summer reading

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

 in Adventure / Creative / Fantasy / Fun / Interesting / Reluctant Readers / Young Adult by
Cover of "American Born Chinese"

Cover of American Born Chinese

Summary

Amazon.com

“Indie graphic novelist Gene Yang’s intelligent and emotionally challenging American Born Chinese is made up of three individual plotlines: the determined efforts of the Chinese folk hero Monkey King to shed his humble roots and be revered as a god; the struggles faced by Jin Wang, a lonely Asian American middle school student who would do anything to fit in with his white classmates; and the sitcom plight of Danny, an All-American teen so shamed by his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee (a purposefully painful ethnic stereotype) that he is forced to change schools. Each story works well on its own, but Yang engineers a clever convergence of these parallel tales into a powerful climax that destroys the hateful stereotype of Chin-Kee, while leaving both Jin Wang and the Monkey King satisfied and happy to be who they are….”

Review

I have not read a graphic novel for quite a long time. Well, I do not believe I have ever read an authentic graphic novel, I have read a Warrior Series graphic novel but I am not sure if that qualifies.

This book was quite interesting. I am usually not a person who reads graphic novels because I feel that it does not give me the satisfaction of a regular book. I like to have to use my imagination  to see the characters and I like to see them in my own eyes. When you read a graphic novel, the characters are drawn for you. There is no imagination involved as you read the captions to go along with the story. Graphic novel’s, I believe, are for reluctant readers. They get you to read as they are good stories but they do not require a lot of concentration. I read this book in under a day as it was so simple. Do not get me wrong, it was a good book and the pictures were well done, but I personally do not like .

The pictures in this book were well done. I do like graphic novel drawings. They are a unique style of drawing and I respect people who can do it as it is quite an amazing art form. It was also a humorous book. Not like splitting your sides funny but it had its moments.

I personally believe that this is really a boy book though. There was no violence as such (even though at one point someone got speared and put over a spit but is saved) but the story line just came across to me as being a boy type of story line. I cannot explain how but that is the vibe that I got.

This book was a National Book Award Finalist. It also won a Michael L. Printz Award for young adult literature.

I would recommend you to read the book as it is a graphic novel and it is a good change from reading a regular book. I hope that you enjoy.

If you have read it tell me what you think about it.

The Dwindling Days of Summer

 in Creative / Fun / Interesting by

The sun takes a little longer to get above the trees in the morning and there is a chill in the air. Summer is winding down. It is almost time for back to school. Say it isn’t so. No more sleeping late, reading books until your eyes droop. Lazing about.

Make the most of what is left (unless, of course you are in the southern hemisphere).

A little reminder of what you can do.

Enjoy!! Have a great weekend.

My Top Ten Must Read YA Books

 in Books / Interesting / Young Adult by

I just thought that it would be nice to share my favorite YA books. Some of them might be a little over YA but YA goes up until 19 so here are the books.

1. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Click here to see the review.
National Security Agency. NSA. Never Say Anything. That is what David Becker thinks when he just comes off the phone with his boss who told him to collect this dead mans possessions, every single bit of it mind you, and get home. Do not forget one thing. But when he notices one thing is missing…..

2. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Click here to see the review.
14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their South Carolina peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart’s answer….

3. Night by Elie Wiesel
Click here to see the review.
Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to  the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald.Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel’s memories…..

4. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
Click here to see the review.
Weird things are happening to Percy. It stated a long time ago but it gets weirder still. When his class goes on a field trip, he gets into trouble. When his teacher takes him inside the museum to talk to him a weird thing happens to her. She turns into a demon and tries to kill him…..

5. The Silent Boy the Louis Lowry
Click here to see the review.
Katy always knew she wanted to be a doctor just like her father. She likes the feeling of helping others. But she is interested in Jacob, the boy who does not talk, the silent boy…..

6. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Click here to see the review.
It all started when Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert wanted to adopt from the local orphanage. They asked for a boy because Matthew was getting old and they need new and younger hands on the farm. But to their dismay they got a girl. Marilla was determined to send Anne back to the orphanage but Matthew wanted to give her a chance…..

7. Evermore by Alyson Noël
Click here to see the review.
After a tragic accident takes the lives of her family, sixteen year old Ever can see people’s auras, know a life story by touching someone and hear people’s thoughts. Ever goes out of her way to avoid people. Even if she brushes up next to someone she will know things she didn’t want to know. But everything suddenly changes when Ever meets Damen Aguste….

8. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Released on October 19th, 2010)
Click here to see the review.
Calla Tor has always known what her destiny will be. She will become the Alpha Female of a werewolf pack. Her mate, Ren Laroche, was already decided. But she does agree that he is sexy. She, in her position, does not get to choose who she can love. There are rules from the Keepers. The Guardians do as they are told…..

9. Twilight (The Twilight Saga) By Stephenie Meyer
Click here to see the review.
Bella Swan’s move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn…..

10. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Click here to see the review.
There is an ordinary farm girl named Buttercup and she always orders Westly, the farm boy/servant around. He never talks. All he ever says is “As you wish.” She thinks he’s just dumb until she realizes there is a different feeling inside her when she looks at him. Love maybe? Then Westly has to go away because of her love, he wants to make a living in America and the he will send for her……

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Hot Off The Press / Older Readers / Otherworldly / Young Adult by

THIS BOOK HAS NOT YET BEEN RELEASED AND OFFICIALLY COMES OUT OCTOBER 19TH 2010

Summary

Calla Tor has always known what her destiny will be. She will become the Alpha Female of a werewolf pack. Her mate, Ren Laroche, was already decided. But she does agree that he is sexy. She, in her position, does not get to choose who she can love. There are rules from the Keepers. The Guardians do as they are told, but if they do well they get rewarded with education, money, cars, and food. But she and her mate, since they are alpha’s, run the pack, they fight side by side, and guard a sacred site for the Keepers. But when she saves a boy hiker from a bear, she realizes her mistake. But he then is gone. But when she goes to school, he is the new student. The Keepers want him protected. The overseer of the new pack, Logan, want the alpha female and male to watch over him. They were going to be his “Guardian.” But this strange boy invites her in. She actually loves him. But loving him could cost them their lives. But is love the ultimate sacrifice?

Review

This was an interesting book. Unexpected things happened. It was about werewolves but it was pretty realistic. This might be a read again for me. The characters were interesting because of the way they were described. I thought that the story’s base line was interesting with the she and he wolf and then a human in between. There was quite a lot of blood mentioned in the book. This is because when a Guardian is severely injured with a magic weapon, they have to drink another guardians blood. There is a ginormous arachnid in the book and there are some other squeamish parts. The violence is my only complaint about the book. There was a lot of it. There are also creatures which are shadows and they are kind of creepy.

Hope that my readers enjoy it when it comes out.