Review DULL BOY by Sarah Cross

DULL BOY
by Sarah Cross

Details:
May 14th 2009 by Dutton Juvenile

Hardcover, 308 pages

Placement in Pile:
Reaching New Heights

Summary:
What do you do if you can deadlift a car, and you spend your nights flying to get away from it all? If you’re fifteen-year-old Avery Pirzwick, you keep that information to yourself. When you’re a former jock turned freak, you can’t afford to let the secret slip.

But then Avery makes some friends who are as extraordinary as he is. He realizes they’re more than just freaks—together, maybe they have a chance to be heroes. First, though, they have to decide whether to trust the mysterious Cherchette, a powerful wouldbe mentor whose remarkable generosity may come at a terrible price.

Review:
The funny thing is I decided to return this book to the library without reading it. Why? Well, (this may sound lame) but the cover did nothing for me. No interest there. But at the last minute I cracked open the book and surprisingly, I read till the end.

What hooked me? The character's voice. It's teenage boy, with humor and angst and jerky friends. And in the midst of all of that, Avery (the protagonist) deals with 'personal problems' of having too much strength and being able to fly. The book progresses when he finds out he's not alone in his 'abilities'. The story is engaging and the mystery shrouding certain characters in the novel will have you reading to the end. It's a clever 'kids with powers' premise.
There were a few details that were lacking, and frankly the climax cleaned up a little too easy. It was almost as if Cross got to the end of the novel and thought, I'm so done with writing this. So she ended it early. Besides those minor issues, it's a good read, though peppered with some minor foul language.
Enjoy reading!

Breaking Stephenie Meyer Book News!

Today Stephenie Meyer announced the release of a new book in the Twilight world called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, about the young vampire Bree from Eclipse!

Not only will this "novella" be for sale in stores, but it will also be available for FREE to read online. It will be available 12:01 am June 5th! But a dollar from each book sold will be given to the Red Cross, so I encourage you to buy a copy when it comes out!

Check out the link here for more information! http://stepheniemeyer.com/

I am really excited about this. I was just thinking...where is Stephenie Meyer? It has been a long time since we have heard from her other than movie news. I for one am really excited for this!

In My Mailbox (10)

I am a day late with this, but yesterday was just a busy day for me! As always In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren!

From Publishers:

TANGLED
by Carolyn Macker
Published December 29th 2009 by HarperTeen
Hardcover, 320 pages

Summary: Jena, Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all at Paradise—the resort in the Caribbean, that is—for different reasons, but in Paradise their lives become tangled together in ways none of them can predict. Over the course of four months, through four voices and four stories, what happened in Paradise will change them all.

In this extraordinary novel, the Printz Honor–winning author brings us her most accomplished work yet. Tangled is a story of the secrets we keep, the risks we take, and the things we do for love.

HOW TO (UN)CAGE A GIRL
by Francesca Lia Block
Published March 1st 2010 in Paperback by HarperTeen (first published September 1st 2008 in Hardcover)
Paperback, 144 pages

Summary:
The pain of wanting to fit in

The joy of being consumed by love

The shame of not feeling at home in your body

The strength in learning you're beautiful

These are moments that every girl knows . . . for they are part of growing up, of uncaging yourself, from your childhood, your environment, your view of yourself. Francesca Lia Block follows the journey from girlhood to womanhood in this three-part poetry collection that channels girls' innermost feelings and experiences and celebrates women everywhere. It is a call to embrace the girl within, to heal her and set her free.

Review A KISS IN TIME by Alex Flinn

A Kiss in Time
by Alex Flinn

Details:
May 1st 2009 by HarperTeen

Hardcover, 371 pages

Placement in Pile:
Middle of the Stack

Summary:
Talia fell under a spell . . . . Jack broke the curse.

I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic. . . .
I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.
I awakened in the same place but in another time—to a stranger's soft kiss.
I couldn't help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn't know this would happen.
Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!
Now I'm stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels. . . . The good news: My parents will freak!
Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all—even time?

