-9 - Rachel Weinstein, 14, wants many things - she'd love to remain best buds with her newly popular friend Jewel, get a date to the Spring Fling, and stop her dad from marrying her "Soon To Be Step-Monster." When her younger sister, Miri, discovers that she is a witch, Rachel just knows that her dreams are within her grasp. Though the girls' mother warns them that magic can lead to unexpectedly harsh consequences, the sisters secretly come up with plan after plan to stop their father's wedding and help Rachel find popularity. The plot is fairly predictable, but Rachel's cheeky voice and painfully obvious desperation to make her life perfect keep her appealing. The relationship between the sisters is the book's real strength. The pain they feel at watching their father remarry is real, as is the vulnerability they show while trying scary new adult roles. Minor characters, while briefly sketched, seem like real people, though their development is clumsily handled at times, and bends more toward plot needs than true growth. This is a busy book, but winning characters rise above the chaos. A breezy read that is sure to be popular. - Sarah Couri, New York Public Library

Review:
In my opinion, this book has its ups and downs. For one, it seemed to be a typical story about someone who gets a taste of popularity and then realizes that she left her true friend behind. But then for another, add to the fact that her sister is a witch and they're both willing to do anything to get her dad from marrying the "Soon To Be Step-Monster".

So, in a way it was just like a lot of other stories. But it was still unique, and the ending is kind of open, so I am sure to read Frogs and French Kisses, the sequel.

It wasn't the best book, not by a long shot, but it was light and entertaining and that's enough for me.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/5139E4QK28L._AA240_.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[crazy_bookworm]

Title: The Uglies Trilogy

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Summaries: (stolen from Amazon)

Uglies:
Tally lives in a world where your sixteenth birthday brings aesthetic perfection: an operation which erases your flaws, transforming you from an 'Ugly' into a 'Pretty'. She is on the eve of this important event, and cannot wait for her life to change. As well as guaranteeing supermodel looks, life as a Pretty seems to revolve around having a good time. But then she meets Shay, who is also fifteen - but with a very different outlook on life. Before her operation she plans to escape to a community in the forest - the Rusty Ruins - where Uglies go to escape ' turning'. Tally won't be persuaded to join her, as this would involve sacrificing everything she's ever wanted for a lot of uncertainty. When she is taken in for questioning on her birthday, however, Tally gets sent to the Ruins anyway - against her will. The state wants her to go on an undercover mission and report back about the location of the community; otherwise she will forfeit her birthday operation. What she discovers in the Ruins reveals that there is nothing 'pretty' about the transformations...

Pretties:
Tally has finally become 'pretty'. Her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are cool, her boyfriend's gorgeous, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted. But beneath all the fun - the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom - is a nagging feeling that something's wrong. Something important. And sure enough, when a message from Tally's 'ugly' past arrives, the fun stops cold. Now Tally has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life...

Specials:
"Special Circumstances" - These words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumour - frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary. And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid. The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more. Still, it's easy to tune that out - until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.

Review:
When I first Uglies, I wasn't sure about it at first because it's written in the third person. And I usually prefer books written in the first person. But as I was reading Uglies, I hardly noticed that it was written in a different person!! I thought the story was original and not too predictable, and the writing style was fantastic too.

Wow. In one word: amazing. If anyone loves science fiction, adventure and some romance, then these are the books for you!

And the really great thing is, is that the story will be continued... It turns out that these books aren't a trilogy. There is going to be a new book out later this year called Extras!! :)

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Grace x

[Jesse's Wife]

Title: Candy

Author: Kevin Brooks

Summary: (taken from Wikipedia)

The story opens when fifteen year old Joe Beck - from a single parent family, a music lover and with a knack for curiosity - meets seventeen year old Candy on the streets of London. He soon learns that Candy is not only a runaway from his home town, but also a teenage prostitute and heroin addict.

The pair begins a cautious relationship, traveling to the London Zoo and meeting for meals occasionally. However, Candy's pimp, Iggy, feels that Joe Beck is a threat, worrying that Joe will reduce the business Candy takes in and thus reducing Iggy's income. When Joe finds Candy beaten, the pair attacks Iggy and leaves the city to hide and ease Candy off heroin.

Iggy subsequently kidnapps Joe's older sister and uses her as a bargaining chip, claiming to plan to return her if Candy if returned to him. The novel climaxes when Iggy, Candy, Joe, his sister and his sister's boyfriend encounter one another at the family's remote country house.

