Catching Fire--Guest Review!

Catching Fire

By Suzanne Collins

Merry Christmas Bookworms!!! It's Gia here and I am extremely pleased to present to you the long-awaited guest review by The Anonymous Pug on Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins! The Anonymous Pug suggested the Hunger Games series to me, and after I had finished reading the first book of the series, I asked her to review the next one for me. All of the credit goes to The Anonymous Pug. Merry Christmas Bookworms,

-Gia

Summary:

Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, has, against all odds, managed to win the Hunger Games, along with her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark, who has loved her since childhood, as the star-crossed lovers from district 12. He was rather angry with her when she told him that she was half-pretending to return his romantic feelings. Katniss has been living in a fancy new house with her family for almost half a year, dreading the upcoming victory tour, which happens 6 months after the Games, where the victor (or in this case, victors) goes around to each of the districts giving speeches and meeting the families who's children they killed. Before she leaves, she is cornered by President Snow, for she has caused him an inconvenience.

At the end of the last Hunger Games, when she and Peeta were the last two in the arena, they refused to kill each other, and they put in their mouths some deadly nightlock berries, so that the Capitol would be forced to let them bot win, then spat them out and were crowned victors. This act, which at first seemed to be out of love and loyalty, has caused plots of uprisings in the districts, as people view this as an act of rebellion, because they did their best not to be a piece in the Capitol's games, and because certain people think that Katniss didn't really love Peeta back, that the "star-crossed lovers bit" was all an act, a strategy to get sponsors.

Snow fearing an uprising, threatens to kill Prim, Katniss's mother, Gale, and his family if Katniss can't convince the citizens of Panem that she is deeply in love with Peeta. Another thing worrying Katniss is the upcoming Hunger Games, where she and Peeta will be mentoring two tributes. Even worse, this year will be the third Quarter Quell, so there will be a change in the rules. The fist one, the people of each district had to hand pick the tributes. The second Quell, twice the number of tributes were sent into the arena. Everyone is wondering anxiously what will happen this time...

But the biggest problem is that Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, has created the spark that will ignite the flame of the rebellion, a fire raging out of her control...

Review:

First of all, HUGE thank you to Gia for letting me do this. It's a really cool opportunity.

This is a truly amazing book, more specifically an amazing sequel, because some of the best books ever had the cruddiest sequels on the planet, then the author's reputation gets ruined,and the books can even go out of print, which is always a shame.

Anyway, the plot gets extremely addictive after a while. The only problem with it was that I couldn't put it down. It is in this book that the war really starts, and people who aren't tributes start dying, which didn't really happen in book 1. Huge character development regarding President Snow, who was only barely introduced in the last book. He now gets the opportunity to show of his cold and cruel husk of a heart.
A lot of new characters appear, many of which will be crucial to book 3. There really isn't much action in part 1, but once the Quell starts, it's FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.

An amazing sequel to "The Hunger Games", and a incredible book overall.

480 pages

Founder of Shakespeare and Company dies

Hello Bookworms,

Please see attached a link from BBC explaining the death of the founder of Shakespeare and Company, George Whitman. As you all probably know from reading the 'Where I Get My Books' page, that I absolutely adore the bookshop. I am very sad to learn about Whitman's death and will always remember how much of a change he made for every English-speaking person in Paris. May he rest in peace.

-Gia

A Brief History of Montmary

A Brief History of Montmary

By Michelle Cooper

Summary:

It is 1936 and Princess Sophie FitzOsborne of Montmaray is living in Montmaray, an island in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, between France and Spain. She lives a crumbling castle with her sister Princess Henry (Henrietta) who insists she is a boy, with her cousin Princess Veronica and Veronica's mad father, King John the Seventh of Montmaray. Sophie isn't exactly the kind of princess that you might imagine her to be. She washes all of the dishes, mends all of the clothes, visits her subjects and helps them live (e.g, make a meal, wash the bed sheets). Although the FitzOsbornes are a royal family, they no longer have any servants, maids or cooks. They survive on their own. Veronica manages their finances along with her Aunt Charlotte (a rich aunt who lives in England). Sophie manages the household, Henry and her dog Carlos go fishing and watch for boats passing by with hope of sending a letter to her brother (and Sophie's) Toby, who is studying in England with Aunt Char'. They just manage to make it in life and Sophie, who has a crush on Simon, one of Toby's friends, is more than happy to be at Montamaray with her beloved cousin and best friend, Veronica.

This sharing of tasks seems alright -- until Germans invade the island. Sophie and Veronica are both extremely worried. They have no defense, or power. Aunt Char' soon invites the girls, along with Henry, to come and stay with her in England so that they can meet ‘suitable men.’ Sophie quickly agrees, wanting to escape from German-controlled Montmaray, but Veronica insists on staying, refusing to leave her beloved Montmaray.

Yet when bombs drop, Veronica is attacked by a German solider with an ax, King John has a stroke, someone is murdered, German spies rip up everything in Veronica's beloved library, Toby comes back and is almost killed. Everything and everyone that Sophie knows is about to change.

Little does Sophie know, there are even worse things on the horizon, waiting for her.

Montmaray and everything that Sophie loves, including Veronica's friendship towards her might be gone forever...

Review:

A Brief History of Montmaray is now officially my favorite book!

I should probably mention that the entire book is written as a journal. But what surprised me most about A Brief History of Montmaray, is that the journal was written SO well, as if it was just the narrator telling us the story. It is unbelievable how well written and described all of the events are. I have read some other journals (that, of course have been made into books) and they now seem very dull compared to this journal. Sophie tells us how everyone looked and seemed at a specific event, and she gives us the answers that we want at the right time in the story. It makes the reader feel more involved with the story.

I love the characters in the story. Henry makes me laugh on end as she is always making unnecessary remarks and observations! Veronica is obsessed with historical facts and she is always spitting them out. I love history and historical books, so Veronica amazes me whenever she talks. King John is someone who makes you think, because he has lost his wife, feels lost in the world and is still in shock from the Great War in which he fought. He makes you think, and reminds you that you are different from other people. And finally, Princess Sophie, our heroine, is the most wonderful character that you could ever read about. She is so full of life, happiness and is brave. Whenever I read about her, I am inspired to become a strong, brave and very intellectual person.

One other bit about the story that made it so interesting is the fact that Montmaray is a made up place. I like that it is made up because we (the readers) don’t already know anything about this place so we can’t judge it based on what we already know about it. We get to read about a new place.  

I especially like the way that the book is written. The author, Michelle Cooper, has a very nice and smooth, that is to say, an easy-to-follow style of writing. It is very enjoyable to read a book that is written as well as this one. 

I look forward to reading more of Cooper's books and hopefully the second Montmaray book (it has just been published)! I hope that it is underneath the Christmas tree, wink, wink!

Recommended to any tween 12-13+

294 pages

P.S.#1 Thanks to Sarah at KidsBooks in Vancouver for recommending this book to me. It was an absolute pleasure to read! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S.#2 Please note that we will be having a guest blogger next week for this year's Tween Bookworm Christmas Surprise! 

The Other Side Of Truth

The Other Side Of Truth

By Beverly Naidoo

Summary:

Sade (Pronounced Sha-day) Solaja and her younger brother Femi live in Lagos, Nigeria with their mama and papa who is an outspoken journalist for the Speak newspaper in Lagos. The Solaja family have a carefree life until the day that mama is shot directly in the heart, right in front of Sade and papa. Papa and his brother Tunde soon know that people are out to kill the Solaja family and that Sade and Femi need to go into hiding, quickly.

