She was given the "gift" of obediance by a fairy when she was born and it causes no end of trouble. Turns into a Cinderella story near the end. Very enjoyable story.
Kind of a Snow White story, set in the Ella Enchanted world. Aza accompanies a duchess to see the king married, ends up in a mirror, but escapes and marries a prince. Hope I didn't spoil it for ya! Since the kingdom is a singing kingdom, there are lots of song lyrics.
Small-town Southern boy makes friends (eventually) with a new girl in town, a "negra", in 1917. The "n-word" is used a number of times, and I'm not talking about "negra", and it seemed out of place in a middle school level story, but it's essential to getting a feeling of the time and place. I really liked the story, and even wept a bit near the end.
Read:
11/2014
Quote:
"You know, Dit," he said in a quiet voice, "when my wife died, I was real angry. Angry at the ol' doctor who wouldn't come because I didn't have no money. Angry at God for taking her away."
Jim paused to make sure I was listening.
"But after a while I thought of something worse than losing my wife."
"What?" I asked.
"If I'd never met her at all." -- Pg. 252
Tess is thirteen and loves math. She uses mathematics to try to understand relationships.
I enjoyed the story, but I thought the suicide/suspected murder might be a bit morbid, but it is nicely concluded in a meaningful way.
Memoirs of a young girl in Nazi Europe. Simone is a Jehovah's Witness and this story tells of her (and her family's) persecution. Maps, appendices, indes. Interesting story. She certainly was a devote little girl!
This is my first Dexter book, the third in the series, I think. Probably not the best place to start. Dexter is getting married, with children. If Moloch is a real being, wouldn't the Christian god be a real being too?
Moriabe's Children / Paolo Bacigalupi --
Old souls / Cassandra Clare --
Ten rules for being an intergalactic smuggler (the successful kind) / Holly Black --
Quick hill / M.T. Anderson --
The diabolist / Nathan Ballingrud --
This whole demoning thing / Patrick Ness --
Wings in the morning / Sarah Rees Brennan --
Left foot, right / Nalo Hopkinson --
The Mercurials / G. Carl Purcell --
Kitty Capulet and the invention of underwater photography / Dylan Horrocks --
Son of abyss / Nik Houser --
A small wild magic / Kathleen Jennings --
The new boyfriend / Kelly Link --
The woods hide in plain sight / Joshua Lewis --
Mothers, lock up your daughters because they are terrifying / Alice Sola Kim
Quote:
It was Mom's idea for dad and me to build the blood altar in the garage.
Quote:
We had 2-60 air-conditioning, which means you rolled down two windows and went sixty miles per hour.
Read:
7/2024
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
Very good story of the author's solo expedition to the South Pole. Lots of problems came up, and the author explain how he solved them. I met the author once, so when I saw this book on Amazon I ordered it. The hardback copy, no less!
While berry picking with his family Harry spots an old rusty motorcycle in the bush. It doesn't even have an engine but he decides to rebuild it. Helped (a lot!) by his father and grandpa and many others. Along the way Harry learns about making decisions, the value of work, and relationships. When it is finally finished he realizes that he forgot one thing!