Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall

Heaven looks A Lot Like The Mall

By Wendy Mass

Summary:

One day, 16 year old Tessa suffers a terrible accident in gym class and she goes into a coma. But in her head she is in heaven, and for her, that means that she is in the mall where her parents worked and where she has, in a way, grown up. That's her heaven.

In the so-called heaven/mall, she meets a boy who has also suffered a traumatic accident. When Tessa asks him why she is in the mall, he tells her she is here to figure out who she is and to try to understand why and how she has changed over the course of her life. Just before he leaves, he gives Tessa a shopping bag and tells her that it contains the most important things that she has ever bought from the mall.

At first Tessa is confused, but soon she lets her memory take over and remembers her old life as it flashes before her eyes once again...

As Tessa remembers the good and decisions that she has made, she also remembers a very different version of herself than who she is today. She regrets choices and actions that she took and she can't help wondering if it is it too late to change?

Review:

Once again, Wendy Mass has done it! This book is brilliant! It is a page-turner that talks about a girl who goes to 'heaven' while she is in a coma. It was a unbelievably fantastic plot with lots of twists and turns.

Tessa is a realistic character who a lot of teens will be able to relate to. I think that a lot of teen girls would like to go to 'heaven' like Tessa and figure out what we did wrong in our lives and see the mistakes that we made without realizing it. Also, none of us are perfect and I think that after reading this book, I feel more comfortable in my own skin and have learnt to accept that everybody makes mistakes, and that that is just part of life and that I wouldn't learn from my mistakes if I didn't have any.  I think that I lot of girls, tween or teen, would benefit from reading about Tessa's trip to 'heaven'.

I loved that when Tessa was in 'heaven' each item that was in the shopping bag that was given to her had its own story and that after reading about every item and its story, I felt like I knew her. Wendy Mass builds the character of Tessa throughout the book.

I also found it very interesting that the entire book was written in verse.  It didn't rhyme, but it was written as if it was a poem. At first I thought that it might have just been the first page or two that was written like that but, but no, the entire book. I am surprising myself by saying this, but I absolutely loved it! It is what made the book such a page turner! In one verse was a bit of her life which suddenly stopped and I just needed to get to the next verse, and then the next, and since the verses are quick and easy to read, the story progresses quickly.

This was the best Wendy Mass that I have ever read and one of the best books ever!

Recommended for all teen girls 14+

What Katy Did

What Katy Did


By Susan Coolidge

Summary:


Katy is a lively twelve year old girl, growing up in a big house in the countryside with her six brothers and sisters. She is a very tall, carefree girl who is always untidy, with a tear in her dress and her hair forever in a tangle. She wants to be good, but she just never seems to be able to get out of her untidy ways. She has never cared about what other people think of her and wants to be 'something big' when she grows up. She is always up to some mischief or of on a so-called 'big' adventure with her best friend Cecy Hall. Katy has always been happy girl, just playing outside, inventing a story or doing something, that, in the end, will get her into trouble.

But one dramatic day, Katy has a terrible accident, one which would change her life forever...

She is forced to remember her old ways and all of her happy memories again, when she is told that she may never walk again.

Katy is completely devastated, but knows that she must find the courage to continue living a normal life and remember how happy she used to be...


Review:  


When I first picked up What Katy Did I was awaiting a story about some girl while she goes through some tough period in her life, but, What Katy Did is a feel-good book, full of tension and courage and is beautifully written.

Katy is such a wonderful character and she is very interesting to watch as she changes and adapts to her new life after her accident. At the beginning of the book, I didn't like her so much, though. I found that she was very bossy with her younger siblings and that she was not a character in a book that anybody would want to be like. But as the story progressed, I grew to like her more and more. She started to really reflect on what life was really about, and what she had been doing with her life and how selfish she had been.
I think that Susan Coolidge (author) does a wonderful job of portraying Katy as she changed, learned to accept and understand how she was going to continue living her newly changed life. Coolidge also did a superb job of weaving the lives of Katy's siblings with hers.

Katy's Cousin Helen, a character who appears at the end of the book, and who has a big impact on Katy's life was very, very well, (maybe even better than the other characters) described and I think that she was the character who I could picture the most, because she seemed very real and life like and she seemed to bring the book alive somehow. Her presence in the book made the story feel very alive and true, and I thank Coolidge for putter Helen in the book as she changed it so much!

I think that this is a book that could make teens all around the world laugh, cry and help them to accept who they are and why the are here, in the world.
What a wonderful read written by one of the only authors who can really make a character leap off of the page and any moment in the story....

An absolute must read!

Recommended for ages 14+

Someone Like You

Someone Like You

By Sarah Dessen

Summary:



Halley and Scarlett have been best friends forever. Scarlett is the popular one, who is outspoken and outgoing and Halley is the shy sidekick who is always known as 'Scarlett's best friend Halley'. The two girls balance each other perfectly though and have an unbreakable friendship.

