Ella, Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

What fun to re-read this. It’s been years and while I remembered the premise of the story I had forgotten a lot of the details. Gail Carson Levine likes to take well know fairy tales and spin them into longer book adaptations. In Ella, Enchanted she takes the story of Cinderella. Here, Ella was given a “gift” by the fairy Lucinda. Her gift was obedience. Which in reality is a curse. Whatever anyone tells Ella to do, she must. Little things like “pick up your socks” she has to do and the is always the risk of more dangerous commands coming her way, like, “jump off that cliff”.

Ella has been able to keep her curse a secret her whole life. Only her mother, and their housekeeper Mandy know. When Ella’s mother dies, that’s when her life becomes tricky. Ella’s father packs her off to Charm school where the awful Hattie quickly realizes that Ella will do whatever she tells her to do. And then there’s the handsome Prince Char who seems to like Ella, and when all hope seems lost Ella learns that Lucinda will be attending a Giant’s wedding. If Ella can get there perhaps she can explain to Lucinda why her “gift” is so awful and to get her to reverse it. But how will Ella be able to get all the way to the Giant’s land without anyone finding out about her?

A lot of fun, fairies and princes and unicorns. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t read it yet, and always fun to read again!

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Mia has a great life. She gets along with her parents, she has a younger brother that she adores, her rocker boyfriend is sweet as anything and she has an upcoming audition for Julliard. Then one morning when she and her family are on a road trip, they are hit by an oncoming vehicle and Mia is the only survivor, sort of. She is in a coma, and while she can’t move or speak, her spirit, if you will, is walking around outside her body watching and listening to everything that is going on. And she is trying to decide if she should stay and live out her life, or if she should just let go and be with her family. Compelling arguments are made for both sides and until she made her choice at the end I didn’t know what she would do. A sad, but quick read.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

This is the second in the Hunger Games trilogy. Now, let’s face it. Most sequels fall flat on their face. They don’t have the momentum of the first book and the don’t have the super cool ending of the last book. Not so this book.

Collins keeps the action just as intense as in the first book. ***spoiler alert*** Even though Katniss ends up going back in the arena (a plot twist that made me groan thinking that this will never work) it was so successful in Collins’  skilled little author’s hands that it made me regret having doubted her. Another can’t put it down book. Now we have to wait for the third and final book to come out in August.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

AMAZING! I could not put this book down. And I am kicking myself for not having read it sooner (I hesitated because I didn’t like the cover). Katniss lives in District 13 and has volunteered to take her sister’s place in the upcoming Hunger Games. Each year a boy and a girl are chosen from each of the districts to fight to the death in an enclosed arena. Only one may survive. Katniss can’t bear the thought of her sweet, little sister being killed, so she takes her place.

I don’t want to give too much away but it is an incredible book. Very well crafted. I was curious to see how the author was going to handle the killing. And to find out if I would lose respect for Katniss for what she had to do to try and survive in the arena?

Fabulous read.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Here is the Newbery Medal winner for 2010.

Miranda lives in New York City with her mother during the 70s. Her mother is going on a game show that was popular at the time called the 20,000 dollar Pyramid. And Miranda begins recieving these tiny notes written to her from some mysterious stranger and that tell her something that is going to happen in the near future, and that prove to be true. In addition to this Miranda is trying to figure out why her best friend Sal is no longer talking to her, what the strange man who sleeps under their mailbox is doing and making a family with her, her mom, and her mother’s boyfriend.

The book has a good beginning, and a fabulous ending. But the middle is, well, slow. And not that interesting. Worth reading if you are a Wrinkle in Time fan, or you want to see what won this year. A great ending if you can stick with it.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

This book won the Newbery Honor award this past year. It has a charming cover on the outside and a sweet story on the inside that historical fiction fans will adore.

Callie Vee is the only girl out of 6 siblings. She lives in Texas in the year 1899 and discovers that she has a love of science and nature. Her grandfather encourages her to think and study and exlore. However, her parents don’t believe she should. They feel that Callie needs to learn how to run a household and raise children because that is the only life expected of her.

Definitely check this one out if you enjoyed Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer Holm.

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

This is a very sweet book, that makes you feel so so sad, and then so happy. Peter asks a fortune teller at a marketplace if his sister lives and if so where is he to find her? The fortune teller tells him that indeed his sister is alive and says that to find her, “You must follow the elephant, she will lead you there.” Peter is confused; there are no elephants in Europe. How will he ever find his sister. But, a magic trick gone wrong, a prisoner, a police officer and even a little blind dog all end up lending their own magic to this tale. Fans of DiCamillo’s The Tale of Desperaux will appreciate this sweet, sad, and gentle story.

Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway

Audrey decides the time has come to dump her boyfriend. In his anguish he writes a song for his band to perform. About their break-up. That becomes a number 1 hit. And launches Audrey into the public eye in a not so flattering way. A light read with plenty of music references and high school drama.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

This is Zevin’s second novel following the wildly popular Elsewhere. In this book, Naomi wakes up in a hospital after falling down the steps at school, and can’t remember anything about the past 4 years. Her best friend Will keeps giving her mix cds to help jog her memory, and as Naomi discovers more about who she is, she’s not sure that’s who she wants to be anymore.

Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

This is the last Princess diaries book! I have now read them all. And this one was awesome. A great ending to the series. Very cool how Mia has grown and changed so much. I guess I’ll go see what else Meg Cabot has written.

The Minister’s Daughter by Julie Hearn

What a fascinating read. The story moves along at a slow and steady pace, and the style is rather sophisticated, but if you can manage that, you will be swept into a historical fantasy world of witchcraft, piskies, fairies, and England under Charles I.

Nell is learning the craft of healing from her grandmother. She will someday take over and be the woman who attends all births, and makes all tonics and potions for cures of many different ailments. There is a lot to learn, and Nell must learn quickly as her grandmother is getting older and forgettful. Then, there is the new minister in town, who has strict ideals to uphold and will not tolerate any belief in the fairy world, or witchcraft of any kind. He has two daughters, Grace, an incredible beauty with a bitter and mean streak, and Prudence, who is slow witted, and the victim of a lot of Grace’s torture.

It is Grace who becomes in trouble, and the only person who can help is Nell, yet she refuses. Grace gets even by proclaiming Nell a witch. And there is only one punishment for witchcraft–hanging.

This was such a good read, with an ending that I did not see coming. Definitely worth having a go at.

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

Now that I have read all of his, I am anxiously waiting for him to come out with something new. That is the difficult part about finding an author you like. You can read their books faster than they can write them.

Stephen is 13 when his younger brother, Jeffy, begins complaining that his “parts” hurt.  It turns out that Jeffy has luekemia. Jeffy and his mom have to take off the Philadelphia for treatments, Stephen’s dad has to work extra to try and pay all the medical bills, and Stephen is trying his best to stay afloat without much success. He stops doing homework, and spends all his time practicing the drums. His friend, Annette is available to help him, if only he would realize that she is there. But then there is this other girl, the one he’s had a crush on since third grade….

This is another great book by Sonnenblick. The writing isn’t as tight as his later books, in particular, Notes From the Midnight Driver, but the characters are great. An enjoyable read with a hopeful ending.

The Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman

I have read a lot of Dan Gutman’s baseball card time travel series, but had never branched out before. This was our pick for 4th and 5th grade book club this past month.

Eddie has had a rough time of it lately. His dad died, and his mom loses her job at Finkle’s factory. Finkle’s was offering a chance to win a million dollars. One person would be chosen as the winner of a poetry contest promoting Finkle’s candy. That winner would get a chance for one free throw at half time of an NBA game. If the shot went in, Finkle would give them a million dollars. What a great chance for Eddie to win a million dollars. Then they won’t have to worry about his mom being out of work. And they can move out of their too small trailer.

With his new friend Annie by his side, Eddie can’t miss, right?

Read and find out. Will the evil Finkle get his? Will Eddie make the shot? What will happen if he doesn’t? Lot’s of questions to be answered in The Million Dollar Shot.

The Mother Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick

This was the latest pick for our 7th and 8th grade book club. It was fantastic! Four girls live in Concord, Massachusetts. Jess and Emma and best friends. Meghan used to be friends with them, but now she hangs out with the snobby “fab four”. And Cassidy is brand-new in town. The four very different girls are brought together when their mothers (who are friends) decided to start a mother-daughter book club.

It’s pretty tense at first. Cassidy only wants to play hockey, and would rather be fed to ravenous crocodiles than do anything girly. Meghan can’t stand the fact that she has to hang out with her former best friends, and Jess and Emma are just lucky that they have each other to talk to. The book they are reading over the year is Little Women, in honor of the Concord setting. The girls slowly begin to discover that not only do they have things in common with each other, they have something in common with one of the four girls in Little Women.

This was a great read, complete with a pancake fight, a goat on stage and several dreams coming true. Highly recommended.

The Last Treasure by Janet Anderson

I have been meaning to read this for years, and I am so happy to have finally done so. Ellsworth is 13 years old and is going to spend the summer with family that he has never met at “the square”. The square was a block of identical houses built over a hundred years ago. And when they were built, Ellsworth’s ancestor hid three treasuress in three of the houses to be uncovered when the family needed them the most. Two treasures have been uncovered, and the family desperately needs the third. However, only children have ever found the treasures. So Ellsworth and his cousin Jess and interested in searching for the treasure. But there have been some consequences to searchers in the past. Can Ellsworth and Jess find the treasure and save their families before disaster befalls? Read it and find out.