Tag Archive | school

Friends With Boys, by Faith Erin Hicks (book review) – one ghost too many

Jun4

book cover of Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks published by First Second BooksFirst day of public school jitters,
a ghost overstaying her welcome,
Mom gone away suddenly,
everything was so much easier in homeschool!

Canadian artist Faith Erin Hicks melded Nova Scotia’s long seagoing history and her personal experience of being homeschooled with 3 brothers to create this coming-of-age story with a ghostly twist.

Alas, she never saw a ghost in her house like Maggie does…

**kmm

Book info: Friends With Boys / Faith Erin Hicks. First Second Books, 2012.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [fan-created book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The ghost lady may be Maggie’s smallest worry now, as being homeschooled with her three big brothers hasn’t prepared her for the people-part of attending high school.

Mags liked Mom as her teacher, but wanted to play with her brothers instead of do girly stuff with her – maybe that’s why Mom left their small coastal town in the Maritimes.

Her twin brothers fight constantly (as usual), but don’t hang out together (not usual), her oldest brother likes theater, but distrusts Maggie’s new friend Alistair, mohawked senior Alistair decided that not being a jerk to his sister Lucy was more important than being a volleyball jock, so now the team hates him, and Lucy is fascinated by ghosts and their town’s history, which all leads to a teeny-little museum caper… by the way, Dad is the police chief now.

This graphic novel follows Maggie as she tries to find her place in the high school hierarchy and make the ghost go back to the cemetery – is that really so much to ask?  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Here and Now, by Ann Brasheares (book review) – time travel to save humanity

Jun3

book cover of The Here and Now by Ann Brashares published by Delacorte PressTravel back in time to stop disaster, but
Don’t stand out,
Don’t be discovered,
Don’t fall in love… easy, right?

Yes, it’s *that* Ann Brashares of Traveling Pants fame, but this is no summer friendship tale – the entire future of mankind is at stake!

This April 2014 release should be easily found at your favorite local library or independent bookstore; if not, just ask for it!

**kmm

Book info:  The Here and Now / Ann Brasheares.  Delacorte Press, 2014. [author blog]  [publisher site]  [silly video interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Sent back in time to prevent ecological disaster, Prenna couldn’t imagine that the Travelers’ secrecy rules could endanger their mission or would be that difficult to follow – until she meets Ethan in 2012.

Just arriving the early 21st century might make their future worse, but the 200 youth and adults going undercover in their grandparents’ past to stop the blood plague must risk it.

Prenna tries to stay unnoticed at school, but Ethan recognizes her as the girl who fell from a strange storm cloud two years earlier, then walked away. His knowing comments to her plus subversive info from a homeless man show that the Travelers’ secret isn’t complete.

Why hasn’t Prenna’s father joined the group yet?
What do the numbers 51714 inked onto her arm mean?

When the teens discover that the first Traveler to the past is planning to doom the future world to total collapse instead of just widespread disease and disaster, they have to act, regardless of the consequences to themselves in this time-travel romance thriller from the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Guy in Real Life, by Steve Brezenoff (book review) – guy, girl, gaming

May31

book cover of Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff published by Balzer + BrayOnline MMOs,
tabletop RPGs,
never the twain shall meet?

His best friend says that every online game female character is a GIRL – guy in real life – but is it wrong for Lesh to spend time online as Svvetlana if he truly wants to be with the real Svetlana?

And why shouldn’t Svetlana prefer creating fantasy game scenarios to attending boring pro soccer games with her clueless parents?

After school, Lesh hangs out with the wrong crowd by habit, Svetlana only hangs out with her dungeon friends, yet somehow their worlds overlap in this fun read.

**kmm

Book info: Guy in Real Life / Steve Brezenoff. Balzer + Bray, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A late-night sidewalk collision brings together 2 teens from very different circles as their roleplaying and online game lives somehow intersect.

