Review: First Step 2 Forever by Justin Bieber
Billed as “100% Official,” this very generously illustrated autobiography chronicles the early years and dizzying success of this teen-pop heartthrob in his own words and pictures. The staggering dimensions of his story should silence any skepticism about the worth of any autobiography of a 16-year-old#58; Since being discovered just three years ago, this small-town Ontario boy has gone platinum with his first album; drawn more than 70 million YouTube hits and four million Twitter followers; and caused crowd scenes and near riots on his World Tour. Sometimes just too cute for words. Before you all collectively roll your eyes at further Justin Bieber exposure, read on to find out why I think this book is a worthwhile investment. On a typical day, a conversation with my 8 year old daughter goes like … Read entire article »
Filed under: book review, First Step 2 Forever, Justin Bieber, YA
Review: Velocity by Alan Jacobson
Hardcover, 400 pagesPublished October 5th 2010 by Vanguard Press Detective Robby Hernandez, Karen Vail’s boyfriend, has vanished into the dense air of a Napa Valley evening. There are no clues to his whereabouts, other than a blood stain and tenuous connections to a vicious serial killer operating in the wine country. As the task force struggles with Robby’s disappearance, the killer challenges Vail by boldly leaving his high profile victims in public places. Is this offender somehow responsible for Robby’s disappearance? Evidence suggests that he is—but just when Vail and the task force begin to make progress, the FBI orders Vail to return to Quantico to handle a case of vital importance. Back in Washington, Vail engages covert government operative Hector DeSantos to determine what happened to Robby. It’s a move that backfires … Read entire article »
Filed under: Alan Jacobson, book review, Mystery, Velocity
Review: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, October 2010Hardcover, 432 pagesISBN-10: 1416989439ISBN-13: 9781416989431Grades: 9 and up Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can’t figure out if it’s for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father’s death, the more she comes to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Becca Fitzpatrick, book review, Crescendo, YA
Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Margaret K. McElderry, August 2010Hardcover, 496 pagesISBN-10: 1416975861ISBN-13: 9781416975861Grades: 9 and up Magic is dangerous–but love is more dangerous still. When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at … Read entire article »
Filed under: book review, Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel, YA
Review: I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
Reading level: Young AdultHardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; 1 edition (June 1, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 0545088186 ISBN-13: 978-0545088183 Seventeen-year-old Bronwen Oliver doesn’t just want a family. She has one of those, and there’s nothing terribly wrong with them apart from bickering grandparents, an image-obsessed mother and a brother she describes simply as Jesus. But there’s no natural sense of connection between Bronwen and her family, leaving her with the belief — and the hope — that she was switched at birth, that she was never supposed to be Bronwen Oliver but someone else entirely. When she begins dating college senior Jared Sondervan, she finds herself thoroughly embraced by the loving family she has always wanted and does not hesitate to say yes when Jared proposes on … Read entire article »
Filed under: book review, Erin McCahan, I Now Pronounce You Someone Else, YA
Review: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
Touchstone, August 2010Hardcover, 400 pagesISBN-10: 1439197172ISBN-13: 9781439197172 Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort never surrenders her belief that her house is the true ruler of England and that she has a great destiny before her. Her ambitions are disappointed when her sainted cousin Henry VI fails to recognize her as a kindred spirit, and she is even more dismayed when he sinks into madness. Her mother mocks her plans, revealing that Margaret will always be burdened with the reputation of her father, one of the most famously incompetent English commanders in France. But worst of all for Margaret is when she discovers that her mother is sending her to a loveless marriage in remote Wales. Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and a mother at … Read entire article »
Filed under: book review, Philippa Gregory, The Red Queen
Review and Guest Post: I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk
ISBN: 9780007875504 ISBN10: 0007875509On Sale: 28/09/2010Format: Trade paperbackPages: 336 Angela is in the city of love — but romance is taking a nose-dive! When Angela Clark’s boyfriend Alex suggests a trip to Paris at the same time as hip fashion mag Belle asks her to write a piece, she jumps at the chance. But even as she’s falling for the joie de vivre of Paris, someone’s conspiring to sabotage her big break. And when she spots Alex having a tete-a-tete with his ex in a local bar, Angela’s dreams of Parisian passion all start crashing down around her. With London and her old life only a train journey away, Angela can’t decide if should stay and face the music or run away home! Thanks to Shannon at Harper Collins Canada, I had … Read entire article »
Filed under: book review, I Heart Paris, Lindsey Kelk
Review: Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
ISBN: 9780061852053 ISBN10: 0061852058Imprint: Avon On Sale: 15/03/2010 Format: Paperback Pages: 432 Price $10.99 Ages: 18 and Up A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen’s club. Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she’s vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she’s been missing. But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss—to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston—charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his … Read entire article »
Filed under: book review, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, Romance, Sarah MacLean
Review: Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson
Product ISBN: 9781402243011 Price: $9.99 Publication Date: September 2010 Format: Paperback After living in twelve places in eight years, Calle Smith finds herself in Andreas Bay, California, at the start of ninth grade. Another new home, another new school…Calle knows better than to put down roots. Her song journal keeps her moving to her own soundtrack, bouncing through a world best kept at a distance. Yet before she knows it, friends creep in-as does an unlikely boy with a secret. Calle is torn over what may be her first chance at love. With all that she’s hiding and all that she wants, can she find something lasting beyond music? And will she ever discover why she and her mother have been running in the first place? I’m a big music fan with fairly … Read entire article »
Filed under: book review, Kim Culbertson, Songs for a Teenage Nomad, YA
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