Before they know it, Sade and Femi are smuggled under fake identities to England to find their Uncle Dele. But when they arrive in the foreign country, they learn that Uncle Dele has already left the country without giving anyone any notice... Sade and Femi must find their way through the back streets of London, penniless, to safety. They need help, but they must stick with their fake identities, because being discovered as refugees is the last thing that need...

Review:

The Other Side Of Truth is honestly one of the best books of all time. It is a page-turner and a tear-jerker. The story is such a sad one but once you reach the end of the book you realize that it is a very inspiring story. It is a tear-jerker because whenever you feel the tension that Sade does in a difficult situation you start to want to help her, and you start crying because you feel helpless. I love the sense of connection to Sade that this gives me.  Sade is one of the best-described characters that I have ever read about, and I think that she was the perfect character to put into a story like The Other Side of Truth. There are many good moments and many bad moments in this book, and Sade is the perfect, patient, smart, adventurous character for the story.

It is a very emotional book which is good from my point of view, because when you have an emotional story it makes people feel more attached to the book. It makes the reader think that they are in the story and that the feel connection with the emotional bits of the story.

In The Other Side of Truth Sade and Femi's actions are very, very well portrayed. But, I will say that at one particular bit in the book Femi becomes very stubborn and I think that it slows the story down a lot and you sometimes want to put the book down because Femi does such outrageous things! You will get used to it though and just ignore it in the end.

The author, Beverly Naidoo, manages to combine their actions into a bit of their past. For example, if the author says that Sade sounded extremely excited, she would add on a sentence or two of a flashback of Sade's past. The sentence would then become something like: Sade sounded extremely excited, her face was almost as happy as it was when she was given her first doll. It is an interesting way to tell us what the character is doing right now, but also tell us a little bit about an event that occurred in the character's past life.

Another fact that I liked about The Other Side Of Truth is that at the beginning of the book when the story is set in Lagos, the writer, Beverly Naidoo, gives us a good description of all of the places that Sade and Femi go. I don't know much about Nigeria but when Naidoo gave us a look at Lagos it made me feel like I was going on an adventure somewhere, exploring a new city as I walked through it. It was a great idea to blend that into the story.

There are many, many good thing to say about The Other Side Of Truth but I don't want to give away any of the events!

Breathtaking book. Definitely deserves the medal (Carnegie Medal, 2000) that it has won.

Recommended for any tween 12+

224 pages

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins

Summary:
The story takes place in the country of Panem, which is what is left of North America in the future after natural disasters, flooding, and wars. Katniss Everdeen (age 16) is a girl who lives in District 12, (one of 12 plus 'the Capitol') in Panem. Her father is dead and she hunts everyday with her friend Gale for food to keep herself, her mother and younger sister Prim alive.

In Panem, every year a game called The Hunger Games is held for the country to watch. The leaders in the Capitol have held The Games every year since the uprising of Panem to show how powerful they are. The names of one girl and one boy are picked out of a box in each of the districts. In The Games, all of the contestants are put into the arena, whose landscape changes every year, to fight for their lives. Every single moment of The Games is televised and there is only one rule: KILL OR BE KILLED. The last person standing is the winner and is given a life of luxury. But for those watching The Games it is a terrible reminder of the power of the Capitol, and how powerless those watching really are.

When Prim's name is pulled out of the box, Katniss immediately volunteers to take her young sister's place in The Games. Soon Katniss finds herself along with Peeta (the boy chosen from District 12) and all of the other contestants stepping into the worst adventure of their lives.

On the night before The Games Peeta confesses his love for Katniss, is it real, or is it a trap? It quickly becomes clear that The Hunger Games are not the only games taking place inside the arena and that surviving might not be the only goal, but their can only be one person left standing...

Review:

Before I start my review I would like to thank the Anonymous Pug for suggesting The Hunger Games because it is now at the top of my 'Top 10 Books' list and because it is amazing! The Hunger Games is one of the best books that I have ever read and it is a real page-turner! The story is so addictive and intriguing that you can't stop reading! The book becomes addictive when Katniss and Peeta enter the arena and you want to know what they will do next and how they will survive. 

The setting of the story in a post-apocalyptic North America is very interesting and a little scary.  Suzanne Collins (author) does a great job at making it seem familiar but also foreign. It is also really interesting to read about the districts that the other Games contestants are from. Each district is known for something and it is neat to find out what they are and why that is their 'famous activity'.  It's unusual, but it's something which makes the book unique. 

Collins does a great job at showing us what's going on with Katniss and Peeta, she is always jumping back and forth between every contestant and what they are doing, and it makes the reader feel like they are sitting in front of the T.V. watching The Games.

Brilliant book! It is a must-read!

Before I end my review I would like to mention that I have bought the second and third books and that I am going to start the second one tonight. More reviews will follow!!!

Recommended for any tween age 13+

453 pages

The Bookworm is in London

Hey Bookworms,

I am really sorry that I haven't posted much this month. I was on vacation last week in London and I had no internet connection whatsoever, besides the occasional internet café.

London was amazing and I was very busy sightseeing, but, I did manage to go into a couple of bookstores there and I bought the two first books of The Hunger Games trilogy. The Hunger Games is a trilogy that was kindly reccomended to me by The Anonymous Pug. Thanks Anonymous Pug! I have started to read the first book and it is very good. It is not the type of book that I am used to but it is a good change. 

In London I went to some markets (like flee markets) which had lots of used books.  At one market (at Greenwich) saw a box set of 10 Horrible Histories and got all ten of them for the price of one! The books are brand new and I have all ready whipped through one of them! They are just short reads that you pick up every once and a while. They talk about all of the bad things that happened during kings and queens reigns (boys would like them too). They are great to read on a grey day!

At another market (this one on the Southbank-near the OXO tower where I later had lunch) I passed by a whole bunch of books laid out on tables. The books were mainly for adults but a couple of books caught my eye. There were some books about old kings and queens of England that looked interesting, but I didn't end up buying any of them.

I did of course go into a couple WHSmiths, but I found that all of the books there were to expensive and that they didn't have most of the books that I was looking for.  Waterstones was a whole different experience--they had lots off good deals (like buy get one for £1) and a better selection. Why isn't there one in Paris?!

I think that after being in London and seeing all of the books and bookstores that they have, I will admit that I love Waterstones and I am going to add it to my 'Where I Get My Books' page.

I hope that all of the Bookworms out there are reading a lot and having a great school year!

-Gia

Every Soul A Star

Every Soul A Star

By Wendy Mass

Summary:

Three people will be brought together for an eclipse: Ally, Bree and Jack. Are they friends? No.  Are they related?  No.  What do they have in common? Nothing.

Ally has lived at Moon Shadow Campground (her family's campground) all of her life, and she is interested in nothing but stars, galaxies and anything in the sky. The campground is in the middle of nowhere. It is a campground built 'under the stars' and it focuses on teaching people what is in the sky (like stars). Since Ally is in the middle of nowhere she doesn't have any friends.

Bree has spent her life training to be a model. She is the most popular girl in her class, is gorgeous and has a perfect modern life and likes to live in her own world and in her own way. She is not the best student be makes it through life easily enough. All Bree really needs is to calm down and slow down with her social life.