Getting grounded finally gave Lesh time to play the MMO that Greg is hooked on. But he hates being a blundering orc and instead chooses to be an elf, whom he molds into the image of quirky Svetlana at school, the girl he met when her bike ran into him that rainy night.

Svetlana’s detailed roleplaying scenarios intrigue the Central High Gaming Club, but when one guy quits, the club could lose its official status. Maybe Lesh of the black trenchcoat would join? Decidedly better than being with her crazy Minneapolis soccer fan parents.

Game life connects this guy named after the Grateful Dead’s drummer and that dungeonmaster girl in skull-embroidered skirt, but real life is more than energy levels and 20-sided dice in this quirky maybe-romance told from their alternating points of view.   (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy, by Kate Hattemer (book review) – reality TV + high school = yikes!

May17

book cover of Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer published by Knopf Books for Young ReadersA reality show in the arts high school?
Who really thought this was a good idea?
Who’s profiting from the TV crew’s invasion…hmm?

Inspired by their study of  The Cantos by Ezra Pound, Ethan and friends risk expulsion to get their protest Contracantos into classmates’ hands:

“The Serpent Vice betrays our cause.
He trades appraisal for applause.
True art is beauty; beauty, truth.
But For Art’s Sake is low, uncouth.
It sells our talent, vends our youth.”

Find this April 2014 release now at your local library or independent bookstore so you can decide whether “For Art’s Sake” reality show is awe-inspiring or awful, and meet fearless gerbil Baconnaise, as well.

**kmm

Book info: The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy / Kate Hattemer. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As a reality show invades their arts high school, four friends strike back with poetic declarations against its disruptions and unethical editing.

Being somewhat talented among Selwyn’s prodigies stresses Ethan plenty, but when the reality show based at their school makes his longed-for Maura look bad for a national audience, the teen gets angry.

When Luke’s investigative article questioning Selwyn Academy’s financial arrangements with “For Art’s Sake” is banned from the Cantos school paper, he’s fighting mad.

As Luke, Ethan, Elizabeth and Jackson quietly post their Contracantos protest poems around school, the administration wants to stamp them out.

It may be up to Ethan and talented gerbil Baconnaise to make sure that the final Contracantos are published as classmates are voted off the show (“there’s just one full scholarship”) and creative editing alters every scene.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

House of Ivy & Sorrow, by Natalie Whipple (book review) – curse on witch family, unbreakable?

May13

book cover of House of Ivy and Sorrow by Natalie Whipple published by Harper TeenA long-lost father,
a friend to the bitter end,
a malevolent chase… to the death.

Even though Nana stops inflicting icky spells on her possible boyfriend, Josephine has much to worry about as a centuries-old curse stabs at the shields protecting her witch family’s magic roots, and her best friend must make a terrifying choice.

Find this compelling tale now at your local library or independent bookstore to see if love and hope can break the curse’s grip on the Hemlocks.

Iowa farm country as a place of deep magic – who knew?

**kmm

Book info: House of Ivy & Sorrow / Natalie Whipple. HarperTeen, 2014.   [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As the curse hounding Jo’s witch family nears, she must sacrifice her normal teen life to control the magic which could save them.

The dark curse killed Josephine’s mother, so it’s just Nana and Jo in the hidden ivy-covered house over a magic well, where Jo’s high school friends cannot visit – until the father she never knew arrives in their small Iowa town, bespelled by the curse-holder to reveal them.

Being in control or being consumed are the only choices where magic is involved. The curse-holder seeking the Hemlocks’ land-hold has relinquished control and will obliterate Jo’s friends, father, town, and new boyfriend in a heartbeat to get their magic source.

Something in the family archives may beat back the curse, if only Jo can find it in time, if only it exists… (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

The Thickety: A Path Begins, by J.A. White (book review) – magic & danger, chance of control?

May8

book cover of The Thickety: A Path Begins by JA White published by Katherine Tegen Books“Work hard,
want for nothing,
stay vigilant”

Dreaming and wishing are forbidden to the Children of the Fold, as are doing magic or entering the dark mystical woods of The Thickety which tries to overrun their island home.

