Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

by:  Tayari Jones
published by:  Algonquin Books
publish date:  May 31, 2011

With the opening line of Silver Sparrow, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,” author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man’s deception, a family’s complicity, and two teenage girls caught in the middle.

Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich yet flawed characters—the father, the two mothers, the grandmother, and the uncle—she also reveals the joy, as well as the destruction, they brought to one another’s lives.

I was surprised by this book.  I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to, that's not to say I opened the book expecting to hate it or anything.  It was a book that I had picked up at ALA and finally got around to reading as a shelf cleaning exercise.  It was a sink your claws in catty good time!

The first half of the book is told from the viewpoint of Dana.  Dana is James' "secret" daughter.  I liked this half of the book more than the second half, but I couldn't put my finger on any particular reason why.  I guess I liked Dana more, but that was probably because Dana and Gwen prejudiced me against Chaurisse in the beginning. 

The second half is told by Chaurisse, the public daughter.  This half was interesting, it was more confrontational.  It was hard to believe that one man could have two families in one city without the other knowing about it, but I think Chaurisse's mother knew deep down.  I think she had suspicions, there were clues sprinkled about. 

I would definitely recommend this book especially if it's something that you don't normally read, it was well written and the characters were very memorable.  The audiobook was really good too!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

by:  Laini Taylor
published by:  Little, Brown and Co.
publish date:  September 27, 2011

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Autumn's Thoughts: One of my first impressions of this book is that it wasn't dumbed down.  I authors that make use of unique and interesting vocabulary.  Laini Taylor uses her SAT words and thankfully they weren't edited for more everyday words. 

Secondly, Daughter gives a great sense of setting.  I've never been to Prague, but I didn't need to the city came alive in my head from the descriptions in this book.  Elsewhere, the land of the Chimera, was vividly portrayed and became this dark and wickedly beautiful place through Taylor's words.

Laini Taylor was one of the authors I got to meet at ALA.  I hadn't heard much about the book then, but then the buzz got started in the last few months and I got nervous.  Usually when everybody loves the book, I don't.  Happily, that wasn't the case this time.  I truly enjoyed this book.  It was all I had hoped for when I got my ARC from the cool chick with the awesome pink hair.

Today we're introducing a guest reviewer at From the TBR Pile, Alex!  She's going to be popping in from time to time to give her opinion and a teen perspective.

Alex's Thoughts:  When I first saw this book in the store, I never thought it would be the way it turned out to be. This novel turned out to be exotic and completely different from other novels I have read. There is nothing cliché about this story. Laini Taylor showed her talent and extraordinary imagination very well. With the cultures, and knowledge of Angels and Demons sewn throughout this story, you will be pulled in as soon as you read the first page. This novel is equally dark, sensual, a little twisted, and at some points unsettling. Every bit of imagery is stunning. The language is beautifully written and the love between the two beings pushes unbreakable boundaries. What if the love between an angel and a demon is forbidden? What if angels and demons are not what is traditionally accepted? Find out in this imaginative and vivid YA novel.

Teen Reads Week: Shatter Me

by:  Tahereh Mafi
published by:  Harper Collins
publish date:  November 15th, 2011

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

See that strike-through writing on the cover?  That's throughout the book.  It's a writing technique the author uses to show all the thoughts going through Juliette's mind.  It got old fast, but it was more prevalent in the beginning of the book.  It did seem to taper off towards the end.   That's my main criticism of this book.  It's a clever idea, but a tad bit over done.

I liked this book, it was very X-Men like, but more sinister.  I've seen it mentioned places as a cross between The Hunger Games and X-Men and that's pretty accurate.  It deals with some of the same supernatural aspects as X-Men, but has the atmosphere of The Hunger Games. 

This is the first book in a series.  The film rights have already been optioned for this book, so it'll be interesting to see what the future brings for this debut author.

Deadly Cool

by:  Gemma Halliday
published by:  Harper Teen
publish date:  October 11, 2011

First I find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And now he’s depending on me to clear his name. Seriously?

As much as I wouldn’t mind watching him squirm, I know that he’s innocent. So I’m brushing off my previously untapped detective skills and getting down to business. But I keep tripping over dead bodies and I’m still no closer to figuring out who did it. And what’s worse: all signs seem to point to me as the killer’s next victim.

