Excellent Reads

Release Date: 1967 Publisher: Speak Pages:  187 From Goodreads :  "According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser." Admittedly going into this book I was somewhat determined not to like it- for one reason, it's completely out of my comfort zone (that being YA pararnormal and dystopian/ post-apocalyptic), for another, I had to read it for school (I cannot recall having  ...

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Title: "SYLO"  Author: D.J. MacHale Publisher: Razorbill Release Date: July 2, 2013 From Goodreads:  "Does Tucker Pierce have what it takes to be a hero when the U.S. military quarantines his island? Fourteen-year-old Tucker Pierce prefers to fly under the radar. He’s used to navigating around summer tourists in his hometown on idyllic Pemberwick Island, Maine. He’s content to sit on the sidelines as a backup player on the high school football team. And though his best friend Quinn tells him to “go for it,” he’s too chicken to ask Tori Sleeper on a date. There’s always tomorrow, he figures. Then Pemberwick Island is invaded by a mysterious branch of the U.S. military called SYLO. And sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option for Tucker, because tomorrow may never come.  It’s up to T...

Release Date: February 5, 2012 Publisher: Feiwel and Friends Pages: 464 From Goodreads:  "Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own. As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner." I have to start this review by than...

Today I am excited to have author Nikki Colligan whose debut novel, "Sunshine", is released today, stop by the blog to tell us a bit about herself and her book!  Describe SUNSHINE in 5 words or less. Oh, that’s hard, but I’ll try: Funny. Dark. Music. Monsters. How do you balance being a student with being an author? It’s definitely hard! But I love being a student as well as being a writer. I guess it depends on the semester, really. I usually try to write at least 2,000 words a day. It can be hard when I have homework and papers and all of that school business, but as long as I have a semi-routine of school, school-work, writing-work, I’m a happy camper. Also, caffeine helps. : ) Do you work on multiple books simultaneously? If so, what is your process?  Yes. I try to take at least a week break in between writing a rough draft and then editing it, although last time I tried that, I went nuts. I can’t NOT write. So now when I take a break, I start a new project. I take a...

ARCTIC ADVENTURE By Willard Price. 272 pp. Red Fox. £7.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9780099482277 Rating: 5 Stars     I got this book from my school library when I was looking for a book to read. This is the second book I have ever read by this author. I really like this author's books because they make you want to save endangered species from becoming extinct. However, I do not agree that it is good for animals to all be in zoos because then animals don't learn how to live in the wild. I personally think this is a good book to read around this time of the year because I finished it yesterday, and as it just snowed it looks as if your in the Arctic today.     This book is about two brothers, Hal and Roger, who go to Greenland and Alaska to pick up animals that their father sells to zoos. While they were in Greenland they made very good friends with Olrik and a polar bear that they named Nanook. Nanook saved them when they were at the point of d...

THE GRIM GROTTO A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book the 11th. By Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. 352 pp. Egmont Books Ltd. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9781405266161 Rating: 5 Stars     Even though this is "Book the Eleventh" you can still read it on its own because it explains the rest of the series in the beginning. That said, this book was very interesting to me because it revealed a lot of secrets. For example I was very surprised to find out that their friend Fiona's stepbrother had joined Count Olaf's troupe. I felt extremely sorry for Fiona that she had to be the one in the middle: the one both sides wanted.     This book is about the Baudelaires and their extremely unfortunate events underwater. I myself think that the most unfortunate and frightening event that they encounter is when Sunny is poisoned by the Medusiod Mycelium. Even though the events that occur after that are still very frightening, I hope I have not fri...

LILY ALONE By Jacqueline Wilson Illustrated by Nick Sharratt. 320 pp. Doubleday Children's Books. £12.99. (Ages 10 and up) ISBN 9780385618649 Rating: 4 Stars     I read this book because my friend recommended it to me. I am honoured to say that her mom knows Jacqueline Wilson. I myself actually sometimes feel like Lily.     This book is about a girl called Lily. One day her mom goes off with their may be future dad on holiday so they are left home alone. Poor Lily has to somehow get the house together before their mom comes back. Sadly with Baxter, Pixie, and Bliss always on the move that is nearly impossible. Just to make it worse they have a secret to hide: their mom has left them home alone.     I think ages nine to twelve should read this book because the language is for older readers but adults and teenagers would probably think the story was a bit childish. This book definitely deserves four stars because it wa...