Teaser Tuesday 1 Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

 Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

"At least my hands not wet. Or smelly. I reach back into my bag and pull out Fisher's surprise." page 163

YA Bloggers Book Battle 2011: Best OVERLOOKED YA Book!

I am so excited. I've been sitting on this little nugget of information for a couple of days now and I am so excited to announce to you, my participation in this years YA Bloggers Book Battle. Alyssa from The Shady Glade has graciously decided to host this Battle. I am going to be a Round 2 judge for Alyssa! I won't be active in the first part of the Battle, but when the Round 1 judges narrow the Long list down, I'll step in and start reading. This will be my first time participating as a Judge in any kind of Battle so, I'm a little nervous, but extremely ready for this.
This  Year's Theme is really cool. It's Best Overlooked YA Book. According to Alyssa at The Shady Glade,

Best Overlooked Book

For the purposes of this battle, the definition of an "overlooked book" is a book that never got the recognition it deserves. These are books we love, but no one has ever seem to hear of. So now they'll get their chance to shine!

Well, today, Alyssa has posted the long list of nominees for the Book Battle and I am Happy to announce the list to you. You can also view the list on Alyssa's blog and watch the Battle unfold. Here is the amazing LONG list:

2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle official long list (in alphabetical order):

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley

Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund

Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft

Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky

Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia

Aya by Marguerite Abouet

Birthmarked by Caragh M O'Brien

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters

Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell

Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe

Crowned by Julie Linker

Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding

Dreamhunter (The Dreamhunter Duet, Book 1) by Elizabeth Knox

Elixir by Hillary Duff

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

Fat Cat by Robin Brande

Hannah (Daughters Of The Sea) by Kathryn Lasky

Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Heist Society by Ally Carter

High Heat by Karl Deuker

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Intrinsical by Lani Woodland

John Belushi Is Dead by Kathy Charles

Kathleen's Story (Angels in Pink) by Lurlene McDaniel

Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth

Keturah And Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kristen Miller

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt

Meridian by Amber Kizer

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Nomansland by Lesley Hauge

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

On Viney's Mountain by Joan Donaldson

Ophelia by Lisa M. Klein

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Polly and the Pirates, Volume 1 by Ted Naifeh

Powerless Book 1: The Synthesis by Jason Letts

Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice) by Joseph Delaney

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson

Shades of Atlantis by Carol Oates

She Smells the Dead by E.J. Stevens

She's So Money by Cherry Cheva

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Stork by Wendy Delsol

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman

The 10 PM Question by Kate De Goldi

Cry Of The Icemark by Stuart Hill

The Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda

The Flappers: Vixen by Jillian Larkin

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

The Last Knight (Knight and Rogue) by Hilari Bell

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose by Mary Hooper

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell

The Shifter: The Healing Wars #1 by Janice Hardy

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke

The Trouble with Kings by Sherwood Smith

Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner

Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro

Tyger Tyger: A Goblin Wars Book by Kersten Hamilton

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat

This list has some pretty cool titles, and it has some books I haven't come across. I'm super excited to be a part of this Battle and can't wait to see how it goes.

Stay tuned to my blog to see how things go these next couple of months and also keep checking Alyssa's blog. She'll have more about the battle as things progress. I can't wait to find out what the YA Bloggers have decided is the BEST OVERLOOKED YA BOOK. Be sure to head over to Alyssa's blog and pick up a Book Battle Button.
Happy Reading!

Beastly by Alex Flinn

With the movie already out in theaters, this may seem a bit late. . . however, I told myself I had to read and blog the book before I would allow myself to go see it in theaters. I wanted to use my own imagination before I had Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer's faces dominating my brain. I'm not sure how well that worked though. . .

Since I just finished the book, I figured I would go ahead and review it BEFORE I see the movie and then once I see the movie (sometime this weekend) I will discuss how I felt about both of them. I've already noticed a few discrepancies with the movie from the previews alone. . .

Kyle Kingsbury is a spoiled NYC prep boy. He lives in a fancy Manhattan apartment with his father-- a newsanchor who is rarely home and he's nominated for 9th grade prince for his school dance. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. He has a girlfriend named Sloane who is just as self-absorbed and focused on popularity as he is and Kyle fails to respect those who are "below" him.