I thought this was a fun book.  Hartley is a high school student that finds out her boyfriend, Josh, is cheating on her with the president of the Chastity Club.  When she goes to confront them she stumbles upon the Virgin Queen's dead body.  Convinced that Josh is innocent she sets out with her best friend Sam to prove that he's a cheater, but not a murderer. 

This was definitely not one of the more serious type mysteries.  I would compare it to a YA version of the Stephanie Plum books.  Hartely and Sam get up to some goofy shenanigans, but they figure out who the culprit is behind the murders and it isn't who you think it is!

I liked it.  I would read more YA from Gemma Halliday.  I thought it was age appropriate as well.  No language, the girls were censoring, that was explained in the book.  Some sexual references, but no actual sex, definitely nothing out of line. 

When She Woke

by:  Hilary Jordan
published by:  Algonquin Books
publish date:  October 4, 2011

Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family, but after her arrest, she awakens to a nightmare: she is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes—criminals whose skin color has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime—is a new and sinister form of entertainment. Hannah is a Red; her crime is murder. The victim, according to the State of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father, a public figure with whom she’s shared a fierce and forbidden love.

When She Woke is a fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future—where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but chromed and released back into the population to survive as best they can. In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith.
The first thing I want to comment on is the cover art of this book.  I got an ARC and I really hope the final copies are something close, because it is striking.  The red of her skin is a red metallic that is gorgeous.  Kudos to the designer, because it is outstanding.

Anybody has read The Scarlet Letter will instantly recognize this modern day retelling.  I never got the "rip off" feeling though, I felt like this story was paying homage to Hawthorne. 

The whole premise of Chroming was a unique idea and Jordan answered the questions that popped up in my mind about the process.   The reason it came about was because America went through an economic depression and in order to save money this process was developed as a punishment instead of incarcerating prisoners.  I'd think in a way we've started dipping our toes in the water of this idea with the Sex Offender Registry.

This book however was mainly about abortion and the mixture of religion and government.  Those are some hot button issues so I can see this being a controversial book, but the way that it was written I can see it appealing to people who fall on both side of the issue.  It's also an adult book, but it had a bit of a YA feel to it, maybe due to the naivete of Hannah?  While I wouldn't recommend it to younger teens, I think it would be ok for mature teens that are understanding of the issues.  (hint hint...it would be really awesome for a compare and contrast term paper with The Scarlet Letter)

Magnificent Middle Grade Week: The Orphan of Awkward Falls

by:  Keith Graves
published by:  Chronicle Books
published date:  September 28, 2011

When thirteen-year-old Josephine moves to Awkward Falls she can't help but snoop around the dilapidated mansion next door. She finds a little more than she bargained for when she is captured by the strange characters who live there: an ancient automaton who serves as a butler, a cat patched together with a few odd parts, and most surprising of all, a boy named Thaddeus Hibble. Meanwhile, the most feared patient in the Asylum for the Dangerously Insane is on the loose. Fetid Stenchley has escaped in the most dramatic fashion, and there is only one thing on his mind...revenge. Unfortunately for Thaddeus and Josephine, he's headed their way. Can these unlikely friends stop Stenchley before he destroys them all? Full of hilariously spooky details, surprising twists, and haunting black and white illustrations, Keith Graves delivers a suspenseful and engaging first novel. Inspired by the classic tales of Frankenstein and mad scientists, with a splash of contemporary technology, the wonderfully tense action and gory descriptions will hook boys from the start, while Josephine provides a clever and unique heroine that girls will adore.

I will admit from the very beginning I only read the first 100 pages of this book.  I got a copy of it at ALA thinking that my 4th grader might like it (or the 6th grader down the street).  I started reading it first for MMG Week.  I'm glad I did. 

In the first 100 pages there were a bevy of reason why I don't think I'd want my daughter to read this book until she was older, if at all.   It starts off in an insane asylum for criminals.  Fetid Stenchley is not only a murderer but he's a cannibal as well and after an open skull electric shock treatment that is witnessed by dozens, he escapes.  Josephine moves to the same town that this is going on.  The her first night she's taken against her will by a robot to the basement of a strange boy that does Frankenstein like experiments. 

The recommended ages of this book are 9-12.  I personally don't think cannibalistic murderers are appropriate for children of that age range. 