Now it's summer and it's the day after Scarlett's only true love, Michael died in a motorcycle accident, and now Scarlett finds out that she is pregnant with his child. For once it's Scarlett who needs Halley's support.
Scarlett is heartbroken about Michael's death, but is uncertain about what to do about her baby, keeping in mind that she is only sixteen and that her future lies in front of her.

Scarlett's mother is forcing her into abortion, but Halley is telling her to do what she feel's is right. Realizing that her baby is the only bit of Michael left in her world, Scarlett decides to keep her baby and go on an incredible adventure with her best friend, Halley, for the next nine months of her life.

When the two best friends go back to school, Scarlett introduces Halley to Michael's best friend Macon Faulkner. Halley and Macon soon develop a good relationship, which leads them to start dating. But before Scarlett and Halley know it, Scarlett is five months into her pregnancy and Halley is sneaking out to see Macon. Everything seems to be going perfectly, but when Macon asks Halley to take their relationship to the next level, Halley is unsure about developing her relationship even more with Macon if their is a chance that she might end up like Scarlett...

Scarlett and Halley soon get into a fight that might ruin their so-called-unbreakable-relationship and for once both girls need each other more than ever...

Along the way of nine months Scarlett and Halley realize that life is the worst place not to have a best friend.

Can they make it through together without ruining their one of a kind relationship?

Review:


Someone Like You. Wow. I am speechless. Once again Sarah Dessen had written a masterpiece. Absolutely incredible. Someone Like You is the ultimate coming of age book that all teens must read. I read this book in about four days and it was extremely thought provoking.
In this book, Dessen, forces us to reflect and to think about our future life as teenagers. Dessen also write about all of the mistakes that the teenagers at Scarlett and Halley's school make and the mistakes the two best friends themselves make. I think that the book prepares us in some ways, for the next step in our life.

The plot of the story was a good one which combined all of the elements of a teenager's life; heartbreak, worry, friendship problems, insecurities and growing up. I think that all tweens want to be prepared for their teenage years and want to know what silly things not to do and what to do when you have a friendship problem, or any kind of problem and I find that Dessen has done a very good job of explaining many things.

I also find that Halley is a very believable character and I think that any tween of teen would be able to feel as if she was Halley in the book, just the way that I felt while reading the Someone Like You. Halley is real and alive and the description of her actions is well done that makes us, the readers, feel as though she is coming off of the page and telling us all about her life as a teenager with so many worries and uncertainties in her life.

I do think though, that I might have been a little too young to read Someone Like You and I think that teens should read it when they are about 13 or 14 years old, because of Halley and Macon's relationship. But having said that, I am extremely happy that I read this book because I was waiting for a book like this to come along on my list!

What a magnificent and thought-provoking book, one of Dessen's best!

Recommended for all teens age 14+

The Beacon Street Girls: Book 1: Worst Enemies / Best Friends

The Beacon Street Girls: Book 1: Worst Enemies / Best Friends

By Annie Bryant

Summary:

Charlotte Ramsey and her dad have been moving around the world over the past couple of years, but this time they are settling down for the long haul. They are moving back to Brookline, Charlotte's birth place, and her mother's burial place.

When Charlotte and her dad arrive in their new home -- a huge, old, bright yellow mansion --  Charlotte is fascinated by it and wants to know more about it.  But her landlady, Ruby, told Charlotte not to go poking her head around every corner of the house...

Having just come from Paris in France, Charlotte doesn't have a clue about fitting in on her first day of school. Before she knows it, she's zipping the cafeteria tablecloth into her jeans, and is embarrassing herself in front of every student at the school, including the food-spattered girls who soon become her new worst enemies: Avery, Katani and Maeve.

To fix her relationship with Avery, Katani and Maeve, Charlotte invites them all over for a sleepover and they all, strangely, accept Charlotte's invitation. When the three girls arrive, they too are fascinated by the house. When the girls find a trap door in the house they want to know even more about the house and its history.  The only way to do that is by going on an adventure together...

This is the story of four girls brought together by a house, a landlady, a dog and an adventure...

Review:

I started to read the Beacon Street Girls series when I was about nine years old and finished the series around my tenth birthday, but I think the great plots mean the series can be enjoyed by any tween up to the age of about thirteen. The author, Annie Bryant, creates great stories with a mix of friendship and mystery. I loved how in Worst Enemies / Best Friends Maeve, Katani, Avery and Charlotte try to solve the mystery of the trap door and the old house individually, but they are eventually forced to work together to solve the mystery. Being forced to work together creates tension between all of the girls and it adds elements of betrayal and fighting to the story. These tensions make the story a lot more interesting to read and make the book become a page turner.

I can definitely related to Charlotte as a character. We have both lived in and explored Paris, and we both know what it feels like to be the new girl and to do a big move. I think that having a character in a book who you can relate to is comforting for the reader, because they know that there are other people like them in the world. Every tween can find a girl in the book that they can relate to. There is Avery, the smart and sporty animal lover; Katani, the creative fashionista and inspiring model; Maeve, the bubbly, dyslexic redhead and inspiring actress; and finally, Charlotte, the traveler, klutz and writer.

