In My Mailbox (41)

Hosted By The Story Siren
*I Apologize for the Annoying Audio*
For Review Easily Amused By Karen McQuestion
For Review (e-galley) How Lucky You Are By Kristyn Kusek-Lewis The Enchanted Truth By Kym Petrie One Pink Line By Dina Silver A Lack of Temperance By Anna Loan -Wisley
Library Princess in Pink By Meg Cabot Princess in Waiting By Meg Cabot Vampire Academy By Richelle Mead Lost In Time By Melissa De La Cruz What Boys Really Want By Pete Hautman Scarlett Fever By Maureen Johnson Sloppy First By Megan McCafferty

Mention in this Review Jen from Makeshift Bookmark

The Big Crunch

Summary:

"A funny, clear-eyed view of the realities of teenage love from National Book Award winner Pete Hautman.June and Wes do not "meet cute." They do not fall in love at first sight. They do not swoon with scorching desire. They do not believe that they are instant soul mates destined to be together forever.This is not that kind of love story.Instead, they just hang around in each other's orbits...until eventually they collide. And even after that happens, they're still not sure where it will go. Especially when June starts to pity-date one of Wes's friends, and Wes makes some choices that he immediately regrets."

Plot: You have this story that is so simple, yet intricate at the same time. It is refreshing.

Characters: June is a girl who is always moving and her family has this motto of Move Forward and Don't Look Back" So June does her best to never make tangible connections and then she meets Wes. Wes is a simple nice boy, who kind of wades his way through in the middle and I think if transformation and feelings for June are my favorite.

Final Thoughts: Honestly, Pete Hautman has become one of my favorite authors. His voice as a writer is great and realistic and I love it. What I like about The Big Crunch summarizes a teenage relationship through a school year, with out being overly romanticized and it ends realistically as well. I strongly recommend this book for people who are looking for a refreshing read. Good to clear your reading palette.

Want Want Want Wednesday (33)

Scarlet By A.C. Gaughen

"Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. 
Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.
It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for."

The Obsidian Blade By Pete Hautman

"The first time his father disappeared, Tucker Feye had just turned thirteen. The Reverend Feye simply climbed on the roof to fix a shingle, let out a scream, and vanished - only to walk up the driveway an hour later, looking older and worn, with a strange girl named Lahlia in tow. In the months that followed, Tucker watched his father grow distant and his once loving mother slide into madness. But then both of his parents disappear. Now in the care of his wild Uncle Kosh, Tucker begins to suspect that the disks of shimmering air he keeps seeing - one right on top of the roof - hold the answer to restoring his family. And when he dares to step into one, he's launched on a time-twisting journey- from a small Midwestern town to a futuristic hospital run by digitally augmented healers, from the death of an ancient prophet to a forest at the end of time. Inevitably, Tucker's actions alter the past and future, changing his world forever."

The Magicians: A Novel By Lev Grossman

" Quentin Coldwater is brillant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless. 
Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would.
Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real."

In My Mailbox (35)

Hosted By The Story Siren



For Review
Beautiful Lies By Jessica Warmen (Thank You Bloomsbury and Netgalley)

Library
Queen of Hearts By Martha Brooks
Bloodlines By Richelle Mead
The Big Crunch By Pete Hautman
Breathing Underwater By Alex Flinn
The Lover's Dictionary By David Levithan

Rash

Summary:

""Of course, without people like us Marstens, there wouldn't be anybody to do the manual labor that makes this country run. Without penal workers, who would work the production lines, or pick the melons and peaches, or maintain the streets and parks and public lavatories? Our economy depends on prison labor. Without it everybody would have to work -- whether they wanted to or not."In the late twenty-first century Bo Marsten is unjustly accused of a causing a rash that plagues his entire high school. He loses it, and as a result, he's sentenced to work in the Canadian tundra, at a pizza factory that's surrounded by hungry polar bears. Bo finds prison life to be both boring and dangerous, but it's nothing compared to what happens when he starts playing on the factory's highly illegal football team. In the meantime, Bork, an artificial intelligence that Bo created for a science project, tracks Bo down in prison. Bork has spun out of control and seems to be operating on his own. He offers to get Bo's sentence shortened, but can Bo trust him? And now that Bo has been crushing skulls on the field, will he be able to go back to his old, highly regulated life?Pete Hautman takes a satirical look at an antiseptic future in this darkly comic mystery/adventure."

Plot: Rash has a plot that mocks where our society is heading, with out being too cynical or political. There are many layers to this book, that made me laugh, and also left me in awe with how accurate this future could be.  It is simply put. Genius.

Characters: I find myself liking this book more for the plot and the concept then for the actual characters. They are just pawns, in getting the point across, they do there job and are like-able, but besides that there isn't much to them and I am completely ok with that.

Pros: Great book for for boys, excellently written, and awesome concept.

Cons: None.

Final Thoughts: I saw Pete Hautman last week at The Los Angeles Festival of Books and instantly wanted to read his books. So, I headed to the library and I picked up the first book of his I saw, that book was Rash. I will admit, I wasn't sure about it, but I am SO SO SO glad I picked it up. I personally think, screw 1984, this is what kids in school should be reading. It is written, well enough where students will be entertained and won't miss the point. I also, like that although geared more towards boys (which is awesome for YA) the book is for the most part gender neutral. I highly recommend this book to any reader. It is also a fairly short book.