I need this movie to come out NOW. Theo James as Four is perfect.
http://movies.yahoo.com/video/divergent-exclusive-first-clip-012029180.html?soc_src=copyp
Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
This book made me want to go back to college. Not like now, as an adult, adding college classes to the insane list of everything else I already do, but like be 17 and about to start college for the first time again. (No, I’m not saying I’d wish away my family or anything crazy like that. Calm down.)
Roomies does a great job of capturing two girls’ emotions as they transition from high school at home to living on the campus of UC Berkley. Elizabeth (known as EB) is an East Coast only child living with her single mom of questionable morals. Lauren is a native San Franciscan living with her parents and seemingly dozens of siblings as one big happy family. When they find out they’re going to be roommates, EB starts off an e-mail chain of correspondence spanning the remainder of their summer as they wrestle through the important things leading up to college:
- Who brings what stuff?
- What happens to my high school friendships?
- Long distance romances… yes or no?
- How can I leave my family?
- How can I NOT leave my family?
- Am I really ready to grow up?
- Will we get along and be able to live with each other?
- Can even I do this?
On top of all of that, which was fun to watch as EB and Lauren grew up over the course of the summer and developed a great foundation of a relationship to start their college experiences off with, the story is told in alternating points of view, which I love. I’m a sucker for a well written story with multiple points of view. I find it fascinating. And in this case, with Zarr and Altebrando both writing (I assume they each wrote one of the girls), they really FELT like two completely different people instead of one person writing two characters. It was cool.
I’d recommend this for girls in high school, probably tenth grade and up, and for college/adult women as well. There’s a lot here to make you reflect on your own college experience. It made me wonder how my college years could have been different if I’d had a chance to get to know a roommate before moving in. Or what I would have done differently that summer before college knowing how those high school relationships would fade away so quickly once I moved across the country.
Anyway, I really enjoyed these two characters and seeing how their final summers at home played out. I’d also really like to see a follow-up of their first year in college or something. While the story ended well and I felt satisfied that it was sufficiently finished, I also wanted to know more about them.
Make sure you check it out! Roomies releases on December 24 and can be ordered here on Amazon.
Friday Favorite: #SherlockLives!
I’m such a fan of this Sherlock series! Great acting, great writing, great all over. Now, I haven’t gotten to level of fandom where I change my twitter name to include the main actor’s and embrace true Benedict Cumberbatch fangirlishness, but you know. It’s just about THAT good.
What fascinates me the most about this is just the simple fact that Sherlock is a 19th century character that’s still one of the most relevant and influential characters in the literary and pop culture worlds. I can’t even imagine what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have to say about Sherlock today. What would it feel like to create a character so lasting? It’s amazing.
And really, for real, I can’t wait for January 1st at 9:00. #SherlockLives!
Ten Books That Had An Impact…
I got tagged in a bookish thing on Facebook. You know I can’t resist THAT! But then my response turned into far more than just a status update (my bad) so I’m putting it here, too.
So, here’s a list of ten books that have stayed with me in some way and had an impact on me, including a short description of the affect they had. If you’re looking for a new book to read over the holidays, check this out.
– Where The Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak. – Hands down my favorite book ever; my kids can nearly quote it. I love it for it’s literal meaning, and for the figurative meanings my English degree has allowed me to squeeze from it. Also, I feel like, as a teacher of middle schoolers, I AM A TAMER OF WILD THINGS.
– The Giver, Lois Lowry. – I don’t even know where to start with this one because I love it so much. This classic dystopian is the basis by which I judge all other dystopian novels, and Jonas is probably my favorite character in a book ever.
– The Fault In Our Stars, John Green. – It’s an instant classic. I laughed, I cried, and I still have a giant book crush on Augustus Waters. It’s a really beautiful story that should be read by teens and adults alike.
– Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, Jordan Sonnenblick. – Somehow I discovered this and instantly started making my 7th graders read it. Barnes and Noble now carries Jordan Sonnenblick’s books because I bullied them into it. Seriously. The characters and the story are unforgettable.
– Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller. – This book shaped my views on my faith more than any other (except for the Bible, obviously, so calm down). The confession booth scene in this, along with the raw, honest language used to explore what it means to be a Christian, have made me a better thinker and a more intentional and purposeful human being. I also got to meet Donald Miller and it was super cool.