Yet Kara does all these things. After years of being spat upon and punished as “witch’s child,” what does she have to lose?

Except her little brother, distraught father, and her very soul…

Read the first pages of The Thickety  here, then follow Kara’s dangerous, desperate search for answers, if you dare. This will be a trilogy; can we wait until 2015 to read book 2?

**kmm

Book info: The Thickety: A Path Begins / J.A. White; illustrated by Andrea Offermann. [author site]  [illustrator site]   [publisher site]   [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When a strange bird leads Kara to her mother’s hidden grimoire within the forbidden forest, the teen learns her family’s magic secrets, risking a death sentence… or worse.

As a child, Kara was forced to witness her mother’s execution for witchcraft. She’s spent years enduring the community’s scorn, avoiding The Thickety’s eerie woodlands, trying to hold together her family and their decaying farm.

Compelled by strange dreams, Kara follows a raven with 3 eyes into The Thickety and unearths her mother’s grimoire, a conduit of great magical power – a chance for her to heal her brother and save their land, or a way that will lead the Children of the Fold’s strict leader to kill them all?

How can the leader’s daughter Grace feel the grimoire’s pull?
For using Thickety magic, will evil Sordyr demand a price that Kara cannot pay?

First book of a trilogy set on an island where The Thickety grows daily closer to the village whose religious settlers separated themselves from the world centuries before, banning all dreams, wishes, storybooks, and magic forever. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Last Best Kiss, by Claire LaZebnik (book review) – can love overcome memories?

May2

bool cover of The Last Best Kiss by Claire LaZebnik published by Harper TeenBeing true to yourself or
Staying stylish and popular.
How far should you go to keep up an image?

Anna figures out that kissing short and nerdy Finn privately, yet telling people publicly that they’re “just friends” was the wrong thing to do – too late.

When Finn’s parents’ travels bring him back to California in a taller, cooler version, she realizes what she lost in 9th grade. But is it too late to try again?

Find this new paperback retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore for a great sunny days read.

**kmm

Book info: Last Best Kiss / Claire LaZebnik. Harper Teen, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Anna’s secret relationship with a nerdy freshman ended badly. When he moves back as a hunky senior, can she stand being ‘just friends’ with Finn, realizing what she’s lost?

As a popular 9th grader, it was just easier for Anna to keep quiet about her dates with Finn, then he moved before she could apologize.  Senior year sees him back at their California high school, a tech-apps genius whose slimmed-down, hipster good looks attract lots of girls, including Anna’s best friend Lily.

Considering her ever-absent mom, self-absorbed dad in a weird new relationship, two sisters in college (one happy, one crushed after her girlfriend’s family reviles her), it’s no wonder that Anna really wants someone to care about her and wants that someone to be Finn.

The art teacher pressures her to include something outside her signature style in her college application portfolio, Wade from another school is on the scene now, and a road trip to the new music festival promoted by Lily and Hilary’s dad goes completely crazy.

(One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Y is YA authors saying Break These Rules (book review) – speak up, stand out, be yourself!

Apr29

book cover of Break These Rules: 35 YA Authors on Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself edited by Luke Reynolds published by Chicago Review Press“It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Always know where you’re going.”
“Dress appropriately.”

No!

Here are 35 “life rules” to question, with the help of great YA authors from Lisa Schroeder (The Day Before – my review here) to Francisco X. Stork (The Last Summer of the Death Warriors – my review here) sharing their personal stories in essays calling us to Break These Rules.

If your favorite local library or independent bookstore doesn’t have Break These Rules  on the shelf, ask them to get it – advice from these 35 noted YA authors is priceless!

**kmm

Book info: Break These Rules: 35 YA Authors on Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself / edited by Luke Reynolds. Chicago Review Press, 2013. [editor’s blog]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Shelf Awareness.

My book talk: Trying to follow the many “life rules” stated by parents and society can get in the way of living, so 35 young adult authors share ways to Break These Rules  to let yourself speak up, stand out, and be yourself.

