Sunday, May 12, 2013

Review: Every Little Thing in the World


Every little thing in the world stopped once Sydney found out she was pregnant. How could she think of anything else? The father is a guy she barely knows, she is sixteen, and has a hard time integrating into her own broken family, let alone start one of her own.

To make matters worse, she gets shipped to a camp with her best friend Natalia, who volunteered. But Sydney can't see it. For most of the book, the jealousy toward her friend Natalia is horrendous and very realistic of a teenager with self-esteem issues. She even crushes on Natalia's beaus, Steve and Mick. 

In fact she crushes on everybody even though she is pregnant, making it hard to connect with her as a character. Too bad Natalia wasn't the protagonist, as the author placed a lot more importance to detail when it came to her family and love life, providing her with a steady boyfriend and a hot camp guy that would make many ladies swoon.

All in all, I enjoyed how teens shared their different views on abortion. It must not be easy to have a child at sixteen and I couldn't blame Sydney for considering her options.


Saturday, May 11, 2013

Looks like We Have Our Gus for The Fault in our Stars



I'm so excited.

The Fault in our Stars film continues to take shape, as Ansel Elgort is offered the role of Augustus Waters. My only concern is that he will also be playing Caleb in the upcoming Divergent movie along side Shailene. Will we be able to distinguish both actors from both roles?

He does look the part. And hopefully he will accept the offer and the crew can start filming.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Feature and Follow Friday: No Mommy Dearest

Parajunkee Alison Can Read



FEATURE & FOLLOW FRIDAY

Once you answer be sure to leave me your link so I can follow you back



Q: Happy Mother's Day! Who is your favorite mom from fiction?

Ma.

Room is a hard read. The story is told from the point-of-view of a five year old who lived with his Ma in a room where Old Nick held her in captivity for seven years.

Now, Ma could have completely lost her mind. But instead she fought for her son. She made a schedule in which they would push the furniture and run around for exercise. Or draw on the toilet paper, since they had no paper....just so many ideas to shield him  from the horror and give him whatever life she could. 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Review: Stargirl



Being different in high school can lead to terrible things. I mean, look at Carrie. You'd think that the sweet and shy kids would be left alone. Instead, they are teased.

Carrie, pic by Everett Collection
However, unlike Carrie, Stargirl isn't shy. She is very sweet and very loud. Her cafeteria school breaks are consumed by playing her ukulele and signing Happy Birthday to ''lucky'' kids, and bonding with her pet rat. During games, she enjoys cheering for the opposite team because everyone deserves to be cheered. As for the biggest thing that made Stargirl different, Leo said,

"If we were hurt, if we were unhappy, or otherwise victimized by life, she seemed to know about it, and to care, as soon as we did. But bad things falling on her - unkind words, nasty stares, foot blisters - she seemed unaware of."  

Will Leo stand up for Stargirl in the end? The big climax enfolds during a school dance, dun dun dun.

Spinelli captures his own individuality while tackling the universal topic of discrimination. He pushes Stargirl to the limits, but never turns her into a farce, giving us a very realistic turn of events.  

Despite it all, I couldn't blame Leo for wanting Stargirl to act normal, specially when kids begin to shun him too for being her friend. Will we ever learn to accept one another?

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: If Books were a Snack





TOP TEN BOOKS THAT ARE BOTH LIGHT AND FUN


Summer is on it's way. There is no better feeling than marching off to the beach with a fun and pleasant read. Here are my top picks:



TEN THINGS WE DID AND PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE by Sarah Mlynowski
If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen.


LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins
Budding costume designer Lola lives an extraordinary life in San Francisco with her two Dads, and beloved dog, dating a punk rocker, but when the Bell twins return to the house next door Lola recalls both the friendship -- ending fight with Calliope, a figure skater, and the childhood crush she had on Cricket.

EX-MAS by Kate Brian
Seventeen-year-old Lila Beckwith's parents just left for vacation, and Lila's all set to throw the holiday party of the season. But when her Christmas-obsessed little brother, Cooper, discovers that global warming is melting the North Pole, he and his best friend, Tyler, take off on a runaway mission to save Santa. Lila has to get Cooper safely home before her parents get back on Christmas Eve. But the only person who can help her is Tyler's older brother, Beau -- a.k.a. Lila's musician, anti-everything ex-boyfriend.




THE QUEEN OF BABBLE by Meg Cabot
Lizzie Nichols has a problem: she can't keep anything to herself. And when she opens her big mouth on a trip to London, her good intentions get her long-distance beau, Andrew, in major hot water. Now she's stuck in England with no boyfriend and no place to stay until the departure date on her nonrefundable airline ticket. Fortunately, Lizzie's best friend and college roommate, Shari, is spending her summer catering weddings in a sixteenth-century chateau in southern France. Can Lizzie figure out some way to use her big mouth to save the day or will she only make things worse?



A KISS IN TIME by Alex Flinn
Sixteen-year-old princess Talia persuades seventeen-year-old Jack, the modern day American who kissed her awake after a three hundred year sleep, to take her to his Miami home, where she hopes to win his love before the witch who cursed her can spirit her away.






Also absolutely anything from Sophie Kinsella!!!