The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

From the back

When her fiery older sister Bailey dies abruptly, seventeen year old Lennie, bookworm and band geek, is catapulted to the center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole world exploding.

The Sky Is Everywhere starts off with a poem. It’s simple, but filled with grief. That is where we meet Lennie, the main character. Lennie and the other cast of characters in this book is the reason why I gave this book seven stars. Characters and plot are the two huge factors that play into how I review, and in TSIE, Jandy Nelson delivers. Her characters are so bold and bright that anyone reading can’t help but to fall in love with them. Bailey’s family is especially charming to me, with and Uncle who tries to bring bugs back to life and a Grandma that paints green people.

Plot, the second huge factor of my reviews, did not deliver as much as characters did. Parts of the novel were extremely slow moving and hard for me to get through. There are at least 10 pages of unnecessary talk that could be removed and nothing would be missing.

The poems that are interspersed throughout the novel are what I believe to be the greatest treasure in the book. Each one, written by Lennie, tells a history of the two sister’s relationship, even after one of them is dead.

I give The Sky Is Everywhere 7 stars.

All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

I'm back! After dissappering from The Book Bundle I have returned to the lovely reviews. Long story short about the long break is that my computer got a virus. This virus caused my computer to kill itself. I had to order parts for a new computer and then build it, which is what I have been doing all this week. It feels good to be back now! I got an ARC for this book back in November and I've wanted to post a review ever since I finished, so here we go!

From the back:

Carly: She Was Sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School's most priviledged students. Secrets that got her killed.

Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn't answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can't get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.

Audrey: She's the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton's fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it-especially since she's convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.

As reluctant allies, Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton's dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama with force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn't save.

When I first started reading Anna Jarzab's debut novel, All Unquiet Things, I thought I knew how it would end. From the get go I thought I had figured out who had killed Carly. I was wrong, and was never happier to be so. Jarzab kept putting twists and turns throughout the novel, making me think it was one person or another, until it all came together. I love a good murder mystery, and All Unquiet Things delievers just that.

Jarzab's writing is also so unique that it will stand out from andy YA novels on the shelf. The voices of Neily and Audrey will draw you into the book and you will get engrossed in their world. until the very end. I only put it down once, but I had to pick it back up again because it was I wanted to know what happened next. The characters are so diverse and wonderful. They also sound like real teenagers, unlike some authors who make the teenagers in YA novels sound very cheesy and unrealistic.

All Unquiet Things is a must read if you enjoy YA suspense novels. It's a beautifully woven mystery with believable and addicting characters. Jarzab has created an all around great read, and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

I give the book 9 out of 10 stars.

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

From The Cover:
Haven’t you heard? Geek is the new cool! Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside)and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr. With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!

After seeing all star cast of authors that were contributing stories to this book, I decided I had to read it. And, boy, did that turn out to be an excellent decision. This book delivers it all in a nifty little package. (The cover has all the authors and comic book illustrators on the front in old school video game style.)

This would be a very long post if I reviewed every story/comic in the book, but it is safe to say that this book comes with something for everyone. We’ve all gone through a point where we felt inadequate or judged for who we are, so everyone (even if you aren’t a geek) can relate to the something in Geektastic. The stories range from laugh out loud funny (“Once You’re A Jedi, You’re A Jedi All The Way”) to ones that make you remember the horrors of high school (“The Truth About Dino Girl”.) Every story gives you something, even if you don’t realize it at the time.

While each story in the book was wonderful, I believe my favorite part was the comics. In between each of the stories, there is a tiny comic. Each one made me shake with giggles that could not be stopped.

Non-Geeks and Geeks, come one, come all, for this book is amazing. Even if you don’t understand Klingon, even if you don’t have any idea what cosplay is, and even if you don’t know what a con is, you will walk away a better person from reading this book.

I give this book 10/10 stars.

The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart

*SPOILER ALERT* If you have not read The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book by E. Lockhart, you might not want to read this review because it has spoilers for the series.*SPOILER ALERT*

In this third installment of the Ruby Oliver series, Ruby continues to try and rectify her reputation at Tate Prep, understand boys, learn how to become a good friend, and maybe even find love. Through many incidents that were just plain bad luck, Ruby once again manages to anger and alienate the students in her school.

