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Last Updated: 7/7/2009

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Sunday, November 08, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Struts and Frets by Jon Skovron: Book Cover  Sammy Bojar has music in his blood.  His grandfather earned his living playing piano with some of music's greats.  Sammy has his own dreams of music stardom.  
 

The Tragedy of Wisdom is the name of the band Sammy and his buddies have put together.  They have free practice space at the local community center, but things at practice have been pretty rocky lately.  First, it was the argument about the band's name.  It wasn't everyone's choice, but hey, it's just a name.  Then there's the tension about their creative direction.  Sammy has been writing the songs for the group almost since they began, but one member never seems to be able to learn the music or remember the words and another member seems intent on becoming the new writer for the band.  Just when they may have their big chance in a local Battle of the Bands contest, the group may be breaking apart.

 

Much to his surprise, music is suddenly not Sammy's only passion.  Jen5, his lifelong best friend and budding artist, is fast becoming his girlfriend.  Who knew the mix CD he gave her last year really expressed his love and not just his friendship?  Fortunately, Jen5 feels the same way so their relationship is heading off toward bigger and better things.

 

Sammy would like nothing better than to be able to sit down and confide in someone about the mounting pressures in his life.  Jen5 seems an obvious choice, but she has her own artistic frustrations and a wacky father to deal with besides.  Rick, Sammy's gay band mate, understands the music situation but is clueless about romance.  There's always his mom, but lately she's only interested in deep, psychological talks about what a woman wants from sex.  That leaves Sammy's grandfather.  His connection to reality is questionable even on a good day, but it seems the old man may have more valuable advice to give Sammy then either one ever dreamed.

 

STRUTS & FRETS by Jon Skovron is for all you budding creative geniuses out there.  It's for the readers dreaming of being in a band and making it big.  It's for the would-be artists trying to put their passions on paper or canvas despite parents and teachers with their "real" world requirements.  Skovron plugs right into the hopes and dreams of every idealistic teen and speaks to them in their own terms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently reading:
Comfort
By Joyce Moyer Hostetter
6:29 PM 
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Saturday, November 07, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Cover Image  Essie's world revolves around her little sister Zelda. She is a challenging child and can be quite a handful most days. Essie knows how much Zelda misses her now that she is working at the Triangle, a sweatshop that employs young seamstresses to make shirtwaists. The little girl begs Essie to stay home and play, but Essie's paycheck helps keep food on the table and the rent paid.

When the boss at the shop presents a new girl for Essie to train, she just hopes the young woman learns quickly so she can keep up her own pile of completed garments big enough to please their demanding supervisor. It doesn't take Essie long to discover the new girl, whose name is Harriet, is well-educated and used to a comfortable lifestyle. As the two young women begin to develop a friendship, Essie suspects that Harriet is hiding something or from someone.

Set in the early 1900's, the chapters of LOST alternate between Essie's thoughts dated and written in diary form over a period of six years and narrative chapters relating her present day life at work and at home. As readers are pulled into the story, it becomes evident that something has happened to Zelda, and that Essie may be blocking out some tragic event concerning the little girl. The mystery deepens as Essie begins to unravel the secrets surrounding her new friend Harriet. What is Harriet hiding and is she really who she says she is?

Author Jacqueline Davies carries readers through the story with intriguing hints and tempting tidbits about Essie and Harriet. Their true stories stay just out of reach and will make readers curious and turning the pages to find out more.
Currently reading:
Struts & Frets
By Jon Skovron
1:37 PM 
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Monday, November 02, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff: Book Cover  Andy has a weight problem.  It is pretty obvious.  All you have to do is look at him.  That's why he doesn't understand why the makers of Levi's jeans have to put his size (48) right on the label for everyone to see.

Also, how fair is it that someone with a weight problem has to have a mother who has her own catering business.  Andy's mother may specialize in mini foods - mini eclairs, mini bagels, mini bite-sized Caesar salads, but it is fabulous mini food and eating by the handful does help his situation at all.

Andy and his best friend Eytan managed to survive their freshman year.  They hung in there despite the teasing and taunting from upperclassman and found their place with the geeks.  Clubs like Model UN and getting good grades should be enough to please their parents and get them into first rate colleges.  The only thing is, this year Andy wants more.

