Reader Girls Blog

**2010 Debut Author Challenge List** Reading level:  Ages 9-12 Hardcover:  320 pages Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers (April 13, 2010) BOOK DESCRIPTION:   Maxwell Unger has always loved the night. He used to do brave things like go tramping through the forest with his gran after dark. He loved the stories she told him about the world before the Destruction—about nature, and books, and the silver owls. His favorite story, though, was about the Owl Keeper. According to Max’s gran, in times of darkness the Owl Keeper would appear to unite owls and sages against the powers of the dark. Gran is gone now, and so are her stories of how the world used to be. Max is no longer brave. The forest is dangerous, the books Gran had saved have been destroyed, and the silver owls are extinct. At least that’s what the High Echelon says. But Max knows better. Maxwell Unger has a secret. And when a mysterious girl comes to town, he might just have to start being bra...

Reading level:  Young Adult Hardcover:  256 pages Publisher:  HarperTeen; 1 edition (March 30, 2010) BOOK DESCRIPTION:   Georgia knows what it means to keep secrets. She knows how to ignore things. She knows that some things are better left unsaid. . . . Or are they?  When Georgia and her best friend, Riley, travel along with nine other suburban Pennsylvania kids to Anapra, a squatters' village in the heat-flattened border city of Juarez, Mexico, secrets seem to percolate and threaten both a friendship and a life. Certainties unravel. Reality changes. And Georgia is left to figure out who she is outside the world she's always known. MY REVIEW: This is the first book I've read by Beth Kephart and I was pleasantly surprised. With sparse lines and  a deft precision to detail which was quite lovely, the author was able to evoke strong emotions from this reader and that is the sign of a talented writer. The main character, Georgia, the middle child w...

This week we received for review: This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas (Farrar Straus Giroux); Keeper by Kathi Appelt (Simon & Schuster); She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott (Simon & Schuster). We received from swapping: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt; Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson; Shade by Jeri Smith Ready. We received from Book Tours for review: The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones; The Heart is Not a Size by Beth Kephart; Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham. And Caitlin purchased at the Scholastic Book Fair at her school: Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff; Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff; Finally by Wendy Mass. We keep our Postman and UPS delivery man busy this week. How was your week? In My Mailbox was started by   The Story Siren . 

Reading level:  Young Adult Hardcover:  272 pages Publisher:  HarperTeen (April 6, 2010) BOOK DESCRIPTION: Alessandra is desperate to escape. Desperate to escape her stepmother, who's locked her away for a year; to escape the cloister that awaits her and the marriage plans that have been made for her; to escape the expectations that limit her and every other girl in fourteenth-century Italy. There's no tolerance in her quiet village for Alessandra and her keen intelligence and unconventional ideas. In defiant pursuit of her dreams, Alessandra undertakes an audacious quest, her bravery equaled only by the dangers she faces. Disguised and alone in a city of spies and scholars, Alessandra will find a love she could not foresee -- and an enduring fame. In this exquisite imagining of the centuries-old story of Alessandra Giliani, the world's first female anatomist, acclaimed novelist Barbara Quick gives readers the drama, romance, and rich historical detail for whi...

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 .