Book Notes

This book was supposed to be really good, but the title kept me from it for months.

Calliope (Cal) and her mom are moving yet again. This time to Ashville, North Carolina. Her mother is a free spirit who doesn’t like to be tied down to any one place for very long. Cal is the opposite. She wants a place to stay, and to call home.

Eliot has a home, in Ashville where his dad runs a religious fitness camp, and where he and his mom feel that they don’t belong anymore.

Naturally these two have to meet, and fall in love. Neither one of the two main characters seemed very real to me. Which is disappointing since you are reading their points of view in alternating chapters. The real winners in the character department are Cal’s mom and Abel, an older gentlemen who gives Cal a job, and she and her mom an apartment to rent. Too bad we didn’t find out more about them. An okay read.

Well, I am finally done with all the historical fiction reading that I had. It became really hard to get through some of them at the end. It’s sort of like how you like cake, but if you had to eat nothing but cake for weeks, you’d begin to think it was disgusting.

Despite the fact that this is one of the last historical fiction books that I read, I wanted to post it here because I really enjoyed it. It starts off so quickly, and the action doesn’t slow down until the last page. Astas’s son’s (Crispin’s) mother dies, he sees the Lord of their land meet with someone in the forest at night, is seen by them and pursued. He comes to find that he has a price on his head, his house in torn down, and the one person who knew a little about his past and was willing to help him is murdered. So begins Crispin’s life on the road. He meets Bear. A minstrel and performer who takes Crispin in. But can Bear be trusted? And if he can’t, is there anyone who can?

Always fun to re-read a favorite. I love the Doll People. Annabelle is a spunky doll, who lives with her doll family in Kate Palmer’s bedroom. One day she discovers her Aunt’s journal. Auntie Sarah has been missing for 45 years. Annabelle hopes the journal will provide a clue to where she lives. But finding Auntie Sarah won’t be easy. Dolls can only move around when the people are fast asleep or out of the house. And even then it’s dangerous. There’s Captain, the cat, and if a person thinks they see you move, you will go into Doll State. Even worse, if you do too much in front of people, you will go into Permanent Doll State.

Will Annabelle rescue her Aunt? Will she make a real friend? Can she avoid Permanent Doll State? Read The Doll People and find out!

It took me a little bit to really get into this book–science fiction is not my favorite–but once I did, it was hard to put down.

Tally Youngblood lives in one of the Ugly dorms. But not for long. Her 16th birthday is right around the corner, and on that day she will be changed into a Pretty. Plastic surgery will make her just as beautiful as everyone else in New Pretty Town. And then she can spend her evenings going to fabulous parties.

Before she is changed, she makes a new friend, Shay, who tells her about a secret place called The Smoke. Where you don’t have to change how you look. Shay runs away there, but not before leaving Tally instructions on how to find it. Instructions that only Tally could figure out. Special Circumstances knows that Tally can find her way to the Smoke, information that they desperately want to have. And they will find a way to make Tally go there as a spy regardless of the cost. But once there, Tally begins to doubt which side she is on. Does she betray her friend? Or does she forgo the life she’s always dreamed of, and remain Ugly?

An amazing read, that goes so quickly. Even at 400 and some pages. It’s frustrating that the non-stop action keeps going, even after this book is finished. Pretties is next. We’ll see what happens there.

Yup. Still going strong with the Meg Cabot. This title picks right up where the other left off. The next day, I think. And keeps going strong. The writing is fun and witty, but I’m getting frustrated with Mia. How dense can she be that she doesn’t see that Michael likes her? I’ll have to get the third one now and see where that takes me.

Despite the fact that I couldn’t care less about football, or any sport, I loved this book. DJ lives on her family’s farm in football-crazy Wisconsin. After her dad injures himself, it’s up to her to do the majority of the work on the farm. It’s a great workout, and she is in top shape. Because her family is so into football, she is asked to coach Brian, the QB (that’s Quarterback to the rest of us,) for her high school’s rival team. She takes on the challenge and discovers that they have a lot in common. She even begins to like him, and it seems that he likes her too.

After a really rough summer, DJ decides that she wants to do something that she really enjoys. Football. And not just coaching it either. She wants to play on her high school’s team. But if she does, she’ll be playing opposite cute Brian. There is a lot to this book. More than just football, and more than just a neat boy story. There is a lot about relationships and communicating with people. It was enticing, and sweet, but also provided a lot of substance to think about.

We read this book for our last 4th grade book club. Very timely since to movie just came out. The movie covers all five books though. So get reading before you go and see it.

Jared, Simon and Mallory have moved to a new, but very old and creaky home. Jared keeps hearing things in the walls, and strange and unbelieveable things keep happening, like Mallory waking up with her hair tied to the bed! Jared’s mom keeps blaming him, but Jared found something. Proof that he is not the one behind the mischief. Proof that they share their home with magical, and mischievous creatures.