This is the perfect book for tweens who are trying to learn how to be a good friend and are preparing to become teenagers.

Recommended for any tween age 11+ 

240 pages

P.S. Happy Leap Day to all of my Bookworms and their families! I hope that you are enjoying this extra day in the year!

-Gia

The Cardturner

The Cardturner 

By Louis Sachar

Summary:

Alton Richards's summer is looking pretty bad. His now ex-girlfriend, Katie, just dumped him for his best friend, Cliff. He has no money. His dad lost his job. His parents need money to finish installing their new pool. And to make things worse Alton is forced to drive his extremely wealthy Uncle Lester to Lester's bridge tournaments four days a week.

Alton wants absolutely nothing to do with his Uncle Lester, especially because Alton knows that his mother is making Alton drive Lester to bridge tournaments just so that it will look like Alton cares about his 'dear Uncle Lester' and will make Lester want to give his money to Alton's family.

Unknown to Alton and his family, there is another family, the Castanedas, also fighting for Uncle Lester's inheritance...

Before he knows it, Alton is discovering family secrets of betrayal and backstabbing between the Castanedas and the Richards, Alton is playing bridge with Toni Castanedas, Alton is fighting for his Uncle's inheritance, and he is being taught that life is just like a game of bridge...

Welcome to a world of discovery, betrayal, confusion and romance...

Review:


The Cardturner is the third book that I have read by Louis Sachar and it is probably the most difficult, but at the same time most interesting book that I have read by this author.

It was difficult to read because, in the middle of every chapter Alton stopped the story and explained to the reader what he learned that day during his game of bridge. The author clearly wanted to make us read a great book, and at the same time learn how to play bridge.  I found the plot so confusing that it was hard to do both. The plot was confusing, but addictive, because it was such a good puzzle.   It was very hard to concentrate on both, so in the end, I just put my mind to the plot, and that was the right thing to do...

The book has a great plot and timeline. I liked how Sachar (author) took us to the past so we could see what happened between the Castanedas and the Richards. It gave us a break from Alton playing bridge, and him explaining to us what he had learned.

The Cardturner isn't a page turner, but it is a book that, forces the reader, after every chapter, to take thirty seconds to think about the chapter.  I think it is good to read books like that every once in a while, because we all need to read something that will make us think and try to understand what is going on in a book or in life.

The last thing that I want to say about The Cardturner is that whenever Toni and Alton are together, they bring a very comedic side to the story. There was always something or someone to laugh at when they were together. I think the story's humour made the story very enjoyable to read, because it made the story seem less bridge-serious!

The Cardturner was a fun and interesting book to read, which I recommend to girls in their late tweens and early teens.

336 pages

What Happened To Goodbye

What Happened To Goodbye

By Sarah Dessen

Summary:

After her mom's scandalous affair with another man, McLean and her dad are on their own. Every year though, they have to move town because of McLean's dad's work. Every year McLean 'reinvents' herself; new name, new personality, new clothes, new everything. But this time, McLean wants nothing more than to be herself...

When she arrives at her new school McLean finds herself already slipping into another person: Liz, smart, stylish and friendly. She decides to live with it. But when McLean meets Dave, a very cute popular boy in her class, she starts to wonder who she has really become. Dave brings out the best in Liz, but all that McLean can think about is what happened to McLean? What happened to goodbye?

As McLean tries to figure out who she really is and where and with who does she fit in, Dave is still madly in love with her... Or is he in love with Liz?

McLean only wants one thing... Reality.

Review:
What Happened to Goodbye is one of the most thought-provoking books that I have read. It makes you think about who you really are, and about what makes a person themselves. While I was reading this masterpiece, those thoughts where going through my mind and I realized that you never really think about that kind of thing. It made the plot even more addictive because you wanted to know the answer to the hundred of questions that where passing though you mind.

I think that Sarah Dessen, the author, chose a very good main character for this book. It seems like Dessen has every little thing and fact about McLean just right, and she is a very believable and realistic character. She isn't a perfect or terrible person, but a struggling person, someone with a flaw in her life. Her background and everything about her and her life is so intriguing. You just can't stop reading a book with a character like that!

The plot was absolutely incredible! Romance, friendship, adventure and discovery where all genres of the book. Sarah Dessen had everything in that book, and reading it, you learn about everything that happens in a teenage girl's life. I would definitely recommend this book for any tween who is about to be a teenager.

Before I end my review I will admit that I cried multiple times throughout the book, I unfortunately can't tell you why (for book-ruining reasons!) and there is not much more to say about this book except: GO AND READ IT! It is unbelievable!

Thank you so much Sarah Dessen for your masterpiece. I look foreword to reading some more of your books!

Recommended for any tween age 12+

402 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