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I have been interested in The Goddess Girls for a while, but I was reluctant to go back and try to catch up on the series.  Medusa the Mean is the eighth installment, and when I had the opportunity to be part of a blog tour, I jumped at the chance.  I ‘m glad that I did, too.  I had no problems following along with the plot, and found this to be a very fun MG read.

Medusa has a few issues.  She wants to be popular, and she wants super hottie Poseidon to notice her.  The problem? Nobody is tripping over themselves to be her friend.  Who wants to be BFFs with a mortal girl with snakes for hair?  Her own parents don’t even seem to care for her, so it’s easy to see how Medusa developed an Olympus sized chip on her green shoulder.

I was extremely sympathetic toward Medusa.  She is one of the only mortals to attend Mount Olympus Academy, and she feels that she doesn’t fit in.  She longs to be immortal and to have powers like her sisters.  It’s hard being the only triplet  without special powers!  Medusa is so desperate to obtain immortality that she falls for gimmicks that keep getting her into trouble.

Despite her desire to have friends, Medusa is wary of her peers.  Being the object of ridicule will do that, and Medusa is often the butt of jokes and teasing.  It seems that only her snakes accept her for who she really is.  With her trust issues, she keeps rejecting the friendly overtures from the girls she longs to be friends with.  I could relate to Medusa and her social awkwardness.  It’s hard to make friends when you worry constantly that people are only setting you up for a joke.  Instead, she reacts with snarky comebacks, or worse, ignores everyone in the vicinity.  While she keeps finding fault in herself, she feels that she must also find fault in others.

Medusa the Mean is a quick, feel good read.  Though I was starting to worry that Medusa would never catch a clue, she eventfully learns that being friends is a two-way street.  She learns that if she wants people to like her, she can’t be selfish and self-absorbed.  Most importantly, she has to accept herself for who she is, and stop judging people based on their looks, instead of their personality.  I enjoyed the characters and the setting, and wouldn’t hesitate to read more books in the Goddess Girls series.

Grade: B

Review copy provided by {teen} Book Scene

May Contain Spoilers

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Review:

I received this unsolicited Choose-Your-Fate Adventure Book, and since I am a big fan of both Batman and choosing your own fate, I sat down with it and put the book through its paces.  Intended for readers 7 – 10, Batman: Super-Villains Strike keeps poor Batman on his toes from the first page.  Four of the most dangerous criminals in the world are committing crimes in Gotham City, even though you, as Batman, are certain they are all still behind bars in Arkham Asylum.   Dodging one villain after another, you are desperate to catch Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Mr Freeze, and The Riddler red-handed and hustle them back to their jail cells.

While I love the concept of these choose your own adventure books, I am not fond of the execution of this one in particular.  The continuity is not smooth, and there were several paths I traveled along that jerked me from one location to another with no explanation, and worse, from one villain encounter to another without regard to events in the chapter I launched off from.  Several times I was chasing after Catwoman, picked a path, and was suddenly pondering riddles from The Riddler, even though I hadn’t encountered him previously in my adventures.  I didn’t even know he was out of jail yet.  This was frustrating when it happened.

To assist me in my crime-fighting journey, there are several puzzles that I had to solve that added variety to the adventure.  Word searches, mazes, and scrambled words gave the book a more interactive feel.  I enjoyed these little brain teasers, and would have liked to see more of them.

One thing I didn’t like was having to search for chapter numbers.  I wish instead that I had been directed to a specific page number, instead of the numbered chapters.

Continuity issues aside, this book will keep younger readers occupied during wait times or trips in the car.  Just don’t be surprised if they ask you where The Riddler or Poison Ivy suddenly came from!

Review copy provided by publisher

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From Amazon:

Review:

Even though I am not a huge sports fan, I enjoy reviewing these SI Kids books.  They are attractively packaged, engagingly written, and filled with glossy action shots.  In addition to giving tips on how to play like a pro, each featured player has an introduction which includes their stats and career highlights.  While this is nice, I appreciated the background information for each player even more.  The human interest elements made the book accessible to me, a self-admitted non-fan of baseball.  Each player also has a selection entitled Inside Information, which lists their favorite foods, movies, cartoon characters, and even video games.  That’s the stuff that I’m interested in.  It’s great to know all of Justin Verlander’s stats, but since I don’t get into the game, those are just random numbers to me.

I took this book to work to show to a co-worker, and he really liked reading through it, too.  He is a huge baseball fan, and while he questioned some of the players that were included, overall he agreed that the featured athletes were among the top of their game.  He liked the photographs, which are printed on bright, glossy paper and capture a variety of intense action shots. He agreed that the text will interest both fans and those not so enthusiastic about the game.  The tips are fun to read, too, though I doubt that I will ever be able to advance my skills to the level of Ichiro Suzuki or Dustin Pedroia.  Chris, on the other hand, insists that with practice, he will be able to pitch just like Verlander.  I remain slightly skeptical.

If you have a baseball fan at home, this would be a great purchase for them.  I bet that even reluctant readers will be cheerfully engrossed learning about the players, their backgrounds, and the secrets behind their moves. 

