So, you may remember awhile back I mentioned that I'm reading a pile of YA books in order to prepare for the book fair that I do over at the elementary school. So, I've been working on those, but haven't been posting on them. So here's a little run-down of what I've read so far:
Incantation by Alice Hoffman: a little, very quick-reading book about the religious unrest and Jewish perscution in Spain during the 1500's. It was a great insight into what happened there at this time, but somehow, the style made me just not really care about the characters. And it bugged me that I didn't care. Hmmm.... not sure exactly what it was about the writing, maybe just aloof, or something.
The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn: I really enjoyed this story about a couple of kids living on their own, when a new girl moves in next door and things start happening. It's a ghost story, with lots of chilling parts, but not TOO chilling, perfect for kids I'd say. Lots of twists and turns and surprises. Great story! And a great lesson learned at the end too.
Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney: My first book by this very popular teen author. (Well, she's not a teen but she writes for teens... but you know what I mean!) Anyway, at first I was turned off by the subject, but then I really got into it. It's about this kid who has to write a report for school about a disease and he ends up picking smallpox. He discovers an old medical book with an envelpe that has a smallpox scab in it. EWWWW!! Anyway, things get going crazy from there! It was quite the page turner and so I ended liking it after all.
Shadowland by Meg Cabot: The first book in the Mediator series. This one I read not necessarily for the book fair, but just for my own Meg Cabot fix of the month! What is it about her books that I love so much? Hmmm... anyway. This book starts the adventures of Suze and her new life in California. Her problem? She can see dead people... ghosts who are stuck here for some reason and her job is to help them solve whatever is causing them to be stuck and move them on to where they should be. There's a bunch more books to follow, so I' m guesssing she has many ghost problems to solve down the road. Now I just need to find that second book!
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell: I'm still in the process of this one, but I can tell you already that I'm loving it! Of course it's because it's about King Authur, Lancelot, and company! This one told through the eyes of Elaine of Shalott in a very poetic, lyrical style. We see all the familiar characters portrayed a little differently, especially Gwynivere, who we are NOT sympathtic to at all this time. Anyway, I'm anxious to be done with the computer so I can go finish this one!
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke: Also still working on this one, by one of my favorite authors. However, this story isn't grabbing me quite as much as her other stories. Not sure why, could be that I'm too distracted, could be that it's written for a much younger audience than some of her others, I think. But anyway, still a really cute story about a girl whose ambition it is to be a knight. And she has just begun an adventure that I'm guessing will help her in that endeavor!
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