Waiting on Wednesday 8/10

Their love was meant to be. 

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRís. 

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.

I think I am really and truly excited about a paranormal romance again! For a while I had OD-ed on fate, destiny and mysterious dark strangers the protagonist is inexplicably drawn to... but when I read this description I went 'Oooh' so I think the drought is over. There were a couple paranormal romances that I began but couldn't finish, I was so tired of the genre, so maybe I'll go back and give Wings and Die For Me a chance, maybe. It's possible that it is just my love of Ireland overcoming my need for a break from paranormal romances.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, and specifically spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read.

Review: Viola in the Spotlight

Title: Viola in the Spotlight
Author: Adriana Trigiani
Publisher: HarperTeen; (April 5, 2011)
Rating: 5/10
Source: library

Viola is finally where she belongs—back home in Brooklyn, where there are no khakis or sherbet-colored sweaters and people actually think her yellow flats are cool. With two whole months of nothing to do but hang with her two best friends, Andrew and Caitlin, this is going to be the best break ever!

But her BFFAA, Andrew, has started acting weird around her, and a new boyfriend has her friend Caitlin ditching her every chance she gets. When Viola's roommates from Prefect Academy show up for a visit, she starts to wonder—is Brooklyn where she wants to stay? When a tragic event shakes everyone's world, Viola realizes it's not where she belongs that matters—it's who she's with that really counts.

In this heartwarming follow-up to bestselling author Adriana Trigiani's teen debut, Viola in Reel Life, Viola just may be ready to get out from behind her trusty video camera and take the starring role in her own life. 

Follow Friday 8/5

Q. Talk about the book that most changed or influenced your life (was it a book that turned you from an average to avid reader, did it help you deal with a particularly difficult situation, does it bring you comfort every time you read it?). 

Well, talk about a tough question! There are two that spring to mind. First: Alanna by Tamora Pierce. They were the first fantasy books I read that were written for me as a young girl reader, and I will always absolutely love them (and her) for getting me completely addicted to fantasy in a way that my older brothers' swords 'n sorcery books hadn't. The other is Lords and Ladies by Sir Terry Pratchett. I happened to randomly pick this up from a bookstore for a plane ride when I was 13 - thank heavens! I completely adore every single Discworld novel (some more than others, of course) and re-read them for comfort reading. Discworld novels taught me that fantasy could be smart and funny and talk about important things, and that it was sometimes easier to read hard truths with a tasty coating of trolls and witches. When I heard about his Alzheimer's diagnosis I was so sad, but he is still writing away and I can't wait until I have a home library with enough shelving for me to indulge myself and buy every single one of his books.

Waiting on Wednesday: 8/2

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster. 

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though. 

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they’re triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters. 

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful Gorgon maligned in myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Greek mythology, yay! I've been getting my fix with Percy Jackson and crew, but I always welcome another source. Also, reunited triplets, yay! This sounds very intriguing, and I can't wait to check it out!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, and specifically spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read.

Tween Tuesday: Blue Balliet

 

Blue Balliett's books are wonderful for tweens, both boys and girls. Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3, and The Calder Game feature tween protagonists who get drawn into mysterious happenings involving famous works of art and architecture. They are amazingly detailed and clever, and will have readers heading to Wikipedia to look up the works of Vermeer, Frank Lloyd Wright and Alexander Calder, which is wonderful. They are full of codes and deductive thinking, and will have readers seeking out mysteries of their own, or at least composing coded notes to their buddies or buying a set of pentaminoes. These books are highly recommended!

Review: Stork

Title: Stork
Author: Wendy Delsol
Publisher: Candlewick (October 12, 2010)
Rating: 8/10
Source: library

Family secrets. Lost memories. And the arrival of an ancient magical ability that will reveal everything.

Sixteen-year-old Katla LeBlanc has just moved from Los Angeles to Minnesota. As if it weren’t enough that her trendy fashion sense draws stares, Katla soon finds out that she’s a Stork, a member of a mysterious order of women tasked with a very unique duty. But Katla’s biggest challenge may be finding her flock at a new school. Between being ignored by Wade, the arrogant jock she stupidly fooled around with, and constantly arguing with gorgeous farm boy and editor-in-chief Jack, Katla is relieved when her assignment as the school paper’s fashion columnist brings with it some much-needed friendship. But as Homecoming approaches, Katla uncovers a shocking secret about her past — a secret that binds her fate to Jack’s in a way neither could have ever anticipated. With a nod to Hans Christian Andersen and inspired by Norse lore, Wendy Delsol’s debut novel introduces a hip and witty heroine who finds herself tail-feathers deep in small-town life.