Jack lives with his mum and his extremely popular brother, Mike. He has lived with his dad, SD1 (Step dad number 1) SD2, SD3 and his mom is looking for SD4. He spends most of his life in his tree house reading and eating chips and drinking orange pop. He is lonely, fails all of his classes and is bored by his life and his over-popular brother. All that Jack needs is friends.

But this summer Bree and Jack end up at the Moon Shadow Campground and meet Ally. Bree wants to leave the camp because it disgusts her and Jack doesn't know or want to know anything about the stars.  

When a powerful event pulls these three teens together they realize that they could maybe help each other find their true selves. 

In the middle of one of the solar systems most incredible moments, 3 people will develop an amazing friendship and find out who they really are... Join them on their journey.

Review:

Before I start my review, I would like to thank my grandmother for sending me this book when she knew that I was in a book rut and didn't know what to read. She sent me this book by Wendy Mass, one of my favorite authors.  Every Soul a Star is probably the best book that I have read all year. The importance of friendship was shown very, very well, but this book also reminded me that a very different people could be friends, no matter what their background. 

Every Soul A Star also had an educational side to it. I learnt a LOT about galaxies. Ally is always telling us cool facts about stars and planets, so along the way of this amazing story we learn a bit of astronomy!

Another thing that I really liked about Every Soul A Star, was reading about how Bree changed so much throughout the story. She changed just by seeing a different side of the world and by making good friends. Bree started to make better choices in life and decided to lie low on always being the center of attention. It made me think a lot about the fact that there are many, many different types of people in the world and that some of them want to change, and that sharing a bit of your own knowledge can give others a different way to look at things. 

Jack has a very different life compared to Ally and Bree, because he has to go through a worried life. He doesn't have a dad anymore and he is at an age that he needs one to be around more than ever, so for me, it is neat to compare his life and his actions to ones of other boys his age. 

I think that having three extremely different characters in this book, with three very different personalities was a good idea. Mainly because, I think that three personalities plus a great story, is enough to make a great, fun to read and adventurous book. 

The two Wendy Mass books that I have read, both are books that show the importance of friendship, and they each have an adventurous twist to them. I have to say though, that Every Soul A Star was just a bit better, because there was an educational side of the story and I think that every book should teach you something. It just makes the book even better...

Recommended to any tween aged 12+

336 pages

Holes

Holes

By Louis Sachar

Summary:

Stanley Yelnats IV (the fourth) is from a family of back luck. He is always in the wrong place, at the wrong time. When anything goes wrong, Stanley always blames his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather, the first Stanley Yelnats. He believes that he put a curse of bad luck on his family.

Stanley's family is poor and he is bullied everyday at school. He didn't like his life, but he just went with it.  But one day, when Stanley was walking home from school, a pair of red gym shoes hit him on the head, as if they had fallen from the sky. He was just underneath a bridge so somebody could have dropped them, but that seems unlikely to Stanley. Not knowing what to do Stanley took the shoes home, but before he knows it he is arrested for stealing the shoes. It turns out that they belonged to a famous athlete...

In court Stanley is given the choice of 18 months of jail, or 18 months at Camp Green Lake. Stanley had never been to camp before, so he chose Camp Green Lake.

But when the camp turns out to be a desert with no lake Stanley is confused, and when is new 'friends' names are X-Ray, Armpit, Zigzag, Magnet and Zero he is certain that Camp Green Lake is not a fun summer camp. Everyday Stanley and his new friends have to dig a hole 5 feet deep and 5 feet wide.

Nobody knows what they are looking for, but hole after hole Stanley starts to uncover a mystery that has been lying underneath Camp Green Lake for the past hundred years. It might even, just have something to do with the Yelnats' past as well...

Review:

I would like to start off my review of Holes by saying that I read it in Grade 3 and have already watched the movie many times (movie comparison and the end of the review). We were given Holes to read in English class this semester so I was really excited to reread it. I read it SUPER quickly this time though!

I think that Holes is a really good book that has many sides to it. It has a friendship side between Stanley and Zero (they become best friends) and we see how their friendship develops. Stanley has never had to dig holes before and his finds it really hard so, we get to read about what techniques he tries and how he finds it impossible to dig through the tough dirt. That shows a challenge side of the book. There is also the mystery side to the book...

I love all of the characters in the books, especially Stanley's friends at Camp Green Lake. They all have funny nicknames like Armpit and Magnet. It is also interesting to read about why all of the boys  at Camp Green Lake are there and what they did before they came to the camp. The boys make the book so much more fun to read because they are the strangest and weirdest characters in the book. They are always fooling around.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the review it have watched the movie and wanted to do a short movie-book comparison. Here it is:

The movie is really well done and I think that is corresponds almost perfectly to the book, but there are moments in the movie when I think that maybe they could have made the scene a little longer or they could have added a couple of extra lines to make the view understand a little bit better.

Otherwise, everything is very well done: the clothes we worn exactly as they were mentioned in the book, and all of Stanley's friends looked exactly like the descriptions in the book. 

When you have a really good story, it's easy to make a really good movie. That is my conclusion.

P.S. I'm so sorry that I haven't gotten many reviews out this month. I had a very, very busy start to the school year, but now I'm back on track and you can expect a couple reviews next month!

Very, very, very strongly recommended to boys and girls ages 10-11+

It is a story that you will never forget...

233 pages

Dandelion Wine

Dandelion Wine

By Ray Bradbury

Summary:

It's 1928 and Douglas Spaulding is a 12 year old boy living in a big house, with his big family, in Illinois. It's summer and Douglas is excited. All he wants this summer, is a summer full of running around on freshly cut grass, a summer of wearing-in new tennis shoes, devouring delicious ice cream and dandelion wine making. Douglas Spaulding's favorite summer activity is dandelion wine making. He loves blending dandelions with other tasty fruits, adding the water, mixing it, beating it and pouring the result into bottles.

But this summer, Douglas wants to do more than sitting around his yard beating dandelions and making dandelion wine. He and his younger brother Tom want to leave their big house, packed to the roof with grandparents and cousins. They want to have adventures. They want to explore, to discover everything the world has to offer, but most importantly, they want to have an interesting and adventure-filled summer.

When the adventures begin Douglas and Tom soon realize that there are bigger mysteries in the world that they are not yet ready to take on -- they have a lot of life skills to learn in the summer of 1928.

Review:

When I first started reading Dandelion Wine I found it boring. After reading the back cover I was expecting tons of adventures and excitement. The book is filled with adventures and excitement, but I didn't understand this until the end of the book.  Dandelion Wine is not like the books I usually read (it was a school assignment).  It is not a modern-day book or a historical book; the story takes place about 80 years ago.

As we read the first couple of pages of the book we meet some of Douglas's family who all live in the same house as him. All of the Spauldings live in his house; grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters and more. It was a fun little introduction but after a couple of chapters of 'Grandpa dropped that...' and 'Tom did this...' it gets a to be a bit boring and it seems like the story isn't really starting.

After the first couple of chapters we learn that Douglas wants to experience "everything in the entire world" in summer of 1928, and how he wants his life to be a big adventure which will begin that summer.

As the book progresses, we meet some of Douglas and Tom's friends. All of the boys play together, and that is an interesting topic to read about (I find).  It turned out to be a very interesting way to learn about a boy's life in 1928. We read about what sports they played, what sweets (candy) they ate and what they wore. When you think about it, you probably don't really know what a group of 12 year old boys growing up in 1928 would do in summer. It is an uncommon topic, but, let's say, an educational topic.

