Follow my new blog at addicted-to-reading.blogspot.com/

It's been awhile since the last post on Teen Readers Write. I've started a new blog for my book reviews and other thoughts at addicted-to-reading.blogspot.com. Please come visit!

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

When 15 year old Liz is killed in a bicycle accident (always wear your helmet!), she goes to Elsewhere. She holds on to the life she used to live , not accepting that a life in Elsewhere can be a full one. Can Liz fully embrace this new, backwards life with new friends and never met family members, or will she keep holding on? This book is a realistic fantasy about friends, family, and how to live your life (or death).

The Elsewhere page on Gabrielle Zevin's official website

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Grace has loved her wolf ever since she was attacked by his pack. She watches him all through each winter, and in each Summer she mourns his mysterious disappearance. Although Grace has no idea, this yellow -eyed wolf leads a second life each summer- as a human whose name is Sam. Grace and human Sam meet when Sam is shot by hunters as a wolf and they fall into an undeniable love, but Sam must fight the oncoming cold to stay human and be with Grace.This fantasy is well written, almost poetically romantic, and perfect for people who need a break from vampires.

Maggie Stiefvater's website

Stones of Power by Mira Singer

The Ultimate Power seems like a great thing. But when the wrong people have it ,it could lead to disaster. It's up to a rag-a-tag group of children to stop them and prevent them from destroying the world. They must stop 3 great wizards from getting all the Stones, stones that unleash a person's power. When someone has all of them, they get the ultimate power. These children must decide if they want to risk their and their friend's lives and stop them. A great read with a plot that keeps you reading by an amazing young author that Tamora Pierce fans will love.

The River Whispers, by Pamela Pizzimenti

This is an amazing book. Our take:

When Evie moves to a small town called Turnsville she feels insubstantial. She knows no one and no one, save her mother, knows her. It all goes downhill on the first day of school when a boy, a cute boy no less, has to drag her to the nurse's office thinking she is insane. I mean who knew that she could see ghosts and that someone would sit down through one? This book is filled with drama, mystery, romance, and a quest for a white car.
--Mags

Can Evie see ghosts or is she going crazy? When a boy has to drag her to the nurse's office on the first day of school in a new town Evie is more than embarrassed. In a small town, everything seems interconnected, even the death of the ghost. Does she really want to unravel this mystery? A powerful look at death and life.
--Marie

Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover, Ally Carter

Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan is a spy and student at the best school for spies in the world, Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. When Cammie joins her roommate in D.C. she thwarts a kidnapping of the potential vice-president's daughter, a Gallagher Girl herself, and realizes that everything is not as it seems. The ring on the finger of the kidnapper was not a mistake, her Aunt Abby is in fact alive and well, and that white haired man seems all too familiar......


This is an amazing book with many twists and turns.

Ally Carter's website.

Five Books That I Read on Vacation

1.Dancing on the Edge
by Han Nolan
Miracle McCloy is not a normal girl, nor does she live a normal life. But when her father dissolves and she is sent to live with her psychic grandmother, she becomes even less normal then ever. A haunting and deep story. It helped me ignore turbulence on an airplane.



2.A Wizard of Earthsea
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ged has learned all the magic there is to know in his village--barely enough to stop the invaders. But Ged hungers for a greater power. This is the story of how Ged overcomes the results of a deadly experiment. I read this on a bus ride with frequent stops so I could ponder the twisty plot.



3.Owl in Love
by Patrice Kindl
Owl. That is who she is. An owl at night and a student at day. She is in love with her middle aged science teacher. Is this love or is something more waiting around the bend? Another airplane read.



4.Beyond the Burning Time
by Kathryn Lasky
29 dead. The Salem witch trials are a deadly affair. Is Mary's mother really a witch? Mary and her brother will have to decide. A dark and vivid account of the Salem Witch trials. Do not read this before bed.



5.Gathering Blue, (Companion to The Giver)
by Lois Lowry
Kira's Mother is dead. It was a disease--or was it murder? Kira lives a new life as an artist.Did they save her or trap her? A beautifully done companion.