Charlotte's Library

I'm featuring two Meg Cabot books today, part of the charming middle grade Allie Finkle series! Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright Stage Fright comes out strong, setting a very powerful and perfect tone to a great story. This series really is great for fans of Barbara Park's snarky Junie B. Jones. It's the same brand of humor, and fans who may have outgrown Junie and are looking for something new to read will definitely find the same type of honest outlook on the world from Allie. Cabot is really good at keeping up with current pop culture and putting in age appropriate references, which would make the books all the more appealing with her target audience. This book is not only adorable and kid-friendly, it also contains simple environmentally-friendly facts for them to learn and hopefully adapt in their own lives. We need more books telling our children how to be environmentally friendly in this day and age, so kudos to Cabot for blending it in with t...

Deadly Little Secret written by Laurie Faria Stolarz My hopes for this book were not all that great, as I saw it was Disney and also by the author of Project 17 , Laurie Faria Stolarz. This book didn't have the greatest writing (I mean, okay, I've definitely read worse , but it could have been better) and a lot of it seemed Twilight-y. Really, did there have to be love at a lab table again? I'd like to let some authors know that we don't all magically pair up at science class. Ben had the same kind of drama with Camelia that Edward did with Bella, the whole mysterious stranger with some kind of power deal. The characters were all pretty flat, too. I did like the eventual reveal of what Ben's problem is, but other than that, it doesn't really pick up from there. The story's pretty predictable and it's easy to see who the culprit really was. I do like that it had a supernatural element other than supernatural creatures. That part was reminiscent ...

Stolen from glorifield : 1. Take five books off your bookshelf. 2. Book #1 -- first sentence 3. Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty 4. Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred 5. Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty 6. Book #5 -- final sentence of the book 7. Make the five sentences into a paragraph: The startled residents of Washington D.C. awake one morning to find the red banner of Soviet communism flapping proudly from a tall flagpole in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building. "Very well," said the Patchwork Girl, "I'm going to serve you and your wife by helping Ojo find the things you need." Although for some reason, when No 1 thought about Abbott, the many moments of cruelty he had suffered at the pride leader's whim seemed hazy, hard to focus on. You snuck out without Gage or me noticing. Stupid b********. If At All Possible, Involve a Cow: The Book of College Pranks -Neil Steinberg The Patchwork Girl of Oz- L...

It's time for a special post! Featuring three jaw-dropping books by Elizabeth Scott :) Love You, Hate You, Miss You Love You, Hate You, Miss You , catchy title, catchy start, to a catchy plot. Everything about this book screams reality at the reader, honest in tone and easy to read. Even the format, letters to a girl's dead best friend, are heartbreaking. The narration, via the letters, establishes an early level of comfortable interaction. It's a simple, but powerful, tale of a girl struggling to move on with life. For me, the most powerful part of the story was Amy telling her parents of all people, what had happened with Julia that fateful night. It's breathtaking to watch the growth of the relationship between Amy and her parents springing out of something as tragic as death, as well as the strange post-death evolution of her relationship with Julia. It's a book filled with perceptive thoughts for a very thought-invoking read. Scott really delves int...

Tricks written by Ellen Hopkins Tricks seems to be an epic conglomeration of many of Hopkins' past themes under a new umbrella topic. This one pushes at the bar just a little bit more than her previous books have, dealing with the controversial subject of prostitution. I found her reasoning for writing this book to be shocking. According to Hopkins, it all began when she learned that the average age for a female prostitute in the US is twelve years old. Twelve . It's facts like these that make Hopkins' books more memorable than the usual YA literature out there, pushing it to the extreme. I didn't know if she could pull off having five main characters, but she did, and she did it extremely well. There is, as usual, tons of fantastic imagery throughout this book written in poems. I was saddened to find less of her usual stylized poetry in this book than in the others; the poems seemed to just be in standard clumps for the most part, other than the section openers...

