The Contemps Challenge #2 - The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

From the flap:

Seventeen year old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot.  She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush.  In fact, Bianca hates him.  And when he nicknames her "the Duff," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction.  She ends up kissing Wesley.  Worse, she likes it.  Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry.  It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too.  Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

From me:
I love this book.  I have loved it since I read the title - how could you not?  First, I have to give major cool points to Kody Keplinger for being in COLLEGE and having two books published (Shut Out comes out in September). I was just happy to have my laundry done when I was in college.  The writing is great - Bianca and friends sound like real high schoolers, which is always a huge selling point for me.

Not only did the characters sound real, they sounded hysterical.  This was really, really funny most of the time.  I wish that I could come up with lines that made readers break into laughter.  While it is super funny, Bianca is dealing with some really big (un-funny) issues, but feels that she shouldn't burden her friends with her problems.  So, she decides to use Wesley Rush to ease her pain, which is maybe not the best way to solve one's problems, but she seems to have a lot of fun, so...  Anyway, I'm happy that Wesley is a broken kid, as well - again, it shows readers that "cool" kids have problems, too. 

I think that this book, while being hysterical, teaches us a very important lesson - everyone is the duff.  It drives me nuts at school when I hear kids, girls especially, comparing themselves to other kids (girls).  But it's not just middle/high school girls!  Adults do it too!  I'm super guilty of this crime!  This book has helped me to realize that everyone sees flaws in themselves and that we should embrace those flaws because they are what make us, us.  And, if our friends or boyfriends/girlfriends can't get past our flaws, then we need to find better people to be around.  A very "teacher" thing to say, but I can't help it- blame Kody Keplinger.  And read The DUFF. 

One more thing...

Have you seen this???

It's totally the movie poster for The Hunger Games!!!  I saw it hanging in my local theater last night!!  IMDB says it supposed to be released March 23, 2012.  I'll see you all at the movies!

Movie poster: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/

Contemps Challenge #1 - Freefall by Mindi Scott

From the back cover:
Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend, Issac, alive, and the first to find him dead.  It was just another night, just another party, just another time when Issac drank too much and passed out on the lawn.  Only this time, Issac didn't wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend's death, Seth is torn between turning his life around...or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known.  But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn't the only one who needs saving...

From Me:
Although this book could be pretty dark, I enjoyed it a lot.  Watching Seth go through his emotional recovery after losing his best friend was very interesting - agreeing and disagreeing with the choices he made, rooting for his relationship with Rosetta, and genuinely liking Seth as a person/character made reading this book very easy.  This is not to say that the subject matter was always easy to digest. 

At the time this story opens, Seth's best friend, Issac, has died from suffocation - he drank too much and choked on his own vomit.  Seth blames himself for Issac's death, which is what he struggles with throughout the whole story.  I think that this book should be offered to all high schoolers, but especially those with a love of partying.  It shows us how uncontrolled drinking and underage drinking can devastate many lives - Issac died and everyone who didn't was left picking up the pieces and coming to terms with his death.  At the same time, Seth and Rosetta are trying to begin a relationship, which seems to be very sweet.  Throughout reading, I felt like Seth - on an emotional rollercoaster.  One chapter I would be up and excited for Seth and Rosetta, and the next I would be cursing Issac for bringing Seth down.  But that's what makes this novel so great - I felt like I could understand Seth and the emotions he was going through. 

I would highly recommend this book, but just know that it can be a heavy story to read.

In My Mailbox 2

Hi All,

Summer book list update: 10/71 books read.... I'm thinking I might be a little behind in my quest for reading greatness...

I've decided that I'm going to participate in The Story Siren's meme "In My Mailbox" for at least this week.  Instead of these books being delivered to my door because I'm a really popular YA book blogger, I picked these books up at the library.  These are all part of the Contemps Challenge, which I am about halfway through (yay!).

So, the books that are "in my mailbox" are:

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden
Girl, Stolen by April Henry
Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker
Trapped by Michael Northrop
Pearl by Jo Knowles
Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith
Family by Micol Ostow
Rival  by Sara Bennett Wealer
The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott
Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

Have you read any of these books?  Which one should I choose first?

Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

From the back cover:

"What did you feel?" says Virgil.
"I don't know," I say, wondering myself.  "I felt, I feel, different."
Virgil stands next to me in the dark, close but far away.  He laughs softly, "So, what, you're Wolf Girl now?"
I laugh, too.  "Shut up, Virgil."
But I do feel different.
My mind hums.  The spell of the day is wrapped around and inside of me.  Eloise says wolves aren't people, but I wonder if people can be like wolves.

From me:
Ok, the most important thing to know about this book is this. is. not. a. werewolf. book.

Good, now that that's out of the way - this was a really great read.  I actually did think it was about werewolves when I began reading, and honestly, I was not looking forward to yet another werewolf book. (Not that I'm not counting down the days until The Savage Grace is released!!!)

KJ, the main character, is an accidentally strong, crusading, determined, hysterical teenage girl who turns a town upside down in order to save the wolves that have made her town their home.  She's not alone in her quest - super hot new kid, Virgil  and his mother, Eloise are wolf-lovers too and they help KJ understand and appreciate the wolves.  They also stand by her when her plans go awry...which is a lot of the time.

I thought that the characters, including the wolves, were great, interesting and easy to like (or not, in some cases).  Many of the "supporting roles" added tons of humor, mystery, and action.

There was something for everyone - romance, action (gunshots!!), and animals.  I know "animals" isn't exactly a genre, but some people are drawn to books about nature/animals, so there.

I would highly recommend this book and hope to read more from Kristen Chandler! 

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford

From the back cover:
New to town, Bea is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day: very cheery, very friendly, very average.  But instead, the alphabet seats her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet observer who hasn't made a new friend since third grade.  He's not a big fan of people in general... but he's willing to make an exception for her.  Maybe.

Bea and Jonah are not going to have a friendship based on gossip and parties and what everybody else thinks.  Instead, their friendship comes from truth-bound conversations, shared secrets, and late-night calls to the same old-timer radio show.  They help each other and hurt each other, push away and hold close.  It's not exactly romance - but it's definitely love.  And it means more to them than either one can ever really know.


From me:
I will start by admitting that I am a little biased in my opinion of this book because it's set in BALTIMORE!!  The setting was huge for me because I recognized streets, neighborhoods, and the various places that Bea and Jonah visit.  So, so fun! 

If you are not from Baltimore, or you are not as easily excited as I am, maybe this will not be so super cool to you.  That's ok - there is plenty more to love about this book.  One of the best ways to describe the story comes right from the back cover - it's not a romance, but it's definitely the story of Bea and Jonah's love for one another.

Although I found Jonah to be a hard character to like during parts of the book, but I almost found him hard not to like... if that makes any sense.  Since the story is told from Bea's perspective, I think that I couldn't really get into his head until the end of the book, yet I still felt drawn to him and his own story.  Bea seemed to be caught in the middle of a lot of different conflicts for most of the story (ok, maybe two big ones) - having to choose between Jonah and the "normal" kids from school, having to deal with her mom's brand of crazy, while her dad works very long hours as a professor (at Hopkins!).

While the story was kind of strange in some parts, it was mostly a cute and awkward (in a fun to read) story of two people in love.