Review - The Name Of The Star by Maureen Johnson

Title: The Name of The Star
Series: Shades Of London #1
Author: Maureen Johnson
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Received: Purchased
Release Date: September 2011
Pages: 372
Rating:


What is it About?

A American teenage girl has a near death experience at her new London school and life becomes horrifically different .

My Thoughts:

I wasn’t expecting so much fantasy from a Maureen Johnson book  but I thoroughly enjoyed all the mystery and trills. I liked that I really didn’t know where the story was going.  I thought that her third roommate was going to be a bad guy and it ends up going a totally different route with her.
I also hope they bring some the special characters, meaning the ones only certain people can see.

I am definitely interested in where the series will be taken.  It was a fun read better then I thought because I wasn’t thrilled about the Ripper character but it surprised me in the end.



Website:

Official Maureen Johnson’s Website
http://www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com

Shannon's Review - Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns

Summary: (from the inside jacket)Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar so when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life - dressed like a ninja and summoning him for a ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows.
After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks. Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues - and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.

My Thoughts: Paper Towns mostly takes place in Orlando, Florida. The setting is described in a way any teenager would talk about growing up in their home town: They find it boring and look forward to making there own fun or trouble. Q, or Quentin, is a bit obsessed with fellow classmate and neighbor Margo Roth Speigelman. A girl who Q and friends are finding to be more of a mystery by the day.
The story is about realizing you never really know a person, you just think you do. The plot's similar to another of John Green's books, Looking For Alaska, but done in a different light - as more of a quest, where Alaska was about a learning experience. To find the mystery that is Margo, Q goes on a scavenger hunt. Literally, and you can follow the clues along with Q to find Margo. I think the characters and setting feel pretty natural and will sit well with teens.
This is a book not just for teens, though. It will be enjoyable for adults as well. There are some strong language and sexuality explicit scenes, but not as bad a as Looking for Alaska. It is a book with a lot of humor, mystery and intrigue. I highly recommend it.

About the Author: John Green is the author of three books, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. He lives in Indiana with his wife and Bubbles, the Nerdfighting puppy (aka Willy). He's currently on a tour with his brother, Hank Green, traveling across the U.S. If you would like to see if they will be in your area, go here.

Review - Looking For Alaska

Summary: Teenager Miles decided he wants to go to boarding school in hope of finding the "Great Perhaps." Along his journey he makes friends, finds heartache, and even discovers a piece of the Great Perhaps.




My Thoughts: I was a little surprised at this first novel by John Green. I read his second novel first, An Abundance of Katherines, and found it funny and pleasant. I didn't realize just how different and dark Looking For Alaska was going to be, or how much sexuality and drinking was in it. Maybe I am starting to forget what it was like to be a teenager, but I just feel like there was not a lot of this stuff going on in my circle. Or maybe I just was not paying attention. Or maybe it was just the feeling of shock at certain parts when I was listening to the audio book with my mother in the car. ... Maybe it's just me.

I liked what I thought was the general message of the book (although I am sure there is more than one message): Of being stuck in the labyrinth of suffering, trying to find a way out. Of how some people choose the quick way out, or some try to ignore they are in the labyrinth, or some keep surviving just knowing they will eventually find their way out whether they are ready or not. My only dislike was that, after the climax in the story, it lagged on for a bit. I wanted the characters to either move on or say the book was done.

The audio version (which, as I said above, is how i "read" this book) was read by Jeff Woodman. He did an excellent job of capturing the feel for the different characters; he had so many different voices to capture, and he did and then some! I definitely enjoyed listening to it.

About the Author: John Green is the author of three novels: Looking for Alaska, An Abandance of Katherines, and the soon to be released Paper Towns. For more info on this author, you can visit sparksflyup.com.

Claudia and the Sad Good-bye (Babysitters Club #26) by Ann M. Martin

In this book Claudia's grandmother Mimi is sick. She has became forget forgetful and does some strange things. Just as things get stranger Mimi gets sick and does die. Throughout the book is how Claudia deals with Mimi being sick and dying.

This is first Baby Sitters Club book that I have ever read. I didn't read them when I was a teen but they were around. I wasn't expecting much but what I was very good. I am more then a little surprised. The characters are smart and clever. The story was very realistic. What especially sticks with me is the description of her Grandmother looking so frail and vulnerable in the hospital. If any one has had a grandparent in hospital they could definitely relate to this book. The way it dealt with Claudia's feeling about death was very real. I wish I had read this book when I was younger and had to deal with the first death of my family maybe i would have understood more of what I was going through.

You probably wondering why I picked this book as the first one to read. Well it all has do with a site called Brotherhood 2.0 Author John Green and his brother Hank Green did a vlog for a year only communicating by vlogging. It is a funny and entertaining vlog. This was done last year of course and they still vlog at the Nerdfighters Site. The babysitter book was mentioned as a little joke that John might title his book Claudia and the Sad Good-Bye. This was before he named the new book Paper Towns due out in Oct 2008. I might read more Nerdfighter like books later.

If you would like to win a free copy of this book come back on Friday for Refer A Book Friday!