Libby Blog

Monday, June 17, 2013

Review: Spark & Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer

Spark
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Series: Elementals, Book 2
Release date: August 28, 2012
Published by: KensingtonTeen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fiery Gabriel Merrick can literally control fire, well sometimes it controls him. He's always relied on his twin Nick though, but when an arsonist starts attacking homes in their community and everyone suspects Gabriel. Even those closest to him to the point that he becomes completely isolated from everyone he loves most. Everyone except the shy, but exceptionally smart Layne who seems to also be hiding secrets of her own. Will they be able to save each other? Or will it be too late?

My thoughts: I LOVED THIS! I lOVED GABRIEL! I LOVED LAYNE! Seriously...this was just perfection for me. Layne, Gabriel, her brother, his brothers, everyone played their parts so perfectly in this one.
I especially liked the relationship between Gabriel and Hunter who are both really outsiders. Neither one truly fits in completely, or at least neither one allows themselves to feel as though they do, and they strike up this fantastic almost best friendship for a time which is just fantastic.
I also loved the specific character of Layne's brother, Simon, who is deaf, tough, and just a great kid who insists on going to public school even though they treat him like crap! Her depiction of the brutality at the hands of bullies and even his sister's by the "mean girls" is SO REAL and AWFUL! Brigid is just SO good at making me hate these local kids!! SO GOOD AT MAKING ME HATE THEM! I want to reach through the pages at destroy them! Seriously! Grrr! They are evil!! Ok, I'll reign it in. :P

Spirit

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Series: Elementals, Book 3

Release date: May 28, 2013

Published by: KensingtonTeen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hunter was raised to be tough, to learn the hard way, that his abilities have a price...but then he's lost it all over and over again. He can't seem to let anyone close to him because they just get hurt. When his grandfather believes he actually hit a girl at school he throws him out of the house while his mother just watches, then the scheming Calla works at turning everyone else against him at school, while the new girl Kate works another angle...as his powers grow and so do his secrets will he be able to hold it all together? Will he be able to find anyone to trust?

My thoughts: This was a harder one for me then the others so far. I still really liked it because it had all the people I loved in it, but Hunter is the one character I've never really liked. I'm not sure if it's because that's what Brigid always wants you to feel or if it's just the way I feel about him. He's such a snake! I feel about him just like the Merricks do! I just struggled with this one is all. I can't wait to read another one is all. I'm glad to have gotten this one done I guess. I adored it all, just not Hunter so much. Is that so wrong?

Final thoughts: I will absolutely be reading the next one, but was just not that a super fan of Hunter but that's because he's just so darn damaged which you learn all about in this one.

View all my reviews

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Review: 45 Pounds by K.A. Barson

45 Pounds
by K.A. Barson
Release date: July 11, 2013
Published by: Viking Juvenile
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

45 Pounds is a story about a teenage girl, Ann, who is battling her weight, her obsession with food, her thin mother’s judgment, and her own negative self-image. Her goal is to lose 45 pounds over the summer, and she is motivated by her aunt’s wedding and the dress she needs to wear. As someone who has battled with weight all my life, this novel made me think “Hmm…this author knows what she’s talking about; I bet she’s struggled with her image and her weight, too.” If that is not the case than K. A. Barson did some serious research into the minds of overweight girls.

I really liked Ann. She clearly wants to like herself but is having trouble figuring out how to do that in the body she has created. She struggles with the mental fight that emotional eating brings forth every day. For me this story was a story of awakening. Ann clearly defines how a child’s relationship with food is generational. Ann recognizes that part of her problem comes from her mother’s body issues. I loved how this realization is what causes an awakening in Ann when she sees how both her and her mother’s food and weight talk have affected her baby sister, Libby. It reminded me about the time my sister and I realized that my 7-year-old niece was picking up on our negative talk because she didn’t want to look at her baby pictures anymore because she said she looked too fat in them. I was shocked that this would come out of a 7 year old, but then my sis and I realized we needed to talk differently around my nieces to change this negative weight-talk paradigm.

