I'm having a good ole time with The Hogwarts Challenge hosted by Bunnitaz over at Worth Reading It? I'll be sad to see it end in August. Before it finishes, though, our wonderful hostess is giving us all a chance to boost our points big time. The mini challenge is too complicated to explain here, but since it has to do with summer reading lists, I'm going to post the one I'll be using. I had a hard time finding any official summer reading lists (except for Oprah's, of course), but I liked the selections on this one from Parkway High School in Missouri. Students there are encouraged to read at least three of the titles before the school year begins. It's not exactly beach reading, either. The lists for all grades are below - I've crossed out the ones I've read previously. Which have you read? Which do you think I need to read?

School starts here in two weeks - think I'll be ready for high school by then? Hee hee ...

(9th Grade)

Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Anaya, Rudolfo A. Bless Me, Ultima.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. (my review)
Blackwood, Gary. The Year of the Hangman.
Covey, Sean. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens.
Cox, Lynne. Swimming to Antarctica.
Dessen, Sara. The Truth about Forever.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist.
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo.
Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion. (my review)
Grimes, Nikki. Dark Sons.
Halberstam, David. Firehouse.
Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. (my review)
Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster.
Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember.
McKinley, Robin. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast. (my review - read July 2010)
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen.
Murray, Jaye. Bottled Up.
Nolan, Han. Dancing on the Edge.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East.
Peck, Richard. The Teacher’s Funeral.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.
Schaap, Jeremy. Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. (my review)
Uchida, Yoshiko. Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Behind You.

(10th Grade)

Alexie, Sherman. Flight.
Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies.
Anderson, M.T. Feed.
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream.
Bray, Libba. A Great and Terrible Beauty. (my review)
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game.
Cary, Kate. Bloodline: A Novel.
Collins, Billy (Editor). Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry.
Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in Boom-Time America.
Grogan, John. Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. (my review)
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Halberstam, David. October 1964.
Jeter, Derek. The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams.
Kooser, Ted. Delights and Shadows.
Larsen, Judy Merrill. All the Numbers.
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight.
Naidoo, Beverley. Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope.
Poe, Edgar Allen. Selected Tales.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor's Tale I and II.
Thomas, Marlo. The Right Words at the Right Time.
Tsukiyama, Gail. Dreaming Water.
Volponi, Paul. Black and White.

(11th Grade)

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility.
Berthon, Simon. Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.
Blumenthal, Karen. Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, The Law that Changed the Future of Girls in America.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. (my review)
Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl.
Callahan, David. The Cheating Culture.
Chevalier, Tracy. Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Collins, Billy. Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems.
Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones: A Novel.
De Botton, Alain. The Art of Travel.
Erdrich, Louise. Tracks: A Novel.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
Hersey, John. Hiroshima.
Hilton, James. Lost Horizon.
Hopkins, Ellen. Crank.
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake.
Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.
Matheson, Richard. I am Legend.
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister’s Keeper.
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar.
Preston, Richard. Hot Zone.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation.
See, Lisa. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
Walls, Jeanette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir.
Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginnings.

(12th Grade)

Allende, Isabel. Zorro.
Ambrose, Stephen. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany.
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale.
Bissinger, Buzz. Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager.
Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Nearly Everything.
Cisneros, Sandra. Caramelo.
Chandrasekaran, Rajiv. Imperial Life in the Emerald City.
Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale: A James Bond Novel.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain.
Friedman, Thomas. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.
Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars.
Haruf, Kent. Plainsong.
Hosseini, Khaled. Kite Runner.
Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes.
King, Stephen. The Shining.
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel.
Larkin, Emma. Finding George Orwell in Burma.
Mortenson, Greg. Three Cups of Tea.
Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes. (my review)
Seierstad, Asne. The Bookseller of Kabul. (my review)
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Sittenfeld, Curtis. Prep: A Novel.
X, Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple.
Xiaolong, Qiu. Death of a Red Heroine.

It's the weekend again, which means it's time for another Book Blogger Hop. Yay! These are so much fun. It's a fabulous opportunity to find new book blogs and "meet" other bloggers. Join the fun by clicking over to Crazy For Books.

This week's question is: What are you reading now? You're never going to believe my answer - nothing. I finished Beauty by Robin McKinley this morning. I really enjoyed it. Next up is The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams. I've sneaked a peek or two, but haven't actually started reading it yet. I'm excited to see what it's all about.

Happy Hopping!

