Authors and Publishers, I am happy to receive ARCs and published children's, middle grade, and YA books for review. When I finish it, I will review it. If you need the review posted in a certain time period, please let me know and I will move it to the top of the stack. Please note: my reviews are honest, but they are my opinion. If you don't want that, please don't ask. Email Me for reviews.
By Jessi Kirby
Publication Date: May 3rd 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
from Goodreads:
From Jessi Kirby, a debut novel about confronting the past in order to move ahead.
I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.
Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love- a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.
While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing- not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death- stays buried forever.
I actually have an ARC of this one that I'm just dying to get to! It seems like a great summer read and I am getting summer ready!
By Holly Goldberg Sloan
Publication Date: May 3rd 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Raised by an unstable father who keeps the family constantly on the move, Sam Border hasn't been in a classroom since the second grade. He's always been the rock for his younger brother Riddle, who stopped speaking long ago and instead makes sense of the world through his strange and intricate drawings. It's said that the two boys speak with one voice--and that voice is Sam's.
Then, Sam meets Emily Bell, and everything changes. The two share an immediate and intense attraction, and soon Sam and Riddle find themselves welcomed into the Bell's home. Faced with normalcy for the first time, they know it's too good to last.
Told from multiple perspectives, Holly Goldberg Sloan's debut novel offers readers fresh voices and a gripping story, with vivid glimpses into the lives of many unique characters. Beautifully written and emotionally profound, I'll Be There is a story about connections both big and small, and deftly explores the many ways that our lives are woven together.
I'm very intrigued by this one because it deals with a child who has not been in school, forced to take care of his younger brother. The fact that the younger one doesn't talk and the older one still knows how to communicate with him fascinates me.
By Josephine Angelini
Publication Date: May 31st 2011 by HarperTeen
How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.
from Goodreads Gripping and suspenseful, this powerful, no-holds-barred novel by an exciting new talent goes deep inside a young boy's mind. Thirteen-year-old Robbie is locked in a room with nothing but a desk, a chair, a piece of paper, and a pencil. He's starving, but all they'll give him is water. He is sure he's in a nuthouse or a prison. Actually, he's at Great Oaks School, aka the End of the Line. Kept in solitary confinement, Robbie must earn points for food, a bed, even bathroom privileges. He must learn to listen carefully, to follow the rules, and to accept and admit the truth: he is a murderer. Robbie's first-person account of his struggles at the school—at times horrifying, at times hilarious—alternates with flashbacks to the events that led to his incarceration. Ultimately he must confront the question: which is worse—that he wanted to kill his friend Ryan or that he killed him by accident?
Just the cover had me, but the synopsis hooked me! The cover is different than anything I've seen in YA in a while, and the story, well I have one word for you, WOW! I'd love to read this one before April, but I guess I'll have to wait; it's not that long, right? I'm glad to see more male main characters in YA. There haven't been many lately, but I'm starting to see more and more and I'm glad. Yes, I can connect with female leads since I'm a female, but it's great to read stories from the male POV as well. Looking forward to this one!!
About the Book: In the dim light of the darkroom, I'm alone, but not for long.
As white turns to gray, Kate is with me.
The background of the dance studio blurred, so the focus is all on her
legs extended in a perfect soaring split.
The straight line to my squiggle,
my forever-best friend.
Sixteen-year-old Liz Grayson is photogirl—sharp, focused and ready to take the world by storm with her camera. But Liz's entire life is called into question when her brother is accused of a crime—and the accuser is Liz's own best friend. As the aftershocks from that accusation rip through Liz's world, everything she thought she knew about photography, family, friendship and herself, shifts out of focus. And for the first time in her life, Liz finds herself unable to trust her own point of view.
My Thoughts: I'm not a 5 star giving kind of girl. That kind of a rating is reserved for books that "knock me off my feet," so to speak. Well, this one did just that, so I didn't hesitate when I posted my completion on EXPOSED's Goodreads page.
This is the first book I've read that was written in free verse, but I'm ready to read more. More free verse and more about Liz...what happens to her? She goes through a lot in just one book, that I'd like to read more of her story. The use of free verse makes this a quick read, but it doesn't take away from the depth of the story.
I'm so impressed with Kimberly Marcus as an author. This is her debut YA, and it is going to be a hit! There haven't been many YA novels written in free verse. I think it is a great way to write and maybe there will be more like it in the future. Marcus scores big with this one.
The characters in the story are well written, strong, deep characters. Liz comes to find out things about her brother and her best friend that she may not have wanted to know, but they also help her to learn more about herself as a person. What does she want to do with her life? Is she willing to hang on to her dreams, take the risks that she tries to get others to take, listen to those around her who are trying to help her? She comes to find out that dreams are what keep you going, and risks are meant to be taken. Things may not turn out the way you think they should, but they turn out, none the less.
