Beautiful Creatures, by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia

I have been wanting to read Beautiful Creatures for a while now, but it did NOT live up to my expectations. The whole time I was reading, I just couldn't get over thinking that the book seemed wholly unoriginal - on the back cover, it says something to the effect of, "fans of "Twilight" and "True Blood" will love this series," but in my mind it went beyond just similarities. Beautiful Creatures evoked the same mood that the TV series "True Bloods" creates, and there were so many similarities between this novel and Twilight that I found it quite distracting. I felt like I was more focused on my frustration with the never-ending similarities than on the development of the plot.

The novel is about a small town called Gatlin, South Carolina. Things in the town have been exactly the same since about the time of the Civil War, and outsiders are not welcomed. However, the novel opens just as the first "new girl" in forever is joining the sophomore class at the local high school. The new girl, Lena Duchennes, seems eerily different, and the mothers of the town band together to make her life miserable. It doesn't help Lena's case that she lives with her uncle, the town recluse. 

Ethan Wate, a fellow sophomore who's sick of the town is the only one to befriend Lena, and he begins to learn the dark secrets of her family.

There were some things I liked about the book...Ethan and Lena's friendship develops through a series of shared dreams and visions, many of which taken them back in time to the Civil War era. I loved the historical references and thought it was a really unique addition to the plot.

Overall, though, the lack of originality and cumbersome number of pages were too much for me - I would not recommend this book, but I guess I'll have to read the rest of the series before I totally make my mind up. 

Wonder Show, by Hannah Barnaby

 

"Sometimes promises are even harder to kweep than secrets. Promises are easily made - we toss them lik ecoins bound for a fountain and leave them there, under the water, waiting to be retrieved."  (52).

Lies, promises, fantasies, and the blur between reality and fiction is where this tale pits itself. Like any novel centered around the circus, in this case 'Mosco's Traveling Wonder Show,' Wonder Show has a mysterious aura that keeps you guessing and wondering just when tragedy will strike. 

Portia, the child of gypsies, finds herself parentless and living with her harsh Aunt Sophia. Sophia soon decides that she cannot care for Portia, and sends her to McGreavey's Home for Wayward Girls. Run by Mr. McGreavey, the place is vaguely creepy and reminiscent of a work camp. Portia knows that Mr. McGreavy has a secret "file" on her that will tell her where her parents are. But, after enduring his degrading treatment and witnessing a death, even this knowledge is not enough to keep her there - she escapes by night and joins up with the traveling circus, hoping to find her father somewhere along the way.

Once with the circus, Portia becomes a "bally" girl, leading patrons through the tent which houses all the "freaks" of the show - a bearded lady, the world's fattest woman, a family of albinos, the tallest man, the shortest man, etc. Portia learns much about the value of a story and realizes that everyone is searching for something, for fulfillment, just like she is searching for her father. 

Portia's stay can only last so long though, McGreavey sends two private investigators to look for her, and she is taken "home" to McGreavey's. Will this last, or will the Wonder Show family find a way to save her? 

This is author Hannah Barnaby's first novel, and what a great way to start! I loved this book and fell so in love with the characters. She did a really great job of showing the subtle tensions in the life of a circus and between the "normals" and the "freaks". She also made me think a lot about the stories we tell ourselves, and how we're sometimes capable of convincing ourselves that lies are truth. The novel is full of really rich language and beautiful imagery. Despite some mildly questionable content, it's definitely a must-read! 

Drama, Raina Telgemeier

I think that I would go so far as to say that this is my FAVORITE graphic novel I've ever read. Now, I haven't actually read that many graphic novels, but this one was awesome.

It's about a middle school drama club, and their production of Moon Over Mississippi . It follows one particular theater geek, Callie. She's the set designer for the play and is faced with tons of problems. First, she has decided that she just HAS to have a live cannon for the set. Her director tells her no pyrotechnics on stage, but she's determined to find a way. Then there's the fact that the lead female in the play is the girlfriend of the boy that Callie has a (not-so) secret crush on. All of this, compounded by the fact that two new boys, one of whom happens to be homosexual, have joined the production. This could be a touch controversial for some middle school readers, but the presentation of the issue is so casual and not a big deal, that I don't think it would be a problem for most.

I loved the way the author captured the true dynamics of a middle school group, and the inner workings/plottings of a middle school girl's mind.

A couple of things I loved, aside from the plot, were that the book, aside from being a graphic novel, maintained ideas reminiscent of an actual play. It was broken up into 'Acts', rather than chapters, and it had an "Intermission". Additionally, I loved the color scheme of the novel. It stuck to very bold, striking colors, that really added to the overall reading.

Like I said, I LOVED this book, and will now have to try the author's previous novel, Smile.

