Violet by Design by Melissa Walker Book Review

Violet by Design by Melissa Walker
(Penguin, Paperback)

Rating:

After taking a break at home in North Carolina, Violet is heading back to the runway. In Brazil. Violet postpones her admission to Vassar College til spring semester and excitedly heads off to become a globe-trotter. She's not in it for the fame, she just wants to see the world. But as level-headed as Violet is, the modeling world sucks her in. She starts obsessing about her weight, she falls in love with a Brazilian playboy, and she becomes a media sensation again. What's a wallflower to do when she's halfway around the world and one best friend is busy with college and the other won't talk to her?

I'm usually really bad about remembering details from books. Give me a few months and I become a little fuzzy on the details. But reading Violet by Design was like sitting down with an old friend. Despite the fact that I read Violet on the Runway over 5 months ago, I dove back into Violet's story. She's such a great character, equally brave and shy. This mix gets Violet into a lot of trouble (like when she holds her own mini press conference so she can speak out against eating disorders) yet it also endears her to a lot of people (such as the likably rude Veronica and the dreamy, best-friend-to-the-rescue-kinda-guy, Roger). Violet makes mistakes but she also has principles. She obsesses about her weight but, after a few shaky days, she realizes that it's self-destructive to crash diet. I also loved that all of Violet's friends were there to support her in this novel, Julie, Roger, Sam, and Veronica. And for all of you Roger fans out there, things spice up just a little between Roger and Violet. Enough to make me desperate to read the next book in the series, Violet in Private, which will be out in August.

Check out Melissa's blog for news about Violet, plus lots of great writing tips and contests.

Something to Blog About by Shana Norris Book Review

Something to Blog About by Shana Norris
(Amulet Books, Hardcover)
Rating:

Libby's having a rough time. Her mother is dating Angel's father, the evilest girl in school, and Seth, her crush, barely notice she's alive. Plus, she just set her hair on fire in front of her whole chemistry class, which includes Seth. What's a girl to do? Libby decides to start writing in an online journal, setting it to private so that no one will learn her innermost thoughts. Now that Libby has somewhere to vent, life is getting better. Until her mom invites over Angel and her father for a "bonding" dinner. Then Angel posts Libby's blog pages all over school and Libby's life is a mess again.

The chapters in this book are interspersed with pages from Libby's blog. I loved this format because it was fun reading Libby's posts and, because of the "normal" chapters, you also get to hear the other characters talk. There's also some IMing throughout for extra fun. Libby is an absolutely lovable character and I fell in love with her the moment that she caught her hair on fire (which you learn about in her post called GIRL ON FIRE). It's such a fun hodge podge of high shool calamity and the ending is equally great - not too perfect. I recommend reading this if you're feeling down about your own embarrasing moment or if you're just looking for a fun read.

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock Book Review

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
(Houghton Mifflin, Hardcover)
Rating:

Princess Ben's parents are killed by assassins and her life changes drastically. Overnight, she is moved from her comfy home into the palace, under the rule of the harsh Queen Sophia. The Queen demands that Ben learn to dance, crochet, and converse in several languages. Ben is also put on a strict diet and when is found sneaking food, she is banished to a dreary tower room. In the tower, she finds a secret magical room and begins to teach herself magic. It is there that the she finds the inner strength to help defend her country against its enemies.

Princess Ben is a spunky, unique heroine. She is not ashamed of her weight and she certainly doesn't need a man to make decisions for her. I enjoyed reading about all of her adventures and misadventures. This is Catherine Murdock's first foray into fantasy and she does a great job of turning around the normal fairy tale. In fact, she has the princess wake up the prince with a kiss. Fans of her other books, Dairy Queen and The Off Season, may be a little disappointed. The minor characters aren't as well drawn out in this book. We hardly know anything of Prince Florian, and Queen Sophia is painted as a frightfully vicious character and then, somewhat unbelievable, undergoes a radical transformation. It took me a few chapters to get into the story but, once in, I was hooked. There is an especially funny battle scene towards the end...You'll have to read it to find out more. :-)

Author Spotlight: an interview with Elizabeth Scott

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Teen authors are some of the most generous people I've ever met. Elizabeth Scott is no exception. I started reading her blog around the same time as her first novel Bloom came out and was the lucky winner of one of her fabulous contests. A few months ago, we corresponded again and she offered to let me interview her. Her new book, Perfect You, is in stores next week and make sure to add Stealing Heaven, her third book, to your May wishlist.

Em: I really enjoyed your first novel, Bloom. How was it different writing Perfect You? Easier? Harder?

Elizabeth: First, thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked Bloom.
Perfect You was a hard book for me to write—it ended up taking me almost a year, and it's strange because I've written books that are more intense, but yet something about this one really got to me. I think a lot of it was Kate and Anna—writing about the loss of a friendship was difficult for me because I've had friendships end, and thinking about those losses made writing about Kate's situation painful at times.

