Thursday, November 1, 2012
Every Day by David Levithan
A. lives in a different body everyday. Each morning he wakes up as a different person. All the body's he inhabits are 16 and within a relatively short distance from each other, but he might be a girl one cay and a boy the next. And he never inhabits the same body more than once. He doesn't know why this happens, just that this is the way his life is and he has never questioned it. However, one day he wakes up as Justin and when he meets Justin's girlfriend Rhianon, he falls in love. Now A. cannot imagine being without her. Because A. switches bodies every day, this is a very complicated relationship. And a very strange one!
Like I said, this book was impossible to to stop reading once I started. It makes one think about who you really love: is the person they are on the outside or the person they are on the inside? Or a combination? It is a fascinating story.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom
This book reminds me of My Boyfriend's Dogs: the tales of Adam and Eve and Shirley by Dandi Daley Mackall. The main character in this book also has a disasterous prom night and finds herself telling waiting out a thunderstorm in an all night diner dressed in her prom dress with her three dogs. She tells the story of how she ended up with each of the dogs by telling the story of her romances with each of the dogs original owners. If you enjoy Ditched, then you will definitely enjoy My Boyfriend's Dogs.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Elizabeth Eulberg
Last week I attended the Kansas Association of School Librarians Annual Conference and Elizabeth Eulberg (picture on right) was one of the featured speakers. Of course, we all loved her when she told us that her mother was a school librarian and that books had a great impact on her life. Before becoming a full-time writer, Eulberg worked as a publicist for Scholastic and worked with such authors as Stephenie Meyers, Suzanne Collins, and David Levithan.
I had not heard of Eulberg before the conference, but I discovered that we had both of her books in our library. I checked them out and read them quickly, so I would be ready to meet her. Her books are light-hearted and fun.
The Lonely Hearts Club is about Penny Lane whose parents are hardcore Beatles fans as you can tell by her name. Penny is sick and tired of boys, so she vows not to date another boy until she graduates from high school next year. She discovers that she is not the only girl in her school that is fed up with boys and soon the Lonely Hearts Club is born. The girls pledge not to date and to spend every Saturday night with girlfriends instead of trying to impress boys. The Club is very empowering for the girls involved which causes problems with the other students in school. This is a great book for any girl who has had a friendship play second fiddle to a boy. Penny and her friends learn that it is the friends you have in high school that last, not the boyfriends.
I enjoyed Prom and Prejudice even more than The Lonely Hearts Club. Prom and Prejudice as you can tell is based on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Lizzie Bennett attends an expensive boarding school on a music and academic scholarship. Prom is a very big deal at her school where girls have dresses made by famous designers. Because Lizzie is a scholarship student, she is bullied and picked on by the other students, but unlike the others, she has no interest in attending prom. Lizzie does not like any of the boys at school until she meets her roommate Jane's new boyfriend. Charles seems very nice and Lizzie is very happy for Jane until she meets Charles' friend Darcy. Lizzie thinks that Darcy is a pompous jerk; however, she finds herself drawn to him. Will Lizzie's pride and Darcy's prejudice keep them apart or will they find a way to attend the prom?
Friday, April 8, 2011
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is written in alternating chapters by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. The book begins with Dash, written by David Levithan, finding a red notebook hidden on a shelf between two of his favorite books in his favorite bookstore. The book sends him on a scavenger hunt around the store. Dash, a lover of the written word, enjoys the game and decides to add to it. Besides finding the clues around the store, he creates a dare for Lily the girl who left the notebook. Dash, whose mother thinks he is spending Christmas with his father and whose father thinks he is spending Christmas with this mother, has plenty of time to come up with fun dares for Lily.
Lily, whose chapters are written by Rachel Cohn, is sad because her parents have gone on a 25th anniversary trip and left her at home with only her older brother Langston with whom to spend Christmas. Langston has a new boyfriend, so he comes up with the idea of the book of dares to keep Lily occupied during the holidays. Lily has never had a real boyfriend and immediately becomes impressed by Dash. However, more than Dash, Lily discovers a lot about herself through how she deals with the various dares. She has been very sheltered by her extended family, so when Dash dares her to go to a club at 2:00 a.m. she cannot even imagine fallowing through, but she does and surprised even herself.