Things seem like they might be about to change when Andy meets April.  He's helping his mother cater a wedding when April enters his world.  The secret dreams of what could be possible if they could hook up keeps Andy thinking hopefully as his sophomore year begins.  That hopefulness takes a leap forward when it turns out April has actually moved nearby and is attending Andy's high school. 

When Andy discovers April is trying out for cheerleading, he makes an amazing decision.  He takes a detour on his way to a Model UN meeting and ends up heading out the back door of the school and right into the middle of football practice.  It turns out the team needs a new center and Andy's massive size fills one of the main requirements for the job.

Of course, there are complications.  How can he get his mother to sign the consent form necessary to play football when he knows she'll be concerned that he suffers from asthma?  What happens when his best friend finds out he is abandoning the geeks of Model UN in favor of the jocks of football?  Can he even learn to play football when he doesn't really have an athletic bone in his oversized body?

Allen Zadoff takes readers into the familiar world of high school.  FOOD, GIRLS, AND OTHER THINGS I CAN'T HAVE focuses on the cliques of high school and the resulting pressure to fit in, be popular, and just survive in general.  If that's not enough pressure, Zadoff creates even more for his main character as he has Andy struggle with unrequited love, a controlling mother, and a mostly absent father.  It all sounds rather depressing, but Zadoff uses fantastic humor and likeable characters to attract and hold the reader's attention right to the last page.  FOOD, GIRLS, AND OTHER THINGS I CAN'T HAVE is a must-read.
Currently reading:
Lost
By Jacqueline Davies
3:13 AM 
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Saturday, October 31, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes: Book Cover  OPERATION YES by Sara Lewis Holmes is one of a number of new books just out that focus on issues relating to war in the Middle East.  The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are touching more and more lives here in the U.S., and many authors have taken on the challenge of including these current events in their new novels.

OPERATION YES takes place here in the States on an Air Force base.  Bo's father is one of the commanding officers at the base, and Bo attends the base school.  Not a model student, Bo is not looking forward to the new school year, but he has promised his father he will at least try to behave.

Miss Loupe is a new teacher at the school.  One of the first things she shares with her students is the fact that she and her brother Marc once lived on the base and attended the school where she now teaches.  Bo becomes fascinated with Miss Loupe's teaching strategies as he watches her actions on his very first day in her class. 

All the students are surprised and puzzled as they watch her tape off a large rectangle on the floor of their classroom, and then drag in an ugly, old couch.  The taped off area and the ugly couch soon become the center of their afternoon activities.  Miss Loupe is a master of improv theater, and she is determined to get each of her students involved.

Something else new in Bo's life is the arrival of his cousin Gari.  Gari's mother, a nurse, has been deployed to Iraq, and Gari has come to live with Bo and his family on the base.  She isn't happy about leaving her Seattle home and friends to trek across the country to the east coast, and it doesn't help that she is worried sick about her mother's safety in Iraq.  Gari quickly begins hatching a plan that might either get her sent back to Seattle or bring her mother home.

Bo is also dealing with deployment issues.  Just when he is starting to like school and his new teacher, it's possible that his father may be sent to Afghanistan at the end of the year which would mean another in a long history of moves for the family.  Bo doesn't want to hold back his father's career, but he would do just about anything to remain with Miss Loupe and participate in her theatrical experiments.

OPERATION YES takes readers into one teacher's unique classroom to witness students becoming excited about learning.  Those same students face the emotional challenges of having direct connections with war and some of the toughest times for U.S. military personnel.  This book provides needed subject matter for today's tweens and could be easily used to promote lively classroom discussion about war, service, and the relationships affected.
Currently reading:
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have
By Allen Zadoff
Release date: 2009-09-08
1:28 AM 
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Hate List by Jennifer Brown: Book Cover  How many times can someone tease and taunt and call you Death Sister before you crack?  How many times can someone poke you in the chest and call you a freak before you retaliate? 

Valerie and Nick have a "hate list."  It started one day when Valerie had had enough from the kids at school and her arguing parents at home.  She started a list, and when she showed it to Nick, he thought it was a great idea.  Their list grew and filled a notebook.  It helped ease the feelings they had about being on the outside, of being different in a high school where being the same was considered being popular.

