Review:Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer is a fictional book about a girl named Jam Gallahue and how she is sent to a therapeutic boarding school called the Barn and is enrolled in the very prestigious Special Topics English class. Before Jam is sent to the Barn her life is great, she spends her time with her British boyfriend Reeve, drawing or hanging out with her best friends. And then Reeve dies and she breaks. Reeve was the only thing that was a little bit different in her life, he was the thing she looked f... Read more

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This book took me through a whole spectrum of emotions. As I told Christina, I liked it, then loved it, then hated it....then ended up liking it but having some serious reservations. I can't be completely candid without spoiling it horribly, but I'll try to give my general impression. On the positive side, this book gripped me. Once I got past the early part, I found myself really intrigued by the mysteries in the story. The special "glow" power, the mysterious strang... Read more

Review:I loved this book! Wholly, utterly and without reservation LOVE this book. What don't I love? That it's categorized as YA because I feel it deserves to be exposed to a greater audience. The brilliance of the story is the emotional and psychological journey both Amy and Roger undergo - not just the obvious geographical one. It makes sense that it takes a long road trip - with its attendant adventures and cast of characters along the way - to heal the emotional wounds Amy & Roger were carryin... Read more

Review:The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 2½/5 stars
My Review:

BAH!!! I find it difficult to turn down a book that has a psychiatric element to it and that is exactly what drew me to The Dead House. Unfortunately, I found the read to be a mixed bag of good and not so good. Here’s the breakdown:

What I liked:

*I like the format of the book. The story is told not so much through the characters but through the evidence left behind by the charac... Read more

Review:This book is set in medieval England and was written, (and awarded the Newbery), in 1949. As between the medieval setting and the 1940's writing style I'm not entirely sure which is the more old-fashioned. That said, the book is colorful, sweet tempered, and actually pretty well paced for such a book written at such a time.

We follow Robin's challenges, adventures, and courageous spirit through a series of misadventures that conclude with a perilous castle siege. Through it all Robin rema... Read more

Review:This author I recently discovered and man I did a few of her books on audio and i freaking loved it. So she became another author that is an automatic one click for me.
And this one was another awesome read.

Rachel grew up alone with just her mother, who was a nurse. The only thing she knew about her father was that he was a famous Rock Star. So the only way she communicated with him was listening to his music. So when her mother dies when she is 17 her whole world changes. Her father ... Read more

Review:An intense and lovely second chance romance, I completely fell for Jude and Veronica’s (Ronnie) story. Veronica has scars inside and out, and Jude is has scars of his own. Jude and Ronnie had an instant attraction which led to her avoiding her professor's class thereafter. Jude has his own reasons. A fantastic beginning, this gives great tension and let's us see where they both are. It's a great read and it's wonderful getting to know the characters and some other pieces in the undertones. This ... Read more

Review:Another beautifully written novel by Adam Silvera. Heartbreaking, hopeful, beautiful story about love, healing, forgiveness and about those puzzle pieces that sometimes don't fit and it is maybe better to leave it this way. "People are complicated puzzles, always trying to piece together a complete picture, but sometimes we get it wrong and sometimes we’re left unfinished. Sometimes that’s for the best." Griffin learns about death of his best friend and ex boyfriend and he feels that his world c... Read more

Review:The Contender was a book of suspense and making decisions for yourself. It was thrilling through the whole book, and kept you on the edge of you seat. You could relate the characters to people in real life . For instance, the friend who turns against you, the bully, and the person who never gives up. I would recommend this book to any person who enjoys the adventure of reading, though I think the themes of the book were directed more toward teenagers. Boys that read this book will be more i... Read more

Review:This book captures the reality of growing up in SW Pa. The author does a masterful job of capturing both the simple basic lifestye coupled with decency and integrity and humor. His stories rang so true for me. I lived in Norvelt "D" section and often received "community service" discipline while growing up.
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