Reader Girls Blog

Reading level:  Young Adult Hardcover:  352 pages Publisher:  Feiwel & Friends (May 25, 2010) Summary: We are such stuff as dreams are made on. Act Two, Scene One Growing up in the enchanted Thèâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written. She knew the Players and their parts, but she didn’t know that she, too, had magic. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales, and determined to follow her stars. She is ready for the outside world. Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY But the outside world soon proves more topsy-turvy than any stage production. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Thèâtre, nothing goes as planned. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between—  Nate:   Her suave and swashbuckling pirate, now in mortal peril.  Ariel:   A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit whose true motives remain unclear. When Nate is kidnapped a...

Publisher : Walker & Company ( February 2010) Page Count : 216 Reading Level : YA Summary: When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things unreconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart. When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different--dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy--her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan's life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on.  My Review: IN A HEARTBEAT was a quick but powerful read. The story is told by Eagan, the girl who dies, and Amelia, the one who live...