Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Maya is your typical high school nerd. She toes the line, does her homework, and helps out at her family's restaurant after school. Then the unthinkable happens. She makes a majorly bad judgement call and needs to come up with some major cash fast or her family could lose everything. She teams up with an unlikely partner, Camden, the cute (but stupid) popular boy of the school. Together they hatch a scheme that is supposed to help Maya solve her problem...but things never turn out the way you expect them to.
Maya is a great main character. She has her flaws but does her best to hide or make up for them. She grows up a lot in the story and is forced to realize that she can't solve everything herself. Camden is an alright main guy for the story. He is a very sterotypcial popular guy. He's rich, gets everything he wants, and like to throw money at problems.
I think the book needed one of two things. A few less pages - there were times it seemed as if I was reading the same chapter over again - or more twists and turns. More twists and turns would have given the author a chance to develop some of the secondary characters a bit more. Because I didn't feel as if I knew any of them very well the ending seemed to come out of nowhere. Overall, well worth the read though.
4/5
Maya is a great main character. She has her flaws but does her best to hide or make up for them. She grows up a lot in the story and is forced to realize that she can't solve everything herself. Camden is an alright main guy for the story. He is a very sterotypcial popular guy. He's rich, gets everything he wants, and like to throw money at problems.
I think the book needed one of two things. A few less pages - there were times it seemed as if I was reading the same chapter over again - or more twists and turns. More twists and turns would have given the author a chance to develop some of the secondary characters a bit more. Because I didn't feel as if I knew any of them very well the ending seemed to come out of nowhere. Overall, well worth the read though.
4/5
25. Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 231
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No
Maddie and Joshua were best friends. They understood each other, they were both PK - Preacher's Kids. But then one day Maddie's family moves and they grow apart. Five years later she returns, but she is not the same person. Maddie, now Madeline, has left the church and has quite a reputation as a bad girl. Joshua is determined to bring her back into the church, but finds that Madeline is opening his eyes and make him think about his beliefs.
The story revolves around Josh trying to figure out what happened to Madeline in the five years she was gone that could change her so much. She hates her father and the church, but she won't say why. As Josh tries to get Madeline to open up to him, he finds her opening his mind. Forcing him to think about his beliefs instead of blindly doing what he has been taught his whole life. The two grow close and each of them learns so much more about themselves in the process.
4/5
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 231
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No
Maddie and Joshua were best friends. They understood each other, they were both PK - Preacher's Kids. But then one day Maddie's family moves and they grow apart. Five years later she returns, but she is not the same person. Maddie, now Madeline, has left the church and has quite a reputation as a bad girl. Joshua is determined to bring her back into the church, but finds that Madeline is opening his eyes and make him think about his beliefs.
The story revolves around Josh trying to figure out what happened to Madeline in the five years she was gone that could change her so much. She hates her father and the church, but she won't say why. As Josh tries to get Madeline to open up to him, he finds her opening his mind. Forcing him to think about his beliefs instead of blindly doing what he has been taught his whole life. The two grow close and each of them learns so much more about themselves in the process.
4/5
The year is sometime in the future. The place is Foundland, an island somewhere north. There has been some kind of apocolypse, but either no one knows, or no one is telling, what exactly happened. Foundland is populated by the select few. The females that have not mutated. They are taught to depend on no one but their community. They hunt, farm, and have special trackers to watch and chase off the men that may find their shores.
While I found the story interesting, there was a little too much mystery about the circumstances leading up to the community on Foundland. As the young women the story focuses on, Liang and Keller, find a house full of artifacts from the time before (the apocolypse). They are amazed to see photos and make-up and start visiting more and more often, which is strictly forbidden.
As the girls try to avoid being caught sneaking away, committee members are looking for the very thing the girls already found. An interesting look into a controlled community, but not enough detail or follow through to really catch my interest.
3/5
While I found the story interesting, there was a little too much mystery about the circumstances leading up to the community on Foundland. As the young women the story focuses on, Liang and Keller, find a house full of artifacts from the time before (the apocolypse). They are amazed to see photos and make-up and start visiting more and more often, which is strictly forbidden.
As the girls try to avoid being caught sneaking away, committee members are looking for the very thing the girls already found. An interesting look into a controlled community, but not enough detail or follow through to really catch my interest.