However the 'story' never seems to start. But it does. You just don't realize it until the end of the book. The book isn't exactly a story with adventure, it is, as I like to call it, a 'thinking' story.  It is a book that makes you think and you don't realize it until the end.  This is a story of a young boy learning, but as it develops in your mind, you are learning as well. This book makes you think about your life and everything that you have already learnt or that are in the middle of learning.

I would recommend Dandelion Wine to any tween ready to learn.

Note: There is a sequel to this book which was written in 2006 (almost 50 years later).  It is called Farewell Summer and follows Douglas in the summer of 1929.

Ages 12+

239 pages

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

By Ally Carter

Summary:

This summer, Cammie is ready for a break from the Gallagher Academy and is dying to see her friend Macey who is in Boston with her parents. Her dad is there to accept the vice presidential nominee. In the middle of the summer, Cammie receives an invitation to spend the rest of her vacation with Macey and her parents in Boston! Cammie accepts right away and is excited to meet the man who may be the next vice president of America and of course to see Macey. Cammie will have  a chance to observe the President's security men and learn how they act and use their secret code names (like they do at the Gallagher Academy). There will be so much to do and maybe, if she is lucky, very lucky, she and Macey will have a mystery to solve. Or an adventure to go on. Anything.

This time, however, Cammie might have wished for too much, because, when she and Macey are kidnapped, she knows that the adventure has only just begun...

Review:

This is the third Gallagher Girl book and out of all of the Gallagher Girls books this one is by far my favorite. It had the best mystery hidden inside it. The other books were about her life at the Academy and mysteries at the Academy. This book is about her life outside of her school and about a mystery in a busy city. The fact that it is in a big city with many things going on makes the mystery more complex, and at the same time, more interesting.

A lot of Cammie's other mysteries were done with her best friend Bex (Rebecca) but this one was with Macey who has a very different personality compared to Bex so it changes the way the mystery progresses.

I liked how the book was set in the summer so that Cammie wasn't at school so we could see what she was like when she wasn't under all the stress of school.

Another thing that made me fall in love with the book is that this time it is just Cammie and Macey who solve the mystery and experience the adventure. In the book the author talks about how the relationship of the two friends is developing, and it makes me want to have a best friend to experience everything that life brings with it: to have someone else helping you and always being there for you.
It is a great story mixed with friendship and mystery with a twist of adventure.

Ally Carter has done it again; she has created another Gallagher Girl book to remember. A lot of tweens will enjoy this quick-to-read, well-written book. And, if you're a Gallagher Girl fan you'll find that the Gallagher Girls are full of surprises!

This is the last book review of summer 2011. I chose this book to review because, it was after I had finished reading this book that I fell in love with reading: I started reading tons of different variety books and became addicted to reading.

I hope that you all enjoyed the summer reviews and had a wonderful summer in 2011. (Don't worry, the weekly reviews will still becoming out!)

263 pages

Back To School Booklist

Hey Bookworms,

Only a week (or two, for some people) until back to school! Whether we like it or not, we need to get into the working mood. So, I have made a back to school booklist of books that I think all of my Bookworms would enjoy reading. Some of the books are about girls at boarding schools and the other books are books that are just enjoyable to read. All of theses books, however, are ones that I think you will love and appreciate curling up with after a long day at school. Theses are books that will take your mind off your bad (or good) day at school and let you escape into a different world of different people. They will help you relax.

Here is my list:

#1. The Daring Game by Kit Pearson.

#2. Malory Towers by Enid Blyton (It is a series of 12 books and I would recommend that if you want to get the most out of the series you should read the books in order.)

#3. At the House of the Magician by Mary Hooper (Strongly recommended!).

#4. The Unrivalled Spangles By Karen Wallace.

All of the books on the list are books that are about 200-250 pages long. But trust me, once you get into the story you will be reading it very quickly!

Also, another book review will be coming out (very soon!) on the last day of August to mark the end of summer. I hope that you all find your ways back into your work habits quickly! 

Have a great start to the school year Bookworms,

-Gia

Enjoy your books, love your life and ADORE yourself. You are the best thing that ever lived.

The Wheel Of Surya

The Wheel of Surya

Jamila Gavin

Summary: 

It's 1947 and Punjabi children Marvinder and Jaspal Singh are 9 and 6 years old. They live with their mother Jhoti (age 22), and the family of their father, Govind, in the Punjab. Marvinder and Jaspal have only met their father twice because he travels so often and rarely returns home to his family. Everyday Jhoti struggles to provide and care for her children because she works from dawn to dusk as a kitchen maid. Since Marvinder is a girl she must stay home and amuse herself all day, every day and she is not allowed to help her mother with her work. Jaspal, though, must attend school all day because he is supposed to follow in is father's footsteps and become an international businessman. Jhoti and her children long to live a different life.

When Jaspal and Marvinder are separated from their mother and their father leaves for England without them, they are scared but know that their father's family will take care of them. But when a fight in their village turns into a fire and the entire village (including many people) goes up in flames, Marvinder rescues Jaspal and is determined to leave India and go and find their father in England.

Marvinder and Jaspal are soon taking on the biggest adventure on their lives, traveling on a cruse ship, arriving in a new, strange culture and trying adapt to a different life style. The two children soon find out that there is more than a new culture waiting for them in England, there is betrayal…

Review:

I love The Wheel Of Surya for lots of reasons, but I have main two reasons why: #1- the timeline. I love how we follow Marvinder and Jaspal at different time periods of their lives. I feel like I grow with them. #2: the characters. Since Govind has a HUGE family there are a lot of characters and we are introduced to ALL of them and I love how the author made tons of characters in the book. I am an only child so I love reading about big families because it makes me think of what it would have been like if I had brothers or sisters (not that I want any, judging from the way my friends talk about their siblings!). All of the characters in the book are all their own person and all have a different sense of humor, and are each fun to read about. Some characters are bad, some are good, some are always confused and cluedout (which is always funny to read about!) and some are just trying to survive and 'get by' in life.

Now let's talk more about the actual story:

I think that the time period that was chosen for the story was a good choice. The time period is just after the Second World War ended and they still have ration cards (in England), so we get to learn a bit about them and that is interesting because we don't use ration cards today! I also liked learning about how Marvinder and Jaspal adapted to the English culture. Indians have a very different culture and way of doing things compared to the English and in the book we learnt about both cultures. Another interesting bit about The Wheel of Surya is that we learn about how people travelled and commuted just after the war had ended.

The Wheel of Surya touched my heart a lot for one other BIG reason, and that reason is that my grandmother was born in India and lived there for a short time when she was a child, then she traveled to England to go to school. She was in England on her own, so I feel like Marvinder's feelings are a little like my grandmother's. I would also like to mention that my grandmother read the book and thought that it was fantastic and portrayed a bit of her childhood life (since she also lived in the Punjab)!

Please note that this book was a required summer reading book for my school, so I did not choose to read it. Although I'm happy that I did read it!

Again, I am SO sorry for making you wait so long for another review, but I will tell you that I have a back-to-school must-read booklist coming out this weekend!

