Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Just Listen--Sarah Dessen

Title: Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen
Pages: 371 p
Publisher: Viking
ISBN: 0670061050

Annabel is a 17 year old girl with a lot of secrets. She doesn't see them as secrets, she just doesn't want to risk telling the truth and hurting someone's feelings. So she tells little white lies to make people feel better and supresses her own feelings. Until she meets Owen. Owen is brutally honest--because he has to be. If he's not honest he has anger problems and winds up punching people in the face. Being honest allows him to control his anger. They strike up a friendship and eventually a romance and help each other be better people.

I'm really not doing the plot any justice with that summary, but I'm somewhat tired and sick and groggy. I love Sarah Dessen, I always have. This one is no exception. It felt somewhat different from her previous stories-in a good way. I was dismayed at all the tiny editing problems--little words that were missing like "a" or "to"--but that's the editor's fault not really the author's. I devoured the book in 2 days and am ashamed to admit that I ignored my son during snack time so I could read it and wound up with crackers on the floor. But I just couldn't stop reading. Like the other Dessen books there's more than just a romance, there are family issues and friendship issues as well.

I'd recommend it to Dessen fans as well as junior and senior high girls. I think it might be a bit much for middle school kids.

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Reading:
On My Nightstand:

The Book of Night with Moon--Diane Duane

Title: The Book of Night with Moon
Author: Diane Duane
Pages: 390 p
Publisher: Warner Books
ISBN: 0446673021

This book is set in the same universe at Duane's Young Wizards series, but is about cat wizards instead of the human Nita and Kit. Nita and Kit do make a brief appearance, as well as the senior wizard Carl, but other than that it's all cat. It took me quite a while to get into the story. Cats are responsible for maintaining the transport gates at Penn and Grand Central Station that wizards use to make transits without having to use their own energy on transit spells. Something goes horrible wrong with one of the gates and the cats in charge have to go to the downside--the reality that our reality is based on--to see what the problem is. While there they run into even bigger problems. Once the story got going I was more interested in reading it and wound up finishing it quickly. I'm not much of a cat person, but I enjoyed reading their views on the inferior species--humans. I was surprised at how many references to cat balls there were, but they were funny so it was okay.

I don't think it's necessary to read this in order to appreciate the Young Wizards series. It was a good enough read once it got going, but not on par with the other books.

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Reading:
On My Nightstand:

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love--Maryrose Wood

Title: Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love
Author: Maryrose Wood
Pages: 243 p.
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN: 0385732767

Felicia and her best friends Jess and Kat attend a new-age private school in NYC. They don't have traditional classes or homework and are instead supposed to work on special projects and motivate themselves. They call each other Kittens because of a chance encounter with a special kitten tarot card deck that brings them together as friends. Boys are naturally Dawgs.

Felicia is in love with one Dawg in particular but he doesn't seem interested in her. So she comes up with a crazy plan--a science experiment about love--in order to attract his attention.

I loved this book. It was funny, it was smart. I loved the plot. It was silly and captivating and an all-around great read.

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Reading: The Book of Night With Moon--Diane Duane
On My Nightstand: Just Listen--Sarah Dessen

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl--Tanya Lee Stone

Title: A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl
Author: Tanya Lee Stone
Pages: 223 p
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
ISBN: 0385747020

This is a very quick read--a novel in verse about 3 girls who all encounter the same "bad boy". One of the girls decides to warn everyone else by using the library book Forever by Judy Blume, since every teenage girl will read it at some point. She uses the last few blank pages to add her warning. Other girls who have also experienced the heartache associated with this player add their own opinions and comments. Anyone who has had her heart broken by a bad boy and has lived to tell the tale will be drawn to this book. Boys who want to know how NOT to act with girls would also benefit from reading it.

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Reading: The Book of Night with Moon--Diane Duane
On My Nightstand: Just Listen--Sarah Dessen

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