Book Giveaway: 52 Reasons to Hate My Father

52 Reasons to Hate My Father

See the book trailer here

I have 5 copies of this great new ya read. It's a funny one! I laughed out loud. See my full review here


You're going to love living in Lexinton Larrabee's life! Don't miss your chance to get a copy. Post a comment to the blog and include your first name, city, state, and email address.

Deadline for posts is September 13, 2012 at noon MST. Winners will be chosed randomly by Randomizer. Winners will be notified by email and have 24 hours to respond to my email with their mailing addresses. Sorry, only U.S. mailing addresses.

Books will ship from New York courtesy of Macmillan.

Good luck and start posting! Pamela
This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set for in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Chick Pick: The Cupcake Queen

The Cupcake Queen
by Heather Hepler
Dutton Children's Books (Penguin Young Readers Group, 2009
242 pages

The best cute ya novel for girls this year!

Quirky, clumsy Penny Lane (her parents loved the Beatles) finds herself eons away from her New York City upbringing when her mother decides to "find herself" and moves them to Nowheresville, USA known as Hog's Hollow. It's bad enough to live in a small, picturesque town known for its pork products, it's worse to have to work in a cupcake shop decorating minature cakes for the town's wealthy and snobbish gentry. When Penny crosses paths with local mean girl Charity (who is soooo totally misnamed!) sparks fly and other kids laugh.

Penny finds friends with blue haired outcast Tally and a cute boy named Marcus and his even cuter dog Sam-- who runs into her--literally--on the beach. Penny is hopelessly lost in her new surroundings and she hates it! Only when her father and mother decide to really call it quits and DIVORCE, does Penny realize that the place she's at might not be the place she hates.

The Cupcake Queen is charming, quirky, light, and cute and girls who liked The Teashop Girls and Coffeehouse Angel are sure to love this novel.

Recommended grade 7-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for the middle school library. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Reads for Girls

Vibes

by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008.
249 pages

Meet Kristi Carmichael--quirky, inconsistant, moody, self-absorbed, a little overweight, and she can read minds! Because of this ability, she sees the real thoughts of peers and adults who judge her because of her weight and appearance. This only makes her more moody and self-absorbed and causes her to binge on junk food. The more she tries to lose weight, the more she seems to self-sabotage.

Kristi listens to opera on headphones to drown out other people's thoughts that she is able to hear. She feels, "Opera is the perfect soundtrack for the tragedy of modern life." Dealing with high school angst, body image, and her parents' impending divorce doesn't make her life any easier.

Girls will gravitate to Kristi--especially those girls with weight/body image issues. Kristi is at times confused, embarrassed, searching, and mostly, angry--not unlike any other teen-age girl. She is a typical hormonal teen--except for the fact that she can "hear" what others are thinking. The outcome of the book is trite--Kristi's problems seem to melt away when she finally finds a boyfriend, and he's totally HOT! Kristi says, "And I'm still me, a big-breasted, slightly freaky, opera-loving, possibly psychic seamstress, and cat enthusiast who now has a totally hot boyfriend." The message to girls seems to be--get a boyfriend and everything else will be fine. If girls read Vibes for fun and not for life's lessons, they will likely enjoy the read. Like many recent novels, Vibes has a gay character. Recommended for YA collections, grades 8-high school.