Author: Candace Bushnell
Pages: 389 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10
The Carrie Diaries is the coming-of-age story of one of the most iconic characters of our generation.
Before Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small-town girl who knew she wanted more. She's ready for the real to start, but first she must navigate her senior year of high school. Up until now, Carrie and her friends have been inseparable. Then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture, and a friend's betrayal makes her question everything.
With an unforgettable cast of characters, The Carrie Diaries is the story of how a regular girl learns to think for herself and evolves into a sharp, insightful writer. Through adventures both audacious and poignant, we'll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where her new life begins.
This novel is about Carrie Bradshaw, a young girl who dreams of becoming an author and living in New York City. Carrie is a senior in high school, and has to survive that, her family issues, and the betrayal of friends before she can follow her dreams. Like real life, everyone has obsticles, you just have to find your way around them, and that's exactly what Carrie does.
Carrie has to survive one more year of high school before she can leave her small town. Surviving it wouldn't be hard, that is, if Sebastian Kydd hadn't showed up and stole her heart- and her friend. Through heartbreak and the loss of a friend, Carrie turns to her writing to get her feelings out, which will get her to the city of her dreams- New York City.
This novel was truly amazing. I completely adored it and will never forget any of it. The characters had very strong personalities and stole my heart (just like Sebastian did to Carrie!). I would definitely read it again (i'm getting the sequel to it, Summer and the City because I'm just dying to read it!). I would recommend this novel to anybody looking for a great summer novel or a "chick-flick" novel. I gave this novel a 10 out of 10 because I read it quite quickly and I really, really enjoyed it!
Author: Siobhan Vivian
Pages: 332 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10
Prettiest.
Ugliest.
It happens every year before homecoming- the list is posted all over the school. Two girls are picked from each grade. One is name the prettiest, one the ugliest. The girls who aren't picked are quickly forgotten. The girls who are become the center of attention. Each one has a different reaction to the experience.
Abby's joy at being named the prettiest is clouded by her sister's resentment.
Danielle worries about how her boyfriend will take the news.
Lauren is a home-schooled girl blindsided by her instant popularity.
Candace isn't ugly, not even close, so it must be a mistake.
Bridget knows her summer transformation isn't something to celebrate.
Sarah has always rebelled against traditional standards of beauty,and she decides to take her mutiny to the next level.
And Margo and Jennifer, ex-best friends who haven't spoken in years, are forced to confront why their relationship ended.
With The List, Siobhan Vivian deftly takes you into the lives of eight very different girls struggling with issues of identity, self-esteem, and the judgments of their peers. Prettiest or ugliest, once you're on the list, you'll never be the same.
This novel spoke many truths about today's world. Many girls go through the pressure everyday of having the feeling that they have to be absolutely perfect just to fit in. The List demonstrated that completely- taking you into the world of eight girls who were put on a list, labeling them either "prettiest" or "ugliest". Throughout the novel, you really got into the girl's minds and felt what it was like to have all of that attention and pressure on you.
Eight girls- Abby, Danielle, Lauren, Candace, Bridget, Sarah, Jennifer, and Margo walk into school on the Monday before their homecoming dance and find out that they are on the list, which makes them the center of attention. In this novel, you will follow these girls through one of the toughest weeks of their lives. With their entire school waiting for a show, the girls have to put on their poker faces and tough it out for the longest five days they will ever go through (That goes for the ugliest and the prettiest).
I would definitely recommend this novel to everybody, because it really reminds you of how much some people have to go through everyday. It's hard to explain this novel, and it's even harder to explain how much I loved it. The ending doesn't completely give conclusion to everything, so you are left asking a ton of questions (but I really liked that). I gave it a ten out of ten because I could not put it down- I just couldn't! I could really relate to this novel- every person probably could if they read the novel and thought about it! This is one of my absolute favorite books of all time (although I practically say that about every novel, this is definitely a favorite!).
Just remember: Everyone is beautiful, no matter what others say!
I was in the mood to do another tag. I will probably end up doing these randomly throughout the year. It's really hard to find a great tag that I can answer all the questions, and this is the best one I could find as of today. It is really short and sweet, so hopefully it doesn't take too much of your time to read it. Some of the questions on this tag are the same as the ones on the last tag I did, but my answers have changed since then. If you would like to see the previous tag I did, click here.
I found this tag here:
http://www.elleandblair.com/forum/thread/book-tags
Here's the tag!
1. How do you organize your bookshelf?
I organize my bookshelf alphabetically by the author's last name.
2. What advice would you give to other book reviewers?
Don't slack- stay on top of your reading and don't forget to update your blog regularly so that whoever is viewing your blog doesn't get bored.
3. What are your favorite books?
I love all books! But usually my favorite book is whatever book i'm currently reading (so right now it is The List by Siobhan Vivian).
4. Where do you like to read?
In my bed. It is just so comfortable!
5. What's your favorite book cover?
My favorite book cover is The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell. It is so adorable and it looks like an actual diary!
6. Which vlogger would you most like to meet?
I have no idea what this question means... so I'm just not going to answer it.
Author: John Boyne
Pages: 216 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10
If you start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.
Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter one.
Bruno is a nine-year-old boy who lives in Berlin, Germany with his father, his mother, and his twelve-year-old sister, Gretel. Recently, the Fury has come over to dinner and Bruno's father is supposed to be addressed as "Commandant" from now on. A few days later, Bruno finds their maid packing up his belongings.