I liked Nick an Norah's Infinite Playlist which is also by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, but I liked Dash and Lily even better. I found Lily to be delightfully strange and a great character and while Dash was a bit arrogant and pretentious, I enjoyed reading about him too. I really like books with interesting characters and I enjoyed their adventures combined with the gently developing romance between the two.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
I love to travel. In fact, I have been to all but 3 of the 50 states and 4 of the 7 continents. And I really like a good road trip. There is not a better way to see the United States than to drive across it. It is amazing how vast, varied and beautiful our awesome country is. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson is a story of a road trip. When Amy's father is killed in a car accident, her life is turned upside down. Even though she has lived all her life in the same house in California, Amy's mother suddenly gets a job and moves to Connecticut. Her twin brother deals with the death through drugs and is sent to a treatment center in North Carolina. Amy finds herself finishing her school year up while living alone in California. When the school year is over, her mother has arranged for a Roger, a family friend, to drive with Amy from California to Connecticut. She has the trip all arranged with reservations at hotels along the way. However, Amy and Roger have other plans. They take an "epic detour" that takes them through Nevada on the loneliest highway, to Colorado to visit Roger's college, through Wichita, KS, to Louisville to visit Roger's girlfriend and end with a trip to Graceland to see the King. Of course, in Wichita, they eat at Nu way and enjoy Freddie's frozen custard.
It is fun to read about the details of their journey. However, this book is more than a road trip. It is part love story, but more than that, it is about Amy trying to deal with her father's death and Roger trying to come to grips with the end of a relationship. Both have to find a new beginning without someone they loved dearly.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Okay. I know. I have really been slacking lately. My last entry was in October which is really embarrassing. However, I am going to try to be better. I have read several good books lately so I should have several things to blog about.I really enjoyed the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Samantha Kingston is a mean girl. She is part of the In-Crowd and she never lets anyone forget it. She has her popular friends and her good looking boyfriend, so why would she need anything else. She ignores the "little people" at school and enjoys making fun of many of her classmates. She doesn't think that anything can ruin her "perfect" life. However, in the beginning of the book, Samantha and her friends are in a car wreck and she dies. Now she is forced to live the same day over and over again until she gets it right.
This book is like Groundhog Day meets Mean Girls which makes it a really fun read. Samantha is clueless at the beginning of the book. She doesn't see how awful her friends really are. She thinks that everyone thinks she is cool and wants to be her. As she is forced to relive the same day over and over, she is surprised to discover that she isn't as great as she thought she was. She sees her friends as they truly are and she starts to explore her relationship with her boyfriend. As Samantha becomes more introspective, so does the reader. This book makes the reader think about his/her life and what is really important in his/her life.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Party by Tom Leveen
Moving Day for the HHS Library is Monday, Nov. 1st! I'm excited to get into our new and improved home. I am ready for everything to have a permanent place; it is frustrating when every corner is filled with stuff just waiting to move. And it will be great to have the Reference section our of boxes and back on a shelf where we can find things--YEA!!!!!Party by Tom Leveen is a really good book. It was one of those books that I pulled because I thought it might have some questionable content in it and I thought that I should know what it was before I put it on the shelf. However, I did not find too much to be worried about. It is a book about a party and there is drinking, sex and some talk of drug use but the way it is written puts all of it into perspective.
The book is about the last big party of the year! The 11 main characters are all going to be Seniors or just graduated and they are celebrating the end of another school year. We get the story of the party through the eyes of each of the characters. The plot progresses as we meet each character and see what happens at the party through their eyes. There is Beckett whose mother has died and is going to have to drop out of school to go to work; she feels that she is invisible and goes to the party just to see if anyone even knows she's alive. Morrigan has just broken up with her boyfriend and decides to meet someone new at the party. Josh is Morrigan's boyfriend and he is depressed over the break up. Anthony is the star football player who had a terrible year, but only a few people know why. Max and Brent are skateboarders. Azzize is a Turkish American who just wants to see what a high school party is like. Ryan goes just to hook up. And Ashley is the one person who kind of connects them all. The story hooks the reader as they find out about each character and the terrible thing that happens at the Party!
