My Life in…

Book #53 of 2009 Title: Bloom Author: Elizabeth Scott Publisher: Simon Pulse Pub Date: April 24, 2007 Grade: B+ Comments: A lovely romance/friendship book from Elizabeth Scott, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite ya authors. The relationships between the characters were very believable.

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Book #52 of 2009 Title: I Love You, Beth Cooper Author: Larry Doyle Publisher: Ecco Pub Date: May 8, 2007 Grade: C+ Comments: They kept playing the commercials for the movie, and even though the movie looked terrible, it reminded me of how I had been planning to read this book since around 2007. So I finally did, mostly on the plane on the way to Mexico. If I hadn’t been stuck on a plane I’m not sure I would have gotten through it. I enjoy stories told about one crazy night (Can’t Hardly Wait is one of my favorite movies), but this one was so absurd and the characters were so unlikeable I just couldn’t get into it. In Depth Reviews: The Book Chick, New York Times

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Book #51 of 2009 Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty Author: Jenny Han Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Pub Date: May 5, 2009 Grade: A Comments: I loved this book so much I nominated it for the Cybils. This is a perfect summer story about families that have grown up together, about crushes that have the potential to turn into something more and crushes that are awkward and only have the potential to hurt. It’s about nightswimming and hooded sweatshirts and moms. The writing is top notch. Thank goodness the sequel is coming out next year. I loved this even more than Shug. In Depth Reviews: Enchanting YA Reviews, Infinite Shelf, Em’s Bookshelf

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Book #50 of 2009 Title: Lemonade Mouth Author: Mark Peter Hughes Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers Pub Date: March 13, 2007 Grade: B Comments: I wasn’t a huge fan of this one, and didn’t think it was very successful for my book club either, but it was the end of the summer so maybe we were all burned out by that point. Liked the idea, but the characters’ voices were too similar.

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Book #49 of 2009 Title: One Lonely Degree Author: C. K. Kelly Martin Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers Pub Date: May 26, 2009 Grade: B- Comments: I Know It’s Over was one of my favorite books last year but this one was less successful for me. We got to see so little of the relationship between Jersy and Audrey that when things started between Finn and Jersy it didn’t really seem like that big of a deal, and their relationship never really felt authentic either.

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Book #48 of 2009 Title: Along for the ride Author: Sarah Dessen Publisher: Viking Juvenile Pub Date: June 16, 2009 Grade: A- Comments: Along for the Ride is a Sarah Dessen book, which means it has great characters, strong writing, and a simulatenous depth and lightheartedness to go with it. This one is a great summer story about an overachieving girl with selfish parents. I loved Auden’s relationship with her stepmom and baby sister and how she grew to like the girls from the story. The romance swept me away a little less than in previous books and I think it might have been better if this was a friendship story instead, but I don’t think it detracted from the book. I was able to have cookies and coffee with Sarah Dessen at Book Expo at a program sponsored by the Association of Booksellers for Children and received a copy of Along for the Ride from Viking. It was lovely to meet her! In Depth Reviews: Find the Time to Read, And Another Book to Read, Persnickety Snark

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Book #47 of 2009 Title: Evil Genius Author: Catherine Jinks Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books Pub Date: May 1, 2007 Grade: C Comments: This was one of our book group reads for the summer but we couldn’t get enough copies and had to switch the book. Frankly I’m not too disappointed because I don’t think any of my teens could have gotten through it. This book had a great premise and a lot of great humor throughout, but the plot and characters grew so unwieldy that it was difficult to get through. I’m curious as to what will happen to Cadel but don’t think I’ll be able to get through the sequel. In Depth Reviews: Imo, Blogcritics, Book Reviews

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Book #46 of 2009 Title: Sister Wife Author: Shirley Hrdlitschka Publisher: Orca Pub Date: October 1, 2008 Grade: B+ Comments: Orca is known for publishing a lot of hi-low books (high interest/low reading levels) but the last two books I’ve read from them (Hello, Groin and now Sister Wife) have moved away from that realm. The books are still really interesting, but the average reluctant reader would have a much more difficult time getting through it. Sister Wife was really well done. The characters were interesting. Maybe I’m just waiting for Season Three of Big Love to come out on DVD, but it was interesting to see the experiences of a young girl in a terrible position, with little hope of escape, and what happens to her as a result. I liked the story didn’t take the easy way out with the romance. In Depth Reviews: Not Acting My Age, Purpleharp’s Blog, Librarina

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Book #45 of 2009 Title: House of the Scorpion Author: Nancy Farmer Publisher: Atheneum Pub Date: September 1, 2002 Grade: A- Comments: How did I miss this book? I know I’ve been avoiding fantasy books (and didn’t learn to distinguish sci-fi from fantasy until more recently either), but I feel like this one should have gotten on the list a lot sooner than it did. Great writing, characterization, pacing. Great high concept book that’s easy to booktalk. We read this for our 7-9 grade bookclub and the kids who read it loved it. The end wasn’t quite as strong as the earlier parts for me, but the writing was stellar. I can see why the book is covered in shiny medals. In Depth Reviews: Sci Femme, Thoughts on Adolescent Lit, Currie’s Blog

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Book #44 of 2009 Title: Going Too Far Author: Jennifer Echols Publisher: MTV Books Pub Date: March 17, 2009 Grade: A Comments: This book was shockingly good. I picked it up after reading a few blog reviews that made it seem better than it sounded. This book was full of emotion and the characters were great. Great for teens (toward the older end of teens) looking for a scorching hot romance book with no cardboard cutout characters in sight. Between this and Perks of Being a Wallflower, I might need to start reading all the MTV books. In Depth Reviews: Angieville, All About {n}, The Book Smugglers

I am an Amazon Affiliate (in order to use their photos mostly, but the occasional gift card is nice). If you make a purchase after clicking on a photo, I will receive a small portion of the purchase price.