The Sinclair family seem to have it all- three beautiful golden-haired daughters, perfect grandchildren, and their own private island, with a house for each daughter. Summers were spent on the island, with Cadence Sinclair Eastman, the oldest grandchild and heiress to the island, making ice cream, swimming in the ocean, and catching lobsters and crabs with her cousins. All of the Sinclair grandchildren were golden, tall and tan, and perfect. They called themselves the liars and they grew up together on the island during the summers. But it is all a facade. The aunts fight over who should receive the most inheritance. They drink too much, and fight, and the children are caught in the middle. Cadence is involved in an accident, but she can't remember what happened. She returns to the island the summer before her 18th birthday, trying to piece it all together.
This book is a very quick read. Only 225 pages, with short chapters, it is easy to fly through. As Cadence tries to get to the bottom of what happened to her and her cousins, the story jumps around in time. It is very easy to get caught up in the lives of the Sinclairs, living on an island during the summer and having barbecues and ice cream. It is also easy to see the beginnings of the crumbling of the facade. A great summer read!
When Macallan is asked to show the new kids around on the first day of 7th grade, she is less than thrilled. Levi is a typical California "surfer dude" with long blond hair pulled into a low ponytail. However, she does her duty, as quickly as possible, and leaves him in his first class. When she sees him alone in the cafeteria, she reluctantly invites him over to sit with her and her girlfriends. This is when they realize they both love an obscure British show, Buggy and Floyd, and a solid friendship begins to form. Macallan begins spending every Wednesday after school at Levi's house. Her mom passed away, and Macallan quickly forms a much needed mother-type relationship with Levi's mom. As the years progress, Macallan and Levi become inseparable, however, it is strictly platonic. In fact, Levi begins dating Macallan's best friend, which does add some complications. The book addresses the age-old question- Can a boy and a girl be strictly friends?
I met this author at a conference and really liked her. She is very friendly, energetic and had a great vibe about her. She explained this book is based of the movie Harry met Sally, but for teenagers. I'm not sure many of my students have seen the movie, but all the girls tend to love a good romance. I thought the book started off very strong. The story shifts between the point of view of Macallan and Levi, so the reader gets to see both sides of the story. I really liked both characters and found myself hoping for the best for them. There were some things that bothered me. The book spends too much time in middle school, and the characters are way too advanced for that age. I found that very hard to believe, they were just too mature for any 7th grader I ever met. I understand the author was trying to build the importance of the realtionship to the characters, but I think it should have moved to high school a little quicker. The story completely skips all of 9th grade, and most of 10 grade, so I think some of the plot could have taken place during that time. I also hated, hated, hated the back and forth. Sometimes one is in love with the other, and then vice-versa. Again, this is happening in 10th grade, and I found so much of the deep emotional stuff hard to take, especially in a romance. I liked this book, and I would be interested in having a student read it to see if they have the same take as me. I just found some of the plot points to be unbelievable.
Cress is the third installment of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. The story picks up right where Scarlet, the second book left off. Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf, and Captain Carswell Thorne are in space trying to avoid capture by the Lunar Queen Levana. They are unaware that Cress, am excellent hacker, is keeping them invisible and untraceable to all satellites. Like Meyer's other books, Cress is a spin on the fairy tale Rapunzel. She has been locked in a satellite since she was a child, only visited by the thaumaturge Sybil. She is hoping Captain Thorne will be her prince charming, rescuing her from her "tower". The story advances quickly and follows the same ideas as the first two books. Cinder is trying to bring down the evil Queen Levana who is trying to rule Earth. I can't go into too much detail without giving away the story of books one and two.
I really love this series. I'm not a big fan of science fiction, so I was really surprised by how much I love this series. I like the twists Meyer takes on the fairy tales, and I think each book is better than the last. Cress is a great addition to the mix of characters, and this books ends with a cliff hanger that will make for a great fourth and final installment. This is a series I highly recommend!
Gwen Castle is trying really hard to forget about the mistakes she has made in the past. Mistakes involving boys. Lots of them. Working at her Dad's hamburger joint is not helping, so when she gets an opportunity to spend the summer helping one of Seashell, Connecticut's richest widows, she takes it. She figures helping Mrs. Ellington with her groceries will be a much better gig, one that will help her forget about Cass Somers. But Cass is the island's "Yard Boy" for the summer, and he keeps popping up.
I was sooooo excited to read this book! My Life Next Door is one of my favorite summer romances.
It is one of the books I recommend to students looking for a love story. So, when I saw that the author had written a new book, and another summer romance at that, I couldn't wait. It jumped to the top of my to-read list.
And then I read it. And I couldn't finish it. I tried, really, I tried. And I even had some doubts about reviewing it if I hadn't finished it. I even tried to skim. But at 39% I am officially giving up. I can start with the nice things- Seashell, Connecticut is a place I would love to visit. Fitzpatrick describes it beautifully, and the summer beach parties, swimming, ice cream and hamburgers all make me want to go there. Cass Somers is a great love interest. He's grounded, even though he comes from a super rich family on the island. He's always sweet to Gwen, even though she doesn't seem to deserve it most of the time. That's about all the nice things I can say.
