Tag Archive | sisters

Puppy Love, by Destiny and Hapka (book review) – new dog, new friends, new love?

Oct4

book cover of Puppy Love by A Destiny and Catherine Hapka published by Simon PulseHer rambunctious puppy +
a handsome dog trainer (with an accent!)
= a perfect match for her! (right?)

Lauren is sure she can get Adam’s mind off dogs, but can’t see how much Jamal in their puppy kindergarten class would like to spend time with her…

Another winsome book in the Flirt series where A. Destiny shares co-writing credits with several different authors; check out Portrait of Us  too (my no-spoiler review here).
**kmm

Book info: Puppy Love (Flirt series) / A. Destiny and Catherine Hapka. Simon Pulse, 2014.   [Flirt series site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As 15 year old Lauren swoons over a cute dog trainer and wonders how can she get the senior to look at her and not just her goofy pup, she may be missing a fellow dog owner’s longing glances.

Finally getting a dog after her so-allergic sister goes away to college is a dream come true for Lauren, but if she can’t break Muckle’s bad habits… well, her best friend Robert is unhappy about the chewing and so is Mom.

Puppy kindergarten is the answer, and Adam who teaches their class for teens is so handsome. Meeting hunky Jamal is nice, but their Irish-accented leader is the one for her, she just knows!

Adam’s enthusiasm with dog agility training, plus mishaps in class and at the dog park are making it difficult for Lauren to show him how perfect they are together. And now Robert is plotting something with Jamal… is she just chasing in circles like Muckle?  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Dirt Bike, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly, by Conrad Wesselhoeft (book review) – grief, honor & gaming

Sep12

book cover of Dirt Bikes Drones and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft published by Houghton MifflinPlaying chicken with big trucks on the highway,
joysticking into the Drone Zone,
adrenaline removes Arlo’s grief…for a while.

Trying to cope with Mom’s murder, Siouxsie’s progressive neurological disease, Dad’s retreat into the bottle – Arlo keeps his dirt bike running, scrounges change to play Drone Fighter at his tiny town’s online cafe, but then what? One early morning phone call changes things (but not everything).

Traveling recently through bone-dry northern New Mexico where the author strands this small town, I can see why anyone there would want to find a way to get away, even if it means trading the make-believe of gaming for real drone piloting and its violent consequences.

Read this April 2014 book now – right now!
**kmm

Book info: Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly / Conrad Wesselhoeft. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, 2014. [author blog]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Arlo’s gaming skills could pay his sister’s huge medical bills, his dirt bike prowess could salvage his reputation in their small New Mexico town, but it’ll take something more to rescue his family from their endless grieving for Mom.

When the US Air Force wants Arlo to fly real reconnaissance drones over Pakistan from their base at White Sands, based solely on his Drone Fighter video game world ranking, the 17-year-old’s journalist dad is skeptical – until the Colonel erases their debts for Siouxsie’s treatments.

When gorgeous Lee slides into dusty Orphan County to stay with her aunt until her dad returns from his Afghanistan deployment, Arlo thinks she’ll scorn scruffy dirt bikes after leaving her smooth Harley in Seattle – until she helps his Evel Kneivel-style jump go higher and farther.

Zooming down I-25 from the New Mexico-Colorado borderlands whenever the Colonel phones, Arlo has too much time to think on his way to White Sands. Even if he can discover the most-wanted terrorist’s whereabouts with his drone, how can he recover what his family lost when Mom was murdered?

Mountain vistas, Mom’s ashes spread atop the mesa, small-town football as seen from the snack bar, and a moto-stunt for the ages fill this don’t-miss novel about love, grief, and honor.

One Death, Nine Stories (book review) – his last act triggered many firsts

Aug26

book cover of One Death Nine Stories edited by Marc Aronson & Charles R Smith published by Candlewick Press “Kevin’s dead?”
“I can’t believe it!”

As they did in Pick Up Game  (my review here), the editors asked one YA author to write the first story on the collection’s theme of initiation. Then eight other writers took strands from “Down Below” as they introduced teens whose lives were impacted by Kevin’s life and death, each tale one of a pivotal line crossed, a change that can’t be undone.

Like a kaleidoscope’s image changes when it’s passed from one viewer to the next, these nine interlocked stories show many different images of the 19-year-old New Yorker, darkness with glints of hope, questions of racial identity, parental affection, and the bonds of friendship.

