Mini Reviews: Bedlam - Andrew Lane | Destroy Me - Tahereh Mafi | Six Earlier Days - David Levithan

 Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 4 stars  
Cover Rating: 3 stars (Who is that and what is her doing?)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: November 30, 2011
Publisher: Macmillian Children's Books
Page Count: 35 p.
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads
Short Story Sequel to: Death Cloud and Rebel Fire and Black Ice

Another great story in the Young Sherlock Holmes series. At first I thought this one was an alternate part from the book, from when they go to meet Mycroft. After reading along a bit further I realized that it was actually it's own little bit. I'm always a sucker for a story that takes place in a mental institute. I wished this could have been a bit longer, but any amount of Sherlock is better than no Sherlock.

First Line:
"It was one of those rare days in London when the sun shoe on clean streets and the air did not smell of rotten vegetables and horse dung."

Favorite Line:
"He was bald, apart from a fringe of black hair running around the back of his head like a small curtain."


Where I got it: ebook from library
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (I really love these new covers.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Harper
Page Count: 103 p.
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads
Short Story Sequel to: Shatter Me

♥♥Warner♥♥ If you are Team Warner, you will love this story. If you are not, this might convince you. I love it when we get to take a peak inside another characters head. Warner is such a complex character and I was always wondering what he was thinking. He changed so much and so constantly that it always kept the others on their toes. There were just so many different sides to Warner, that one could never know which they would get. We also got to know Juliette and Warner's father a bit better with this story. We at least got to know them through Warner's perspective. If you are a fan of this series, make sure you check this one out.

First Line:
"I've been shot."

Favorite Line:
"Medicine, medics, hours in bed. All this for a kiss."

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (Lovely match-y match-y)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: November 26, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 47 p.
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

This short story is exactly as it's title suggests. It's about six earlier days before Every Day. It was nice to get a little bit more background about A. We know so little about A, because A picks up pieces from every body inhabited. Each new body changes A in some way. If you enjoyed Every Day and wanted a couple more days of A, this short story is 100% for you.

First Line:
"I wake up to the sound of footsteps and muffled giggles, and the smell of maple syrup."

Favorite Lines:
"I have so few words at the age of seven. I don't know stern or enraged or sanctimonious. All I know is mad."

Stuff I Got This Week

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Chains - Laurie Halse Anderson

What I Didn't Say - Keary Taylor

Love in the Time of Global Warming - Francesca Lia Block

Seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) has lost everything—her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother. Like a female Odysseus in search of home, she navigates a dark world full of strange creatures, gathers companions and loses them, finds love and loses it, and faces her mortal enemy.

Openly Straight - Bill Konigsberg

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He's won skiing prizes. He likes to write. And, oh yeah, he's gay. He's been out since 8th grade, and he isn't teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. 

And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time. So when he transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret -- not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate breaking down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben...who doesn't even know that love is possible.

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

Stuff I Got This Week

Bought: for Kindle

Six Earlier Days - David Levithan

In Every Day, New York Times bestselling author David Levithan presented readers with his most ambitious novel to date: Every morning, A wakes up in a different body and leads a different life. A must never get too attached, must never be noticed, must never interfere. The novel Every Day starts on Day 5994 of A’s life. In this digital-only collection Six Earlier Days, Levithan gives readers a glimpse at a handful of the other 5993 stories yet to be told that inform how A navigates the complexities of a life lived anew each day. In Every Day, readers discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day. In Six Earlier Days, readers will discover a little bit more about how A became that someone.

Sean Griswold's Head - Lindsey Leavitt

According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him. The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

Stuff I Got This Week

For Review: Thanks HarperCollins!

The Wig in the Window - Kristen Kittscher

(I'm super excited to read this one. It's one of the debuts I gushed about here.)

Best friends and seventh graders Sophie Young and Grace Yang have made a game out of spying on their neighbors. On one of their midnight stakeouts, they witness a terrifying, bloody scene at the home of their bizarre middle-school counselor, Dr. Charlotte Agford (aka Dr. Awkward). At least, they think they do. The truth is that Dr. Agford was only making her famous pickled beets! But when Dr. Agford begins acting even weirder than usual, Sophie and Grace become convinced that she’s hiding something—and they’re determined to find out what it is. Soon the girls are breaking secret codes, being followed by a strange blue car, and tailing strangers with unibrows and Texas accents. But as their investigation heats up, Sophie and Grace start to crack under the pressure. They might solve their case, but will their friendship survive? Perfect for fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Wig in the Window is a smart, funny middle-grade mystery with a REAR WINDOW twist. 

