I've got even more updates for you all now!

First of all, a few new reviews:
First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover by Mitali Perkins
A Resurrection of Magic Book One: Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

I've also decided to join the Royalty Rules Reading Challenge.

Here are some of my musings on English class and the books I've recently read for it.

And finally, some new links from around the internet.

I've got a lot of updates for you all!

Here are my latest reviews:
Thura's Diary: My Life In Wartime Iraq by Thura Al-Windawi
How They Met, And Other Stories by David Levithan
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
The Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher

It's also a big time of year for book awards. Here's my post on the second batch of Cybils finalists, and then on the ALA's Youth Media Awards.

I've also gotten the chance to interview Melissa Walker, author of Violet on the Runway.

Here are a few of my recent favorite links from around the internet.

I also posted on a few books that I'm really looking forward to in 2008.

I updated my blogroll, including some new links to author blogs (you'll have to check out the sidebar on the main page to actually see these).
Here's a post about privilege, including some great links as to how it relates to YA lit and a meme.
Check out my first review of a 2008 read, counting for both the 2k8 and the 888 challenges: I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder.
I've also signed up for my third challenge of the year: The Chunkster Challenge.

I've decided to participate in the Triple 8 Challenge.
To celebrate the new year, I'm sharing some great links.
I've reviewed Fly on the Wall, a great book by E. Lockhart.
I've posted the Cybils finalists in four categories, with a few of my thoughts.
My blog also has a new look, and I'd love to know what you think of it.

I've got a lot of updates for you, as it's been a couple of links since I last posted updates here. Here's links:

I completed a Christmas meme as part of the Book Binge Christmas Contest.
Here's a review of the latest in the Kiki Strike series.
Don't forget to check out the Class of 2k8!
Katherine Applegate's Home of the Brave is definitely worth checking out. Other Cybils nominees I reviewed recently are Class Favorite, Leap of Faith, and Reaching for Sun.
Here I wish you all a ( now late) Merry Christmas and give you links to check out.
Test your typing speed and let me know how you do!
Make sure you check out my best book of 2007, shortlist, and rather long list, as well as what are basically reading reflections from the year.
I failed the Saturday Review of Books Challenge.
I made reading goals for 2008.
Here's some more cool links!
I also started my own challenge! Check out the details of (and maybe join) the 2k8 Challenge!

That's it for now. Or, you can just go to the front blog page and read it all there.

This post is inspired by Liz’s piece  about kids reading at an advanced reading level at a young age, through which I also found Alix Flinn’s post on the subject. Go ahead, before reading my story, read those two interesting, informative posts. Especially if you’re planning on buying a book for a kid who is not your own this Christmas–you don’t want any parents angry at you if they don’t want their kid reading more mature books.
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Read my review of this wonderful pirate adventure story here.

I've just posted my thoughts on the 2007 Cybils MG nominee The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy. Enjoy!

My most recent posts are not reviews, but I'll have some reviews for you guys soon.

However, I do have my thoughts on the often-used phrase "this should be required reading."

Also a rant on the similarities of TV and books and why watching TV is not a brain-killing experience the way my elementary school librarian always told me.

Last but not least, I need your help! I just want your suggestions for what review I should show people as an example of what I can do as a reviewer. It won't take but a few minutes to find one and let me know in the comments or an email!

I haven't posted my updates here lately, I'm sorry! It's been so long that I can't post about everything here, so you'll have to check the blog, but here are a few links to some updates:
Check out my review of A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, "a funny, heartwarming debut...[it] will make a great holiday gift."
Don't miss my take on Converting Kate, a novel about a teen girl questioning her faith.
Also an interesting read is Brian Mandabach's Or Not, a thought-provoking, extremely well-written first novel.
Go Figure is another great book I've read recently.
Snitch by Allison van Diepen is an unexpectedly fantastic read, too.

Don't forget, that's not everything!

Review: Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker
Violet Greenfield never aspired to a modeling career. Being famous wasn’t really part of her life plan or anything; she didn’t think she was the modeling type....
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Review: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Shannon Hale’s Book of a Thousand Days is a beautiful novel based on an obscure fairytale from the Brothers Grimm (though the author admits she has taken “many liberties” with the original). Dashti, a poor mucker girl from the steppes, has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she agrees to take a post as a lady’s maid after her mother dies...
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Gossip Girl
I watched the premiere of Gossip Girl on television the other night (if you missed it, it’s now at the CW’s website), both because I usually try to catch as many series premieres as possible to see what’s worth continuing to watch, and because it’s based on a best-selling series of YA books....
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Find out about the 24 Hour Read-a-thon, in  which I'll be participating.

The Cybils
Guess what? It’s time for the Cybils again!  This is the second annual Cybils awards. Here’s a description of the awards, from the website, in case you missed them last year...
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Check out these links.

