Gamer Girl

by Mari Mancusi

I just finished this book last night and I loved it! Halfway through the book, I squealed out loud: "Why do I love this book so much?! I shouldn't like it as much as I do! I am such a geek!" And I am... but whatever. I loved everything about this book. I loved the cover, loved the plot line, loved the background premise about manga and video games, and loved the main character.

Maddy's parents have recently gotten divorced, so her, her mom, and her sister moved in with their grandmother- her unicorn-collecting grandmother. To make matters worse, they moved in the middle of the school year- and to the suburbs! And Maddy's first day of school could not have gone any worse than it did- with her grandmother forcing her to change clothes-into a unicorn sweatshirt- and personally taking her to school to get her class schedule. The only positive thing that has come out of Maddy's move to the suburbs is that her dad gave her the online game "Fields of Fantasy" and Maddy has created a beautiful character named Allora and teamed up with a handsome knight named Sir Leo. If only Maddy's online game could happen in real life- or at least parts of it! Highly recommended!

Two Awesome Girl Books

This past week, I all but devoured two "girly" novels. I loved both these books, and cannot wait to continue with the other books in the series. I call them "girly" books because one is about a high school senior trying to make it in the modeling world and the other one is about a beautiful, shy, clumsy brainiac who could pass for being a model, but is really a computer geek.

Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker

"A wallflower in the spotlight can do one of two things: wilt, or blossom...

Violet Greenfield's life changes forever when a lady in giant Chanel shades tells her she could be IT, the next Kate Moss-but taller, and without the PR problems. That's how Violet winds up with a business card in the front pocket of her jeans on her first day as a senior in high school. Angela Blythe from Tryst Models in New York City wants to put Violet on a plane and whisk her into the world of high-heeled boots and oversized sunglasses. Tall, skinny Violet, who's been P-L-A-I-N practically forever. And guess what? She's going." (from the publisher)

I really enjoyed this book because it was more than I expected it to be. It was not a written version of America's Next Top Model. It was about a girl who has always craved to be more than she believes herself to be. So, when the chance arrives for Violet to escape her ordinary life, she takes it- the good and the bad. As Violet begins more immersed in the lifestyle of a model, she begins to distance herself from her high school friends, and does all the things a newbie does out on the town. And she pays for it.

Watching Violet shine and struggle in this book was what really drove the novel. Sure, it was interesting reading about photo shoots and runway shows, but Violet's struggle to find herself in this book is what made it so great. Highly recommend!

The Specialists: Model Spy by Shannon Greenland

"Teen genius Kelly James is in a lot of hot water. A whiz with computers, she agreed to help her college RA, David, uncover some top-secret information. After all, she doesn't have many friends and David has always been nice to her. it doesn't hurt that he's super-cute and irresistible, too. All she has to do is hack into the government's main computer system, but a few hours later, her whole life changes. She is caught and taken in for questioning. Only this isn't your run-of-the-mill arrest. Rather than serve a juvenile detention sentence, she accepts the option to change her name and enlist in a secret government spy agency that trains teen agents to go undercover. As if that wasn't overwhelming enough, she discovers that David works for this agency as well! And before she even begins to understand what is going on, she's sent on her first mission as an undercover model. And who better to partner with than David himself!" (from the publisher)

I read this book in one night. Kelly, or Gigi -which is her code name, is a great main character. She doesn't pretend to be beautiful or unique, she just considers herself a misfit. Kelly has been an orphan since she was 7 years old- she knows to never unpack her suitcase because she doesn't know what tomorrow will bring. She might have friends, if she ever trusted anybody or knew how to talk to them. So, when she is recruited to join the Specialists- Kelly gets something she never thought she'd have again- a family. And Kelly adapts to training very quickly- bonding with her teammates, developing deeper feelings for David, and learning to defend herself physically. Sooner than she'd like, Kelly is sent on a mission- a mission with David. But, Kelly cannot afford to mess up because the mission is to rescue David's dad, who has been missing for over 10 years and the only parent David has left.

I loved Gigi as a main character. I liked her quirks and how most of the chapters started with her thinking in computer codes. I liked that she didn't always believe people when they told her she was pretty, because she considered herself a geek and gangly. I loved that she had panic attacks and how sugar was a way for her to calm down. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the other volumes in the Specialists series.