288 pages

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

By Wendy Mass

Summary:

One month before Jeremy Fink's 13th birthday a mysterious box shows up at his house. The words The Meaning Of Life : For Jeremy Fink To Open On is 13th Birthday are engraved on it. The box was from Jeremy's dad. He had made it for Jeremy before he died, 5 years ago. Jeremy and his best friend Lizzy Muldon are shocked to find the box. Lizzy begs Jeremy to open the box and Jeremy agrees because he realizes this may be all that he has left of his beloved father.  The two best friends are eager to open it right away but when they realize that the box has four keyholes they don't know what to do. They know that they have to find the keys, but how? Where?
Manhattan is a big city and they can't just walk up to every antique store in the city and try all of the keys in the store in every keyhole. They have to do something different, they have to have a plan, a good one, and they will need to be prepared to do anything in takes.
Before they know it, the two best friends are racing across Manhattan trying to find the keys of the box.  Jeremy and Lizzy don't know it yet, but the adventure of lives is lying in front of them...

Review:

I loved Jeremy Fink because the story was very enjoyable to read. The book was about a mystery but at the same time about a boy's life without his dad around. Also, the mystery is about finding the missing keys for a box, and that is not a very common topic for a mystery. Usually a mystery is about finding a murdered, or a robber and other things of that kind. So, after having said that, I think that Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life is almost like a one-of-a-kind mystery.

Lizzy, who is Jeremy's best friend, is a very fun character to read about. She is always inventing plans that are destined for failure and is always stating the obvious. She makes me laugh on every page and she makes the story seem more 'alive'. She bring life to the story, but at the same time she brings life to Jeremy and I think that that is important since Jeremy's dad has died and he is always sad. She is always excited and ready for adventure and she injects the same energy into her best friend.
This is the first book that I have ever read by Wendy Mass and I must say that I really like her writing style. She has a way of making you really want to find out the answer to the mystery from the end of the first chapter. She doesn't want you to stop reading, and I really appreciate authors who try to do that.

This review is short because this book is absolutely indescribable, and I just can't tell you how wonderful this book is. Wendy Mass has written a story that many, many, many tweens will ADORE. It has a very interesting plot and is an adventure with two unforgettable best friends. Go and buy Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life right away because this is a book which should not miss the opportunity to pass through your hands.

I also wanted to mention that I am so sorry for the delay in the posting of the review. It should have been posted last weekend. On the bright side, the next review will be posted even sooner!

289 pages

My second visit to KidsBooks

Hey Bookworms,

I am in my fave city in the world, Vancouver, for a quick visit! I am so over-excited! While I was there I could not resist stopping by KidsBooks. I was dying to see Sarah and to get some more book recommendations. When I went in on Tuesday I was greeted by a lady named Emily. She told me that Sarah was not in the store that day, but that she would be in for the rest of the week, starting on Wednesday. Even though Sarah wasn't in the store that day Emily kindly helped me to find a book that I would enjoy. We started to look for books written by my favorite authors and it turned out that I had already read most of the books in the store by those authors, except for one title!  I was missing a follow-on to At the House of the Magician (by Mary Hooper) that was only just released. It turned out that they didn't have any copies in the store yet. So, since I am a huge Mary Hooper fan, I ordered a copy!

After I had ordered the book Emily asked me to tell her my favorite book genre and I told her that I adore a good, well written, historical book. Guess what she told me in response to that?  She was a history teacher! She recommended a few books and she recommended that I come in another day to see Sarah so that Sarah could choose some books that I would like.

I returned to the store on Thursday and met Sarah and Emily again. Sarah asked me how many books were left unread on my bookshelf and many more questions about my reading. She showed me seven books that she thought that I would like and we talked about them. I decided to buy two books, the first called A Brief History of Montmaray and the second called Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. I have started to read Jeremy Fink. I am half way through it and am adoring it. I will use a word that a usually never use to describe a book, but this time I will use it ... PHENOMENAL! This book is absolutely phenomenal. More details will come in its review which will be posted soon!

I hope that one day all my Bookworms will be fortunate enough to stop by this incredible bookstore and really enjoy choosing your next best friend for a week or two (your next best friend being a book!). I would also like to thank once again with all my heart, Sarah and Emily. I really cannot thank both of you enough. Your bookstore is fantastic and is magical and can be anything that a reader wants it to be, but it is the staff who bring the life and fun into it. Sarah and Emily, you brought life to the store, but most importantly, you wanted me to love a book, to fall in love with the story, and I DID.

Alright Bookworms, that is all of my news, and don't forget to check back next weekend for the review of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life! I can't wait to review it!

All that I have left to say is to read your heart out and never forget the Bookworm anthem...

-Enjoy your books, love your life and ADORE yourself. You are the best thing that ever lived.

For more information on KidsBooks please look at the Where I Get My Books page in the 'Vancouver' section.

At the House of the Magician

At the House of the Magician 

By Mary Hooper


Summary:

Lucy is a young women living in the Elizabethan era with her mother and father. She and her mother sell gloves and lavender wands for a living and Lucy's father gambles and drinks. Lucy dreams of leaving her father and of becoming a lady-in-waiting for her Majesty. 

One evening, after Lucy's father gambles all of the family's money and furniture away,  Lucy knows that she cannot stay with her father any more. She and her mother agree that she must leave at once but promise to come back and rescue her mother when she has enough money to take her away from her husband and live safely.

The next morning Lucy leaves her mother and decides to walk along the Thames all the way to London. On her way there she meets some children playing outside a almost-abandoned castle and finds out that their parents are looking for maids and will start them working as soon as possible. Lucy is eager to start working and agrees to be a maid for the family. But when Lucy finds out who her master is she is shocked to find out that he is Dr. Dee, her Majesty's magician...

At first Lucy is shocked but then she is excited after she learns that her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth often visits the Dee Castle and Lucy will do anything to see her Majesty.

But one day while Lucy is serving Dr. Dee and one of his assistants she listens a little bit too carefully to their conversation and soon finds out about a secret which she must tell to Her Majesty before it is too late!

Review:

I absolutely adore Mary Hooper books because she describes historical events as if she actually witnessed them. As if she was actually there and as if she was the main character and just wrote the book along her adventure. It is books like that that really make you appreciate reading.

I think that this was Mary Hooper's best book yet. She really came up with a new sort of character, one that was young and felt lost in her life. Lucy, also, has never lived on her own before and she does not really know how to provide for herself.  In At the Sign of the Sugared Plum and Petals in the Ashes (two other books written by Mary Hooper) the main character Hannah (who is in both books) is young, but she knows what will happen in her life and she knows how to provide for herself and live on her own. Since Lucy has never never lived on her own she begins to learn how to ... and we learn with her. We learn along the way. We discover the new things at the same time as Lucy does. We know everything from how Lucy puts on her different aprons to how she gets dust out of carpets (by shaking them or by hanging them on posts, then hitting them).  It is a fun side of the book.  I think that a lot of tweens would like it.  I think that they might find it interesting how young maids used to live about four hundred years ago.

I don't really like Queen Elizabeth the first, but since I read At the House of the Magician I have started liking her. Lucy shows such an admiration for Her Majesty and it is kind of addictive! Lucy is always comparing Queen Elizabeth (the first) to other queens of England and in the end Queen Elizabeth seems so much more interesting than them. But Queen Victoria is still my all time favorite queen. She is the longest reigning monarch of England (for the moment).

Mary Hooper has written her best book yet.  A million tweens would love this book and read it over and over again. It is an amazing burst of history on pages, with a memorable main character. Brilliant.

Recommended for tweens 10+.

217 pages

Don't miss the post about my second visit to Kids Books coming out next week!

