Millions and Billions of Books

For everyone out there wondering, this isn't a book review, it's pre- and post-book excitement. There are so many books that have come out recently and many more soon to come out, and I wanted to whet everyone's appetite by talking about them a little bit.

One book that has come out recently is Handle with Care, the latest addition to Jodi Picoult's abundance of captivating books. I am on the waiting list for it at the library, and I am so excited! Jodi Picoult has long been an author that digs up the dirt on all those unspeakable topics, and her writing is incredible. I advise everyone to check this book out, and I will make sure to let everyone know how it is after I've finished it!

 

Did everyone hear the exciting news about Fablehaven 4? Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary came out on March 25th! I am waiting to read it bcause I want to read the first three Fablehaven books again before I pick up the fourth, but I am really looking forward to it! Go Kendra and Seth!

And then we can't forget Starclimber! The third book in the Airborn series, Starclimber   came out early this year. I absolutely LOVED it! All Kenneth Oppel fans, rejoice at this amazing sequel to Skybreaker. 

There are so many books that will be coming out this year... Along for the Ride, for one. This is Sarah Dessen's newest book, and it will be coming out on June 16, 2009! As an avid Sarah Dessen fan, I am very enthusiastic for her new book. Here is a video on it:

Yet another book to look forward to: Being Nikki by Meg Cabot. Being Nikki is the sequel to her cute and sweet Airhead, and it will be released in 16 days! (May 5, 2009!)

Eeek!

Last of all, of course there is Catching Fire, the eagerly awaited sequel to the intense and moving book by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games. There is no set date for the release of this book, but we know it will come out sometime this year in September. I know I can speak for many others when I say we are all very, very excited for this book!

Anyhoo, I just wanted to let you all in on the book news! :) Please let me know if you have information any recently released or soon-to-be-released books! 

Bird By Bird

As many others, I have found that my love of reading has flourished into a want to write. I love putting my pen to the page and spinning a story from my imagination. However, as a young writer, my love of writing is not enough to get me published. I need skill, and for my skills to develop, I need guidance. 

It is not often that you find a book that is not only funny and inspirational, but also honest. By all means, Anne Lamott has created one! Beautifully written and amusing, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life is a touching and honest book that gives good, raw advice to aspiring writers. 

From chapter to chapter, Lamott dishes out useful writing instruction and spices each with humorous anecdotes. She tells of how difficult it was to start writing, and each struggle she goes through to publish a new story. There are stories about her third grade lunchroom, her son, and her crazy friends. In Bird by Bird, there is a chapter entitled Broccoli and a chapter entitled Plot. Bird by Bird, although a slender book, is wonderfully broad in its content. 

I especially liked the honesty of this book. There are authors and books out there that may tell me that I will get published in an instant, but I'd rather hear the truth. Lamott describes how hard it is to get published, but why you should continue to write through the difficulty of it all. She explains that it is no easy feat to write an entire book, much less a book that will sell well. Her candor was both funny and truthful, an uncommon combination, and her writing style was fluid and well organized. 

I recommend this book for all young writers, and I would rate it a 9.9 on a 10-point scale. Although it is a nonfiction book, it is nonetheless captivating, and I stayed up terribly late to finish it! 

MAX

The 5th instalment in the Maximum Ride Series is here! Yet another adventure with Max and the Flock unfolds in this James Patterson page turner. Off the coast of Hawaii, millions of fish are dying, and the reason is unknown. Ships are also being destroyed by someone or something and it is up to the Flock to stop it.

Now, to be frank, when I heard this synopsis, I thought something along the lines of, "What?!?! That doesn't sound like something worthy of the title, Maximum Ride!" Patterson actually pulls it off, though. He mixes the right amount of adventure and mystery to create a good story. He also adds in a little bit of love, for those fans of Fax ('Fang and Max in love' for the newbies).

Anyway, the world is waiting to be saved and the Flock must step up to the challenge. There is an assassin watching their every move and plenty of bad guys trying to make their lives miserable. A certain Mr. Chu also has his own plans for the Flock. So this new book certainly puts the Flock's powers to the test, all of their powers, maybe even some new ones! I can't tell you any more without ruining it, so you'll have to read it yourself.

I would rate this book an 8.5 out of 10. I would recommend it to anyone of any age!

Shades

  About a month or two ago, my teacher recommended a book for me, entitled Shades. Honestly? I was a bit skeptical. But she told me to go ahead and savor the book... take my time. So I did. I read it very slowly, sometimes stopping in the middle to read another book. I savored it. Each passage, each breath of writing Ms. Poland created, was beautifully crafted. It wasn't so much that the plot shook me up-- it was the fascinating writing itself. 

