Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught
Jamie Carcaterra is fat. She is a senior and writes a regular column for her school newspaper where she delves into overweight issues. A relationship changing event causes Jamie to re-examine her views on acceptance, love and self-image.
Three things I liked most about the story: Jamie's character is totally believable; there is a sense of optimism and humor, and Jamie sees herself more clearly as a result of the story.
Missing Girl - Norma Fox MazerOne of five sisters is imprisoned by a pederast.
That’s the basic plot – Much of the story sets the stage. The sisters are: Beauty, Mim, Stevie (Faithful), Fancy and Autumn.
Each day this particular man watches, selects and fantasizes as the group passes by him.
Congratulating himself on not abducting his choice at a chance meeting, the man appears content to fantasize.
I liked the plot development from the perspective of each sister as well as the lonely man/stalker/pederast.
The ending was faithful to the characters in the story.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Week of February 10, 2008
Wonton Soup James Stokoe is a graphic novel. This first volume of a presumed series features Johnny Boyo, one of the premiere chefs in the galaxy who's currently in charge of a space delivery truck.
We spend time in Johnny's world travelling through space. As the story progresses, Johnny returns to his home planet and visits his old cooking school. The result is a cook-off ala Iron Chef of the Universe.
The book is comprised of many wildly adventurous humor-ladened chapters, that, for me were better to sample in small servings.
I enjoyed the storyline and Stokoe's artwork. He has quite an imagination.
Sight by Adrienne Maria Vrettos - 15 year-old Dylan has a secret she withholds from all her friends. Her mother, the sheriff and lead deputy in this small town of Pine Mountain (Paradise) know that Dylan has the psychic ability to see recently dead abducted children. She has helped the police solve eight abductions as the book begins. The first thing that struck me was that there sure were a lot of abductions for a small town area. But the strain in credulity is made up by the good writing.
Dylan is particularly haunted by her first vision - the death of a five-year-old classmate named Clarence. A new girl, Cate, moves to town with her father. With Cate, the tragedy of Clarence is finally resolved.
Jenn's Picks
This is the story of 16-year-old Miranda and her family, and what their lives were like after a meteor crashed into the moon, shoving it much closer to the earth. I've read a few post-apocalypse stories, and I find them interesting. I actually enjoyed the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." This book though, was perhaps the scariest disaster book I've encountered. Not because of what happened to the family exactly, but because of how believable I found the story to be. This book made me want to stock up on canned goods. Read it on a day when you can stay up late, because it's very gripping. Next, I'm going to read "The Dead and the Gone," also by Pfeffer, which is the story of the same cataclysmic moon-meteor impact as lived by other characters.
I've been reading a few "Novels in Verse," just because I hadn't read any. I didn't expect to like them, I don't mind telling you. I'm not wild about poetry, and somehow "Novels in Verse" seemed like it could be code for "A lot of poetry from people who couldn't make it in the Poetry World."
I was way off base though, at least so far. I've read two that I particularly liked, listed below. What I like about the "Novel in Verse" style is that you get right into the story, not a lot of extra fluff. It's just the action, but beautifully worded action. And they are quick reads.
An interpretation of the story of Elaine of Shallot, one of the tales of Arthurian legend. A great version of Elaine, she's a complete tomboy, she and her brother's have grown up in one of Arthur's war camps. I'm a big fan of Arthur tales, and if you are too, I'll say only this: This story doesn't end the way you think it will.
A fun story about a girl names Sophie who's on the quest for the perfect relationship. She thinks she's found the perfect guy in Dylan, but then she keeps thinking about Murphy from her art class, and she's really connecting with a guy she's met online, and then there's the masked mystery man from her Halloween Dance. She's got two great girl friends to help her figure it out, which is good because her parents aren't paying her much attention. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, "What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know."
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Week of February 3, 2008
No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts read by Ed Viesturs - It's quite a story
about achieving your inner goals. Ed became a veterinarian but found the profession's demands conflicted with what he really wanted to do - climb mountains and be really good at it. As a result Ed Viesturs is now regarded as one of the best high altitude mountaineers in the country.He recently completed climbing 14 of the world's highest peaks
I liked his style of not taking unecessary risks; His caring for others.
The trouble with listening to this adventure is that I didn't know a lot about particular mountains and foreign names;
So I went to Ed's website and followed his trail.
The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci - Jane survives a catastrophic event that happens to her city. A Polish artist survives as well though he is hospitalized. Jane takes his sketchbook. She also recovers a dandelion that is unscathed.
Her family moves to the country - the story centers on Jane's orchestrating the direction of a
group of misfit students each named "Jane." She creates P.L.A.I.N. for "People Loving Art in Neighborhoods."
The Plain Janes produce innovative art constructs much to the consernation of the local town sheriff.
A bit confusing but an Okay read for me. The book received a starred review in Booklist.
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