The tragedy was that Valerie thought she knew Nick.  They had spent three years together.  She knew he loved Shakespeare and lying under the stars at night.  What she didn't know until it was too late, was that Nick had a plan. 

He brought a gun to school.  He shot the gun, killing and injuring their classmates and teachers.  When Valerie finally stopped him, he shot her and then turned the gun on himself.

Nick is dead leaving Valerie to carry on.  After months of physical and psychological recovery, she is attempting to return to school.  Will students welcome her back as a victim or a villan or a hero?

HATE LIST by Jennifer Brown is the powerful story of a school shooting and the survivors.  Valerie's story reveals the devastating toll such a tragedy takes on family and friends.  Readers will watch her struggle to return to her life confused about herself, the person she thought she loved, and her new position in her family and her community.  Brown artfully reveals the details of the tragic shooting gradually through newspaper accounts, police interviews, and witness interpretations.  Everything is held together by Valerie's tortured post-trauma experiences.  A lesson in the cold, hard reality of human nature, HATE LIST is not to be missed.
Currently reading:
Operation Yes
By Sara Lewis Holmes
2:48 AM 
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Sunday, October 25, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Product Details Breeze wasn't really looking forward to the start of eighth grade.  It's hard to get excited about the some old thing.   Plus it is hard to fit in when you have crazy, wild red hair, feet the size of canoes, and you're taller than anyone who has ever attended Whispering Springs Middle School.

In fact Breeze has a list of complaints about her life.  She has a beautiful and popular older sister who has petite size six feet and is head of the varsity cheerleaders.  She has an annoying brother named Noah.  Add to the list the fact that she wears braces, finds her name an embarrassment, and that she'll be having her mother as a teacher this year, and you've pretty much completed her list of grievances.

With all this working against her, imagine Breeze's surprise when she meets Cam.  How lucky can she get to have the cutest guy ever suddenly attending school in her tiny town, and besides that, he doesn't seem to be immediately repulsed by her flaming hair and overwhelming height.

With the encouragement of her best friend Amy, Breeze attempts some changes to attract Cam's attention.  However, when trying out for an opening on the cheerleading squad ends with a badly sprained ankle and an attempt at a makeover ends in disaster, Breeze is ready to forget the whole thing.

JUST BREEZE is a fun read about the perils of middle school.  It covers the territory quite completely with the struggle to fit in, annoying parents, even more annoying siblings, and the search for true love.  Author Beverly Stowe McClure brings Breeze to life for the enjoyment of middle grade readers everywhere.
Currently reading:
Hate List
By Jennifer Brown
10:19 PM 
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Saturday, October 24, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Picture This by Norah McClintock: Book Cover Life hasn't been easy for Ethan.  He had to leave his last foster home after Mrs. Girardi had a heart attack.  Now he's living with Mr. and Mrs. Ashdale.  They are nice folks, and thanks to them, he's no longer involved with the Nine Eight gang.

Ethan is spending the summer taking pictures.  He is part of a new program at the local community center called Picture This.  Just about every minute of every day he's got his camera in hand and is taking photos of everything. 

When he finds himself the victim of a mugging-style attack in a back alley, Ethan refuses to hand over his backpack because he can't imagine parting with his prized camera.  He escapes his attacker and thinks of the incident as a random event until several days later someone breaks into the home of his foster parents and ransacks the place.

Several other incidents occur including a shooting that seems to have him as the intended target.  As the police become involved, Ethan begins to feel more like a suspect than a victim.  His earlier gang involvement has law enforcement officers thinking he must be up to something to have guns firing in his direction.

Ethan is determined to figure out what is going on and at the same time, protect his life with the best family he's ever had.  As long as Mr. and Mrs. Ashdale continue to believe in him, he is confident that things will work out.

At just over 100 pages, PICTURE THIS by Norah McClintock offers readers an amazing amount of action and mystery.  Ethan is portrayed as the typical at-risk, big city teen trying to improve his life.  Readers will cheer him on as he works to hang onto his new life.
1:47 AM 
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Friday, October 23, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Hannah's Touch by Laura Langston: Book Cover  It's been a year since the death of her boyfriend Logan.  Hannah is struggling to put her life back together.  One thing that helps a little is her job at the local drugstore.  She has gotten to know the regular customers; even grouchy old Maude O'Connell who insists Hannah call her M.C.  The woman's strange little dog named Kitty just adds to her eccentricity.