  How the blood betrays, marching up the neck and across the cheeks and through the ears, announcing itself. Walter could feel the heat rising. Poised, they stood, Victor and he. Then Victor shuddered his way past, opened the door and was gone. The draught blew out the candle that stood on the table. The little grey tail of smoke hung suspended in the dark. -- Marguerite Poland, Shades

   

          How can you not love such writing? Perhaps it is not your favorite style, but her descriptions are so vivid, you cannot help but be entranced by them! I know I was. While reading the last half of the book, I was amazed at how much I loved it. In the beginning, you have to get used to her writing and her descriptions, but once you plow through and keep reading, you start to love her details. I would rate Shades an 8 out of 10.

   

Shades is about a young man, Walter, who travels to South Africa for a mission. He stays with the Farboroughs, a family of four. Walter feels an immediate attraction to Frances, the daughter, and their romance and emotion towards each other progresses throughout the book. Meanwhile, the book follows the lives of others, such as Crispin Farborough, the son; and Victor Farborogh, the heroic and brave cousin of Crispin and Frances. All those in the story struggle to find love and faith in difficult times of drought, famine, war, and loss of hope. 

Inspiring and sharp, Shades tells a story of passion, turbulence, and the clash of cultures: a story I will continue to be awed by.

Elsewhere

Ever wonder what is after death? In this novel, Lizzie finds out the hard way. She is like any 15-year-old girl, until she is hit by a taxi on her way to pick out a prom dress. Lizzie finds herself aboard a ship, the S.S. Nile. She soon discovers that she is dead, along with everyone else on the boat. The boat is taking her away from Earth to a place called Elsewhere. There, you age backwards from the day you arrive, which Liz finds unsettling and horrible. When she does arrive she meets her grandmother, Betty, who died even before Lizzie was born. Lizzie misses her family terribly and now she has to try to adjust to the ways of life in this foreign place.

I can't tell you any more without ruining the book for you. You'll have to read it yourself! I would rate it a 8.7 on a scale from 1 to 10. It was definitely worth my while. I recommend it to anyone who likes a novel with a bit of mystery, some love, and a whole new way of looking at the world!

The Series of Unfortunate Events

In sixth grade, I was completely obsessed with one series, and one series only. These book were The Series of Unfortunate Events. I scribbled things in notebooks about the Baudelaire's adventures; I read each book with excitement. I was absolutely devoted to Lemony Snicket and his books. I even threw a party with my best friend when the last of the series came out. Recently, I looked at my bookshelf and said to myself, Oh, goodness, I haven't thought of or read those books in a while! And so, I couldn't resist pulling the first one off the shelf and leafing through its pages. Then, Lemony Snicket being Lemony Snicket, I was hooked. Sure, the books are written for kids more around the 4th grade level, but I couldn't help myself. They were quick and fun reads, and the villain in the story was one of those villains everyone loves to hate. I am currently reading the 9th one, entitled The Carnivorous Carnival. 

The whole series is based around three children named Sunny, Klaus, and Violet Baudelaire.When misfortune befalls the three siblings, they are sent to their relative's house-- a frightening, atrocious, and intimidating relative named Count Olaf. As luck would have it, Count Olaf is pure evil. He does everything in his power to steal the Baudelaire fortune, which was left to the children after something terrible happens to their parents. Each book has a different plot in which Count Olaf attempts to steal the fortune, and the poor Baudelaire's continue to have bad luck heaped upon them. Even though this series is written for younger readers, I still love it because it is different from the typical story, in which everything ends happily ever after. I would rate the entire series a 8.5 in a 10-point scale. Snicket's ability to tie things up at the end and connect everything is admirable, and makes for an interesting read.

So if one day you are looking for a quick and easy book to read, pick up The Bad Beginning, which is the first in the series. And remember to ignore Lemony Snicket's advice to put the book right back down.

Nineteen Minutes

I just finished an incredible book by Jodi Picoult. It is called Nineteen Minutes.

When you think about it, you can do so many things in 19 minutes. In 19 minutes, Peter Houghton caused a catastrophe that would be remembered for a long time. 17-year-old Peter Houghton from Sterling, New Hampshire had been bullied and harassed since the first day of kindergarten. His best friend, Josie Cormier, abandoned him when she was accepted into the 'popular' group. One final incident finally causes him to go over the edge and commit a horrific act of violence.

