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The title of this book is The Year of Secret Assignments*, written by Jaclyn Moriarty. So why is this post titled ‘********’? Because that’s what stood out to me uniquely in the actual book title.
So I think Australian young adult literature is my new favorite genre. Mainly because there’s enough pop culture crossover to be funny to me when the author alludes to things, but there’s also many differences in our cultures that stay in the book and make it more interesting. Like how it’s not a big deal if the kids in this book drink. Wow, Australian parents must be… um… INSANELY COOL.
So more in particular, this book was about three girls, Lydia, Emily, and Cassie.
Cassie is recovering from the loss of her father, Lydia aspires to be a writer but doesn’t know if she can, and Emily is… Emily. *ahem* When their English teacher gives them the assignment of becoming pen pals with students from the rival school, they write very apprehensively. What they don’t know is that they each got paired up with a DUDE!
Emily, who loves chocolate and shopping and filled her first letter with thoughts of these, gets Charlie, whose reply is mainly: “Um, do you want to write to my sister instead?” This starts an argument that leads into a grudging friendship.
Lydia writes complete and utter nonsense, including the fact that she is a fish. Her pen pal Sebastian writes back that he doesn’t know if he can trust her, but after a while they meet in person through Lydia’s Secret Assignment of seeing who can identify the other person first in a coffee shop. Insane, right? Wait till you see how that plotline turns out.
Cassie has the worst luck of all. She writes away not only to get an A on the pen pal assignment, but because her grief therapist told her to become friends wth a stranger and tell them all about herself. So she writes to this pen pal with the hopes that she can spill her guts and get their opinion. Instead, she gets death threats from a freak named Matthew Dunlop. But after these friends find out who Matthew Dunlop really is, the story’s just getting started.
Also, did you want to know why the book is called The Year of SECRET ASSIGNMENTS*? Well… it’s secret. Yes, you do find out in the book, this isn’t one of those annoying books where the title meaning is hidden deep under layers of mindnumbing analysis, but you have to read to find it because it really makes you appreciate the book all that much more.
And the best part about this book is: it’s told all through notes and journal entries and memos and emails! This isn’t as tedious and confusing as it sounds. In fact, I usually forgot about the fact that it was letters these kids were writing and not a straight-out story. It’s really good, and if I could keep this book and hide it away forever in my closet I would, but sadly it’s a library book.

CAROLINE B COONEY!!!!!

She’s one of my favorite suspense/teen/thriller authors, and she is AMAZING. She wrote The Face on the Milk Carton and other bestsellers… welcoming Caroline B. Cooney!
And thank George’s holy ear (HP humor) that I finally got to read her newest book, Diamonds in the Shadow. It looked kind of boring from the summary, but I loved it.
The summary? This naive, ignorant white American family takes in a family of four war refugees from Africa that have seen horrific things… and in some cases, committed horrific crimes. The white family consists of the mother, Mrs. Finch, who is on practically every church committee known to man and does her best to help but sometimes smothers, the father, Mr. Finch, who is almost a minor character because he’s almost never home and when he is he doesn’t say much, Mopsy, the middle-school daughter who goes by Mopsy instead of Martha and is unusually naive for her age, seeing good everywhere she goes, and Jared, the selfish high-school brat of a son. The African refugee family is made up of Mattu, the “son” who has a clean British accent and is very smart and ambitious, Celestine, the “mother” who is amazed by all the new American appliances but seems to be hiding a deep sorrow somewhere under her curious and joyful disposition, the “father” Andre, who has no hands due to the fact that they were cut off by soldiers and now he has the huge problem of having very specific job requirements, and the daughter, Alake. Alake does not talk, but unlike Mr. Finch, she is not a minor character. In fact, she is almost the centrivigal force to this whole story, tying everything together and keeping the storyline running steady. And then there’s the mysterious fifth refugee.
Yes, this story was really freakin’ good. I’m so glad I read it, even though it took me a week with everything else going on, but I read, I loved, I want her to write more, darn it!
I loved how the story is told from everybody’s point of view, showing how new simple concepts like a microwave and opening a juice carton can be mysteries to somebody from a wartorn world. There were also many good observations pointed out about how we as Americans act, which can change the way you think. I know I think of America as a much different place after reading this book. It was really interesting how the author worked that in through such a short, complex, really-completely-awesome book. Because on the thriller front, it was pretty compelling, you just had to keep reading.

Does My Head Look Big In This?