Em: Recently you posted the cover for your upcoming book, Living Dead Girl and I see that Stealing Heaven will be released soon as well. Can you tell us anything about these books?

Elizabeth: Stealing Heaven will be out at the end of May, and here's a five word summary—with thanks to popgurls for getting me to do this in the first place—

thief meets cop: love? disaster?

A longer version:
Stealing Heaven is about Dani, a girl who has spent her whole life on the move—and as a thief. When Dani and her mother settle on the coastal town of Heaven for their next job, Dani finds herself feeling at home for the first time in her life. She meets people she likes, including a guy, but when things get tough—her new friend lives in the house they've targeted and the guy turns out to be a cop—Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known...or the one she's always wanted.

Living Dead Girl will be out in September, and I can't say much about it yet other than it's about a girl whose entire life—including her name—is a lie.

Em: Perfect You is the title of your new book as well as the name brand of the vitamins that Kate’s dad sells. Which came first - the title or the brand name?

Elizabeth: The title. I almost always get titles first, and as soon as I thought of this one, I knew it worked not only for the book, but would be the name of the vitamins that Kate's dad sells.

Em: We have something in common in that we both had a parent as a teacher (my mom was my art teacher for a few years). You went to a small high school and ended up having both of your parents as teachers. How did that influence your high school years? Any latent desires to teach?

Elizabeth: I wish I had some great trauma-filled stories about having my parents as teachers, but I don't. In an area as rural as the one I grew up in, I knew, from a very early age, that when I got to high school, I was going to have my parents as teachers. So it wasn't like it was a surprise to me or anyone else—I guess when you've known something was going to happen since you were five, it really negates the shock value! However, regarding influence on me and wanting to teach—well, that's a totally different story! After seeing how hard my parents worked, I never EVER wanted to be a teacher. Yes, you get summers off, but before that, let me tell you—you work your butt off! (The average high school teacher teaches at least three different sections of a particular class—for example, history, AP history, and remedial history—which all require different class preparations, and then also has things like lunch/detention/bus duty, plus is in charge of one or more school-sponsored clubs and/or events. And as for the summers off, there's always summer school, taking classes you need to in order to keep your certification, and, of course, more school-related activities—if you're coaching a sports team, for example, you can pretty much kiss your summer good-bye)

Em: Bloom was one of my favorite covers for 2007 and Perfect You is one of my favorites for 2008 so far. In fact, I just updated my profile with a picture of my shoes!

Elizabeth: Lisa Fyfe designed both the Bloom and Perfect You covers, and she is AMAZING! I've been really fortunate in my covers and every time I've see them, I've feel like they really capture what the story is about. (The shoes on the Perfect You cover, for example--as soon as I saw them, I immediately thought of the scene between Will and Kate at the party and thought, "YES!")
(btw, love your updated profile pic!!)

Em: What’s the coolest thing about being a published author?

Elizabeth: Hearing from readers. Hands down, that is the best thing ever. EVER.

Em: What are some of your favorite young adult books? Which ones influenced you while growing up?

Elizabeth: Right now, I've been reading a lot of young adult novels from the United Kingdom, and I have to say, I think they have some amazing writers. Kate Cann, Sarra Manning, Judy Waite, and Julie Hearn—all of these authors are automatic must-buys for me, even if I have to order all their latest books from amazon.co.uk! When I was growing up, there wasn't nearly as rich a range of YA as there is now—I remember a lot of books about two certain identical twins—but I adored Judy Blume. I still read Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself about once a year.

Em: Why did you decide to write young adult novels? (And trust me, we’re all thankful that you did!)

Elizabeth: It actually all started when I was on the phone with a friend. We were talking about young adult novels, which I've loved since they started getting totally fabtastic in the late 1990s, and I mentioned how I'd love to see one about a girl who had the "happily ever after"—the perfect boyfriend and etc. —and who wasn't happy with it because yeah, the guy was perfect...but she wasn't. And my friend said, "So write it!"And I did.

Em: I’ve heard all sorts of crazy stories about strange writing habits, such as wearing only one sock while writing or only using a lucky pen or, and this is the grossest, not showering during the last few weeks of writing a novel. Do you have any quirky writing habits that you’d be willing to share with us?

Elizabeth: I can't talk about what I'm working on while I write it.Well, okay, I could. But I don't. And it's so ingrained in me now that until I get that first draft done, I won't say anything about what's going on or what will happen—not even to the person who reads my first drafts! (Luckily, she's very understanding. Very!)

Em: And last but not least, if you had just one piece of advice for young writers, what would it be?

Elizabeth: Read. Read as much as you can, in as many genres as you can—not only to learn about what you like and don't, but because reading opens the door to so many amazing worlds. And who would want to pass that up?

