Yankee Girl

Mississippi and integration in the 1960s

The year is 1964, and Alice Ann Moxley's FBI-agent father has been reassigned from Chicago to Jackson, Mississippi, to protect black people who are registering to vote. Alice finds herself thrust into the midst of the racial turmoil that dominates current events, especially when a Negro girl named Valerie Taylor joins her sixth-grade class -- the first of two black students at her new school because of a mandatory integration law. When Alice finds it difficult to penetrate the clique of girls at school she calls the Cheerleaders (they call her Yankee Girl), she figures Valerie, being the other outsider, will be easier to make friends with. But Valerie isn't looking for friends. Rather, Valerie silently endures harassment from the Cheerleaders, much worse than what Alice is put through. Soon Alice realizes the only way to befriend the girls is to seem like a co-conspirator in their plans to make Valerie miserable. It takes a horrible tragedy for her to realize the complete ramifications of following the crowd instead of her heart.

An unflinching story about racism and culture clash in the 1960s.

I thought this was going to be another one of those books that skirted around the issues and told a slightly buttered up version of the story. I was wrong. It got to the dirt of the issues that the black and the white people had to face. It showed both sides of the story and what it was like to be a white girl who supported black equality. This is a great book and was well worth the time to read it. I would defiantly recommend it.

The Freak Observer

The Freak Observer is rich in family drama, theoretical physics, and an unusual, tough young woman Loa Lindgren. When her younger sister dies, 16-year-old Loas clockwork galaxy collapses. The Freak Observer is a startling debut about death, life, astrophysics, and finding beauty in chaos.

This is a short book coming in at  only around 200 pages it makes it a nice short read. But even though its short its a deeper book. You get into the brain and heart of Loa and her feelings and her life. It didn't have a lot about her life with her sister but it focused more on what happened after. I didn't really enjoy the ending but it was okay. In the end i felt it was decent not my favorite but i didn't hate it either. 

True Believer

LaVaughn is fifteen now, and she's still fiercely determined to go to college. But that's the only thing she's sure about. Loyalty to her father bubbles up as her mother grows closer to a new man. The two girls she used to do everything with have chosen a path LaVaughn wants no part of. And then there's Jody. LaVaughn can't believe how gorgeous he is...or how confusing. He acts like he's in love with her, but is he? 

This is another novel written in verse, its actually the second book in the Make Lemonade series. I should have looked that up before reading it but it ended up not really matter, it didn't really have any flash back stuff very much so it didn't annoy me to read it out of order. In  the end it was a decent book, not my favorite but still a good read. 

Frozen

The Heists were only the beginning.

Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core: A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.

Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or enemy—is truly what they seem…

I seriously love the side of this book. Its awesomely pretty! I received an ARC  of this through epic reads and I was so excited about it because it sounds great. Not having read the first one, if I had I might have enjoyed this a little more then I did. I felt like part of the books dragged a little and had some "boring" parts.  But the more exiting parts made up for it some of the times. I felt like it should have been a little bit more of a thriller then it was, it should have been a little more... Exciting? I don't know but it wasn't as action packed as much as I had hoped. But maybe that was just me. Overall I liked it but not LOVED it. 

A Stillness of Chimes

When Laura Gantt returns to Georgia to handle her late mother's estate, she hears a startling rumor---that her father staged his drowning years ago and has recently been spotted roaming the mountains. 

With the help of her former high school sweetheart, Laura searches for the truth. But will what they find destroy their rekindled feelings?

I first thought this book was going to be a odd type of a book. And i was partly wrong. I felt that there were parts of the story that took to long to happen and they should have moved a little faster but it wasn't horrible. I also felt that the characters grew during the story and were better and stronger people in the end. I enjoyed the book as a whole and loved that there was an edge of mystery to the story and the author wove the story together well. In the end, I would  recommend it.   I recieved this book through Multnomah for review. 

Wicked Lovely

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty - especially if they learn of her Sight - and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.
But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King, who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost — regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning twenty-first-century faery tale.

So I had a love hate relationship with this book. I loved the story and the faeries and the magical part of the story but didn't always like the choices they made and the reasons they made them. I felt that the main charcter was a little more then slightly selfish always doing what was best for he wants and desires and not always caring about anyone else. I didn't really like the ending that well either, I know this is a 5 or 6 book series but it still didn't have an overly complete ending. But in the end i got over those things i disliked and really enjoyed this book and the style that Melissa Marr writes. I will defiantly be looking out for the rest of the books soon and look forward to continuing the series. 

Sidekicks

INTRODUCING: METAL MUTT! STATIC CAT! AND... FLUFFY!?!

Captain Amazing, hero of Metro City, is so busy catching criminals that he rarely has time for his pets at home. He doesn't even notice when they develop superpowers of their own.

So when he announces that he needs a sidekick, his dog, hamster, and chameleon each decide to audition. But with each pet determined to win the sidekick position, the biggest battle in Metro City might just be at the Captain's house. 

Then archvillain Dr. Havoc returns to town, and suddenly the Captain's in serious trouble. Can the warring pets put their squabbles aside? Or is it curtains for the Captain?

It's stay, sit, and save the world in this romp of a graphic novel!

So this is suppose to be for kids 8-12 but even as an almost 17 year old i still really liked it. I wasn't stupid or too little kidish. I really enjoyed it and loved the art work.  A great young kids version of a graphic novel!