Kate's Tales of Books and Bands

by Jennifer Archer      While cupcakes are delicious, these days with cupcake shops on every corner and gourmet cupcakes are almost more common than simple ones, I can't help but feel they are over done.      Recently, I read The Shadow Girl by Jennifer Archer and I have to say, I was just like one of those gourmet cupcakes. The inside cover was very interesting, like a beautiful frosting maybe even a promising ganache, but like most cupcakes it just wasn't what it promised.      The Shadow Girl is about a seventeen year old named Lily. Her father's death unveils secrets about her and the mysterious 'shadow girl' named Ivy who only she can hear.  She investigates her family’s past with the help of the boy next door and the hot new guy in town. Although some of the ideas are outside what most YA Lit is doing right now, there are a lot of classic side plots, that are a bit over used. I think people who liked The Adoration of Jenna Fox by M...

by Marissa Meyer I think I'm on a trend of reading a galley, then writing a review months later, when the galley is a published book. Let's break this trend. But not today. I admit, I was initially attracted to Cinder by that classy cover. I mean, who really doesn't judge a book by its cover at all? Cinder, living in the far, far future, is a gifted mechanic and a cyborg, living in New Beijing. Naturally, her father is dead and her stepmother abuses her, as well as being a second-class citizen. A fatal, mysterious illness is spreading everywhere, and her sister has caught it. There's political tension between Earth's inhabitants, led by Prince Kai, and the people living on the moon, who hold the cure to the sickness. Naturally, Cinder holds many secrets, most of which she doesn't know herself, that lead her to be the key to Earth's fate. My absolute favorite part about this book is Cinder herself. It's been a while since I read a proper, good book about ...

By Beth Revis.   Unfortunately, I started this review back in February, and then kept forgetting to write it. So the details of A Million Suns aren't exactly clear in my mind. But the awesomeness has stuck! Wow. A Million Suns comes as the sequel to Across the Universe and it blows Across the Universe out of the water. Elder is struggling with the repercussions of taking the ship's population off of the drug Phydus, Amy is coping with the thought of a life spent on the ship and dealing with exactly what feelings she has for Elder, and the general population of the ship is crumbling in discipline. Beth Revis throws lots of surprises into the book, and the ending is so thrilling, so absolutely amazing that I am SO EXCITED for the next book. I'm not going to give the ending away, but it is a big surprise and will have you jumping up an down. Okay, on to some of the specifics. I adore the questions that the book raises about leadership, how we choose our leaders, and what...

By Jo Knowles Fern is your average 12 year old girl. Just starting to ride the upper school bus with her older brother Holden, she's ready for big things. At home, her out of high school sister has to work at their parent's diner, Harry's, as well as watching their baby brother Charlie. When the book starts, Fern is describing her best day ever, setting up her relationship with her family and how she feels around them. It's a truly touching moment. Then, the story begins as the family is driving to the restaurant to see a surprise from the dad. At the diner, surprise! They're making a comercial while wearing stupid shirts, all to raise popularity. Then they get their big break. "See you at Hawee's!" A line shouted by Charlie at the end. Then business is booming. So, the reader watches Fern struggle with her family, homework, school, friends, helping Holden, watching Charlie and deal with life. But then the unthinkable happens. This book was a really go...