Magnificent Middle Grade Week: Reel Life Staring Us

by:  Lisa Greenwald
published by:  Amulet Books
publish date:  September 1, 2011

Rockwood Hills Junior High is known for the close-knit cliques that rule the school. When arty new girl Dina gets the opportunity to do a video project with queen bee Chelsea, she thinks this is her ticket to a great new social life. But Chelsea has bigger problems than Dina can imagine: her father has lost his job, and her family is teetering on the brink. Without knowing it, Dina might just get caught in Chelsea’s free fall.



I'm going to confess that I really liked this book.  I'm a 30 something grown woman and I read this book in one sitting because it was so cute.  I really liked Dina. 

This would be a great book for a girl heading into middle school or a girl moving to a new school in middle school.  It talked a lot about trying to fit in at a new school. 

I didn't find anything in this book objectionable from a parental standpoint.  The one thing that was a little bit iffy was that the kids in this book were obviously obscenely rich.  $300 for a pair of jeans?  Does anybody actually pay that?  That was the only thing that sort of raised my eyebrow, but that was it.

Magnificent Middle Grade Week: Wonderstruck

Since school has either started or is about to start for all the little munchkins out there, we decided that we would do a week of Middle Grade books.

First up is Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick.  It's going to be published on September 13th by Scholastic Press.

Set fifty years apart, two independent stories—Ben's told in words and Rose's in pictures—weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder.

Ever since his mom died, Ben feels lost.
At home with her father, Rose feels alone.

He is searching for someone, but he is not sure who.
She is searching for something, but she is not sure what.

When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mom's room,
When a tempting opportunity presents itself to Rose

Both children risk everything to find what's missing.



First off, don't let the size of this book intimidate you.  It's over 600 pages, but well over half of those pages are illustrated.  Many of the pages with writing on them have very little writing on them.  It was actually a very quick read. 

I really liked this book.  I happened to really enjoy how the two stories entertwined.  It was very clever.  I liked the way Rose's story was told almost entirely in pictures.  It was an interesting technique.  The illustrations in this book were wonderful.

From the viewpoint of a parent I didn't have any concerns about children reading this book. 

Scorpio Races

by:  Maggie Stiefvater
published by:  Scholastic Press
publish date:  October 18th, 2011

The only synopsis I find anywhere is this:  "With her trademark lyricism, Maggie Stiefvater turns to a new world, where a pair are swept up in a daring, dangerous race across a cliff--with more than just their lives at stake should they lose."


That's all you need to know.  That's what the book is about.  It's about a horse race...a WATER horse race.  It's dark, it's tense, it's violent, it's utterly unique and it's AWESOME!

I wasn't a huge fan of Maggie Stiefvater after the Shiver/Linger Werewolves books.  I really didn't like them much at all.  She's completely redeemed herself in my eyes with this book.   It might be the best book I've read so far this year.  It's definitely right up there in the top 3 for sure. 

The story is about these violent man-eating water horses that come out of the ocean and the riders capture the horses and train them to be raced in November when the Scorpio Races are held.  Sean Kendrick is the best trainer and rider on the island.  He's won 4 of the last 6 years.  He's signed up to race on his favorite water horse Corr.  Kate "Puck" Connelly is a young woman who has signed up to race to save her home.  Problem is, no woman has ever raced before, but there's no rule against it.  She's also riding on her "regular" horse Dove, which is also not against the rules.  There's a lot of opposition to her presence in the traditionally all-male all-water horse race. 

I won't tell you anymore because I know you'll be dying to read it!  Run out and get yourself a copy when it comes out.  Pre-order one right now!

3 Surprise Favorites of 2011

These three books weren't started with the expectation that I was going to love them, or even like them.  The fact that they are most likely on my Top Ten Favorites of 2011 came as a surprise to me. 

First off is:

Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. The enigmatic and powerful man known only as the Commodore has ordered it, and his henchmen, Eli and Charlie Sisters, will make sure of it. Though Eli doesn't share his brother's appetite for whiskey and killing, he's never known anything else. But their prey isn't an easy mark, and on the road from Oregon City to Warm's gold-mining claim outside Sacramento, Eli begins to question what he does for a living–and whom he does it for.


I listened to the audiobook for this one.  It was very well done.  I would highly recommend it.  The story behind this one was great.  At first I was kinda hesitant.  I didn't really get it, but I stuck with it and I'm so glad. 

Eli was an awesome character.  I loved his newfound delight in brushing his teeth. That was so endearing.  The book takes place in the 1850s so not too many people were do that at the time. 

