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.

                                   

The Poll is Closed!

 

I conducted a survey to find out which of three possible books, you, the readers of my blog wanted me to review first. The results are in and the winner is...

 Title: Warped
                                     # of Pages: 339
                                     Author: Maurissa Guibord
                                     Previous Work: 
                                                               Warped is her first novel.
                                     Summary: Tessa is a normal teenager. She hangs out in her
                                     father's book shop with her friend, Opal. Then one day she
                                     finds a creepy unicorn tapestry and is drawn to it. From there
                                     her life changes. She pulls a thread out of the tapestry and
                                     ends up with handsome nobleman, William de Chaucy in her
                                     room. The three Sisters of Norn, mythological figures, believe
                                     that  Tessa has been controlling peoples' lives, which is
                                     their job. She has to give all the people she supposedly
                                     controlled back, or they'll take away everything good in her
                                     life.
                                     Rating: I give this book a four.
                                     Awards:
                                                  2012 Rita award finalist for:

                                                  Best First Novel and
                                                  Best Young Adult Romance

                                     Opinion: Warped was an amazing romantic fantasy. The
                                     characters had depth. I have a major complaint, though.
                                     The end of the book promised a sequel, but the author has
                                     said that there won't be another. Besides the ending the
                                     book is one you have to read. And maybe the author will
                                     change her mind.

A side note is, that this book was the reason I decided to start my blog. I had read many reviews on it, and disagreed with all of them. All the adults said the story lacked, and I thought besides the ending, it was perfect. I thought I could do a better job reviewing books than them, if only because I'm a teenager.

For International Readers Part 2

 Title: Ruby Red (Rubirot in German)
                                   # of Pages: 330
                                   Author: Kerstin Gier
                                   Translator: Anthea Bell
                                   Country: Germany
                                   Previous Work: 
                                                             The Ruby Red Trilogy 
                                                             (The other two books are not yet fully translated
                                                              to English.)
                                                             Many books for adults with German names
                               
                                   Summary: Gwyneth Shepherd has known her whole life her
                                   cousin Charlotte is going to travel through time. So when she
                                   does, she is taken completely by surprise. Soon her life is a
                                   whirlwind. She's time traveling every day, and taking turns
                                   being annoyed by and crushing on, the handsome Gideon.
                                   There's lots to think about. Why did her Mom lie about her
                                   birthday? How did she hide it? And much more.
                                   Rating: I give this book a 5.
                                   Awards: 
                                   International Bestseller
                                   Opinion: This book was full of mystery. You don't know who
                                   the "bad guys" are, and she finds out that her Mom has been
                                   hiding something from her, for her whole life. This book is
                                   definitely a must read!