Bookworm News

Hey Bookworms! I hope that you are all enjoying your summer vacation and that you are busy reading your heart out with some great books. I am reading some good books and am super busy with a lot of summer activities like swimming and swimming and ... swimming! My grandparents just sent me two Ally Carter (my fave author) books and I have already started to read one of them. The book is called Heist Society and so far I am liking it.

I have just finished At the House of the Magician By Mary Hooper and have started to write the summary of the book but, honestly I am not progressing, so don't expect the review for another week! Sorry. But for the time being I have decided to entertain you with a summer reading list.
Please note that this list is a 'just for fun' list so that means that you are NOT required to read them. If you wish to read them, then go ahead and enjoy! It is just a list of books that I would re-read if I didn't have any other books to read!


The Tween Bookworm Summer Reading List:

#1. Prisoners in the Palace By Michaela MacColl

#2. Distant Waves By Suzanne Weyn

#3. The Daring Game By Kit Pearson

#4. Inkheart By Cornelia Funke

#5. The Unrivalled Spangles By Karen Wallace

#6. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You By Ally Carter

Bookworms, I have always said that once you are a bookworm you will always be one (Once a bookworm, always a bookworm) but now I have another thing to say...

-Enjoy your books, love your life and ADORE yourself. You are the best thing that ever lived.


THAT is the new saying of my life and hopefully yours.

The anthem of the Bookworms...

That's it for now Bookworms, enjoy your summer reading! A new review will be out by next weekend.

Petals in the Ashes

Petals in the Ashes

By Mary Hooper

Summary:

The number of deaths from the plague are beginning to die down and Hannah Brown is returning to London with her younger sister Anne to re-open their sweetmeats shop. Hannah is prepared and determined to begin working again, to care for her sister, and to appreciate the fact that she had not been taken from her beloved sisters by the plague.

When Hannah and Anne arrive they find their shop covered in a layer of dust and many pieces of wood from the walls falling down. The two girls set to work and re-open the shop within a week. Hannah longs to find her beau, Tom, whom she fell in love with before the plague broke out.
On her way into they city Hannah hears many people saying that fortune tellers send warnings of fire and of an event even worse than the plague. At first Hannah and Anne believe that it is nonsense because the worst (the plague) has already come....

As days go by, Hannah has still not found Tom and she is beginning to worry because the fortune tellers had already correctly predicted the plague. Could their really be a fire and when?

Hannah and Anne don't know it yet, but the worst is yet to come...

Review:

Petals in the Ashes is the sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum by Mary Hooper. Both books are about an event in English history. I love historical books so this was a very enjoyable book for me to read. I have read a lot of historical books and no other author describes historical events as vividly and as well as Mary Hooper. Petals in the Ashes was also an interesting and engaging book because Hannah is a character, who from page 1 (of the first book), is very alive and real in my mind. She longs for adventure and for an exiting life, and when reading the book you start to become as exited as her and sometimes even 'slip into her skin' and become her.

I think that a lot of tweens would like Petals in the Ashes because when you read the book you are also learning about a famous historical event. It is a great read and an education wrapped up in one!

I don't have anything else to say except "wonderful sequel Hooper, I hope that Hannah has a few more historical events to live through!" I am waiting for the Hannah Brown series to become a trilogy!

Recommended for all tweens. You will adore Mary Hooper's stories.

187 pages

The Magic Half

The Magic Half

By Annie Barrows

Summary:

Miri Gill is eleven years old and is the only child in her family who does not have a twin. Her older brothers Robbie and Ray are twins and her younger sisters Nell and Nora are also twins. When people look at the Gill family they look from Nell and Nora to Robbie and Ray leaving Miri in the middle with no attention. The Gill family has just moved to the countryside from the city and Miri feels even lonelier without the liveliness and excitement of the city.

One afternoon when an old man, Mr. Guest, tells Robbie and Ray that there are stolen items on the Gill family property, the boys start looking immediately, with dreams of enough reward money to buy an iPod. Miri's brothers refuse her help so she returns to her bedroom where, to her surprise she finds a piece of glass (from an eyeglass) taped to her bedroom wall. Miri looks too far into the glass and finds herself in 1935! Miri can time-travel! Miri finds herself in the same house, the same room, and in the middle of the Great Depression!

Soon after Miri arrives, she realizes that she is not alone.  There are four people living in the house: Flo; Sissy; Horst and an eleven year old girl, Molly. Sissy and Horst are Flo's teenage children and Molly's parents have abandoned her, so she was left to be cared for by her Aunt Flo. Molly works as a maid for her cousins and aunt. She is the only one who meets Miri, and they become best friends. 

Miri wants to go home, and she wants to bring Molly home with her and let her forget her past as a maid. Molly agrees. Everything is set, there is only one problem ... they don't know how to get back to Miri's home in the future...

Review:

I really liked The Magic Half  because of the time traveling side of the story, and because of the twins. I have never read a book with a character who time travels, and I don't know any twins so this was unique and interesting for me. Even if time travel is not true, it is an interesting idea for a story, and I enjoyed reading about the relationship between the twins.  I wonder what a twin would think about this book?

I think that Miri is an unusual character but she is a character that a lot of tweens would find fun. She is a tomboy and plays adventurous games with her brothers, but also plays nicely with her sisters. I love how the author made Miri's siblings two sets of twins, instead of four brothers and sisters. The twins makes the story a bit more engaging.  They are always fighting and doing things together in their own little worlds, and Miri just watches it all go by.  It shows the reader how lonely Miri really is and also makes the reader empathize with her and be pulled into the story.

The Magic Half is an interesting and unusual book which many tweens might enjoy as an easy and relaxing read.

211 pages

The Daring Game

The Daring Game

By Kit Pearson

Summary:


Eleven year old Eliza is going to boarding school in Vancouver for the first time ever. She is very excited but shares her parents' worries and believes that she will soon become homesick. Eliza has read many stories of girls who attend English boarding schools, but she knows that her life at Ashdown Academy will not be the same as in her books. At the same time Eliza is more afraid than ever that her new dorm-mates won't like her...

When she arrives at Ashdown Academy she instantly becomes best friends with one of her dorm-mates, Carrie, who is an American border at the school. Pam, Jean and Helen are Eliza's (and Carrie's) other dorm-mates. Pam is the Yellow Dorm head and has a bossy personality. Jean is a shy little girl from Scotland and Helen is mischievous, unpredictable and daring. While Eliza gets to know her dorm-mates, she still can't figure out whether to be friends with Helen. She is always getting into trouble, never doing her school work and she steals.

After Helen complains that nothing exciting is happening at the Academy she decides to start a game: a daring game. Every month a name will be picked and there will be a dare. To succeed a player must break the school rules during every dare and not get caught.  Eliza has never broken a school rule and she has promised her parents that she will be good and not get into trouble while she is at Ashdown. Eliza suddenly gets pulled into Helen's game as do her other dorm-mates. She is not sure that she wants to play.

A moths fly by the dares get harder and Eliza's name is still not picked. As she see her friends tackle the dares she is worried about when her name will be picked and what her dare will be...


Review:

I will start off by saying that I have read this book numerous times when I was about nine years old. I was looking for a fun book to read about two weeks ago and I came across The Daring Game. I looked at it's paperback cover and it was very worn! I thought that since I hadn't read read it in a while and it looked loved, that I would read it one last time. I think that now that I am twelve I am not as interested in the story as I was a couple years ago. I think that the age range that corresponds to The Daring Game is 8-11 years old. After age eleven I think that this book would not be as fun and exiting as it appears at first. 