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Sonia wants to be the first in her family to graduate from high school and go to college. Her parents are illegal immigrants and did not have the opportunities she has, and Sonia know that in
However, Sonia’s plans are disrupted by her life. Her father works three jobs to support his family. Her mother is pregnant with twins and is on bed rest and her drunk uncle has come to live with them. Sonia is forced to cook, clean and take care of her family. She often has to miss school to help out at home and things look bleak for the possibilities of graduating. The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer shows what Sonia must do to find her future while dealing with her family, avoiding her drunk uncle and falling in love.
Monday, September 13, 2010
A Kansas Year

A Kansas Year by Mike Blair is a beautiful book of pictures showing the beauty of one year in the state of Kansas. Blair goes through the year with incredible photographs that show Kansas at its best. January includes pictures of an ice storm and a couple of raccoons in their den. The author gets it right when he writes, "The reader should not be confused if one January entry is shirtsleeve warm, while the next is cold and snowy. The beauty of a Kansas year is found in its diversity, and that's why it's a compelling journey." Everyone who has ever lived in Kansas knows how true this statement is.
From the snow covered cattails to the Ninnescah on an August morning to a December sunset over the prairie. This is a breathtakingly beautiful book.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sequels


I just finished the third book is a couple of series and enjoyed them both a lot!
Kiss in the Dark by Lauren Henderson is the third book in the "Kiss" series.
Having solved the mystery of Dan’s death, Scarlett thinks that life will finally settle down. She is happy with her best friend Taylor and her boyfriend Jase and is even dealing with her archenemy Plum now attending
Although the mystery of Jase's father's death is solved in this book, another mystery is brought up about Scarlett’s parents. This opens the door for another book in the series.
The other book I just finished was the final book in the "Hunger Games" series Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Like the other two books--Hunger Games and Catching Fire--Mockingjay kept me on the edge of my seat; I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what would happen to Katniss.
The book begins after Katniss has been removed from the Quarter Quell by the rebels of District 13 who are leading the rebellion to over throw the Capitol. Peeta has been left behind and is taken captive by the Capitol. District 13 wants Katniss to become the Mockingjay a symbol of rebellion that will encourage the rebel troops to continue fighting for the good of the people. This throws Katniss right in the middle of the Civil War. In addition to trying to save her own life, she now feels responsible for the lives of the rebels. All the while, she hopes to save Peeta from certain torture at the hands of President Snow.
This book resolves all the open questions from the first two books. It is a good if not particularly happy ending to the series.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney
Welcome back to school! The library is still a mess because we are supposed to move in a month at the end of September. However, we have lots of new books for you to enjoy!“We all inherit someone else’s leftovers. They’re a part of your Blue Plate Special. A part of you,” observes Ariel, one of three teens, each from a different generation, who tell her stories in the novel Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney. Each of the three teens is 15 or 16 when she tells her stories.
The first is Madeline in 1977 who struggles to find love and acceptance wherever she can. Her mother is a drunk and Madeline eats to find happiness, so she must deal with being overweight in addition to her family situation. It is only when she meets Tad at the local McDonald’s that Madeline starts to find acceptance.
Desiree writes in free verse in 1993. Her family life is also a struggle with a mother who refuses to see the world as it really is. She accuses Desiree of acting like a slut while she lives with her worthless boyfriend Larry. Desiree spends her time trying to avoid Larry and dreams of being with her boyfriend Jeremy. But Larry is impossible to avoid and Desiree’s life spirals out of control.
The last teen is Ariel in 2009. Ariel is being raised by a single mother also, but her mother is caring and Ariel feels that she can talk to her mother about almost anything. Anything that is except for her relationship with Shane. Shane is the new kid at school and he is good looking and cool, but he is also possessive and wants Ariel all to himself. She finds that she does not have time for her friends any more and that she spends all of her time trying to make Shane happy instead of doing what would make her happy. Ariel discovers that she must evaluate her relationship with Shane when her mother takes her to see the grandmother she had never met.