Sara Zarr says that “Never talk about religion” can keep us out of “the full range of cultural conversation about faith, which has shaped world history for millenia” (pg. 57), while Lisa Schroeder notes that family advice to “Follow the money, not your heart” for your profession reflects their worries about you taking chances.

Society may say “Pretend the dark stuff isn’t true” (Carol Lynch Williams), “Be normal” (Jen Neilsen), and “Always know where you’re going” (Brian Yansky), but bowing to the demands “Go to college after high school” (Chris Barton), “Don’t daydream” (Wendy Mass) or “Always sit in your assigned seat” (Lyn Miller-Lachman) can stifle your authentic self.

Thinking about which life rules to keep or to break is why this book was created. As editor Luke Reynolds puts it: “Here are 35 rules that you can start breaking right now in order to discover how different from everyone else you can be. And, you might just discover how good it feels to be exactly like you.”  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

X is for Exile, by Kevin Emerson (book review) – music & mystery

Apr28

book cover of Exile by Kevin Emerson published by Katherine Tegen BooksHigh school drama,
artistic temperaments,
rock legend mystery…

Who wouldn’t want to find the missing recordings of a legendary rock band?

Summer and Caleb must get over their recent bad experiences to create a new band and clear up questions about his past in this music-driven novel, first in a series by the author of dystopian The Lost Code (my no-spoiler review here) and paranormal Fellowship for Alien Detection (my review here).

Available in bookstores tomorrow, Exile  returns to the author’s musical roots = don’t miss the 3 songs from the book which Kevin & friends have brought to life for your listening enjoyment!

**kmm

Book info: Exile (Exile #1) / Kevin Emerson. Katherine Tegen Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [songs from Exile!] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Just before senior year, Summer is ousted when her band gets a record deal, Caleb quits his band when family drama gets to him, and a musical mystery sets them on the trail for answers and redemption.

Summer could just mope around Pop Arts High after the band she managed got a contract that excluded her, but finding golden-voiced Caleb now a solo act after some big revelation this summer, she tries to convince him to form a new band (and promises herself not to fall for him).

Allegiance to North hit it big time 15 years ago, and the band’s fame turned Pop Arts into young musicians’ paradise. Now Caleb has learned of his very close relationship to the lead singer who committed suicide at 22 and the existence of 3 Allegiance songs which never made it onto their final album.

Start a new band?
Track down the Lost Songs?
Try for a future when the past has scarred them both so much?

Rock music, mystery, love, social media, and burritos – maybe Summer and Caleb can return from Exile after all. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

P is pregnant & totally Screwed, by Laurie Plissner (book review) – abandonment & friendship

Apr18

book cover of Screwed by Laurie Plissner published by Merit Press“If you loved me, you would…”
“No, it’s not my problem.”
“Do as we say, not as we say we believe.”

Grace still can’t believe that she’s pregnant (first time and with a condom… what luck), that her parents have disowned her for not aborting (their reputation is at stake), that the neighborly lady who rescued her is an heiress and Auschwitz survivor, or that sweet great-nephew Charlie thinks her one and only mistake is forgivable.

What other novels dealing with difficult decisions have you read lately?
**kmm

Book info:  Screwed / Laurie Plissner. Merit Press, 2013. [author blog]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: After a one-night stand leaves shy Grace pregnant, disowned, and distraught, the unexpected kindness of a rich widow and her cute great-nephew give her hope.

Grace’s pregnancy could be a blessing for a childless couple, but her conservative parents kick her out of the house for not having an abortion.

Mrs. Teitelbaum opens her enormous home and  loving heart to Grace, ensuring that the 17 year old has good medical care and adoption counseling.

But how can Mrs. T’s great-nephew Charlie treat his new classmate Grace like a nice person after her terrible sin?

The healing comfort of friends who become family underpins this strong debut novel about hard decisions and consequences.

 

(One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)