This novel delves into a very heavy subject, but it doesn't tiptoe around it. Marcus meets the challenge head on and makes her characters face the truth, no matter how painful it is or will be, no matter what it may do to their relationships. The content dealt with in this novel is not an easy subject to broach, but Marcus does it so well!
I will be recommending this one to teens and adults as it will be enjoyed by both.
Sixteen-year-old Tansy Piper moves with her grandfather and her mother, a horror writer, to the setting of her mother's next book--a secluded house outside of a tiny, desolate West Texas town. Lonely and upset over the move, Tansy escapes into her photography and the dark, seductive poems she finds hidden in the cellar, both of which lure her into the mind and world of a mysterious, troubled young man who died sixty years earlier.
"Tiny, desolate West Texas town..." was the first thing that drew me to this book. Being from Texas, I love to read books with a Texas setting, but even more so because it is set in a small town. I have always felt like I was born in the wrong place. I'm more of a small town girl than a city girl. The whole thing sounds a little creepy to me and that's intriguing!
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Entwined
By Heather Dixon
Publication: March 29th 2011 by Greenwillow Books
Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.
The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.
Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.
But there is a cost.
The Keeper likes to keep things.
Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.
So, when I read this synopsis it immediately reminded me of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which I read as a child. I was fascinated by the "other world" that was beyond the wardrobe. I am anxious to see what kind of "world" the Keeper lives in!
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Possum Summer
By Jen K Blom
Publication: March 11th 2011 by Holiday House from Goodreads: Eleven-year-old P (short for Princess, a name she loathes) longs for a pet, but her father insists that all animals on their Oklahoma farm must earn their keep. While he's away on combat duty in Iraq, P tries to turn his cattle dog into her pet and rescues an orphaned opossum that she names Ike. She hand-feeds him, smuggles him into school, and soon he is following her everywhere.
P knows she can't keep him forever. Can she teach Ike to survive in the wild before her father gets home and if she does, can she bear to let him go?
How could I not read this one? I mean, really! I'm from the south and in the south we have possums...not sure I'd have one for a pet, but to each his own, or in this case her own. I like that it's set in present day too, with a father serving in Iraq. There are many little girls out there that could relate to this. I'm a sucker for animal stories, like those written by Bill Wallace. (I used to read them aloud and suggest them to my students when we went to the library.) When I saw what Mr. Wallace had to say about this one, I knew I should read it. "A heartwarming, vibrant story. It's a book that middle graders will want to read." --Bill Wallace, author of A Dog Called Kitty If he likes it, I'm sure I will too.
Publication: February 8th 2011 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
from Goodreads -
Until now, high school junior, John Keats, has only tiptoed near the edges of the vortex that is schoolmate and literary prodigy, Gordon Byron. That is, until their mutual friend, Shelly, drowns in a sailing accident.
After stealing Shelly's ashes from her wake at Trinity Catholic High School, the boys set a course for the small Lake Erie island where Shelly's body had washed ashore and to where she wished to be returned. It would be one last "so Shelly" romantic quest. At least that's what they think. As they navigate around the obstacles and resist temptations during their odyssey, Keats and Gordon glue together the shattered pieces of Shelly's and their own pasts while attempting to make sense of her tragic and premature end.
Why wouldn't I want to read a book that has my name in the title? I mean, who wouldn't? But, aside from that, it sounds very interesting and the cover is so great!
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Haven
By Kristi Cook
Publication: February 22nd 2011 by Simon Pulse
From Goodreads.com -
One month into her junior year, sixteen-year-old Violet McKenna transfers to the Winterhaven School in New York’s Hudson Valley, inexplicably drawn to the boarding school with high hopes. Leaving Atlanta behind, she’s looking forward to a fresh start--a new school, and new classmates who will not know her deepest, darkest secret, the one she’s tried to hide all her life: strange, foreboding visions of the future.
But Winterhaven has secrets of its own, secrets that run far deeper than Violet’s. Everyone there--every student, every teacher--has psychic abilities, 'gifts and talents,' they like to call them. Once the initial shock of discovery wears off, Violet realizes that the school is a safe haven for people like her. Soon, Violet has a new circle of friends, a new life, and maybe even a boyfriend--Aidan Gray, perhaps the smartest, hottest guy at Winterhaven.
Only there’s more to Aidan than meets the eye--much, much more. And once she learns the horrible truth, there’s no turning back from her destiny. Their destiny. Together, Violet and Aidan must face a common enemy--if only they can do so without destroying each other first.
I've always been a fan of books, tv shows, movies, etc. about people with powers. Which is why I love Ghost Whisperer, Charmed, and many others. This book sounds like it's goes right along with those. I'm anxious to see how this one turns out.
