| Imogene was forced to live with her aunt after her parents leave, promising to return when she turns ten. But the birthday passes, and Imogene receives no news. Then one day, her pendant begins pointing her to the sea, and as she plunges in the water and swims to her destiny, she comes to realize she is in fact a mermaid. A princess! And her parents hid her because her evil uncle wants the throne and will stop at nothing to get it. Schapansky used easy vocabulary for middle-graders to understand, but gave us a witty and smart ten-year-old in the process. Imogene acted mature for her age, making wise decisions that helped the kingdom in great ways. It was interesting to see the concept of day and night under the sea as well as funny little details such as volcano rocks to cook food. |
| Falling into routine is a slow death. This book illustrates several ways girls can alter their hairstyles and be fashionable. If you want to profit this tutorials to the max. I advise you have some dry shampoo, sea salt spray, volume powder (Got2B makes an excellent one) elastics, hair accesories, hair chalk, and if possible, an extra pair of hands. Even though, the pictures were of excellent quality (large, taking over the whole page), styling your head is not as simple as it looks. Except for braids, the hair dos simply came with written instructions. Like: Remove a lock of hair from a tied ponytail. But how -- the whole thing falls apart when I do? Also, how am I supposed to keep the little fly airs from going wild? Too bad this book couldn't come with a how-to DVD. |
| Anyone can betray you, becomes a warning to hold on tight in this new YA fantasy series. In Mare's world, citizens not only bleed red or silver, but the color of their blood affects their reign as well as magical powers. Red's are considered worthless. But when Mare is given the chance to work at the palace and discovers her magical gift to control lightning everything changes. She's immediately betrothed to prince Maven, and plans are set in motion for her to become a Red Queen. But why are they so keen on keeping her at all? Can Mare really stop the Reds from rebelling against the royals? Aveyard added a lot of tension and quickly turned this fantasy into a thriller. We had a group of rebels that helped carry the story along, as characters were divided by right and wrong. Although I did enjoy the love triangle between Mare and the princes, I found the action and magical abilities of some (like Queen Elara) to be even more entrancing. Looking forward to the sequel. |
| Paige was forced to relocate from Virginia to New York with her mom. She doesn't know anyone, and spends most of her time talking to museum paintings and drawing in her notebook. Her art is gorgeous, but she is so afraid to share it. Until she meets some new friends that inspire her to be free. The Graphics kept me turning the pages, as the author found clever ways to put text everywhere. It really felt like I was staring at a piece of art and not a book. Particularly, because the story dragged as Paige dealt with her insecurities. Just when I thought she was moving on, she would shield herself back into her cocoon. Some similarities with Plain Janes, although, I must say the drawings in this one really take the cake.  |
| Sad to say, this book was not for me. Ramona and Sam have been bandmates for a long time. And to both of their dismay, the relationship has crossed the friendzone. Then one day Tom appears in the picture and gets added as a new member. But will Ramona's crush on Tom bring out everything that has been left unsaid between her and Sam? Despite the author's efforts to add subplots about bullying, cancer, and teen/parents issues -- the main focus remained on the romance. Lack of sex motivation is not commonly seeing in YA books and I'm glad that it gets some spotlight. I mean how many of us have dated someone that just couldn't get it up or didn't want more than to hold hands? Not everyone has a high drive. The problem is the author dragged it. Giving us the impression that a huge revelation will explain his condition (gay, asexual, molested, alien...) And if that wasn't bad enough, she then ended the climax with a dried up solution to try to make every character happy. Life doesn't work that way. |
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| Parajunkee / Alison Can Read |
