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13 Little Blue Envelopes By: Maureen Johnson – Review


04 Apr

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Rule #1

You may bring only what fits in your backpack. Don’t try to fake it with a purse or carry- on

Rule #2

You may not bring guidebooks, phrase books, or any kind of foreign language aid. And no journals.

Rule #3

You cannot bring extra money or credit/debit cards, traveler’s checks, etc. I’ll take care of all of that.

Rule #4

No electronic crutches. This means no laptop, no cell phone, no music, and no camera. You can’t call home or communicate with people in the U.S. by internet or telephone. Postcards and letters are acceptable and encouraged.

That’s all you need to know for now. See you at 4th and Noodle.

Ginny’s aunt has been gone for two years now. She gets these 13 little blue envelopes each one telling her to do something or go some place. Inside the first envelope is $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson was an amazing book! I know that if I was in Ginny’s place I probably would not be able to wait to open each one of the envelopes at the right time. But I do think it would be cool to go on an adventurer like Ginny did. Having no plan, just letters telling you your every step. This book has it all… It’s funny, sad, and it even has a little romance going on. Ginny is an amazing character that I can relate to a little bit. One of my favorite characters is Keith. Keith is a guy that Ginny meets.  You will have to read the book to find out how and why, but he is my favorite because he is the complete opposite of Ginny but totally right for her!

I can’t wait until I get the sequel The Last Little Blue Envelope! I want to find out what happens with Ginny and Keith and what the last envelope says! :) Keep an eye out for my review of the sequel because I will make sure to post it! :)

Born Wicked By: Jessica Spotswood


01 Mar

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Born Wicked is the latest book in the Teen Lit Rocks book club. It is the first book in The Cahill Witch Chronicles. Cate Cahill is the main character, she has three sisters and they all are witches. Cate lives in the days where witch craft is a sin and illegal which could easily get you put away if people found out. Cate’s mother was a witch and her father never knew about it. Before her mother died she made Cate promise to keep her sisters safe. But it is getting harder to keep that promise when she soon has to chose between marriage or the Sisterhood.

When Cate’s old school friend Paul comes back from New London he comes with a question that she doesn’t know how to answer. Cate soon finds herself in a complicated love triangle. Paul is in love with her and Finn Belastra is in love with her but who does she love? Who does she chose? Cate faces even bigger problems than love when she finds her mothers diary and uncovers secrets that could be life threatening.

Enhanced by ZemantaI give Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood a letter B grade.
Full Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book for review purposes.  All opinions are 100% mine.

Graffiti Moon By: Cath Crowley


07 Feb

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January’s book for Teen Lit Rocks book club was Graffiti Moon by: Cath Crowley. I really enjoyed the book is definitely one of my favorites out of the books that we have read so far in the book club. One thing that I really like about the book is that you get to read it thru the eyes of two characters instead of just one. The two main characters are Lucy and ED. Lucy has just finished Senior year and for a night to celebrate she is going to spend it looking for Shadow, a graffiti artist, who’s work she is very familiar with.

ED is Shadow and only a few people know it. ED is also the person who’s nose Lucy broke on their first and last date. So you could say that they don’t really like each other too much. I like that you find out that ED is Shadow right off the bat, because then you get to know how Shadow felt and thought when he painted some of the graffiti that they look at. Some times in the book I wanted to jump into the story and yell at Lucy saying  “Open your eyes! ED is Shadow!” or yell at ED and say “You idiot, tell her that you are Shadow! It’s the right thing to do.”

I am kinda glad that Shadow didn’t end up being the person Lucy imagined in her mind. I’m glad it was ED, he may be a High School drop out and not the sharpest pencil in the box but he is a good guy. For the letter grade I definitely rate it a big fat A!

The Probability of Miracles – By: Wendy Wunder


06 Jan

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The Probability of Miracles was the December book of the month for my blogger book club Teen Lit Rocks. The book was really, really good. The main character is Cam short for Campbell. Cam is sick with cancer and it looks like life is coming to a end for her. She has excepted that and is refusing any more experimental treatments. Her mom on the other hand is not ready to give up or say goodbye. Her mom’s friend tells her about a town 1,500 miles away called Promise, Maine that is know for miraculous events. Her mom is determined that if they go there Cam will get better and will not be sick any more. Even though Cam does not want to go and she thinks it’s a load of crap that she will get better because of this town, her mom is determined.

When they first get to Maine Cam hates it. She sees no reason in being there, but she soon meets, Asher, a boy who has lived in Promise his whole life. Is Cam falling for him? You just have to find out.

The Probability of Miracles is a great story but it will make you cry. I know I cried a lot reading the book. I don’t want to give away too much of the book so go out and get it to read! For the letter grade, I grade it a B.

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Blood Wounds By: Susan Beth Pfeffer


03 Nov

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Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer is the second book of the Blogger Book Club, Teen Lit Rocks. The main character is Willa, whom is a normal girl with a semi-normal family. I will admit I did not like this book as much as last month’s pick. It seemed like the big wow factor of the book happened in the first couple of chapters and then the story went kind of slow.  Once I focused and continued reading I did enjoy the book. It was very intense and sad.

It was a normal day when Willa gets home from school and finds that the answering machine for her home phone has three voice mails for her mom from her mother’s best friend, which seem strange with the sound of her friend’s voice panicky.  This is when Willa finds out that her real father which her mother left when she was little remarried and had three kids.  The worst part was that her father had murdered his wife and two of his daughters, and was on his way to find Willa with his other little one. Therefore Willa and her mother have to go into hiding until her father is found.

Willa and her mother stay at a hotel until her father shows up at their house and a cop is forced to shoot him. Willa’s father ends up dying and the police find Willa’s little sister murdered in his car.

Willa feels bad that she never knew her sisters and convinces her mother to let her go stay with her mother’s friend so she can go to the three little girls’ funeral. This is where the story really takes off. You are going to have to read the book to find out what all happens…

For the letter grade I give it a C+

Full Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.

What’s on your reading list right now?

Under the Mesquite By: Guadalupe Garcia McCall


07 Oct

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I recently joined a blogger book club called Teen Lit Rocks. The book club is just starting out so Under the Mesquite was our first book.  The book was amazing.  I loved it so much. The main character is Lupita, she is the oldest of eight children in a Mexican/American family. She is in high school and is taking on a path of acting. She will soon find out that when nothing is going right you can get lost in acting or writing.

When Lupita’s Mami (Mother) is diagnosed with cancer her whole world is changed. She must take charge of the family while her mother gets better. After Mami has an operation to remove the cancer she must under go chemo.

Even though she seems to be getting better after a year of chemo the cancer came back, but this time it is even worse. Papi decides that Mami must go to a special clinic in Galveston to get treatment which means that Lupita will be running the house all by herself. Even though it is hard running the household and seven kids, Lupita manages for the three months Mami is away.

I don’t want to give the ending away so you are going to have to read the book to find out what happens.

This book is not a fairytale as you can see but it really touched my heart, I even cried in some parts of it. Under the Mesquite has definitely made it to my top 5 favorite books.

For the letter grade, I grade the book a B+.

Full Disclosure: Thank you to Lee & Low Books for providing me with the early copy of this book to conduct my review.

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