Grade: B+

Review copy provided by publisher

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I am having a fantastic winning streak of wonderful Middle-Grade novels so far in 2012.  Storybound turned out to be another winner.  The premise is fantastic, and I could not put the book down.  I was literally glued to my reading chair for an entire afternoon as I frantically turned pages, eager to see what kind of trouble Una would find herself in.

Like Harry Potter, Una has never known her parents.  She has been shuffled through the foster care system, and she currently lives with Ms. McDonough, an odd woman who speaks to her cats far more frequently than she speaks to Una.  Una is fine with that, because she finally has some time to herself after being fostered in big families where she never felt that she belonged.  She feels invisible, both at her foster home and at school.  One day when Una is reading in the library in the basement at school, she finds a mysterious book.  A book about her.  Before she even has a chance to catch her breath, she finds herself sucked into the book, trapped as a character in the story.  Now she must  find her way back out again, all without getting killed.  Whoa!

In the land of Story, Una finds must become a student at the school where the children of Story learn how to be characters in books.  All of the citizens of Story have roles in books, and they all have to behave in a manner consistent with the character they are playing.  I loved the concept of this world.  Una’s ally, Peter, is learning to be a Hero.  He takes his studies very seriously, and when Una is magically zapped into one of his practical exams, he is not very happy when she screws it up for him.  With Peter’s help, Una learns that she was Written In.  Peter is shocked, because no one has been Written In since the Tale Keepers overthrew the evil Muses and took control of Story.

I am going to gush about how much I adored Una.  She is resourceful, clever, and loyal, and she is my favorite kind of protagonist.  She meets setback after setback, but each one makes her more determined to figure out what is going on.  Something is stinky in the land of Story, and Una won’t rest until she discovers what it is.  There is something wrong with the Tale Keepers, and she doesn’t believe that the Muses were evil.  With the help of Peter and Sam, a talking cat, she  searches for the truth, even when it puts her in mortal danger.  And Una is in a lot of danger.  She doesn’t belong in Story, and she needs to get back home before someone fi

Here are some new and notable Young Adult and Middle Grade releases for the week:

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

The Girl Behind the Glass by Jane Kelley

True Blue by Jane Smiley

Blood Fever by Veronica Wolff

The Gray Wolf Throne (Seven Realms #3) by Cinda WIlliams Chima

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Nevermore by James Patterson

Wake by Amanda Hocking

Rift by Andrea Cremer

Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman

Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

The End of Infinity by Matt Myklusch

Canterwood Crest: Comeback by jessica Burkhart

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Auracle by Gina Rosati

Between You and Me by Marisa Calin

Courtship and Curse by Marissa Doyle

Are any of these on your to buy list?

Here are some new and notable Young Adult and Middle Grade releases for the week:

The Wednesdays by Julie Bourbeau

After Eli by Rebecca Rupp

Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill

Spookygirl by Jill Baguchinsky

The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Long

Blood Crave by Jennifer Knight

Counting  Backwards by Laura Lascarso

The Fallen 4 by Thomas E Sniegoski

Intentions by Deborah Heligman

The Kill Order by James Dashner

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle

Kizzy Ann Stamps by Jeri Watts

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

The Mourning Emporium by Michelle Lovric

Touched by Cyn Balog

The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

What’s on your shopping list this week?

Here are some YA and MG Kindle books featuring dogs, all priced at below 5 bucks! Click on the title to order. 

Boys Are Dogs (Annabelle Unleashed)  by Leslie Margolis (.99)

Middle-school boys act like wild animals. 
That’s what Annabelle discovers on her first day in her brand-new life. Birchwood Middle School is totally different from her old all-girls elementary. In fact, lots of things in Annabelle’s life are totally different now that she’s back from summer camp. There’s mom’s new boyfriend, a new house, new friends—even a new puppy that likes to chew on Annabelle’s clothes. Well, at least the puppy comes with a leash and a training manual! If only she could say the same for the boys . . .
Featuring Annabelle’s hilarious take on friendship, boys, and her all-new life, this novel / survival guide perfectly captures the joy—and agony—of junior high school. And it might just teach you how to tame the wildest beast of all, the teenage boy.

What the Dog Said by Randi Reisfeld ($1.99)

Ever since her police officer father was killed a few months ago, Grace Abernathy hasn’t wanted to do much of anything. She’s pulled away from her friends, her grades are plummeting . . . it’s a problem. The last thing Grace wants is to be dragged into her older sister Regan’s plan to train a shelter dog as a service dog. But Grace has no idea how involved she’ll get-especially when a mangy mutt named Rex starts talking to her. Has Grace gone off the deep end? Or might this dog be something really special-an angel? A spirit? Either way, he is exactly the therapy that Grace needs.

Me & Jack

Here are some new and notable Young Adult and  Middle Grade releases for the week:

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Nikki Loftin

The Sweetest Spell by Suzanne Selfors

Reaper by K D McEntire

The Magnificent 12: The Key by Michael Grant

The Last Apprentice: Lure of the Dead by Joseph Delaney

Over You by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Smashed by Lisa Luedeke

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Princess Academy: The Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale

Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel

Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams

Two or Three Things I Forgot To Tell You by Joyce Carol Oates

What’s on your shopping list this week?

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, Scholastic Press, 2011, 608 pp, ISBN: 0545027896