Holiday Wish-List

There are a couple things that I would like for Christmas. Some are books, some are movies. I will probably have to get the Joss Whedon comic and DVD myself, as I don't see anyone in my family buying them for me. How about everyone else- what is on your Christmas wish-list/holiday wish-list?

Here are some things I would like:

Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog by Joss Whedon, starring Nathan Fillion (hottie!) and NPH

The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

Bones: Season 3

Marvel's Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan (Vol. 1-7)

January Releases to Relish

January Releases to Relish

Just Another Girl by Melody Carlson

"Aster Flynn is stuck. She has to spend all of her "free" time with her younger sister, Lily, who, though fifteen, is mentally handicapped. At age seventeen, Aster should be hanging out with friends, dating boys, and working at a fun job. But her dad's MIA, her mom is always at work, and her older sister Rose is too self-centered to give her any help. It's not that Aster doesn't love Lily--it's just that for once she'd like to be able to be a normal teenager.So when a cute popular guy seems to take an interest in her, Aster hatches a plan. Somehow she has to get her workaholic mom and deadbeat dad to be the parents Lily needs so that Aster can have a life of her own. But can she ever get her parents to start acting like adults? Is this new guy worth the trouble? And, most importantly, will Lily get hurt in the process?" (from the publisher)

The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer

"Angela's parents think she's on the road to ruin because she's dating a "bad boy." After her behavior gets too much for them, they ship her off to Hidden Oak. Isolated and isolating, Hidden Oak promises to rehabilitate "dangerous girls." But as Angela gets drawn in further and further, she discovers that recovery is only on the agenda for the "better" girls. The other girls -- designated as "the purple thread" -- will instead be manipulated to become more and more dangerous . . . and more and more reliant on Hidden Oak's care." (from the publisher)

Chasing Boys by Karen Tayleur

"El Marini just isn’t fitting into the new life she’s been forced to create without her dad. Her mom and sister have accepted his absence and moved on, but El is convinced things will get back to normal if she just keeps her feelings of loss to herself and waits it out.
Life at her new public school would have been unbearable if weren’t for Eric Callahan. As her crush grows to epic proportions, she’ll do anything to be more like the popular girls he notices, even buying the first pink top she’s ever owned. But then she meets Dylan, a quiet artistic-type who is both unnerving and annoying as he shines a light on El’s misguided attempts to attract Eric. El’s need for acceptance will hit home with teens as she finally sees that chasing boys has distracted her from making peace with the past and finding herself." (from the publisher)

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

"The war between humanity and Faerie devastated both sides. Or so 15-year-old Liza has been told. Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza’s world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers she has the Faerie ability to see—into the past, into the future—and she has no choice but to flee her town. Liza’s quest will take her into Faerie and back again, and what she finds along the way may be the key to healing both worlds." (from the publisher)

Heartsinger by Karlijn Stoffels

"Smee was born with a great gift: the ability to sing other people's stories and heal their pain. But Smee also carries his own pain -- his failure to reach his deaf mother and heal her grief at his father's death. As he travels the country, he eases many people's sorrows, but he cannot connect with anyone himself. Mitou also has a gift: spreading joy through a few notes from her accordion. When she hears about Smee--who was born on the same day she was--she knows that surely they belong together, each of them helping others through their music. They finally meet on the way to the king's castle to sing for the beautiful Princess Esperanza. But will Mitou's hopes be fulfilled--or is the pain of the past too great? " (from the publisher)

Kissing Booth by Lexie Hill

"Lisi has never been kissed. Sure, she could practice on her guy friend, Johnny, but he’s like a brother to her! So when it comes time to pick a theme for the Spring Carnival booth, Lisi suggests a "Kissing Booth," hoping it will give her the chance to get a cheek-kiss from her crush, the handsome, popular Brett. But on the day of the carnival, as rumors fly and kisses are stolen, Lisi discovers that the person she should really kiss may have been right in front of her all along." (from the publisher)

You are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay

"Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a whole bunch of semi-dead people with killer issues. All Megan really wants is to go to homecoming, but when you're trailed by a bunch of slobbering corpses whenever you leave the house, it's kinda hard to score a date. Let's just say Megan's love life could use some major resuscitation.
Megan's convinced her life can't get any worse - until someone in school starts using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into scary, hardcore flesh-eating Zombies. Now it's up to Megan to stop the Zombie apocalypse. Her life - and more importantly, the homecoming dance - depends on it. " (-from the publisher)

Lisa Schroeder's "Far From You" Contest

FAR FROM YOU RELEASE CELEBRATION AND CONTEST!!!