Just published today – come over to Kevin’s neighborhood, meet his sister, his running buddies, the funeral home cosmetologist, the dead ends and new beginnings.
**kmm

Book info: One Death, Nine Stories / edited by Marc Aronson & Charles R. Smith. Candlewick Press, 2014.  [Marc Aronson’s website] [Charles R. Smith Jr.’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Initiations in teen life – joyous, bitter, tragic – weave together this short story collection of the many firsts experienced after Kevin’s death by teens who knew him and some who’d never even met the 19 year old.

The anthology begins as Rita Garcia-Williams takes us to a teen’s first day of work at his uncle’s funeral home as drifting-along Morris suddenly realizes that he went to high school with the guy in that body bag.

Mick first meets Kevin as an altar boy in “Initiation” by Ellen Hopkins, but won’t play along to “The Next Next Level” of dangerous deeds in Torrey Maldanado’s story.

Kevin’s track teammate “Running Man” must outrace a bullet, tells Charles R. Smith, while Jackson starts football “Two-a-Days” down in Chris Barton’s Texas wondering about this Kevin guy whose death caused so many messages online.

“Just Once” Candy would have liked Kevin to give his affection without the bleak insults, chronicles A.S. King, while Kevin’s little sister reclaims his personal effects and finds herself saying “I Have a Gun” in Will Weaver’s tale.

Nadira’s “Making Up the Dead” (by Nora Raleigh Baskin) and making something of herself, while the college “Connections” described by Marina Budhos aren’t enough to keep Kevin in this world.

A strong collection of short stories about a life cut short and the choices made by those left behind.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality, by Elizabeth Eulberg (book review) – pageant big sis breaks loose

Aug14

book cover of Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg published by PointPageant fees week after week, check.
Hair falls for a seven year old, check.
Reality check for Mom… nope.

Oh, yes, Lexi realistically could be tagging along after her little sister to beauty pageants every weekend of the year – thank goodness for her supportive friends, especially when her mom’s obsession with Mackenzie’s pageant appearances gets out of hand.

Check out this video interview to find out where the title came from (she told this story at TLA2014, too), then find this 2013 release in hardback or paperback now at your own local library or favorite independent bookstore.

Where’s the line between looking good and living for your looks?
**kmm

Book info: Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality / Elizabeth Eulberg. Point, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Her little sister is a Texas beauty pageant princess, so if 16-year-old Lexi wants more from life, she’ll have to overcome the “great personality” label and make her own way (despite their mom).

Downsized into a doublewide trailer because child support won’t cover house rent and Mackenzie’s pageant costs, Lexi feels unappreciated as she saves up for the fashion internship in New York City.

Cam thinks Lexi’s crush on Logan (boyfriend of beauty queen Alyssa) is ridiculous, Benny challenges her to a makeover in teeny steps, and she dares him to let cute guy Chris know his feelings.

Will she really stop hiding behind baggy clothes and messy hair?
Will Lexi and Benny ever escape their judgmental small town?
Will these pageants never ever end?

An average gal in the land of the gorgeous, Lexi decides that she must craft the ultimate Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality if she ever wants to be herself. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Forget Me, by K.A. Harrington (book review) – not his twin! who is he?

Aug12

book cover of Forget Me by KA Harrington published by GP Putnam's SonsFacial recognition software,
social media, hidden identities,
why did it tag her late boyfriend as another guy?
Maybe Morgan didn’t know Flynn as well as she thought…

Just released on Thursday (that’s really odd; most books are Tuesday releases) August 7, 2014, Forget Me  is a slight departure from Kim’s paranormal books like her Clarity series (my no-spoiler recommendation of book 1 here) with an eerieness all its own. See for yourself with this free excerpt of the first two chapters.

Could you forget someone that you truly loved?
**kmm

Book info: Forget Me / K.A. Harrington. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When a social media site tags her late boyfriend’s photo as the face of a teen in a nearby town, Morgan is stunned. When Evan says he got an anonymous warning to stay away from her, they’re puzzled. When accidents start targeting them both, they race to solve the unfolding mystery before they’re the next victims!

Morgan’s Massachusetts home town is withering away after a deadly scandal shut down major employer Stell Pharmaceuticals. Her best friend is suffering from her parents’ unemployment, their favorite amusement park is abandoned, and time with her loner boyfriend Flynn is her only comfort – until he’s killed in a hit-and-run.

Weeks later, she uploads her only photo of Flynn onto FriendShare, which tries to tag it with another guy’s name! Finding out about Evan is simple, discovering that he’s received a photo of her with a warning to avoid her at all costs is weird, learning that his family is part of Stell is disconcerting.

