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By bethany (dreadlock girl), October 26, 2009 22:09

Catching Fire
The Hunger Games #2
by Suzanne Collins
391 Pages
Young Adult
Science Fiction
Scholastic Press
September 2009
DG Score: 75/100

If you haven’t read The Hunger Games, and you read this review stuff will be spoiled for you.

However by reading this review nothing in Catching Fire should be spoiled for you.

Catching Fire continues the story of The Hunger Game’s heroine Katniss along with her feuding romantic interests Gale and Peeta. The reader is taken on a journey that has the intensity of one of the most thrilling of roller coasters. Katniss is aware that when she challenged the Capitol during The Hunger Games she was taking her life into her hands, but she had no idea of the vastness of the reach of devastation that could be caused by her choices. She didn’t think about who it could hurt, and much less that it would cause a stir in the people. Big changes are coming there is no question!

I loved the first book in this series, but this second one was an obvious middle book in a trilogy for me. It was still good but I was disappointed by it in two ways: Catching Fire seemed to repeat so much information that I was already clear on from my reading of The Hunger Games causing me to want to skim pages-which never crossed my mind in book one. Second, the love triangle gets old, and to me at least annoying.

With all that negativity out of the way, it is still a great read! Catching Fire is entertaining, enjoyable and thrilling. I had a great time getting to know the peeps a little better. There is much more character development and relationship building time in this one, as the story seems to progress at a slower pace. The writing was good, the story was interesting and the plot was as intense as ever. I will read (and buy) book three no question, but I just wished this one were better than it was.

What did you think of Catching Fire? Have you read it or are you planning on it? Does anyone know what book three will be called?

Interested in the first book of this series, The Hunger Games? Read my review.

After reading a Review Copy that the lovely Trish at Hey Lady let me borrow, I purchased this book at Powell’s Books, and you can too!

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By bethany (dreadlock girl), September 25, 2009 15:31

North of Beautiful
by Justina Chen Headley
373 Pages
Young Adult Fiction
Little, Brown and Company
February 2009

We all have things that we would change about ourselves, ears, nose, feet, something. What if you could cover up what haunted that image of perfection that you had? Terra, the heroine of North of Beautiful has always done just that. Beautiful, tall, blond, and incredibly fit, but she will never be good enough-all because of the port wine stain on one half of her face. Her mom has taken her through many painful laser removal treatments that have had no impact on the intensity of the mark on her face. Over the years she has just learned to cover it up and really, what no one knows can’t hurt them- or Terra. She is known at school for her jock boyfriend, and that she hangs with the popular crowd and none of them have ever seen her without her mask on.

Through some interesting events Terra meets Jacob, makeup or no make up he has the ability to see right through the image she is trying to live. He seems to know her before she has even said a word. This is disarming to Terra, as not even at home is she able to be honest. Terra’s father is verbally abusive, her mother takes the brunt of any mistake the kids make- Terra isn’t allowed to be imperfect. Will honesty feel too uncomfortable after so many years in hiding?

I have a HUGE claim to make and maybe to some even preposterous. All that Twilight gets so wrong- North of Beautiful gets just right. This, not Twilight, is the book I think teens should read. Forget the sickly-super-vamps and feeble-minded-females, this Young Adult novel is worth its paper and much more. Justina Chen Headley rocked the world of Young Adult Literature when she typed this one up. I can’t say enough about it. The writing is great, the characters are flesh, the truth is true and there are no mind games. This one goes in my ‘must keep’ pile.

North of Beautiful brings the message to kids that imperfection isn’t what we should hide, but what we should be proud of. Beauty comes from security and knowing that you are just as you should be- no matter what way our world goes. Beauty-shmooty…who is the judge of that?

And with easy, relaxed strides it takes my Stellar Five Chicken Award. This is what Young Adult should be like!

