The Hunger Games!

So many people had tossed this book at me and told me to read it, only to have me place it back on the shelf. It's only a passing fad! I thought. It'll go away like The Lightning Theif did! I thought. Well, it seems that this fandom is replacing Twilight, which I did not read either, so I thought that I'd try it.

Don't get me wrong, but I love to read. I don't normally hop in on these trends, I have a library checkout limit and there are better things to read, right?  No. This book was flat out amazing. So amazing that I stayed up until five in the morning to finish it! 

Okay, so this book is about Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old girl whose life is consumed by the job of feeding and clothing her Mother and sister, Prim. They live in District Twelve, one of the twelve districts of Panem, which lies in the ruins of what was previously North America. After it was destroyed, the Capitol took over.

In order for the Capitol to prove that they rule the districts, they host The Hunger Games. 24 tributes, one boy and one girl from each district, at random to fight to the death. Only one tribute comes out alive. This book is totally worth reading! 

Book Review- Coraline

Ah, Coraline. A truly haunting book, if that describes anything. Coraline, not Caroline, as her neighbors call her, has moved into a new flat with her Mother and Father. She absolutely loves exploring, and one day she finds a door. The door really doesn't lead anywhere, as her mother proves. There is simply a brick wall on the other side. Nothing more. Or is there?

One day when Coraline's mother leaves to go grocery shopping, Coraline opens the door. But the brick wall isn't there. It is another flat, exactly the same, just more interesting. In the other flat live her Other Mother and Other Father, who want her to stay.

While Coraline is there, her Other Mother traps her so that she can't leave. Eventually, Coraline finds some ghost children, who tell her that the Other Mother wants to eat her. This totally freaks out Coraline, so she challenges her Other Mother. If Coraline can find her real parents and the three ghost children's souls, she can leave. But if Coraline does not, she has to stay and be the perfect daughter forever....

Revised Reveiw- Crookedstar's Promise

I had to rewrite this one for school. It's written as a report, and I'm required to post it on the internet.

Crookedstar’s Promise by Erin Hunter

After over a year of waiting for Crookedstar’s Promise, I finally got it and blew through it over a course of three days. This book was one of the best books that I’ve read in ages, and exceeded all of my expectations.  It has rejection, fantasy, battle, adventure, betrayal, and humor. It seems to have pretty much every category.

 When Crookedstar was a kitten, then called Stormkit, he was playing with his brother, Oakheart, who was then called Oakkit, when he slipped and fell onto a stone and broke his jaw. He was permanently disfigured, so his mother, Rainflower, renamed him Crookedkit.

                When he gets his apprentice name, Crookedpaw, he is upset because his mentor is “Treating him like a kitten.” When a Starclan warrior, or warrior ancestor from cat-heaven, named Mapleshade offers to train him, and he accepts. But it comes with conditions. Crookedpaw must promise her that he will put his clan before anything else. He promises, not thinking much of it.

                After a long apprenticeship, Crookedpaw receives his warrior name, Crookedjaw. He becomes a powerful warrior, and after his father, Shellheart, steps down from position as clan deputy, Crookedjaw is chosen.  Eventually after Hailstar, Riverclan’s leader dies; Crookedjaw is promoted to leader and takes on the name of Crookedstar. When Crookedstar becomes leader, he must face many new challenges as well as coping with the past.

                I think that Crookedstar’s life may or may not be too perfect. This book could be so depressing, it dealt with the death of loved ones, love, battle, and betrayal, but Crookedstar always did figure out a way to pull through. One of the only things that he didn’t accomplish was making his mother, Rainflower, proud of him, which was a major thorn in the plot. Other side characters like Oakheart (formerly Oakpaw), Willowbreeze (his mate), Hailstar (clan leader), Rainflower, and Shellheart were just a few of the characters who had decent sized rolls within this 491 paged book. There were so many characters that this book would have been extremely overwhelming for anyone who hadn’t read any of the various Warrior Cats series (Warriors, The New Prophecy, The Power of Three, and Omen of the Stars, and various super editions and fan guides). Luckily, there was an “Alliances” page in the front of the book listing cats and their roles. But the list quickly becomes out of date as the story progresses, and you have to keep up with it yourself.