3/5
Several years ago there was a political coup and the Phalangist took over. A group of children were sent off to incredibly strict boarding school so the government could keep an eye on them. Four of these children have managed to escape their boarding schools and are making a run to join the new revolution to overthrow the Phalange.
These four children each have their own role to play as they find out more of their past, their parents, and why they have been locked up at school for so long. A very interesting look at the world, but the characters were a little stagnant. They did adapt and learn new things, but it always seemed to be with the same attitude.
3/5
These four children each have their own role to play as they find out more of their past, their parents, and why they have been locked up at school for so long. A very interesting look at the world, but the characters were a little stagnant. They did adapt and learn new things, but it always seemed to be with the same attitude.
3/5
A young elf girl, Morwen, disobeys the rules and explores the forest around her village. Now, the forest is forbidden because elves of all ages have been disappearing in it. Morwen's wandering brings a little good and quite a bit of bad. The good thing is that she meets a human ranger that begins to teach her how to become a warrior (something that is strictly forbidden for females to learn). The bad thing is that her little sister follows her and disappears.
Morwen decides to rescue her sister and ends up under a curse, the slave of a truly evil being. She only has a short time to find a way to remove the curse before it takes over her very soul.
The action in the story is very quick and erratic. It tends to jump from one scene to another with very little build up. While this keeps the story exciting, it also makes it hard to follow one leap to the next, and to develop the characters. The characters do change and grow, but it occurs in a very jarring way. Relationships develop and fall apart without any reason leading up to it.
2/5
Morwen decides to rescue her sister and ends up under a curse, the slave of a truly evil being. She only has a short time to find a way to remove the curse before it takes over her very soul.
The action in the story is very quick and erratic. It tends to jump from one scene to another with very little build up. While this keeps the story exciting, it also makes it hard to follow one leap to the next, and to develop the characters. The characters do change and grow, but it occurs in a very jarring way. Relationships develop and fall apart without any reason leading up to it.
2/5
Imagine being a teenager, looking forward to summer vacation and soccer camp. Now how would you feel if you found out that this summer was going to be much different. This year you will be going to a family frontier camp. A camp that takes you back to 1890, and forces you to live that way all summer. The only saving grace is the cute boy, Caleb, that is staying in a cabin nearby.
Gen is furious at her parents for dragging her to frontier camp this summer. She has to weed corn, milk cows, and wash her clothes by hand. And worst of all she is missing her friends and soccer camp. But all is not a total lost as she has managed to sneak a cell phone in and sends regular text updates to her friends. All this backfires one day when her texts end up on her friend's blog for the whole world to read.
A quick and entertaining read that enjoyed. Reading about the antics of the various teenagers and children that are attending the frontier camp are fun and accurately show how I would have handled being cut off from civilization for two and a half months. I was able to appreciate all the main characters, even the ones I didn't like, and the background characters were developed to just the right level to contribute what they needed to the story. However, the style and conflicts were sometimes a bit predictable.
3/5
Gen is furious at her parents for dragging her to frontier camp this summer. She has to weed corn, milk cows, and wash her clothes by hand. And worst of all she is missing her friends and soccer camp. But all is not a total lost as she has managed to sneak a cell phone in and sends regular text updates to her friends. All this backfires one day when her texts end up on her friend's blog for the whole world to read.
A quick and entertaining read that enjoyed. Reading about the antics of the various teenagers and children that are attending the frontier camp are fun and accurately show how I would have handled being cut off from civilization for two and a half months. I was able to appreciate all the main characters, even the ones I didn't like, and the background characters were developed to just the right level to contribute what they needed to the story. However, the style and conflicts were sometimes a bit predictable.
3/5
Aerrin Renning is orphaned and alone - adrift in her father's spaceship when the unexpected happens. She is rescued, tested, and sent to most elite school in the Alliance. Here she meets the famous Dane Madousin, the son of one of the most influential men in the Alliance. Both arrive with a big chip on their shoulders and with the feeling of needing to prove themselves. Aerrin is desperate to hide her past from her classmates, while Dane is struggling to prove he's not just like his father.
Thrown together in sparring class, the two find themselves in an unlikely friendship that pushes the rules to their limits. In and out of trouble, they find themselves relying on each other more and more every day. But will their relationship last when Aerrin discovers the truth about her past, and will Dane's father manage to use his influence to change the course of both their lives?
