PEACE LOVE AND BABY DUCKS posted by Mrs. Schauer

PEACE, LOVE AND BABY DUCKS
by Lauren Myracle
AR: Yes
Interest Level: Middle and Upper Grades

I got so excited when I was at the Penguin Book Publishers booth and saw this book was available as an advanced reader's copy. First of all, the cover...isn't it GREAT? Secondly, the fact that it's by Lauren Myracle and won't be actually published until May, and I had a chance to grab a copy...well, yeah....I snatched it up! I already have a shopping cart full of books I want to order as soon as they're available, and this one is at the top of the list! (Along with the new Sarah Dessen, which won't be published till June!!!!) OK, I got fussed at by the rep working the booth for taking books without asking, but GOSH, to see them just sitting there...calling my name...restraint was just TOO much to ask of me! But back to this book....

PEACE, LOVE & BABY DUCKS is a wonderful story about what it means to be a sister. Carly and Anna have always been rock-solid close. They live in Atlanta and go to an exclusive private Christian school. Their home is in the best neighborhood and have everything money can buy. Appearances, especially to their parents, are everything.

During the summer after her own first year of high school (which is also the summer before her sister's first year) Carly spends six weeks working in the wilderness of the Tennessee mountains. During this time, she connects with nature and realizes that there is so much more to life than shopping, designer clothes, and getting a tan. Being in the wilderness felt so real to her, that her goal for her upcoming sophomore year is to hold onto that realness. Being there made her realize just how fake a her Atlanta life could be.

During the very same summer that Carly was finding out how "real" the world was outside of their small corner of Atlanta, her baby sister Anna was going through her own transformation. She goes from being "cute little Anna"to the kind of girls at which guys ogle and stare. Anna's entering high school doesn't look like it's going to be the "guidance job" for Carly, that she originally thought it was going to be.

Toss in a hot, intense, guitar-playing guy to drool over and dream about, a "best friend guy" that is drooling over and dreaming about HER, and the fact that her sister is the girl that EVERYONE is drooling over and dreaming about...well, let's just say...some drama ensues.

Read this book and experience with Carly and Anna...the joy, laughter, pain, sorrow, frustration, tears, anger, embarrassment, protectiveness, understanding, forgiveness, peace and love that's involved in being a sister. Peace, love, and yes....baby ducks, are woven into this book the way only an author like Lauren Myracle can weave them.

This one will be available as soon as it's released in May!

BOOST, by Kathy Mackel posted by Mrs. Schauer

BOOST
by Kathy Mackel
AR: Yes
Interest Level: Middle and Upper Grades

I bought this book over spring break when I was at Barnes and Noble browsing for titles that reached out and GRABBED me...this one did, and man...the book grabbed hold of me from the first page! When I saw the cover, I immediately thought of Shannon, one of our own sophomore basketball players right here in Pettus--because I knew it was a book she'd be drawn to immediately. (By the way, I was right--as soon as I finished it, she snatched it away from me!)

BOOST is about Savvy, a 6"2 thirteen year old who eats, sleeps, breathes...LIVES...for basketball. Even though she's still in junior high, she decides to try out for the U-18 girls' elite basketball team. The older girls are pretty rough on her, but it doesn't take long for her skill and natural born talent to make everyone sit up and take notice--soon, she's starting at Center.

During a pivotal game against their arch-rival team, a bag of pills is found in Savvy's gym bag--and an investigation ensues. The pills are tested and found to be anabolic steroids. Could someone really resent her that much, to set her up this way? Even worse...could Savvy's basketball career mean so much to her, that she'd go to any length to succeed? You'll have to read the book to find out!

I have to admit there's a LOT of basketball jargon in here, that flew right over my head--I'm not too great about understanding sports--but I know there are LOADS of kids out there who will absolutely love this book. So...when Shannon's done...check with Mrs. Staples (she's signed up to read it next) or Mrs. Schauer to see about getting on the waiting list for it.

Oh--I'm creating a book trailer for this one--but it won't be posted for a week or so.

WAVES, posted by Cat P. Freshman

WAVES
by Sharon Dogar
AR: Yes
Interest Level: Upper Grades

Waves is a very intriguing book. Fifteen year old Charley has just discovered her first love and is really starting to get the most out of life, when her brother Hal finds her injured on a rock, and she ends up slipping into a coma. After conducting an investigation, the police come to the conclusion that she had just been surfing and the waves took control of her, causing the accident.

Hal, who has also just discovered his own first love and is trying to make the best of it, can't help thinking that there is more to Charley's story than the police think. To compound matters, Charley starts to speak to Hal, in spirit-form, from her coma. Hal starts hanging out with all the people Charley used to hang out with, and he learns more than he had wanted to know, but Charley's voice just keeps pushing him to investigate and find more information.

Well, this is the end of my blog entry, so if you think this book sounds interesting, then you should read it. It was very very good.

DIAL L FOR LOSER posted by Jackie, 6th Grader

DIAL L FOR LOSER
by Lisa Harrison
Posted by Jackie, 6th Grader
AR: Yes
Interest Level: Middle and Upper Grades

DIAL L FOR LOSER is the sixth book in the CLIQUE series, and possibly my favorite. Claire Lyons, Massie Block, and Alicia Rivera are auditioning for the new movie "Dial L for Loser". After Massie gets crushed by Claire, she gets to be the "Daily Grind's" (which is a celebrity show) behind the scenes reporter! Massie and Alicia trash Claire's trailer, make herlook miserable, and even lie to her. Well, I"m not going to tell you the whole story, but this is an AH-MAZINGg book!

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, by Sara Shepard posted by Mrs. Schauer

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
by Sara Shepard
AR: yes
Interest Level: Upper Grades


Last year, one of our seniors, Hannah, begged me to buy all the books in this series...but our budget was completely GONE by the time she asked, so I had to wait until this year to get them. Every person who has read this book,has also flown through the next three in the series, one after the other, so I knew it was a book I needed to read! (Not only that, Hailee read it in two days...so I knew it had to be a page-turner)

I took Hailee, Savannah, Ashlynn and Amy to Fiesta Texas during spring break, and decided to take this book along for company. (How can you tell a high school librarian from a regular person at Six Flags? She's the one reading a YA book in the ride lines!)

From the first few pages, I could definitely see why everyone's reading the series! It's a fast-paced, tension building mystery with lots of catty girl stuff and high dollar fashion thrown in. The "pretty little liars" the title refers to are: Spencer, Hannah, Aria, and Emily--four girls who were all part of a clique in the 7th grade, led and controlled by Alison...who mysteriously disappeared on the last day of school, never to be heard from again. All of the girls harbor secrets...secrets about their parents, about horrible accidents, about infidelity, sexual indescretions, eating disorders...and more. They are bound by their secrets, and the fact that their leader took the most serious of them with her when she disappeared.

It's been four years since Alison disappeared. The girls, now in their junior year of high school, have drifted apart. There are new secrets piled on top of those from the past...each girl is hiding something. When they each begin recieving text messages and emails from "A," the mystery deepens. Could Alison be alive, watching them? If she's back....has she brought their secrets back with her?

I want to read all of the books in this series...Hailee has the second book now...but I'll have to buy them on my Kindle, or put myself on the waiting list for the library copies!