May Flowers...

Just finished Bloomability by Sharon Creech. Creech is an award-winning author of both Children's and Young Adult books, but strangely enough, I had never read any of her books. I found myself really enjoying Bloomability. It tells the story of 13-year old Domenica Santolina Doone (Dinnie), and the year she spends at a boarding school in Switzerland. Dinnie has spent her whole life moving, as her family bounces from one state to the next. Although her family is transient and can be chaotic, she is very close to them and loves being with them. When the book opens, Dinnie is being taken to Switzerland by her Aunt and Uncle, to an International Boarding School where her Uncle will serve as headmaster. Dinnie is very unhappy about this (she insists she is being "kidnapped") and resistant to the idea, but eventually she learns to give Switzerland a chance and appreciate her surroundings. It was fun going on this journey with Dinnie, as she learns more about herself, her family and the world around her. There are some great secondary characters in this book, I especially enjoyed Guthrie and Keisuke. I would recommend this book for middle-school readers, or anyone who is interested in travel or world cultures. It definitely made me want to go to Switzerland!

 

AreYOU ready for Prom?

Prom! Oh, the anticipation and memories that one word captures. There are so may books written about Prom (check out our display in the YA Room) and I just finished a great one. It was the cleverly written 24 Girls in 7 Days by Alex Bradley. What's a guy to do when there's only a week to prom and he has no date in sight? Well, if you have the kind of friends that Jack Grammar has, you don't have to do much. Except date 24 girls in 7 days, after they run an on-line add that makes Jack the hottest ticket in town. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. Although predictable at times, it manages to dig deeper than you would first expect. There are a few twists that kept me reading, and I found myself rooting for Jack. I won't give anything away, but I was pretty happy with the ending. I actually wished that there was a sequel, I found myself wanting to know more about Jack and his friends. So whether you're going to Prom or not, schedule a date with this book! (I know...super cheesy, but I couldn't help myself!!)  

Sweet Valley What??

Apparently, sometimes it's best to let the past stay in the past. When I was younger I loved the Sweet Valley High Series. I'm sure this comes to no surprise to those of you who have read my postings in the past. Sadly, I'm a pretty predictable reader. Well, maybe I've matured (highly unlikely) but my 32-year old self was pretty disappointed in Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later by Francine Pascal. To be fair though, it's been years since I read a Sweet Valley book, and I did polish off this book in about 3-4 hours. As much as it was killing me, I couldn't put it down! What disappointed me the most (besides the writing, painful at times) was the people my Sweet Valley High friends had become. Not pretty. I won't go into too much detail, I don't want to give everything away, but Francine, did you have to make everyone & their lives so horrible? To sum it up...don't read this unless you must.

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