Lisa Schroeder, author of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, is celebrating the release of her upcoming YA novel, FAR FROM YOU, and hosting a contest with LOTS of great prizes!
For three days leading up to the book’s release date of December 23rd, you can watch VLOGs and hear some excerpts read from the book.

The VLOG schedule is as follows:

Sunday, December 21st – Liv’s Book Reviews - http://livsbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Monday, December 22nd – What Vanessa Reads - http://whatvanessareads.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, December 23rd – Lisa Schroeder, author - http://lisa-schroeder.livejournal.com/ AND http://myspace.com/writerlisa

Help spread the word, and you might win a fabulous prize!

Copy and paste THIS entire blog entry into your blog between now and December 21st, then come back to Lisa’s blog at either Livejournal OR Myspace and leave a comment with the link to your blog and you will get TWO entries to win a number of prizes.

Wondering what you might win? Here is the list (there will be multiple winners):
~ An Advanced Review Copy of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan
~ An Advanced Review Copy of SOMETHING, MAYBE, by Elizabeth Scott
~ Young adult novel GIRL, HERO by Carrie Jones
~ Young adult novel, THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD by Donna Freitas
~ Young adult novel, UGLIES by Scott Westerfield
~ Pair of YA fairy tale retellings by Cameron Dokey (BELLE and BEFORE MIDNIGHT)
~ TWILIGHT movie soundtrack
~ $15.00 Barnes and Noble gift card along with some Harry & David’s chocolate moose munch
~ And of course, a signed copy of FAR FROM YOU

For more chances to win, watch one or all of the VLOGs and leave a comment on that vlogger’s page, and you get another entry. That means if you post the schedule on your blog AND comment on all three VLOGs, you can have FIVE entries for the contest!

A live drawing with winners announced will be done by Lisa Thursday morning, December 24th, in a special holiday VLOG.

!!Twilight Book Party!!

Tonight, the library I work at is having a Twilight Book Party. There is going to be games, prizes, and food. The only catch, you also have to participate in a book (and possibly movie) discussion. The room is going to be decorated like the prom, with twinkling lights and cheesy decorations. We are having our Teen Advisory group (a group of students from the middle school) come and do the decorations. Hopefully, we will have a good turnout. It was mentioned in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel- so we are all keeping our fingers crossed.

We had a previous book party for the City of Ember and NO ONE SHOWED UP! The room was really cool too - it was all dark, with a spotlight as the one source of light and the kids would have had individual (battery-powered) candles for their light source. Hopefully, the Twilight event will go better since it is more popular right now.

It's been a while since I been free to do a post, so this is going to be a compilation of all the books that I have read and unable to blog about.

Last night I read the graphic novel Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci. I liked it as much as the first novel in the series. The Janes were very humorous, not always getting along, but comfortable in their differences. The P.L.A.I.N campaign was still underway- my favorite piece of public art was the parking lot "My Body Is Beautiful" but the marionettes were cool too. And I liked the continuing romance of Damon and Jane, as well as the romances the other Janes' developed. This was a good addition to the series and I look forward to more volumes.
4 1/2 stars out of 5

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr.

I did not like this book very much. It was really dark and I could not get into the characters. They only character I really liked was Niall and I am not sure why. I wanted to like Leslie, but for some reason I was not connecting her. This book is about the Dark Court and has repeating characters from Wicked Lovely, but unless you are a huge fan of Wicked Lovely or you don't mind really, really dark books, I would not recommend this book.
2 1/2 stars out of 5

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr.

I enjoyed this book, but the last chapter kind of threw me off track. I liked Aislinn and positively adored Seth. Seth seemed like a great guy for any girl to crush on, with the bad boy appeal, but a very nice openness to him. I did not really like Keenan, but again, I don't know if I was suppose to. Keenan is not human- he's fey and he has always seen humans as playthings and lesser creatures. But, even as I didn't really like Keenan, I still wanted him to have a happy ending with the Winter Girl/Queen and the last chapter left this part feeling ominous. Overall, I would recommend this book to those interested in faeries, paranormal fans, and fantasy fans.
4 out of 5 stars.

