(
) This book was not all that spell-binding, however I suppose the New York Times Best Sellers List says otherwise. The story starts off incredibly slow with a main half-
Asian and half-
Caucasian speaker. She
reminisces between tales of her current
marriage woes, her weird family life, and her even weirder adopted-but-half-blood-related Chinese sister. The sister tells many tales from "past lives" that are also written in first person throughout the book. They are somewhat illogical and tragic, but also linked with the present and future. The sister,
Kwan, also claims to have "Yin" eyes, which can see ghosts of the dead. And even more perplexing is that many of the stories seem to be backed by evidence.
The book can be a little confusing, and it is
incredibly slow
until 3/4
ths into the book. When it finally gets interesting is when
Kwan, the main character, and her
sort-of-ex-hubby go on a trip to China together to fulfill a prior
commitment. Things go awry and the real plot starts to take place. It's not horrible;
it's one of those books that would make a fantastic movie, but I would not
recommend it as a leisurely read.
(
) This is a fantasy-type tale centering around a young girl and boy whose mother (and grandfather) left them around a year ago. Their father remarried to a wicked stepmother who starves and enslaves them. Along with this, a new, odd "healer" comes to town and wreaks havoc on all the villagers. He's especially set on killing the girl and her brother; he is plotting with the stepmother to do so. Only the young girl, Tara, can stop him. It is basically a Harry Potter + Lord of the Rings story based around Indian mythology. It's alright if you're into that sort of thing, but it seems quite redundant to other "long journey" narratives that are also about magic, various deities, and fighting evil.
(
) This novel started off fairly decent. It's told in a two-part perspective through a teen girl who is new to town and a teen boy - who the girl has a crush on. The girl, Erin, specializes in magic tricks, and the guy, Matt, specializes in taking his best friend's burdens. Erin tries to entice Matt through her magic skills, but Matt's too busy watching his best friend's girl to even notice. Matt uses Erin's friendship as a distraction to his own disheveled life. Soon, Matt runs away from home at the worst time imaginable. This, coupled with other coincidences and secrets make this story seem a deep, dark, twisted tragedy until the very last page. It's a very slow story with depressing situations that only get worse and worse through the sadness of (a little too much) random chance. The first few chapters were interesting, but after that I just got really fed up with the story and couldn't wait to get through it.
(
) Basically, the story is about a 5'4'' 16-year-old who travels to Arizona for the summer to gain work experience in the field he's interested in: being a veterinarian. The teen stays at his gay uncle's house and is introduced to the gay community and AIDs awareness. The work he's expected to do in Arizona doesn't exactly fit his expectations, as he finds himself cleaning horse stalls. However, this leads to finding the first love of his life. The main character loses his virginity and gains confidence and masculinity. He starts out the novel as a pale, blushing teen who is shy about his height - but he ends up with a dark tan and a sureness about the world, what he wants, and where to go next. It's an alright read, especially if you're interested in horse racing or the cowboy-ish lifestyle.
(
) So if you're really into basketball, or sports in general, this book could be interesting. It's basically the story of a 17-year-old living by himself above a restaurant where he works. He's completely obsessed with basketball, and minorly obsessed with girls. He explores his first sexual ventures and his quest for actual love. He is cut from the school basketball team, so he joins a church solely for their team. His maturity and classification between the reality of love is somewhat unrealistic, but who am I to make that judgement? It was a struggle for me to get through, slow with no obvious central plot besides his story of maturation. However, there were some great quotes found throughout; there is definitely some unparalleled talent in the author. ("Ethnicity? I suppose we had some, three or four generations back, but it's been bleached out of us pretty good. We're as white as Twinkies and fish sticks. / It's a neutral, Wonder Bread sort of whiteness, a bland-talking, straight-thinking, virginal whiteness. Like Cheerios."..."And it struck me that if you added just a drop of melted chocolate to a dish full of vanilla, the mix would take on an undebatable tone of brown. But stir in a drop of vanilla into a spoonful of chocolate and you'd never even know it was there." Page 18.)
(
)
This book is told from the perspective of a young dark-skinned minority boy who grew up with a very young mother and no father. He is beginning the puberty years, and is in the midst of getting his first kiss. He speaks slow and feels alien to any environment with Caucasians. However, he is 'gifted'. He also has somewhat disdain for his odd name, Melanin Sun.
Soon, he finds out it isn't just the stress of growing up he has to deal with - his mom discovers something new about herself that will change both of their lives forever. Melanin deals with this new stress along with everything else. The book ends with Melanin being "sure" of himself, if not anything else. It's a quick read with a unique viewpoint on a controversial topic.