Bought:

Kindle Fire HD 7"

(YAY! New Gadgets!)

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

Cover Reveal: Stained by Cheryl Rainfield

On Nov 19th, 2013 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will be realeasing the newest title by author Cheryl Rainfield, Stained.

In this heart-wrenching and suspenseful teen thriller, sixteen-year-old Sarah Meadows longs for "normal." Born with a port-wine stain covering half her face, all her life she’s been plagued by stares, giggles, bullying, and disgust. But when she’s abducted on the way home from school, Sarah is forced to uncover the courage she never knew she had, become a hero rather than a victim, and learn to look beyond her face to find the beauty and strength she has inside. It’s that—or succumb to a killer. Tag Line: Sometimes you have to be your own hero. 

From the author: Like I did with SCARS and HUNTED, I drew on some of my own experiences of bullying, abuse, and trauma to write STAINED and to give it greater emotional depth. Like Sarah in STAINED, I experienced abduction, imprisonment, periods of forced starvation, mind control, and having my life threatened. And like Sarah, I tried hard to fight against my abuser, keep my own sense of self, and escape. I hope readers will see Sarah's strength and courage, and appreciate her emotional growth as she reclaims herself.

And now, for the moment you've been waiting for...

Isn't that cover intense?!

You can check out the newly released trailer too!

Available For Pre-Order on:

Amazon (hardcover)

Amazon (kindle)

Amazon.ca (hardcover)

Amazon.ca (ebook)

Amazon.co.uk (hardcover) 

Amazon.co.uk (ebook) 

The Book Depository

Powell's

Books a Million

Cheryl Rainfield is the author of the following books: Stained: Sarah, a teen with a port-wine stain, is abducted, and must find a way to rescue herself.
Parallel Visions: Kate sees visions of the future--but only when she has an asthma attack.
Hunted: Caitlyn is a telepath in a world where having any paranormal power is illegal. Monica Hughes Award finalist
Scars: Kendra must face her past and stop hurting herself before it's too late. GG Literary Award Finalist, YALSA's Top 10 Quick Picks.

To find out more about Cheryl visit her website.

Libraries We Love part 2.

Kelly Green


Some of my earliest memories are of the long hours I spent at my local library as a child. I remember my mother taking me to the library as a baby to help pick out picture books, and being absolutely fascinated by the sheer number of stories and worlds that were hidden inside the shelves. Each and every one of those skinny little spines was a story, neatly encased in between two pictures that served as the cover. Apparently, I went through so many picture books that my mother and I had to start driving to other libraries in neighboring towns in order to find new stories for me to read. As I got older, and was able to move on to selecting books on my own, I fell in love with the simple joy of browsing the shelves, pulling out book after book, scanning the back cover and judging the front, until I found one that was just right. Some days the search for the perfect book took just a couple tries; other days it took hours. And then there were those horrible, gut-wrenching days when I had found two perfect books, and had to choose one to take home, and one to cruelly abandon. When summer came around, and the Summer Reading Book Club started…things got serious. Free ice cream for reading 10 books?? Sign me up! I’ll read 100! 200! 


But I was lucky. I had a wonderful, well-stocked local library, just minutes from my house, full of comfortable couches, well-lit desks, and helpful, friendly librarians. Many libraries today are struggling to keep their doors open in the face of the Kindle Store, the Nook Books, and the App Store. Will tomorrow’s children ever have a physical relationship to the stories they read? Instead of ‘turning a new leaf’, will they simply ‘swipe forward’ on their e-readers? 


As a new author offering her work in exclusively digital format, it is a question that becomes very personal for me. I cherish those early memories of awe inspired by the stories that I found in the library. But this change is happening, and regardless of how nostalgic we are about those long afternoons spent at the local library, there are positive aspects to the digital reading revolution. Kids may be more willing to read, because their ‘books’ have become more engaging and hold their attention for longer periods of time. My mother wouldn’t have had to spend hours driving to the next town because her daughter had read all the picture books in the local library; there are an infinite number of books available online. Kids may read even more, because they have instant access to their stories through their devices. And libraries can still be wonderful places to escape to with your stories, providing a quiet, comfortable environment for kids to work, read, study, or meet friends. Too many people today have knee jerk reactions: library=good, technology=bad. Things are never that simple. If you take time to explore that infinite range of gray between the black and white, you just might just find that perfect medium.