The lives of the three teens are told in separate stories until we see how it all fits together about halfway through the book. It is a really good read about love, loss and forgiveness.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard
Colt and Julia are from completely different worlds. Julia lives on Black Mountain in her fancy mansion with all the rich people in town while Colt lives down on the Flats with the not-so-privileged. In their school, the two groups of people do not mix. But somehow Julia and Colt fall for each other and they begin a secret relationship in The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard. At school, they act like they don't know each other, but then meet at night by the river where no one else sees them.But one night Julia is killed in an automobile accident and now Colt doesn't know what to do. He is traumatized by her death, but he is unable to share his grief with anyone. His friends didn't really know Julia and do not feel her loss and they do not know that Colt even knew her so he cannot share his feelings with them. Julia's friends, who are mourning her death, will have nothing to do with Colt. And since their relationship was secret, no one would believe that rich Julia was friends with poor Colt.
Julia's brother discovers the relationship between Julia and Colt and he gives Colt a notebook where Julia wrote letters and poems to Colt. Reading this notebook causes Colt to relive the year with Julia as he works through his secret pain.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock



I really like DJ Schwenk. I enjoyed reading about her troubles when she decides to go out for football in the book Dairy Queen. I felt terrible for her, but still liked reading about her working with her injured brother in The Off Season. And I really liked the way Catherine Gilbert Murdock finished her story in Front and Center.
Football season is over and her brother is doing better so DJ has returned to school and is looking forward to basketball season. She has a new boyfriend Beaner who is fun to be around and accepts DJ for who she is unlike Brian her first boyfriend. However, it doesn't take long for DJ's life to get complicated. As good as she is at basketball, DJ's coach wants her to be more assertive on the court. He says that she has to learn to be more vocal. But DJ is painfully shy and telling other players what to do is painful for her. Additionally many Division I universities are recruiting her to play basketball for them, but she has to overcome her shyness and participate in the recruiting process. The idea of talking to coaches and playing in front of large crowds of people make her physically sick. To top it all off, as great as Beaner is, DJ finds herself thinking more and more about Brian.
It is fun to listen as DJ tells the problems of her life and watch her make the decision that will affect the rest of her life. Front and Center is a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. If you read the first two books, you have to read the conclusion.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale is the first in the Pendragon series. There are now 10 books in this series. I am the first to admit that I am not a huge fantasy reading, but I have a library aide this trimester who is and she is a great authority on most fantasy series. Emily generously agreed to write a book review for the first book in this series which has been very popular in the past couple of years.
Bobby Pendragon may look like a normal fourteen year old, but what he doesn’t know is that he is going to save the world. In The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale, Bobby’s Uncle Press shows up one and night and tells him that there are some people who need their help. What Bobby didn’t realize was that the people in need of help weren’t on Earth.
Press and Bobby travel across space and time, using flumes, to the medieval
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Sweetheart of Prosper County

As we begin Spring, I start looking for books that have a summer feel to them. The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander is one of those books. The rooster on the front cover with the Country Fair blue ribbon makes me think of the many county fairs I have attended!
However, The Sweetheart of Prosper County is not just a lighthearted novel about the country fair, it is a novel about a family dealing with loss. Austin’s father died on Christmas Eve when she was only 6 years old, and even though, Austin is now a freshmen in high school, her mother is stilling wearing black T-shirts and refusing to celebrate Christmas or other holidays.
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones
I'll admit it, I haven't been reading too much lately. I guess that I have been spending too much time watching the Olympics! Anyway Krista, one of my wonderful library aides, has agreed to fill it with this fantastic book review!
Blood sucking, mysterious, and evil is what everyone perceives as a vampire, but Cassandra Gray does not fit that stereotype in The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones. Her family strives on human tears to fuel them for their days.
Whether it’s breaking up with boyfriends, turning friends against each other, or working at the local hospital, she’ll do whatever she can to get the tears to keep her grandmother going. But she’s getting tired of the lying and deceit especially when she meets Scott.
Meanwhile the next generation needs to be made and it’s Cassandra’s turn in line. She must mate with her seemingly perfect cousin, Alexei. But is he all he is cracked up to be?
