48HBC: Flipped

Flipped

by Wendelin Van Draanen

Rating: Great

Difficulty: Normal

Pages:212

Synopsis

The first time she saw him, She flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. And from the second grade to the seventh, that's how it was. She says: "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." He says: "It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort."

But in the eighth grade, their views of the world- and each other- turn upside down. He says: "I'd spent so many years avoiding Juli Baker that i've never really looked at her, now i couldn't stop." And she says: "I felt a cold, hard knot tighten in my heart. I was through with Bryce Loski." Is there hope for happiness in junior high?

Have you flipped?

Review

I LOVE stories that are in two different points of view, especially this one. It tells the basic story of middle school love- girl likes boy, boy hates girl, something changes and then girl is done with boy and boy is crazy for girl! It's really adorable and very eye opening. It takes an in depth look at two totally different families- one rich and privileged and another humble and not so rich. Also it takes a look at the different views of a relationship between two different genders. If you're a girl and you read Flipped you might think "god do i act like that?" and if you're boy and read Flipped you might think "wow we're jerks!". That's one of the best things about a story like this- seeing through someone else's eyes and seeing how you really are. Julianna is an energetic love sick girl, while Bryce is laid back and tries to avoid Juli at all costs. They are really interesting characters because they are totally opposites- Juli is artistic and rather deep and Bryce is shallow and well, a boy! In the end they begin to see things totally different and begin to understand each other a little better! I love this book!!

48HBC: Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting

by Natalie Babbitt

Rating: So so

Difficulty: Normal

Pages: 139

So this is my third book in the 48 hour book challenge! I was up till after midnight reading it and it proved to be very good!

Synopsis

Doomed to- or blessed with- eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicously and comfortably as they can. When ten year old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing than it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

Review

I've always been real interested in reading this book- my mind sometimes wanders by it when im in a book store but i always brush it off in favor of a newer one. I went to the most unexpected place this weekend (goodwill lol) and saw it sitting there for just 99 cents if you can believe it so i though "why not?". This book is alot more fairy tale then reality but a good fairy tale at that. I only labeled it So so because it was rather short for my taste, it only took me two hours to read! Haha The best character in this whole story has to be Jesse Tuck, a seventeen year old boy "doomed" to live forever. He captures the heart of Winnie Foster and you can't help but swoon over him also. In the book Winnie and Jesse's relationship is purely innocent- just two kids who don't know anything about love but find themselves deep in it.

Spoiler!!!!!! It has a rather sad ending though and you cant help but feel heartbroken for there lost love. Spoiler over:)

Winnie Foster is deliciously child like and nieve but she plays a big part in saving the Tuck's skins. This is a great story and though it might not be catagorized in YA it will still charm your socks off!

Reviewed By

Christina!!

48HBC: Elsewhere

Elsewhere

by Gabrielle Zevin

Rating:Incredible

Difficulty: Normal

Pages: 276

48 hour book challenge, book 2!

Synopsis

After fifteen year old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live".

Review

Gabrielle Zevin is one of those authors who really blur the line between fairy tale and reality. In books such as Margarettown and Elsewhere, Gabrielle tells stories that are both familiar and unbelievable. In Elsewhere specifically, she chronicles the journey of a young girl who dies suddenly in a hit and run. Liz finds herself in a place called Elsewhere, which is exactly like earth except no one dies or gets sick and ages backward from their time of death to birth. Liz, Lizzie or more formally Elizabeth is at first very distraught with her new circumstances- on the verge of sixteen, she wants to earn her drivers license and graduate from college and fall in love and get married and have children. Dying seems to through a wrench into all of her well thought out plans. Until she finally realizes that nothing she does can change her being dead Liz refuses to see the good things about Elsehwere. Her grandmother Betty, who died before her birth. Curtis Jest, who was the lead singer of her favorite band machine. Thandie, a young girl like her who was accidently shot in the head and a boy named Owen, who helps her realize that even in Elsewhere you can still find love. Elsewhere is one of the best "afterlife" books i've read- filled with life lessons and thoughtful epiphanies. Even though Liz is dead, it teaches you alot about life and how to appreciate what you have in that life. MUST READ!!!!!

Progress on 48HBC!

So... This is my current schedule for the progress i've made in the 48 hour book challenge!

8:15 am- 11:20 am - Reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

11:20- 1: 15 - Cleaning house and taking a shower! (haha)

1:15- 1:45 - Reviewing Speak and blogging!

1:45- 2:25 - Began to Read Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

2:25- 2:50 -Eating :)

2:50 - 3:50 Reading more Elsewhere!

3:50 to Now- Blogging some more!

I didnt think reading for a couple hours straight could be so tiring but it certaintly is!! Right now im looking up some amazing blogs who are also participating in the 48HBC, if you have not already entered i encourage you to do so quick!

Love,
Reader Girl!

Playlist for Speak!

Speak

Listen to this!

Im so sick- Flyleaf

Bring me to life- Evanescence

Freak on a leash- Korn

Meet Virginia- tRAIN

Scar Tissue- Red Hot Chili Peppers

48HBC:Speak

Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Rating: Incredible

Difficulty:Easy

Pages: 198

Book 1- 48 Hour Book Challenge!

Synopsis

(from inside flap)

Melinda Sordino busted an end of the summer party by calling the cops, so her old friends won't talk to her, and the people she doesn't know hate her from a distance. It's no use explaining to her parents; they've never known what her life is really like. The safest place for Melinda to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's somethings she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that is she admitted it and let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have no choice. Melinda would have to speak the truth.

Review

So this is the first book i've read for the Mother Reader 48 hour book challenge. I read this book straight through from 8:15 to 11:20! It was pretty intense to say the least- poor Melinda is hated and ridiculed all because she called the cops at a end of the summer party. Laurie Halse Anderson couldn't have gotten the dialogue of modern day teenagers any better, the way she writes makes you feel as if you are right there with Melinda, sharing her pain. I think IT (Andy Evans) is one of the most terrifying characters in novel history, even though he only makes a few appearences in the book, he is a major contibution to Melinda's overwhelming fear of remembering that night.This book is often taught in schools around the U.S. as guidelines and warnings against rape and depression, something that is a really underground problem in today's society. This is a great book and you will find all the charaters and especially Melinda very close to home! If you anywhere between 13 and 18 this is a must have book!

48 Hour Book Challenge!

Okay so i just read the fabolous post for the 48 hour book challenge and i decided that i am definitly going to do it starting tomorrow (Saturday, June 6) at 7:00 am! Wow!! I don't even know how im going to read for 48 hours straight but im going to do it no matter what! So...my upcoming reviews may be a little short and straight to the point because i want to read the most books possible but i will assure you that they will still be very informative and great! I encourage you to go to MotherReader and sign up also! This will be a great next couple of days!

Reading up and stocking up!

Christina:)