– The Truth About Forever, Sarah Dessen. – I’m using this title, probably my favorite of Dessen’s, to represent the whole Dessen-esque genre of teen fiction books that are popular right now, including Jennifer Echols, Stephanie Perkins, Susane Colasanti, and more. They’ve had a big impact on me and my writing.
– The Dollhouse Murders, Betty Wren Wright. – The first book I remember actually WANTING to read on my own, and it was super freaky. Really, really freaky. From here, I moved onto Christopher Pike and RL Stine and the Sweet Valley Twins and the Babysitter’s Club, all of which are probably responsible for my current ridiculous reading habit.
– The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton. – I actually didn’t read this until a few years ago, and I was surprised how much I liked it… and how much every single one of my students like it each year. It’s timeless; it has truly found a way to “stay gold.” Also, S.E. Hinton tweeted me last spring, which I’m still sort of fangirling over.
– Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison. – This is the beginning of a ten book series about a group of British teenage girls and their endless quest for boys to kiss. AND THEY ARE SO FUNNY. I’ve laughed to the point of snorts and tears while reading these again and again. They’re also surprisingly tame and appropriate – totally ok for teens to read even though the titles sound all crazy sexual.
– How to Save A Life, Sara Zarr. – A really, really beautiful book that alternates between the story of a family adopting a baby and the story of a pregnant teenage girl about to give her baby up for adoption. It’s so very worth reading, and for very personal reasons touched me deeply.
You should most definitely read all the books.
Drawn by Cecilia Gray
Though most people who know me would probably never suspect me of it, I’m kind of fascinated my graffiti and the whole subculture around it. So, that combined along with the fact that I’ve become a pretty solid fan of Cecilia Gray’s YA work means that I enjoyed Drawn. A lot.
In this title, Sasha is riddled with a unique ability: her voice prompts people to say what they’re actually thinking rather than what they want to say. It seems like that could be fun… but then I think about all the things I think but don’t say out loud, and it’s scary instead. Sasha spends her childhood in and out of foster homes as a result of the chaos this causes in people’s lives, until she’s assigned to work with an FBI agent who takes her in at the age of twelve.
It’s easy to see how Sasha’s human lie detector abilities would be of interest to the FBI, and after successfully working with them for a few years and living with Agent Chelsea Tanner (the closest thing she’s ever had to a mom), Sasha is recruited by the CIA to work with an agent in Brussels. It’s exciting to read – Cecilia’s descriptions and choices of settings for events had me googling images of the city. She made it come alive.
I also really enjoyed the relationships Sasha made in Brussels. She finally finds a good friends, the first one she’s ever really had, in Vivi, and the only chance at romance she’s ever had comes with Sebastian. I was intrigued by the graffiti culture and loved reading the scenes involving the planning and carrying out of each graffiti hit.
The only thing I really wish is that the story had continued more, or that there was a follow up ready to read right now. This felt like the beginning of Sasha’s story; I could easily see a series being centered around her, and I’d hope to see Vivi and Sebastian play main roles in future books!
Find here on Amazon!
A great New Adult resource!
So I like New Adult. A lot. I think about college and how many HUGE life decisions you make during those four years, and I’m really a fan of any books specifically targeted to that age group to help college aged people (and those of us permanently stuck there mentally – I’m still hemming and hawing about a Master’s degree) through all of that stuff.
What I’m not a fan of, though, is the New Adult books that make it seem like college is all about running around sleeping with as many people as possible. That’s gross. It IS possible to successfully make it through college without being skanky.
I saw this link posted in twitter and Facebook, so I had to check it out. I like several of these titles, some of which you can find review for in the archives of this blog. So go check it out! Find some new NA reads that are not all about sex. :)
Elf on a Shelf!
I avoided this book for a long time, not because I didn’t think it was a great idea, but because I didn’t want to read it to my kids and feel obligated to do something with the elf every night. I kept seeing all these pictures all over Facebook of crazy things people did to their family elves – dressing them up, staging tea parties, toilet papering Christmas trees – it was endless.
So last year after Christmas, I picked up an Elf on the Shelf kit for 50% off. When we pulled out our Christmas stuff this year, we found it, read it, named our elf Jingle Jack, and we’ve been having a blast ever since.