Now everyone is getting involved and everything is getting confused. Judge Alex Cormier (Josie's mother) is the judge on the case. Josie can't remember anything about what happened to her in the school, or can she? Josie goes looking for a father she never knew. Many relationships change over the course of the story. Finally, everyone learns the shocking truth.

This novel is thrilling and completely pulls you in. I would rate it a 9.8 out of 10. I really enjoyed this book. It is very descriptive and makes you want to keep reading (in fact, I had trouble stopping). It is full of mystery, twist endings, suspense, love, tears, and murderer.

Jodi Picoult is a wonderful writer. Some of her other works include: My Sister's Keeper, The Pact, Change of Heart, The Tenth Circle, and many others.

Ironside

Ironside is about a girl named Kaye. She declares her love to Roiben. Roiben decided to take her up on her offer, but first she had to go on a seemingly impossible quest. Until she can finsh the quest she can not see or speak to Roiben. Now she was miserable and convinced that she didnt belong any were she had decided to tell her mother the truth that she was left in the place of the human daughter that was stolen along time ago. Her mother sends Kaye back to the faerie world to find the human Kaye and return her to Ironside. But once she was back in the faerie courts she finds herself a pawn in the games of Silarial the queen of Seelie Court. It is about fairies. I thought the book was pretty cool. I did not get a little of it, but I got some of it. I would still rate it a 10 though, becuase it was a good book.

The Looking Glass Wars

Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in Wonderland? Princess Alyss Heart is a 7 year old girl living in Wonderland. Her mother, Queen Genevieve, rules the queendom. This is one big happy family except for her Aunt Redd. Her Aunt Redd has been cruel and spiteful ever since the day her mother picked her sister Genevieve over Redd to be next in line to rule. Now Redd has come back from her exile to lead her own rebellion. To keep Alyss out of Redd's hands, Alyss Heart is put into the hands of Hatter Madigan, her mother's guard and head of the Millinery. Unfortunately, they are separated as they travel out of Wonderland through the Pool of Tears and Alyss ends up in Victorian London. There she meets Lewis Carrol, who she learns to trust. That trust is soon broken when he writes down her story...with a lot of changes. She is furious that he could do such a thing to her, making her life seem like a fantasy. In this world, no one believes her.
Now in the meantime, others are having troubles too. Redd has taken over Wonderland and the small resistance, named the Alyssians, are trying their best to just stay alive. Hatter Madigan is having quite a hard time finding Alyss. He searches all over the world for her, trying to bring her back to her homeland to stop the invasion. I would tell you more, but I don't want to ruin the book! You'll have to read it yourself to find out what happens!
I would have to rate this book a 9.9 on a scale from 1 to 10. It was fabulous! It is stuffed with action and mystery. You begin to feel as if you are walking, or as it often turns out to be, running beside the characters on this miraculous journey. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a book with a bit of sadness, a lot of action and just a hint of mystery!
Also, there is a sequel called Seeing Redd. Apparently, a third book is scheduled to come out too! So you will have plenty of reading material if this hooks you! It sure caught me!

Drums, Girls & Dangerous pie

SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK Drums,Girls& Dangerous Pie
A incredible book about a middle school kid dealing with life while his little brother battles leukemia.Its funny in a way that reminds us that its OK to laugh in a bad situation.Made me realize how many kids in America have cancer.

It starts with you meeting Steven, a 13-year-old drummer in the All-City High School Jazz Band annoyed with his 5-year-old brother Jeffery.Well one day when Steven is making Jeffery breakfast, Jeffery falls of the stool and has a nose bleed that won't stop.So his mom takes Jeffery to the hospital.They find out Jeffery has leukemia.Steven's mom takes Jeffery to a hospital nearby in Philadelphia twice a month.Steven goes through life trying to keep his brother's cancer problem a secret,not really focused on any thing but his drums.Later when his teachers confront him about him not turning in his homework does he start doing his homework again.When his mom gets sick Steven and his father have to take Jeffery to Philadelphia.Steven meets a girl about his age with leukemia when he's in Philadelphia.He hangs out with her.She dies sometime between the first time Steven goes to the hospital with Jeffery and the next time.When Steven finds out her sister wasn't with her when she died he decided to stick with Jeffery while he's in the hospital.Every one at school finds out Jeffery has cancer.When the high school requires all students to complete community service in order to graduate.Two girls figure out a way to help Steven's family money problems and help the band complete their community service hours by giving all the profits from the spring concert to Steven's family for Jeffery's Medical bills.When Jeffery gets sick in the middle of the concert, Steven leaves his big concert and solo behind to be with Jeffery.In the end at his 8th grade graduation Jeffery no cancer.