Book Review: Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

In every way, Grace is a wallflower. She is a former child pageant star, who had one shining moment of retaliation where she lifted her dress in front of her entire town. That ended both her days on the pageant circuit and her rebellion.

Since this one memorable outburst, Grace has faded into the background. Not that she's not worthy of notice. She is an awkward beauty, an honors student who has skipped a grade and may skip over another, and is brilliant about science. But, none of this compares to the mystery and larger-than-life, rumor-laden legend that is Mandarin Ramey.

Though the stories that surround Mandarin's life are not exactly savory, Grace is entranced by her. Everything about her confidence and beauty seems exotic, unaffected, and mature to Grace. Wherever Mandarin walks, Grace (and many others in the town) follows with her eyes.

When a teacher places Grace and Mandarin together for a school project, Grace cannot believe her luck. She is obviously uncomfortable around such an experienced, legendary figure, but her curiosity gets the best of her. This is Grace's chance to get to know the girl behind the legend, and to be noticed. Trouble is, Mandarin's life is not as exotic as it seemed and Grace may not like the type of attention she gets. But, either way, her life will be forever changed.

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This was a great book. It wasn't as full of YA drama as other books I've read, and it felt like a true-to-life teen story. I think that Grace's life (and possibly Mandarin's) are more common than not. What smart girl living in small town America doesn't dream of a different life? What uncommon girl living in small town America doesn't have a trail of rumors following her? 

This read was perfectly paced, not too fast and not too slow. I thought that the relationship between Grace and Mandarin was touchingly real and sad all at the same time. I can think of a few Mandarins who live in my town and know more than a few Graces. They felt like real girls to me. 

Also, I couldn't help but be reminded of John Green's Looking for Alaska as I read this book. Grace and Miles have the same starstruck, naive love for their larger than life idols. And, in both books, the idols retain much of their mystery and seem to be truly untouchable. Distant. Unreal. 

I am happy to have read another engaging and well-written Contemps Challenge book. I have another one waiting on my TBR and cannot believe how awesome they all have been. Seriously. Love Ms. Hubbard's writing and characters and I can't wait to read more of her work. Cause there will be more. I just know it!

**Read as part of an ARC Tour from I Read Banned Books**

Book Review + Winter Wonderland Giveaway: Trapped by Michael Northrop

What would you do if you were stuck inside your high school in a deadly snowstorm?

This is the basic premise of Michael Northrup's Trapped, a fast-paced and gripping thriller about a group of seven high school students who are literally locked inside their school after several feet of snow are dumped on it. Seems like a pretty innocent and basic plot, but when you think about these mismatched group of teens trapped inside this school, you can imagine the fight for survival that ensues.

I found the main character and the story's hero, Scotty, to be a pretty realistic teen boy. From the moment the snow starts to fall, he doubts the brilliance of the plan to stay at the school, even though his friends are intent on doing so. When all of the students but the group of seven are gone, Scotty seems to be the first to step into survival mode and is often the voice of reason and calm throughout the story.

Even more than Scotty, I loved the suspense in this novel. I teach in an old high school (it's being renovated right now) and can just imagine the structural issues that would cause our school to come crashing down if this old building were asked to hold several feet of heavy snow. It wouldn't be long before our building collapsed. But, in Trapped, you never quite find out what ends up happening to all of the kids or the school building itself. I loved this. You know that not everyone made it out alive, which is alluded to in the first chapters of the book, but never know the true extent of the damage.

This would be a great read for a reluctant teen reader, particularly male readers. It's short but not without a whole lot of "what would you do" questions. There are easy parallels between this book and others like Lord of the Flies, although this story is not too similar to be a snow-induced knockoff. A perfect read for a snowy day!

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Want to win a copy of this book? Signed? It's made out to me, but you can just pretend! I'm giving away my ARC of this book at The Book Rat as part of Misty's Winter Wonderland celebration. Just head over there and check out my guest post for more info and ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE!

Book Review Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

Even though Brie and her sister are not at all close, Brie cannot help but feel completely lost and distraught after Faith's violent and mysterious death. The sisters may have been close in age, but their personalities were eons apart. As the younger sister, Brie does not even try to live up to the shining example set by her older sister. She is close to having sex with her boyfriend and lies to sneak out of her parents house for parties. Brie is a bit of a wild child in contrast to Faith, who spends every free moment reading the Bible and attending her local youth group.

The night that Faith dies, Brie bribes her into giving Brie a ride to their family's church. Of course, Brie has plans to go to a party with friends and her boyfriend, but she's not going to tell her "perfect" sister this. Faith seems to not want to go, which is weird since she never passes up a chance to spend time at church. Finally, Faith agrees to bring Brie to town. And that's the last time that Brie sees Faith alive.

According to police, Faith wandered away from her youth group friends that night while they were on an outing at a mountain. Later, a scream was heard and Faith's dead body was discovered at the mountain's base.

After the "accident," nothing is right in Brie's world. Her parents are unresponsive. Her boyfriend and friends can still only think about sex and parties. Even teachers are concerned with their own stuff--No one is paying attention to Brie and how she's coping with her sister's death.

Perhaps this lack of attention is what causes Brie's gaze to drift and for her to raise questions of her own. Why was her sister acting so weird about going out on the night of her death? Who is the strange boy that hung back from the crowd at Faith's funeral? And why is Faith's best friend avoiding Brie?

As it turns out, Brie and her sister had more in common than Brie originally thought. Faith was just as mysterious and skillful at keeping secrets as Brie.

