So, you think you know everything there is to know about
vampires, right? They are sexy, fierce, and sophisticated, lusty, smoldering
and dangerous, and you even know one thing or two about how to defeat one.
After all, you’ve picked up a lot of good information from all the books you
have read. A stake through the heart, a crucifix in their snarling face, garlic
draped around your neck will do the trick of disintegrating any vampire out
into nothingness. Well, you are dead
wrong! Unless you are a vampire and want to avoid being staked for attacking
other people, you have to admit you have a problem and join a support group. Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
So, you think you know everything there is to know about
vampires, right? They are sexy, fierce, and sophisticated, lusty, smoldering
and dangerous, and you even know one thing or two about how to defeat one.
After all, you’ve picked up a lot of good information from all the books you
have read. A stake through the heart, a crucifix in their snarling face, garlic
draped around your neck will do the trick of disintegrating any vampire out
into nothingness. Well, you are dead
wrong! Unless you are a vampire and want to avoid being staked for attacking
other people, you have to admit you have a problem and join a support group. Monday, December 5, 2011
How to Survive Anything: Shark Attack, Lightning, Embarrassing Parents, Pop Quizzes and Other Perilous Situations by Rachel Buchholz and Illustrated by Chris Philpot
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To - A Novel by DC Pierson

What would you do if you could and never had to sleep? Catch up on homework and assignments, check off everything on your To Do list and still have plenty of time to spare for the things that you really like to do? Imagine how much you could accomplish while others are sleeping their lives away! DC Pierson’s 2011 Alex Award Winner Novel The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To is a wildly imaginative story delving into the awkwardness of the high school years complete with sleepless nights, girls and otherworldly mutants.
When Darren Bennett meets Eric Lederer, the two young adolescents strike up an instant friendship based on their mutual obsession with drawing and mutants from other galaxies. Darren lives with his dad and older brother in a house that for the most part seems abandoned to a male dominant way of living: coming and going as each one of them pleases, eating from a fridge stacked with premade, packaged foods, checking up on each other just to make sure they are still around. Eric comes from a traditionally caring family. Yet both of them are alienated from any high school cliques, living mostly suspended between their classes at school and their imaginary world. Soon after they meet, they decide to dedicate their time creating the most amazing alternate galaxy complete with Agtranian Berserkers, Yerum Battlebeasts and Tllnar Defenders. The project is their dream to make it big as they start to visualize a successful series of comics, television series, and even a motion picture. Everything is as normal as it should be. Until Eric tells Darren his secret: he cannot sleep and does not have to. Putting their friendship to the test, Darren needs convincing, but as soon as Eric proves it to him that he is the real thing, they embark upon the adventure of their lives. Peppered with sci-fi talk and outlandish, grandiose plans, their made-up world is shattered when both fall in love with Christine. Seized by a jealous rage, Darren tells The Man about Eric’s secret thing and as word leaks out, everything starts to unravel. They find themselves fugitives on the run. Is the government trying to snatch Eric away to explore his ability, or is there something else more sinister lurking about? As Darren finds himself privy to yet another one of Eric’s mind’s side effects, the two friends are thrown together into the battle of their lives.
Inhabiting a world laden with teenage lingo, in which love, drugs and music find their way to color their adolescent days, Darren and Eric are the embodiment of the typical 16-year-old ‘free-floating nerds’ who spend most of their time dreaming up made up worlds to satisfy their overworked imagination. The alienation not only from their families and friends at school but also from their own selves serves as a base for the growing pains of both characters. Alternately philosophical and downright decadently funny, Pierson’s novel is a reflection on the contemporary male tormented teenage psyche. Overwhelmed by fantastical imaginations, school, peer pressure and a lack of guidance, the two friends represent the awkward, alienated teenagers who struggle to make it through their high school years with profound implications not only on their own individual lives but also on the society at large. The twist ending leaves one bewildered, bemused and wondering.
Despite a tightly developed action, there are a few strands left unexplored which in hind side could have provided useful information regarding the ending. While Pierson does not reveal anything new in terms of teenage alienation and rebelliousness, the novel rests on its wild originality. Although funny and smart, the novel carries a much deeper and serious underlying message. It could be very well part of a teaching unit alongside classics such as JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, with The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To as thoroughly representative of some of our most pressing contemporary issues.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Teenreads Best Books Invite
TP
Friday, December 18, 2009
Why did Devon throw IT in the Garbage?

