Nerd-y Pick: The Summer I Became a Nerd

The Summer I Became a Nerd
by Leah Rae Miller
Entangled Publishing
2013
352 pages

Calling all nerds, geeks, fangirls, comic book lovers, Doctor Who watchers, Trekkies, Star Wars fanatics, Comicon geeks, live action role-players (LARPs), and wannabes: The Summer I Becomae a Nerd is cute, clever and contemporary and the perfect, sweet romance.

Popular cheerleader Maddie has spent the last five years erasing her middle school mistake of dressing up as a comic book character. Now she's a cheerleader dating a football player, but Maddie harbors a horrible secret: she still  secretly buys and reads comic books and hides the fact from everyone. When her mailed copy of the Super Ones #400 is out of stock, Maddie realizes she simply can't wait 5-7 weeks to read it. This calls for drastic action! Maddie "disguises" herself and heads down to the Phoenix, the local comic book store praying that no one will see her entering such a geeky establishment.

Logan works for his parents at their comic book store, and he's a classmate of Maddie's. He recognizes her right away and loans her his own personal copy of #400. The chemistry between Maddie and Logan is romance gold. This is what dreams are made of! Football player boyfriend Eric doesn't stand a chance with geeky, sweet Logan around.

Maddie begins to ignore phone calls and texts from Eric and best friend Terra. She enters the world of comicdom and loves it. Maddie learns to embrace her inner geek and be her true self and discovers what she loves.

Highly recommended for comic geeks and fans grade 9-up. Some language, underage drinking, parties.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I recieved this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

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

YA Pick: Golden

Golden
by Jessi Kirby
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
2013
288 pages

Available May 14, 2013

Beautiful, burning, dazzling, and golden, Jessi Kirby's latest YA novel will touch readers' hearts.

Super smart Parker Frost has never taken chances. She's set to graduate as valedictorian and on her way to Stanford if she wins the Cruz-Farnetti Scholarship. Best friend Kat is Parker's polar opposite; Kat takes chances and lives for the moment. She doesn't want Parker to leave town, but she knows her friend needs to excel.

When Parker is asked to mail out a box of ten year old journals to students who graduated a decade ago, she makes a shocking discovery. One of the journals belongs to Julianna Farnetti, a girl who was in a tragic car accident with her boyfriend Shane Cruz. Their bodies were never found, but the town mourned their deaths. Now, Parker holds the key to a mystery. Should she give the journal back to Mr. Kinney? Why didn't the police ever find the journal? Should she take it to the police? Or, should Parker take a chance, just this once? Parker decides to read Julianna's journal and then she promises herself that once she's read it, she will return it to Julianna by dropping it in her last known resting place, Summit Lake.

Parker realizes there's a decade old mystery in her small town, and she's bound and determined to find the answers, even if it means exposing the painful  past.

Soon Parker enlists the help of Kat and Trevor, the boy she's been crushing on for years. They go in search of a mysterious artist, hoping to mend a lost love. Wouldn't it be great if they could solve the mystery and reunite kindred spirits?

Golden is as addictive as Nicholas Sparks and Sarah Dessen. Readers who loved Moonglass will be addicted to Golden. Beautiful cover art will lure readers in, and Kirby's masterful storytelling will captivate until the very last word.

Highly, highly recommended grade 7-up. No profanity. No sex. Some kisses.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

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

Chick Pick: Struck

Struck
by Rhonda Stapleton
Simon Pulse
2011
741 pages

see the author's video here

Contains three novels: Stupid Cupid, Flirting with Disaster, and Pucker Up

Charming, cute, and quirky, the three short novels that make up this large volume, will have girls dreaming of romance and Valentine's Day. Although a reader could choose to read only Stupid Cupid and quit after the first story, you must read Stupid Cupid to understand the other two stories. The characters and setting are the same.

The heroine is Felicity Walker, just an average teen who goes job hunting. She applies to a company called Cupid's Hollow to become a "teen cupid" never expecting that she would become a real matchmaker with a hot-pink PDA that can work magic. By sending an email to each person she wishes to match, they will fall in love for two weeks. The magic lasts two weeks, and after that, if the couple is still together, it is a good match.

