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Friday, April 29, 2011

Aboutmeme-Question:What am I doing this summer?


Wow...summertime is nearly here already! I feel like school just started, but then again, so does everyone. So, what am I doing this summer?

First of all, I have two award ceremonies to attend that I have been accepted in called the Asian Heritage Society (category of literature) and a Chinese collectible stamp competition of impressive people. Not only that, but for the first time, I'm traveling out of the country-to China! (I'm sure that's pretty obvious considering the info above, but that's just pretend that was a complete and total surprise that you had no idea that was going to happen.)


After that, my friends and I are planning to attend the Harry Potter Part 2 Movie Night Premiere dressed up as our favorite characters. I'll probably be dressed up as Cho Chang (since everyone I meet who has read Harry Potter tells me that I look like her), my friend Fi will be dressed up as Ginny (most likely since she has flame red hair that looks really awesome), Tiff will be dressed up as the female version of Snape (a.k.a her idol), and Ji will be Hermione. It's going to be awesomely awesome!


What are you doing this summer? Let me know!



Picture courtesy of freedigitalpics

Charmed and Dangerous:The Rise of the Pretty Committee by Lisi Harrison

Author: Lisi Harrison


Series: The Clique (#1.5)


Pages: 160


Imprint: Poppy


Published: 10-27-09


Ages and Grades: 12-15 and 6-9th grade


Provider: Library


Summary (from goodreads)
Once upon a time, in Westchester and Orlando, there were four betas just waiting for their alpha. It took a miracle to bring the Pretty Committee together--or rather, a New Years Eve party. Because sometimes when you meet someone, it just cliques.

This special deluxe hardcover novella tells the outrageous story of how The Clique got together.



Review

Charmed and Dangerous:The Rise of the Pretty Committee by Lisi Harrison is the prequel to The Clique, the first book of The Clique series. 

We all know Massie Block as the alpha-and I'm sure we always thought she was. But...in fact, she was the beta at first. Massie's stuck in the Ahnabees as a beta even though she knows that she's meant to be an alpha. 

Alicia Rivera's ready for her turn in the spotlight while her alpha's away-but will she survive through a humiliating mess-up? Skye Hamilton's gone for winter vacation, and she's left to do what she's dreamed about all her life. Finally, Alicia's leading the BADS (Body Alive Dance Studio) dance troupe. 

Dylan Marvil loves being skinny-'cause she knows it. But when the ultimate betrayal is committed and Dylan finds out the absolute opposite of what she thought she was, she doesn't know if she'll ever recover from that humiliation again. Her sisters obsess over their weight 'cause they know that they're nawt skinny-but now it's Dylan who is taking their place in the spotlight of insecurity. 

Kristen Gregory-no words needed. Other than her needing to completely get a life other than being holed up and doing homework, there's nothing to say. 

Together these 4 will form a clique-one that will be unbreakable for all eternity. Friendship is tested, bonds break and form, and once more a new clique begins. Delightfully enjoyable and very quick to read, this book tells you every reason why everything and everyone acts the way that they do in the first book. 

Basically the only faults I found with this book is how wise and elderly they all seemed when they were only fourth graders-fourth graders! That was a real big shock to me, and I had to at least reread that line over several times. They seemed like they could be eighth graders at some points. Otherwise, this was a very wonderful book. Enjoy! 

Rating 
A+

XOXO,
B

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Royal Treatment by Lindsey Leavitt

Author: Lindsey Leavitt


Series: Princess for Hire (#2)


Pages: 272


Imprint: Disney Hyperion Books


Release Date: 5-3-11


Ages and Grades: 10 and up, 5 and up


Provider:Disney Hyperion


Summary (from goodreads)



Desi Bascomb's job as a princess substitute has gotten a whole lot more glamorous now that she's advanced to Level 2 within the Facade Agency. Magical make-up, roller-skating celebrities, and the chance to see Prince Karl again are just some of the major perks. Not to mention, she's landed the role of Fairy Queen in her school's production of Midsummer's Night Dream (opposite her best friend's crush. Which is a little weird, but at least he wears a donkey head during their kissing scene). Life should be perfect, but Desi can't seem to shake the feeling that there is more going on with the agency's magic than she's told. Like why is this mind-bending power exclusive to royals? Is it possible that there could be a bigger way to make an impact in both parts of her life?

