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 My
Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
ISBN # 0743454537
What an amazing and beautifully written
story. The book is about a family in turmoil; their 2nd daughter
was conceived to be a donor for her cancer-stricken older
sister. Now that the younger sister is old enough, she has
decided to take her parents to court to fight for her own
right to choose what happens to her own body.
A deeply complex and emotional read, I
couldn't put this book down. No answers are easy; nor are
any of them right or wrong. These are real people caught in
an impossible situation doing what they think is best. Truly
one of the best books I've ever read--and the ending has such
a twist you'll never see coming.
Highly recommended.
 Being
Dead is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide for
Hosting the Perfect Funeral
ISBN# 1401359345
This book is hilarious! Chock full of great
southern recipes and witty advice, this is a great book that
will entertain and much as it instructs. Only half tongue-in-cheek,
the authors teach the rest of us what Southerners have known
for generations: that mama's homemade food is a great comforter
and that funerals are the best times for catching up with
old friends and relatives.
Here's a sample of one of my favorite lines
from the book (found at the end of a recipe): "Makes four
cups of the three major food groups: salt, fat, and sugar."
Definitely a must read for lovers of Southern
culture and great food.
 Single
in Suburbia by Wendy Wax
ISBN# 0553588974
Another great romantic comedy from one
of my favorite authors, Wendy Wax.
For any surburban mom who's ever had to
sit in the baseball bleachers for the umpteenth time and watch
your child's team lose yet again, this book's for you! I've
borrowed the following description the excellent book cover
copy who sums it up much better than I could:
Amanda’s husband has just traded her in
for an affair with a teenybopper. Brooke is a trophy wife
collecting dust. And Candace (Don’t call me Candy) has had
too many husbands and too little love. What do these three
unlikely accomplices have in common besides a Little League
team called the Mudhens? A plot to reclaim a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t.
And they’re going to do it with a mop and a bucket.
Maid for You starts as a way for Amanda
to make enough money to keep the roof over her kids’ heads
after her husband splits for his midlife crisis. But when
Candace and Brooke join her, it becomes much more. Donning
disguises, they enter the homes of those who once spurned
them and discover more than just clutter in the closets of
their neighbors’ otherwise tidy lives. But when Amanda takes
on the job of cleaning the home of the town’s most eligible
hunk, someone decides to do her dirty. Now Amanda, Brooke,
and Candace are on a mission to prove that being single in
suburbia isn’t a crime–even if it does lead to some irresistible
temptations….
These are characters you'll love--and love
rooting for. This is a really fun read--highly recommended.
Check back for more book faves--I
always have a pile on my bed stand and I love to talk about
books almost as much as I love to write them!
- Great young adult reads
 Art
Geeks and Prom Queens by Alyson Noel
ISBN 0-312-33636-5
Rio Jones, a sixteen-year-old girl relocated from New York
to southern California is trying to fit in at her new fancy
high school, but her first day stunk. Luckily, she makes friends
with art geeks Mason and Jas who help her out the first day.
However, popular and rich cheerleader Kristi takes notice
of her and invites Rio into her elite clique where the rules
are tight and no one can be more popular than Kristi. But
as Rio becomes well-known in school and more popular, she
has to decide if she will stay with the popular crowd and
stay a follower in Kristi's group, or leave and be the girl
she used to know- the art geek.
This book was fast-paced and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The
people at the California high school reminded me of "Mean
Girls" and I thought that made it all the more better.
I highly recommend this book.
 Keeping
the Moon by Sarah Dessen
ISBN 0-14-240176-5
Fifteen-year-old Colie is sent to stay with
her Aunt Mira in Colby, North Carolina for the summer because
her mother, a famous aerobics instructor is going on tour
in Europe. Colie has always felt insecure around people, mainly
because for fourteen years was an overweight child who moved
around too often to fit in. One day her mother decided to
start an aerobic program and lost a lot of weight. She decided
to put Colie on it too and she lost about forty-five pounds.
Still, Colie isn't all that comfortable in North Carolina,
even though her new friends Isabel and Morgan, Norman, and
her aunt are very kind to her and weren't there to witness
Colie's past. However, they teach Colie to look away from
her past and move on.
This book was a very enjoyable book and
I couldn't put it down. Sarah Dessen is a great author who
really writes from a teenager's point of view on life. She's
also written many more. I recommend The Truth About Forever.
 The
Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty
ISBN 0-439-49882-1
This book is written as if a bunch of letters and emails
were joined together. Cassie, Lydia, and Emily go to Ashbury
High School in Austrailia. Their English teacher starts a
program where they write letters to their rivalry school,
Brookfield, in a chance to help end the hate. But as the three
friends and their pen-pals' letters get more involved, secret
assignments, evil plots, and really mean people become unearthed.
This book was a little hard to get into because there wasn't
a good sense of how old the characters were and where they
lived or what they looked like, but once I got further into
the novel, I realized how excellent the book was. I never
would have guessed the ending. The author is really good at
showing the characters' personalities through their letters.
I really enjoyed this novel.
 Pulling
Princes by Tyne O'Connell
ISBN 1-58234-688-7
Calypso Kelly is hated at her all-English boarding school
in England because she is American. She invents a boyfriend
(who is really her friend) to try and become more popular,
but that doesn't quite work out very well. The Honorable Honey
O'Hare, the spawn of Satan, makes life at St. Augustine's
for Calypso awful for her and is determined to ruin her life.
While Calypso is battling Honey, a picture of her kissing
the heir to the British throne shows up in the tabloids, and
she must quickly sort it out before it gets too messy for
her and the prince's relationship.
This book was very good. I fell in love with Calypso and her
thinking. It was very funny and quick. I was very happy to
hear there are two other novels out in the series, called
Stealing Princes and Dueling Princes. I suggest them all.
 Confessions
of a Teen Nanny by Victoria Ashton
ISBN-10: 0-06-073178-8
Sixteen-year-old Adrienne Lewis lives in New York and is
paid a tremendous amount of money to nanny Emma Warner, a
rich eight-year-old who is also a spoiled genius. But she's
nothing compared to Emma's half-sister, Cameron, who is an
evil liar and user who gets whatever she wants and listens
to no one. Cameron is always in the tabloids and puts her
evil powers to use on Adrienne. Of course, Adrienne doesn't
know that…
This novel was sooo fun to read. You hate Cameron when you
first hear about her and the feeling shouldn't change. The
way Adrienne and her friend, another nanny for a rich family,
deal with Cameron's evilness and wild ways was brilliant.
There is also a sequel to this novel, called Confessions
of a Teen Nanny: Rich Girls.
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