Then Felicity gets the idea of fixing up her BFF Maya, but she can't think of the perfect boy. She decides on three dates, but can't choose, so she selects all three for Maya. There's lots of laughs and some awkward teen moments when all three boys vie for Maya's attention.

Felicity decides to invoke some magic in her parent's relationship as well and is horrified when her parents begin acting like horny teen-agers around her. She even catches them "doing it" in the middle of the day and is mortified and swears she's ruined for life. She'll probably have to see a psychiatrist for years after that!

Her first match falls apart and her BFF Maya's life is turned upside down, but Derek, the hot boy from art class, does begins to notice her. In the second story, Derek reveals that he's a cupid, too. Felicity and Derek have a competition to see who can make the most matches.

Recommended for teen girls who love romance and dreamy, steamy stories.

Grades 9-up. The parents caught in the act, some language, some laugh-out-loud embarrassing moments.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Fantasy Pick: The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Steifvater
Scholastic Press
2011
416 pages

Magical, lyrical, beautiful, and romantic, The Scorpio Races is unlike any other young adult novel. The prose sings itself off the page--Stiefvater is at her poetic best in this novel, her voice has never been stronger nor her writing more fierce and taut. The island setting is not only beautiful but dangerously alluring. The setting, in fact, is a character in this novel and controls both the tight plot and the threateningly ominous tone.

The Scorpio Races happen every year in November in Thisby, a small coastal town known for its brutal winter weather, battering storms from the sea, and for breeding the best horses money can buy. Some of the horses are real prizes--you see, every autumn, horses climb out of the surf, leave the sea, and run on the beach. If you're "lucky" enough to catch a capall (water horse), you will have to be very lucky to train him and keep him. They--the capaill uise--water horses--are wild and predatory, sly and cunning, huge and beastlike, but they run faster than the wind, and that is why men in Thisby long to race them and why they lay their hard earned money down to bet on which rider and horse will survive and win the race. People come from the mainland and all the way from America to see the races and to buy race horses from Benjamin Malvern, the richest breeder and landowner on the island.

Sean is a part of the island itself. He lives for the sea and the capaill--he was born to train horses like his father before him. His father was lost to the sea because of the races and now Sean works for Malvern in the stables. He knows the danger but never lets his guard down when it comes to one of the wild horses. He will ride a red capall named Corr in the races.

Puck (Kate Connelly is her given name) is a bit of a tomboy who is being raised along with her quirky brother Finn by her older serious brother Gabe. Puck rides her farm mare Dove and decides that she could win the Scorpio Races on Dove's back. She enters her name on the list to save her family's home--Mr. Malvern will foreclose on their property unless Puck wins the race. The whole town decides that she must be crazy--ride a little "pony" in a race with vicious capaill? A girl thinks she can beat men? A girl with no training on the back of a farm horse?

Puck won't back down even though men try to twist the rules to say that only men can race--it doesn't say that in the rules--it says "riders." Sean comes to her defense. He sees Puck training Dove and offers to ride with her and give her pointers. Puck decides she likes/dislikes Sean as much as he does her, but she's pig-headed and stubborn; she wants to prove she is a great rider, so she agrees. When both riders go to the beach where some wild water horses are training, Puck is afraid but won't admit it. They see a man killed by a water horse, and Puck regrets signing up.

A terrible storm reaches the island and water horses come ashore and off the beach up the hills towards homes. Puck and Finn escape with Dove and must leave their house. Sean saves Corr from a certain death and vows to beat Mutt Malvern (his boss's evil son) in the race. An American horse owner named George Holly becomes friendly with Sean and offers him a job in America training horses, but Sean is in love with the island and knows he could never leave Corr.

The race begins and it's terrifying, exciting, and brutal. Pages will turn at a heart-thumping pace in a race where one second can change everything in life, one movement, one twitch, one blink of an eye.

Magically entertaining, exciting and fast-paced, wretchedly horrifying at times, The Scorpio Races will haunt readers for days and weeks after finishing it. If Steven Spielberg gets his hands on this novel, the movie will be Hollywood magic! The capaill uise deserve to be brought to the silver screen by someone who can do them justice and Spielberg is my pick. Are you listening, Steven?