A life at sea is hardly a suitable one for a young lady coming of age in 1855 San Francisco, but it's the only one 17-year-old Camille Rowen really wants. As much as she's tried to reconcile herself to the inevitability of her upcoming marriage, she can't seem to get excited about it. Her fiancee's well-bred, wealthy and kind. What more could she possibly need in a future husband? Just because her skin doesn't blaze at his touch doesn't mean she and Randall aren't perfectly suited to one another. Still, Camille jumps at the chance to accompany her father on one last voyage. The tangy scent of the sea fills her with a sense of adventure, excitement, and freedom - three things that will surely disappear the second she utters her wedding vows.
Motherless Camille's been traveling with her father long enough to realize there's something different about this trip. Captain Rowen's nervous. It's almost as if he's keeping secrets from her, something he's never done before. Camille's shocked when her father confesses the truth - without Randall's fortune to keep it secure, her father's company faces financial ruin. With that knowledge locked away in her lukewarm heart, Camille stumbles upon another secret: a recent letter from the mother she presumed dead. None of Caroline Rowen's words really make sense. She rambles about dying, desiring to see her long-lost daughter, and regret over running away with a stolen treasure map. Before Camille even has a chance to consider the import of this information, a violent storm batters her father's ship, killing almost everyone aboard.
Days later, Camille finds herself at an Australian port with only her friend Oscar by her side. Penniless, the two are drawn to Port Adelaide, where a dying woman holds the key to finding a priceless stone. With a greedy band of seamen on their tails, the pair embark on a dangerous journey filled with wily conmen, slavering beasts, venomous serpents, and a dark magic that pulls them ever closer to a gem with unimagined power. With her father lost at sea and a fiancee waiting at home while she tromps through the Australian wilderness with a lowly shipmate, it's time for Camille to make the ultimate decision: What matters most? Saving her father's company? Planning a future with the man she loves? Or risking all their necks to find a fabled stone? With her every dream on the line, Camille must choose - and wisely - which path to follow.
Newcomer Angie Frazier sprinkles historical fiction with a little Pirates of the Carribbean swashbuckling and a lot of Indiana Jones treasure-seeking in the grand adventure that is her first novel. There's enough conflict to keep Everlasting zipping right along, making the debut a fast, fun read. While few are fully fleshed out, the characters are engaging enough to keep the reader rooting for the good ones and booing the not-so-savory. That being said, the supernatural elements in the story just didn't add up for me. The magical subplot comes out of nowhere, but the ever practical Camille accepts it without question, proceeding on a life-threatening journey with very little hesitation. Other plot issues bugged me as did the flatness of some of the principle characters (namely Camille, Oscar and Capt. Rowen), all of which dampened my enjoyment of the whole book. While I was a little disappointed with her first venture, it's obvious that Frazier has the making of a fine storyteller. With a little spit and polish, this newbie's sure to shine.
(Readalikes: a little like The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for some language (no F-bombs), violence and sexual innuendo
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Everlasting from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!

Considering how many hours most of us waste spend using sites like Twitter and Facebook, it's really not surprising that a YA author decided to craft her first novel using only tweets, blog posts and e-mails. What is surprising is how much I enjoyed Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick. Despite the fact that I'm not exactly hip to the Twitterverse, I found this story utterly charming. Its snappy format, lighthearted tone and likable characters make it a perfect summer read.

Sixteen-year-old Claire Collins (@ClaireRBear) is a lot better with boys online than face-to-face, a fact which becomes painfully obvious when her long-time crush starts following her on Twitter. Jack Dyson (@TopofGame17) barely looks at her in the school hallways, but his tweets reveal him to be friendly, funny, and surprisingly sensitive. As the Spring Fling approaches, Claire's trying desperately to figure out how to get Watkins Prep's most popular jock to acknowledge her IRL. They're obviously perfect for each other, so why is Jack so reluctant to talk to her with his mouth instead of his fingers? As she seeks advice from her besties, Charlotte (@LotsOlove) and Bennett (@KingofSlack), Claire starts chatting with Will (@WiseOneWP), another boy who's turning out to have a lot more substance than she ever realized.