Nothing But the Truth, Avi

I feel bad admitting this, but this is actually the first book by Avi that I've ever read. I remember trying to struggle through The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle when I was in middle school, but I hated it; I hadn't picked up one of his books since. However, Coach Tucker recommended Nothing But The Truth to me, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised!! The novel is about a boy named Phillip who gets suspended for - you won't believe this - humming along with the National Anthem as it plays each morning. Phillip maintains that he's just exercising his patriotic rights by singing along with the Anthem, but his teacher views it as violation of the rule, which states that students are to "stand in respectful silence," during the song's playing.

Phillip's suspension soon spirals into national news as people lash out against the teacher, blaming her for a decision that was really made by the school's assistant principal.

The book posed a really interesting question about which takes precedence: school rules or national pride? It really had me thinking, and I felt terrible for the teacher - I guess we tend to sympathize with those in similar situations :)

Also, the novel is written in various formats: some pages were memos from the principal, some were transcriptions of phone conversations; there were entries from Phillip's journal, newspaper articles, and even an excerpt from one of his English tests! This made the novel go by really quickly and kept my interest.

Strings Attached, Judy Blundell

I've been reading many boy books lately, and I needed to venture back into the land of the girls. So, I picked up Strings Attached , a book I purchased a while ago from the book fair.

It's about a girl named Kit Corrigan, who's a triplet - one of the "Corrigan Three" - living in Rhode Island in the 1950s. Kit likes to sing and dance, and moves to New York City to become a dancer. While she's there, she becomes entangled with a ruthless mobster, Nate Benedict. At first she doesn't realize he's in the mob; she just knows him as the father of her boyfriend from home. Nate gets her a job, helps her find an apartment, and even buys her nice clothes. But soon enough, she realizes that he's using her - he's asking her to spy on people for him and do other small favors. By the time she realizes, though, it's too late to escape his grasp. He knows too much about her and she knows too much about his business. She has to keep going.

To make things more complicated, her boyfriend (Nate's son, Billy) soon comes to New York. He gets the wrong impression about what's going on between Kit and his father, and doesn't know which of them he can believe.

Kit's world is turned upside down when her role as a mob informer is published in a newspaper, and she has to figure out how to pull herself out of the web she seems to be entangled in.
There is some mature content in this book, but it was definitely a good read - especially for those who like to read about history and crime!

Burn for Burn, by Jenny Han and Siobahn Vivian

Burn for Burn was one of those impulse-buy books that really let me down. Usually I'm good at randomly picking up books that I like, but that was not the case with this one.

Burn for Burn was about classic high school drama, and three girls - Kat, Mary, and Lillia - who vow to get revenge on their sometimes-torturous peers. Kat is harboring hatred for a girl named Rennie, her used-to-be best friend who is now a classic mean girl. Mary has recently returned to public school after being scorned in middle school by the stereotypical jock, Reeve. And Lillia is plotting against her supposed best friend, Alex Lind, who she thinks is dating her little sister, Nadia, behind her back.

This ulikely trio comes together to take down the "popular" crowd and champion the underdog. But, their plan backfires and they eventually find themselves in way over their heads.

The plot of Burn for Burn was relatively predictable, and there was quite a bit of mature content. The characters kind of blended together, and I don't think their personalities were as developed as they could have been. Kat had the strongest voice, but even then, it was odd to me that she was so well-developed while the rest just seemed like stock characters.

Overall, this book was just okay, but I wouldn't really recommend it to middle schoolers due to the sometimes-mature language and content.

Witch and Wizard, James Patterson

I just finished James Patterson's Witch and Wizard, which has been on my "to-read" list for quite some time. I wish I'd read it sooner, but this book was WELL worth the wait.

The main characters in Witch and Wizard are a brother/sister duo named Whit and Wisty. I found this quite difficult to keep track of at first, but it got easier as the novel progressed. Anyway, Whit and Wisty live in a changed world, led by the omnipotent leader "The One Who is The One". "The One" has (as is common in other dystopian novels) outlawed certain books/movies/music/activities, etc. in order to create what is - in his opinion - the ideal society. However, there are witches and wizards getting in the way of his supposed utopia. Whit and Wisty are two of the supernatural, but they don't realize it until they're mysteriously taken from their house one night and thrown in jail. The two manage an escape from the prison, and vow to save their parents, and the world.

Of course, troubles abound, and the pair are never entirely sure who they can and cannot trust - who will betray them.

This novel is so fast-paced (the short chapters really helped with that) that I couldn't put it down. Aside from an amazing, carefully considered plot, there were little details along the way that I just loved. For instance, the novel is divided into "books" or parts, and each book's title is an allusion to another work. Also, the musicians/movies that "The One Who is The One" has banned were all references to real artists. I loved it!

Now I just have to find time to read the rest of the series...