So – since I’m the LAST blogger in the world to read this series, and because the movie is coming out in a few weeks, I decided I had to read through this series and read #2 last week. Everyone I know said “the first one’s the best”, but I did really like this story. To be honest, though, it took a bit to “capture” me as I felt there was too much time devoted to the Katniss, Peeta, Gale love triangle in the first half of it.
Katniss’ strength and creative ingenuity is once again called upon as she and Peeta venture back into the arena for another round of the Games while rumors of rebellion rock the Capital. Again at the ending you know there’s more.
Loved it…
I am reading my copies through the Prime Member freebie download and borrow program on Amazon:
This suspenseful book was a Kindle Prime read-for-free for me. Telling the story of four high school friends, kidnapped when they stumble upon a burglary, this novel traces their cross-country trip to try to escape from and outrun their kidnappers and return home.
As a kid I would have loved this book! Yes, there were some places where I had to suspend belief. Yes, those kidnappers were everywhere. Yes, there were a few places where I wondered at the author’s intentions (implied rape, etc.). But overall, I couldn’t stop reading! The ending suggests that this will be part of a series.
Recommended for YA readers who like suspense, I’d say high school and up.
“The Hangman in the Mirror” by Kate Cayley is a historical fiction piece, set in New France (Canada) in the 1700’s. Francoise Laurent is a destitute 17-year-old washerwoman, left orphaned when her parents die of small pox. She takes a job as a lady’s maid to a wealthy woman, but is accused of thievery and sentenced to hang. She must use her considerable wits to save herself – or die trying.
While this book was written for young adult readers, I think adults would enjoy it, too. The most amazing thing about it is that it is based on true events. I enjoyed the writing, the story, and the characters.
Through my new favorite thing, Net Galley, I received an ARC of “Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK” for my Kindle. “PK” in this case stands for “preacher’s kid” and this novel was the first experience I’ve had of reading Christian literature for teens. It releases on January 1, 2012.
In “Addison Blakely”, Addison is your typical high school student, except for the fact that she is the (widowed) preacher’s daughter, living in a small town. For her whole life, everything she’s done has been under the microscope, so she’s lived up to the expectations of her father and his congregation: always doing the right thing, the good thing, the thing that is expected of her. Then Addison meets Wes Keegan, town bad boy, who has come to live with his father. She is drawn to him, as he is to her, but he is supposed to be off-limits to her (her father won’t even let her date, let alone hang out with “bad boys”). Addison has to deal with her feelings for Wes, a new BFF, her father’s burgeoning romantic life with her English teacher, and the realization of what is truly important to her, all set against the backdrop of a school talent show in school that Addison suddenly finds herself running.
I just loved this novel! I wanted to know how Addison would end up and what choices she would make (and why) so I kept reading. Addison was an engaging character whom I couldn’t help liking. I did find her friend Marta a bit too good to be true, especially for a seventeen-year-old, and I did find parts of the book, especially in the second half, almost preachy (some of the discussions on faith that Marta and Addison have in the latter half of the book ended up sounding like sermons to me). I did enjoy the writing, though, and would recommend this book to older YA readers who enjoy the Christian genre. Addison has a lot of choices to face in her life and in her relationships, as do teens today, and this book showed how she could use her faith to help guide her in those decisions.
Thanks, Net Gally and Barbour Books for my free download!
Through Net Galley, I received a free Kindle download of Jenny Valentine’s YA novel “Double” to review from Disney Publishing. This book was first published in Great Britain. “Double” tells the story of Chap – a young boy who is on the run and has been in and out of group homes for delinquents ever since his grandfather had an accident and was taken to a nursing home. The workers at the facility in which he is staying notice his incredible resemblance to a boy named Cassiel Roadnight – a boy who disappeared two years earlier during an evening celebration in his small town. Seeking to belong somewhere and to have a family, Chap tells them that he really is Cassiel – and so begins his attempt to take on the life on the missing boy, all the while worrying that the real Cassiel will show up and try to claim his life. However, as Chap settles into a routine with Cassiel’s family, he begins to discover that things may not be what they seem and that he is not the only one with secrets to hide.
