Hi everyone! I hope your summer is going well and that you're having a great time on a beach or mountain or lake somewhere! I just read an absolutely amazing book that I just had to review, so you would all know about it! It's the kind of book that I would never have read if somebody didn't tell me about it, or that I would have turned my nose up at in the bookstore, but I'm so glad I read it! Wow, I just looked it up and turns out it's a series! Barnes & Noble here I come! Title: Chloe by Design: Making The Cut Author: Margaret Gurevich Number of Pages (paperback): 380 (including fashion sketches) Excerpt From Back of Book: For fans of Project Runway comes a series that puts fashion at the forefront. 16-year-old Chloe Montgomery has always loved everything to do with fashion. Clothes, accessories, designing- she knows it all. And when she finds out a new reality series for aspiring teenage designers is holding auditions in her town, she's desperate to win a spot on the show. She knows this is her chance to finally get her designs noticed. But before Chloe can realize her dreams, she has to survive the competition. MY REVIEW Just to make it clear, this book is not just for fans of Project Runway. I'm not even exactly sure what happens on Project Runway, yet I loved this book. I'm not even a really fashionable person- I mean, my wardrobe consists of t-shirts and jeans. I'm not the next Coco Chanel, or even close. But that didn't stop me from loving this book! I liked how the main plot never diverged. The idea was that she was going to be on a reality fashion TV show, and that's what happened. Of course, there were little twists and tweaks along the way, but the plot never changed and the main idea stayed that- the main idea. Comment if you understand why I chose the picture above!! Hint: you must like poetry to understand!! :) :) The main character, Chloe, really reminded me of Megan Wong from the MDBC. Both of them have the fashion designer dream and both of them will do practically anything to get it. Chloe's mentor on the show was just a little reminiscent of Wolfgang (from the MDBC), though she didn't use as many exclamation points as Wolfgang! The only thing that confused me a little bit was Chloe's best friend, Alex. I loved her, of course, but the whole book I was debating whether she was a tomboy- because of the outfits she was described wearing. Or maybe she was just uninterested in clothes, yet was a girly girl? That small detail isn't important to the overall plot, it's just something that I wondered about. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED all the descriptions of the clothes. I loved hearing about Chloe making the clothes, all the little things she tweaked, all the "sewing and fashion speak" that I didn't understand a bit of yet loved anyway. I also really liked seeing the sketches of the outfits the contestants designed. Sometimes I would have trouble picturing it in my mind, but then a picture was provided and suddenly it all made sense. That's a definite plus to this book! I am happy to award Making the Cut 5 stars! It deserves them! Have you read this book? What did you think of it? If not, do you want to now? Tell me in the comments! -Olivia
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Hello! On this sunshine filled, happy, beautiful day I'm going to be reviewing a realistic fiction, slightly romantic, adventure filled, teen novel called Since You've Been Gone. Title: Since You've Been Gone Author: Morgan Matson Number of Pages in Paperback: 449 Excerpt From the Back of the Book: It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just...disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back? MY REVIEW THIS. BOOK. This book was like the perfect fiction that you dream of and wish existed but somehow it does, somewhere, and I found it. This is it. Well, I guess I can't take the credit for finding it. It was actually Anna who first read it, shared of its excellence, and convinced me to buy it at our school's book fair this spring. (It's been a while since I read it.) So, this review is dedicated to her. I'm sure you're very interested in what the list of 13 things Sloane left for Emily was, so I'm going to share it now. The rest of our discussion can stem off of it. 1. Kiss a stranger. Now, a lot of these things sound odd. And they would, if you haven't read it. Once you start reading the book, a lot of the confusing and weird ones make a lot more sense. (Like double meanings. Things that only make sense once you know Sloane and Emily's inside jokes.) SLOANE. She's perfect. At least, that's how Emily portrays her. Her sense of style, the way she lives life. She doesn't care what other people think, yet no one looks down on her. She's fearless, that's what she is. I love Sloane. The characters Emily spends the most time with in the book are Frank, Dawn, and Collins. They each have their own unique stories, I'll give you the rundown.