This book is a classic western, which I didn't think was really my cup of tea, but don't let that deter you, because the story is a lot more than that.  I will say however, there are parts that are violent, and there were parts that had me going "ewww" and "ick" and "oh my god". 

Read this book and see if it doesn't stir up some gold lust in you!  And isn't the cover art fantastic??

Second, completely switching gears:

A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

Again, I listened to the audiobook for this one.  Again, it was very well done.  Even though there were shifts in the what time period the story was taking place, I had no trouble following along. 

I found this book to be reminiscent of The Island by Elin Hildebrand.  I think her fans would also enjoy this one.  There is an element of romance, but the mystery of the writer of the diary, is really what makes this book so compelling to read. 

My only criticism of this book is that I didn't really find Jack and Emily's love to be believable.  It just seemed like they met and liked each other and then next thing they were in love with each other without any reason.  Considering their pasts, it seemed like they would need a lot more to push them together.  I did believe the relationship between Esther and Elliot though, so the writer does have the ability to write a genuine love.  I was just skeptical I guess.

Check it out, maybe you'll think I'm way off base.

Speaking of being off base.  My third choice, was completely ON base.  I heard a lot of buzz about this book following BEA.  I got a copy at ALA.  I finally picked it up last week.  Now I know what the big deal is.  I think this one is easily top one or two favorite of the year.

At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended.

As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another find their true paths. Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, The Art of Fielding is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment--to oneself and to others.

I don't know what to say about this book that would properly express how much I liked it.  I lingered over this book because I hated for it to end.  I left it at home and I looked forward to getting home just to be able to read a few more pages and find out what was going to go on in the life of Henry Skrimshander.

I have a feeling that this book might be huge.  It has universal appeal.  It has the sports aspect and male camaraderie that would appeal to the traditional male reader, but it has the drama and love that the chick-lit crowd looks for.  Sorry if I'm pigeon-holing, but y'all know what I'm getting at here.  I think it can also cross YA and Adult lines.  It's an Adult Literature book, but the youth of the characters and the college campus setting might help it trend in the YA direction.

I've been telling everyone about this one.  I definitely recommend it.  I was so sad when I finished it, it was like 5 friends moved away.  It comes out early September...perfect read for a crisp Fall day.

Without Tess

by:  Marcella Pixley
published by:  Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux
publish date:  October 11, 2011

Tess and Lizzie are sisters, sisters as close as can be, who share a secret world filled with selkies, flying horses, and a girl who can transform into a wolf in the middle of the night. But when Lizzie is ready to grow up, Tess clings to their fantasies. As Tess sinks deeper and deeper into her delusions, she decides that she can’t live in the real world any longer and leaves Lizzie and her family forever. Now, years later, Lizzie is in high school and struggling to understand what happened to her sister. With the help of a school psychologist and Tess’s battered journal, Lizzie searches for a way to finally let Tess go.

When I was at the ALA convention one of the questions that I asked publishers was "What are you pushing that I haven't heard of yet?"  This is one of the books that I got.  The rep told me that initial reports were coming back that this book was too dark and depressing, but they all loved the book.  My first reaction to the book was that it IS a sad book, but it's a really beautiful book too.  It's definitely worth the read.

Both of the characters of Tess and Lizzie are very well written, they were very real.  I felt like their parents were also believable.  I don't know exactly how I, as a parent, would react to everything that had happened to their family, but it all felt lifelike to me. 

Marcella Pixley took a very tragic and emotional story and wrote it in such a graceful and beautiful way that I devoured the book in about a day.  I was reading at the pool with tons of people around me and I was crying all over the place behind my sunglasses.  It's an amazing book, thanks to the people at FSG for letting me know about it!

All These Things I've Done

by:  Gabrielle Zevin
published by:  Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
publish date:  September 6, 2011

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight—at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.


Cute little story about this book.  In order to get this book at ALA, you had to get in line to get a coffee and a piece of chocolate first.  I thought that was fun since the book was about a future where coffee and chocolate were illegal.

I liked this book overall.  I thought it was an interesting concept.  I think this is going to be a really popular book once it comes out.  There's a lot of buzz about it already.  It was recently featured in Teen Vogue's Top Summer Reads. 

