What Would Emma Do by Eileen Cook

What Would Emma Do

Eileen Cook

Overview

When things start going wrong in Wheaton, the heartland of America, Emma seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong times. She kisses her best friend’s boyfriend, who is also her best guy friend; she watches two “good Christian” girls get drunk and sick but keeps her mouth shut; and now she’s caught hanging out with the school’s pariah, Todd. Soon enough, Emma is made into a pariah herself. But with a voice of her own, she doesn’t let Wheaton, and its cookie-cutter citizens convert her.

Review

The plot was really interesting and there was never just one story going on. As soon as one got finished, there was always some more drama to be had, or built upon. This made the pages not boring and worth turning. It was a quick and easy read.

I liked how Emma prayed to God at the beginning of each chapter. And how she came to find and use her own voice. She was an individual and didn’t want to confirm. She should be a spokesperson for individuality. No matter how many people stopped talking to her or how bad things seemed, she kept true to herself. She had an ongoing list for every either-or problem of hers. I think those were me favorite part. The fact that she ran track was also pretty cool.

The only thing that really bothered me about WWED was the ending. It left so many questions, I wasn’t really sure that the book was really over. I’d like to know what happened to the accused students and how her scholarship went and if she and Todd ever blossomed. Another thing was like the whole popular girls getting sick issue was definitely blown out of proportion. The investigation and theories was just way too much.

Elizabeth Scott Contest Hosted by Reviewer X

I just heard about this KICK-A Elizabeth Scott contest and am obliged to share it with you all. It's hosted by Review X and the winner will get a copy of EVERY SINGLE BOOK ever written by Ms. Scott. Which I think is freaking cool. The contest ends June 3, so if you're like me and just hearing about this now, you'd better hurry up and get those entries in.

Here's all you have to do:

go HERE to enter
read an awesome review of Bloom HERE to get you more persuaded
learn more about Elizabeth HERE through her pub story
and join her facebook group HERE

I'm Featured on Flip It Friday

For those of you who don't know it, Sarah Ockler, debut author of 20 Boy Summer has a feature on her blog called Flip It Friday. During this, she puts us bloggers in the spotlight with a awesome interview. It's pretty cool. Well today was my day to be featured so be sure to head on over there and learn some more about me. Also, if you'd like to be featured on Flip It Friday, be sure to send her an e-mail. I'm sure she'd live ot have you. LINK

And BTW, Sarah will be featured on my blog in a few days... along with a CONTEST!!!!!!

Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett

Life In The Fat Lane

Cherie Bennett

Overview

Lara Ardeche has always been on top of things. With a winning attitude, and supporting family, there’s not much Lara has been unable to accomplish. She has won many beauty pageants, scored a wonderful boyfriend, and was even voted homecoming queen over two very prominent opponents. Lara Ardeche is the girl we all want to hate, but secretly wish we were. She’s got everything going for her, but is really because of her confidence or her waist line? After she starts gaining inches on a weekly basis, Lara’s life is turned upside down.

Review
Life in the Fat Lane is the first book I’ve read by Cherie Bennett and I have to say it was a good one. Cherie places the reader in such a situation in which you are able to experience being fat in a “thin is in” society. This was one of those rare page turners. I was hooked on the plot before I know it. As Lara goes from 118 to 218 pounds in just about a year’s time, she gains more than just a larger waist line.

At the beginning of her weight gaining, Lara is still her confident, pageant winning self, reassuring herself that it’s only a matter of time till she gets her figure back. But every time she steps on the scale, unlike her weight, a part of her self esteem is lost. How is it possible that she keeps gaining, no matter the countless diets and excessive exercise she’s put herself though? In just a few months, Lara has lost all hope she had of ever losing the weight. No matter what she does, there’s no tipping the scales in her favor. Like that isn’t problematic enough, her home life also starts to fall apart. Her mom and dad lose confident in her and in each other. Soon enough, her mom packs up their bags and them moves away.

This move was the best thing her mom ever did for Lara, even though Lara hated her for it at first. At the new school, Lara begins to find out who she really is and starts to accept her weight gain and puts the whispers past her. She even gets back into doing something she loves, piano lessons, which shows that she’s beginning to love herself again. Her instructor, Suzanne, and best friend, Molly, really played a big part in her life. They helped her coop with the weight gain and stayed by her side through it all. Jett, her ex, even came back into her life.

Life in the Fat Lane was definitely unique and I enjoyed every page of it. The old saying, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts” explains this book inside out. It might have taken Lara and her superficial family a while, but they came to accept Lara for who she was, on the inside. I would recommend this book to readers all a like.

Waiting On Wednessday X

Waiting on Wednesday is a topic brought to life by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. In it, you get to introduce to everyone the books you're looking forward in the upcoming year and such.



Goddess Bootcamp

(Oh.My.Gods.)

