Reader Girls Blog

Reading level:  Ages 9-12 Mass Market Paperback:  208 pages Publisher:  Scholastic Paperbacks (May 1, 2010) BOOK DESCRIPTION: Twelve-year-old Emma-Rose Paley has always felt different from her bubbly, outgoing parents. Unlike them, Emma-Rose has pale skin and jet-black hair, is quiet and moody, and prefers gray weather to sunshine. She also hates the taste of garlic, has very sharp incisors, and loves rare burgers. When Emma-Rose uncovers a dark family secret, she has a sudden revelation. Could Emma-Rose be a real, live vampire? MY REVIEW: Wouldn't being a vampire be cool? Or at least knowing one would be awesome. Well, Emma gets that chance when her great-aunt Margo comes for a visit. Emma finds out a lot about her family and herself. The story makes us believe that Emma is going to turn into a vampire, but the road takes a twisty turn and all of her thoughts turn out wrong. I liked this story and thought it was unlike other vampire books I've read. MY FAVORITE S...

This week's pick is from "Sleepless" by Cyn Balog: "He stalks to her--he still hasn't gotten to floating yet--and I move to the other side of the bed. He takes a handful of sand from the pocket of his jacket and begins to spread it over her." Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly event hosted by MizB of ShouldBeReading .

Reading level:  Ages 9-12 Mass Market Paperback:  192 pages Publisher:  Scholastic Paperbacks (May 1, 2010) BOOK DESCRIPTION:  Casey Slater can’t believe her bad luck. It’s the summer before seventh grade, and instead of the perfect vacation she’d planned with her best friend, Casey is in a remote country town, where her parents are restoring an old, creaky, creepy house. Worst of all, everyone else in town thinks the old house is haunted. And soon Casey thinks so, too -- a vase explodes, a heavy china cabinet falls over on its own -- and it seems like the ghost doesn’t want them there. Casey thought she’d be dying of boredom, but now she’s scared to death! MY REVIEW: When Casey's parents tell her they've bought a house and will be spending their summer fixing it up, she's not happy. At all. And when they move in weird things begin to happen. Casey finds Millie's diary and begins reading it. She starts to put together what happened to the young girl who lived i...

A nasty stomach bug went through our family so we are late putting this up. Last week we received: For Review:      Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka and Francesco Sedita: Illustrations by Shane Prigmore From Blog Tours:      Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti      Sleepless by Cyn Balog      A Golden Web by Barbara Quick We won:       13 to Life: A Werewolf's Tale  by Shannon Delany      Blood Ninja by Nick Lake We received as gifts:      The Clearing by Heather Davis      Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken Now that we're feeling better there's some reading to be done. In My Mailbox was started by   The Story Siren . 

Reading level:  Young Adult Hardcover:  288 pages Publisher:  Viking Juvenile (May 4, 2010) BOOK DESCRIPTION: Best friends Lani and Erin couldn’t be more different. Lani’s reserved and thoughtful; Erin’s bubbly and outgoing. Lani likes to do her own thing; Erin prefers an entourage. There’s no possible way they could be interested in the same guy. So when Erin starts dating Jason, Lani can’t believe she feels such a deep connection with him—and it may be mutual. The more Lani fights it, the more certain she feels that it’s her fate to be with Jason. But what do you do when the love of your life is the one person you can’t have? MY REVIEW: SOMETHING LIKE FATE is a cute and charming story. Best friends Lani and Erin sounded like girls I know and Jason is one of those guys every girl wishes she dated. The book is a quick read but its the characters, especially Lani and Jason, who remain with you. Colasanti's writing is sharp, direct, and her dialog realistic. Besi...

Publisher: Scholastic Release Date: July, 2010 Pages: 288 BOOK DESCRIPTION:  Everything changes when a terrorist attack kills Dani’s beloved aunt and unborn cousin. MY REVIEW: There are so many different types of books and from each one our reading experiences vary. When I read the blurb for Littman's LIFE, AFTER I knew the subject matter would be heavy. It was, but this book was special.  Dani, 16, is the main character. For her there are two different forms of life: the first is Before, when her dad owned a tailor's shop and their middle class existence in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was good. In 1994 terrorists bombed the AMIA building and Dani's aunt is killed. To make her death worse, she was eight months pregnant so Dani lost not just a beloved aunt but her unborn cousin. With this senseless act of terror life drastically changed. The second existence is what Dani refers to as "After";  following the bombing is "The Crisis" and families just li...

In honor of spring I decided to quote from the book I'm reading now. Since flowers are the main subject (referring to the main character's ability with them), my choice this week is from page 79 of FORGET-HER-NOTS by Amy Brecount White: " Laurel let her legs lengthen into a sprint as she headed toward the library. She rounded the tower and gasped. Hundreds of tulips--red, yellow and white--had opened their petals to the warming sun. Yellow tulips were for "hopeless love" or friendship, she remembered, and she wasn't sure about white, so she picked only red. A hint of their spiciness swirled around her, but she tried not to breathe it in. She gathered a dozen--enough to speak loudly for Miss Spenser's shy heart. " Isn't that a gorgeous scene to imagine? I'd gasp too if I saw such beauty. And yes, it's obvious I'm enjoying this story. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly event hosted by MizB of  ShouldBeReading .