Review: I liked this book because you can imagine this sort of situation in real life and Kevin Brooks has a great writing technique. As soon as I'd started, I was hooked. Some parts are really emotional and it is hard to imagine how some people lead lives like this.

http://www.covercards.nl/upload_images/bc-20060203131611.jpg

Other great books by Kevin Brooks: I really loved The Road of the Dead and Lucas. He also wrote Martyn Pig and Kissing the Rain which I did'nt like as much.

[crazy_bookworm]

Title: Bad Kitty

Author: Michele Jaffe

Summary: (stolen from Amazon)
Jas thinks that everyone has a super power. Everyone, that is, except herself - unless you count her extraordinary ability to get herself in trouble. But the last thing Jas expected to do on her family holiday in glitzy Las Vegas was to survive a cat attack and solve a celebrity murder mystery. As she finds herself tracking an unknown killer through a bevy of Vegas parties, Jas develops a huge crush on the possibly evil - but gorgeous - Jack, and manages to collect some valuable life lessons for her "Summer Meaningful Reflection Journal" along the way. Little Life Lesson Number 5: when you go to prison, try not to be wearing a bikini. But despite a few 'mishaps', Jas finally solves the case. And to top it all off, Jack isn't evil, and has a bit of a crush on Jas too. Perhaps she does have some super powers after all...

Review:
I only got this book because there was a 3 for 2 offer on at Waterstones and I needed another book to buy...but I am certainly glad that I picked this book! I absolutely loved it...and despite some people not liking the foot notes at the bottom of the pages, I thought they were hilarious! The mystery was good also, and not at all predictable. Oh, and Jack...totally hot!

So, anyone who likes mystery and girly-ish type books, should definately check this book out! :)

http://www.puffin.co.uk/static/images/bad_kitty.jpg

Grace x

[crazy_bookworm]

Title: Twilight

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Summary:
When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.

What Bella doesn't realise is that the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And it might be too late to turn back...

Review:
Wow. I'm speechless. Well, not quite, but still, this book was amazng!!! I actually got recommended it by the people on this site...so I'm probably like, the last person to actually have read it, lol.

I thought that the book was beautifully written, and it drew me in from the first page...which made it very hard for me to put down!!

I'd never read anything like this before...certainly not about vampires. But I loved every minute of it, and even if you're not into vampire stuff, you will still love it!

Warning: 100% chance that you will fall in love with Edward Cullen!!

http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41K1IWfuDhL._SS500_.jpg

Grace x

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: Dairy Queen

Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Summary (stolen from Amazon):
Fifteen-year-old D.J. lives in Red Bend, Wisconsin, in a family in which all the boys play football. She's a basketball star. When her father breaks his hip, D.J. must give up sports and do all the milking, mucking, and mowing on their farm. During the summer D.J. trains the quarterback from rival Hawley High and discovers that football is her passion. Natalie Moore does an outstanding job creating such a likable D.J. that listeners will hang on every word. Moore sounds like a teenager. Her voice is characterized by sarcastic introspection and uncertainty, as well as an authentic questioning rise at the end of many a sentence.

Review:
Can I say interesting? Well, I just did. This book wasn't like a lot of the other books I read... it was interesting and unpredictable, and it wasn't so much about D.J. playing football as it was about how she grew up in one summer. Football brought the plot along, yeah, but it was still only a half-plot. I still liked the book a lot, though, because it was sweet in a way, and the characters were unique and different.

Not sure if it was the best book in the world, but it was great in it's own way, especially for a debut novel.

http://static.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/gems/booknook/dairyqueen.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: The Rules of Survival

Author: Nancy Werlin

Summary: (stolen from Amazon)
Living with an unpredictable, psychotic mother has taught Matthew how to survive. Constantly on alert, he and his sister, Callie, devotedly shelter their younger stepsister, Emmy, from their mother's abuse and worry about staying safe. Matt insists that "fear isn't actually a bad thing . . . . It warns you to pay attention, because you're in danger. It tells you to do something, to act, to save yourself," but his terror is palpable in this haunting, powerful portrayal of domestic dysfunction, which is written in retrospect as a letter from Matt to Emmy. Unfortunately, the adults in the children's life, a distant father and an apathetic aunt, don't help, though Matt sees a spark of hope in Murdoch, who dates his mother, Nikki, and then leaves when he becomes another target for her escalating rage. It is Murdoch, with a violent past of his own, who is willing to risk getting involved and eventually becomes the change agent that the children so desperately need. The author of Double Helix (2003),Werlin reinforces her reputation as a master of the YA thriller, pulling off a brilliant departure in this dark but hopeful tale, with pacing and suspense guaranteed to leave readers breathlessly turning the pages.