Must Love Black by Kelly McClymer.

I really liked this book. It was a short read, but covers a lot of ground. Phillipa's mother died when she was nine years old in a horrifying car accident. From that time on, it was always just her and her dad. But then, her dad met another woman, fell in love, and decided to remarry. Rather than go with her dad and new stepmother on their honeymoon, Phillipa searches for a summer job that will take her away. And she finds one by answering a job ad for a nanny. The part that hooked her- it is a requirement that she loves black. What more could a goth girl want?
What I liked about the book is that even as Phillipa is coping with her dad moving on from her mother's death, Phillipa is helping her two charges also cope with the loss of their mother. The twins that Phillipa takes care of are hilarious- wise beyond their years, very droll and sarcastically funny. Highly recommended!
5 out of 5 stars.

Sight by Adrienne Maria Vrettos.

Since the age of five, Dylan has been able to see things. She has had visions and dreams of children that have been kidnapped and killed. For eleven years, she has managed to keep her psychic abilities a secret from her best friends and her community. The only people that know about her visions is her mother and the police. Dylan routinely goes out with the police whenever she has had a vision- sometimes traveling for hours to help neighboring communities solve kidnapping cases. Dylan is sixteen and more in control of her abilities, but with the arrival of a new girl to town, Dylan has been having more flashbacks to the first child victim she ever had a vision of - Clarence, a kindergarten classmate of hers. That is because the Drifter has come back to town and Dylan must face her psychic abilities if she is to save her community and the life of someone very close to her. Highly recommended!
5 out of 5 stars.

Dopple Ganger Chronicles: The First Escape

by G.P. Taylor

"The First Escape is the first book in the Dopple Ganger Chronicles, a six-book series following three children--Sadie and Saskia Dopple and Erik Morrissey Ganger. Sadie and Saskia are mischievous identical twins living at an orphanage, where Erik is their only friend. They are separated when Saskia is adopted by Muzz Elliott, a wealthy woman searching for her long-lost family treasure. While Saskia stumbles into the center of a crime only she can stop, Sadie and Erik embark on a quest to find her. " (from the Publisher)

Sadie and Saskia are twins- closer than close. Every thought and emotion is shared among these two orphans. And they love to create trouble and vex the Head Mistress of the orphanage. One day, Muzz Elliott, a wealthy, eccentric patron of the orphanage comes and wants to adopt one of the girls. Saskia is chosen on the merit of her teeth. Thus starts Saskia life with Muzz Elliott, while Sadie struggles to remain Queen of the orphan girls. Things go bad for both girls, but Sadie, with the help of Erik, manages to escape the orphanage, the police, and a mad magician, all to reach Saskia and save her and Muzz Elliott from Muzz Elliott's evil twin and niece.

This graphic novel was neat because it was told sometimes like a graphic novel, and other times like a regular book. I enjoyed the story and the interesting format. I look forward to the other editions in the series.

Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

"All Kat wants is to be normal, or at least to look that way to students at her new school. But her mother is a medium, and not the kind that fits in between small and large; Kat's mom is the kind of medium who sees spirits and communicates with them.And, even worse, Kat has just discovered that she can see spirits too. In fact, she seems to be the only one capable of helping a spirit at her school cross over successfully. The question is can she do it without needing to switch schools herself?

In this the first of three SUDDENLY SUPERNATURAL books, Elizabeth Cody Kimmel brings humor, heart, and a little supernatural charm to the trials and tribulations of finding out who you are and who you want to be--all while surviving the seventh grade. " (from the Publisher)

I really enjoyed this book. I had put the book out on display during the Halloween season, but had not actually read the book. I had so many kids and parents ask about the book based off the cover alone, that I thought I would try reading it as well. And I really, really liked the book. I loved Kat as a character. She was a very honest girl - she loved her mother, but because of her mom's gift, she was sometimes embarassed as well. I liked Kat because she did not shy away from expressing her thoughts, even if they were uncomfortable. I also enjoyed Jac as the odd, out-spoken best friend. I liked seeing Kat and Jac bond and become closer, as well as take on the spirit world together. I look forward to read the other books in the series.