Friday Five

Wow, I can't believe the month's half over!

This week I received some awesome books. Here, I'll share:

1. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE





I've loved Sara Zarr's writing from day one and was lucky enough to take a writing class with her a while back. In HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, Jill MacSweeney is having a hard time adjusting to life without her father. Then her mother springs a huge announcement on her--she's adopting a baby. In enters Mandy Kalinowski, who's pregnant and looking for someone to take her unborn baby. This story reminds me of our own adoption process though we ended up having a semi-closed one. Still, our birthmother was fourteen at the time. I love this book which uses both the POV of Jill and Mandy. Zarr does a beautiful job conveying how a teen feels about her mother's decision to adopt and the emotions that go through a birthmother's head when she makes the ultimate decision.

2. DEAR BULLY



All I can say is wowza. I read over half of this anthology in one sitting. The stories are amazing and sad. Marlene Perez's SLAMMED really hit me about her finding a slam book with people slamming her and a so-called friend, that really wasn't. R.L. Stein's way of dealing with bullying ended up helping him with his later scary stories, as is Heather Brewer's recollections of how it felt to be an outsider in her school years and how one HS newspaper's comment to her, touched a nerve. So many great stories. A must read!

3. PERFECT





This sequel to IMPULSE grabs you and won't let you go. I love Ellen Hopkin's writing as she's not afraid to show the pain and hurt. I know I've said this before, but how I wished she'd been around when I was a teen. Her writing is awe inspiring with it's raw descriptions that dig deep without holding back.

Here's an excerpt from the audio book:



4. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER season 9 issue 1



Yay! Buffy's back for a new season. I couldn't wait to go to Comic Quest and grab the first issue!

Speaking of Buffy, I also watched the first episode of Sarah Michele Gellar's new series RINGER. So far it's intriguing and I know I'll watch more. Premise is about Bridget, who's a former stripper who witnesses a murder and is going to testify against the mob guy behind it. She ends up fleeing back East to be with Siohban, her idenical twin, who has some secrets of her own. Then Siohban, disappears, and Bridget takes over her life.



5. Ooh, VAMPIRE DIARIES is back!




***I'm being interviewed here today:
http://www.ckvolnek.com/blog.html


**Guilty pleasure:



I got to be good as I'm weighing in on Saturday. So on Saturday I plan to take advantage of this:






If you're a teacher, faculty, or staff member of any school and have an ID, Chick Fil A is giving away free meals! Yay!