They help her, one by one, go through the list Sloane gave her and knock off the items. Now, Emily has this crazy theory that once she finishes the list, she'll find Sloane. Obviously, she thinks either a) Sloane will magically appear after all 13 tasks are complete b) once she finishes all the tasks, she will receive a text message giving her exact directions to Sloane's location, or c) the whole thing is a hoax, and Sloane is hiding in her basement waiting for Emily to finish all the tasks. I guess if your best friend just disappeared and you were desperate, you'd think one of those was the most likely possibility. But to a bystander, or to someone reading the book, they seem pretty farfetched. I was wondering myself what was going to happen after she finished the tasks. It's realistic fiction- Sloane wasn't going to materialize. No, what actually happened was- OF COURSE I'M NOT GOING TO SPOIL IT. GO READ IT YOURSELF! Siriusly though! There are a lot of things about this book that I could have gone on and onnnnnnnnnnn about, but I choose not to because I want to hear about it from you. So be sure and comment so you and I can have our own discussion about this amazing book! As you could probably tell from the review, I award Since You've Been Gone a glowing 5 stars! Have you read this book? What was your opinion? Would you give it a 5 star rating as well? See you in the comments! -Olivia
Hey everybody! I just read a fabulous book, so we're going to be doing a book review on it today! Yay! It's a review! *confetti* *claps* Anyway, let's get to it! (I'm in a very exclamationy point mood today. So bear with me! OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH Sorry. There's been a bug on my computer where the pictures always uncenter if I do a text box after it AND IT DIDN'T. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Moving on.) So, the review I'm going to be doing today is over Eight Keys, by Suzanne LaFleur. You can click on her name to check out her website, which I checked out and it's pretty cool y'all! There is a page dedicated to writing tips which will be helpful to all you aspiring authors out there. :-) Thank you for that, Suzanne. Title: Eight Keys Author: Suzanne LaFleur Number of Pages: 216 Excerpt From Back of Book: "For Elise, nothing has seemed right since middle school started. She gets tortured by her locker partner and can't get her homework done. A new baby moves into her house, interrupting her wonderful life with Uncle Hugh and Aunt Bessie. Worst of all, things with her best friend, Franklin, just are not the same as they used to be." I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book. I came across it when my good ole friend Anna was cleaning off her bookshelf. The conversation went like this: "Hey, do you want to borrow some of the books I don't want and maybe keep some." Me: "UM YES!" I'm pretty sure this is one of the ones I have to give back. But. For good reason. Wait. Maybe I shouldn't write this review cause she reads my blog and now she's gonna want it back for sure! No. This book deserves a review! A glowing, stupendous, worthy review! Moving on (I shall give it to her, of course). This was one of those books that just reflects real life so much that somehow it's refreshing. You know, when an author understands. They don't try to make a perfect world when friends never fight and they just walk to each other houses' without even asking their parents first. Here are some real kid/teenager problems/good things in this book.
Has anybody ever noticed that in a lot of YA or MG fiction, one or more of the parents have died? Sometimes it feels fake, and sometimes it doesn't. This time it doesn't. Elise's circumstances are real. Her mom died after she was born (I think) and her father passed away when she was a toddler. She lives with her aunt and uncle. It all just seems so real. Throughout most of the book, Elise is uncovering these keys. The keys lead to rooms in the barn that her father set up for her when he knew he was going to die. :-( That part makes me sad. He really, really loved her!! I liked that aspect of the story (the whole key thing) because I'm into scavenger-hunt-riddle-word-puzzle-books such as Book Scavenger, Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's LIbrary, and The Puzzling World of Winston Breen. It just added a whole new, fantastic element to the story! This book definitely deserves its FIVE STARS! Be sure to read it if you haven't- if you have, what did you think of it? If you haven't, do you think you'll read it now? See ya all in the comments!
-Olivia Hello there! I'm very happy today, because although by the time you're reading this who knows if I'll be on break still, right now I am! So yay! I hope you have a spring break too. :-) Anyway, today's post is going to be a bunch of quick short tiny reviews of books that were really good (and most of them are in a series) but I just never had the time to write a full out review for them. This way you can still know about them and read them. Lots are ones I enjoyed when I was younger, but are still great for teenagers. Those are the books I'll be rapid-fire reviewing today! Let's begin. THE LIONS OF LITTLE ROCK BY KRISTEN LEVINE This is a 291-page historical fiction book set in the late 1950s, when segregation between whites and African Americans is tearing apart communities. Marlee, the main character, is so shy that she almost never speaks except to her family, but she's practically a genius at math. When she makes a new friend at school, Liz, she thinks her friendless life could finally be turning over a new leaf. Little does she know that Liz is a light-skinned African American passing for a white so she can get a good education. Both of the girls are order to stay away from each other-but friendship doesn't work that way. I recommend this book because it's interesting to learn about the time period, well written, and you come to love the characters. COUNTING BY 7s BY HOLLY GOLDBERG SLOAN Counting By 7s is a great 378-page realistic fiction book about a girl named Willow Chance. She's had more tragedy in her life than I'm sure most adults have. She was adopted as a baby, which meant her birth parents either died or couldn't take care of her. Then her adoptive parents are in a car crash and both die. Willow doesn't want to be sent anywhere, and soon she and her new friend Mai (as well as Mai's brother and mother) are caught up in a whirlwind of lies. Desperate to help, Mai's mom Pattie pretends that Willow is related to their family and can live with them. Everything is turning upside down- but can they pull through? THE YEAR OF THE RAT BY GRACE LIN This 182-page book is the sequel to The Year of the Dog and comes before Dumpling