One day while on her break, Hannah is stung by a bee.  Imagine her surprise when she learns she is deathly allergic and ends up having a near-death experience that lands her in the hospital.  In the middle of her emergency, she remembers M.C. and Kitty lending a hand to comfort her, and when the excitement settles down, they are crediting her with healing them.  M.C. still needs her walker, but she is noticeably more spry than before, and the ancient Kitty is suddenly full of doggie energy.

Hannah tries to avoid the crazy idea that she had anything to do with their improved health, but when something similar happens again during her cooking class, she realizes there may be something to it.  The more she focuses on each individual event, the more she remembers.  There was a tingling feeling followed by a soft feeling and renewed energy.  She also must admit that the voice of Logan spoke words of encouragement during each episode.

All this is difficult to talk about.  Most people, except for M.C., don't take her seriously.  Is what she's experiencing a miracle or some sort of strange curse? 

Laura Langston's HANNAH'S TOUCH offers a quick glimpse into the world of miracles.  It's an easy, fast read most teens will enjoy.
2:52 AM 
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Friday, October 23, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser: Book Cover  If you are looking for a good thriller, look no further.  WISH YOU WERE DEAD by Todd Strasser has everything you're looking for.

When a popular teen from a wealthy, gated community disappears right off her front lawn, everyone is scared.  Then when two more teens disappear within the same week, panic sets in.

Madison has always liked being part of the "in" crowd, but she hesitates and tries to distance herself when they start bashing the less fortunate students in her affluent high school. 

When her friend Lucy disappears after being dropped off at her house by Madison and her Safe Ride partner, she feels guilty.  The rules of Safe Ride state that the person being dropped off should be witnessed entering his/her home.  Madison was pretty annoyed with Lucy and her better-than-everyone attitude that night, and when Lucy stubbornly continued to hang around on her front walk, Madison and Tyler just left her.

Now Lucy is gone.  Did she run off with her boyfriend?  Is she just trying to scare everyone?  Or was she kidnapped?  When there is no demand for a ransom, people begin to suspect more sinister motives are involved.

Madison is not the only one feeling guilty.  The creator of a blog known as Str-S-d is having second thoughts about her actions.  Frustrated with the ever popular Lucy and her superior attitude, Str-S-d admits that she wishes her dead.  Could someone have read her post and taken it seriously enough to actually kill the girl?  And is it coincidence when Str-S-d expresses similar death wishes about the other two missing teens?

Add in the attractive, yet mysterious new student, Tyler and the strange messages Madison keeps finding from someone known only as PBleeker, and the suspense builds quickly.

Todd Strasser is at his best in WISH YOU WERE DEAD.  It provides just the edge-of-your-seat action teens love.  Happily, it appears to be the first of three similar stories.  Can't wait to get a look at the next one.
2:19 AM 
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
In the Woods by Robin Stevenson: Book Cover  Cameron's sister Katie asks him to do her a favor.  "Just do this one thing," is what she asks, followed by, "Don't tell anyone."

He's not happy to be riding through the woods in the rain, but Katie looked kind of freaked out.  When Cameron stops for a moment, he hears something.  He listens carefully and hears it again.  It sounds like crying.  It is crying.  In fact, it's a baby!

Cameron can't believe he has found what looks like a newborn wrapped in blankets out in the woods.  He wraps it in his sweater and zips it inside his coat and bikes out to the road.  After a few tries, he gets a car to stop and pick him up.  Luckily the driver is a nurse.  She quickly checks on the baby and heads to the nearest hospital.

The good news is the baby will survive.  The bad news is Cameron is pretty sure he knows whose baby it is.  He cautiously answers questions from doctors, a social worker, and the police, but the answer they all want to hear, he keeps to himself.

IN THE WOODS presents the distressing scenario of an abandoned infant.  It's a story all too common in the news today.  Author Robin Stevenson brings this grim reality to life as she describes Cameron's struggle to face the truth about his sister.  Only 124 pages long, IN THE WOODS takes readers quickly into the emotionally charged situation, and keeps them on the edge of their seats right to the end.
2:02 AM 
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