Keeping the Moon

Keeping the Moon
written by Sarah Dessen



I know this was one of her earlier books, and as her earlier books go, it is one of the ones I like more, but the writing style is in need of improvement. Along the way, one can easily trace Dessen's writing style from this to her more recent works and see how much it's changed for the better, but for the sake of this review, the writing style of Keeping the Moon is pretty juvenile (ex: the first sentence of the work is "My name is Nicole Sparks.") I feel like a lot of really great characters were created in this work, but they don't go anywhere, don't do anything. Nothing much happens, and it's really a story stuck in transition. We get to see the very beginnings of Sarah Dessen's words of wisdom that we are so familiar with by now. The other really great thing about the characters is their names. I mean, main love interest's name is NORMAN, and that is not a name you see very often--so much personality! Overall, Keeping the Moon is a good start, but needs more. It's emptier than Dessen's other books. Nicole is overdramatic, but so boring! I think it may have been a more interesting book had it been set in Morgan or Isabel's point of view even, rather than Nicole's. Good start, but could have been better.

Rating: 3/5

Everlost

Everlost
written by Neal Shusterman




Though not as political as Unwind, Everlost makes for another great story set in another amazing world created by Neal Shusterman. I was a little wary going into this, I am not a fan of death stories, but Shusterman dealt with the idea tactly but also in a very straightforward way. He's not out to offend anyone. The story involves a lot of moving around, very much like Deathly Hallows' infamous camping scenes, where nothing much seems to happen, and the story is not being developed. I was waiting a good long while for one of those amazing plot twists that Neal Shusterman is so good at doing. Thankfully, although it came a little late, I wasn't disappointed. The ending is filled with amazing plot twists and, as the rest of the book, creative storytelling that is worth the read.

Rating: 4.5/5

The Possibility of Fireflies

The Possibility of Fireflies
written by Dominique Paul



I had read a favorable review by a blogger and decided I should really read this book as soon as I could. Now, upon reading it, I'm regretting that decision. This book has the most whiny, annoying, immature narrator who exists. She is your typical bratty kid who thinks the world is hers and she can get anything she wants. Her family life is a mess, and the book would have been a much better read if the focus had been on them since the very beginning, rather than cramming all the good stuff in the end. It was difficult to get into, difficult to read through, and a huge part of me didn't even want to try after some point. It's just a ridiculously shallow book with a shallow girl. There are some deeper parts, but they all occur in the last two chapters. Ellie gives girls everywhere a bad name. You know it's bad when a 14 year old decides that she is old enough to lose her virginity, and almost succeeds.

Rating: 1.5/5

Because I Am Furniture

Because I Am Furniture
written by Thalia Chaltas



Because I am Furniture is a lot of things, but original is not one of them. The style has been done before, by the likes of Sharon Creech and Ellen Hopkins. So has the story, also notably by Ellen Hopkins and others. The point of view may be slightly new (outsider rather than the one being abused), but it's still nothing amazingly good. While it is realistic and honest and narrated in a tone that is only reminiscent of death itself, this book has been written before. It is annoyingly predictable, and the ending was way to abrupt and cheesy. This is one instance where happily ever after just doesn't work. I do not recommend you take the time to read this, pick up Identical, which you may recall, I wasn't even that big a fan of, and you'd get a better story.

Rating: 2/5

White House Autumn

White House Autumn
written by Ellen Emerson White



While I still do enjoy reading about Meg and her family's life at the White House, I felt like this book was way too narrow-focused. I realize that the shooting of the President would be an extremely serious event, but I definitely feel it was far too drawn out and could have easily been condensed, leaving room for other stories. I did like seeing some of the characters develop a little more, particularly Steven, through their interactions with Meg. I felt like Meg's temperament after the shooting was accurate, but again, narrow. I would have liked to see more of how others were reacting. We got a glimpse of what was going through Steven's mind, but not really Neal's or especially her cryptic father's. I mean, at the beginning of the book, I was convinced that her parents were going to divorce, which, horrible as it is, would make a really interesting story. It's a little drastic then, to see the relationship between Meg's parents be slightly awkward, wobbly, and unsure, to the most steadfast, loving relationship out there. In general though, the Powers family just has the most personality of any book family I've read about (except maybepossibly the Weasleys). I think the one most powerful line of this book was Meg's mother talking about her shooter, saying only "I hope he gets help." Such a simple line ends up conveying so much about everything: decorum at the white house, her mother's compassion, her mother's position. Amazing. Again, it's a good book, but I'm hoping it's one of those that's a bridge to better sequels.