Review: :spinstar: :spinstar: :spinstar: :spinstar: :spinstar:
I've read books about abuse before, but this one was pleasantly better than the others. The style was unique, being told in a "letter" form, and in the end most of the obvious questions were answered, but there are still some little things I am curious about. But it was wrapped up perfectly, and I only have to imagine certain things, and I'm glad that it ended the way it did.

Now enough about the ending. The book in general was great. I mean, it had dark moments and it had light moments and it was easy to sympathize with the characters, and so I would recommend this book to those who don't mind tough subjects.

http://www.professornana.com/rules.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[IBelieve]

^^^ I absolutely loved that book, no matter how sad it was.

Title: If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

Author: Melissa Kantor

Summary:
Grade 8 Up–Teen readers will relate to Cinderella Lucy Norton's woes. Transplanted from San Francisco to Long Island because of the marriage of her father, who continues to spend working weeks on the West Coast, she grapples with a pseudo-family existence with her step-monster, Mara, and her magpie twin stepsisters. Lucy's dual passions of basketball and art characterize her and help her make connections. Negotiating that minefield of adolescence, the high school cafeteria, she often takes a sandwich to the art room, where she enjoys the kindness of her teacher and meets Sam, a talented but rude artist. An astute remark about basketball gains her the attentions of Connor, the team star and all-around hunk. With his notice come Jessica and Madison, as friends. Lucy enjoys her rapid ride on the social surf, featuring drinking parties, melt-away kisses, even the much-sought-after prom invite, but her home life is still difficult–her stepmother is trying to win some kind of bitch-of-the-year award. To confuse matters, she feels an artistic connection with Sam, whose conversation and interests make Connor seem more ornamental than substantial. While savvy readers will anticipate Lucy's ultimate pairing and improved family relationships, most teens won't be disappointed in the pleasant confection of wit, teen angst, shopping, girl talk, and flirtation. Kantor caters well to the witty-romance, girl-power book market, supplying a worthy offering for many who might not read otherwise.–Suzanne Gordon, amazon.com

Review:
I loved this book and flew through the pages in a few hours. Kantor does an amazing job with her "evil" characters, and they seemed completely realistic. I thought that the book was a little predictable, but the ending was still very pleasant.

http://graffiti.tscpl.org/WickedStepmother.jpg

[crazy_bookworm]

Title: Pretty Things

Author: Sarra Manning

Summary:
Brie (yes, she knows it's a cheese, thank you very much), is in love with Lancome Juicy Tubes, Louis Vuitton accessories and Charlie, her gay best friend. Charlie is in love with 1960's pop art, 1980s teen movies and serial heartbreaker, Walker. Walker has only ever been in love with his VW Bug, until he meets Daisy. And Daisy is too busy hating everyone to know what love is... This is a story about kissing people you shouldn't, falling in love and off your heels, and breaking hearts because there's nothing to watch on telly.

Review:
This book is told in four points of view: Brie, Charlie, Walker, and Daisy. I really liked how it was written like that because it gave you four different sides to the story. Another great thing about the book, was that it wasn't too predictable. Like, throughout the book I was thinking, "Jesus...how the hell are they gonna sort out this tangled love mess??" And then the ending came, which I found very unpredictable...

So on the whole, a very different and unique book.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/414T3DSTW8L._SS500_.jpg

Grace x

[Bella Catarina]

Title: A Mango-Shaped Space

Author: Wendy Mass

Summary: (Grazie, or Thank You, to wendymass.com)
Thirteen-year-old Mia Winchell appears to be the most normal kid in her family. Her younger brother Zack keeps a chart of all the McDonald's hamburgers he's eaten in his lifetime. Her older sister Beth dyes her hair a different color every week and might be a witch. But Mia knows she is far from ordinary. She is keeping something from everyone who knows her: the fact that sounds, numbers, and letters have color for her.

When trouble in school finally convinces Mia to reveal her secret, she feels like a freak. Her family and friends have trouble relating to her as she embarks on an intense journey of self-discovery. By the time she realizes she has isolated herself from all the people who care about her, it is almost too late. She has to lose something very special in order to find herself.

Review:
I didn't expect to thoroughly enjoy this book, but I really did.

Frankly, I had never heard of Mia's condition until I read this. But still, it was fascinating. And actually, I think I may be less than ordinary. It turns out that I see the months of the year the same way that many synesthetes do. Ahem. Does that mean I'm paranormal or something?

Seeing synesthesia (Mia's condition) through her eyes was refreshing. It opened up a world for me that I had never known could exist for anyone. Just thinking of it--trying to comprehend it--is a thing to try. Refreshing.

I really don't know how to describe this book. It stunned me, and the last time I was stunned was in early January. I read many books, but this one stands out in my mind, right next to my absolute favorites. Just trust me: this book is awesome.

