To abandon a book isn't a sin - or is it?

For some reason, I have been reading extremely disappointing books recently. First After Tupac and D Foster, and now The Astonishing Tales of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, both of which were award winners of famous awards. It just goes to show you that random adults who think that they know what kids will like in literature and give out awards to praise themselves are sorely mistaken.


Octavian Nothing was about this slave boy and his mother, the princess of some African Tribe, but now a slave. It is boring, boring, boring. And not because there is no interesting story, like in After Tupac and D Foster. There is just no hook at all. There is nothing to keep you reading, and I discovered that the hook is vital to a book. Without it, the book is boring whether or not the rest is perfect.

In this case, unlike After Tupac..., the book is over 500 pages and on 8 1/2 by 11 sheets, quite a substantial amount. Therefore, I abandoned, and I know that I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry, but I have so many books to read. I just hope that abandoning a book isn't considered an act of evil.

Thanks...
BC101

Scat

I took a trip back into kidlit - not that I am getting tired of YA, but this book sounded very good. "This book" was Scat, another book by Carl Hiaasen. It had such good reviews, and the author is historically good, albeit I hadn't read him since '05. Still, I gave it a shot, and it paid off.

It was about this kid named Nick. His dad was in Iraq, and he was very "fond" of this girl. Now, I just HAVE to mention that fond hasn't been used since the 60s or something. Well, on his class field trip, his least favorite teacher went missing. He is very interested in the mystery, and tries to solve it...

Meanwhile, this kid named Duane is convicted of arson, and people are going ballistic about it. And an oil company gone bad is running an operation around there...

Well, I would tell you more, but you wouldn't read it.

Hiaasen did a great job, although he lacked detail, and used jargon from ages ago.He also gave away the mystery in the begining of the book, although he did save little pieces until the end.

4.3/5
EXCELLENT

Ages 7 + It was an appropriate book for most grade levels, although his dad does get blown up by a bomb in Iraq...

Madapple

What a confusing book.

I just finished Madapple, a novel by Christina Meldrum. It was quite a confusing book, mostly because it had too many flashbacks (or flashforwards I suppose) and the storyline wasn't very clear. It did, however, give me an interesting tour through world religions, both ancient, and ones practiced today, and it gave me an interesting view of what goes on in a courtroom.

It was a tale of murder, of romance, of fate, and of family. A tale of happiness and sadness, of right and wrong and morals galore. (sorry about that - I was feeling poetic.)

Well, the basic storyline was that there was a girl. Her name was Aslaug. Her mom dies. She is sad. :( Then, she gets tried for murdering her mom. She goes to live with her aunt. Her aunt gets murdered. You should get the point by now.

The writing was very good for a first time author, and she clearly did her research well...

4.5/5
Very Good

Ages 12 and up for content and storyline...

Looking for Alaska

Well, I just finished reading the book Looking for Alaska, by John Green. It was an enjoyably book with a nice plot, although it was a very complex one. The really BASIC storyline is that this unpopular guy goes to a boarding school because he doesn't want to stay at home any more. When he shows up to Culver Creek boarding school, it seems like his popularity got worse. Then, his roommate gives him a step up into the world of Alaska Young and her friends.



(SPOILER ALERT)(SPOILER ALERT)(SPOILER ALERT)

After Alaska dies, the protagonist, Miles, and his roommate who is nicknamed the colonel want to find out HOW Alaska died. I'll leave the rest for you to read...

The one thing that I didn't like about this book is that it was impossible to solve the mystery until the last second, where he gave you an answer that you could have not known otherwise. For example, in Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery, using all of the clues that were given, you could theoretically figure out the answer to the mystery without the book telling you. But still, great book, and I look forward to more!

4.6/5
VERY GOOD

Ages 11 and up for references and colorful grammar, as well as suicide.

Spoiler Sunday

Well, every first Sunday of the month, I will read a passage from a book that I am reading,so that you can get an idea, and hopefully like the book, and read it yourself...

Right now, I am reading Madapple, by Christina Meldrum...

I should have a review soon,but until then: enjoy!

Then I remember the wartwort.
I want to scream,to obliterate mother from my mind, from my face.
She'd not been hiding my father from me; I'm going to leave of there... halfway through a sentence, yes, but it is more likely to entice you as a reader that way...


You should see a review on this book soon - it might be after I review Coraline though, I want to do a compare/contrast with the movie...

After Tupac and D Foster

Well, I just finished reading After Tupac and D Foster, a novel by Jacqueline Woodson. I'm not really sure if it is considered YA or not - I found it in both YA and KIDLIT at libraries and on websites - so I decided to post about it online...

I personally didn't like it AT ALL, boring story, boring plot, boring period...

I don't know HOW it won Newbery Honors...

Waste of paper and ink - I pride myself to be an environmentalist, so you know that I'm not kidding about the waste part - but I might as well tell you a bit about it since you may like it - or not.

It is about this girl and her friend who seem to be happy or sad depending on whether this rapper named Tupac is in jail or not - WHY, I don't know - well it said something about being similar but still - WHY, it doesn't give a rational reason...

They make freinds with this foster kid named Desiree (D) and they go roaming and make snow angels - it took me 7 nights to finish it, every time I got into bed and started reading, the story bored me to sleep - and it is under 150 pages!

I WOULD NOT recommend it...

1.5/5
Waste of paper and ink

Ages 2 and up - it would probably bore them too...

The Newbery awards are going DOWNHILL.

Contest!!!

Well, YA blog newsletter is having a contest, coordinated by ME...

Check it out...

The prize is a free blog ad for a week...

You can find it at http://yablognews.blogspot.com/2009/02/contest.html!

You have 'till March 9 to enter...

--__--

I got tired of reading romance reviews - romance here, romance there - so I started a blog that wasn't as ROMANTIC. It has reviews of books that aren't as blogged about and it usually doesn't have chicklit - but it still reviews good books.

Check it out at thesundaybookreport.blogspot.com!

Thanks for visiting!