Tag Archive | sisters

Summer of Chasing Mermaids, by Sarah Ockler (book review) – voice lost, heart found?

Aug8

book cover of The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler published by Simon TeenA singer with no more voice,
a young mermaid expert ignored,
a dutiful son without a plan B…

No surgical procedure can ever restore Elyse’s voice, but time spent with the funny (cousin and her outspoken BFF), the darling (mermaid-obsessed young Sebastian), and the heartbreaker (Christian does what??) may start the healing of her musical soul.

Ockler writes of another summer of enormous changes in The Book of Broken Hearts  (my recommendation here).

If your greatest talent/gift/strength were taken away forever, how would you cope?
**kmm

Book info: The Summer of Chasing Mermaids / Sarah Ockler.  Simon Pulse, 2015. [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: After a boat accident robs Elyse of her singing voice, she lands in her aunt’s tiny Oregon town where the Trinidadian teen finds herself falling for the wrong guy and caring too much about the shady mayor’s big plans.

Leaving her twin sister in Tobago was so hard, but staying to watch Natalie continue the singing career which had been theirs together was impossible.

The warm Caribbean stole her voice; perhaps the chilly Pacific currents can heal her soul. But if Elyse ignores her cousin’s warnings about heart-breaker Christian or helps the summer guy’s little brother search for mermaids, the sea may try to claim her forever.

A bet between the mayor and Christian’s dad puts Aunt Lemon’s home and gallery in jeopardy, as whichever son wins the Pirate’s Regatta will win the property it stands on.

Will the mayor’s desire for money turn off-the-beaten-path Atargatis Cove into just another tourist town?
Can Christian and Elyse rebuild his sailboat in time for the regatta?
Can Elyse face down her fear of being on the water again and help him win?

Of course, sweet little Sebastian should be able march in the Mermaid Parade, and the property developers must be stopped, and Elyse should decide if she can afford to lose her heart…  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Second Chance Summer, by Morgan Matson (book review) – can’t run away from sorrow forever

Aug4

book cover of Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson published by Simon SchusterFive years later,
nothing has changed,
yet everything has changed,
still running away from hard choices.

Should things that you did or said as a 12 year old still grab you by the gut?

After 5 summers away, middle-child Taylor is not happy to be returning to the lake house where she’ll encounter Henry and Lucy and the unfinished business they all share.

And the reason that Dad wants a final family summer together is even worse…

From the author of Since You’ve Been Gone,  another story of summer transformation, recommended here.

Who should you connect with before those “thousand moments are gone”?
**kmm

Book info: Second Chance Summer /Morgan Matson. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012, paperback 2013. [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher via PulseIT.

My book talk: Stunned by her father’s sudden cancer diagnosis, Taylor must return to their lake house where her decisions as a tween alienated her from best friends…forever.

Between her genius older brother and ballet star younger sister, Taylor feels so average. But the high school junior evidently has uncommon talent for avoiding tough emotional situations, like the ones she abandoned five years ago at the lake.

Now Dad wants one last family summer together in the Poconos, to make the most of the few months he has left.  Taylor knows that she’ll run into Henry (her first kiss!) and Lucy (best friend ever, until…), but this time, there’s no running away.

Who wouldn’t embrace a second chance to mend a friendship or fall back in love?
What better time to appreciate parental strength and let them know it?
So why is it all so hard for her?

A life-changing Second Chance Summer  from the author of Since You’ve Been Gone.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Magnolia, by Kristi Cook (book review) – small-town matchmaking, big-time tornado

Jul28

book cover of Magnolia by Kristi Cook published by Simon PulseShe hates him for an eighth grade prank,
He’s mad at her for taking aim at his senior class rank.
Their families have been planning their wedding since pre-kindergarten… sigh.

Neither Ryder nor Jemma want to give in to the expectations of their closer-than-family families.

But when a hurricane heads toward their tiny town (The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore lands in Gulfport, so the Mississippi coast is doomed), Ryder follows family orders to take care of Jemma, and things get crazy.

Read an excerpt from the first chapter here at the publisher’s website, then whirl away to get your own copy of Magnolia to see how stormy the relationship between Ryder and Jemma truly gets!

What crisis would you choose to live through with your not-so-best pal?
**kmm

Book info: Magnolia / Kristi Cook. Simon Pulse, 2014 (hardcover & paperback).  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Matched by their families since birth, Jemma and Ryder can’t stand each other, until a tornado rips through their Mississippi town and the teens find out how thin the line between hate and love truly is.