In my opinion, anyway.

http://images.bestwebbuys.com/muze/books/82/9780316523882.jpg

[Cabot~Fan]

^ I agree... A Mango-Shaped Space wasn't one that I thought I'd love either, but it's just so awesome. It's one that I think everyone should read, even if it doesn't seem like the type of book they'd like.

~Chelsie ♥

[Cabot~Fan]

Title: Frogs and French Kisses

Author: Sarah Mlynowski

Summary: (Stolen from Amazon)
This frothy sequel to Bras & Broomsticks (2005) is just as sweet and funny as its predecessor. Rachel is still jealous that her mom and little sister, Miri, are witches, while she remains annoyingly unable to levitate as much as a teacup. But when her divorced mom begins whipping up dating spells and using magic to enhance her cleavage, and Miri exhausts herself by zapping oil spills instead of finishing her homework, Rachel suddenly finds herself in the strange position of cautioning her family against their magical excesses. Complications ensue as Rachel tries to bring her normally levelheaded family members under control, while dealing with the results of a love spell gone wrong and a fast-approaching prom. Tempered with the message that nothing worth having comes easily, Mlynowski's sassy text surpasses a chick-lit label by being wonderfully fast-paced and clever. A surprise ending will have fans eagerly looking forward to Rachel's next adventure.

Review:
This is the sequel to Bras and Broomsticks, and I have to say that it holds the same place in my mind as the first book. Fantastic, but not wonderful, but still the type of book where I absolutely can't wait to read the next one. It held my interest throughout, probably more so than the first one, and the ending is so open-ended and I am looking forward to Spells and Sleeping Bags.

So, I would probably-most-definitely recommend this series. Maybe not for someone looking for deep, insightful reading, but someone who wants light and fluffy.

http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SG58TJGGL._AA240_.jpg

~Chelsie ♥

[Rising Star]

Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty

Author: Libba Bray

Summary: After the mysterious death of her mother which she sees through a vision, Gemma Doyle is taken to Spence Academy in London away from her home in India. She is followed there by a mysterious guy and while there, she makes some frineds, learns secrets about her mother's association with a mysterious group of women called The Order, learns about the strange visions she is having and a magical place she can reach.

Review: This book is pretty amazing. It's set in Victorian times and captures the strictness, the rebellion of the teenage girls, and the spirit of being a teenge girl very well. What I liked about this besides the fantasy and the amazing hotness of Kartik, was how the girls went through problems that are very relatable now a days as they were back then. A must read.

http://www.booksamillion.com/bam/covers/0/38/573/231/0385732317.jpg

Title: Rebel Angels

Author: Libba Bray

Summary: It's Christmas time and Gemma and her friends leave Spence for what should be a lovely Holiday. But instead a mysterious teacher arrives at Spence just before they leave who seems to be after Gemma. Also, Gemma becomes plagued with visions of three ghosty girls in white dresses. And if that's not enough Kartik shows up telling her that she needs to find the temple and bind the magic of the Realms. But Christmas break in London must go on and a young gentleman by the name of Simon Middleton takes an interest in her. Gemma Doyle is going to have wonderful Holiday.

Review: A great sequel in an amazing trilogy. This book showed the strict Victorian world even better and it had a much more gothic tone. It was great getting to know the back stories of some of the girls especially Gemma's confident friend, Felicity. The things that happened to her in the past were shocking and disiturbing but really helped in understanding the character better. Also the fantasy was much more intriging. I can't wait for the final installment due out in December!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0385730292.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[crazy_bookworm]

Title: Peaches

Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson

Summary:
More juicy than fine, more sexy than delicate, Murphy's good fun - but she's no angel. At school, Leeda is treated like a queen. She's loved by just about everyone - except her mom. Living in an orchard and being homeschooled, Birdie has the social prowess of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's the summer holidays and three girls meet picking peaches - but they really don't get on; Murphy's too cool, Leeda's too posh and Birdie's so shy she can't even speak to guys, especially good-looking ones. Then, when Leeda's boyfriend Rex turns up and Enrico the Mexican takes a shine to Birdie, the girls find plenty to talk about - and their summer really starts to hot up!

Review:
When I started reading this book, I didn't really like it much, because it was kind of slow at the beginning. But then in the middle it picked up, which made me start to enjoy it. So, it wasn't really the best book I've read...yet it wasn't the worst either.

If you liked the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, then read this book. It's not as good as the Pants books, but they are kind of similar, which will make you enjoy this book.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/519QB45MBQL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU02_AA240_SH20_.jpg

Grace x