Returning readers of this series will find that this book is just as excellent and hilarious as the first two. We follow Ruby Oliver into the 2nd semester of her junior year where everything, once again, seems to hit the fan. I always enjoy reading about how Ruby gets herself out of these messes, and E. Lockhart writes it in such a way that it never gets tiring.

One of my favorite things about the books is the movie footnotes. It gives wonderful examples about the situations Ruby is trying to explain in a unique and funny way.

However, at the end of it I found myself wanting to shout “Finally!” because Ruby seems to get herself back onto the right path. She realizes things about the people in her tiny school that the reader has known all along but has waited patiently for Ruby to realize herself.

This book is a fantastic beach read and I highly recommend it, along with the other two books in the series. There’s never a dull moment at Tate Prep when Ruby Oliver is involved.

I give this 8/10 stars. THE TREASURE MAP OF BOYS will be available July 28th, 2009.

Give Up The Ghost by Megan Crewe

From the back:
Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts to “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable. They know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her help contacting his recently deceased mother, but Cass is less than enthusiastic.
Kicking and screaming, Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life. And she’s more surprised than anyone when she realizes that maybe some living people aren’t so bad if she’d only give them a chance...

Give up the Ghost is a paranormal YA novel and it has a new, fresh twist on the ghosts. Every ghost in the book has a scent that’s totally unique to them. For example, Paige smells like candied apples and cinnamon. I haven’t seen the ghost scents before in any novel before, and I like how Crewe associates a smell with a character.

The best thing about the book is the characters inside of it. Cass, rather than hate what she is able to do, turns her power of seeing ghosts into something good. She's essentally the Robin Hood of gossip at her school. Tim, the VP of the student council, is just in so much pain that it makes my heart ache. Then we have the ghosts. They add a fantastic element to the story that makes it feel fun and serious at the approriate times but don't detract from the flow of the story.

One thing I wasn’t happy with in this book was Tim and Cass’s relationship. I had hoped it would go in a different direction, but the way Crewe has it makes the story more compelling and a better read overall.

Also, the ending seemed very typical to me. While it does have a great last line, the entire last page feels like I’ve seen some version of it some times before.

I give this book 8/10 stars. This is definitely a great read and worth the money. GIVE UP THE GHOST will be available on September 15th, 2009.

Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell

From the Jacket:
Where y’at Iris?
Summer in Ondine, Louisiana, is always predictable: hot and boring.
Not this one.
This summer, Iris is fourteen. This summer, she doesn’t have to make up spooky stories for excitement. Because a real one falls right in her lap.
Years ago, before she was born, a teenager named Elijah disappeared. All that remains of him are whispers. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she’s convinced it’s the ghost of Elijah.
What really happened to him?
And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris?

Set in a tiny town in Louisiana, the novel starts with Iris and her best friend Collette casting spells and raising the dead in the cemetery. It’s all fun and games in the boredom of small town summer. However, the fun stops when a ghost whispers “Where y’at Iris?”

In the beginning, this book sucks you in. After the opening chapter you are salivating to know Elijah Landry’s real story. Every person in the small town of Ondine has a piece of the puzzle to solving Eli’s disappearance. I had my own theory of what had happened to him, and in the end it proved to be right. This is one of the reasons I didn’t like this book. I don’t like being able to predict the ending. There needs to be some surprise there or it’s just anticlimactic.

I set this book down a couple of times because I was bored. There are places throughout the novel where the pace goes from super fast action scenes to a very sluggish moving scene. It made the flow of the book feel awkward.

What I really enjoyed in this book were the descriptions. If I could describe things like Saundra Mitchell, I could die a happy person. She paints such a vivid picture that the images stay in your head for a long time after you read it. I was always tempted to grab an ice cube and cool down my skin from the Louisiana heat.

On the subject of characters, I loved how the townspeople were just so realistic. Each person had particular quirks that I found to be quite entertaining. The Delancie brothers, in particular, were my favorite due to their love of blowing things up. However, the main character, Iris, did not appeal to me. She seemed too perfect to be real.

My rating for this book is 6/10. I thought it was good, but there could be some improvements.