Wishful Thinking

Title: Wishful Thinking
Author: Alexandra Bullen
Level: YA
Location: The library does not currently own a copy. This book was given out at a conference and was to be published in 2011.

Hazel has a pretty dreary life. She was adopted as an infant, her Mom passed away when she was young, she's lived in foster homes ,and she now lives with a man, Roy, who's relationship to her is unclear other than he loved her Mom. It seems taking pictures with an old camera that belonged to her Mom is the only thing that gives her any happiness. Then on her eighteenth birthday Roy hands her an envelope with her birth certificate inside.

After researching her mother's name Hazel discovers she will be at an event only four bus rides away. Determined to met her mother, she takes the one dress she owns to a seamstress whose card was inside it to have a seam fixed, only to have the person in the store tell her they are closed. On her way out the dress falls out of her bag and catches the seamstress' eye. After a few questions she agrees to take the dress and tells Hazel to come back in two hours. Hazel realizes when changing in the ferry station that the dress is different, but it looks so good on her she doesn't care and is off.

So how would you feel to finally be meeting your real mother, in a great dress and looking better than you ever have, and realize that you are at her wake? Hazel scrambles out of the restaurant as fast as she can and walks onto a ferry in a daze. She's thinking life is unfair and she wishes she had gotten to know her mother first. Exhausted from all the emotion Hazel lays her head down on her arms. When she awakens things don't look right. She doesn't even recognize the ferry she is on! In the dress bag she finds a note that explains her dress had the power to grant a wish. Hazel is now in a place where her mother was before Hazel was even born. She has her chance to get to know her mother.

I found taking Hazel's journey of gaining confidence, finding her real mother, helping her and making some tough choices very enjoyable.



Bottom Line: In Wishful thinking Hazel's character ( She's the main character.) develops through out the story. The story has great secondary characters. I wasn't sure about Wishful Thinking when I picked it up, but I found it wasn't predictable and enjoyed the characters development. The ending brings it all together nicely even if it isn't the one some reader's will expect.

Hereafter

Title: Hereafter
Author: Tara Hudson
Level: YA
Location: Coming soon (pub date 06/07/2011)

Amelia is a ghost, but she doesn't know who she is or how she died, other than she knows she fell off the high-rise bridge and wakes up with nightmares of drowning. She doesn't feel anything until she helps save a drowning boy who can see her. From there, her existence has meaning and she starts to remember who she is. All would be happy, except for the entrance of a fellow ghost Eli with his own objectives.

The Bottom Line:
I really enjoyed this book. The story was well-developed and unpredictable, and the romance was very sweet. I couldn't put this book down and really cared about the characters. I hope there is a sequel!

This advance copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Unearthly

Title: Unearthly
Author: Cynthia Hand
Level: YA
Location: YA Hand C.


Unearthly isn’t just another teen angel novel. It is one of the teen angel books you must read. Clara didn’t even know she was an angel, well part angel, until she was 14. Now at 16 she is starting to have visions of her purpose. This totally changes her life as completing your purpose is a major goal for angels. Her whole family moves to Jackson Hole so she can be closer to finding and completing it. She knows very little about being an angel however, and she can’t even fly yet. Will she even be ready in time for her purpose. That is if she can figure out exactly what she is suppose to do? Of course there is a guy, ok two guys, but the relationships are very different from those in Fallen or Twilight. I have to say I like them better. These are good guys who want to do the right thing. Good guys don’t make choices any easier though. The last couple chapters may surprise you. Make sure you have some time when you start this book because you won’t want to put it down. What bothered me about this book is there is obviously another to come and I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait! I want it now!

Bottom Line:This is a must read angel book about a part angel, Clara, trying to figure out and complete her purpose while also living a normal looking life. That's a normal life in the new town her visions brought her to and with the blackouts the visions can cause at any time. It doesn’t hurt that it was a good looking guy in her vision that brought her to Jackson Hole. I can’t really explain what it was I liked so much about this book, but I can tell you I could not put it down- literally. I stayed up all night reading it.

note: Hallowed will be the next title in the triology. It will be available in January 2012.

