Reader Girls Blog

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 192 pages Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (December 14, 2010) Book summary: W endy Anderson and Hakiam Powell are at opposite ends of the spectrum—the social spectrum, the financial spectrum, the opportunity spectrum, you name it. Wendy lives in an all-white suburb of Philadelphia, where she’s always felt like the only chip in the cookie. Her dad, who fought his way out of the ghetto, doesn’t want her mingling with “those people.” In fact, all Wendy’s life, her father has told her how terrible “those people” are. He even objects to Wendy’s plan to attend a historically black college. But Wendy feels that her race is more than just the color of her skin, and she takes a job tutoring at an inner-city community center to get a more diverse perspective on life. Hakiam has never lived in one place for more than a couple of years. When he aged out of foster care in Ohio, he hopped a bus to Philly to start over, but now he’s broke, s...

We have two choices this week--one YA, one adult. Our YA pick is Jennifer Lauren's Overprotected . Book summary: Ashlyn: A lonely society princess living in New York  City. Daddy hired you to be my bodyguard. Colin: Childhood enemy, now her protector. Daddy thought I’d be safe. He thought I’d never fall in love. He thought he could keep me forever. Charles: obsessed with keeping her safe, keeping her his, he hires the one person he knows she could never fall in love with: Colin. Daddy was wrong.  Hmm, sounds good!  Overprotected will be published by Grove Creek Publishing in February 2011. Our adult pick is Nocturne by Syrie James. Look at that cover. Isn't it beautiful? (Will be published on January 4, 2011 by Vanguard Press). Book summary: When Nicole Walker runs off the road in a blinding snowstorm after attending a friend’s wedding at a Colorado ski resort, she wakes up to find herself stranded at the remote mountain house of a handsome, enig...

To participate on Teaser Tuesdays is simple, take your current read, choose two sentences from any page and post. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of ShouldBeReading . Our choice this week is from Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann. "By mid-October, Kendall is stuck in a loop of depressing thoughts that won't leave her. Lost without a goal, lost without her best friend, lost in a thousand acres of potatoes." (From page 119, ARC) Book summary: The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain. When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fea...

What better way to begin the week by having an author stop by on their blog tour (we messed up the dates and apologize for bringing the author later than scheduled).  Erin McCahan, author of the beloved YA novel, I Now Pronounce You Someone Else (272 pages, published by Arthur A. Levine Books; 1 edition, June 1, 2010) is here today and she brought along her main character, Bronwen Oliver. Meghan read and loved I Now Pronounce You Someone Else  (review here ) and decided to ask both Ms. McCahan and Bronwen some questions. Don't forget to enter our contest at the bottom to win your own copy! Welcome Erin McCahan and Bronwen Oliver! First up, Bronwen. 1. Why were you so eager to marry Jared while aware of the stresses of college plans?  I didn’t know how stressful planning for college would be until I was actually well into it. Sure, I thought there’d be some stress, but then I had this terrific, rock-solid boyfriend/fiancé I knew I could count on to help allevi...

We are lucky to have children's book author Lisa Graff with us today. She brought along the main character from her fun new Middle Grade novel, Sophie Simon Solves Them All . Welcome Ms. Graff and Sophie!  As many know Lisa Graff is the author of three other books: The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower (2008);  The Thing About Georgie (2008 and named to nine state reading lists) and one of Caity's favorite books this year,  Umbrella Summer (2009 and named to six state reading lists).  Book summary: For a third-grader, Sophie Simon is one smart cookie. She enjoys teaching herself advanced calculus and has performed successful heart surgery on an earthworm. She's also very clever when it comes to dealing with her clueless parents. But Sophie is no genius when it comes to calculating the high value of friendship--until, that is, she has to use her incredible IQ to help out some classmates with their own parental troubles. Welcome ladies! Instead of asking ...

Our pick this week is Then I Met My Sister by Christine Hurley Deriso (264 pages, published by Flux, April 1, 2011).  The summary: Shannon has been the backdrop of my life since the moment I was born. Summer Stetson lives inside a shrine to her dead sister. Eclipsed by Shannon's greatness, Summer feels like she's a constant disappointment to her controlling, Type A momzilla and her all-too-quiet dad. Her best friend Gibson believes Summer's C average has more to do with rebelliousness than smarts, but she knows she can never measure up—academically or otherwise. On her birthday, Summer receives a secret gift from her aunt: Shannon's diary. Suddenly, the one-dimensional vision of her sister becomes all too solid. Is this love-struck, mom-bashing badass the same Shannon everyone raves about? Determined to understand her troubled sister, Summer dives headfirst down a dark rabbit hole and unearths painful family secrets. Each revelation brings Summer closer to the m...

Reading Level: YA Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; 1 edition (June 1, 2010) Book Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Bronwen Oliver has a secret: She's really Phoebe, the lost daughter of the loving Lilywhite family. That's the only way to explain her image-obsessed mother; a kind but distant stepfather; and a brother with a small personality complex. Bronwen knows she must have been switched at birth, and she can't wait to get away from her "family" for good. Then she meets Jared Sondervan. He's sweet, funny, everything she wants -- and he has the family Bronwen has always wanted too. She falls head over heels in love, and when he proposes marriage, she joyfully accepts. But is Jared truly what she needs? And if he's not, she has to ask: What would Phoebe Lilywhite do? My Review: Bronwen Oliver is your average seventeen year old girl. She has a family, an older brother, and attends the local highschool. However, Bronwen has co...