Ever since Corporal Cafferty saved Captain Marsden during a Civil War battle, the two families have been inseparable. When Jemma C and Ryder M were born six weeks apart, their mothers started planning the wedding. Of course, no one counted on the pair having a huge fight in junior high.

Now it’s their senior year – Ryder’s being recruited for his football skills, Jemma wants to go away to film school, and they’re still feuding. When her older sister’s brain tumor surgery takes Jemma’s parents to Houston, she stays home her short film for NYU.

As a hurricane-spawned tornado heads for Magnolia Branch, Ryder and Jemma are on their own to survive and to discover the true depth of their feelings for one another.

Football rivalry, family plans in conflict, girls in pearls – echoes of Romeo and Juliet in this story set amid moss-draped Magnolia trees. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)Mississippi

Little Women at home and their papa away at war – read with your ears!

Jul23

Back in time to the Civil War we go, to the New England home of Meg and Jo and Beth and Amy and Marmee, to the war front with their beloved chaplain father – all through the magic of audiobooks.

Click on either or both title links below to download these free complete audiobooks from Thursday through Wednesday (30 July 2015). You then have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device

Only a few weeks left of this great summertime audiobook program. Catch up with information on where to buy the ones you missed here: http://www.audiobooksync.com/ and check out your local library‘s audiobook collection, too!

CD cover of March by Geraldine Brooks | Read by Richard Easton Published by Penguin AudioMarch
by Geraldine Brooks
Read by Richard Easton
Published by Penguin Audio

As a chaplain during the Civil War, March misses his family, considers God’s love in the midst of battle, and struggles to recover from terrible illness and philosophical doubts.

 

 

Little WomenCD cover of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott | Read by Kate Reading Published by Listening Library
by Louisa May Alcott
Read by Kate Reading
Published by Listening Library

While their father is away during the Civil War, the young women of the March family must try to get by and get along in this classic tale.

What other books that extend the stories of well-known characters would you recommend?
**kmm

Lois Lane: Fallout, by Gwenda Bond (book review) – Metropolis, new reporter, online dangers

Jun22

book cover of Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond published by Switch PressStay out of trouble,
don’t get involved…
when a friend is being bullied?
Yeah, right.

Lois Lane is a born investigator, and her Army dad’s latest move puts her into a virtual reality mystery at her newest school – yes, that Lois Lane and the Daily Planet  and an online-only friend who calls himself SmallvilleGuy.

Read the free prequel short stories here (look below the book cover on left), then head to your local library or independent bookstore to get Lois Lane: Fallout.

When have you stood up against bullying?
**kmm

Book info: Lois Lane: Fallout (Lois Lane, book 1) / Gwenda Bond. Switch Press/Capstone, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Unnerved by the tech gang at her newest school, fledgling reporter Lois investigates its hush-hush ‘field trips’ and uncovers dangers that her online pal SmallvilleGuy and her Army general father can’t ignore.

She promised herself to fly under the radar at Metropolis High, but Lois can’t stand bullies. The Warheads move in unison, finish each other’s sentences, and work on a special virtual reality project off-campus. Now, they want to ‘assimilate’ computer whiz Anavi who feels them pressing on her mind.

Recruited by editor Perry White for the Daily Planet’s new teen reporting team, Lois investigates the Warheads, finding weird connections between the principal and a local research lab.

While new friends on the Scoop team back her up during her research, her online friend SmallvilleGuy (who is he, really?) warns Lois about ARL and its virtual reality plans.

Can Lois keep Anavi safe from The Warheads?
Are their minds truly connected?
Will she ever meet SmallvilleGuy outside the virtual reality game worlds?

A smart and subtle prequel to the Superman saga that we all know so well, Lois Lane: Fallout  balances high-tech gone wrong with friendship done right.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Tiger Boy, by Mitali Perkins (book review) – personal success or species survival?

Jun20

book cover of Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins published by CharlesbridgeHonor or money?
A chance for schooling or a chance for wild tigers?

A rich man’s under-the-table reward for a tiger cub could ensure the future for Neel and his family, but the young man must make his own choices on his beloved Sundarban island near the mouth of the Ganges River.

Where is the line between what is best for wildlife and what is easiest for people?
**kmm

Book info: Tiger Boy / Mitali Perkins; illustrated by Jamie Hogan. Clarksbridge Publishing, 2015.  [author site]  [illustrator site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Neel struggles to keep a lost tiger cub on his Bengali island away from a greedy rich man who wants its skin when the reward would pay for scholarship exam tutoring and medicine for Ma.