Tera Lynn Childs

224 pages

• Dutton Juvenile (June 11, 2009)

Phoebe, who recently discovered she's a descendant of Nike (the goddess, not the shoe), is finding that supernatural powers come with a crazy learning curve. Her stepfather, headmaster of the Academy for descendants of the Greek gods, has enrolled her at Dynamotheos Development Camp—aka Goddess Boot Camp—with a bunch of ten-year-olds for the summer. Embarrassing as that is, hopefully it'll help her gain control over her powers in time to pass the test of the gods, continue training hard enough to qualify for the Pythian Games, and enjoy her godly boyfriend, Griffin, all while avoiding the ultimate mistake of accidentally misusing powers.

It's another fast-paced myth-inspired heroine's quest that's sure to bring out the goddess in anyone. (Barnes and Nobles.)

Teaser Tuesday XIX

I saw this over at Fizzy Thoughts and I thought it was interesting, so I decided to try it.

GRAB your current read OR the closest book to you
LET the book fall open to a random page.
SHARE with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
YOU also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
PLEASE avoid spoilers!


Oh. My. Gods.
Terra Lynn Childs


pg 235


"The last thing I remember before collapsing is Troy's smiling face and that's when I know. I didn't win this race without help. ... ... ... Which means I didn't win at all."

Waiting on Wednesday IX

Waiting on Wednesday is a topic brought to life by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. In it, you get to introduce to everyone the books you're looking forward in the upcoming year and such.



Crash Into Me
Albert Borris

272pages
Simon Pulse (July 7, 2009)

Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back. (LINK)

**Just so you guys know, I was attracted to this book by the Cover and the Title. But After I read the synopsis, it just kinda got a little more interesting, and scary. But anyways, the purpose of this "just so you know" is to let you guys know that I CANNOT relate to the synopsis. I an not suicide or anything. The book Just sounds interesting and like it would be a good read. Incase you were wondering.***

Teaser Tuesday XVIII

I saw this over at Fizzy Thoughts and I thought it was interesting, so I decided to try it.

GRAB your current read OR the closest book to you
LET the book fall open to a random page.
SHARE with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
YOU also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
PLEASE avoid spoilers!


Shark Girl
Kelly Bingham


pg. 53


" 'A shark attacked me.' "

" Justin stares. ' He ATE your arm?' "

Sarah Quigley Winner

For those of you who don't know the drill, I'll do a quick run through as to how the winner was chosen. What I do is I write down all the names of the entrants, including extra entries. Then I go to Random.Org and get a randomized list. Afterward, I put in the number of entries and have Random.Org pick a number.

All together, there were 35entries!! We could have done much better than that guys, but the winning number was

TWENTY-ONE

Congratulations 21! Just email me your snail mail addy and I'll forward it to Sarah Quigley ASAP. You have a week to contact me or a new winner will be chosen.

Thanks to EVERYONE for participating in this giveaway.

And now for the upsetting news. 21 Questions will need to be put on hiatus for a while. If any of you have suggestions for authors you'd like to see featured on 21 questions, send me an email or leave a comment and I'll be sure to get in contact with that author. Although I'm not promissing anything.

Thanks Once Again!

20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

20 Boy Summer

Sarah Ockler

OVERVIEW

Frankie and Ann have been best friends since they can remember. They are practically sisters, joined at the hip. Frankie has done all there is to do with boys. Anna has zero experience, hence, 20 boy summer. Vacationing in California, what’s there not to love? Beach, Boys, Summer and just plain ole fun in the sun. These girls are headed towards the Absolutely Best Summer Ever. Anna might even finally find that summer romance Frankie is dying for her to have.

From The Back Cover:

“Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores wh at it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.”

REVIEW

I don’t even know where to start. The paragraph on the back says it all, no joke. I would have never guessed that this was Sarah’s debut.

20 Boy Summer is a heartbreaking, tear jerking, mouth laughing, gush of awesomeness that told the true meaning of friendships and relations. I soo totally recommend it to all readers!

I had no problems at all getting into this book, or feeling empathy for the characters. Sarah touches on such an intense subject, death, and getting over a loved one. But she’s wound it to where you actually find yourself enjoying reading about it. I don’t know if that means I have a twisted mind but I hope not. Sarah did such a wonderful job with 20 Boy Summer, I have no trouble knowing that she has a great career ahead of her.

The plot was a great one. I don’t know if I’ve read a book with the same premise as this one before. It was definitely one of a kind. Death is not a happy topic at all, but there’s more to it than crying and grieving. 20 Boy Summer not only touched on that part, but also on the ‘getting over it’ part. How do you really know when you’re over the death of a brother, a friend, ore more specifically, a secret “boyfriend”?

Anna was such an awesome character to read about. She was very well developed and I never felt left in the dark with her. Her story of first love was very sweet, one of those we all wish to have. You know, when you know it’s the real deal. Frankie definitely grew though out the book. After that destructive car ride, she completely forgot who she was. Luckily, she has a friend like Anna to remind her of the real Frankie underneath that powered face of hers. Sam was a sweet kid. He and Anna developed a true friendship, even though it only lasted a few weeks, everyone moment they had together was real and meant a lot to them.

After finishing the book, I heart, heart, heart, this cover, even more than I did before. And it makes a lot more sense now. The heart is truly much more significant than you think. The pieces of glass represent more than you know. And you’ll just have to read the book to understand it all.