Author Justina Chen Headley Links:

Blog: Wordlings by Justina
Website: Justina Chen Headley

The Hunger Games
The Boy in Striped Pajamas
The Invention of Hugo Cabret

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By bethany (dreadlock girl), June 9, 2009 10:43

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
374 Pages
Survival, Adventure, Fantasy
Scholastic Press

If you have made it past the cover, then you are already further along than I was with this book. If I had only seen it once I would have skipped right over it missing all its scrumptious insides. What a loss! I look at that cover and think sci-fi and borring. The Hunger games is not really a true sci-fi and it  is the complete opposite of boring. I tore through The Hunger Games like I was rabid for my eyes to suck in the words, the meaning, and the story.

The story is violent, harsh and intense. But since I grew up on a diet of Rambo, Rocky, Die Hard and Terminator I managed to make it through easily, as would an average 12-year-old who hasn’t been living in seclusion. As much as The Hunger Games is about a dark time in history, the book does not bring a cloud of murky gloom upon the reader. More than that you’ll be rooting for the girl, the unlikely and diamond in the rough heroine Katniss. Katniss Everdeen, ever since her father died she has become the provider for her family, she has made it her calling  to hunt enough meat to put food on the table and even uses is to purchase other necessities. Her mom did not immediately wish to survive and out of necessity and hunger Katniss took over to feed her sister and protect her.

The basic concept of The Hunger Games is that somehow for some reason which the narrator does not know, the districts owe the Capitol big time. Each year so as to remind the districts who is really boss, and who owns them there is a contest, a contest in which each district must give up two children, a boy and a girl to fight to the death. There are 12 districts in all and that means 24 contestants or, as they are known in The Hunger Games, tributes. They are selected through a lottery system and then taken to the Capitol to get  all glammed up, marketed and trained to be deadly, all to bring awe and importance to the Capitol. They are then all released into the arena, a glass bubble that goes for miles in which the Capitol controls the weather, and the conditions. They are stalked so that their every motion is on screen.  It is a forced reality show, which each district watches glued to the screen for fear their own will not make it much longer.

Just the plot in itself really gives only a slice of the cake for me. I am a reader who loves characters and people and character development. The plot is great, but to me the character development really made be turn the pages at warp speed. The plot would be good without the depth, the depth would be good without the great plot, together it is a bond that you will not escape dissatisfied. This was my local book club pick this month, and all of us loved it. They were screaming at me with a death wish because the sequel Catching Fire isn’t coming out until the fall!

Throw out the Twilight saga, get rid of the sickly  vamps and bring out the real, the tough and the worthwhile YA lit. The Hunger Games will restore what Twilight stole from Young Adult literature, guts. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins will wake you up, and take you to a place in a different time, different and yet so much that we can learn from it, The Hunger Games is an absolute must read! There is no question that this is the most inspiring, the hardest to put down, and the most surprising read for me yet this year! I loved every page and will be reading the sequels when I am able to get my hands on them.

Who else is dying to get the next book in the series? If you aren’t it is because you haven’t read this one!

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By bethany (dreadlock girl), May 30, 2009 23:58

Anne’s House of Dreams
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
227 Pages
Published in 1917

In this book number five of the Anne of Green Gables classics the reader follows Anne Blythe and Gilbert on to there new home. For years Anne has dreamed of a house, and now she has one, which she calls the House of Dreams. They make many new friends who are just as endearing as the all of Lucy Montgomery’s other human concoctions, and they entranced me the whole way through. Anne and Gilbert have their share of troubles, but rather than allowing it to pull them apart it brings the two lovebirds into a stronger and closer bond than before.

The reader thus far has seen Anne and Gilbert in their childishness, yet in this book the youth of the first four books slips into the past and our dear hero and heroine have grown up. Anne no longer gets into constant trouble, and she has also tamed her temper and her tongue. She is just as sweet and precocious, but now all that is balanced with a good dose of maturity as well.

I loved Anne’s House of Dreams just as much as the books before it, and could relate even more to it because of my age and season in life. I enjoyed Anne when she was a child, but this book felt like the reward for the wait with her relationship with Gilbert. Finally they get to be together. But, just as in all the things we wait for, even dreams aren’t perfect and while they work through their troubles, the characters become even more human and real.