When Claire finally manages to snag a real conversation with Jack, she's shocked by how different he is in person than on Twitter. Is it just nerves or is Claire's dream guy playing some kind of cruel trick on her? Something's definitely fishy with the whole situation. When the truth eventually comes out, Claire's devastated, but not for the reasons she would have imagined. Is it possible that Mr. Right is actually Mr. Very, Very Wrong? Or that Mr. Never-Thought-It-Would-Happen-In-A-Million-Years could turn into Mr. Perfect? Or is it just the Twitterverse messing with her head again? With her heart all atwitter, it's time for Claire to figure out what -or who - she really wants.

While the only thing truly unique about Tweet Heart is its format, this is one of those I-couldn't-care-less situations. I loved this book. It's not nearly as intense as the cover makes it seem, but it's not complete fluff either. It's just a sweet, down-to-earth story about a hopeless romantic looking for love in all the wrong places. And maybe, just maybe finding her happily-ever-after.

(Readalikes: Tweet Heart reminds me of just about every romantic comedy I've ever seen on the Big Screen, but no books are coming to mind. Any ideas?)

Grade: B

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mild sexual innuendo and brief mention of underrage drinking

To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Tweet Heart from the generous folks at Disney/Hyperion. Thank you!

Standing out is nothing new for high school freshman NaTasha Jennings. One of the few African-Americans in her suburban New Jersey town, she's used to looking different, being different from the kids around her. She's not exactly happy with her curvy hips, coarse hair, and dark chocolate-colored skin or the fact that the guys at her school never seem to see her, let alone ask her out, but she can deal. Just because she's surrounded by people who look nothing like her doesn't mean her cushy prepster lifestyle isn't worth it.


NaTasha's sassy Harlem-reared grandmother does not agree. Tilly, who turns up her nose at any town with "too many white folks and not enough jerk chicken" (4), takes it upon herself to drag her granddaughter back to her roots. NaTasha's spent plenty of vacay time in Harlem, always enjoying having Tilly to herself, but never a whole summer. And she's never set foot inside the crisis center where Tilly has volunteered for years. All that's about to change. While NaTasha's friends roam the mall and hit all the good parties, she'll be stuck in her grandma's colorful neighborhood hanging out with juvenile delinquents If this is what it takes to "find herself," NaTasha wants no part of it. Except, of course, that nobody argues with Tilly. And, okay, if NaTasha's honest with herself, she can admit that her grandmother might be right - maybe she could use a lesson in Racial Identity 101.

It doesn't take NaTasha long to realize the lesson's not going to be an easy one. Tilly's gritty community makes her jumpy, the girls at Amber's Place dub her a "sell-out" for acting too white, and already, her friends back home are changing. Even though she's finally getting some male attention from not one, but two fine-looking boys, NaTasha still wants to high-tail it back to her nice, safe, suburban routine. As much as she longs to go home, she refuses to quit, knowing giving up will only confirm her sell-out status. But staying in Harlem - battling her fears and facing truths about herself she's never dared to acknowledge before - will be the hardest thing she's ever done.

While Sell-Out, a debut novel by Ebony Joy Wilkins, specifically addresses racial identity, it's the kind of book that will speak to anyone who's ever felt out of place. The story makes powerful statements about race, identity, culture, accepting differences, and staying true to oneself. It delves into issues I, as a white surburbanite, have never heard of (skin bleaching cream?), let alone experienced. It's precisely because these things have no place in my day-to-day existence that I found this book both compelling and important. These kinds of empathy-through-understanding lessons are always valuable.

That being said, I felt that Wilkins' writing needed some serious polishing. Much of Sell-Out's plot seemed contrived, some of it felt forced, and, not all of it made sense to me (I'm still trying to figure out why Rex showed up in the end.). Although there's plenty of conflict in the book, I still thought NaTasha resolved her problems a little too easily and way too neatly. I wanted her to struggle more, fight harder, and battle longer before winning her victory. Perhaps because of these things, I never really felt as if I knew NaTasha. Or any of her cohorts. All of them - except Tilly, who's so colorful she's like five-dimensional - needed fleshing out.

All in all, I still think Sell-Out tells an important story. I just wish it was smoother, tighter, and stronger. Ebony Joy Wilkins shows so much potential that you better believe I'll be keeping my eye on her. Here's hoping she keeps writing, keeps polishing, and keeps publishing this type of book. Oh, and if feisty Tilly makes another appearance, you won't hear me complaining.

(Readalikes: Reminded me of other books about racial identity, like Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger; When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright; several Jacqueline Woodson titles and others)

Grade: C

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), some sexual content, and mature themes

To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC* of Sell-Out from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!

*Quotes taken from an ARC, and are therefore subject to change in the final version of the book