Okay, sorry, less about me and back to the story…I think teenage girls will like this novel because while Ann’s main conflict is with herself and her body, she also struggles with various relationships: friendships, divorced parents, boyfriends, enemies, etc. And, of course, part of the awakening in this story is going to be about acceptance—where it comes from I’ll let you read and find out! It is a novel that is emotionally taxing to read but very rewarding in the end. There are some secrets revealed and some hurtful moments, but since I like to know if a story has a non-cheesy but happy ending, I’ll tell you that this one is very satisfying. Ann’s self-confidence will grow! I promise. And you’ll like the secondary characters, too: Ann’s mom, Raynee, Libby, and Jon (and you’ll hate some, too...stupid Courtney!)

View all my reviews

Friday, June 14, 2013

Our Week in Books...

This is our week in books at Libby Blog!

This feature is not our own original idea and is inspired by so many others that are out there (esp. IMM hosted by The Mod Podge Bookshelf and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Review) with the goal of sharing our new books and getting to know one another a bit better in the book blogging world. If you have a similar post for the week, please share it in the comments so we can comment back...

For Review from NetGalley...

Indelible by Dawn Metcalf (Harlequin Teen)

Bought...

Boundless by Cynthia Hand (HarperTeen)

Dare You To by Katie McGarry (HarlequinTeen)
Of Triton by Anna Banks (Feiwel & Friends)

Till Death Do Us Bark by Kate Klise & M. Sarah Klise (Harcourt Children's Books)
The Phantom of the Post Office by Kate Klise & M. Sarah Klise (Harcourt Children's Books)

From the Author...

The Arrivals by Melissa Marr (William Marrow)
Shards & Ashes edited by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong (HarperCollins)

+ SWAG

Book Trailer Thursday #66 - Uglies by Scott Weserfeld

Waiting on Wednesday #73 - Dirty Little Secret & The Arrivals
A Libby Family Review: Mr. Popper's Pernguins

What did you get for your libby this week?

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Book Trailer Thursday #66 - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Book Trailer Thursday is a feature inspired by Once Upon a Twilight. We are hoping to promote not only new books that are out or are soon to be out on the shelves, but to also promote the creation of book trailers themselves! Make sure to post a comment below and let us know what you've found out there this week!

Uglies

(Uglies, Book 1)

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Release Date: February 8, 2005

Published by: Simon Pulse

Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her would forever. (Summary from Goodreads)

It's so random, but SO COOL that this book all of a sudden has a book trailer! I LOVE IT! I'm honestly not a huge of the new covers. I really liked the old ones, but having worked up a cool book trailer to go along with the new covers is something I REALLY love! What do you think?

If you haven't read this one, read it now! :) It's one of my all time favorites!

What did you find out there this week?

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday #73 - Dirty Little Secret & The Arrivals

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Be sure to post a link to your Waiting on Wednesday below!

This week's pre-publication "We can't wait to read it!" selections are...

Dirty Little Secret

Author: Jennifer Echols

Release Date: July 16, 2013

Published by: MTV Books

Bailey wasn't always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sand and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents wer content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey's were hushed away.

Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie's debut album is set to hit the charts, her parent get fed up with Bailey's antics and ship her off to granddad's house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey's fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey's heart once before. She isn't sure she's ready to let Sam take her there again... (Summary from Goodreads)

I haven't read a country western YA book before, but this one sounds like it could be a winner. Can't wait to see!

The Arrivals

Author: Melissa Marr

Release Date: July 2, 2013

Published by: William Morrow/HarperCollins

Chloe walks into a bar and blows five years of sobriety. When she wakes, she finds herself in an unfamiliar world, The Wasteland. She discovers people from all times and places have also arrived there: Kitty and Jack, a brother and sister from the Wild West; Edgar, a prohibition bootlegger; Francis, a one-time hippie; Melody, a mentally unbalanced 1950's housewife; and Hector, a former carnival artist.