IT was her baby only a hour old!
Devon was a straight A high school student and a soccer goalie that was heading for the Olympics - but right now she is sitting on trial for attempted murder of an infant! Her infant!
One morning a dog walker opens a dumpster and opens a bag of garbage - one with newspapers, a chip bag, a juice can, bloody towels and a living newborn baby! The police start canvasing the neighborhood for answers. Devon's mother arrives home from her night shift job to find her daughter wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa staying home from school because she was feeling sick. Mom flirts with the cute police officer that comes knocking (the police want to know if Devon heard or saw anything since she was home all night and the baby was found earlier that morning in the dumpster behind her apartment building)and lets him in. When Devon stares blankly at the officer questioning her, Devon's mother tells her to stop being rude and rips off the blanket Devon is wearing. Devon is soaked in blood and promptly passes out.
Devon awakens as she arrives in the ER and can't figure out what is going on. Everything is hazy and bloody images of IT keep floating into her mind. The next thing Devon is in an orange prison jumpsuit in court for attempted murder and sent to juvenile detention to away further judgements.
Dom, a female defence attorney takes her case and starts to help Devon piece together what happened. Throughout the story, we hear Devon's memories of the last nine months.
Was she pregnant without knowing it?
OR
Was she in denial of the pregnancy?
OR
Did Devon knowingly cover up the pregnancy and purposely try to kill IT,the evidence?
This book is told through Devon's present situation with flashbacks of events that happened over the last nine months. The three questions above are the main reason for the story of AFTER. The reader is presented information through flashbacks, Dom's courtroom evidence and is presented Devon's emotional instability/confusion over her whole situation. The flashbacks cause the reader to try to also figure out what happened - did or did she not know she was pregnant? Did she knowingly hide the pregnancy from the world AND HERSELF? What about the extra hard soccer trainings to get rid of the stomach, use of stretch clothing, faked soccer injuries, and a misleading doctor's physical!?!
In 350 pages, AFTER by Amy Efaw, shows the the emotional confusion caused by an unplanned pregnancy that resulted from one sexual encounter during a quick summer romance. Throughout this book Devon is completely confused and at times so is the reader. There are only females in this storyline, males aren't really present in this book. I also think males would be turned off by this book's discussions and flashbacks about sanitary pads, bloody birthing, oozing breast milk and uterine cramping. This book would be better as a selected read than a mandatory read. The book could be used to discussed denial, mother/daughter hardships, teenage mothers, body changes in pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, unwanted babies and dumpster babies.
I was turned off by the legal doings of Dom trying to get Devon out of her crime. Dom used the legal system to get the charges lessened and dismissed due to the way the police entered Devon's apartment. She was Devon's attorney so she was trying to get Devon's case dropped without holding Devon responsible for her actions of dumping the baby in the dumpster without remorse or concern for the baby.
I'm still deciding if I liked this book or not - there is a definite ending with moral so the reader isn't completely left hanging.
Here is a quick article and news report about a real dumpster baby and the psychological reasons as to why she might have done it:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local_wane_auburn_psychological_reasons_for_baby_in_dumpster_200911092142
Here is an article about the misused Nebraska child dumping issue:
http://www.wowowow.com/post/dumpster-babies-law-leads-abandonment-nebraska-teens-116014
Here is the website for safe surrender laws - the law allowing newborns to be giving up to prevent dumpster babies:
http://www.safesurrendersite.com/load/safe-surrender-law
Unwanted baby stories that shock you into discussions in a classroom:
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/3151/CWA/life/index.htm
Monday, December 7, 2009
The True Enemy!