Rating: 3.5/5

Godless

Godless
written by Pete Hautman



The title is eye-catching enough, but add in the premise? WOW. Never before have I heard of anything quite so...well, insanely absurd, but well-developed! There are moments when the book gets a little preachy (no pun intended) about the whole idea of religion, but some of the ideas are pretty amazingly well thought out. It's not the kind of book I would ordinarily read, but with such a catchy premise, title, and cover, you just want to know where it goes! On its own, the cover image doesn't do much, but with the title, it is extremely catchy. I felt like the characters were all interesting, but could have been elaborated on, particularly Shin. I would have liked to have seen more of Shin's extreme devotion as it developed, at least a few hints here and there. I found the ending to be anticlimactic, and part of me still really feels like this book was just written to be banned, but it's still a compelling read that people interested in the ideas behind belief and religion should definitely consider reading.

Rating: 4/5

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)
written by Ellen Raskin



The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) is an amazing book that can be equally enjoyed by adults and children alike. Adults reading the book see more layers to it than the kids, but the read is just as mysterious and enjoyable (although the idea of marriage at that young an age will be a squicky one). If you have read Ellen Raskin's Westing Game, and even if you haven't, this is a book you really need to get your hands on. I've read some of her other books, but absolutely nothing compares to these two classics. This one comes fully equipped with hysterical characters and plenty of footnotes. It's adorably quirky without trying too hard. Every thing, every hilarious incident, is narrated casually and in a way that just makes it all funnier. Everything is so tantalizingly cryptic, and at times, downright confusing, but it's a huge relief when everything really falls into place and you realize that every event that was narrated is somehow connected to the big picture scheme. Other than all that, it's a very readable book. The chapters are divided up into small sections and just style-wise, it's an easy but really worthwhile read. It really emphasizes the reason why we love Ellen Raskin so much--plot twists and surprises everywhere! The other really nice thing is that the mystery is not at all obvious. Nobody would ever suspect the outcome, but it's such a compelling one! It's got snark, puzzles, humor, definitely not just a kids' book. It is also really nice, at the end, to get closure from all of the characters, so I do appreciate it when authors like Raskin do things like that.

Rating: 5/5

Meme!

Found at Reading Keeps You Sane:

CREATE YOUR DEBUT YA COVER

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or clickhttp://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or clickhttp://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml

The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or clickhttp://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php

Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Photoshop, Picnik, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.

5 – Post it to your site along with this text.

Love Among the Walnuts

Love Among the Walnuts
written by Jean Ferris



This was another one of my recent reads that had me underwhelmed. I wasn't a fan of the writing to begin with--I felt that it was trying much too hard to be whimsical and this was overly obvious. It gets better as the plot progresses, but the plot is pretty weak, predictable, and boring. I felt like it was in great need of plot twists and funny situations, instead of just ironically "funny" narration. Now, don't get me wrong, some of the whimsy was hilarious. The character's names were clever and really fun to track. I just don't know, though. If you're in the mood for whimsy, I would strongly recommend Ferris's other books, Once Upon A Marigold and Twice Upon a Marigold. This was more morbid, darker humor, reminding me a times of Pushing Daisies (but really not as funny). I just kept trying to look past the plot, theorizing that there'd be a twist in relation to the characters, the location, the mystery, whatever, and nothing really surfaced. I did enjoy watching the relationship between Sandy and Sunnie progress, but even that felt drastically drawn out (but maybe that's what made it so cute!). All in all, not the greatest book, but there are definitely worse.

Rating: 3/5

A Little Friendly Advice

A Little Friendly Advice
written by Siobhan Vivian



A Little Friendly Advice has its ups and downs, but overall was a bit of a disappointment. If I had read this book by Siobhan Vivian first, I probably would have had a better impression, but having read Same Difference and knowing she's capable of great things, this was a letdown. The writing was fantastic, she really does know how to bring the masterful language, but the plot was pretty pathetic, not gonna lie. The situations were realistic, the dialogue was realistic, but the combination of the different plots just doesn't work. A lot of the emotions seem natural, but some seem extremely blown out of proportion. I'm also aggravated that there was even the need for a cliche love interest, and I feel it would have been a great book without that element. Family and friend issues are more than enough to deal with, but having that supportive boyfriend there, that's going too far. There is some obnoxious symbolism here, but I'm really not sure if it was intentional or not. I think what bothered me most was that a lot of this book was ridiculously shallow. Ruby has so much going on in her life, and how does she fix it? By getting drunk at age 16, of course. I'm not saying that's not realistic, I just don't think it was the best decision creatively. It is one of those scenes where I cringed the whole way through, and particularly upon seeing her mother's reaction. Other than that, plenty of flat characters that I had trouble caring about, not enough detail about the interesting characters and too much on the boring ones. The relationships are, with minor exceptions, extremely empty. Empty flirting, empty friendships, unfortunately accurate, but still empty. I was, for the most part, glad with the ending, although again, the love interest is just irritating. The plot twist at the end redeemed the book for me greatly, but I still greatly preferred Same Difference to this.

Rating: 2.25/5