None know why they arrived there--or if there is a way out of a world unpopulated by monsters and filled with corruption. (Summary from Goodreads)

This sounds FABULOUS! I cannot wait to dive into this! WOW and wow! Marr's mind must be a fun place to be! Oh how I love her writing! She is absolutely on my "Automatic Buy" list! :)

And this cover!? OFF THE CHARTS!!! Perfection!

What are you waiting on this week?

Sunday, June 9, 2013

A Libby Family Review: Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater

Mr. Popper's Penguins
Author: Richard and Florence Atwater
Illustrator: Robert Lawson
Release date: 1938
Published by: Little, Brown & Co./Scholastic
Book Awards: Newbery Honor 1939,
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mr. Popper has always been an adventurer at heart, but only through his books. When a special delivery arrives one day from Antarctica from Admiral Drake his life will be changed forever!

My thoughts: What an adorable family read this was! I read this aloud over many nights to my girls after we had watched the movie. We found this little gem at Half-priced Books for a dollar! What a bargain! Each night before bed, if time allowed, I would read a chapter or two...then last night I read about 6 or 7 chapters to finish the whole book off in one evening!

The first thing we were delighted by when we started Mr. Popper's Penguins, was the fact that the plot was completely different from the one in the movie! Since the movie was all we had to go by, we were shocked that he was married, had a family, lived in a small town, had little money, etc. The girls were delighted by the illustrations from time to time in the book too! Not that you really needed them, but they still appreciated them along the way. All in all, this was an absolute delight! Now they are begging me to find the movie again for them since we had just rented it before which does sound fun since it was such an adorable family movie. Wish me luck!

Mallory's 8-year-old thoughts: In the beginning Mr. Popper was a house painter in the summer, but in the winter one day he got a special delivery from Admiral Drake. Guess what it was!? It was a penguin! They named him Captain Cook and his room was in the refrigerator. One day he got very, very sick. Mr. Popper wanted to help Captain Cook be happy again so they found another penguin from nearby at the Aquarium in Mammoth City. Her name was Greta. One day Greta had one egg, then two days later another egg, and then another and another until...there were ten eggs in all! Normally penguins only lay 2 eggs, but in this book they laid 10!

I thought that this book was very different from the movie but when we started some of the parts did fit in. It was pretty amazing how Mr. Popper made an ice ring in their house in both the book and the movie! It was pretty amazing to see that both the book and movie are different.

Reaghan's 6-year-old thoughts: The penguins were SO funny! In the book one day Mr. Popper has the penguin on a leash, gets caught on a lady and the lady drops her groceries! The penguin would not keep walking! Once they got the penguin, they kept him in the refrigerator.

I liked this book and maybe you will too because it is SO funny! I liked the penguins the most!

In the end: This is a just a fantastic little family fun read, for a read-aloud and perfect for the movie follow-up! Try it out! We highly recommend it!

AND GIRLIE GIRLS!!!

(I seriously need to make them an image!)

View all my reviews

Friday, June 7, 2013

Our Week in Books...

This is our week in books at Libby Blog!

This feature is not our own original idea and is inspired by so many others that are out there (esp. IMM by The Mod Podge Bookshelf and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Review) with the goal of sharing our new books and getting to know one another a bit better in the book blogging world. If you have a similar post for the week, please share it in the comments so we can comment back...

This was the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL! Officially anyway! Ange still has summer school and is doing a MAJOR re-deisgn on her high school LMC while also absorbing her charter school LMC into her high school LMC, while Rachel is always working on the never-ending job that is her fantastic English curriculum...but still it's always a feeling of accomplishment to get to that very last day of school! Ange always says she misses the kids after about a week, but we get SO MUCH done without everyone there! :) Plus, summer is when we get lots and lots of reading, reading, reading done!

I have to say that Rachel looks super cute like the 1st owl in this vlog while I look like this 2nd owl...