As a joke, Kyle asks Kendra-- an overweight goth girl-- to go with him to the dance, knowing he had no intentions of going with her. His girlfriend, Sloane demands an orchid for her corsage, but instead of getting the corsage, he sends his housekeeper, Magda. Magda finds the beauty in a white rose and gives it to Kyle to give to Sloane. Sloane has a hissey fit about the rose and Kyle ends up giving it to a girl who is taking tickets at the dance.

When Kendra shows up without a ticket, Kyle blows her off after insulting her, but its Kendra who has the final word. She leaves Kyle with a simple warning, "You'll see." and leaves the dance.

Kyle's world is turned upside down when he gets home from Sloane's after the dance. Kendra is there, but she's not just a high school girl. She transforms Kyle into what he was inside-- a horrible beast. She tells him that he has 2 years to find a girl to love and to be loved by her in return or he will be DOOMED to remain a beast forever. Kendra also bestows on him, a magic mirror to see the world with and warns him NOT to break the mirror.

Kyle only has 2 years to find a girl and once his father locks him away in a Brooklyn Brownstone with his housekeeper, Magda and a blind tutor named Will, he looses all hope. It isn't until a drug adict breaks into the greenhouse he built that hope begins to blossom again. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is probably one of my FAVORITE retellings of a classic tale. I never thought to think about things from the Beast's perspective, mainly because I'm a girl. However,  I LOVED how Alex Flinn was able to break into the Beast's mind, show us what lead to his becoming the creature we've grown to love through Disney and through him into 21st Century America. In the decade where we are obsessed with shows like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, it's great to see something from a guys p.o.v. I found myself repulsed by Kyle in the beginning, but loving and rooting for him in the end. Even though I was pretty sure how the book would end, I was still facsinated and engrossed in the way Alex Flinn was able to make Kyle's journey from Beast to Man occur.

This book deserves 4 dragonflies: I love it, recommend it, and someone is getting Beastly as a gift sometime this year.

Teen Tech Week is approaching. . .

As you may know, Teen Tech week is almost here! This will be my first year working on Teen Tech and I'm wicked nervous. Now, I am not a Ludite by any means, but I can't help but wonder at the amazing skills teens have with technology. I'm supposed to be showing them how to use Windows Movie Maker, but when my Windows 7 laptop is not compatible with the Windows XP Pro at work. . . I can't get much done at home and since I don't have a computer at work except for when I'm on desk . . . it causes some undo stress.

However, I am trucking through and am fully ready for the Teens to show me the wicked cool stuff I'm missing with technology.

Harry Potter Reading Challenge

Marcie at To Read or Not to Read is hosting a Harry Potter Challenge. It has been years since I've read the whole series, and I am actually excited to read the series again. I've been semi-protesting them because I'm not too happy with J.K. Rowlings body count in Deathly Hallows, but this should be some fun reading before Deathly Hallows 2 comes out.

Page to Screen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I recently sat down to rewatch and reread The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares and as much as I enjoyed both the book and the movie, there were a few things that I really wished they had NOT changed in the movie.  I miss Lena's sister Effie-- mostly because she does a MAJOR thing in the 4th book, I miss Lena flying to California/Mexico to rescue Bridget from herself, I miss knowing Bridget has a twin brother!

Even though the movie had several flaws that made the book so wonderful, I loved it! I really thing Jenna Boyd completely stole the show as Bailey and like I did when I read the book, I bawled my eyes out when she left the story. I found myself connecting even more with Carmen as I watched the movie this time than the first time, but Lena will always be my favorite.

The one thing I wish was real-- those magic pants. How cool would it be to find pants that fit you and your best girlfriends?

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde takes the story of Little Red Riding Hood and spins it 8 different ways. Picking this book of the shelf at the library, I was immediately intrigued. Little Red Riding Hood had always been one of my favorite Fairy Tales and I was looking forward to Vivian Vande Velde's interpretation. Unfortunately, this book let a LOT to be desired for me. Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist, but I didn't like the interpretations Vande Velde used.  I struggled through finishing this short book and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction chapter much more that the actual book.

I was surprised by my dislike in this book because I love Vivian Vande Velde and her book, Heir Apparent. This one, Cloaked in Red left me wanting and disappointed. However, they maybe some out there who enjoy her possible takes on Little Red Riding Hood.

I can only give this book 1 dragonfly.

I read the book and forced myself to finish it.