Sneaking into the amusement park to retrace Flynn’s last steps, they uncover more secrets and more threats. A page-turning mystery in the fog. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Shadow Hero, by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew (book review) – Asian superhero against crime!

Jul15

book cover of The Shadow Hero by Gene Yuen Lang and Sonny Liew published by First Second BooksIn Chinatown’s dark alleys,
the ruthless tongs demand payment,
but the Green Turtle arises to protect the innocent!

Happy book birthday to The Shadow Hero, as the origins of the first Asian-American superhero are revealed!

I love this new joint effort of graphic novelists Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew – light-hearted, but underpinned with the historical accuracy which won Gene so many awards for his paired graphic novels of a pivotal time in Chinese history, Boxers and Saints (my review here) .

Get a quick look at its vintage look and action here:

The Green Turtle’s adventures continue in this short sequence published on the Tor website, too.

**kmm

Book info:  The Shadow Hero / Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew. First Second Books, 2014.  [Gene’s site]  [Sonny’s site]   [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As a child of Chinese immigrants, Hank expected to follow family tradition, but his mother demands that he become a superhero!

When The Anchor of Justice rescues his mother from a bank robber, she won’t be satisfied until Hank reinvents himself as a superhero, instead of being a grocer like his father.

Hank discovers that intense training and a new costume certainly don’t guarantee superhero success when his attempt to save a young lady from thugs merely earns him a beating and the crime boss’s daughter rescues herself.

Fighting against the tong’s extortion has a high price for Hank’s family, yet he vows to continue, aided by the ancient Tortoise spirit from his parents’ homeland.

As the Green Turtle, Hank battles his way into the tong’s headquarters with the Tortoise spirit’s guidance. Yet the challenges he finds there would tax any superhero’s skill and resolve.

“Sometimes a fight you cannot win is still worth fighting,” counsels the spirit of the Tortoise, and Hank is in this fight until the end.

Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew transform an old comic book into this great graphic novel about the first Asian-American superhero.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Half Life of Molly Pierce, by Katrina Leno (book review) – mind unhinged or memories unleashed?

Jul8

book cover of The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno published by Harper TeenHer blackouts are more frequent,
suddenly waking up somewhere else,
so disorienting… or is it something more?

There’s a secret about Molly that many people know, but she hasn’t allowed herself to even glimpse it – until now.

Happy book birthday to The Half Life of Molly Pierce!  Find it soon – this distressed teen’s gradual self-awakening is mesmerizing.

How long could you keep someone’s deepest secret – from themself?
**kmm

Book info:  The Half-Life of Molly Pierce / Katrina Leno. HarperTeen, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author video interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A total stranger calls Molly by name as he dies, triggering flashbacks even more confusing than her frequent blackouts since last year’s almost-suicide.

Abruptly regaining consciousness somewhere different is frightening – how did she get from her Massachusetts high school to the family bookstore in a heartbeat?

Why does the guy in the motorcycle wreck ask her to ride in the ambulance with him, calling her name as he bleeds and bleeds, begging her to call his brother like they’re all friends?

With Sayer at his brother’s funeral, Molly thinks he really knows her, that she was close to Lyle, but why can’t she remember them?

As memories of Lyle and Sayer begin flashing into her mind, Molly finally tells her therapist about the blackouts and is shocked to discover that Alex already knows and that only she can unravel her own self-deception.

Discover what the worried teen’s mind is trying to hide from herself in this tense psychological novel.

 

The Jedi Doth Return! by Ian Doescher (book review) – Shakespeare parses the Force, dark and light

Jul1

book cover of William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher published by Quirk BooksRescuer disguised, a comrade to free,
Jabba of the Hutt wouldst kill them all!
Luke will not from his Force-dark’nd father flee,
but seeks to free him from th’Emperor’s thrall.

O, rebel band, stay strong and share the Force
with Ewoks small, yet mighty in the fray!
A second Death Star bids to blast their world
and hidden base where freedom fighters stay.

Today marks the natal day of this final tale in Shakespeare’s Star Wars saga – seek for it at thine local library or a-favored independent bookstore.

Certes, thou hast already perused William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope (in discussion here) and well as The Empire Striketh Back (more here) – such classic stories from a galaxy far, far away…

**kmm

Book info: William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return (Star Wars Part the Sixth) / Ian Doescher; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare. Quirk Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Amid daring rescues, new allies, and the dark Emperor himself targeting attacks on the Rebellion, the Jedi Doth Return  to win Star Wars in the Bard’s own style or perish forever!

