In My Mailbox (May 31)

In my mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren, who was inspired by Pop Culture Junkie. Here are the books I got this week...

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
Published by Scholastic, Inc.

Things aren't pretty for Emerson Watts.

Em was sure there couldn't be anything worse than being a brainiac the body of a teenaged supermodel.

But it turned out she was wrong. Because that supermodel could turn out to have a mother who's gone mysteriously missing, a brother who's shown up on her doorstep demanding answers, a former best friend who's intent on destroying Stark Enterprises to avenge the death of his lost love, and a British heartthrob who's written a song about her that's topping the charts.

How can Em balance all that with school, runway shows, and weekend jaunts to St. Johns - especially when she's got ex-boyfriends crawling out of the woodwork who want more than just a photo op; a sister who is headed to the high school cheerleading championships; a company she represents that seems to be turning to the dark side...

Not to mention trying to convince the love of her life that models aren't really airheads after all...especially one model in particular.

But then, nobody said it was going to be easy being Nikki.

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

Published by Random House

The war between humanity and Faerie devastated both sides. Or so 15-year-old Liza has been told. Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza’s world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers she has the Faerie ability to see—into the past, into the future—and she has no choice but to flee her town. Liza’s quest will take her into Faerie and back again, and what she finds along the way may be the key to healing both worlds.

Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbot

Published by Marshall Cavendish

From her birth, Abisina has been outcast--for the color of her eyes
and skin, and for her lack of a father. Only her mother's status as the
village healer has kept her safe. But when a mythic leader arrives,
Abisina's life is ripped apart. She escapes alone to try to find the father and
the home she has never known. In a world of extremes, from the deepest
prejudice to the greatest bonds of duty and loyalty, Abisina must find her
own way and decide where her true hope lies.

Fridays...

Everyone seems to be at BEA right now (a fact which I am extremely jealous of). I don't have a review today, although I'm almost finished with My Fair Godmother.

To cheer myself I've decided to add a random photo of my cats, Angus and Bubbles, when they were a few weeks old.

Book Review: Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

And if I should die before I awake,

I pray the popular attend my wake.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal. If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is.In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.




I'm going to admit that I picked up this book mainly because of the cover. Now, that doesn't mean that the premise wasn't interesting, it was, but the cover just looked extremely original. The book starts off with Charlotte's death...death by gummy bear. If it's not tragic enough to be remembered as "that girl who died because she choked on a gummy bear", she finds out that she has to attend high school for ghosts. At this "deadiquette" class she meets other teens who had untimely deaths, and together they are supposed to work toward graduating (crossing over). Charlotte is supposed to accept that she's dead, but she just can't give up the dream of catching Damen (her super popular, living, crush). So, Charlotte strikes up a deal with a girl named Scarlet (who is, much to Charlotte's surprise, able to see Charlotte). Charlotte will inhabit Scarlet's body for a while, and during that time Scarlet will get to wander around invisible to her peers. Shenanigans ensue.

The story was unique, and written by someone who really made me remember the angst of being a teenager. It was well written, and Hurley is a veteran in the field. This may be her first teen book, but she's spent a lot of time writing/directing for television and film. The problem, however, was that I lost interest around the middle. This might have been due to the large number of books that had just been released that I had been dying to read, or it might have just been my lack of empathy for a character so set on being popular. Eventually, I made it through, and was pleasantly surprised that story picked up again toward the end. The sequel, Ghostgirl: Homecoming is being released in July, and I'll undoubtedly read it. I'm interested in seeing how Hurley can continue this story (since the first one seemed to wrap up really well). The premise of the new story does sound interesting, and once again the cover art is amazing.

Ghostgirl
by Tonya Hurley
328 pages
Published by Little, Brown and Company
Rating: B-

Waiting on Wednesday (May 27)

This was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's basically the books that haven't been released yet, but that I'm pining for.


Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Forget everything you ever know about unicorns.

The sparkly, innocent creatures of lore are a myth. Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. And they can only be killed by virgin descendants of Alexander the Great.

Fortunately, unicorns have been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.

Or not.

Astrid Llewelyn has always scoffed ather eccentric mother’s stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods – thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom – Astrid learns that unicorns are real and dangerous, and she has a family legacy to uphold. Her mother packs her off to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.

However, at the cloisters, all is not what is seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to – perhaps most dangerously of all – her growing attraction to a handsome art student… and a relationship that could jeopardize everything.

I'm still getting over the fact that Peterfreund's other series (Secret Society Girl) has ended. At least this new book, the first in a series, gives me a little something to look forward to.

Release Date - August 25, 2009
Published by HarperCollins

New Review

Coming thursday...