One of the things I didn't understand was why has this future occurred?  We're talking 70 years from now and there was no paper, little water, the Statue of Liberty had been scrapped, and all their clothes had been recycled.  There wasn't any explanation, just this is the way things are.  This is the beginning of a series (it's YA of course it is!!) so perhaps it'll be explained in later books.

Ashes

by:  Ilsa Bick

published by:  Egmont USA

publish date:  September 6, 2011

It could happen tomorrow...

A cataclysmic event. An army of "The Changed."

Can one teen really survive on her own?

An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, destroying every electronic device and killing billions. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human...

Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the Changed, Alex meets up with Tom---a young army veteran---and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse.

This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive.

I got the opportunity to meet Ilsa Bick at ALA this year and she is a super nice lady.  I got a signed copy of this book so I was a happy girl. 

The book started off great.  I was all into it and it was going strong.  Somewhere about halfway, it just kinda lost it's appeal.  I can't really put my finger on what exactly it was.  About that point Alex loses Tom and Ellie and moves in with a different group of people and I think that's about when I didn't care anymore.

BUT, I made myself pick it back up, and I'm glad I did.  I slogged through the rest of it and the last couple of pages, while a bit confusing made it worthwhile.  The last page made me sit up and drop my jaw and flip the rest of the pages looking for more of the book.  It made me curse YA trilogies/series all over again.  Although, if this was a stand alone book and it just ended the way it did, that would be pretty cool too.

Frost

by:  Marianna Baer
published by:  Balzer + Bray
publish date:  September 13, 2011

Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school begins with a shock: Frost House, her cozy dorm of close friends, has been assigned an unexpected roommate: confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar.  But while Leena’s anxiety about a threat to her sanctuary proves valid, it becomes less and less clear whether the threat lies with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind, or within the very nature of Frost House itself. Mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and Celeste’s brother, and the reawakening of childhood fears, all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. Frost is the story of a haunting. As to whether the demons are supernatural or psychological . . . well, which answer would let you sleep at night?

This is the first offering from debut author Marianna Baer.  I got an ARC of this at the ALA convention in New Orleans.  I didn't really know too much about it other than it was a ghost story.   I liked the first 7/8 of the book...approximately.  I wasn't thrilled with the ending.

The story centered around Leena moving into Frost House for her senior year of high school at a private boarding school.   It's an old house that has ghost stories attached to it.  When she moves in she gets the unpleasant news that she's going to have to room with Celeste.  She tries to make the best of it and make friends with Celeste and it doesn't hurt that Celeste has an older brother that is really hot.  However, the house it seems has other things in mind for Celeste and Leena.

This book is more like a YA psychological thriller than a YA paranormal ghost story.  I think I went into it expecting more of a ghost story, and less of the psychological thriller part.  Other than that, it was well written and interesting.  There were some parts that I wish I could have had pictures of like the cockroaches in dresses.  I would have liked to have seen Celeste's artwork.

Blood Wounds

by:  Susan Beth Pfeffer

published by:  Harcourt Children's

publish date:  September 12, 2011

Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother.

Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? As Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear her family apart.

This was a rather short book, but it packed a really powerful punch.  I read the entire book in one sitting.  I was so absorbed in the story I couldn't put it down.  It dealt with the issue of blended families which is one that you don't really see very much of in YA, usually the parents are mostly or completely absent in YA books, but in this one it seemed like there was an overabundance of them.

The second paragraph of the provided synopsis is a little misleading I think.  I don't think Willa's mother was really harboring secrets.  That kind of sounds sinister.  I think she was just trying to leave her past behind her and not think about Willa's father anymore.  Also, Willa is keeping her own secret, but I don't think it has the potential to tear her family apart. 

That said, this book was one of the most unique contemporary YA books I've read in quite awhile.  I have part of the Life As We Knew It series at home.  I need to get on the ball and read it because if it's as good as this was, it'll be a treat!

Blogfest 2011 July 15-17

It's that time of year again! We've been saving up our goodies so we could have some fantastic prize packs to give away. We're so excited about what we have to give away and I hope you are too!

You can find the full list of blogs participating here

Make sure to check out these awesome blogs:
Girls Just Reading
Good Choice Reading
Hannah Downing
Happy Mom of 5
Harris Channing, Author of Erotic and Mainstream Romance



Now on to our giveaway!!!