Thanks for letting me interview you, Elizabeth! This was tons of fun and I can't wait to read Stealing Heaven. I hope everyone else enjoys the interview too!

Other Resources:
Elizabeth's website
Elizabeth's blog
The first two chapters of Perfect You
More info on Elizabeth's books

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott Book Review

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
(Simon Pulse, Paperback)
Rating:

Kate’s life used to be pretty good. She had a great best friend and her dad had a normal job. In just six months, everything has changed. Anna, Kate’s best friend, isn’t talking to her anymore and Kate’s dad has quit his job to sell Perfect You vitamins at a free-standing booth in the mall. Kate has to quit choir so she can help her dad out. (The vitamin business isn’t doing so well and he can’t pay his employees so Kate and her brother Todd are roped in to help.) If this all wasn’t bad enough, Kate has started hooking up with Will in the mall alley. Will is cute and popular but Kate is worried that she’s just a diversion until his next hookup.

Kate is a completely believable character—her story pulled me in and I was cheering for her the whole time. It’s tough being a teenager and it’s even tougher when you don’t have the support of your family and friends. Kate’s mom and brother are dealing with their own problems and you can’t help but wish they would pay attention to Kate for just a little bit. Will is the one bright spot in Kate’s life. Again though, Kate has been trampled on by most everyone so she’s not quite ready to trust Will. Scott makes it easy to see it from Kate’s point of view, too. Does Will really like Kate or is she just one of the many girls that he flirts with? The dialogue between Will and Kate is really fun to read and I think the cover image sums up their relationship perfectly. I can just imagine Kate holding herself back, a little unsure, while Will is confidently leaning in towards their conversation.

I recommend snatching up a copy of Perfect You when it comes out next week. And if you just can’t wait until then, check out Elizabeth Scott’s first novel Bloom, which I reviewed here or read my interview with Elizabeth.

Six Random Things meme

Melissa Walker, author of Violet on the Runway and Violet by Design, tagged me for the Six Random Things meme. I haven’t been tagged for many memes and, as I was debating whether to do this one or not, I realized that meme is Em spelled backwards and multiplied by 2. So cosmic association predetermined that I must play along…

1. I like my feet. I’ve had an issue with every part of my body at least once in my life but never my feet. Nothing special about them. I just like them.
2. Rain makes my day.
3. My secret desire is to write the script for music videos. Every time I hear a song, I automatically translate it into a mini book. So often I see a music video and think, really, that was the best you could do?
4. Speaking of music, I really like country music. That probably makes me six kinds of uncool. But just watch this video and tell me you wouldn't want that guy to sing to you.
5. My cat talks to birds. Honest to goodness. She sits there and chirps at them.
6. Cupcake frosting tickles the roof of my mouth.
   

So here are the rules for this meme in case you want to play:
1/ you link back to the person who tagged you.
2/ post these rules on your blog.
3/ share six unimportant things about yourself.
4/ tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5/ let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

I tag BookBopper, Liv, Miss Erin, Teen Troves, Ink Mage, & BookMuncher. No pressure though.

Ok...now back to reading Violet by Design which I finally bought this weekend. Just what has Violet gotten herself into now?

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce Book Review

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
(Arthur A. Levine, Hardcover)
Rating:

Charlotte Miller and her sister Rosie are orphaned and suddenly in charge of running their family’s mill. Desperate to save the mill from being turned over to the bank or from being bought out by the competition, Charlotte and Rosie enlist the help of the mysterious Jack Spinner. The first time Jack visits them, he spins gold from straw in exchange of a pearl ring – a ring that is the only link between Charlotte and her mother. The gold thread allows Charlotte to pay off some of the debt owed to the bank. But the mill is still in debt, so Jack Spinner visits twice more. The last time, he asks for Charlotte’s newborn son as payment. Charlotte must find a way to lift the curse on her mill and banish Jack Spinner for good before he can take her son.

I’d heard so many good things about this novel so I think I was expecting too much. It started off extremely slow as we learned over and over again just how much Charlotte was in debt and just how cursed the mill was. I kept reading because I was sure that it would get better. It did get better and I started to enjoy it more about halfway through. However, I never really felt close to Charlotte. She was desperate to save the mill but it seemed as if she didn’t appreciate her sister or her husband very much. The setting was described very vividly and I could easily picture the mill. In comparison, the characters seemed less developed. Charlotte has an uncle who proves to be evil. This is hinted at throughout but I never did feel like the uncle really added much to the story. It seemed as if his character could easily have been left out, thus allowing other characters to get more face time. If you like fairy tale retellings, this is worth the read. I would classify it as a somewhat feminist take on Rumpelstiltskin – interesting if, like me, you enjoy strong female main characters.