The question is, does my head look big in what? Actually we’re talking about Amal’s head, and if it looks big in a hijab, or a traditional Muslim headscarf.
You see, Amal has decided it’s time to start wearing the hijab fulltime to her public school and everywhere else to take the next step in her religious life. The thing is, in Australia people don’t always appreciate you for who you are, especially if you’ve got your head wrapped up and you have to pray five times a day. Amal has to deal with all the prejudice and racism coming from her classmates and community (who are sadly misunderstood) and she also has to deal with the everyday pressures of a teen life: getting away from overprotective parents, dealing with a crush when she can’t date before marriage, helping insecure friends, keeping up in school, and all the other teenage drama in a girl’s life. Because as most of us know very well, there’s a lot of it.
Amal’s story does have a happy ending and a bright side: be yourself, that’s all that you can be. I’m pretty sure that’s an Audioslave song lyric, too, but whatever, it’s a good message and it’s found in this book.
My favorite part of the book, however, were not about Amal exactly but about her friends. First there was Leila, who was also Muslim, except her mother was REALLY overprotective. Like she wouldn’t let Leila go out after dark for fear that she would “bring shame upon the family.” Amal has to help Leila live her life in spite of her mother, and eventually they have to figure out a permanent solution or their family could fall apart. The other friend with the big problem was Simone, Amal’s slightly chubby friend from school. Simone was really insecure about her weight, and she tried every diet in the book even though she had this great body that she couldn’t see in herself because she thought she was too fat. Simone keeps trying to diet and then binges until finally she’s decided she’s had enough and starts smoking. She also is the other one in this book with a love interest, besides Amal.
The last thing I liked about this book was the authentic Australianism. I have an Australian friend and he explained how they get American pop culture stuff a bit later than we see it, so they’re watching Friends and Big Brother for fun and thinking it’s just great! instead of crap TV like some people do. So Amal is always making allusions (vocab word!) to Friends, Big Brother, Celine Dion, etc. It’s really funny and brightens up the book, making it very teenager-understandable.
People have been telling me to read this book for a while and I neglected because I thought it looked too chick-flicky, but it was really good and I’m sad I put this off for so long because I liked it a lot. ♠♠♠♠

VMHS Library Readathon October 2009

My first major readathon. It was so much fun, I’m so happy I missed a playoffs game for it!
Basically I showed up after school and we all sat there in dead silence and read. For two hours. It was amazing. You wouldn’t think that sounds fun, but actually it’s really relaxing.
After that we got pizza! I didn’t have any because I was going to eat dinner with my mom after, but I got to talk to Michelle and a few senior girls that are as book-nerdy as I am. It was insane how well we got along.
I also got 20 bucks for Barnes&Noble because I raised the most money (75 dollars… it pays to have seven grandmas). So tomorrow I get to go there and get more books!
But yeah, the readathon was awesome, I’m glad I did it. I think they’re doing another one in spring, I’ll be sure to sign up.

What Happens When Five Bestselling Authors Write About Prom Horror?

You get PROM NIGHTS FROM HELL. This book is a collection of five stories, each relatively short but long enough to be pretty dang good on their own. Not exactly a short story, but not a novel either. The five authors are: Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries series), Kim Harrison (Dead Witch Walking), Michele Jaffe (Bad Kitty), Lauren Myracle (Rhymes with Witches), and of course the well-known Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, duh, if you don’t know this you need to make sure you’re in 2009 and not 1995 when Harry Potter was still THE BOOK).
I’ve decided to go over each of the five stories separately, because they were, after all, separate in the book. It’s only fair.
The Exterminator’s Daughter by Meg Cabot: About a girl who is the daughter of a vampire hunter who gets turned into a vampire. So she’s in the family business, basically. When Mary has to save her best friend from the evil grasp of her vampire prom date Sebastian, she almost gets sucked in by Sebastian’s powerful spell. Luckily her new friend Adam comes to the rescue by shooting Sebastian with a squirt gun full of holy water *gasp!* and all is well. Plus Adam and Mary fall in love, so a classic Cabot ending. I liked this story pretty well, it was interesting seeing the “Cabot flair” coming out of Adam’s mouth in this story. It was a bit short and I wish there had been more, but that’s probably just me. I give it ♠♠♠♠

The Corsage by Lauren Myracle: A girl goes to a gypsy with the hope that the gyspy will tell her she’s destined to be with her crush, Will. The gypsy tells her a vague prophecy and the girl, Frankie, is fed up, so she asks the gypsy for the corsage that’s on her shelf. It’s this old dead corsage, and it’s falling apart, and the gypsy says it grants anyone three wishes. Frankie is curious, so she takes the corsage home and wishes that the boy she loved would ask her to prom. Then Will mysteriously leaves. The next day, Frankie finds out her had climbed the water tower to spraypaint “Will you go to prom with me, Frankie?” on the tower and had slipped, fallen, and died the day before prom. Frankie’s devastated, but she decides to use her next wish to bring Will back. Let’s just say, not a good idea. This story was my FAVORITE because it’s really sad and a little gory, kind of like Titanic meets Stephen King for teenagers. So good. And pretty short, but it doesn’t need to be any longer than it is, at the same time. ♠♠♠♠♠

Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper by Kim Harrison: This story was a bit of a letdown after The Corsage, but still okay. Basically Madison goes to prom on her birthday and is offered a ride home by a handsome stranger. Seems like everybody except Madison knows you shouldn’t take rides home from handsome strangers. Anyway, he rolls the car on purpose and kills her, and Madison ends up stuck in limbo because her guardian angels won’t let her move on and her grim reaper, the guy who killed her, wants her. So she’s got to stay “alive” by holding a talisman from her guardian angel at all times, and it’s only a sort of half-life. But everything’s okay, because she falls in love with her guardian angel and gets to fly! Kind of a disappointing ending and a little long to keep me interested, but okay. Probably my least favorite, maybe… ♠♠♠

Kiss and Tell by Michele Jaffe: The title is appropriately named because one of the main characters, Sibby, kisses every boy she meets as an effort to fit in. And she pays some of them, too. Kinda weird. The main story is about this girl who is a foster kid at a boarding school and her names Miranda. She’s a total spaz. Watch, when she talks her crush/true love/whatever this is what she’s thinking:
“Insert head in oven now.
Leave until no longer HALF BAKED.
(pg. 223)
Yep, such a spaz. But Miranda has special powers, and she’s kind of a superhuman. She has to rescue Sibby from these weird people and a twisted deputy cop on prom night and try to talk to her true love. Difficult, but she does it. I liked all the action in this story and how it wasn’t your average paranormal prom story. It stood out from the others. A bit confusing, but worth the read. Very suspenseful, too. ♠♠♠

Hell On Earth by Stephenie Meyer: This was the one I was waiting for, the one by the min author in this book. However, this story was kind of a letdown. It was just about this demon, Sheba, who is busy ruining prom for everybody by making them all cheat on each other and wreaking havoc, etc. It’s kind of like she’s playing Sims. Then she falls in love with this angelic boy who actually is half-angel, although he doesn’t know it. And suddenly everything’s happily ever after, the end. I was disappointed because I guess I expected more from the lady who wrote Twilight. Yeah, I guess I built it up too much in my mind because I wanted to read something like Twilight, but whatever, I still don’t think it was her best. Maybe I just didn’t pay attention enough or something. ♠♠

All the stories overall were good, though, and I think it’s a great Halloween, prom, or anytime read. Fun, too, it gives you a break from the tediousness novels sometimes become.

School Book… Ew.

We had to read The Pearl by John Steinbeck in English. Only 90 pages, so technically it counts as a novella, right? I should join that novella reading challenge…
Anyway, we had to annotate like CRAZY. You should SEE my annotations, it’s freakin’ scary, man. I want to post pictures to scare people. Actually, it works out okay… now people are trying to hold an auction over my book to use for their class and get away with no annotating. Too bad I wrote my name inside the cover.
Summary time: Kino and his wife Juana and their little baby Coyotito live in a brush house on the beach in La Paz. They’re poor because this dominating other culture took over their original culture and now instead of practicing the “ancient magic” they say Hail Marys and instead of being good in society they’re lower level fisherman, etc.
One day Coyotito gets bitten by a scorpion. The doctor, being extremely prejudiced, won’t see them. Juana cures it on her own and later they go out and go fishing and GUESS WHAT THEY FIND:

A PEARL!!!

Now everyone wants Kino’s pearl and it’s a battle to the end to see who will keep it and what it means to them and how much is at stake to get it. Lots of themes running through this book.
I had to write an essay on this book too, so I would know.
My rating: ♠♠♠

2009 100+ Reading Challenge

My second reading challenge! This one is a piece of cake, all I gotta do is start a list. I’ve already read like seventy books since July, and I’m sure by December I’ll be at a hundred easy. I’m really liking these challenges!

