Neulibrarylady

Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, is a young Native American boy living on a reservation near Spokane Washington. He is telling the story of how and why he is choosing to leave the reservation for better opportunities in life. Which in his case means going to an all white high school in the next town, playing basketball against his former team mates and getting beat up by the school bully. Other than dealling with these and other serious topics the book has many HYSTERICALLY FUNNY scenes!

Having listened to the book two years ago I was surprised to find the illustrations in the print addition, they add to the overall appeal of the book as Arnold often deals with his problems in life by drawing cartoons.

Stay up scale/Keep me in the kitchen: 9

Ages:13 and up. While serious topics are tackled this is a book about self-discovery and making the change to high school.

The amazing fast paced adventure of an unassuming American boy and a crazy Lithuanian exchange student. Or is she?

Perry Stormaire plays by the rules, his father’s rules: he gets good grades, participates in the clubs that his father thinks will get him into a good college and interns at his father’s New York law firm. All things that should stand him in good stead to grow up, go to Columbia and be a lawyer.
Might this all change when his mom decides they should host a foreign exchange student for the school year? Gobija Zaksauskas, “call me Gobi”, is not at all what the Stormaire’s bargained for. She’s shy, socially awkward and most important of all NOT a high school senior!
Who is she and what is she here for? It’s all revealed when Perry takes her to the Prom. The frumpy Lithuanian exchange student disappears and in her place is a European knock out who takes Perry on an adrenaline pumping exploit through the dark underbelly of New York.

9 stars! I couldn’t put it down and had to fight the urge not to skip ahead to see what would happen next. Also got a kick out of the chapter beginnings, college essay topics from the top colleges in America.

Ages: 14 and up

*Some Content May Not Be Appropriate For Listeners/Readers Under 14 Years* Beyond that this book is freaking FANTASTIC!!!!

Bray’s smart and witty satire of: beauty pageants, commercializing, reality television, peer pressure and gender questioning was a laugh out loud joy to listen too. The characters are complex and the action fast paced.

The plot: A plane carrying the ‘Miss. Teen Dream’ contestants crashes on ‘deserted’ island. While the girls believe the Corporation will rescue them they still need to figure out a way to survive. What happens when it turns out the island isn’t as deserted as they thought? What happens when the Corporation does not come? Will the girls survive? Who will come to top of the Beauty Queen pyramid? What part has the Corporation, Lady Bird and Momo B Cha-Cha had in all of this?

You’ll have to read/listen to find out! I guarantee you will laugh out load, enjoy this book and what to read quotes aloud to your friends!

Keep me in the Kitchen – 10 STARS!!!!!

Ages: 14 and up.

I’m taking YA Literature this semester with one of the best Youth Librarian’s in upstate NY, Joyce Laiosa! So most of the post could be centered around Young Adult Literature for the next three months.

Who is Will Grayson? Who is Will Grayson? You might as well ask that twice you’ll be reading their names a lot in this book. Although you might also need to ask yourself, can any one have a best friend as fabulous as Tiny Cooper? It’s unlikely but it’s something to strive for anyway!

Will Grayson is an average upper middle class seventeen year-old from a Chicago suburb, his parents are doctors, he follows the rules and he’s going to follow his parent’s plan for his life, he’ll go to college to be a doctor too. Will Grayson is a poor and depressed seventeen year-old boy who lives about an hour outside of Chicago. He dresses in black, is angry at the world and as if all that wasn’t difficult enough he’s gay too. He’s the OWG (other Will Grayson).

In an unlikely turn of events the two Wills meet up on a dark night in downtown Chicago and their lives are changed forever. The events and actions that precipitate these changes are the characters growth, developments and interactions with each other and their respective circles of friends.

Some might find the few homosexual scenes troubling but the overall meaning of the book, acceptance, understanding and facing your fears are worth a little discomfort.

This was the second time I listened to the audio of Will Grayson, Will Grayson. It was just as good this time as the first! Though it may sound trite I laughed and I cried.

Keep me in the Kitchen 10!!!!!

Ages 14 and up – sexual content and profanity.

This book contains three novellas from Weber’s Honor Harrington universe. The first, and best, is a tale of about Prince Michael and his realization that he is in love. The second is an intrigue about the Peoples Republic and the last is an early Honor story, written by David Weber.
While I usually devourer all things Honor this book was a little harder to get through. The stories were good and if you follow Honor you’ll read them, but this book didn’t keep me up late as past books have.

5 out of 10

This is the second time I’ve listened to The Hunger Games. It’s a dystopian tale of a future America where after a great war The Capitol controls the provinces by forcing two youths from each district to fight to the death in an arena while it is all broad cast on TV. Could this really happen? Was there a Coliseum in Rome? Was there a Holocaust? While this is just one author’s fictional view of a dystopian future it is a riveting look at mans ability to be cruel to other men.
This has been a popular book for the past few years and with the movie now in production if you haven’t read or listened to it you might want to.

As this was an audio book I didn’t stay up listening but I did get the kitchen pretty clean and cooked up some good food.

8.5 stars.

A new graphic novel series for younger readers, this is the second in the series, Venable tells a good story of a reluctant guinea pig detective living in a weird pet store. The illustrations are entertaining and lend to the story. The sidekick and other animals help contribute to the flow of the story plus they are FUNNY. I wish I had time to read them all.

7.5 stars. A quick read I didn’t need to stay up late;)

Ages 5 and up.

Cassia has always believed the Society to be good, they do everything to make sure the citizens are well cared for and protected; teach them, feed them, plan their careers and whom they’ll marry. Everyone she knows seems happy and healthy, but are they? When she realizes that something is wrong with her Match, Cassia starts to question her societies precepts and you will too.

I’ll admit that at first I was not very into this book, it has been getting some pretty good press and Disney has bought the movie rights. With those things in mind the plot did pick up and I’m curious about what the next volume in the series will bring. Will Cassia make it on the frontier? What dark secrets about the Society will be revealed? If you are enjoying other dystopian books give this one a try.

Stay Up Scale 5

Ages 14 and up.

Curious about how other kids live? Plan to grow up and explore the world and experience other cultures? Noodle Pie would be a good start.
Asian-Australian teen Andy goes ‘home’ with his father to Vietnam. It sure is not like the home he knows in Australia! The whole extended family; Aunts, Uncles, cousins and grandparents live together in one small house above their family restaurant. They work HARD everyday and they think his dad is rich. What is going on? Will Andy’s scheme to bring the family more business, help is cousins and save the family honor work out? Can Andy survive the city traffic? Will you want to try some noodle pie?

The book also includes some easy Vietnamese Recipes.

Ages 10 and up.