Even though you only meet your first creature at the very end of the book, this one is still suspenseful and fun. A great book for all you fantasy fans.

I am continuing on with my Meg Cabot streak. This was fun. She certainly has a thing for famous people! First a President’s son and now a princess.

Mia just found out that she is a princess and the sole heir to the throne of Genovia–a really really small country. At first she thinks she can fly under the radar and not let anyone know. But eventually the press is alerted and now everyone knows. Her best friend stops speaking to her, the cutest guy in the whole school suddenly takes an interest in her, she’s failing algebra, and she has to have princess lessons with her strict grandmother.

A great book for when you want a nice, fun read.

This was my first Meg Cabot. I know, I know I’m behind. But I actually really liked it. I didn’t think that I would.

Sam (Samantha) Madison is a high-schooler living in Washington D.C. She has her one best friend, and loves to draw. Life is pretty good.  She starts taking a new art class where a vaguely familiar guy sits next to her. He’s pretty cute and he likes her boots. Later, when she saves the President’s life (yup, that’s right) that she realizes why cute art class guy looks so familiar. It’s not because he’s from her school. He’s the President’s son. And he likes her. A lot.

 This was a fun, quick read. I enjoyed Meg Cabot’s characters, and their true-to-life interactions with each other.

Anastasia has got to be one of my favorite characters. I love her sense of humor, her family, and how she is a list-maker (I am too!)

This is the first Anastasia story and there are lots more. She is 10 years old, in love with Washburn Cummings, not sure if she likes her teacher and is about to become a big sister for the first time. Something that she definitely does not want to be. Her parents tell her that she can name the new baby-a boy. She thinks of the worst name possible, and writes it down in her journal. But a lot of things have yet to happen to Anastasia before the baby is born. As her list of Things I Love and Things I Hate change, so does Anastasia. A sweet, fun book.

This was yet another re-read. I really should start reading new stuff! But this was so good, and each time you read a book you find new things in it, or a new passage catches your eye.

In this story, Nat Field, a Shakespearean actor, is transported back in time to 1599 London. No one knows that he from the future, and he is to perform in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream at the new Globe theatre with Shakespeare as director and performer. It’s a magical book, and if you like plays, or acting, literature or history you will love this.

This was our pick for this month’s 6th-8th grade book club. I’d never read it before, but became interested after I heard Jeanne DuPrau speaking about her writing. So when the group chose this title, I was very excited.

Lina and Doon are twelve and have just received their work assignments. Lina will be a Messenger, and Doon will be a pipeworker. Everyone works together to keep Ember running. However, things aren’t going smoothly. The lights have been flickering a lot lately. And without lights and a working generator, the entire city will be permanently plunged into darkness. Night and day. Things are looking pretty grim until Lina finds a box with partial instructions on it. It looks like a way out of Ember. If only she and Doon can figure it out before it’s too late.

The author wrote this book based on an true story. There was a real dog who did in fact save the lives of a hundred people by swimming out to their sinking ship in a storm with a rope line.

The fictionalized dog in this story, Sirius, is perfectly amazing. He is sweet, and incredibly smart, and his life is in danger. A new law has been passed forbidding all dogs except for sheepherding dogs from the island. If Sirius is found, he will be killed. Maggie has been hiding him for some time, but when the ship flounders off the coast, and Sirius is the only one who can help, what will she do? Risk her dog’s life to save the people on board, or keep Sirius hidden and let everyone drown?

It’s a very sweet story filled with Newfoundland language and stories. And one amazing dog.

This book was chosen as a Printz honor award winner just recently at the ALA midwinter conference. It’s also one I had sitting on my shelf for a couple of weeks. It’s a sweet story about an Australian family. Each chapter shifts your perspective to a different family member. There’s Lily who worries about how dysfunctional her family is, but who begins to realize that everyone’s family is dysfunctional. Her brother Lonnie, who can’t seem to figure out his place on this planet. All the characters are well formed, and you get to know them really well.

It was a bit hard sticking with a book that was so introspective for 250 pages. No real action or even a lot of dialogue to propel it along. Still, if you can get past that, it’s worth hanging in there for the ending.

This is our January book club pick. Such a sweet story packed into such a small book. I love historical fiction. This is the story of Anna and Caleb a brother and sister who live with their dad on the prairie. Their mom died a long time ago. One day, their father tells them that he placed an add in a newspaper looking for a new wife. Sarah, from Maine responded and she is coming out to visit. Will she like it out there? Will she like them? And most importantly, will she stay?

I’m glad I had the opportunity to re-read this. A lovely book and one that I have always enjoyed.