Days. In this trio of amazing books, the author Grace Lin uses her stories and experience as a Chinese-American (or Taiwanese-American) girl growing up in New York. It goes through all of Grace's (and Pacy's, which is her Chinese name) experiences with school, friends, and in Dumpling Days, her trip to Taiwan with her family. I recommend this book because it's relatable, realistic, filled with culture, and you never want it to end! MY LAST BEST FRIEND, BY JULIE BOWE My Last Best Friend, a 152-page books that is also a part of a series along with 4 other books, is also amazing realistic fiction. The series paints the life of Ida May, a fourth grader whose best friend has moved away. She meets a new friend, but is scared to get close in case something happens again. Throughout the rest of the books, Ida makes unexpected new friends-and frenemies-and has fun along the way. This is a refreshing read! ALLIE FINKLE'S RULES FOR GIRLS: MOVING DAY, BY MEG CABOT This series has been a friend of mine for a long time. There's a lot of books in it and they all tell of the story of Allie Finkle, who keeps a journal full of rules she's written about life. In the first book, she finds out she's moving- to a creepy, big, haunted-looking house that her parents are going to fix up! At first the move seems terrible, but then Allie meets new friends and things look up. The rest of the books tell about all her dramatic, cat-filled, and funny adventures. I recommend this whole series because it's hilarious, sweet, and altogether awesome! MAIN STREET: WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS, BY ANN M. MARTIN This is and always will be one of the series I cherish most! I make an attempt to reread it whenever possible, because it's just so great. It's about two sisters, Flora and Ruby, whose parents have died in a car accident. They go to live with their grandmother, Min, in a tiny little town far from their old house, friends, and life. But with all the friends and fun they make and have throughout the series, soon Camden Falls begins to feel like home. I recommend this because it's such a heartwarming and satisfying series! TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE, BY JESSICA DAY GEORGE This is the story of Cecelia, known as Celie, a princess who lives in the magical Castle Glower. The Castle changes and moves rooms magically- on Tuesdays. There are three other books in the series, all of which are equally amazing! In each of them Celie and her siblings (Bran, Rolf, and Lilah) as well as their friends (Pogue and Lulath) face a different obstacle that threatens either their lives or the Castle's. These books are gripping and all over fabulous. MY LIFE IN PINK AND GREEN, BY LISA GREENWALD Once again, this book is part of series, but here I'm just going to focus on the first one. Meet Lucy, who loves makeup and beauty products and is always helping out with her family's pharmacy. But the pharmacy is struggling- business isn't like it was when it first opened and her family is behind on the payments. On the side, Lucy does makeup for girls going to parties or dances to try to make money. One day Lucy's best friend, Sunny, drags her to a meeting of Earth Club and Lucy realizes what she can do. She starts planning out a green spa by the pharmacy- an income and a business-bringer. But will anyone listen to her? Okay! That took a while, even though the reviews were supposed to be rapid. :-) So, hope you enjoyed and I will see you all next time! Please comment about these books-have you read them? Did you like them? Do you want to read them now?
-Olivia Hello everyone! I just finished a book that was so beyond amazing, the only thing I could think of to express it was do a review on it! Thankfully, I didn't have a boatload of homework, so I have time to write one up! And the book is.... Title: Book Scavenger
Author: Jennifer Chambliss Bertman Amount of Pages (hardcover): 343 Excerpt From Front Flap of Book: Twelve-year-old Emily is on the move again. Her family is relocating to San Francisco, home of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger, a game where books are hidden all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles. But Emily soon learns that Griswold was been attacked and is in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold and leads to a valuable prize. But there are others on the hunt for this special book, and Emily and James must race to solve the puzzles Griswold left behind before his attackers come after them. My Review: Let me just say, this book was flawless. Everything was perfectly perfect, amazing, incredible, wonderful, glorious, magnificent, marvelous, beautiful, and gorgeous. I loved it. I loved the plot, the ideas, the characters, the blog Emily's parents have, James' cowlick Steve, San Francisco, Book Scavenger (the online game), Hollister, and Mr. Griswold. Now, let me elaborate. I'll start with the characters. I feel as if I know Emily perfectly. She has an older brother who used to hang out with her, but now doesn't. Now he has "cooler" things to be doing and "cooler" interests. Not that I've ever been in that situation, but I can still understand exactly how she's feeling. Secondly, books are her passion. She loves them, reads them, relates to them...You know, kind of how I'm doing to her book right now. Then, I get how she doesn't want to move. In my life, I've never had to, and I most definitely do not want to. So why would she? Onto James. He's Emily's new best friend, as of when she moved into her new home/apartment/I don't know what to call it. The best thing about him is his cowlick, which he's named Steve. Steve is (obviously) his constant companion. I just think it's so funny. Secondly, he's amazingly smart and funny and the kind of person that you would just feel super comfortable around. Then there's the setting. I took a trip to San Francisco this summer- click here to read about that if you missed it. I LOVED BEING THERE. I WANT TO GO BACK! It was so amazing to read a book that was talking about places I knew. When it talked about the BART station, I knew exactly what it looked like- because I'd been there. Overall, this book gets 5 STARS!! I can't think of a better way to spend my time other than reading this book. And after a quick detour to the author's website, I learned there's a sequel coming out later this year! *cheers* *throws confetti* *dances* I hope you enjoyed this review! Comment down below your thoughts about this book. See you there! -Olivia |
welcome!Hey! I'm Olivia. I'm glad you stopped by Writer's Digest! I post every Monday and would love to see you in the comments. categories
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recommendations~The Matched Trilogy, by Ally Condie |