For Tack and Susie school is dreadful. The mayor uses schooling to brain wash kids to conform them into his control. At a very early age, children are taught the value of following rules and conforming to superiors. Education as we know does not exist. Instead school is embedded with dreadful laws and policies. However, the only thing that brings Tack comfort in this cruel society is his loving, sweet, and tender sister. Nonetheless, war is wedged when Susie is killed in their district 20 school that is governed by Zyid. Zyid is the leader of the Truancy. The Truancy is a group of rebels who are fed up with the mayors strict educational rules. Consequently, they decide to no longer sit, but fight back. In the mean time, Tack vows revenge on the one who killed his sister. However, things become tricky as Tack plans to conquer the enemy, especially since he does not know who the true enemy is. Unfortunately, it is Zyid who is responsible for Susie death. In trying to kill a chief Educator, Susie is caught in a car explosion created by Zyid. Unconsciously, Tack becomes a member of the Truancy, killing educators trying to revenge his sister. In fact, he becomes the leader. Eventually Track will have to cook up a new plan, but who is the enemy? Moreover who will he wage war aganist?
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Mudbound tells the story of two families; one white, the other black, both living in Jim Crow South's Marietta, Mississippi in 1946.
Henry McAllan chooses to move his wife, Laura, and their daughters to a cotton farm in Delta Mississippi; closer to his family. He becomes so wrapped up in maintaining his land and crops that Henry is oblivious to the fact that his family is falling apart. His wife, Laura is infuriated with him for forcing her out of urban Memphis to a rural shack in the middle of Mississippi.
Jamie is Henry’s younger brother. He feels that he is constantly living in the shadows of his older brother. He returns from World War II and goes to live with Henry and his family. His sinister and demeaning father awaits his arrival and praises his war victories, but soon turn cold; demeaning and ridiculing Jamie as he’s always done. Jamie secretly turns to liquor as an escape from war trauma and reality.
Hap and Florence Jackson live in a shack on the McAllan’s farm. Both Hap and his wife Florence work for the McAllans. Hap dreams of purchasing his own land and having his eldest son, Ronsel, helping him keep the property up. Hap can not dream of working for whites any longer than he has to. Florence is strong-willed and is the glue holding the Jackson family together.
Ronsel returns home from the war only to find that to the white folks of Marietta, he is still just another Negro. They do not seem to care that he risked his life and nearly died saving his country. Ronsel knows that rural Mississippi is no place for someone like him: educated, opinionated, and filled with ideas. Despite of the fact that his family is in Mississippi, Ronsel’s heart is somewhere else.
Ronsel and Jamie develop a secretive friendship. They are brothers; soldiers of war, who fought for the same cause. In the Jim Crow South, a friendship like this is dangerous and can even be deadly. Can people of different races really ever be friends and if so at what costs? What role will each of these characters plays into the tragic fate of these two families?
Hillary Jordan delivers a novel that brings back all the anguish, discuss, and hatred associated with the Jim Crow South. The development of each individual character is amazing. Jordan allows the reader into the mindset of each of the main characters. Readers are able to get every perspective of the same story, as Jordan creates a dialogue and analysis for each character. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end, with a conclusion that resonates as all too familiar in the 1940’s.
Mudbound contains some explicit and racist language and violent content. This is an excellent book for mature teens interested in World War II, the Jim Crow South, and reading a novel that challenges people to stand strong on their beliefs.
Stitches by David Small
Ahhhhhhh!!! If he could scream, he would, but he can’t. Fourteen-year old David Small is practically unable to speak. He has awakened from what was supposed to be a routine follow-up surgery without a voice. What is even weirder is the way that everyone around him is acting. Every since the day he arrived home from the hospital, his parents have begun acting secretive. What are they hiding and why?David Small lives with his parents and older brother. Their family is similar to the typical non-functioning family. His great grandfather tried to kill himself by drinking poison, which instead, ironically, damaged his vocal cords and caused him to be mute. His grandmother is in insane asylum for trying to kill her boyfriend by setting their house on fire. Then there’s his immediate family. His father, Edward, is a doctor who spends as much time as possible away from home, avoiding his wife and family. His absence angers David’s mother so much that she is constantly slamming doors and cabinets throughout the house. David’s mother, Betty, is bitter and stingy, replacing her problems with materialistic possessions.
David’s health problems began when he was a child. He had problems with his sinus and digestive systems. Since he was a doctor, it was not uncommon for Edward to attempt to remedy David’s sinus problems by giving him a series of countless x-rays. When David was eleven, his parents notice that he appears to have a bulging skin protruding from his neck. A trip to a specialist, one of Edward’s friends, confirms that David has cyst that needs to be removed. Betty is infuriated when she finds out that her son has a cyst that needs to be surgically removed. But her fury is not because doctors will be poking and prodding around inside her little boy; it’s because of how much money the surgery will cause. Betty decides that the surgery is unaffordable and can be put off until next year; she then goes on a shopping spree.