The headmaster has selected Neel to take the scholarship exam, despite his difficulty with math and no money for the tutor, even though the boy would rather stay in his Sunderban island village.

Rich Mr. Gupta has come to the island, hiring men like Neel’s father to cut down the special sundari mangrove trees. When rangers ask the villagers to find and return the tiger cub that escaped from a nearby island’s game preserve, the greedy man instead offers a reward for its skin.

As time for the exam gets closer and the rare tiger cub has not been found, Neel’s father reluctantly joins Gupta’s men in the search, while Neel and his big sister venture out each night, trying to find the cub before its frantic mother tears through the preserve’s fences and swims over!

Neel’s love for his home island is as strong as the sundari trees that Baba planted long ago to protect their farm from typhoons – now his appreciation for the rangers’ dedication to protecting the endangered wildlife of the Sundarbans is stronger, too.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

5 to 1, by Holly Bodger (book review) – girls valued, men as chattel

Jun16

book cover of 5 To 1 by Holly Bodger published by Knopf Books for Young ReadersEach girl-child is cherished,
every boy-baby expendable,
the old land’s prejudices reversed –
yet is this more fair?

“The girl problem” – created by cultures valuing male heirs so much that girl babies are discarded, leaving a vast imbalance of men to women when that generation wants to marry – is turned on its head in the fictive land of Koyanagar which walled itself off from (probably) India in 2042 to protect its females.

Yet not every girl in this women-dominated society believes that boys should fight on stage to be lifelong husbands, tasked with fathering girls. And not every impoverished boy believes that becoming a housebound husband with extra food is worth the price that their society demands.

Have you experienced “the girl problem” personally?
**kmm

Book info: 5 to 1 / Holly Bodger. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Three days to decide their fates – a privileged young woman and the 5 boys competing to become her husband and provide daughters – in a series of unfair Tests that two of these 17 year olds are determined not to win!

In this walled country of Koyanagar, women are valued, unlike the land which they separated from in 2042, where so many girl babies were discarded that only 1 in 5 boys could find a wife.

Sudasa is 17 now and must choose a husband at her Test, where she finds that her powerful grandmother has ensured that the teen’s only male cousin is competing against 4 uneducated boys for her hand!

Boy number Five doesn’t think the contests are fair either – because he doesn’t want a life of tame luxuries as a house-husband. He’d rather stay with Abba in their poor coastal village and find a way over the deadly Wall to search for his mother who couldn’t get back inside when its gates closed forever a decade ago.

In Sudasa’s poetic voice and Five’s carefully reasoned tones, the three days of Tests in intelligence, skill, and sport grind on.

Can he find a way to escape both marriage and certain death as a wall-guard?
Can she escape her grandmother’s plotting and choose her own future?
Do any of Koyanagar’s other 200 girls turning 17 this year feel trapped too?

Like a funhouse mirror, the 5 to 1  ratio of girls to boys in this fictional future country points out the disappearing girls in cultures today which value male heirs over all else.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Disappearance of Emily H., by Barrie Summy (book review) – secrets sparkle, uncovered threats?

Jun10

book cover of The Disppearance of Emily H. by Barrie Summy published by Delacorte PressSparkling puffs of others’ memories,
easy to find, irresistible to grab,
but what if the memory is filled with threats?

Raine has inherited the family ability to read and replay others’ memories from the “sparklies” that remain, especially after strong emotions. Grabbing a sparkly looks too much like trying to take something, so her grandmother warned her against it.

But Raine’s fingers are just itching to get more after she discovers that she’s now living in the house that Emily H. vanished from…

For a peek into the mystery facing Raine in her new town and middle school, enjoy this book trailer created by the Mooresville Public Library (Indiana):

If you could access memories just by touching them, would you?
**kmm

Book info: The Disappearance of Emily H. / Barrie Summy.  Delacorte Press, 2015.   [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: If eighth grader Raine had followed advice to not pick up ‘sparklies’ – shards of others’ memories that she can view and replay – then she’d never have discovered the mean girls’ conspiracy at her new school or looked into the fate of Emily who lived in this same house and disappeared…

After yet another move with her mom, Raine didn’t expect to make a new friend on the first day of school (homeschooled Shirlee has a hard time tuning out Jennifer and her mean girls, but Raine is a pro). Having to prove her cross-country running to Coach is a given, but snooty Jennifer’s behavior at practices is over the limit.

Everyone at school is still talking about the recent disappearance for Emily, who was frequently picked on by the mean girls, but the police have few leads. The few sparklies that Raine has quietly grabbed at school hint that the mean girls know more than they’re telling.

Unexplained fires keep flaring up – is there a firebug in the small New York town?
Raine’s nosy neighbor accuses her of sneaking back into the house nightly – but it isn’t her…
Does she dare search for more memories sparkling on Jennifer’s belongings to discover the truth?

Bullying and belonging, friendship and family – middle school with a dangerous mystery! (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Scarlett Undercover, by Jennifer Latham (book review) – teen investigating suicide & King Solomon’s legacy?

Jun8

book cover of Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham published by Little Brown Books for Young ReadersNot a suicidal teen,
not a real-estate financier,
not a homeless woman –
is anyone in her town what they appear to be?

This is a teen detective tale with twists, as Scarlett’s routine investigation into a suicide turns up an online game gone deadly in the real world, mystical objects from King Solomon‘s days, and strange connections to her Muslim community.

Read the first 3 chapters here free – I know that you’ll want this May 2015 book ASAP!

**kmm

Book info: Scarlett Undercover, by Jennifer Latham. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via NetGalley.

My book talk: When a young girl asks Scarlett to investigate her big brother’s connection to a recent suicide, the 16 year old uncovers local California teens lured into locating talismans belonging to King Solomon, unaware of their mystic powers or history in her Muslim community.

After their father was killed and a family heirloom statue stolen, Scarlett worked with area police in vain, then graduated early from high school, bored. Following their mother’s painful death from cancer, big sister Reem donned the hijab and went to medical school.

Now Scarlett is trying to find out if Gemma’s big brother made Quinn jump off the bridge, what the strange pattern on his wrist means, and why her sweet Decker has the same design on his chest.

Threats to a philanthropic building project, trying to keep Gemma safe, that symbol appearing again and again – Scarlett can’t stop looking for the answers.

Being followed on the street, ducking questions from her self-appointed guardian angel at the laundromat, summoned by a Muslim tattoo artist (when tattoos for Muslims are haram, forbidden) – someone wants Scarlett to stop looking.

A mystic quest, well-meaning family friends who urge her to leave now for college, kidnap attempts – Scarlett has her hands full and won’t back down till she solves this!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak, by Brian Katcher (book review) – comics, quizzes, and captures

May19

book cover of Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher published by Katherine Tegen BooksAt a comic-con, he’ll be happy.
Finally away at college, she’ll be overjoyed.
Trouble… who wants that?

When 13-year-old Clayton slips out of the QuizBowl team hotel for his first comic-con, Ana is terrified – if she loses track of him, their hyper-protective parents will disown her like they did when big sister stepped out of line.

And when things go sour during their search for Clayton at WashingCon, Zak boggles at constants that could end and possibilities that arise- without cons in his life, what else would a certified geek do?

Happy book birthday to The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak,  your invitation to explore the world of comic-conventions, gaming, and love among geeks. For some how-to from the female perspective, try The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy recommended here last week.

So, be honest – Star Wars or Star Trek?
**kmm

Book info: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak / Brian Katcher. Katherine Tegen Books, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Chasing her little brother through a comic-con wasn’t on Ana’s list of ways to stay perfect, but with the help of cute slacker Zak, she may get the QuizBowl team back together before curfew… or maybe not.

If no-effort Zak wants to graduate, he must serve as QuizBowl alternate during weekend of Seattle’s biggest comic convention, even though he’d already planned out every moment in geek paradise.

If super-achiever Ana wants to please her parents and not get thrown out of the house like her big sister, she’s got to win this QuizBowl tournament, even though it’s no fun anymore.

If her whiz-kid little brother Clayton wants to check out WashingCon because Zak said it was cool, he’s gonna go, because why not?

The search for Clayton jumps from Ana’s world of well-rounded student activities to Zak’s universes of cosplay and card games to the death, as t-shirt slogans, a backpack mixup with deadly consequences, and the clock ticking down to QuizBowl curfew send them all racing through the night.

Zak’s old friends, Ana’s new enemies, and a cross-cultural wedding (Trek or Wars, the eternal con question) punctuate the pair’s growing appreciation for one another’s strengths and charms, as they chart their progress (or lack thereof) in alternating chapters.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)