A fantastic story of discovering who you are and realizing that while your family and past can shape you, it's ultimately up to you to decide what to do with it. Aerrin and Dane are both fascinating and very deep characters. The layers of their personalities and lives are revealed slowly as the story develops and their friendship deepens. The story was engaging with just the right elements of surprise and foreshadowing.
4/5
Thrown together in sparring class, the two find themselves in an unlikely friendship that pushes the rules to their limits. In and out of trouble, they find themselves relying on each other more and more every day. But will their relationship last when Aerrin discovers the truth about her past, and will Dane's father manage to use his influence to change the course of both their lives?
A fantastic story of discovering who you are and realizing that while your family and past can shape you, it's ultimately up to you to decide what to do with it. Aerrin and Dane are both fascinating and very deep characters. The layers of their personalities and lives are revealed slowly as the story develops and their friendship deepens. The story was engaging with just the right elements of surprise and foreshadowing.
4/5
The Place is where dreamhunters go to find dreams. Dreams that are very different than the ones we have ourselves. These dreams can be shared and shown in a way similar to our movies. Only a select few have the ability to capture dreams from the Place and share them with other nearby sleepers. Laura and her father are two of these people.
When Laura's father, the first dreamhunter known to exist, disappears she has to follow a strange trail of clues to find out what he was working on. A trail that leads to many disturbing discoveries. Will she have to strength to carry on and follow in his footsteps, or will she instead choose to follow the status quo and let his knowledge disappear as he did?
I found the story fascinating. There were so many different levels of relationships and personalities that were explored without making the characters overly complicated. The world was where the author lost me a little. There was so much that I just didn't understand. While it was all made clear as the story continued on, I feel like there were many things that I missed and would have understood or appreciated more had I known more about the world itself. It led to a bit of a disjointed story.
3/5
When Laura's father, the first dreamhunter known to exist, disappears she has to follow a strange trail of clues to find out what he was working on. A trail that leads to many disturbing discoveries. Will she have to strength to carry on and follow in his footsteps, or will she instead choose to follow the status quo and let his knowledge disappear as he did?
I found the story fascinating. There were so many different levels of relationships and personalities that were explored without making the characters overly complicated. The world was where the author lost me a little. There was so much that I just didn't understand. While it was all made clear as the story continued on, I feel like there were many things that I missed and would have understood or appreciated more had I known more about the world itself. It led to a bit of a disjointed story.
3/5
Jonathon used to be a twin. I say used to be because his brother died less than a year ago. Jonathon is drifting and confused. His life is slipping away from him. The only escape he can find is in his poetry and his guitar, but they just aren't enough. As his life spirals further and further away down hill, he finds himself attached to the strangest people. People that show him that just because it hurts now, doesn't mean it always will.
Jonathon is an amazing character. He's a "typical" teen, caught in a loop of rebellion and finding himself. His group of friends are everything that a person could ever want. They are there to pick him up when he falls, help him out when the going gets tough, and push him forward when he needs a shove.
4/5
Jonathon is an amazing character. He's a "typical" teen, caught in a loop of rebellion and finding himself. His group of friends are everything that a person could ever want. They are there to pick him up when he falls, help him out when the going gets tough, and push him forward when he needs a shove.
4/5
Maya's life has been far from typical, but it's about to get even more so when her con-man father gets arrested. Maya finds herself in a group home - miserable and alone. Then she gets word that there is a relative out there that may be able to take her in, but none of the adults believe her or are willing to help her track them down. So one night she sets off on her own, a runaway from the state with a highly unlikely companion.
Maya, who now goes by Jeopardy on the streets, doesn't realize just how much she doesn't know about life until she hits the roads to try and find her aunt. She learns about life and responsibility, while tackling moral dilemmas she never even imagined before. As she comes to understand the world better, with the help of her the companions she meets along the way, she begins to doubt the way she looks at life.
A fantastic story of a girl finding out that there is more to life than she could have possibly imagined. Not all things turn out OK, but that's what real life is all about sometimes.
5/5
Maya, who now goes by Jeopardy on the streets, doesn't realize just how much she doesn't know about life until she hits the roads to try and find her aunt. She learns about life and responsibility, while tackling moral dilemmas she never even imagined before. As she comes to understand the world better, with the help of her the companions she meets along the way, she begins to doubt the way she looks at life.
A fantastic story of a girl finding out that there is more to life than she could have possibly imagined. Not all things turn out OK, but that's what real life is all about sometimes.
5/5