This was another royal performance by Anne, Gilbert, and especially by Lucy Maud Montgomery who dreamed up this beloved character and made her real to me. Loved it! However, I think I am going to stop here for now with Anne. I watched the movies and love them all, but the sequel books aren’t calling my name yet. I want to read them at some point, but not yet.

Where did you stop the Anne-mania? Have you read them all? Which was your favourite Anne of Green Gables book?

Dreadlock Girl Reviews Anne of Green Gables series:
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island

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By bethany (dreadlock girl), May 20, 2009 21:49

Anne of the Island
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
326 pages
First Published in 1915

Anne of the Island is book three in an extraordinary series of stories of the charming and precocious Anne Shirley. In this tome, Anne leaves the house of green gables and Marilla behind and heads off to Richmond College.  She lives with her friends in Patty’s Place and they enjoy, as it is impossible they wouldn’t many adventures and scrapes of all sorts and sizes. All around her her friends are getting married, engaged and having children, which leaves her to wonder what life has in store for her.  Anne is growing up, and maturing, but her impulsiveness still shines right through the tips of her reddish hair. Or is it auburn now? She is still playing at love with others, while Gilbert Blythe is hopelessly trying to forget his little friend Anne from Green Gables.

There is so much to tell about this little spunky heroine, but I wish to not unveil any more. I like to read my novels clueless and I guess I assume you do too. I loved this Anne of the Island just as much as its two predecessors, it is never dull or dry– you can thank Anne for that, as she seems to be the cure to any dry moments in anyone’s life. She keeps winning me over page by page, however I will say that I get pretty annoyed with her for not falling hard after Gilbert, but flitting and flirting while breaking his heart.  Anne is many things, but she is not quick to forgive him, she is an expert at  holding on to her little grudges and grievances.

I was also entranced by the dream world she lives in, the things she wants to do, wants to accomplish and because of them many times she is willing to forsake herself in order to reach her dreams. It is a good eye opener, that no matter how lofty your dreams, or how close they are to completion– staying true to yourself is a much bigger aspiration.

Have you fallen in love with Anne Shirley yet?? Goodness, what are you waiting for!?

Dreadlock Girl Reviews Anne of Green Gables series:
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island

Spoilers from here on down:

The ending of this book is one of the most romantic scenes ever. This paired with Anne of Green Gables on film, which does not fail to match the romantic appeal of Anne and Gilbert coming together at long last. I felt like my teeth were going to fall out, and gray hair would pop out before these two sweeties would ever figure out they were meant to be. It is a dream. Oh, and you have to watch Anne of Green Gables, and then The Continuing Story to see the beauty of this classic book moment made into a classic film moment. It is perfection.

Yeah, let this clip refresh your memory, romance….here we come!!!

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By bethany dreadlock girl, May 4, 2009 16:20

The Boy in Striped Pyjamas
by John Boyne
240 pages
Fiction, History- Holocaust
David Fickling Books

This book isn’t really about a boy in striped pyjamas, it is, but really it isn’t. It is really about the other side of the coin, and portraying a picture to the reader that will never be forgotten. I have thought about how to do this book review, and what to include and I have arrived at the conclusion that the less the possible reader knows before snatching up The Boy in Striped Pyjamas the better.

Even the back of the audiobook I have aims to be extremely vague, saying they “think that it would spoil the listening (or reading)” in the giving away of this plot and story. I completely agree that this is a book that you need to read cold-turkey. Reviews are good in most cases, but not in this one. Because each time you read a review, a little chip of the innocence of Bruno is chipped away, because you know what he doesn’t even know of his father. Oh yes, that will surely happen even as the novel unfolds, but I think I need to let the author chip away- because he does it with an incredible disarming perfection.

I walked away from this book with tears in my eyes, and fire in my heart. What could bring about this type of treatment of other people? The Boy in Striped Pyjamas just cannot be reviewed with accuracy without being of detriment to the surprise and intrigue of the book. I will not ruin this read for you, I wouldn’t dream of it. This is one of the best books I have ever read, if that isn’t enough to get you to read it…I won’t jeopardize the impact of it on your life for a good review at B&b ex libris. This is one you just have to read! A perfect recipient of my Stellar Five Chicken Book Award. Yep, all the cluckin‘ is really worth a read of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I bet you’ll cluck too!!