I loved this book! I couldn’t put it down. It had suspense and mystery, yet it read quickly (less than 300 pages) and easily. I would recommend it for older YA readers due to intense themes. I would think that reluctant readers would enjoy it.
Thank you, Disney Hyperion, for sending me my copy!
“Stones for My Father” follows young Corlie Roux as her family fights to survive during the Boer War in South Africa. Corlie’s father has passed away and her mother, a cold, stern woman, works to keep the family – Corlie and her two younger brothers – alive. The encroaching British soldiers cause the family to flee their farm and they live in a circle of wagons with other settlers. Soon, though, they are discovered by British soldiers and taken to an internment camp for refugees. Corlie must face hunger, sickness, and loneliness in an effort to survive.
I LOVED Trilby’s novel and the character of Corlie. This novel has several layers to it – the story of the Boer War (which I knew only a little about), the story of Corlie’s family, Corlie’s relationship with her young African friend (their servant’s son), Corlie’s relationship with her brother Gert, Corlie’s mother (a complicated and not terribly likable character who is abusive to Corlie), and the role of a young Canadian soldier who befriends Corlie and her brother. This is a quick read – less than 200 pages – but compelling and at times intense. Some of the passages are heart-wrenching – even disturbing – and this novel can be read on more than one level. While YA readers will most certainly focus on Corlie’s trials and tribulations in her efforts to survive, older readers will also want to analyze Corlie’s family structure, the role of Boer women at that time (1899), and the bigger issues of war and land control in Africa by other countries. I would have loved to have read this novel as a middle schooler — and I think adult fans of good historical fiction will like it as well.
While shopping for our school library at the Scholastic warehouse nearby, we picked up this little gem of a book. “Kimchi and Calamari” centers on 14-year-old Joseph Calderaro, a Korean boy adopted in infancy into a NJ Italian family. Joseph struggles with his identity and his unknown past when his English teacher assigns his class to write about their family’s past. Joseph creates a fictional story based on an Olympic athlete, which gets him into hot water when his essay is selected as a winner for a local contest. He also secretly posts on a Korean adoptee website in an effort to track down his birth mother.
This was such a charming book to read. I couldn’t help but like Joseph right from the onset as he endured the daily ups and downs of your typical 8th grader: friends, girls, little sisters, and family matters. Joseph’s quest to better understand him past and thus himself is a touching one, and one I would think many adopted individuals would relate to. Kent does a good job in making Joseph believable and likable, and I appreciate that while the story has a happy and positive ending, she does not tie up all the loose ends in a neat package with a bow on top!
This would make a good summer read for 5th through 7th graders, in my opinion, especially if you are looking for a male protagonist and for something in the realistic fiction genre.
Patricia Reilly Giff is one of those children’s authors who has written numerous titles and seems like an old friend. When we were purchasing books at the Scholastic Warehouse sale for our school library birthday book program, I came across “Storyteller”. I wasn’t aware of too many YA titles by Ms. Giff, so I took it home to read. This novel tells the story of two Elizabeths – one who lives now and her ancestor “Zee” who lived during the Revolutionary War. When modern-day Elizabeth goes to stay with her aunt in New York state one summer, she is drawn to an old drawing of the first Elizabeth and becomes focused on learning her story. The two girls’ stories are juxtaposed, and readers move in time from present to past.
I enjoyed reading this novel and finished it in one evening. I did find the harsh realities of war at times disturbing – Zee is badly burned in a fire and her home destroyed and her mother murdered (there is a somewhat sinister passage where the mother is surrounded by a group of men who are destroying their home while she yells at her daughter to run away; later a family friend reports to Zee that her mother is dead). I wasn’t at all familiar with the Battle of Oriskany, which occurs in this novel, too (where a group of Patriots are ambushed and slaughtered while travelling through a gorge). For these reasons, I think this novel is best suited for middle schoolers. Using this in a classroom where you could also study daily life during the Revolution and talk about the events in this book would be ideal.
Historical period aside, young readers will enjoy the two Elizabeths’ stories as both girls learn to deal with changes in their life and recognize their gifts as storytellers. I look forward to more YA titles from Ms. Giff!
Beth's Book-Nook Blog 