Mar

Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz Book Review

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MARCO IMPOSSIBLE by Hannah Moskowitz Book Review
Publication Date: March 19th 2013 by Roaring Brook Press
Rating: – Acceptable |

Book Summary: Thirteen-year-old best friends Stephen and Marco attempt a go-for-broke heist to break into the high school prom and get Marco onstage to confess his love for (and hopefully steal the heart of) Benji, the adorable exchange student and bass player of the prom band. Of course, things don’t always go according to plan, and every heist comes with its fair share of hijinks.

Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz Book Review Overview:

Marco can be a bit overbearing by the end of the book
The sibling relationships are a highlight of MARCO IMPOSSIBLE
A speedy read with a satisfying ending

Stephen is going to help his best friend, Marco, break into the high school prom so that he can declare his love for Benji in MARCO IMPOSSIBLE by Hannah Moskowitz. The recent middle school graduates are going all for nothing with a crazy plan for a declaration of love. While Marco is figuring out the last minute plans for their heist, Stephen learns that someone may be out to get Marco – someone who is uncomfortable with the fact that Marco is gay. Stephen must help accomplish Marco’s plan while uncovering who might be behind all of the hate crimes.

I know that part of the point of this book is to hate Marco quite a bit. After all, it is Stephen who is our protagonist and we want him to finally step out from Marco’s shadow. I know Marco is being bullied and all, but I really hate how he takes it all out on Stephen. He can really be a brat sometimes. His character was starting to get overbearing towards the end, and it made relating to Stephen a lot easier.

What I love most about MARCO IMPOSSIBLE by Hannah Moskowitz is the endearing relationships between Stephen and all of his siblings. As the middle child, he has such different relationships with each of his five siblings. I love that even if they are all different, they clearly love each other. I thought that the sibling relationships in MARCO IMPOSSIBLE by Hannah Moskowitz were truly genuine.

MARCO IMPOSSIBLE by Hannah Moskowitz is a pretty speedy read with a satisfying ending. Despite my fallbacks with Marco, I’d still be willing to try other Hannah Moskowitz books. In fact, this one has just made me more curious about her young adult novels. I’d recommend this book to middle grade readers who love strong friendships and familial relationships.

About the Author

Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. She was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA’s 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. She is a student at The University of Maryland.

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Permalink Category Book Review, Three Stars - Audience: Middle Grade, Author: Hannah Moskowitz, Book: Marco Impossible, Borrow It, Genre: Contemporary, Publisher: Roaring Brook Press | Words 792 words

Mar

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler Book Review

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TWENTY BOY SUMMER by Sarah Ockler Book Review
Publication Date: June 1st 2009 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Rating: – Acceptable |

Book Summary: “Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?”
“Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?”

According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler Book Review Overview:

Refreshing break from the cold New York winter
I did not approve of the twenty boy contest, but Twenty Boy Summer has awesome kissing scenes
This book almost made me cry

During the summer, I recommended TWENTY BOY SUMMER by Sarah Ockler to my sister because I’d seen it around the blogosphere. She likes the summer romance young adult novels – ones that I’m not too fond of. But since my dystopian hangover – caused by reading too many dystopian novels, most recently Fuse by Julianna Baggott – I thought it was about time to take a break and read something different. I took a break from the dreary New York weather and vacationed in the California summer with protagonist, Anna in TWENTY BOY SUMMER.

Anna is secretly in love with her best friend’s brother, Matt, who also happened to be her other best friend. When Matt finally kisses her on her 15th birthday, Anna is ecstatic. But just before Anna and Matt can tell his sister about their relationship, Matt dies from a heart defect. One year later, Anna travels with Frankie to Zanzibar Bay, California with her family in hopes to overcome their grief.

My main frustration in TWENTY BOY SUMMER by Sarah Ockler is this twenty boy contest that the book revolves around. I know that Frankie is dealing with the loss of her brother by basically rebelling with booze and boys. But I really don’t like it. I guess I just never saw the appeal of summer romances and excessive flirting. It made me constantly want to roll my eyes.

But I admit, Sarah Ockler has a knack for kissing scenes.

If it weren’t for the fact that TWENTY BOY SUMMER is border-line tear-jerker, then I probably would not have enjoyed this book. When Ockler gets to the more serious parts of the novel, she does not back down. I found myself getting choked up whenever the girls finally confront their grief.

