Reader Girls Blog

Paperback: 301 pages Publisher: Pyr (November 18, 2010) Language: English Book summary: Vampire predators run wild in this exciting steampunk adventure, the first in an alternate history trilogy that is already attracting attention. In 1870, monsters rise up and conquer the northern lands, As great cities are swallowed up by carnage and disease, landowners and other elite flee south to escape their blood-thirsty wrath. One hundred fifty years later, the great divide still exists; fangs on one side of the border, worried defenders on the other. This fragile equilibrium is threatened, then crumbles after a single young princess becomes almost hopelessly lost in the hostile territory. At first, she has only one defender: a mysterious Greyfriar who roams freely in dangerous vampire regions. Our review: Just when the vampire-loving fan inside of me was losing faith with some of the recent bloodsucker books available, I discovered a gem:  Vampire Empire,  Book One: ...

This week we're looking forward to reading  Lisa Papademetriou's latest YA novel,  Siren's Storm .  Here's the summary from Goodreads : Nothing has been the same for Will ever since what happened last summer. One day, on an ordinary sailing trip with his brother, there is a strange accident. When Will wakes up, he learns his brother has disappeared, presumed drowned. Worst of all, Will can't remember what happened—his family finds him unconscious, with no memory of the accident. Now Will and his best friend and neighbor, Gretchen, are starting a new summer. Gretchen seems troubled—her sleepwalking habit is getting worse, and she keeps waking up closer and closer to the water. Will is drawn to Asia, the exotic new girl in town. Nobody knows where she's from—all Will knows is that her beauty and her mesmerizing voice have a powerful effect on people. Then there is another mysterious drowning, and Will and Gretchen begin to wonder: Is Asia just another beautif...

Today we welcome author Pam Bachorz. Pam is the author of the YA novels Candor and her latest is Drought . Publishers Weekly called it: “[A] complex, provocative exploration of loyalty, community, family and belief.” We are reading Drought now and the world Pam creates is thought provoking. The cover is great too, one of the best we've seen this year. Here'a the summary for Drought   (from Goodreads): Ruby dreams of escaping the Congregation. Escape from slaver Darwin West and his cruel Overseers. Escape from struggling to gather the life-prolonging Water that keeps the Congregants alive--and Darwin rich. Escape from her certain, dreary existence, living as if it's still the early 1800s, when the Congregation was first enslaved. But if Ruby leaves, the Congregation will die without the secret ingredient to the Water: her blood. So she stays, and prays to their savior Otto, who first gave Water to the Congregants... and fathered Ruby before he vanished. When the Congre...

It is the middle of the week and we're posting the title we're awaiting anxiously to see in print. This week we've chosen the second book in Sherrilyn Kenyon's YA series,  Invincible, Chronicles of Nick . The summary: Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse...  Nick Gautier’s day just keeps getting better and better. Yeah, he survived the zombie attacks, only to wake up and find himself enslaved to a world of shapeshifters and demons out to claim his soul. His new principal thinks he’s even more of a hoodlum than the last one, his coach is trying to recruit him to things he can’t even mention and the girl he’s not seeing, but is, has secrets that terrify him. But more than that, he’s being groomed by the darkest of powers and if he doesn’t learn how to raise the dead by the end of the week, he will become one of them... Will this be as good as Infinity or better? We will find out when Invincible is released by St. Martin's Press on March 22. ...

** Our February Book of the Month ** Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: HarperCollins (February 15, 2011) Summary: The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found. Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life. As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, ...

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday , the day we pull two lines out of a current read. This week's pick was easy: Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting. Happy Birthday to Ms. Derting's second novel. Just two words of advice to our readers--READ IT! This book is just as good, if not better, than its predecessor,  The Body Finder . Here's the teaser: "She moved closer, molding her body against his, afraid that if they parted, somehow the moment might crumble. His arms tightened as if he knew what she thinking, and she could feel his heartbeat thrumming beneath her own skin, bringing her back to life." Wow, it's getting warm in here! Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting, 368 pages, is published by HarperCollins and is available TODAY. Teaser Tuesdays   is a weekly meme hosted by hosted by MizB of  ShouldBeReading .

Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: HarperCollins (March 2, 2004) Summary: Chester the cat and Buddy the dog are always fighting. But one day Chester decides he's had enough and sets off on his own. Buddy can't believe it -- he actually misses Chester. With the help of some alley cats, Buddy decides to find his old friend and bring him back home. Our review: A timeless story and cool, bold illustrations are combined to make kids laugh and think in Have You Seen Chester? I purchased this book on sale and it has become my son's favorite bedtime story for over a year. Chester's a fluffy white cat who lives with Buddy the dog. Their owner, Lucy, is always trying to stop them from fighting. One day Chester finally has enough and leaves. But he doesn't tell anyone. When his absence is noted, Lucy looks all over the house for him. No cat. Life should be okay without a cat around to scratch and fight with. Right? A funny thing happens over ti...