Charlotte's Library

currently reading: Dragon Rider -Cornelia Funke want to read: What else, Mockingjay ! reading next: Probably going to reread the first two Hunger Games books Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie written by David Lubar As always, it's really great to see realistic YA geared towards high school boys, about a high school boy who doesn't quite fit in and is just learning his way around the ways of his new high school and in a way, his new life. If you're a reader in high school, or about to enter high school, it's a neat look at a little bit of what high school life might be like, and if you're out of high school, well, it's a good reminder of a place you are probably really glad to be rid of. I've read books about awkward girls and popular girls in high school, but other than John Green's books, it's a rarity to read about a regular, albeit slightly-awkward, young boy maneuvering through high school. To me, this was a boy-version of The Princess Diaries , wi...

currently [re]reading: Jinx by Meg Cabot Be More Chill written by Ned Vizzini Oh, Ned Vizzini. I had such high hopes for this. It's Kind of a Funny Story blew me away , and I expected much of the same from this. Maybe it's because of high hopes that the story fell flat? Good things first, the story was narrated in a very honest, teenage boy-ish perspective. The main character was funny in a subtle, sarcastic way, and the book reinforced that age old idea...that boys and their minds are absolutely gross. =P Jeremy, the main character, is your typical awkward gawky teenager, who lives a pretty ordinary life, no big traumatic drama going on, so naturally, the point of obsession for his self-fulfillment...is a girl. And in order to get that girl, Vizzini unfortunately falls back upon the old overdone in-crowd, fitting in story. He gives it a technological/supernatural twist with a device called the "squip", which can be inserted into human beings as a sort of gu...

Full Tilt written by Neal Shusterman This book starts off fast , wasting no time with detailed introductions. This does result in a bit of confusion at the beginning, but not to worry, it's all cleared up through the rest of the book. It's a real roller coaster ride (pun not really intended ;P) of a book, suspenseful and thrillingly spooky in all the right places. In terms of characters, some of them are really compelling, while others are left slightly flat. Unfortunately, one of those flat ones, in my opinion, was the main character, which made it a less interesting read. I was very glad to see two brothers so close in age as the main characters, I don't think we see enough brothers in contemporary YA fiction, and I'm glad someone out there is writing YA that is appealing to boys. Shusterman has quite the imagination, and he makes up in imagination what he sometimes lacks in the writing itself. The ending was a bit predictable and felt a bit like one of those...