The worst part- the book is very confusing. It is told through flashbacks that come out of nowhere. I couldn't follow what was happening. Is this happening now? It happened in the past? I could never tell and spent most of the book that I did read extremely confused.
I did not like Gwen Castle. She is whiny and mean and I never found myself rooting for her.
There were so many plot points that seemed unnecessary and unbelievable. Mrs. Ellington is selling her estate, and her dad tries to convince her to take a piece of it. Cass Somers is failing English and the swim coach shows up at her house to ask her to tutor him. During summer? Cass shows up EVERYWHERE Gwen is. Constantly. Her 18 year old cousin and best friend are sucking each other's face off nonstop.
This was just not a book I enjoyed. She is currently writing a second book to My Life Next Door, and I will read it, but I might not be as quick to pick up. Hopefully it is an improvement to this one.
Zoe and Olivia have been best friends since they were 4 and started taking ballet classes together. They both became accomplished ballerinas and leave their New Jersey school every afternoon to study ballet in Manhattan. They plan their future lives together- live in a swanky apartment, dance, and have plenty of day to evening wear outfits. Then "the worst thing that will ever happen" happens- they get cut from their ballet school. They are then thrust into "ordinary" life. Olivia takes the setback in stride, even teaching a ballet class at the youth center. Zoe, the yin to Olivia's yang, cannot figure out what she wants to do now. She throws away all of her ballet clothes and shoes, cuts her hair, tries out for soccer, which she hates, and is not willing to admit to herself how much she misses dancing. Then the real tragedy hits- Olivia, Zoe's beautiful, happy, optimistic "other half" is diagnosed with leukemia. She is admitted to the hospital and begins chemotherapy treatment. Zoe is forced to continue to live her life with half of herself missing. While Olivia is in the hospital receiving chemo, Zoe has to go to school, begins teaching the ballet class in Olivia's place, and tries to remain as normal as possible.
I really loved this story. So moving and sweet. And while Zoe is not the most likable protagonist, I really felt moved by the circumstances she is forced to deal with. She really feels as if Olivia is part of her, and she cannot handle not having her with her. I think she is only reacting to the harsh reality of life, something many teenagers really don't have to deal with. I really recommend this book!
In 2003, New York City lost power. They city went completely dark. However, the city came together to form a "party" like atmosphere- stores gave away melting ice cream, there was no looting, and very little crime was reported. This is the situation that begins The Geography of You and Me, Jennifer E. Smith's latest romance novel. Lucy and Owen are trapped together during this blackout in their apartment building's elevator. Lucy lives on the twenty-fourth floor, Owen lives in the basement. Lucy loves her city, living there her entire life. Owen has just moved from a small town in Pennsylvania. After his mother died, his father took a job as the building's superintendent, hence the life in the basement. After being rescued from the elevator, Lucy and Owen head up the building's roof, so Lucy can get a chance to see stars of NYC for the first time. They share a connection, both feeling more comfortable with each other than they ever have with anyone else. But then morning comes. Owen sneaks out while Lucy is still sleeping, to check on his father, and doesn't make it back before Lucy wakes up. Thinking Owen left her, she leaves and is unsure of how to approach him. Then life gets in the way. Lucy's parents move her to Scotland, for her father's work, and Owen's dad loses his job. Since they can no longer stay in the basement, Owen and his father begin a cross-country trek out west. So begins the journey of Lucy and Owen. Each thinking about the other, but not sure how to ever connect again. Lucy travels throughout Europe, while Owen sees much of the west coast. Communication is rare, since they are both on the move so much, but they just can't seem to move past that one nigh. Are they just full of hopeful wishing? Are they making too much of one evening? Will they ever reunite? You have to read the book to find out!
I LOVED Smith's two previous novels- The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and This is What Happy Looks Like. If you haven't read those two books STOP what you are doing right now and get them. They are both great reads. Really cute stories that I couldn't put down. And while I liked this book, I didn't LOVE this book. First- Lucy's parents completely ignore her. And she doesn't seem to have a problem with this. They are constantly traveling the world, and leaving her at home. By herself. And when she finally brings it up, it is sweetly forgiven and swept under the rug. Second- Owen is still in high school, yet he is traveling the country with his dad, enrolling in schools along the way. As a teacher, this bugged me. I don't think it's as easy as it was for Owen to just move in and out of schools. The fact that he had lots of credits was emphasized ALOT, but it bothered me. I just didn't love this book as much as her other two. And while my teenage romance readers will probably love it, I would just say it was ok.
Nell and her older sister Layla are so close, it is hard to tell where one begins and the other one ends. Always together, tell each other everything, no secrets type of sisters. When Nell was little, she thought they had one name, Nellayla because she thought they were the same. Now Nell is starting high school where her sister will be a junior, and everything points to being the best years of their life. They both made the varsity soccer team. They have the same friends, and Nell can tag along to her older sisters parties. Then something begins to change. Nell knows it, can feel it, but can't explain it. Layla is pulling away from her, keeping secrets, and even lying. Now Nell has to choose. Will she keep her sister's secret?
This is a very quick read. It's told through Nell's perspective, as if she is talking to her sister, explaining her decision. I really liked it, even though Layla is such an unlikable character. Nell is a great protagonist, who is truly tortured by her decision to keep her sister's secret. I would recommend this to anyone who needs something to get them out of a slump.