The first set is: Autumn's Beach Reads

I took these on vacation with me so they're a little beat up. They got a little wet here and there and they might smell like suntan lotion, but otherwise they're good enough to read.  It includes:  The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, The Predicteds by Christine Siefert, Without Tess by Marcella Pixley, The End of Everything by Megan Abbott, Frost by Marianna Baer, and Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

The second set is: YA Pack #1

These are ARCs of books that I got at ALA. These are some hot books!  Boy 21 by Matthew Quick, Emory's Gift by W. Bruce Cameron, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Possess by Gretchen McNeil, Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

The third set is: YA Pack #2

More ARCs I got at ALA. I know y'all want these!  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore, As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott, The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

The fourth set is: Adult Biographies
I got these at ALA also. They are both autographed by the authors. They were there and they signed them for me so that I could give them away to y'all!

The fifth set is: Adult Fiction

Kari and I just recently reviewed both of these books.

The Orphan Sister by Gwendolen Gross
Chasing Amanda by Melissa Foster (format of winner's choice paper back or ebook)

The sixth set is: Throwback Thursday Pack

Every Thursday Kari does a Throwback Thursday post. These are recent features.

After the Night by Linda Howard
The Golden Valkyrie by Iris Johansen

We're going to do the FORM thing this time. So please fill out this FORM. No comments will be counted as entries. You can gain extra entries by spreading the word, twitter, facebook, blogpost etc. (you will have to provide links).  International entries ARE allowed!

The End of Everything

by:  Megan Abbott
published by:  Regan Arthur Books
publish date:  July 7th, 2011

Thirteen-year old Lizzie Hood and her next door neighbor Evie Verver are inseparable. They are best friends who swap bathing suits and field-hockey sticks, and share everything that's happened to them. Together they live in the shadow of Evie's glamorous older sister Dusty, who provides a window on the exotic, intoxicating possibilities of their own teenage horizons. To Lizzie, the Verver household, presided over by Evie's big-hearted father, is the world's most perfect place.

And then, one afternoon, Evie disappears. The only clue: a maroon sedan Lizzie spotted driving past the two girls earlier in the day. As a rabid, giddy panic spreads through the Midwestern suburban community, everyone looks to Lizzie for answers. Was Evie unhappy, troubled, upset? Had she mentioned being followed? Would she have gotten into the car of a stranger?

Lizzie takes up her own furtive pursuit of the truth, prowling nights through backyards, peering through windows, pushing herself to the dark center of Evie's world. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power at the center of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secrets and lies that make her wonder if she knew her best friend at all.

I started this book on the assumption that it was a YA book.  I don't know why other than the fact that the characters were 13 years old.   This is NOT a YA book.  This is an adult fiction/literature book.  The fact that it was written in a completely different cadence than a typical YA book should have clued me in initially.  That took a little getting used to, don't read bad into that, it was really quite lovely.  Once I really got into it and the story started evolving and people were speculating about what happened to Evie, my eyebrows started going up and I was thinking this can't be a YA book.  Then at the end of the book, my eyes were goggling out of my head and my jaw was on the floor and I knew for sure it wasn't a YA book.  I was reading this at the beach sans computer to check these things out for sure.

I will say I found this book to be eye opening and shocking to say the least.  Maybe not so much in the beginning, but you start to get an inkling of what's to come once Evie starts taking matters in her own hands.   There were a few moments that I found to be somewhat disturbing, but I think they were foreshadowing and setting up some of the actions of the other characters, particularly Dusty, the older sister.

This is one of those books that I'm sure will haunt me for quite some time.  I know that I haven't stopped thinking about it since I finished it.  As a mother, I'm always worried about my girls, but I don't spend a whole lot of time worrying about other people looking at them.  After reading this, I'm wondering if I should and would it matter?

If you have a mature reading group, I think this book could lead lead to some excellent discussions.  I think there were a lot of characters in this book that would warrant a deeper look, like the mothers for example.

ALA New Orleans

From June 23-28 the American Library Association will be hosting their annual convention in New Orleans.  Since I live only about 45 minutes north of New Orleans I will be attending this year!  I'm not the only one from the Book Blogging Community going.  The following blogs will be represented:

Parajunkee

Book Addict

IB Book Blogging

I Read Banned Books

Stephanie, A History

Cariblogs

Window Pane Memoirs
A Blog About Nothing

A Good Addiction

In the Name of Books

It's not too late to join in the fun!