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Jacket description:
"Years have passed since Alice lost her mother to cancer, but time hasn't quite healed the wound. Alice copes the best she can by writing her music, losing herself in her love for her boyfriend, and distancing herself from her father and his new wife.

But when a deadly snowstorm traps Alice with her stepmother and newborn half sister, she'll face issues she's been avoiding for too long. As Alice looks to the heavens for guidance, she discovers something wonderful.


Perhaps she's not so alone after all..."

A novel in verse by Lisa Schroeder, this one isn't quite as dark and dismal as the description makes it sounds. Alice is a girl suffering from terrible grief after losing her mother, as well as feeling replaced by a stepmother. She's not entirely sure how to work through all these feelings, but tries, through song-writing, going to church, and spending time with her amazing boyfriend. Still, all is not well. Alice has an attitude, a chip on her shoulder, and a broken heart. Depressing, yes, but written very well.

I loved how honest the writing felt and the pure emotion that came from Alice as a character. I was a bit put off by Blaze (the boyfriend) in the beginning, especially being the fact that his name is BLAZE, but I was pleasantly surprised by how he turned out. Their relationship was believable and maybe will help to inspire some teen girls to wait for the right boy to come along before giving her heart over to someone.

Alice's situation with the snowstorm is terrifying and had me frantically turning pages to find out what happened. Things certainly tie up in a neat little bow at the end, which was a bit annoying (too perfect maybe?), but overall I really enjoyed the plot. Loved the cover too. The paperback cover is not nearly as beautiful, but here it is in case you're interested:

Jacket description:
"New to town, Bea is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day. You know the type: very cheery, very friendly, very average. But instead, the alphabet conspires to seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet observer who hasn't made a new friend since third grade. He's not a big fan of people in general...but he's willing to make an exception for her. Maybe.
 

Bea and Jonah are not going to have a friendship like other people have a friendship, where it's all based on gossip and parities and what everybody else thinks. Instead, their friendship comes from truth-bound conversations, shared secrets, daring stunts, and late-night calls to the same old-timer radio show. They help each other and hurt each other, push away and hold close. It's not romance exactly- but it's definitely love. And it means more to them than either one can ever really know..."

I loved this quirky story, so much more than I thought I was going to. Natalie Standiford has created these two characters that I really believed in and felt had this love that is forced to go unexplained in an incredibly romantic way. I could picture someone from my own past, as Jonah, and I think that helped his emotions resonate  The ending is not at all typical of a teen novel and that had me loving it even more, as much as I wished it had ended differently...if only for my own, personal emotional state.

The part of the story where Jonah and Bea go off to find his brother, is a bit less believable as a whole, but since I felt the whole "point" of the book was to focus on this friendship that's a true, deep love for each other, so I wasn't hung up on the fact that I couldn't really see teens doing that. I loved the characters enough that it didn't matter what else was going on.

A beautifully written, quirky story, that will expand your mind to other realms of romance, rather than just all lovey lust, and making out.


How to Say Goodbye in Robot
Natalie Standiford
288 pages
Young Adult
Scholastic Press
9780545107082
October 2009
Review copy received from publisher for the Cybil Awards


To learn more, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon. I am an Associate and will receive a tiny commission from your purchase.

Jacket description:
"Sisters Octavia and Tali dread the road trip their parents are forcing them to take with their grandmother over the summer. After all, Mare isn't your typical grandmother. She drives a red sports car, wears stiletto heels, flippy wigs, and push-up bras, and insists that she's too young to be called Grandma. But somewhere on the road, Octavia and Tali discover there's more to Mare than what you see. She was once a willful teenager who escaped her less-than-perfect life in the Deep South and lied about her age to join the 6888th African American battalion of the Women's Army Corps during World War II.


Told in alternating chapters, half of them following Mare through her experiences as a WAC and half following Mare and her granddaughters on the road in the present day, Mare's War introduces us to a larger-than-life character who will stay with readers long after they have finished reading."

I LOVED this book. Loved it. The characterization was absolutely amazing, leaving me completely entranced in Mare's story, while also totally believing in Octavia and Tali's personalities, the way they react to some of the stories their grandmother tells, and their overall attitudes. Tanita S. Davis managed to create this amazing menagerie of women in this book, all of which leave lasting impressions.

I really enjoyed the alternating chapters, between then and now, and feel that was probably the best way to tell Mare's story. At times it got intense, so the "Now" chapters gave the reader a break from the seriousness of WWII and allowed some present day teenage whining to take its place.

The amount of knowledge I had on African American women in WWII was basically zilch before starting this YA novel and now, I'm itching to learn more. Mare's War is not just a fictional story, it's an educational journey filled with sadness, poverty, war, death, and hope. We aren't taught about this part of history in school, which is a complete disappointment, but the truth. Davis gives us a history lesson within a fabulous drama.

Beautifully written, I would hand this to any teen girl, enjoying a good piece of historical fiction. I can see those fans of Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith, which I loved earlier this year, really liking Mare's War as well. I hope you'll check this out and then hand it to some teens...it's definitely worth your time. 

Thoughts on the cover:
It needs a bit of work. Not the most exciting thing to look at, that's for sure, leaving me wondering if it would be a first pick off a library shelf. The colors are very muted and pastel, and though the artwork is interesting and nicely done, it's not very attention-grabbing.

I read this one for the Cybil Awards.

Mare's War
Tanita S. Davis
352 pages
Young Adult
Knopf
9780375857140
June 2009
Review copy received from publisher

To learn more or to purchase, click on the book cover to link to Amazon. I am an Affiliate and will receive a small commission for your purchase.

Go to the CYBILS website to find out which books have already been nominated in these categories:

Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books

Fantasy/SciFi

Fiction Picture Books

Graphic Novels

Middle Grade Fiction

Nonfiction, Middle Grade/YA

Nonfiction Picture Books (Franki's on this panel!!)

Poetry

Young Adult Fiction

It's that wonderful time of year again! The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards are again upon us, with nominations opening up tomorrow! Can you believe it? It feels like just a few months ago we were learning the finalists and winners.

All the info on nominating your favorite books of 2009 can be found at the Cybils blog, which you can get to by clicking the button at the top of this post. Nominations only run until the 15th, so hurry up and get your favorites in! Anything published between October 15th of last year and October 14th of this year is eligible (I think I have that right, but check the rules for exact dates). That means that even if your favorite book was published at the end of last year, it's still eligible for this years voting.

While you're perusing the Cybils blog, show some love and get some bling!! I'm buying myself a big ol' Cybils mug and they have cool t-shirts and tote bags too. Click here to browse the selection.

This is really such a fun time of year in the blogging world and great way to get the word out about those books that haven't received quite as much press as those popular bestsellers. Help spread the word by grabbing a Cybils button, writing up a post, printing out a flyer, Tweeting, etc. Show the love!