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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'Living Dead Girl']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38315103
to: Living Dead Girl (Hardcover)byElizabeth Scott bookshelves: ya-fiction
This is the story of "Alice" -- of who she used to be and who she is now and how it all happened to her. "Alice" was abducted from a school field trip when she was 10 and has been held hostage by Ray, his violence, and his threats for 5 years since.
This book is so hard to read and yet I couldn't put it down. It's hard to rate it "amazing" when I can't say I enjoyed the story, but I did find it to be thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, and tragic; and so, this book was amazing.
The story is told sparsely, which I think makes it even more powerful. I felt like Scott didn't graphically describe what is happening to "Alice" but, as a reader, you *know* which was really
I read this book in one sitting and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I picked the book up after reading a discussion on the YA-YAAC listserv for teen librarians. A librarian in Des Moines thought the book should maybe be moved to the adult section. While this book is definitely for mature readers, it's appropriate for a teen audience and I think it has some important things to say about not victim blaming like we so often see in the media, e.g. no one could stop asking why Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Duggard didn't tell ask for help. Scott gives us a look inside a very complex, but private situation.
This is a book that makes you think and I don't think we should be afraid of teens experiencing it.
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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'How to Say Goodbye in Robot']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78698184
to: How to Say Goodbye in RobotbyNatalie Standiford bookshelves: ya-fiction
I just never got into this book. I probably read over half of it before quitting. I just felt like nothing was really happening. I like character driven books, but this one was extreme and had a lot of sort of bizarre subplots with crazy parents and assumed dead siblings. Just not my cup of tea, I guess.
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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'Do It Right! Best Practices for Serving Young Adults in School and Public Libraries']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78698224
Do It Right! Best Practices for Serving Young Adults in School and Public Libraries (Teens @ the Library Series) (Teens the Library Series)
byPatrick Jones bookshelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'Fire']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76085901
Fire (Hardcover)
byKristin Cashore bookshelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'Crossing Stones']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77625045
to: Crossing Stones (Hardcover)byHelen Frost bookshelves: ya-fiction
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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'Dreamland']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77873325
to: Dreamland (Paperback)bySarah Dessen bookshelves: ya-fiction
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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'The Monstrumologist']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78698005
The Monstrumologist (Hardcover)
byRichard Yancey bookshelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[AnnaBnana added 'Paper Towns']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27054608
to: Paper Towns (Hardcover)byJohn Green bookshelves: ya-fiction
It's easy to love the idea of someone...quite a bit harder--but better--to love the actual person. This, more than anything else is what I took away from Paper Towns.
This story is told by Quentin, a high school senior on the cusp of graduation from an Orlando, Florida high school. "Q" as he is known to his friends, is well-liked among his crowd of band geeks and well-protected by his once-upon-a-time friendship with the immensely popular Margo Roth Speigleman. Quentin has quietly loved Margo since they were 9 years old and found the body of a dead man against a tree in a park. Since then though, their friendship has evolved into casual acquaintanceship with Q loving Margo from afar. Then one night everything changes. Margo shows up at Q's bedroom window less than a month before graduation ready to take him on the adventure of his lifetime...an adventure that turns into far longer than one night and teaches both Q and his friends what it means to really know a person--or not know them.
I had this book on my to-read list for a long time. I wasn't sure if I would like it. I loved Looking for Alaska, but couldn't make it through An Abundance of Katherines, so my record with John Green was split. Needless to say, I thought this book was great. Green definitely knows how to write a uniquely troubled girl and the boy who loves her--this was the connecting thread I saw with "Alaska."
The characters are smart and a little quirky. They care about each other...for the most part they respect their parents, they do well in school, they don't have any dead parents or tragic circumstances with drugs or abuse. They're just regular middle class kids creating and dealing with the kinds of dramas that high school kids everywhere work through--although admittedly most aren't creating productions like those of Margo Roth Spiegleman!