Bruno moves to Out-With, and he is as lonely as ever. From his room, he can see a fence and people in striped pajamas inside of it. One day Bruno decided to go exploring. He walked along the fence and suddenly a figure came into sight- a boy named Shmuel who lives inside the fence. The two boys spend their afternoons talking to eachother through the fence, sharing their lives with eachother and becoming best friends.
This novel is nothing like anything I've ever read before. I loved how the author could put a picture in your head. Another thing I loved was that the author didn't have to do much explaining because you obviously knew what happened even though the author didn't tell you. I also liked how I got such anger towards certain characters (like Lieutenant Kotler: I hated him so much! And then liked Shmuel: I wanted to give him a great big hug and tell him everything was okay.) This novel definitely give you a lot of anger and emotion- the Holocaust is a really hard topic talk about and to not get upset about. I would recommend this novel to somebody mature enough to handle the Holocaust- probably somebody twelve years old and up. This is a novel that I think everybody should read once their old enough to read it! I gave it a ten out of ten because Bruno and Shmuel's friendship was so touching and I loved everything about this novel- even the anger that came with it.
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Pages: 383 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10
Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder.
Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tradgedy, this astonishing novel weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, real, and wholly original.
After Mattie's mom passed away from cancer, Mattie had to take on her mother's duties. But soon after when her older brother, Lawton, ran away, she had to take on his chores, too. Taking care of all her younger sisters and helping her father run the farm, Mattie's dreams of going to college and writing a novel are slowly fading. Mattie's teacher, Miss Wilcox, knows that Mattie and her friend Weaver can get into college easily. But even with a scholarship, Mattie would have to pay for her boarding, books, and the train ticket to college. Her family's money is scarce, so Mattie starts working at the Glenmore to earn money for her family and for college. While at the Glenmore, Mattie learns the gruesome truth about a murder of one of the guests, Grace Brown.
Based around the actual murder of Grace Brown (yes, she was real), this novel frequently goes into the future (flashbacks only into the future.. I wonder what those are called), but eventually the future and the present catch up with eachother towards the end of the novel.
I rated this a ten out of ten because I really enjoyed this novel. The plot was so amazing, I couldn't put the book down! I love historical fiction novels, so this was definitely a favorite of mine. I liked that the murder part was real- it made the novel come to life a little more. I would recommend this to anybody who likes historical fiction novels. I wouldn't recommend it to everybody, though, because one of my friends read it back in November and he disliked it a lot. So if you do end up reading it, I don't promise you'll love it. I know I will be reading this novel again in the future.
Author: Sara Zarr
Pages: 217 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10
As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy into the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reasons to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI, and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small home town goes missing, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam's personal one, and the already worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel.
This novel was about Sam, the daughter of a pastor. Her mother has just gone to rehab after having an accident. Sam's father now seems more interested in his work than he is with his family. When a well loved girl in their small community goes missing, her father seems to slip away from her more and more, and the community goes with him. With her father nearly always at church and summer coming to an end, Sam isn't sure her town will ever go back to normal.
Honestly, I loved this novel. I think the cover is absolutely adorable and the story was fantastic! It made me realize that there are children disappearing like the girl did (I'm not going to say her name because that would give it away!) everyday. Families and communities have to suffer like Sam's community did. This novel really makes you think about that. You'll be shocked at the outcome of this novel- my predictions were way off.
I would recommend this novel to anybody who loves young adult novels. This was one of the best young adult novels I have ever read in my lifetime! I rated this novel a ten out of ten (and I don't think I need to explain why because I obviously loved it!). I will definitely read this again in the future.
Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Pages: 169 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10
Orphaned fifteen-year-old Judith Sparrow brings two secrets to her uncle's house in South Carolina: one, that her grief-stricken mother died in a madhouse, the other that she has disobeyed the only condition to living in her uncle's home- nothing green is allowed in the house.
Judith can't bear to part with the photograph of her mother in it's lovely green silk frame. Surely this one small defiance will not jeopardize the happiness she finds in South Carolina- with a family at last, and new friends, especially Zeke Carey, the miller's son.
But Uncle Geoffrey's house holds a secret of its own. And Judith's small picture frame, hidden away at the bottom of her trunk, unleashes a powerful force that seems determined to bring that secret into the open. Or is Judith simply following her mother down the path towards madness?
Judith Sparrow's father died while she was young, and her mother recently past away in a mad house. With only one of her relatives willing to take her in, Judith moves down to South Carolina to live with her uncle and her cousin. She is told there is only one condition for living in their home: she may not bring anything green into the house. Judith's mother gave her a picture of her in a green silk frame as a gift and she cannot bear to part with it, so she disobeys her uncle and secretly brings the frame with her, hiding it in the bottom of her trunk.
All is going well for Judith. She has a job, new friends, and a family. She couldn't be any happier. But then Judith finds out the secret of her new home: Jade Green, a girl that lived in the home three years before, had committed suicide in the house. Judith starts hearing things and seeing things, and cannot tell anybody because she believes it is the green silk frame that is causing the ghost of Jade Green to awaken, and if anybody finds out she disobeyed her uncle's ordered, she might be thrown out of her only home.
I gave this novel a ten out of ten because it was completely amazing. I usually don't read ghost stories because I don't handle scary/horror stuff very well, but I have been trying to talk myself into reading this novel for two years, and I'm glad I read it. It was a quick read that I absolutely enjoyed. Every time something happened that scared Judith, I found myself holding my breath or gasping. I actually threw the book down one time because I was so terrified! The ending was confusing at first, but if you actually think about it for a minute, it makes a lot of sense. I would recommend this novel to anybody looking for a scary-ish young adult novel.
