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Monday, January 12, 2009

Book Talk-Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds

Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds

By
April Lurie


What if you lived between and across from three members of the mafia? April and her family lived there quietly minding their own business, until one day, things started to happen. April and her friend were asked to walk with the son of one of the mafia members to school every morning, and they are finding money hidden in their books-lots of money! Once you take money from the mafia, they own you! To make matters worse, April’s brother is in love with the daughter of one of the mafia members-a big mistake if you want to stay alive and in one piece! Besides the mafia, April likes a boy her parents and even her best friend don’t approve of. How will April get all this straightened out? Will her brother survive? Will things work out with the boyfriend? To find out, read Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds by April Lurie.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Book Talk-I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You


By Ally Carter



Imagine if you went to a school that taught you how to be a spy! Cammie Morgan is fluent in fourteen languages and is capable of killing a man in seven different ways (one of which includes a piece of uncooked spaghetti!) Cammie attends the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, but the one thing they haven’t taught her is what to do when she falls for a boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. He likes her too, but he can never know the truth about her, or will she have to kill him? She can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through town without him knowing, but can she have a relationship with a normal guy who can never know the truth about her? Will Cammie pass her Covert Operatives exam where she is kidnapped, and her classmates have to rescue her and capture a disk? What will happen when the school (where her own mother is the headmaster) finds out about Josh? To find out, read I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You, by Ally Carter.

Book Talk-The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney
By
Suzanne Harper


Fifteen year-old Sparrow Delaney has a deep dark secret. She doesn’t want to even let her family know about it, and she’s afraid everyone at school will think she’s a freak if they find out. When Sparrow starts tenth grade at a new school, she thinks finally she has a chance to start over. Will it be easier to keep her secret? Sparrow just wants to be normal and live an every day teenage life. You see, since she was five years old, Sparrow has been able to see, hear, and talk to ghosts. This is a normal thing for her family and even the town where she lives, but it is not normal for everyone. Even her family pressures her to try to “serve spirit” because they know she should have special abilities. Sparrow is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. She has six older sisters and a grandmother living with them who does jujitsu in the back yard next to the grave stones of her four dead husbands. What friends would you want to bring home?
Just as Sparrow has made a new best friend in her new school, and also has her eye on Jack, a mysterious cool guy in her class, another boy wants Sparrow’s attention. Luke happens to be a dead boy who just won’t leave her alone until she helps him contact his family to right a wrong so he can Move On in the after life. In order to help him, Sparrow will have to give up her secret that she’s worked so hard all her life not to let anyone know. Will she help Luke, or let his family wonder what happened to him, and everyone else think the worst about his father? To find out read The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper.

Book Talk-The Ruins of Gorlin

The Ruins of Gorlan
By John Flanagan

Will’s greatest dream is to go to Battle school to be a knight and warrior, but he is told he is too small. He is not only disappointed about that, but now he must be a Ranger’s apprentice. He has always been a little afraid of the mysterious Rangers who help protect the people of the kingdom, but Will possesses the skills to be a Ranger. He is a natural and learns very quickly. He can move silent as a shadow, climb, and he is brave. Before Will can even finish his apprenticeship, Will must help fight the evil Kalkara, creatures sent by the evil Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night. When he saves the Baron’s life, Will is given the choice to continue as a Ranger or become a warrior knight. Which will he choose? If you like knights, spies, and Lord of the Rings, you’ll like reading The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

BookTalk: Zen and the Art of Faking It

Zen and the Art of Faking It
By Jordan Sonnenblick

Have you ever pretended to be somebody you’re not?
San Lee decides that blending in is impossible, so he might as well stand out! San Lee has to move to a new town and decides to invent a new past which makes him sort of popular. In fact, the whole school sort of worships him because he sort of accidentally gave the impression that he’s a reincarnated mystic who practices the Zen Buddist religion. In reality, he knows nothing about it. He looks Asian, but was adopted as a baby by Caucasian American parents. The problems come when all the lies he’s told start to unravel, and he has to come up with the cover stories, or get caught being the biggest fake ever. Can he continue to hide his secret about his dad? Can he make things right with his family, save himself from bodily harm, stop being an outcast, and not lose the coolest girlfriend ever? If he tells the truth, everyone is going to hate him, but now he has to “fess up” to everyone. San Lee has to decide whether to keep trying to be a fake and maybe an outcast, or just be San Lee, himself. To read about San Lee’s hilarious (for us), and traumatic (for him) school year, read Zen and the Art of Faking It
by Jordan Sonnenblick.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Book Talk-Beastly

Beastly

By Alex Flinn


Kyle is the best looking, coolest guy at Tuttle, an exclusive private school for snobby rich kids in today’s New York City. He is the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, any girl he wants, and the perfect life, or so everyone thinks. Actually, Kyle is a beast and only loves himself. He and his friends are mean to anyone who isn’t good looking with money. Maybe this could be the reason the witch in his English class turns him into this creature that has to hide by day and prowls by night! Kyle is still the same inside, but can’t go to school or see anyone but his maid and his tutor. To break this witch’s spell, within two years, he must truly love someone and have them love him back enough to kiss him even when he looks like a beast! Yeah, like that’s going to happen! Will Kyle break the spell, or will he have to remain a beast forever? To find out, read Beastly, by Alex Flinn. (If the story sounds familiar, yes, it is a modern day variation of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast.)

Book Talk-Dark Water Rising

Dark Water Rising
By
Marian Hale

Seventeen year-old Seth didn’t want to move to Galveston in the first place. For him it was the end of a dream. All he ever wanted was to be a carpenter like his dad, but his dad wanted him to be a doctor. Seth’s family moved to Galveston in the summer of 1900 so that it would be possible for Seth to go to med-school when the time came. How could Seth convince his father that he wanted to build things with his hands? Some things about the move weren’t so bad-like the beach and the girl who lived by his cousin! Seth also had a summer job doing what he loved-helping build houses! Then, in September, the terrible storm came. Seth was separated from his family when the storm hit. Would he find them? Would they be O.K.? How will he ever put the terrible things he saw and smelled out of his mind? Will Seth be able to show his father he can be a good carpenter-if they all survive? To find out read Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale.