Assiniboin Girl

By Kathi Wallace

Summary
Mary Two Dogs is lost. She grew up in New York the only child of musician parents, but when they die in a car accident coming back from a gig, she’s shipped off to live with her Aunt Janet in Georgia. The South is a strange new world to her, and she becomes the target of racist attacks from some of the other girls. Her Aunt Janet, an undercover FBI agent can’t move, but to keep Mary safe, she sends her to the Assiniboin reservation in Montana.

There Mary has to learn to deal with a whole new world, a completely different set of expectations. Pitied for her lack of understanding of her people, she must learn what it means to be Assiniboin and who she is. To do that, she must find her true name.

Review
This book was good, it introduced some topics that many YA books skip around, for example the harshness of racism from all kinds of different people and towards different kinds of people. Another cool thing is the book had lots of facts about Native American culture both now and previously. Overall a good read.

One thing I did not like about it was the fact that is was an e-book which I personally don't like because I read mostly in my room on my bed, and in order to read this book I had to sit at my computer. But besides that it was a good book!

4/5

Waiting on Wednesday/ Author Interview

Sea by Heidi R. Kling

• Release Date: June, 2010

Haunted by recurring nightmares since her mother’s disappearance over the Indian ocean three years before, fifteen-year old California girl Sienna Jones reluctantly travels with her psychiatrist father’s volunteer team to six-months post-tsunami Indonesia where she meets the scarred and soulful orphaned boy, Deni, who is more like Sea than anyone she has ever met.

She knows they can’t be together, so why can’t she stay away from him? And what about her old best friend-turned-suddenly-hot Spider who may or may not be waiting for her back home? And why won’t her dad tell her the truth about her mother’s plane crash? The farther she gets from home, the closer she comes to finding answers. And Sea’s real adventure begins.

Sounds amazing! I cannot wait!

So while you are waiting here is an interview with the author Heidi R. Kling!

Where do you get your inspiration?
My husband's volunteer work at a real orphanage in Indonesia inspired SEA. But I get my inspiration from everything: people, nature, music, emotions. I see stories everywhere.

What do you do when you have writers block?
*Confession* I don't get writer's block. My struggle is finding enough blocks of time to get all my stories down.

What are some of your favorite authors/books?
Favorite YA authors would be John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, Judy Blume, Laura Ruby, Nancy Farmer, Sara Zarr, Sarah Dessen. My all time favorite adult writer is Toni Morrison. She is to literature what Mozart is to music.

What kind of research did you do for Sea?
My husband kept amazing (and funny!) journals of his travels to Indonesia. I also had an Indonesian guidbook (like the one Sienna carries around in SEA) that I studied for accuracy of language "bahasa Indonesia" and specific food/drink/customs. I also made friends with several survivors of the tsunami who kindly answered my many questions.

What are you currently reading?
I'm reading Sarah Dessen's new book ALONG FOR THE RIDE, and re-reading THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway has the best characterization and also makes me laugh. I love his narrators.

When did you decide to become a writer?
Well, I've been writing since I was a little girl. I wrote songs first. I was trying to be like Madonna and Olivia Newton-John. (!) Then I wrote plays and short-stories and poetry. I wrote my first novel when I was sixteen. It's unbelievably awesome in the very worst way. I would be so happy to sell it and publish it "as-is". Any takers? ;)

If you could travel anywhere from a book where would it be?
My first thought is, I'd like to go into SEA and get to be Sienna. But only if I could pick the scenes...I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to go along for her whole ride. You'll see why when you read.

Thanks for having me, Mariah. =)

Thanks for coming!

To waste more time while waiting almost a year for this awesome book, visit Heidi's blog Sea Heidi Write! http://seaheidi.livejournal.com/

The Lab

Summary
In a polluted world reduced to a single walled island of nine billion people, teenage Agent Six of Hearts belongs to a secret organization called The Deck that battles the excesses of ChaoSonic, the corporation that controls everything. The product of a mysterious laboratory where bird, shark, and even plant genes were added to his DNA, Agent Six has superhuman abilities and considers himself a machine—until, that is, he meets a laughing, reckless fellow experiment with similar powers who prods him into accepting his humanity.

Review
Overall this was an ok book, it was filled with action, adventure, and mystery. Agent Six is very focused and diligent but he does not do what he does for any reason except to get money which he only does so he can survive. I think he could have been a more likable character, and had some human tendencies even thought he did not think he was a human.

I could not really relate to him or feel a connection at all which bothered me, also his name bothered me because they would just say six and I would have to think if it was a number or if they were talking about the main character. Another thing was the author had such good opportunities to talk about the genetics and cool stuff like that but he did not even scrape the surface. But it had plenty of action and mystery to keep me reading. It was ok.

The cover looks like he blows stuff up all of the time, which is misleading.

3/5

In My Mailbox!

In My Mailbox is hosted by the Story Siren and it is where you list all of the books you get throughout the week!

In the Mail

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X By James Patterson
(thanks Trisha!)

Across the Pond by Storyheart









The Library

The water mirror [sound recording] / Kai Meyer.
The astonishing life of Octavian Nothing [sound recording] : traitor to the nation / M.T. Anderson.
You've got blackmail / Rachel Wright. *
The sorceress / Michael Scott.
Pretty little liars / Sara Shepard.
Unbelievable : a pretty little liars novel / Sara Shepard.
Let it snow : three holiday romances / by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle.
Point blank : an Alex Rider adventure / Anthony Horowitz.
Scorpia : an Alex Rider adventure / Anthony Horowitz.
Eagle Strike / Anthony Horowitz.
Ark angel / Anthony Horowitz.
Perfect : a pretty little liars novel / Sara Shepard.
Kiss of life / Daniel Waters.
Skeleton Key / Anthony Horowitz.

What Books did you get?

The Magician

Summary
After fleeing Ojai, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scatty emerge in Paris, the City of Lights. Home for Nicholas Flamel. Only this homecoming is anything but sweet. Perenell is still locked up back in Alcatraz and Paris is teeming with enemies. Nicollo Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, is working for Dee. He’s after them, and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenell. For every day spent without the Book of Abraham the Mage, they age one year—their magic becoming weaker and their bodies more frail. For Flamel, the Prophesy is becoming more and more clear.

It’s time for Sophie to learn the second elemental magic: Fire Magic. And there’s only one man who can teach it to her: Flamel’s old student, the Comte de Saint-Germain—alchemist, magician, and rock star. Josh and Sophie Newman are the world’s only hope—if they don’t turn on each other first.
Review

This is a very interesting series, with action, magic, and a good story line. I have to say that I liked this book better than it's prequel The Alchemyst. It had more action related to the story and kept me more captivated. Unfortunately this is a six part series so each very long book kind of drags in my opinion, but still each book is fun and exciting. Otherwise this a really good series with an intersting plot!

4/5

You've got Blackmail

Summary
Lozzie, 14, knows she is in big danger after she accidentally hit the Reply All button on an e-mail and sent the whole class a picture of the school bully, Tonya, with her head next to the back end of a horse. At home, Lozzie is dealing with her parents’ recent separation, and she worries that her teacher, Mr. Barnett, is hooking up with Mum. What is his dark secret? What happened to his wife? And who is blackmailing him about it? Is it someone at Mum’s beauty salon, where clients always spill secrets?

Review
I did not like this book at all, when I first saw it, it sounded like it would be a good light read that I could breeze through but still really enjoy. I was wrong the blackmail scheme does not start until the middle of the book, also many of the things were disconnected. I thought it would be a better middle grade fiction, which in my opinion felt like it was written to. It was not a hard hitting mystery, it was just there and there were all these subplots that were unimportant.

Don't Waste your time.

1.5/5

Teaser Tuesday!

If you don't know what Teaser Tuesday is, it is a meme hosted by mizb17 at this is what you do.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are mine

"Where do you want to go?" Asked Margie. "A hotel," said Calder. "Not to close..." He was not sure how to explain that they wanted to get far away quickly without indicating that they'd done something to run from. pg 215 The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

"Were you on the roof?" I ask "Yes indeedy," she replies. "I was doing my sun salutations directly to the rising sun." I want to ask if she was doing them naked, but I don't. I'm a little scared she might say "good idea" even if the answer is no. pg. 262 How not to be popular by Jennifer Ziegler

The Eiffel Tower lit up with a spectacular fireworks display. Blue and gold traceries of light raced almost one thousand feet to the mast at the very top of the tower, where they blossomed into fountains of blue globes. pg 130 The Magician by Michael Scott

The Key to the Golden Firebird

Summary (Amazon)
When Mike Gold has a heart attack and dies in his 1967 Firebird, the car sits in the family garage untouched for a year. May, Brooks, and Palmer Gold--all teenage girls in what May calls the "Tall, Blond, and Wonderful Family"--suffer from neglect as well when their mother goes to work overtime at the hospital to pay the bills. The three girls deal with their father's death in different ways: Brooks quits softball and starts drinking, Palmer ferociously focuses on pitching and TV, hiding her panic attacks from everyone, and May tries to keep the family together. As the family unravels, the Firebird endures. Palmer uses the back seat as a place to escape, Brooks takes it out for a spin when she's drunk (and gets arrested), and for the grand finale, the three girls take the battleship-sized car to Camden Yards to throw their father's ashes on the pitcher's mound. Fortunately, this is the act that allows the girls to start anew, like the phoenix rising.

Review
This is an old book but I never got around to reading it before. Maureen Johnson is one of my favorite authors because all of her books a really funny. This book was no exception even though it had a sadder theme than most of her other books it was still hilarious! May and her sisters all have different personalities so it was fun to see their transformations through different eyes not just one. This story had a good plot and good characters. The only problem to me was that all three girls in my opinion grieved in almost the same way and I wish they had grieved even more differently so there would be more of a contrast.
Also it was released with a new cover which is more like the rest of Maureen's covers which do you like better? (I like the old one it is more original.)
4/5

Traveling to Teens is giving away 3 great books that i know you want so go look at them!
http://travelingtoteenstours.weebly.com/giveaways.html

Pretty Face

Summary (Barnes and Noble)

That's what I am. A funny girl. A friend. Nobody's girlfriend. The girl with the pretty face.

Hayley wishes she could love living in Santa Monica, blocks from the beach, where every day—and everybody—is beautiful and sunny. But she just doesn't fit in with all the blond, superskinny Southern California girls who have their plastic surgeons on speed dial. Hayley is smart and witty and has such a pretty . . . face. Translation: Don't even think about putting on a bikini, much less dating superhot Drew Wyler. A bikini will never be flattering, and Drew will never think of her as more than a friend.

Just when Hayley feels doomed to live her life in the fat lane, her parents decide to send her to Italy for the summer—not for school, not for fat camp, just for fun. It's there, under the Italian sun, that Hayley's vision of herself starts to change. She's curvy, not fat. Pizza isn't evil. And life is so much more than one-size-fits-all. Who knows? Once Hayley sees herself in a new light, maybe the girl with the pretty face will finally find true amore.

Review

This book was well written and had a good concept. The way Hayley's mother bugs her and keeps nagging her to lose weight is very prevalent in today's society. When Italy was described I wanted to jump on a plane and fly there and experience it for myself.

This was a good story about finding yourself and not letting other people's feeling and thoughts control your own. Unfortunately parts of the book were slow and boring and did not keep me enthralled.

3.5/5