Reader Girls Blog

It's her destiny to die young. The man who loves her can't live with that. Promise, a talented young vocalist with a terminal illness, is counting on fame to keep her memory alive after she dies. Porta is an aging witch and art collector in search of the goddess who will grant her immortality. When Promise inexplicably survives a series of freak accidents, Porta believes that Promise is the one she seeks. But Chase, an autistic artist who falls in love with Promise and opposes Porta, comes between the women with his mysterious visions and drawings, and plunges everyone into a flesh-and-blood confrontation over the true meaning of eternal life. Hmm, I don't know about you but that book summary makes me want to check this title out. The Promises She Keeps by Erin Healy (352 pages) will be published on February 8, 2011 by Thomas Nelson Publishers in paperback form. Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at breaking the spine .

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 1 edition (September 6, 2010) Book summary: They strip her naked, of everything—undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Hall—a madhouse—they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen—still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while  solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . .  My review: Wildthorn is a YA historical novel unlike any others I've read (with the exception of Barbara Quick's A Golden Web ). Louisa is such a unique heroine: spunky, independent, untraditional and fiercely intelligent. Those traits made her a likable character. She was a young woman before her time, living in an age where women were born a...

R eading level: Young Adult Paperback: 180 pages Publisher: Graphia (October 18, 2010) Book summary: "Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world."  Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons? My review: Right off the bat I’ll admit I was skeptical after reading the above summary and holding the slim book in my hand. Could the author do an effective job at 180 pages? Handling the ve...

HALO U.S. Book Tour Alexandra Adornetto Comes to a City Near You! September / October 2010 September 24, 2010: Next Chapter Bookshop, 10976 North Port Washington Road, Mequon, WI 53092 September 27, 2010: Indigo, Toronto, Canada September 29, 2010: Davis-Kidd Books, 2121 Green Hills Village Drive, Nashville, TN 37215 September 30, 2010: Fashion Show and Book Signing at Sachi, 397 N Perkins Rd Ext Memphis, TN 38117 October 1, 2010: Davis-Kidd Books, 387 Perkins Extended, Memphis TN 38117 October 2, 2010: Austin Teen Lit Festival, Austin, Texas.  Click here to register!   October 4, 2010, 7:00pm: Blue Willow Bookshop: 14532 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77079 October 7, 2010, 7:00pm: Barnes & Noble at the Galleria, 3225 West 69th Street, Edina, MN 55435 October 8, 2010, 7:00pm: Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105 October 9, 2010, 2:00pm: Carle Place Barnes & Noble, 91 Old Country Road, Carle Place, NY 11514 October 10, 2010: Allykatzz Tween Summit,...

Our Pick -- September's Book of the Month  Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Poppy (September 7, 2010) Book summary: Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. My review: Two conte...

Our choice this week is WHERE I BELONG by Gwendolyn Heasley. Summary: Corrinne Corcoran’s upscale Manhattan life is perfectly on track -- until her father announces he’s been laid off and she’s shipped off to Broken Spoke, Texas, to live with her grandparents. All alone in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the glamorous life she’s supposed to be living. But as she grudgingly adjusts -- making new friends and finding romance along the way -- this city girl begins to realize that life without credit cards and shopping sprees may not be as bad as it seems.... We know the city girl moving to the country storyline has been done before but this one sounds good and we seriously need a change from picking supernatural titles. Don't you just love the cover? The yellow in her dress pops and the pose looks like they were caught during a tender moment. Looking forward to reading this one. At 304 pages, WHERE I BELONG wi...

Reading level: YA Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: HarperTeen; 1 edition (June 29, 2010) Book Summary: Is it possible to experience joy if you don’t experience pain? Is absorbing someone’s pain a gift or a curse? Shusterman explores these central questions in this thought-provoking new book. Sixteen-year-old Tennyson fumes when he learns his twin sister, Bronte, is dating Bruiser, the guy voted Most Likely to Go to Jail, but Bronte insists Bruiser is misunderstood. Tennyson is eventually won over and befriends Bruiser, and that’s when the twins notice something odd. Their cuts and bruises disappear overnight while Bruiser is a mass of new hurts; somehow he takes on the pain, both physical and emotional, of the people he cares for. The story is narrated by Tennyson, Bronte, and Cody, Bruiser’s brother, in prose and by Bruiser in free verse, and the individual voices are nicely distinct. It is Tennyson, though, who stands out as he evolves from self-centered bully to caring young ...