TheHappyNappyBookseller

Monday, June 13, 2011

Warp Speed by Lisa Yee

Warp Speed by Lisa Yee
Marley is a member of his school AV club loves Star Trek and feels invisible. The only people who see Marley are his five AV friends and the bullies. Marley's calls his biggest tormentors the Gorn, three could be brothers. Their bullying gets as the school year goes on. To keep ahead of the Gorn, Marley accidentally discovers that he loves to run.

Marley is simply trying to survive the 7th grade. He's never portrayed as only a victim. He's also funny, fast, and loves old movies, to name a few things. From the beginning Marley's voice is strong and authentic.

This is the fourth novel Yee's has written that's set at Rancho Rosetta middle school. I've read three , including this one. 3 for 3 is the yes column. The Yee is simply skilled at creating realistic characters and situations.

A quick sidenote, when Marley has a conversation with one of his bullies, I couldn't help but think of The Bystander by James Preller. The final scene sealed the connection for me and these two stories about bullying. Warp Speed and Bystander would pair up nicely.

Read an excerpt

Monday, June 6, 2011

Stupid Fast - Geoff Herbach

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
Felton Reinstein has never been popular and is pretty much ignored. At the end of Sophomore year Felton hits a growth spurt. Suddenly he's stupid fast. The coach is after Felton to join the football.

Felton's summer is spent training, dating Aleah the new girl and worry about this mother and younger brother. His voice was real, straight forward and spot on good. I thought I knew what I was getting with this story, Herbach gave much more. I was wowed by the unexpected depth.

Stupid Fast is Stupid Good. Yes that's corny but it doesn't make it any less true. Felton Reinstein is one of my favorite male protagonist of the year. This wonderful debut is a paperback and only $10.00 which is a freakin steal.

More reviews via the author's site.

Read an excerpt

Friday, June 3, 2011

Beauty Queens - Libba Bray

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
I was looking forward Beauty Queens. I must admit it took me a few chapters to really get into it but once I did I loved it as I do Miss Congeniality and Legally Blonde.

The Miss Teen Dream Pageant plan crashes. Of the 50 contestants only 14 live. There are no other survivors. The 14 girls must figure out how to survive on the island until help arrives. Miss Texas, Taylor Rene Krystal Hawkins, took control. Miss Texas was serious and on it from day one.

The pageant is sponsored by The Corporation. Throughout there are commercial breaks selling their products. I skipped these. There were also chapters that reveal the truth behind The Corporation, I skipped these as well. My only interest in this story was with the contestants. Bray did an excellent job with their voices and background stories. It was especially nice that it wasn't an all White /straight cast. All Miss Teen Pageant got a chance to shine on the island. Under all of the humor Beauty Queens is grounded in great character development.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Nikki & Deja: Election Madness - Karen English, Laura Freeman

Nikki & Deja:Election Madness by Karen English illus. by Laura Freeman
This is the four book in this series. I didn't like the last one as much as the first two and I was hoping this Election Madness would get the series back on track for me. Unfortunately that didn't happen.

Nikki and Deja's third grade teacher the school is holding an election for president. Deja decides to run for president and that Nikki will be her campaign manager. From the beginning Deja is a mean and bossy friend. The class elections are announced Deja is only concerned with how many of her classmates will vote for her. Nikki wants to play during lunch recess but Deja makes her poll class votes, since she's campaign manager.

I don't remember Nikki and Deja's friendship dynamic being like this in the first three books. I am hoping this is a one time thing.