The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak I don't like World War II fiction. I don't like the fact that I haven't read a single World War II book that isn't a tragedy. World War II was a seriously horrible time when horrible things happened, and I don't like reading about those horrible things. So clearly, The Book Thief ? Not the book for me. The narration, personification, and imagery were remarkable, but the story itself? Meh. It moved slowly, and nothing much happened until the predictable ending. It's easy to see where it's going, both due to its subject matter and choice of narrator. Zusak does do a wonderful job delving into the mindsets of all of his characters, particularly the complexity of a child's--Liesel's--mind. It's a great mix of a child's mind forced to live and function in an adult world. The foreshadowing, though adding to the predictability, adds to the book and the complexity of the narration. But again, there ...

currently reading: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak want to read: By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters ArchEnemy written by Frank Beddor I must say, I'm a little torn. Part of me wants to say that this was a fantastic book, a perfect ending to the trilogy, but unfortunately, I don't think I can. A lot of this book was insignificant fighting scenes that seemed to go on forever. I'm sure this makes it a popular read for some readers, but that's really not what I go into books for. The writing was spectacular, sharply witty, albeit going overboard sometimes with the details of the fight scenes, and it was through this amazing writing that these characters really came to life. I found myself switching favorite characters from Dodge (who sadly doesn't make as many appearances as I had hoped/expected him to make) to good old Hatter. My heart really broke for him and Molly, and Beddor portrayed the awkward phase they were going through r...

The Van Alen Legacy written by Melissa de la Cruz So, I'd firstly like to address the fact that this is not the last book of the series . I don't know why I was led to believe that it was, but let me tell you, it is a huge disappointment to read a book and discover that the saga is still not over when you've finished. I kind of just want to see this series end. I stand by what I said last time, I'm in it for the plot. I do have to commend de la Cruz, as I thought her writing had definitely improved significantly in this book. But it's still a lot of "ooh, look how fancy we are" and not that much substance, and what substance it does have, it moves excruciatingly slowly. I did feel like a lot of what happened, happened too conveniently, too much like wish fulfillment for all of the characters, tied up way too nicely. I'm still sick of the fact that Jack Force...exists. I do suppose that the fact that I feel so strongly about the characters mea...

Suggested by Prairie Progressive : Do you read the inside flaps that describe a book before or while reading it? I used to obsessively read the flaps before picking out books, but lately, some of these flaps have gotten ridiculously spoilery, revealing details that don't come out until the middle or even in some cases, end of the book. So I've been avoiding those. =\ This is one of those big pet peeves I have...

Secrets of My Hollywood Life written by Jen Calonita And yet again we see an example of a book that cannot under any circumstances be taken seriously. It's fluff fiction and only fluff fiction, don't look for it to send any higher messages. As far as fluff fiction goes, I've seen better, I've seen worse. First of all, I'm pretty sure this entire book is the premise to Hannah Montana. All the glitzy references did not hide the sub-par quality of writing, and I got so tremendously sick of the lengthy clothing brand descriptions after each character entered a scene. It's all pretty one-dimensional characterization. Despite everything, though, it's a cutesy read, and I might seek out the sequels, but they're not high on my list. The content of the sequels completely eludes me, as I thought everything was wrapped up nicely in this book, but we'll see, I suppose. Rating: 3.5/5 I got this book from...: Paperbackswap

The Treasure Map of Boys written by E. Lockhart The Treasure Map of Boys begins with a quick recap of events, not getting in the way of the story, but serving as a nice reminder. Ruby is as quirky a narrator as always, and I loved her typical engaging thoughts. Although not that much happens plotwise, Ruby's snarky narration is just awesome enough to keep my interest. I'm proud of how much Ruby has developed over the series, into the self-assured girl we see in this book, reminding me of Meg Cabot's Mia Thermopolis and her endless quest for self-actualization. I felt that the book had a solid ending that would have worked even as an ending to the series. It really felt like a complete work, though, unlike many books found in series, where they sometimes feel incomplete as individual works of fiction. On a different note, I think it is important for readers to realize and keep in mind through the reading that this is a work of fluff fiction, and should not be taken ser...

The Lonely Hearts Club written by Elizabeth Eulberg It takes new-coming writer Elizabeth Eulberg no time at all to establish a lovable universe in her debut novel The Lonely Hearts Club. From the start, the reader falls in love with both her characters and her eloquent narrative tone. The novel begins with a very powerful hook, immediately drawing readers in to Penny's fascinating life. It begins in the middle of endings, of new beginnings, in the middle of a firmly established world that we very quickly get used to. It's amazing how fast paced this book is, fitting a lot of story into a limited amount of space. In this day, some novels just seem to take forever to start with the interesting plot material, so this was a welcome breath of fresh air. The novel is a catchy work, clearly demonstrating the uncomfortable dichotomy between boys and girls in the dating world. As cheesy as some of it is, the characters have a lot of life in them, with amazingly realistic inter...