Now, my son is almost 8, and he’s been hesitant to believe Santa is real for the last year or two. However, he’s all about believing that Jingle Jack actually goes to the North Pole to report to Santa every night. He even caught me in the act of staging this “bubble bath” and just laughed, completely oblivious to the fact that I had been putting the finishing touches on the scene as he walked into the room.
The thing is, it doesn’t take too long to set up a scene. Even the bubble bath one took less than five minutes, and most of that time was just gathering the stuff from my daughter’s random doll junk. Toilet papering the Christmas tree? Thirty seconds. And it’s FUN.
So even if you’re not a parent with children, GO GET AN ELF ON THE SHELF. Rotate nights with your family members or dorm mates or whatever and have fun with it. It’s a great way to get into the holiday spirit, and it’s really neat to watch people react to what you’ve done.
Merry Christmas, and ENJOY this!
“Human reason c…
“Human reason can excuse any evil; that is why it’s so important that we don’t rely on it.”
― Veronica Roth, Divergent
Switched by Cassie Mae ~ Blog Hop and Giveaway!
At this point, I’m pretty sure I’ve read everything Cassie Mae has published. And I’ll continue to read everything she publishes.
In Switched, we start with a complicated love square comprised of Kayla, the protagonist, her best friend, Reagan, Reagan’s boyfriend, Talon, and Talon’s best friend, Wesley. So Reagan and Talon are dating and have been for a year. But Kayla is in love with Talon, and Wesley is in love with Reagan. It’s a mess.
As Kayla and Wesley team up to get Reagan and Talon to break up and date them instead (which, let’s be honest, is a reprehensible thing to do to your best friends and begs the question, is all REALLY fair in love and war?) they get closer and closer and feelings start to get confused as to who really loves who (or whom – whatever).
So I spent a fair chunk of this book really frustrated with Kayla for wanting a guy that belonged to her best friend, with Reagan for seeming like an honeslty crappy best friend, and with Talon for seeming entirely clueless. But then there was Wesley. He’s really a GREAT guy character. Total book crush.
Without giving anything away, I’ll say that Cassie turned my frustration right back around on me and, in a well-orchestrated “switch” that I didn’t see coming at all, redeemed the book and more than made up for the time I spent wanting to strangle everybody but Wesley.
Overall, highly recommended for girls in at least their junior/senior years. Some of the language and sexual content was a little much, but the story behind it is good.
You can find Switched here on Amazon, and if you COMMENT below on this post through midnight (PST) on Sunday, Dec. 8, you’ll be entered to win a FREE DIGITAL COPY of Switched! Yay!
Click here to visit Romance @ Random, and make sure you check out a Rafflecopter giveaway for awesome prize packs!
Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend
If you’re a fan of shows like Pretty Little Liars, then you’ll enjoy Poor Little Dead Girls – it is a really good romantic YA mystery suspense thriller.
In this book, Sadie leaves her home in Portland to attend Keating, an exculsive all-girl boarding school near DC. It’s the home to really important kids of really important, powerful people. Sadie, a West Coast normal kid there on a lacrosse scholarship, struggles with some serious culture shock when she first arrives at Keating. And that’s before she even knows about the existence of a secret society with their eyes set on Sadie as their next member.
If doesn’t take long for some strange things to start happening. First, there’s the cloud of mystery surrounding the fact that Sadie’s mom went to Keating and later suffered from mental illness, eventually killing herself. There are hints about a student who went missing the previous school year, but nobody’s willing to talk about it. And when Sadie is taken in the middle of the night, it’s all you can do to not scream at her through the book to just go home to Oregon.
There are some good things going on at Keating, too, that keep her there. One is a quickly made best friend. Another is a super cute new boy, also from the West Coast, who attends the all-boy’s school nearby. As the story goes on at the suspense climbs, these three (and some crazy supporting characters that are really pretty fun) have to depend on each other in life and death situations.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. One thing I noticed is that, while the loose ends are tied up nicely in this book, resulting in a good, satisfying, well-resolved ending, there’s definitely a possibility for more books feathuring these same settings and characters. I hope author Lizzie Friend plans to follow up with more!
Pimples, Popularity, and Protagonists 