Strange Occurences Part 2

Title: Abby Carnelia's One & Only Magical Power
                                       # of Pages: 288
                                      Author: David Pogue
                                      Previous Work:
                                                             Personal Technology collumnist for
                                                             the New York Times

                                                             Wrote or Co-Wrote seven books in
                                                             the For Dummies series, including
                                                             Magic for Dummies
                                     
                                      Summary: Abby Carnelia is average in evey way. Or so she
                                      thinks... One day she's cutting up hardboiled eggs for a salad
                                      and tugs on her ears. The egg begins to spin on the table!
                                      Abby is shocked. She begins to experiment, but finds that is
                                      the only power she has. Desperate to find out more she
                                      enrolls in a magic camp- and ends up having the adventure
                                      of a lifetime!
                                      Rating: Surprisingly this book was REALLY good. It's a 4.
                                      Awards:

                                      2012 Geneva School District Viking Award Nominee

                                                      Volunteer State book award Nominee 2013-2014
                                                       (state unknown)

                                       Opinion: I love Abby. She's so real! At one point she says,
                                       "Okay,gimme the egg." When her freind asks why she
                                        replies, "It's my lunch!" The other main character, Ben is
                                        well done, but I thought the charcter developement of
                                        Ricky and Eliza could have used some work. (Ricky more
                                        so than Eliza.) The book was very fun though, and I
                                        couldn't put it down. Plus it has a very good message at
                                        the end, which otherwise would have been lacking.
                                 

Strange Occurences Part 1

 Title: The Queen of Second Place
                                          Queen B
                                  Author: Laura Peyton Roberts
                                  Previous Work: (In Alphabetical Order)
                                                        Clearwater Crossing Series
                                                     
                                                        Ghost of a Chance
                                                        
                                                        Green

                                   Summary:

My Personal Philosophy of Talent
by Cassie Howard

                                 I have this theory that everybody has a talent. Rich, poor,

                                 clueless—it doesn't matter. I honestly believe that every human

                                 being on earth is born with one special gift. The problem is, 
                                 not all talents are created equal. People think that talent means 
                                 you sing, or dance, or act. But those are the glory talents, the
                                 ones that everyone wants, and for every diva out there, about 
                                 a million other people are walking around with one of the 
                                 lesser gifts, the kind that don't get their own videos.    

                                  
                               Everyone has a talent, is Cassie's philosophy. They could
                            be normal and simple, like whistling. Or they could be like
                            hers- always getting second place. She's tired of her
                            talent and so when her nemesis sets out to have the new
                            boy Kevin (who Cassie has a crush on) as her boyfriend
                            Cassie is determined to stop her in any way possible.
                            (Queen  B is about what happens after this book.)  
                              Rating: 4
                              Awards: (For Queen of Second Place)
                                       Florida Teens Read List

                                       Young Adult Sequoyah Masterlist

                                       (For Queen B)
                                  
                                        Flamingnet Top Choice Award Winner
                      
                                        Sweet 16 Magazine "Super Summer Read"

                                        Kliatt starred review    

                                 Opinion: This book has a really interesting format. You
                                 start in the middle, with Cassie in detention, and she
                                 catches you up. The characters are quirky and Cassie is
                                 real. The only reason these books aren't a 5 is because at
                                 points the book  is stressful. These are really good books
                                 to read.