                So personally, I love this book because it was a nice change from the stories in the lives of various Thunderclan cats, and it helped show how life was different between all of the clans. Young children might not like this book, it may be classified as 10 and up, because the battles could be violent, but it wasn’t too bad. So all in all, I highly recommend this and give it 5 stars!

Book Review- The Lost City of Faar

This was the sequel to The Merchant of Death, the first book in the Pendragon series. I really don't have much to say about it because it was really boring and draggy. Very predictable. They go to a magical fairy world with magic and fairies and pixie dust  a floating territory. Bobby is placed with the burden of having to tell Spader that he is a traveler, blah, blah, blah, they find the magical city of Faar (Our equivalent to Atlantis.) and slay the evil Saint Dane.

Like I said, nothing really happens in this book.

A Quick off Topic Update

I've been slacking a little on the posts lately, and for that, I apologize. But personally, I think that you will particularly enjoy what I have been investing my spare time in. I am doing a contest, for National Novel Writers Month, where I am challenged to write a novel in 30 mere days. My goal is 40,000, and I'm almost on track to the point where I can complete my goal on time! My novel wont be available until early-mid December, because I'm sure my editors and I will pick it to pieces (that being a good thing, because it is currently in the state of a grammatical nightmare!). You can track my progress with minute-to-minute statistics, graphing, and insight that is 100% up to date at where I am. You can find those statistics here, along with some other information and previews of my novel. Enjoy :)

Book Review- Pendragon

Bobby Pendragon is your average 14 year-old boy. He loves sports, and his dog, Marley. The book begins with him kissing the girl of his dreams, also known as Courtney. But just as his oh-so-wonderful moment is ending, his mysterious Uncle Press pops in. He politely asks Courtney to leave, and then takes Bobby on a little field trip to a place called Denduron.
    Bobby and his uncle are travelers, meaning that they can flume, er, teleport to other terretories, which in this case was Denduron. This is a lot for young Bobby to take in so fast, after going to the closest flume, which is in a dangerous part of New York, nearly being killed by Saint Dane, the series villain, and some starving quigs, or guard animals, starving for human flesh.
    When Bobby gets out of the other end of the flume, he is on a mountain. Once his Uncle Press arrives, he quickly explains that Earth as we know it is actually called Second Earth, and that they must use absolutely nothing from there, so in other words, they must only use what that territory has to offer.
   After battling some more vicious, flesh-eating quigs down the mountain, Bobby and his Uncle are separated. Uncle press is captured but the Bedowaan, or evil-villain-people-who-make-the-plot-what-it-is people. But Bobby is much luckier, he gets taken in by two Milago tavelers, Osa and her daugher Loor.
    The rest of the story is all about Bobby trying to keep the Bedowaan people and the Milago people in balance, because the Milago people are mistreated slaves who mine for glaze, which is our equvelent of gold.
    Overall, this is an outstanding book, that takes you into a 15th centry style world with shocking twists. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book!

Book Review- Protecting Marie

Protecting Marie was an overall gripping book. The author {Kevin Henkes} did a nice job of grabbing you in the beginning and never letting go. It did, however, take me an extended amount of time to figure out the overall point of this book.

This book is about Fanny, who is trying to decide whether or not to trust her father. Fanny has always wanted a dog. Always. With all her heart. Her father is completely against the idea. One day, her father, who is an artist, has an outstanding day at work, so he goes and gets her a puppy named Nellie. But her father hates having an anxious puppy around the house, no matter how much she cleans and works. But this time, ears later, her father comes home with an older, quieter dog. She must now figure out whether or not to trust his kind gesture.....

Book Review- Stop Pretending

So this book, Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy, was another one of my attempts to change it up a bit. It is written in falling rhythms, a type of poetry. In this book, which is "Cookie's" (it never gives her real name) journal. She express how different her life is after her sister becomes mentally ill.It's nice and really, emotional, and I really loved it. I'm now encouraged to read more poetry, especially falling rhythms. It was definitely a good way to mix it up :)

Book Review - The Specialists Book 3: The Winning Element

Now that GiGi has successfully survived two missions, shes ready for yet another! GiGi discovers (a series of) shocking secrets (in book 2) that lead to this mission. But this time, TL and David aren't planning the mission, she is! She is going after a famed (secretly, not to the public) chemical smuggler who makes and sells bombs. She wants to go after him because he (spoilerrrr!!!!!) It's a nice sequel, and it changes the story line drastically because of yet another shocking secret!