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Chatterbox: Blab About Books
"I just read"s
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You know how sometimes you read a really obscure book and want to share it with the world, but don't know where? So, here's a place! When you read something cool, you can review it or share it here! Also a place for recommendations, I guess, if you like more unusual stuff.
Here's mine:
Title: The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Steifvater
Rating (stars): Four and 1/2 stars! The reason it's not five is... see rating (age).
Rating (age): Um... PG or PG-13. Nothing graphic, just some references and language. Personally, I think the book is good enough to ignore the language.
Description: The book's focus is on the scorpio races, annual horse races every November... where the horses aren't normal horses, they're flesh-eating water horses native to the oceans around the island of Thisby. Two characters narrate: Kate (Puck) Connolly, a girl without parents, forced to enter this dangerous race to earn enough to support her brothers and save her home; and Sean Kendrick, a boy who's won these extremely challenging races four of the six times he's run, racing on his beloved horse, Corr... a horse he cannot own. Both need to win... but only one can.
It's extremely exciting, with two characters that both can be sympathized with and a hint of romance... plus a twist ending you'd never expect!
submitted by Air
(July 7, 2015 - 11:34 pm)
(July 7, 2015 - 11:34 pm)
Title: When You Reach Me
Author: Rebecca Stead
Stars (or in this case, smiles):
(5)
Age: The actual level of the words would be as low as eight, but as an eight-year-old might not understand the book, I am giving it a 10+. Just because I gave it 10 does NOT mean teens can't read it though. I got my mom to read it and she liked it a lot. There is one scene involving a *MILD SPOILER* car accident but it is not graphic.
Description: This book is a realistic story about the ups and downs of sixth grade in NYC with a creepy mystery at the center. When twelve-year-old Miranda's best friend gets punched in the stomach by a stranger, he stops talking to her. Miranda tries to mend her social life and make new friends while figuring out what happened, helping her mom get ready to be on a game show, and avoiding the crazy homeless man who lives on her corner.
Everything seems fairly normal until the morning the spare house key goes missing. She and her single mother wonder why anyone would bother breaking in without stealing anything until Miranda finds a mysterious note. It asks where her house key is (the one that was stolen) and for her to write him a letter. He says that he is coming to save her friend's life. She assumes it's a prank but her confidence wavers as more and more come and she begins to realize that whoever is leaving them for her knows more than he should. Becoming more and more convinced that someone is in serious danger, she must figure out the questions of who and why and how before it is too late.
This book is a wonderful story for mothers and their daughters (and sons) alike. Moms will enjoy the trip down memory lane to their childhoods it offers as well as relating to the believable character of Miranda's mom. Children will enjoy the portrayal of school life and follow the plot closely.
The story is unpredictable but in no way unstable. Readers will find themselves going back and reading it again and again just to see how it all fits together. Every character is relatable and realistic, like a real person. And while the main character is a middle school girl, no part of the book is fluffy or silly. Miranda and her friends are just real people trying to navigate unexplored territory.
I recommend this story to fans of realistic fiction, science fiction, mystery, and in addition to all middle and high school students and parents. I recommend this book especially to fans of Donnie Darko. (It has a similar type of plot but a completely different mood). This is a book that everyone should read at some point. It will make you laugh, cry, blush, reminisce, and should "Ah-ha!" in equal amounts.
(July 11, 2015 - 10:37 am)