Blogger's Note: I almost missed this book. I had noticed it on the Scholastic Book Fair but passed on it due to the cover--I know, just like the kids--I judged the book by its cover! The cover did not appeal to me nor the premise of horses or racing, but when it showed up again and again on librarians' lists of best books for 2011, I found a copy and gave it a try. I was hooked! I enjoyed the Shiver trilogy and love Stiefvater's earlier work, but a book about horses just did not grab me.

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. This novel is not be missed! Some language--it is a horse racing town, after all. Language much worse can all be heard on prime time television. Violence and death in the race.

FTC Required Disclamer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Chick Pick: The Pledge--A Must-Read

The Pledge
by Kimberly Dertin
Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster)
2011
323 pages

Part fairy tale, part romance, part paranormal, The Pledge is well-written, satisfying, and sensational! Words simply cannot do this remarkable novel justice! I was hooked from the first words of the prologue.

In a world where the class lines are clearly enforced--the lower classes speak one language, the upper class another, the royalty--a language only they can understand, but Charlaina can understand and speak them all. She must keep it a secret; however, for the safety of her family and herself. She must avert her eyes and show no sign she understands the bullying of the richer Counsel students--her own merchant class is subservient and poor. They are allowed to attend a different school only because they must read and write in order to do business.

The Queen has control--but her grip is slipping. There is talk every day of rebel forces fighting and a revolutionary band of forces forming to topple the Queen's stifling regime. They want people to be free--free to speak whatever language they wish, free to attend school, free to learn and grow and to achieve higher class status. The Queen is ancient and her magic is growing weaker. She needs a younger pureblood to inhabit. She would be able to live on in a younger body, but there is no one. Or is there?

Charlie meets Max, a dangerous and dark bad boy, who causes her to have strange feelings. The tension between them is palpable; girls will love the seductive tension. When Charlie is taken "prisoner" by the rebels, she grows closer to Alex, their leader. She is confused how Max and Alex know each other. Then, her parents are taken to the castle by the Queen's forces and Charlie learns that Aron, her childhood friend, has been tortured at the castle and hangs on for dear life.

Alex, Max, and Charlie join forces to meet the Queen and save her parents and Aron. The Queen has other ideas entirely. Will Charlie's "gift" be enough to save her? Can the Queen use her magic one last time?

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. Max is a great new sexy addition to ya romantic lit--Edward and Jacob, you are so over! Teens will love the enticing cover and the quote on the back cover from Carrie Ryan (author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth) is reason enough to give this book a try.

There is a mention near the end that Charlie and Max are now sleeping together but no mention of sex. No language. If you have The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Hunger Games, and Twilight, this novel is a good addition to your collection.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I got this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Chick Pick: The False Princess

The False Princess
by Eilis O'Neal
Egmont, 2011
336 pages

Nalia is the princess of Thorvaldor--heir to the throne and the only daughter of the King and Queen. After her sixteenth birthday, Nalia's world is torn apart. The only parents she's ever known tell her that she is a false pretender to the throne--a peasant's baby they raised as their own, secreting the rightful princess, their daughter, away in the countryside for her safety. Nalia is stripped of her title, her home, her parents, even her name--she is now Sinda, a penniless orphan who has a distant aunt who agrees to take her in. Sinda is not meant for the peasant life. She has been tutored in languages and court manners, not cleaning and cooking over an open fire. She is homesick for the palace and her friend Keirnan.


Away from the palace and the spell that wizards put over her, Sinda realizes that she has some powers of her own. She travels back to Thorvaldor to seek out training to help her use her new abilities. It is there that a wise--if befuddled--wizard named Philantha takes her in and trains her to use her magic. Sinda and Keirnan discover that the princess Nalia may also be a fake. Who is the true princess? Where is she? And why would someone try to fool the King and Queen? It is up to Sinda and Keirnan to save the kingdom.

The False Princess has mystery, romance, intrigue, suspense, evil, treachery, magic--everything a reader could want. Readers who enjoy a mystery mixed with romance will love The False Princess.

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up.

Book will be released January 25, 2011.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for my review.