Review:

Alex Flinn's Beastly is one of my favorite modern day fairy tale retellings. I hoped this one would be as touching or even thought-provoking. Honestly, it fell short. Though the plot was intriguing and the characters were unique and full of voice, I wasn't impressed with the development of each character. And frankly, the 'love' story (because that's what we're reading it for, right?) fell flat.

Talia has to make Jack fall in love with her, or else she may fall peril to an evil fairy that's been holding a 300 year grudge. But Jack acts like a complete dork half the time. If there's one thing I've learned about creating a compelling love story, it's that the male character needs to have redeeming, if not 'rough around the edges but totally endearing' type qualities. Jack, unfortunately, came across as a whiney boy . . . most of the time.

Over all, it was a quick easy read. But for me, it lacked the substance that makes a great book.

Author Interview: Susanne Dunlap

First I'd like to thank Susanne for taking the time to answer my questions. I read and reviewed Susanne's first YA novel The Musician's Daughter, back when I was blogging over at My Favorite Author.

I was thrilled to get a copy of ANASTASIA'S SECRET which I wanted to read ever since she first mentioned she was working on a book about the Grand Duchess in our last interview! I hope that this little Q&A will get you even more excited about reading this book, for I truly did enjoy it!

My Pile Of Books: You obviously put a lot of research into your work. Which do you prefer more, the research or writing fiction?

Susanne Dunlap: Definitely the writing, but the research inspires me. When I'm researching, I'm itching to start putting the story together, to bring the characters to life.

MPB: ANASTASIA'S SECRET is more than just a fantasy version of what might have been. What do you hope your teenage readers take from a more true to life story of what happened to the Romanovs?

SD: I know some people will wish that I had done it differently, but what inspired me about her story is that she wasn't a little girl while all those awful things were happening to her family, she was a teenager. I wanted to explore what it must have been like to come of age in the midst of all that, through the contrast between unimaginable luxury and the horrifying prospect of a terrible end.

MPB: Why were you drawn to Anastasia as a narrator?

SD: She's a shadowy character in history, described as the "clown" of the family, and as the youngest (and unwanted) fourth daughter of an imperial couple who yearned for a son. I felt she must have had some pain in her life, some feeling for her second-class status, and that the conflicts in her heart—between being a loving sister and perhaps envying the position her two older sisters and younger brother had in her parents' affections—deserved to have a voice. I also wanted to give her more of an independent life than she is portrayed as having in history.

MPB: Besides Anastasia who in this novel was your favorite character to research and write about?

SD: Hmmm. I think possibly there isn't an individual one, but discovering the roles of the members of the household and the servants, and what they sacrificed to stay with the family, was quite a revelation.

MPB: Can you tell us about what you are working on now?

SD: My next novel is about a young parlor maid from the East End of London who stows away to go with Florence Nightingale's nurses to the Crimea.

MPB: What have you read in the last few months that has blown you away?

SD: I've read an unpublished manuscript by a dear friend that has really blown me away, and the soon-to-be published novel Claude and Camille, by Stephanie Cowell. It's the story of Claude Monet and his lover Camille, set in that incredible time for the art world in Paris. It's a very tender love story, and an evocative setting. As for teen books, the novel I Am Rembrandt's Daughter by Lynn Cullen was fabulous.

*Thank you again Susanne for being part of our blog!

Review ANASTASIA'S SECRET by Susanne Dunlap

ANASTASIA'S SECRET
by Susanne Dunlap
March 2nd 2010 by Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books
Hardcover, 320 pages

Placement in the Pile: Reaching New Heights

Summary:
“Will I never see you again either?” I asked, feeling as though I was about to jump off a high mountain peak and hope to land without hurting myself. That’s how impossible everything seemed at that moment, no matter what I did.

“Perhaps we will meet again,” Sasha said, softening his voice. “But you must see that it does not matter. You have so much ahead of you. It’s your choice now. Choose the future! Choose life!”

For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia’s last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family’s future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death?

Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap’s new novel is a haunting vision of the life—and love story—of Russia’s last princess.

Review:
Unlike fantasy versions of what may have happened to Anastasia and her family the Romanovs, this story takes you deep withing their world in a "what might have been" story.

Dunlap writes expertly, capturing the voice of this once Grand Duchess in her childhood through teenage years. Her sweet innocent voice juxtaposed with the intense realizations of a Russia that is falling apart, a world full of poverty, hate and a Europe-wide war, Anastasia's voice comes through in this novel more than anything. I was captured by the voice from the beginning and I literally could not put it down.

This inside peek as to what it would be like to grow up sheltered from the world, befriend a soldier and be shown why the people are so angry with her family was a great way to imagine the young Anastasia's life. Shasha, the young soldier becomes Anastasia's love interest in the book in a powerful setting of what might have been for this princess.

I liked this novel more than Dunlap's first young adult novel. It is long, but I was so captured by the story that it didn't matter. I wanted to keep reading, to experience this time in the life of you youngest Romanov daughter. I have always loved the story of Anastasia, but most of the stories I know involve magic and mystical powers. This is a much more historically accurate story of what happened to the family, and for that I am grateful it is out there.

I do have to say that I would rate this PG-13 as there is some sexual content and blantant talk about Anastasia's physical development into womanhood. It is never base or disgusting, but it is there.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for my interview with Susanne Dunlap!

*Book source disclosure: I was sent an ARC of this book by the publisher.

In My Mailbox (9)

This meme is hosted by the fabulous StorySiren! I love clicking on the links on her page to see what others are getting! Be sure to check it out!

From Publishers:

THE DEAD TOSSED WAVES
by Carrie Ryan
Published March 9th 2010 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Hardcover, 404 pages

Summary:
Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

LITTLE VAMPIRE WOMEN (cover art not final)
By Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina
Published May 1st 2010 by HarperCollins
Paperback, 320 pages

Summary:
The March sisters are back, sweeter and more loving than ever. But they’ve grown up since you last read their tale. That’s right—they live on as vampires. Readers will be agog and aghast at the hilarity of the sisters’ transformation—especially now that they have (much) longer lives and (much) more ravenous appetites.

This uproarious retelling of a timeless American classic will leave teens craving the bloodthirsty drama on each and every page.

STARGAZER
by Claudia Gray
First Published March 24th 2009 by HarperTeen,
To be Published in paperback April 29th 2010
Paperback, 256 pages

Summary:
The vampire in me was closer to the surface ...

Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all—vampires. Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them.

But Bianca fell in love with Lucas—a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school.

Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross—or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca's secrets will force her to live a life of lies.

Yet Bianca isn't the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by an evil force that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning. . . .

Bought:

THE HUNT FOR DARK INFINITY (The 13th Reality, #2)
By James Dashner
First Published in Hardcover March 30th 2009 by Shadow Mountain
Published in Paperback February 23rd 2010 by Aladdin
Paperback, 432 pages

Summary:
After their life-changing adventures through the Realities, it's been a quiet summer for Tick, Paul, and Sofia, but the latest message from Master George Changes everything.

The Realities are in danger from something more terrible than Mistress Jane and the mutated Chi'karda of the Thirteenth Reality. People from all Realities are inexplicably going insane. Worse some Realities are fragmenting, disintegrating into nothingness. Mr. Chu from the Fourth Reality is working on a mysterious new weapon called Dark Infinity, but no one has any idea how to stop the weapon -- or even if it can be stopped at all.

Mistress Jane and Tick find themselves in a race to reach the weapon first, but who will destroy it and who will become its master?

Winner!

We have our winners from our two ARC giveaway! Random.org has spoken!

Our first place winner is:

Lindsay F!
She has won her first choice book: BEFORE I FALL!

Our second place winner is:

Randi!
She has won a copy of A GOLDEN WEB!

Congratulations ladies! I will be e-mailing you to get your mailing addresses. Thank you to everyone who participated and don't forget to enter our most current contest! Link on the sidebar!