READ PART 1

In My Mailbox #121

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

For Review: from Amazon Vine

The Butterfly Clues - Kate Ellison

Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place--possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home. But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"--a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind. As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined--a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.

Bought: for Kindle app on my phone

Cold Kiss - Amy Garvey (only $1.99 here)

It was a beautiful, warm summer day, the day Danny died. Suddenly Wren was alone and shattered. In a heartbroken fury, armed with dark incantations and a secret power, Wren decides that what she wants--what she "must" do--is to bring Danny back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy Wren fell in love with. His touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it. Wren must keep Danny a secret, hiding him away, visiting him at night, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school, and Wren realizes that somehow, inexplicably, he can sense the powers that lie within her--and that he knows what she has done. And now Gabriel wants to help make things right. But Wren alone has to undo what she has wrought--even if it means breaking her heart all over again. 

Exiled - RaShelle Workman (only 99¢ here)

Worlds divided them. Chance brought them together. Only love will save them. An alien princess exiled to Earth. An arrogant boy. One week to get back to her planet or she'll die. And, her only chance for survival? She must help the boy find his soul mate. Piece of cake! Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become immortal, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family. Now she wants revenge. First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate. Only she doesn't know the first thing about love. Rather quickly, her inexperience with human emotion is obscured by other matters--alien-controlled psychotic teens that are out to kill her, and a government group that is set on capturing and dissecting her. Worst of all, Venus will suffer a painful death-by-poisoning, thanks to Earth’s atmosphere, if she remains on the planet longer than one week. Still, Venus is a Princess and she's got a plan. Surely, with her help, Michael will fall in love with a human. But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl--her.


So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

In My Mailbox #115

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

Gift from Big Honcho Media

The people over at BHM sent me a Starbucks giftcard which is super sweet. Thanks!

For Review from Ksenia and Zoe, Thanks!

Struck - Jennifer Bosworth
Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her. 
Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come. 
Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.

Of Poseidon - Anna Banks
Emma and her friend Chloe are spending vacation in Florida. When Emma (literally) runs into a hot guy named Galen on the beach, little does she know he’s a prince of the Syrena. Galen and Emma both feel something strange – is it attraction? – and Galen suspects that Emma might well be the girl he’s heard of – a human who can communicate with fish. 
What follows is a deadly scene with a shark in which Galen witnesses Emma’s gifts. He must know more about her, and follows her back to New Jersey, and high school, to find out for sure if she’s the key to saving his kingdom. Soon, Emma can’t deny her feelings for him, but can’t explain them, either – and both she and Galen must learn more about where she comes from and what her powers are before they can trust one another and their feelings.

Monstrous Beauty - Elizabeth Fama
Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences. Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father - Jessica Brody
If she wants to receive her beloved trust fund, every week for the next year, seventeen-year-old Lexi Larrabee must take on a different low-income job. All 52 jobs have been carefully pre-selected by her father himself. 
What Lexi doesn’t know is that each job was at one point held by one of world’s most influential people. The goal is to teach his daughter a few lessons about life, compassion, work ethic, and the value of a hard-earned dollar. If each of these jobs eventually led to wealth and success, at least one of them has to work for Lexi. 
Left with no other choice, Lexi grudgingly sets off on her quest, each week being comically presented with a highly undesirable job. All of them are designed to turn Lexi into an entirely different person.

Monument 14 - Emmy Laybourne
 Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong. 
A huge store isn’t the worst place to be stranded. There’s food and water, bedding and books. But what if it’s not safe to leave? Emmy Laybourne had us from the get-go with her utterly fresh and fast-paced debut.  Six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids are trapped together in a chain superstore. Together they build a refuge for themselves inside, while outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapon spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

To Catch a Mermaid - Suzanne Selfors
Boom Broom doesn't think his life could get any worse. Ever since his mother was swept away by a twister, his family has gone crazy. They refuse to leave the house and Halvor, the Viking descendant who rents the room over their garage, will only cook fish for Boom and his sister Mertyle to eat.When Boom finds a baby mermaid who seems to grant unlimited wishes, he thinks his luck has turned around. That is, until his sister is hit by the curse of the merfolk and starts to turn green. Now Boom and his best friend Winger must find a way to return the foul-tempered merbaby to its mother and save Mertyle before it is too late.

Bought for Amazon Kindle App

The First Time - Various Authors

Borrowing Abby Grace: Girl Steals Guy - Kelly Green (my review of book one)

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?