Now she must choose between the newfound emotion and her family. Will she risk everything, including exile to be with Scott? Or will she continue to stay beside her family and court with the darling Alexei?
Monday, February 15, 2010
Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

In Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Anna has lived next door to Frankie and Matt her entire life. They are best friends who do almost everything together. Everything is perfect, especially on her fifteenth birthday when Anna and Matt share a kiss. Suddenly they are sneaking time away from Frankie to be together. Matt feels that he should tell his sister about their relationship and he swears Anna to secrecy. But then the unthinkable happens; Matt dies in a horrible accident before he can tell Frankie and now Anna struggles with what to tell her best friend.
One year later, Frankie’s family invites Anna to go with them to California for a three week vacation on the beach. This is the vacation that Matt, Frankie and their parents take every year. Although Anna has never been to California, she has heard so many stories from Matt that she feels like she knows all about it. Frankie sees the vacation as a chance for a summer romance. In fact, she invents the challenge of the Twenty Boy Summer. She says that she and Anna are going to meet twenty boys while they are in California. Anna says that she will go along but really the only boy she wants is Matt back.
This is a heartbreaking novel about a family trying to deal with a tragic loss while Anna struggles with her right to feel the same grief.
Friday, February 5, 2010
ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro
In ABC’s of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro, Parker is a going to be a junior in high school and is looking forward to all the rewards that come with being an upperclassman. However, one week before school starts, everything falls apart. The soccer coach posts the list of players who will be playing on the varsity team this year and Parker’s name is not listed. She discovers that she is one of only two juniors who are on the JV team. To make matters worse, Parker’s popular best friends tell her that they will not be hanging out with her this fall because she needs to spend time “bonding” with her freshmen and sophomore teammates.
Feeling isolated, embarrassed and left out, Parker decides that making the varsity soccer team will fix all of her problems. So she works out a plan with her college age brother and his best friend the fantastically handsome Luke. "The Plan" involves Luke purchasing a kiss from Parker at the Sports Fair kissing booth. But Luke tells her that in order for the plan to work, the kiss must look real, so she needs to learn how to kiss.
Enter the good-looking freshman from across the street. Over the summer, Travis has grown several inches to over 6 feet tall and he has filled out so that he doesn’t look like a freshman and Parker learns that he is only 364 days younger than she is. Travis also worked at a camp this summer where he learned "lots" of kissing "techniques." Travis convinces her that her plan will only work if he gives her kissing lessons.
When she and Travis are caught together, Parker takes lots of teasing at school and this makes her resolve to make her plan work even stronger. The fact that Travis and Parker’s fathers are having a feud adds to the problems with the situation and gives the story a Romeo and Juliet feel. Of course, Parker learns what is really important but the romance that develops along the way is a fun read.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Two Parties, One Tux and a Very Short Film about the Grapes of Wrath By Steven Goldman

Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan
Aiden is fifteen years old and living with his younger sister Maddy in a dugout on a homestead in Kansas. Their parents and brothers and sisters have all died and a fire has burned up any possibility of a crop this year. They are barely surviving on grasshoppers, dirt and other things that they can catch. The outlook is bleak in The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan. Hope for the future comes in the form of Jefferson J. Jackson who is recruiting men to be loggers in the Pacific Northwest. Jackson will pay for Maddy’s and Aiden’s journey on a Wagon Train to Seattle and then Aiden will work for two years as a logger to pay off the passage. Maddy and Aiden know that this is their only hope for survival, so they join the Wagon Train on the Oregon Trail.
The journey is not easy as they have problems with wolves, dangerous river crossings and small pox along the way. Their adventures are both exciting and horrifying. Aiden makes friends with an Indian along the way who wants to vaccinate the Indians for small pox—what the Indians call the Devil’s Paint—and Aiden gets mixed up in his dangerous scheme.
This is not a happily-ever-after book, but it does a good job showing the struggles faced while the pioneers crossed the United States looking for a better way of life. Living in Kansas, this book hits close to home as I think of my relatives who homesteaded in Kansas and tried to survive when things were tough. In fact, the old dugout where my great grandparents lived is still there in Rush County.