David is home from the hospital, recovering from his surgery. No one can hear David when he tries to speak, not because he barely has a voice, but because this is the way that it has always been. David has always been invisible to his parents and everyone else. He submerges and loses himself in his drawings, escaping into his dreams. No one has told David that the lump in his neck is cancer; he just stumbles upon a letter written by his mother to his grandmother and finds out on his own. David’s anger causes him to rebel. Can he be saved from his destructive and rebellious behavior? Will he learn to forgive his father for all of the x-rays that exposed him to the disease? What will become of David Small?
A picture really is worth a thousand words. If you have never read graphic literature before then you are in for a surprise and a well-awaited treat. David Small quickly moves you through this movie-like novel filled with vivid pictures. What is not expressed through words is shown in pictures. For those who think that picture books are just for children, think again. The graphics tell the story better than the few words used throughout the novel. Small captures expressions and actions that show emotions indescribable by words. Flipping through the pages of this novel was like a breath of fresh air
Swallow Me Whole
Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

“I pop back into my body then, to share this thought with myself: The world doesn’t make any sense at all. People tell you it does, try and pretend it does. But I know now what kind of place this is, what kind of world we live in. And my breath catches in my throat, and my heart rips apart not just for me, not just for Nina, but for all of us.”
- Wherever Nina Lies
Each day sixteen-year old Ellie relives her nightmare. In her dreams her and Nina, her older sister, are laughing and sharing jokes, but in reality Nina is gone. She disappeared two years ago, leaving her younger sister Ellie, with many unanswered questions. How could she just leave like this? Sure their father had abandoned them and their mother is always working, but they still had each other.
Now it is just Ellie and her mother. Her mother does not speak of Nina; she assumes that Nina has runaway with someone to start a new life. Ellie feels all alone. Nina’s presence stills feels so close. Her scent resonates throughout the bedroom that her and Ellie once shared and there are even strands of her “graduation blue” hair in the shower. Ellie still holds out hope that one day Nina will climb through their bedroom window and reappear. She knows that her sister is alive, but has no idea about where she should begin to search for her.
Amanda is Ellie’s best friend. They spend every free second together partying and hooking up with boys. Amanda has become a replacement for Nina. She and Ellie share secrets and she even give into some of Ellie’s attempts to find her sister. After two years, enough is enough. Amanda wants Ellie to stop chasing after random clues and face the fact that her sister is never coming back. Ellie begins to believe it too, she has relinquished her search for almost a year when she finds another clue as to where her sister may be. One of Nina’s drawings mysteriously appears at a used goods store where Amanda works. Ellie and Amanda follow this clue to a wrecking party where Ellie meets the mysterious and handsome, Sean.
Sean is a gorgeous and mysterious seventeen-year old. He seems so perfect and polite. Ellie confides in him about Nina and her search to find her. Sean immediately tells Ellie that he will help her find her sister. She has finally found someone who believes that she may actually have a chance at finding her sister. This chance encounter takes Ellie on a romantic cross-country road adventure that she will never forget. Together she and Sean follow clue after clue, each time getting closer and closer to where Nina may have traveled.
What if Ellie never finds Nina? What is Nina is not the Nina that she knew? What if Nina is… dead? Ellie may find more than she bargained for as she sets out in search of her older sister, Nina. Will what she uncovers be more shocking than what she has expected to find?
Weingarten keeps you on the edge of your seat as you flip through the pages of this novel. Her vivid details of Ellie’s flashbacks of Nina pull the reader into the novel. Readers become captivated by the exquisitely detailed drawings, those pictured throughout the novel as Nina’s artwork. Ellie possesses an unwavering spirit and determination to her sister. This spirit evokes sympathy from readers causing them to empathize with her pain and suffering. There was never a dull moment and the story ends with a twist that readers may never see coming. This novel may not be suitable for all audience because there are minor references to drugs, suicide, and murder. It is recommend for those ages fifteen and older.