The Daring Game is an interesting and different book because there is not just one dare for all the four girls but each girl has their own dare. Each girl has their own adventure and their own experience of punishment but at the same time of self-accomplishment.

The Daring Game is not like some other stories about a girls boarding school. First of all, because the story takes place in the city not in the countryside and because it is in 'modern' day. We don't know the exact year that the story takes place in but with some hints in the book we can tell its contemporary.

I really think that The Daring Game is a book that a lot of girls would like because of the 'modern' side of the story and also because the story focuses on more than one person. It is a kind of advantage because you can get four sides of a story but at the same time you get to see four different lifestyles that the girls live at Ashdown Academy.

I don't really know what else to say about The Daring Game except that I loved it, but I think that that was my last time reading it! Wonderful job Kit Pearson (author)! Many tweens will enjoy this book. I would recommend this book to any tween under the age of 12.

221 pages

Be sure to watch for the new 'Top 10 Books' page where you can find my list of top 10 books and extra comments (not in the reviews) on the books coming out on the 25th of June! Don't miss it!

Trash

Trash 

By Andy Mulligan

Summary:

On the Behala dump site, 14 year old Raphael Fernández is living with his aunt and cousins in a little torn-apart garage. Since the day that Raphael could walk he was forced to work all day picking up trash. Everyone in Behala works from the break of dawn until sunset. At the end of the day, if you find something valuable like a tire or a scrap of plastic, you hand it in to the head of the dump site and you get a few pesos (money) in return. If you don't find anything valuable then you walk back to your 'house' empty-handed. Raphael finds the rare bits and pieces of plastic and has enough money to survive, although he needs more. He wants to leave the dump site with his best friends Gardo and Rat and live in a rich neighborhood, but for him, that is still just a dream.

One day when Raphael and Gardo are out in the middle of the dump site, they find a leather bag. The boys know how many pesos they can get for the bag alone and are proud of themselves but they don't know what the bag contains.

When Raphael is alone he opens the bag and inside he finds a wallet containing 1100 pesos, an ID, some photos, some newspaper clippings and a key. He thinks that maybe with everything that the bag contains he could live in a rich neighborhood with all of the money that he has found. He can't wait to leave the Behala dump site with Gardo and Rat. They could start living a new life as rich people!

Raphael is very happy that he and Gardo found the bag ... until the next day police show up offering 1100 pesos for the lost bag and wallet if it is found. What will Raphael do?
 

Review: 
I was surprised when my mum came home from WHSmith Paris and handed me Trash. I was surprised because my mom knows the type of books that I like to read and Trash (judging from the summary) is not historical or romantic. It is a book about adventure and survival. I like reading books about adventures but I have never read a book with an adventure like Trash.  Also I have never read a book with a boy as a main character and have never had a boy's view on a story.  But in the end I got attached to reading about a boy. It was a change from my normal, romantic, 'girl adventure' books. I would definitly read another book with another central male character because it was interesting to see how boys' views are sometimes different and they choose different ways to solve problems.

Trash was an interesting book to read because Raphael's story is not like any other story I have read. In a lot of books the main character has a sufficient amount of money to live a nice life. But Raphael is poor and we learn about how he survives and gets enough to eat. At the same time there is an adventure and mystery going on in Raphael's life as well. It is very common to find only adventure and mystery in books but I really enjoyed the survival side of Raphael's story. I think that a lot of people who have read Trash might really think about how lucky some people (even they) are.

In the book, we don't know where the story takes place but we do know that the money used by Raphael and his friends is pesos. At first I thought that the story took place in Mexico because of the currency (pesos) but then my dad reminded me that pesos are used in a lot of countries. I think that it is good that the author (Andy Mulligan) does not tell us where the story takes place, because it makes us realize that that there are a lot of people in the world who come from the same background as Raphael. Also it shows us that the story could take place any where in the world.

I did not think that I would enjoy Trash but in the end I did. My thanks go out to the author, Andy Mulligan for writing the an amazing story and for blending an education in it.

I would recommend this book to any tween.

211 pages

Distant Waves

Distant Waves

By Suzanne Weyn

Summary:

It's the beginning of the 19th century and teenage Jane Oneida Taylor is living in Spirit Vale, New York with her four sisters and mother. Jane's father abandoned her mother after Jane's youngest sister Mimi's birth, leaving the five girls in the care of his wife. Jane's mother works as a medium in Spirit Vale while Jane and her sisters are left to occupy themselves. Jane doesn't have her mother's talent but has a talent for journalism. Jane dreams of one day being known for writing the best article of the decade or even the century...but she needs a story for her glory.

As the years fly by Jane and her sisters find themselves in Europe each wanting to start their own life and have an adventure. The girls are all busy traveling, reading about new inventions, going to parties and taking strolls along the seaside. 

Mimi is in Paris as a companion to a rich lady.  Jane, along with her three other sisters, is  staying with their mother's cousin just outside of London. Jane starts to write articles about her time in Europe hoping that they will be published later on her her life. As Jane spends more time with her younger sisters Amelie, Emma and Blythe, she feels that although her best friend (and sister) Mimi has left her, she still has her other sisters' company, sympathy and love. Jane develops a strong sisterly bond with Blythe that she never had with any of her other sisters... 

 

When Jane's mother arrives in London with Mimi (whom she picked up in Paris) she is persuaded that her daughters' futures do not lie in Europe. Jane agrees because she still hadn't found an article which would launch her career. However, the only way home is...on the Titanic. Many things lie on board the Titanic, greatest ocean liner in the world, including love and death. Maybe Jane has found her article after all.

Review:

Distant Waves  is a hard book to review because it has so many up-and-down moments. The first 150 pages of the book are just about Jane's life in Spirit Vale. Nothing 'adventurous' happens while Jane is in Spirit Vale. We learn about what Jane does everyday and how she interacts with her sisters. At the same time it prepares us to see the difference between Jane's early life and her days on the Titanic.

I like reading about big families and how they interact with each other, so reading about Jane's life was very interesting. I love Jane's interest in journalism and she inspired me a lot with her opinions. She has a different view of everything. She sees the good and the bad in people and objects in a different way than a normal teenager would. The author has made up a lot of new characters in this book (which is common), but I like how she wrote about some characters who were actually on the Titanic, for example, John Jacob Astor. 

As I have mentioned in other reviews, I love historical books and reading about historical events but it has been a really long time since since I have read a book about the Titanic. I have a My Story book about the Titanic and I have read it many times, but not recently. I think that the story of the Titanic is very interesting but at the same time sad. Suzanne Weyn (author) has, from my view, written a great story about the Titanic (after page 150) and in the end I enjoyed the book. 

I recommend this book for tweens over the age of 11.

Bookworm Status

Hi Bookworms,

I know that I owe you a new book review and I am going to set a deadline for it. My deadline is next weekend, Saturday, June 4th. I have been really busy with school exams. I am almost done Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn, and it is getting better page by page. I am at page 193 and there are 314 pages. I will review it the moment that I finish. I am very interested in the book and its story but it takes awhile to become attached to the story. I can't wait to review it (since it is getting better)!

My grandparents are coming to France to see me and they are going to bring two books for me. Both books are by the most amazing author Ally Carter. The first one is called Only the Good Spy Young and it is the 4th book in the Gallagher Girls series. The second book is called Heist Society and it is the first book in Ally Carter's new series (the series does not yet have a name). I can't wait to read them. They have only just come out!!! You should see my face if someone puts a new Ally Carter book in front of me. I freak out! Usually a 200 to 400 page book takes me two to two and a half weeks to read (I often read an hour every day) but I whip through Ally Carter books in about one week. I am in love with her books! To see Ally Carter book reviews click on Ally Carter's name in the 'authors' section on my blog.