Delirium

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Reading Level: Young Adult
Location: YA Oliver

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. When cured from the "disease" you also can enjoy this clarity, this freedom from bondage of emotions, fear and passion.

Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

Bottomline:

A action-packed dystopian story, a mash-up of Lois Lowry's, "The Giver" and Ally Condie's, "Matched". This interesting plot line is filled with emotion and breaking of rules and about living your own life. There are some unanswered questions at the end, so hopefully the story will continue, even though it has a clincher of an ending!

Wildefire

Title: Wildefire
Author: Karsten Knight
Reading Level: Young Adult
Location: not yet released

Ashline Wilde is having a tough year. The psycho actions of her sister, Eve, forced her to transfer to an exclusive boarding school in the middle of northern California. Ash makes friends easily and seems to be getting her life back on track, but weird things keep happening. She gets chased by cyclopean monsters and, along with a few friends, seems oddly compelled to obey the summons of a blind girl. Ash soon discovers that she and her new friends are reincarnated gods and goddesses, tasked to carry out secret, separate missions to save the future of their race. As Ash begins to grow into her powers, Eve shows up with some new skills of her own, seemingly hell bent on creating havoc. Will Ash and her fellow gods and goddesses come to terms with their identity and face their fates? Or will the forces standing against them win out in the end?

Alright, I have to say that the above plot summary was definitely not my best. If you want a more in-depth description of the storyline (with quite a few more spoilers) check out the author’s website. I have to say, that I absolutely did not love this book. I tried very hard to like it. I usually adore paranormal/mythology stories plus this book has an amazing cover! The plot seemed promising and the main character, Ashline, is strong and likeable, but I could not get into Wildefire.

In the end, I really think the shallow, uninspired writing sank this story. This is the classic case of a writer telling you qualities about a character but failing to show anything through the character’s actions. All the characters felt flat and their interactions seemed robotic as a result. I was not the least bit empathetic to their plight. The romance, which should have been a pretty good side story for the plot, was hollow and lacked any convincing emotion. This should have been a great book, the plot had a lot of promise, but it did nothing for me. What a shame!

I will say though that just because I did not like this book, does not mean that you will not enjoy it. I have spoken with quite a few people who loved it and would recommend it. I don’t consider myself a picky reader. I mean, I enjoyed The Goddess Test, a book that plenty of reviewers completely disliked. So I would say to approach this one with caution and definitely check it out from the library or read a little bit of it in a bookstore before you consider purchasing it.


The Bottom Line: I was definitely not a fan of Wildefire. The superficial writing failed to connect me with the characters so I ended up being completely apathetic to their challenges and the story as a whole. If you enjoy supernatural books revolving around gods and goddesses, give it a shot but also try The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter.

The publisher provided me with an advanced reading copy of the book for this review. Wildefire by Karsten Knight has an expected release date of July 26, 2011

Nerd Girls- Rise of the Dorkasaurus

Title: Nerd Girls- Rise of the Dorkasaurus

Author: Alan Sitomer

Level: J

Location: This books is due out in July 2011. The publisher supplied an advanced copy. Look for it to be purchased soon.

Maureen, better known as Mo, is not a popular girl in her school. When she finds out the threePees (You know them, the pretty, popular and perfect girls.) are planning a possibly fatal joke on the new girl she decides to intervene. The threePees plan to sit next to Alice, who seems to be allergic to everything, and eat peanut - butter and banana, sandwiches with mango marmalade on wheat. Then they'll film her reaction on a phone. Mo doesn't know what Alice's allergic reaction will be, but she puts a stop to it in a way that lands her on Youtube with more hits by the minute.

While her Youtube debut doesn't make her more popular she does find herself eating lunch with a grateful Alice and Beanpole Barbara, the school klutz. Alice, nicknamed Q by the group, decides they need to hit the threePees where it hurts, the school talent show. Figuring out their talent is a problem. Follow the girls as they put together their talent, face fears, and form their own group of friends.

Bottom Line: This is a humorous book every girl can relate to. After all who hasn't been teased about something in middle school, felt like a dork or faced the challenge of making friends. Find out the way these girls take on the popular girls and come out winners. Nerd Girls will have you smiling and turning pages.