Evil Jabba of the Hutt will soon regret his refusal to release carbonite-encased Han Solo to Luke Skywalker as this iambic pentametered tale begins on  desert Tatooine.

Luke, Han, and Leia’s stealth mission on Endor’s forest moon may gain the Ewoks as new allies, but may also imperil the Rebellion’s fight against the dark Empire, as Darth Vader uses the Force to sense his son’s whereabouts.

Will Luke be swayed to the dark side of the Force by Vader’s soliloquies?
Shall Lando of Calrissian join the Rebels or stand aside?
And what of the past shared by Luke and Leia?

Do read aloud the Ewoks’ speeches and you’ll hear the almost-English of the middle 2 lines of their AABA-rhymed communications.

The concluding volume of Doescher’s epically Shakespearean take on George Lucas’ classic space opera can stand alone (especially for hardcore Star Wars devotees), but is even more enjoyable after reading William Shakespeare’s Verily, a New Hope  (Star Wars Part the Fourth) and The Empire Striketh Back  (Part the Fifth). May the verse be with you!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

And that’s a wrap! Another Blogathon in the books

Jun30

Hooray – we did it!
Blogathon2014 was a success –
Thirty posts in 30 days (even with a lengthy power outage)!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming… I plan to post 3 times weekly, so watch for new content on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Please subscribe to BooksYALove by email or your favorite blog aggregator using the handy-dandy links on the right. I also tweet out new posts @BooksYALove (along with info on reading, brains, fun info, and cats), so follow me!

Young ladies do the unexpected in these titles featured during last year’s Blogathon – now out in paperback (click on title for my original recommendation – no spoilers):

book cover of Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick published by Scholasticbook cover of Nobody's Secret by Michaela MacColl published by Chronicle BooksFrom so-so rural teen to international glamour queen, Becky becomes Gorgeous  (with the right dresses… and a little magic?)

Young Emily Dickinson seeks to uncover Nobody’s Secret – does it relate to the mysterious death in her small town?

 

Thanks again to FreelanceSuccess.com and MichelleRafter.com for hosting this year’s Blogathon and its welcoming Facebook group page – let’s do it again next June!!

**kmm

 

Sunrise, by Mike Mullin (book review) – bandits outside the walls, challenges within

Jun24

book cover of Sunrise by Mike Mullin published by TanglewoodLeadership is needed,
Hope is required,
Young people must prevail or die.

The final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy is a blockbuster! Alex and Darla have survived cannibals, bandits, the US government, and near-starvation in Ashfall  (my review here) and Ashen Winter (my review here).

Now they must organize citizens against an oncoming threat or decide to leave the townspeople to their own fate… what a burden for kids just old enough to drive.

Full disclosure: I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book since I won the right to name a character in it through the Authors for Henryville auction which raised money to rebuild school libraries after the 2012 tornado there. The character who shares my husband’s name in Sunrise is somewhat like him (not always the case where naming rights are involved – thank you, Mike); no spoiler to tell you that he dies, because many, many people die in the perpetual winter brought on by the Yellowstone supervolcano eruption, so I’m tangentially in the book as his widow.

I just discovered Darla’s Story eBook,  told from her point of view,  paralleling Alex’s narrative in Ashfall  from the supervolcano eruption to their meeting on her Iowa farm under perilous circumstances (makes this a trilogy with 3.5 books).

How well would you survive a frozen future?
**kmm

Book info: Sunrise (Ashfall Trilogy, book 3) / Mike Mullin. Tanglewood Press, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:  After a year of perpetual winter, Alex and Darla face tough choices when his uncle’s farm suddenly fills with townspeople who think the armed bandit attack is a one-time problem.

Everyone is tired of subsisting on kale and frozen pork, but when refugees flood Uncle Paul’s Illinois farm after renegades attack the nearby town, it’s up to young people like Alex and Darla to find medical supplies and more food (and maybe retaliate against the aggressors).

When folks move back to town but refuse to post guards against the bloodthirsty psychopath’s brigands, Alex and Darla lead another group to establish a safer settlement, complete with greenhouses and electricity from a repurposed wind turbine.

Why is Mom staying in town instead of with Alex?
Why won’t the Mayor post guards against the next attack?
Will Alex and Darla stay alive long enough to make their love a true commitment?

This final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy pits short-sighted leaders against vicious villains, the need for community against the will to go your own way, and the unforgiving brutality of volcanic winter against the hope of love and the possibility of springtime. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)