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
2. The Coven by Cate Tiernan
3. Blood Witch by Cate Tiernan
4. Dark Magick by Cate Tiernan
5. Awakening by Cate Tiernan
6. Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler
7. Otherwise Known As Sheila The Great by Judy Blume
8. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
9. Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler
10. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
11. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
12. A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
13. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson Boy Girl Boy by Ron Koertge
14. N Is For Noose by Sue Grafton
15. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
16. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
17. Deadline by Chris Crutcher
18. Stand Tall by Joan Bauer
19. Squashed by Joan Bauer
20. Best Foot Forward by Joan Bauer
21. Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson
22. Which Witch? By Eva Ibbotson
23. Hanging On To Max by Margaret Bechard
24. Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson
25. P Is For Peril by Sue Grafton
26. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
27. S Is For Silence by Sue Grafton
28. Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
29. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
30. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson
31. Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin
32. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
33. Brooklyn Rose by Ann Rinaldi
34. You Know Where To Find Me by Rachel Cohn
35. The Rise and Fall of a 10th-Grade Social Climber by Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser
36. The Intruders by E. E. Richardson
37. The Diary of Pelly D by L. J. Adlington
38. The Shack by Wm. Paul Young
39. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
40. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
41. Darkest Hour by Meg Cabot
42. Alcoholics Anonymous handbook by many authors
43. Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot
44. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
45. Desperation by Stephen King
46. Ten Little Indians (the play) by Agatha Christie
47. The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
48. The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
49. Bag of Bones by Stephen King
50. Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
51. Spellbound by Cate Tiernan
52. A Painted House by John Grisham
53. Teen Idol by Meg Cabot
54. The Client by John Grisham
55. Strife by Cate Tiernan
56. The Calling by Cate Tiernan
57. Changeling by Cate Tiernan
58. The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint
59. The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
60. Seeker by Cate Tiernan
61. The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
62. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
63. Origins by Cate Tiernan
64. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
65. Harry Potter Should Have Died by Emerson Spartz
66. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent by Julia Alvarez
67. The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
68. The Alison Rules by Catherine Clark
69. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
70. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
71. Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
72. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
73. I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier
74. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
75. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
76. Before I Die by Jenny Downham
77. The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
78. The Pearl by John Steinbeck
79. Prom Nights from Hell by various authors
80. Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
81. Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney
82. The Year of Secret Assignments* by Jaclyn Moriarty

2009 Young Adult Book Challenge

This is my first book challenge, I’m so excited! I found the link on J-Kaye’s Book Blog, click here to follow it: http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/2008/11/2009-young-adult-book-challenge.html
So yeah, I’m really excited. All I have to do for this one is read 12 young adult books by December 31st, 2009. Easy-peasy. I’ll start with the books I have out from the library, and here’s where I’m listing them.

1. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-know-book-thats-rife-with-vocabulary.html)
2. Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/catalyst-by-laurie-halse-anderson.html)
3. I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-am-cheese.html)
4. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/when-i-grow-up.html)
5. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/chocolate-war.html)
6. Before I Die by Jenny Downham (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/before-i-die-by-jenny-downham.html)
7. The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/key-to-golden-firebird.html)
8. Prom Nights From Hell by various authors (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-happens-when-five-bestselling.html)
9. Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/does-my-head-look-big-in-this.html)
10. Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/caroline-b-cooney.html)
11. The Year of Secret Assignments* by Jaclyn Moriarty (http://thebookiemonster.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-post.html)

The Key to the Golden Firebird

Maureen Johnson is one of my favorite young adult authors, and this book is no exception. Actually, I really liked this one because there are three main characters as opposed to the usual one.
There were also some really funny little dictionary-ish entries in this book, which reminded me kind of like the excerpts in Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot where there’s bits of the fashion thesis paper between chapters. Here’s one of them:
“Firebird, golden”
[largous automobilus yellowish]
1. A car manufactured by Pontiac. In this particular case, a car painted a color called Signet Gold and built in Lordstown, Ohio, in 1967. Almosy sixteen feet long, with extremely poor gas mileage and no modern amenities. Has a cream-colored interior and black convertible top and belches clouds of instant-cancer fumes whenever started. Attracts an unreasonable amount of attention from car buffs [for its collectability] and others [because it's brightly colored, noisy, and as big as a battleship].
2. A mythical creature prominently featured in Russian folktales. Possesses magical powers. Wherever the Firebird goes, princes, princesses, kings and mad wizards are sure to follow.
3. Presumably, any golden bird that’s on fire.”
(pg. 1)
That’s how the book starts out, with these excerpts. So we can tell the title refers to the car that this family owns. So who are the characters?
Brooks: The eldest, a junior. When her father dies she starts drinking, lets her grades slip even farther than usual, gives up softball, and starts dating a juvenile-delinquent-in-the-making.
Palmer: The youngest, a freshman. Has no idea how to interact with people other than through her pitches on the softball field, has gifted softball skills just like her older sister. When her father dies, she retreats into watching TV with the volume up LOUD and following her pitching practice religiously.
May: The middle sister, and also the responsible one. Is working in a coffee shop and working her butt off to get good grades in AP classes for a scholarship to a good college so she can make something of herself and escape her dysfunctional family. Is good at passing every test but sucks at baseball, which creates a huge barrier between her and her sisters. This book is mainly about her and how she cannot pass the driving exam, so she can’t get her license. Until her longtime friend/prankster/nemesis Pete Camp starts to teach her how to drive, but then everything changes.
This book is a little weird with the whole omniscient third-person-point-of-view thing (look at me, big vocabulary words!) but it was a good story and I like the ending, it reminds me a lot of Little Miss Sunshine.