Beauty

By Robin McKinley

Sixteen-year-old Beauty has never liked her nickname. Thin, awkward, and undersized, with big hands and huge feet, she has always thought of herself as the plainest girl in her family-certainly not nearly as lovely as her elder sisters, Hope and Grace. But what she lacks in looks, she makes up for in courage. When her father comes home one day with the strange tale of an enchanted castle in the wood and the terrible promise he has made to the beast who lives there, Beauty knows what she must do. She must go to the castle and tame the Beast-if such a thing is possible…
Here is the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple: Beauty… and the Beast.


This happens to be pretty much the best adaptation of Beauty and the Beast out there right now that I’ve read. It’s fun and entertaining, Beauty is a likeable character right from the start and her sisters and father make a loving family. The beast however, I wish was more developed. I always wish he was. But if you’re looking for a great beauty and the beast story, this is the one to start with.

Evermore

By Alyson Noel

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste…
Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

Sigh. First off, I didn’t finish this one. I’m still counting it though because I read almost 100 pages before I stopped. Basically I didn't like all the swearing and crap in it. Beware of the bomb being dropped every now and then. My review is thus: Rip-off of Twilight much? You’ve got a girl who is obsessed with a boy she’s only just seen. The only thing different about her is that she happens to be psychic and talks to her dead little sister almost every day. The guy is equally obsessed with her, and somehow manages to pull flowers out of thin air to give to her. He’s an immortal- not vampire, but I don’t see much difference except for the whole ‘I want to suck your blood’ thing. I guess people who like Twilight may like the Imortals series by Alyson, but for me it was too much of the obsessive-like love that I despise. If anyone wants to contradict me feel free, like I said, I didn’t finish it.

The Silver Child

By Cliff McNish

Six children are changing, and no one knows why…Milo’s skin turns gold. Walter grows into a giant with incredible strength. Helen can suddenly read minds. Emily and Freda become insect-girls who skitter on all fours. Thomas discovers a mysterious power to comfort and heal. All six are drawn to Coldharbor, a wasteland of garbage dumps. The children sense the approach of a sinister enemy. What is it? How will they face their strange shared destiny?

I guess what I was expecting with this book was a child superhero-esque book. Wrongo bongo. This book simply follows each of the six children through their changes and how they are inexplicably drawn to Coldharbor. They each can hear this roar that no one else can, and it frightens them. They each feel that there is something important they need to do with their abilities, but they don’t know what. This story is strange and the first in The Silver Sequence. I’ll read the next one soon to say if I can recommend this one, because so far I’m just confused and weirded out.

Midnight Sun

By Stephanie Myers

This is the story of Twilight…from Edward’s perspective. What’s a vampire to do when the one girl he’s ever fallen for happens to also be the one person in the world with the blood that the monster in him craves the most?

Yeah, yeah I know, I read it of my own free will. I guess curiosity can get you to do anything against your own better judgment. At first I thought, wow this is a whole lot better than Bella telling the story. Basically because I frequently got sick of Bella comparing Edward to a god. Edward’s perspective is a lot better. He has a lot more depth as a character. I must be a little sadistic because I liked this better than twilight because it was basically Edward constantly wanting to kill Bella and drink her blood, but at the same time him falling in love with her. It was interesting. Although, as it got to the end he became just as obsessed with her as she does with him. He stalks her for heavens sake! Anywho, it doesn’t go through all the events of Twilight, just about to after Bella finally finds out he’s a vampire. I just kept thinking, ‘I could’ve been reading something better than this’. Oh well, not my thing.

Uglies

By Scott Westerfeld

In the future children are "Uglies" until they turn 16. On their 16th birthday they get to become "Pretties" by surgery. Tally, a rule breaking teen befriends a girl named Shay. Shay is unsure about the surgery and runs away. When Tally's 16th birthday comes Tally must make an awful decision:she must either betray and turn in Shay or never turn "Pretty" and be "Ugly" forever.

This book caught my attention from the start. I guess it’s interesting, what beauty really is. That’s pretty much what the characters and plot are wrapped around-whether or not pretty is really pretty and whether ugly is indeed all that bad. Tally is a great character with depth. Her journey to the Smoke is great fun, and having David show her that ugly can be beautiful was really neat. The characters are complex and the story has a lot of depth and tries to reach out to people who think being pretty is the only thing in life. It’s a great future based book, its interesting to think of anyway.

A Little Princess

By Frances Hodgeson Burnette

Little 7-year-old Sara Crewe has lived her whole life in India with her father, an English soldier. But now she is coming to England to receive and education at a 'seminary for girls'. Sara is a curious, strange child who loves her father more than anything. But though her father gives her everything any little girl could want, Sara is far from spoiled. She is good natured and content just to have her Papa near. Miss Minchin of the girl's seminary is charged with her care. But when Sara receives news of her father's death, Miss Minchin reluctantly takes Sara in as a servant to work off the enormous debt that has accrued. In her new life Sara decides that no matter what happens to her, she will always act like a princess who is good and kind and suffers silently and nobly. This inspires many, and infuriates others. This is Sara's story of love, loss, and enduring hope.

I grew up watching the many adaptations of this book in movie form. I'd never thought to read it until I saw it in the bookstore and thought, 'why not?' I love the story. What I didn't know was how much I would come to love this novel. It is inspiring, motivating and purely wonderful in all the ways a book deemed 'classic' should be. Little Sara became a model for the way I want to face unpleasant realities in my life; to act like a princess despite nasty turns of events. This is a book especially for girls I think, but is welcome for all readers. I can't wait to visit its pages again, full of magic and love and especially...hope. Definately on my top 10 favorite books.

I Promise I Didn't Die

Wow. It's been a while. Sorry about that. I'm still reading though and have a huge list to put on. I've been re-doing my site and hopefully will get lots of reviews up in the next few days. I'm sorta out of time right now; still don't have internet access. I'll get a bunch of reviews from my summer list up tomorrow though! Pinky swear. :)

Doesn't this time of year make you want to buy a boquet of pencils? :D