Spoiler alert!!!

If you want to read the novel cold turkey, you should stop reading here. Go, enjoy the novel and read the rest of this after.

Author John Boyne lecture/interview:

At the end of the audio book there was an amazing interview with author John Boyne, the following words are not direct quotes, but I did jot them down as I listened to the interview, I tried to stick as close to what the authors actual words were, but these are more like scattered notes after listening to an amazing lecture. I just love them so much that I have to share with you:

There is only one normal judgment to come away with when you think of the holocaust.

A story placed at a terrible location, at a terrible time. But this is a novel. Any story requires the willing suspension of disbelief, this story is like a nightmare and the reader can feel what is coming. The older you are, the more you know and the more fearful and real it seems. To come away from the book, annoyed by the different parts is thus minimizing the bigger questions that this novel raises is a failure to see the impact of this atrocity on us as a humanity.

The Boy in Striped Pyjamas shows a juxtaposition of extreme evil and extreme naietivity. Also to deal with the complacency of the people, during the 1940’s. Groups of jewish people were walking through local villages, starving and being tormented these people were known as Hitler’s willing executioners. They didn’t step in, didn’t try to bring change. Would you have done anything to stop it? You’d like to think you would, but millions of people just like you were caught up in the complacency and didn’t make a move to stop anything happening on the other side of the fence.

John Boyne hopes that this is a starting point for children that they will want to stand up and say, why did that happen? And that then they will want to read more about the severity when they are old enough.

John Boyne’s website

Movie Adaptation of The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas: I haven’t seen this yet, but I a dying to. I am waiting on my husband (B) to read the book, which is hard for him to do when he has a month left in the completion of his masters thesis. Soon I will get to see it.

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By bethany dreadlock girl, April 30, 2009 15:27

Emma (vol.1)
Volume 1 out of 8
by Kaoru Mori
183 pages
Graphic Novels, Manga
CMX
October 2006

Emma’s is the story of a maid in London, England at the end of the 19th century. She is brought up in Victorian England as a proper British maid. She is kind, gentle, and very humble. Emma serves her lady with utmost care. But, when William the son of a wealthy family comes to call on the lady of the house, (who used to be his governess when he was a kid) both Emma and William notice each other. However in the midst of the Industrial Revolution and the division between classes, William has far fewer choices to make impulsively than he would like. Is loving Emma even a choice though?

This is an amazing portrayal of the class system, still blatantly true in many nations and in even more it goes on still in many circles still. This is a topic that I find intriguing, as it was never something I dealt with. I loved Kaoru Mori’s illustrations, and attention to detail, and the story, oh the story, I was entranced and blasted through this little Manga in less than two hours (even with TONS of interruptions from the kiddos). I am hooked for sure and know that I will follow on with the entire series. I first saw Emma on several other book sites ( Historical Tapestry and Tantabata and Nymeth and Kailana) and I immediately put them on hold at the library. What do I mean by immediately, well immediately as in: click, click, password, click, hold placed, click.

This is my first true Manga, I have read graphic novels before, but this was much more like a comic book type of read, but with so much more depth than I had expected. The great part is that reading Emma was so fun! I kept coming back to grab it up again and read a couple more pages, physically unable to put it down. I enjoyed the format, in the Japanese style (although in English) it is from back to front and right to left. It took me no time to grasp the order and I really thought it was fun to read it that way. I appreciated the story and plot and immediately fell entranced by Emma and her fellow Japanamation friends. For me this series is the perfect break in between books, the only problem is that now that I know how wonderful they are I just can’t get enough of this genre. (Shhhh! I ended up reading two in a row!!)

Do you read graphic novels of Manga, which are your favourites? Do you have any recommendations for me that are more classic like this one, and not sexual or into extreme sci-fi violence? Do tell! I am now obsessed and need more titles to read!!