Those are all the bookworm updates for now. You can enjoy bookworm news by clicking on the Bookworm News icon in the Book Genres box on the right side of the page.

Never forget...

Once a bookworm, always a bookworm. - Gia

Bookworm Update

Hey Bookworms,

Gia here. I hope that you guys are enjoying my reviews. I am in the middle of writing a review on Petals in the Ashes by Mary Hooper.  It is a sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum.  It is about the great fire of London. I wanted to get the review out a few days ago but I have been super busy this week.

In addition, I'm in a bit of a book rut. Right now I am reading two books: Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn and The Coldest Winter by Elizabeth Lutzeier, and I'm not liking either of them.  I will get through both of them, then review them (both hopefully).

This weekend I went to Shakespeare and Co. in Paris (For more information see Where I get my books). My dad told me that he would buy me one book if I found one I liked.  For me, finding only one book, in a bookstore full of books, was impossible! However, after a good 20 minutes in Shakespeare and Co. I found myself looking at my dad with my top three books in hand. We talked about them for a little while and I decided on Annexed by Sharon Dogar. It is a novel about Peter van Pels. He was the boy who Anne fell in love with during her time in hiding. I can't wait to read it because everyone knows about Anne Frank's time in the annex but not Peter's. I find stories better with two sides then one.

Thank you, thank you so much for staying with me during my book rut bookworms.
Never forget...


Once a bookworm, always a bookworm. -Gia

The Unrivalled Spangles

The Unrivalled Spangles

By Karen Wallace 

Summary:

In the Victorian era, not far from London, the two Spangle sisters, Ellen and Lucy, are living and working in their family circus. Ellen and her younger sister Lucy perform an act called the Incredible Scarletta Sisters. It is a dangerous act: it involves standing on horses, doing somersaults, and jumping off a horse to land on another. In their act Ellen is a sensational perfectionist.  Lucy is a daredevil and is always trying new tricks. Ellen and her sister have a good friendship and are the best performers in the circus, but Ellen hates being a circus girl. She doesn't want her future to lie in the circus because she knows  there is more to discover.   She also knows there is a world of experiences waiting for her outside of the circus.

After years and years at the circus, Ellen decides to take tutoring under a false name, behind her parents' backs, so that she might one day leave the circus and become a teacher.  Soon, however, she finds herself in love and must balance her new love and studying with preparations for the the end-of-season performance. Lucy is aware of her sister's lessons and her boyfriend but doesn't mind because it gives her more time to practice dangerous tricks on her horse.  Soon, however, Lucy finds herself in love -- but with the wrong person -- Joe Morgan, of a rival circus.

With Joe, Lucy becomes more reckless in her training and begins training for a backwards somersault on a moving horse -- the most dangerous trick ever known.  The trick could cost Lucy her life. When Ellen becomes aware of this, she knows that she must stop her sister at all costs.

Review: As you may know from my last review, I didn't enjoy the last book I read. When my mum showed me this book, I thought 'circus -- boring.'  And I felt that my bad book rut was going to continue.  However, The Unrivalled Spangles was great! It was a good book to put my reading interests back on track. It had a great story, cliff-hangers and was not boring! I haven't really read a lot of books about the circus, and that is because I am not a big fan of circuses. However, The Unrivalled Spangles made circus life interesting. I enjoyed reading about how people prepared their tricks for their acts, and I enjoyed reading about the life of people living in a circus.  It is a very different lifestyle.  Everyone is always practicing and performing new and difficult tricks -- even some you might not be able to imagine!  This book was also very appealing to me because I love horses and when Ellen and Lucy do their acts on their horses it is even better! I think that Ellen is a character that a lot of young girls (ages 9-14) could relate to. Ellen is a great role model because she is someone who always wants to learn about the world and help others, even when her parents forbid her. Ellen is also someone that girls could find inspirational because she is a very caring and loving older sister. Ellen always wants to protect and help Lucy and the two sisters are like best friends in the book. I think that a lot of girls who are older sisters (or even younger sisters) and are fighting with their sister (or brother) could maybe think of their sibling in a different, more kind, more supporting way after they read The Unrivalled Spangles. This book shows that your sibling could also be your best friend. 217 pages

The Pimpernelles, Book 1: The Pale Assassin

The Pimpernelles Book 1: The Pale Assassin

By Patricia Elliott

Summary:

The Pale Assassin tells the story of Eugénie de Boncoeur, a young aristocrat living in Paris in 1789 as the French Revolution begins.  Her mother and father are dead, and she and her brother are under the care their guardian.  With the help of Hortense, her governess, Eugenie lives the life of an aristocrat.

As the French revolution takes hold, aristocrats are being put the guillotine, and many are leaving the city.  When Eugénie's family home in Chauvais is destroyed and her guardian flees Paris, she is forced to leave her governess and live in a convent. Eugénie is safe there, or so she thinks. But she is being watched by the Pale Assassin, nicknamed Le Fantôme, meaning 'the ghost.'

Le Fantôme is a sinister, but very rich man who is involved in the revolution.  He has a team of people helping him keep the revolution going and also killing all of his enemies, one of his biggest enemies being the De Boncoeur family, because of their riches and his desire for revenge. He has no particular reason for revenge but he disliked Eugénie's father very much.  Unknown to Eugénie, her guardian betrothed her to Le Fantôme and she must marry him when she turns 16.

In the story, Eugénie tries to survive in an increasingly hostile city but also protect her brother Armand who is a aristocratic royalist. Armand is planning to help the Queen, King, Dauphin and Dauphine escape the Guillotine. Eugénie is urged by her brother to leave Paris and to go and stay with one of their English relatives in the English countryside. Eugénie will not go without her brother but Armand refuses to leave his beloved country.

Can Eugénie escape to England? Can she escape from Le Fantôme and his group of murderers?  Most importantly, can she survive?

Review:

I almost didn't write this review because I almost couldn't get through this book. I started it twice but the second time I got through the entire book. It was hard to read for 2 reasons:

#1 I didn't find the story very interesting and there were no cliff hangers.
#2 I found that there were a lot of typos.

This book was a hard book to read, but I thought that it was important for me to write a review for it. Here goes:

I have to admit that The Pale Assassin is not the best book I have ever read. As I said as above I didn't find the story very interesting or engaging.  Also Eugénie, I think, is not a character that you would want for a role model.  She always gets into trouble (that's normal for a teenager) but the worst thing is that she never gets herself out of trouble, it's always somebody else. So it is as if she doesn't try to help herself and sometimes doesn't think. She is a character who is smart but does not use her intelligence  at the right times. She doesn't pay attention to the important things in life,  just fashion and parties.

Also I found that the story starts fast but bit by bit it starts to slow down. Those are my only complaints.

On the positive side, I found the timeline (historical) really interesting, because I like reading about the French revolution. It is an interesting revolution because the people are fighting against the Royalists and that is not a common type of revolution.  The book had all the right historical facts and the dates in the right order.

Perhaps the author's other books are better and I hope to read another some day so that I can give them an other try . (In fact this is the first of three books in the Pimpernelles series).  I think that my choice fell on the wrong book this time.

Please note that this book is recommended for ages 12 and up.

424 pages