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I enjoyed this book a whole lot. I loved that there was a mystery at the center of this story and that it was filled with suspense. As far as religion goes, I am more with Brie than with Faith. Even though I don't identify with Faith's views, I loved getting to know her through her sister's quest to find out what really happened the night of her death.

Beyond Brie and Faith, I also liked getting to know some of the minor characters in this book.  The school's resident "freak," Tessa, was probably my favorite. I would love to read a book written from her perspective. 

And, even though this book followed a familiar pattern to lots of other YA books (close family member dies, parent(s) become absent, main character is alone), it somehow felt fresh. I think that this is because of Brie's character. She does not seem like someone who is going to wallow in misery, but is more about action. Without this dynamic main character, this book would've fallen flat. 

I read this book as part of the Contemps Challenge. I have to say that I've read a bunch of these books now, and every one has been a winner. I hope that this streak continues, particularly because I have quite a few more to read!

Book Review: Freefall by Mindi Scott

Wow. I just finished reading Mindi Scott's debut novel, Freefall, and the only word that's coming to my mind is wow. I knew that this book was going to be good, but I had no idea that it was going to be great.

How does a woman like Ms. Scott get a male voice so very right? I am not a male (or a teenager for that matter), but I have to imagine that the voice and persona and thoughts and actions that Ms. Scott created for the main character, Seth, are what it is like to be a guy who's a teen. It felt so very authentic, so real. I connected deeply with Seth and some of the minor characters because they felt real, too. So good.

Freefall starts with Seth, a talented bass player who's just lost his best friend Isaac. They had been partying, and Isaac had wanted to sleep under the stars. Seth did not, so he went inside. When Seth woke up, Isaac was dead. He had choked on his own vomit in the middle of the night.

Of course, Seth blames himself for Isaac's death. Isaac was such a force in Seth's life that Seth feels as though nothing will ever be the same. And he's right. There is no same, but there's a whole of of different that can be healthy and good. For one, Seth decides to stop drinking. He and Isaac had gotten into a habit of drinking heavily most nights, and this pattern continued after Isaac's death. Only, Seth was drinking with friends and alone. Not good.

Then there's the issue of communication. Seth is not a great conversationalist. He keeps all of his feelings and fears bottled up to the point where the little that he does let out is very sarcastic and potentially hurtful to whoever is talking with him. He uses this blase front to keep people away. But, when he meets a beautiful, intelligent girl by a pool at a party one night, he finds that he wants to open up. But, he doesn't really know how.

This book is told in a sort of journal style, with dates and times at the top of each section. I honestly lost myself in this book and did not want it to end. It just has that authentic quality to it, that realness that makes a book unforgettable and characters feel like actual people. I feel like I have known Seths and Isaacs before. Again, I don't know how Ms. Scott did this. But, I'd like for her to do it again!

I read this book as part of the Contemps Challenge. I'm loving all of the books that I've read thus far, which is pretty amazing. It's a great challenge and you should all look into joining if you haven't already.

Book Review: The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

At some point after starting Kody Keplinger's The DUFF, I paused my reading to find out who in the world had written this book. Why? Because it felt as though I were eavesdropping on a some of my students talking about their weekend plans. Is this bad? No. The dialogue and narration were so realistic, so convincing that I knew that someone of great talent had written this novel. And, it turns out that this person is Kody Keplinger and that she is 18 years old.

Which makes sense, right? Who else but an 18 year old know how teens sound and think and feel? Still, though, it takes a serious talent (at any age) to know what people of a certain age are like and then translate that into believable characters and an interesting plot. That's just what this book has in spades.

The main character of The DUFF, Bianca, is instantly believable and likable. She is a little awkward physically, but shard as a knife in terms of wit and intelligence. The book opens with a crabby and bored Bianca watching her gorgeous best friends gyrate in a club, wishing that she could just make a getaway. But, her super hot best friends love to party and flirt, so Bianca stays.

Enter smokin' hot player-boy Wesley Rush. His first act on the scene is to tell Bianca, who's not really a close friend, but who is in the same social circle, that she is a DUFF. A Designated Ugly Fat Friend. How does Bianca react? She throws her glass of Cherry Coke right in his face. And she finally gets to leave the club.

But Wesley's comment stays with her. No matter how she tries to forget what Wesley thinks of her, she cannot. Why? Because she thinks he's right.

And circumstances in Bianca's life are not perfect. Her mother is absent, her father is unable to face the fact that his marriage is crumbling, and Bianca doesn't feel as though she has a chance with her crush or any other boy. She was heart-broken as a freshman and that rejection still stings years later.  Bianca's a bit of a mess, but she's real and entertaining and I love her.

I could not put this book down and laughed out loud several times. The ending is a tad rushed, but this is easily forgiven. The quality of the writing and the intensity of this book are superb. I can't wait to read whatever else Ms. Keplinger writes. At 18, she has a long future as an amazing author ahead of her!

**Read as part of the Contemps Challenge**

Up For a Challenge? Read the Contemps!

At first, I was a bit nervous to sign up for the Contemps Challenge. It asks that participants read 18 of 21 books. I sometimes have troubles committing, so I was nervous that I wouldn't be interested in enough of the books to warrant reading 90% of them. But, I saw the list of books. And realized that I'd already planned to read most of them. So, I'm committed.

Here are some that I want to read, no matter what:

And, if you sign up to take the challenge you could win a whole bunch of books. There are going to be  giveaways and such through August 2011. That's a long time.

Sound like fun? Join all sorts of bloggers and readers and generally good people in reading some awesome new books!