(
) If you feel like reading something disturbed and messy, this is your book. A sad murder witness tale is told by a very abused and confused teenage girl. From her distant whore-ish mother to her dead father, this story is a tear jerker - that is if you can get your emotion past the broken sentences and unconnected events. As can be viewed by reading from this girl's perspective, her IQ and education are less than average. Despite this shortcoming, she has a continual will to go on and protect the family that her mom forgot. Through her mom's past boyfriends, she's become familiar with both the stock market and sex. She's learned to depend only on herself and trust no one. They aren't the best lessons in life, and watching more than a couple lives be taken in front of you won't help your mentality either. So many stories are told about the occurrences after the tramatic event, this one focuses on namely the situations before its occurrance.
(
) I don't dislike many books, as bad quality doesn't usually make its way past a publisher with money on the line. However, this one seems to have snuck through. This is a compilation of 'true stories' about "young people's encounters with the unexplained". In other words, it's a bunch of stories about paranormal stuff in relation to teens. This has the opportunity to be captivating to readers, unfortunately all stories are written in an objective third person by the author with no reference to the true 'identifier' or 'story-teller'. Yes, there is an extensive bibliography, but nothing relating to the
specific experiences described here. It seems they might really be nothing more than made-up stories based on various recorded psychic phenomenons.
The most popular literature always captures a reader's emotions and attention. This book does none of the two, nor do the stories seem to prove 'true' as stated. Do not waste your time unless you enjoy reading really boring, bland books.
(
) The author of this book is creative with her words to the finest extent, and makes all dialogue clever and entertaining. The basic story is told in first-person by the main character, Shelby. The whole narrative begins with Shelby becoming best friends with a new girl in school, Becca. Together, they create a club that is somewhat of a retreat for other girls of their similar nature: ones that don't join the conformist views of the high school scene - ones that are the 'odd one out' in almost every crowd. It works, and they gain a few members. They even create 'causes', like collecting Twinkies to be mailed to one of the most superficial modeling companies around in order to protest stick-thin models. More attention gathers, and Shelby begins to grow in ways she hadn't previously. She gains more understanding of her family, friends, and boys. Not to mention getting a top-notch boy in the end! It's creative, entertaining, and inspiring - it makes you think twice about your amazing abilities to accomplish; and also, about possibly raising your own current ambition level.
(
)
This novel follows the perspectives of two girls that find themselves in an exclusive, private boarding school. One is from Long Island, and her culture consists mostly of over-friendly teenage party-goers. The other girl is from a historically wealthy and affluent family who has private schools written all over her record and whose wardrobe consists almost solely of earth-toned Abercrombie and Fitch clothes. Both girls struggle at the new school, but in almost completely opposite ways.
In the end, so many questions are left unanswered - as many book series do. Thus I would not read it again for fear of being tempted to spend money in order to have my curiosity fulfilled - because I know new questions will arise in their place!
(
) This main character of this book moves to a new town and a new school, where she tries to re-attempt her life. She models most of her 'new self' off of a deceased sister that she blames herself for the death of. She is instantly accepted to the 'in' crowd, and lies her way to be accepted even further. Unfortunately, a past boyfriend shows up who knows the truth - his presence threatens the position she's made for herself.
As you can guess, she eventually reverts back to who she was - finding that being anyone else is not fulfilling. (I'd say the ending is a little too obvious - which insults my intelligence.) It makes you question responsibility, right and wrong, forgiveness, and attraction - if you weren't already.
(
) This book follows the story of teenage girl who's recently allowed daily release from a clinic where she has been admitted for a suicide attempt. The girl is beautiful according to society, and is a gang member. She struggles to, but eventually finds the reason behind wanting to end her life. She also connects with a boy who is estranged in a similar way, and together they find peace.
The title refers to a reoccurring mental dream world that the main character and the boy enter to escape their horrible pasts. It's a suspensing story that of course made me cry!
(
) This book was not all that spell-binding, however I suppose the New York Times Best Sellers List says otherwise. The story starts off incredibly slow with a main half-Asian and half-Caucasian speaker. She reminisces between tales of her current marriage woes, her weird family life, and her even weirder adopted-but-half-blood-related Chinese sister. The sister tells many tales from "past lives" that are also written in first person throughout the book. They are somewhat illogical and tragic, but also linked with the present and future. The sister, Kwan, also claims to have "Yin" eyes, which can see ghosts of the dead. And even more perplexing is that many of the stories seem to be backed by evidence.
