Reader Girls Blog

Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 348 pages Publisher: Sandpiper (August 23, 2010) Book summary: Life seems to have it in for Franny Flanders.  Her best friends aren’t speaking, her parents just divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in. The only karma Franny’s got is bad karma.  Then Franny gets her hands on a box of magic recipes that could fix all of her problems. It could even change the world! Finally, life is looking up. But Franny is about to learn that magic and karma aren’t to be played with. When you mess with the universe, it can bite back in unexpected ways. Ouch!  My review: Dealing with middle school's problems like the cliques and having fights with friends is all pretty stressful, and that's not counting the schoolwork. But for Franny Flanders, it gets even crazier when her Buddhist grandmother moves in and brings her magic box with her. Franny, finding it the easy way out, tries to use the power of the box to fix everything in her life.

R eading Level: YA Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: EgmontUSA (December 22, 2009) Book Summary: It really was a stupid thing that Brent Staple did – doing it (so the rumour goes) with Chris Sanchez, one of the guy cheerleaders. Who’d have thought that Brent, the school’s hottest jock, could be gay? But the doubt about Brent doesn’t just hurt Tara – it’s the beginning of the end for an inseparable trio of friends. Tara’s training for the marathon, but also running from her father and her fear of ever being abandoned again. Beautiful Whitney Blaire’s got everything and nothing, because her parents have never had time for her. And Pinkie has a compulsive need to mother everyone to make up for the mom she never stops missing. The girls couldn’t be more different, but doesn’t that just prove the strength of their friendship? Then new-girl Riley arrives in school, wafting her long black hair and a scent of lilacs. Suddenly, Tara starts to feel things she’s never felt before for a girl

We can't believe this is the last Wednesday of August. Summer, where have you gone? We each have a pick this week for one book we're really looking forward to reading. One is a Middle Grade mystery, another is an intriguing YA mystery which has to be solved by the girl who has been murdered, and the last has some awesome elements to it--assassins, pirates, kidnapping, Venice and a boy vampire. The Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe Stone Reading level: Ages 9-12 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (January 1, 2011) Book summary: Phoebe Stone, author of the sleeper hit DEEP DOWN POPULAR , is back with a middle-grade code-breaking mystery full of romance and excitement. Think CHASING VERMEER meets THE SECRET GARDEN ! Felicity's glamorous parents have a secret. When they leave her with distant relatives in Maine, Felicity hopes they won't leave her long. Her new Uncle Gideon hides things. Her Aunt Miami is star-crossed. And Derek, a kid her ag