What I wish TWENTY BOY SUMMER focused more on was the relationship between Aunt Jayne and Anna. Aunt Jayne seems to have a better understanding of Anna than anyone else in the novel. It’s a shame that we only get a short glimpse of how Aunt Jayne sees her. In general, I wish that the parents weren’t as oblivious as they were. While they tried to spend quality time with Frankie and Anna, I feel like they were still always avoiding the topic of Matt.

However, I do think that Ockler made a great point towards the end of the novel that at the end of the day, everyone has to deal with their grief in their own way. Everyone is a little different when it comes to dealing with the grief of losing a loved one.

About the Author

Sarah Ockler is the bestselling author of novels for teens, including Bittersweet, Fixing Delilah, and the critically acclaimed Twenty Boy Summer, a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten nominee and IndieNext List pick. She is a champion cupcake eater, coffee drinker, night person, and bookworm.

When she’s not writing or reading at home in Colorado, Sarah enjoys taking pictures, hugging trees, and road-tripping through the country with her husband, Alex.

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Permalink Category Book Review, Three Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Sarah Ockler, Book: Twenty Boy Summer, Borrow It, Genre: Contemporary, Genre: Romance, Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Tear-Jerker | Words 1079 words

Jan

Catherine by April Lindner Book Review

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CATHERINE by April Lindner Book Review
Publication Date: January 2nd 2013 by Poppy
Rating: – Acceptable |

Book Summary: A forbidden romance. A modern mystery. Wuthering Heights as you’ve never seen it before.

Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad’s famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?

Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a sudden illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years—a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn’t die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her—starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground.

Told in two voices, twenty years apart, Catherine interweaves a timeless forbidden romance with a compelling modern mystery.

Catherine by April Lindner Book Review Overview:

Fun contemporary with an intriguing mystery
Likeable protagonists but Catherine is more of my favorite
I never read Wuthering Heights: I can’t judge on how successful it is as an adaptation.

I picked up CATHERINE by April Lindner without any knowledge of Wuthering Heights. As much as I itched to search up a plot summary, I really wanted to read CATHERINE without any outside influences. CATHERINE by April Lindner is a fun contemporary with an intriguing mystery told from alternating perspectives set nearly twenty years apart.

When Chelsea finds an old letter addressed to her from her missing mother, Chelsea leaves home in search of her mother in New York City. She is determined to find out what has become of her mother after all these years. Once in New York, Chelsea starts to find out more about her mother as a teenager when she discovers her mother’s old diary. Chelsea hopes that this will be the clue to help track her down.

Chelsea is likeable enough as a protagonist. Her determination is infectious and you want nothing more to find her mother. Of the two, Catherine is probably the one who is more likeable because it is her character that has a questionable future. Catherine’s happily ever after was more in question than Chelsea’s. Catherine had a lot more forces going against her, so I tended to sympathize more with her character.

I wasn’t a fan of how New York City is portrayed in the story; it was like reading a novel from the eyes of a tourist. As someone who lives in the city, it was quite a disappointment.

The romance in CATHERINE by April Lindner is inevitable. It isn’t necessary to the plot and I thought it filler than anything else. I would have been fine if Chelsea had gone through the novel without a romance. It was more of her mother’s story that I found interesting.

Guest reviewer, Loreal, also had a chance to read CATHERINE by April Lindner. I asked her to co-write a review with me, but she said that she loved the book so much that it would be impossible for her to write anything coherent. I should also add that she loved CATHERINE by April Lindner even more so than the original.

CATHERINE by April Lindner succeeds as an engaging contemporary mystery with a touch of romance. But because I have not read Wuthering Heights I can’t judge on how successful it is as an adaptation. However, CATHERINE by April Lindner did not convince me to pick up Wuthering Heights unlike how Lindner’s Jane immediately got me to pick up Jane Eyre.

Other Book Reviews:
Chapter by Chapter
Once Upon a Prologue
WinterHaven Books

About the Author

April Lindner is a young adult novelist and poet. Lindner is a professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. She is the mother of two sons, plays acoustic guitar badly, sees more rock concerts than she’d care to admit, travels whenever she can, cooks Italian food, and lavishes attention on her pets–two Labrador retriever mixes and two excitable guinea pigs.