Waiting on Wednesday (17)

Waiting on Wednesday was created by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Dreaming Anastasia-Joy Preble

What really happened to Anastasia Romanov?

Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.

In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams…

This looks really good! I used to be obsessed with the events of the Romanov family and read many books about them. This will make a great addition to the collection! Dreaming Anastasia will be released September 1st.

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much---if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle---who already has six wives---Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

As most of us know, the issue of polygamist communities is big in the news right now, and this book effectively shows the dangers these cults pose to the children involved. Kyra’s story is complex and filled with emotion. Her interaction with her father, mothers, and siblings is surprisingly heartfelt and functional, with the Prophet causing all the tension. The one aspect of the book that felt forced was Kyra’s relationship with Joshua, a boy she was able to sneak off with each night and spend time with, although the fact that the community members were constantly watched was enforced throughout the book. It all just seemed a little too convenient. Otherwise, everything fell into place perfectly, with the ending leaving me thinking about the characters and hoping that everything would turn out alright.

In My Mailbox (10)

Here are the three books I got this week:

BookMooch:

Watertales-Alice Hoffman
If you haven't encountered Alice Hoffman's watery fairy tales of modern magic, dive in! Aquamarine The tide brings in something unexpected that will change best friends Claire and Haley's last summer together. Indigo Martha and her friends discover that running to follow a dream is the only way they'll find the true meaning of 'home'.

School Reading:

Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurst

A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town.

Hardball-Chris Matthews

How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows The Game

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi at The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie

Suite Scarlett Winners

The winners of a paperback copy of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson are:

Sharon
Linna
Jake
Kelli
Jess

Congratulations!! I have sent each of you an email so I can get your mailing information. Please respond ASAP so I can get your books to you! Enjoy the read!

And a big thanks to everyone who entered! It was my first contest and was a lot of fun. I hope to be hosting more in the future. :)

In My Mailbox (9)

Here are the books I received this week:

BookMooch:
Saving Francesca-Melina Marchetta
Francesca is at the beginning of her second term in Year Eleven at an all boys’ school that has just started accepting girls. She still misses her old friends, and, to make things worse, her mother has had a breakdown and can barely move from her bed. But Francesca had not counted on the fierce loyalty of her new friends, or falling in love, or finding that it’s within her power to bring her family back together.

Bought:
Iodine-Haven Kimmel
Trace Pennington is a senior at the University of the Midwest in Indiana. Living with her dog, Weeds, in an abandoned farmhouse that lacks such basic comforts as heat and a shower, Trace is in her final semester. But once she enters Professor Jacob Matthias’ Archetypal Interpretation of Literature class, she turns her intense focus solely on him, dropping her classes and even abandoning her dog to move in to his place. But as she digs into Jacob’s past to discover why his first marriage ended and what became of his wife, her own past bubbles to the surface, forcing her to face painful memories and truths.

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi at The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie

P.S. I also want to remind everyone that this is the last day to enter to win a copy of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson.

Crash Into Me by Albert Borris

Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination-Death Valley California-they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.

Crash Into Me is a heart wrenching look into the minds of four suicidal teens and the road trip that changes their lives. I was never quite sure if the characters would go all the way or not, and didn’t know until the very last page. The novel is told through the eyes of Owen, but the reader gets to know all four characters through series of online chats, top ten lists, and flashbacks, creating a deep connection between reader and character. Albert Borris delivered an excellent debut novel and I am looking forward to more of his great writing.

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?
This book had everything I love: well-developed, interesting characters, a cute, but not overpowering romance, and most importantly, a suspenseful, mysterious plot. I was also pleased to note that this debut novel swiftly avoided YA book stereotypes and stood easily on its own. I was pleased to discover that readers will be able to learn more about Alexis, as Bad Girls Don’t Die is to be a series. So, pick up this book if you are in need of a good ghost story, it will definitely deliver!