Birthday Part 3

 Title: Willow Falls Series:
                                               
                                               11 Birthdays

                                                Finally

                                               13 Gifts

                                               The Last Present

                                      Author: Wendy Mass
                                      Previous Work:

                                                       Twice Upon a Time Series

                                                       A Mango Shaped Space

                                                       Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

                                                       Every Soul a Star
  
                                                       The Candymakers 

                                                       And too many more books to list

                                       Summary: 
                                     
                                      11 Birthdays- Amanda and Leo have been best friends
                                      their entire life, but they have a horrible fight for a year
                                      before their eleventh birthday. Amanda just wants to get
                                      her first birthday without Leo done and over with. When
                                      she wakes up the next day, it's her birthday again. What's
                                      going on?

                                      Finally- Rory has been waiting her whole life to turn twelve.
                                      When she turns twelve she can do all the cool things she
                                      wants to. Like sitting in the front seat, or getting her ears
                                      pierced. But seemingly, everything on the list goes wrong
                                      and Rory is beginning to think growing up isn't what she
                                      thought it would be like.

                                      13 Gifts- When Tara tries to steal her school's goat, she's sent
                                      to Willow Falls to do her penance. She finds herself indebted
                                      to Angelina D'Angelo, who gives her a list of wacky items to
                                      gather. With the help of new friends David, Rory, Amanda,
                                      and Leo, she might find the items she needed- and possibly
                                      more.

                                     The Last Present: Amanda and Leo need to travel to the past
                                     to save Grace, who is in a coma. They must place a
                                     benediction on her three times to save her- or so Angelina
                                     D'Angelo says. All is not as it seems, and the two must
                                     decide what is the right thing to do.
                                     Rating: This series is (overall) a 4.
                                     Awards: 
                                     (For 11 Birthdays- wins, not nominations)

                                     2010 Northborough  Southborough Children's Book Award

                                     2011 Massachusetts Children's Book Award

                                     2011 The Black Eyed Susan Award

                                     2011 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award

                                     2012 South Carolina Children's Book Award

                                     2012 Oregon Readers’ Choice Award

                                     2012 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award

                                     2012 Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award

                                     2012 Tennesee Volunteer State Book Award

                                     2012 Young Hoosier Award

                                     2012 William Allen White Children’s Book Award

                                     2012 Alabama Camellia Children’s Choice Book Award

                                     2013 Maud Hart Lovelace Award

                                     (For 13 Gifts)

                                     2014 Garden State Children’s Book Award

                                     Opinion: These books were really popular when I was
                                     younger, but I was never interested in reading them. Their
                                     popularity dimmed and I stopped hearing about them.
                                     One day I was in the library, and saw Finally. I thought,
                                     "Why not?". I read it  and never went back. Wendy Mass
                                      has a way of weaving memorable stories and characters
                                      that grab you and don't let go. I've now read seven of her
                                      books total and can't recommend them more.

                                   

Summer Romance Reads Part 1

 Title: The Selection Trilogy-
                                      The Selection
                                     The Elite
                                    The One
                                   (There are also three novellas: The Guard, The Prince, and (soon
                                    to come out) The Queen)
                                   Author: Kiera Cass
                                   Previous Work:
                                                   The Siren
                                                    In the Clearing (short story in Brave New Love)
                     
                                  Summary: America Singer has never wanted to be "selected".
                                  To compete for a man she's never met and a crown she doesn't
                                  want,while 35 other girls fight desperately for the same goal. It
                                  would mean leaving her family and her secret love Aspen. And
                                  what if she ends up wanting her new life more than the old one?

                                  Rating: This is a 4.5.
                                  Awards: None

                                 Opinion: I really enjoyed this series. I had been thinking the
                                 whole "love triangle thing" was overdone, but this one worked. I
                                 loved America's personality, and the two guys were great.
                                (Although I have to say, I'm partial to Maxon, the Prince.) I also
                                 liked that the book wasn't entirely about the romance. That can
                                 be tiring. People compare this book to Matched or Hunger
                                 Games, but personally, I think it stands on its own merit.

Anniversary

In celebration of my blog being up and running for a year, I will do a review on a book about new beginnings. Thank you to all my viewers who have stuck by me this past year. I really appreciate it. Just a reminder, you can suggest books for me to read and review at any time!

 Title: The Fire Horse Girl
                                      # of Pages: 336
                                      Author: Kay Honeyman
                                      Previous Work: This is her first novel.

                                      Summary: Thought to be cursed, Jade Moon faces a lifetime
                                      of  boredom in China. The only man who will marry her is
                                      the bricklayer- who only talks about bricks. Then Sterling
                                      Promise, an adopted cousin comes along and convinces
                                      Jade Moon's father to take them all to America. Excited, she 
                                      goes with them to Ellis Island- only to be betrayed.

                                      Rating: A 5! I wish I could keep this book... But I can't.
                                      Awards: 
   
                                                  Booklist Starred Review

                                                  Parent's Choice Gold Award

                                      Opinion: This book is so multi-layered! If I were to call it a
                                      romance I would be right- and wrong. The same goes for
                                      calling it a new twist on a classic story or a historical
                                      fiction. I guess  if I had to define this book as one thing,
                                      it would be becoming more than what people say you
                                      are or even what you should be. People treated Jade Moon
                                      differently because of when she was born and she became
                                      what they expected her to be.
                                         

Birthday Part 1

I had my birthday recently and decided to review two books with the theme of "birthdays" in them. Ironically they are both about twins. (I am not a twin, but find them interesting.) Now for the first book.
 Title: Jake and Lily
                                     # of Pages: 352
                                     Author: Jerry Spinelli
                                     Previous Work:
                                                     
                                                      Crash
                                                    
                                                      Maniac Magee
                                    
                                                      Milkweed
                                                      
                                                       Stargirl
   
                                                       Wringer
       
                                                       And many other books
              
                                      Summary: Jake and Lily are unusually close for twins. They
                                      just don't know how close until their sixth birthday. They find
                                      themselves on the train platform, which the train they born on
                                      passed. And this continues for many years. That was only the
                                      first of many strange occurences that include moving bruises,
                                      being able to hear each other from miles away, and most
                                      uniquely being able to read each other's minds. Lily knows
                                      their power needs a name and calls it Goombla. But as the
                                      years go on they grow farther apart and their Goombla starts
                                      dissapearing. Lily is on a mission to get it back.
                                      Rating: I give this book a 1.
                                      Awards: This book has no awards.
                                      Opinion: This book is really interesting. It is told from the
                                      point of view of both twins which is nice. Another thing I
                                      like is that the characters seem very real. But this book
                                      isn't one of the best Jerry Spinelli books. It is amusing but
                                      not a book you HAVE to read.