Review


I had very high expectations for this book-and I was NOT disappointed. Starting off with the same girlie approach, Desi is in the high school music room that Kylee snuck her into so she could practice her violin since it's her "musical dream". The truth is nowhere near that. She's actually preparing her BEST (Betterment of Elite Sub Training- "These people loved their acronyms" ) for another princess as she rises up to level two. 


Once I opened this book (or rather, e-book) I just couldn't stop. I thought that the plot was much more thought out and polished than the first book. Normally I can't reread through books because of the sheer boredom unless I'm reading my favorite parts, but this....every single chapter is my favorite part! I did occasionally feel like some of the characters were more in 2d (no emotional depth) than in 3d, but mostly all the main characters were dimensional enough.


I really enjoyed how this book was targeted directly towards girls since that way we could get some type of girlish kick out of it that we don't normally get in others even with ones that have a girl as a main character. The royal treatment is the delightful sequel to Princess for Hire that just makes the series even better.


Rating


A (really liked it!)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Author:Sarah Porter


Series: Lost Voices #1


Name of Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's


Release Date: July 4, 2011


Age group: 12-15


Number of Pages: 302


 Summary

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.

A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce's own remarkable singing talent makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However, her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

The first book in a trilogy, Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive.    

Review
Thank you, Netgalley for sending me this book.

             Luce is a teenage girl who has been wronged in so many ways-especially by her uncle. Her mother left when she was younger, and her father died of a shipwreck onThe High and Mighty. But the night the final wrong comes down, Luce is left abandoned on a cliff where she had found a girl's cold dead body. She sits there, reminiscing her past of not fitting in and realizing that if she goes back to her Uncle, she'll live in fear every night of the same horrible thing happening to her again. Through her tears and turmoil, she comes to a final decision-not to go back. 
            But Luce is suddenly falling, and she eventually realizes that she's falling off the cliff. She thinks of how much alike the feeling of falling off is like experiencing the arms of death enclosing around her. She suddenly hears the lulling sound of music-beautiful, stunning, music. Moments later, Luce realizes the truth. Along with many other girls who have changed into mermaids because of what human beings did to them, she becomes close to the tribe's queen, Catarina. The tribe of mermaids sing with their beautiful voices and bring ships down as vengeance to their past. But Luce starts to think about how her father died on a shipwreck-possibly one caused by the mermaids?
            Living in the tribe isn't perfect-there's still rules. The timahk forbids that you have any human contact at all, hurt any other mermaid (including larvae), banish any mermaid unless they've broken the timahk first, and if you saw another mermaid in danger, you had to help her unless it was a situation where if you helped, you could be killed, too. Luce is fine with those rules until she finds out Catarina's stealthy secret-one that could get her kicked out of the tribe-permanently. 
            Newcomers eventually come to the tribe named Dana, Jenna, Rachel, Violet, Becka and Hilory are orphans who have been nearly killed by their orphanage keeper. Both Catarina and Luce, who are both amazing singers, do the hard task of changing a girl named Anais, who starts to bring out the worst in everyone. But when she and Samantha, a bitter mermaid who seems exactly like Anais's follower find out what Catarina's secret is-what will they do to her-and Luce?
            Intriguing and spellbinding, this book is for sure a sweet read. It's wonderfully descriptive and detailed, which lets you picture everything that's happening in the story. Every twist and turn of the story is intensive and secretive, which gives you the running thrill of suspense. If you read this book, you definitely won't regret it.  

Rating
A+ (amazing!)



Monday, April 18, 2011

Back again!

I haven't posted in a little while, mostly because of the shortage of time, what with other extracurricular activities. :) That's why I've decided that back with my re-entrance for about the billionth time, I am going to start bvlogs (book video blogs or Bethany's video blogs) I'm going to post my first one pretty soon on  Populazzi by Elise Allen. Watch for it!


Bethany Huang