Review: Tripping to Somewhere by Kristopher Reisz
TRIPPING TO SOMEWHERE is a highly original, sort of surreal and very edgy fantasy book that is one of those that sort of blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, leaving you with lots of questions (but that’s the way it should be) and perhaps in sort of a fog left over from the reading of a fantastic book....
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Review: In The Garage by Alma Fullerton
First off, I’ve got to say this was a really sad book and made me quite depressed after reading it. But that’s a great compliment; it wasn’t supposed to be a happy book, and that it affected me so deeply speaks to its brilliance.
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September is GLBT Month at YABC.

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
THIRTEEN REASONS WHY focuses on the set of audiotapes made by a girl named Hannah Baker right before she killed herself. There are thirteen sides to the tapes recorded. And they’re going to be heard by thirteen people. Thirteen of the reasons why Hannah ended her life...
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Review: How to take the Ex out of Ex-Boyfriend by Janette Rallison
When Giovanna’s twin brother, Dante, announces he’s running for student body president against her boyfriend’s friend and popular candidate, Wilson, things between Giovanna and her boyfriend, Jesse, get a little tense.
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Review: Into The Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
I absolutely raced through this book–I couldn’t put it down! I hadn’t planned on reading the whole thing in one sitting, but that’s exactly what I did. The characters, the writing, the uniqueness of the story–I adored it!
Backing up, I should probably tell you what it’s about, though I could gush for much longer.....
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Review: The Squad: Killer Spirit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

KILLER SPIRIT, the second book in THE SQUAD series, is coming out the same day as the first, so, fortunately, there won’t be a wait for readers–and you’ll want to read both books as soon as they come out!

Like book one, KILLER SPIRIT is a book about secret agent cheerleaders, and, again, it kept me reading at every free moment (and a few moments that  my math teacher didn’t consider as free as I did) until I was done! In this book, unlikely cheerleader Toby Klein is on another Squad mission, as well as getting ready for homecoming–where she actually has a shot, much to her dismay, at being elected the first sophomore Homecoming queen ever.

Toby, being Toby, is more worried about that than the fact that her life is in danger almost daily due to a squad mission that’s even riskier than it seemed at first. Bombs and evil law firms, Toby can handle. Homecoming? Guys?  Inter-cheer-squad politics? Not so easy.....

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Review: Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint

TJ is a fourteen-year-old girl who’s having some difficulties fitting in at her new school and adjusting to her new life in the city. TJ’s a farm girl, but financial difficulties forced her family to sell the farm and move to a suburb where all the houses are identical. TJ, however, discovers that her typical suburban house, however, is home to something not so typical: a family of Littles. Six-inch- high people who live in the walls.

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More Links

I don’t know that I would have picked up THE SQUAD, a book about a cheerleading squad who are also secret agents, had I not already loved what I’ve read by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (TATTOO and GOLDEN). However, that said, I’m glad I did read this fun book!

Toby Klein is so not a cheerleading type of girl. Toby wears combat boots. Toby has a black belt and beats up football players. In her opinion, cheerleaders are a bunch of morons jumping around in short skirts.

So Toby’s as surprised as anyone when she’s picked to join the varsity cheer squad, aka the God Squad. Of course, then she finds out that she actually fits the profile a lot better than people think. Because Bayport’s cheerleaders aren’t just cheerleaders–they’re secret agent cheerleaders....

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I have found a couple of similar things to this, but one is not frequently updated and the other is very basic (no links or information, just titles and dates for books). So I’ve decided to create a page for upcoming YA book releases, divided by genre so as to make shopping easier!...

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No new reviews, but some other cool updates:

Links and Stardust

Red Blurbs from Francine Prose, Jeannette Walls, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Paul Feig!

STARCROSSED is a really lovely book. It starts out with Christy Marlowe and Ben Penrose meet at a plastic surgeon’s office. They’re both their getting tattoos removed-of each other’s names. If that’s not fate, what is?
Read the rest

Review: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

I was really excited to read this book because these two authors have written another really fantastic book together: NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST. NICK AND NORAH is a fantastic book that I really should review sometime. Both authors have also written amazing books separately–Rachel Cohn’s GINGERBREAD, in particular, is another huge favorite of mine.

So NAOMI AND ELY’S NO KISS LIST has a lot to live up to. It’s close, but I think NICK AND NORAH is better–but not by much, and that may well just be a matter of my personal preference, as both are brilliant.

Naomi and Ely are the best of friends, and they grew up that way, in the same apartment building in New York City (I love books set in NYC, too). Because Naomi is straight and Ely is gay, their taste in guys kind of overlaps sometimes. So, to keep their friendship free from any conflicts over boys, they’ve created the no kiss list....

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Review: Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci (WUAT)

Hollywood is the setting for this wonderful novel, but it’s not exactly what you’d expect.....

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And now for my exciting news!

Some of you may have seen me mention this or seen it on my top friends on myspace, but I am posting an official announcement now!

I am going to have an essay in the upcoming book Red: The Next Generation of American Writers–Teenage Girls–On What Fires Up Their Lives Today !!!!!!!!! Buy it, everyone! It’s going to be good. Here’s the description from the Amazon page....

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I've posted some cool links and talked about libraries and ECLIPSE here. Enjoy!