Book Review- Going Underground by Susan Vaught

Going Underground by Susan Vaught
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read this book in one day, in a matter of a few hours. I attribute most of this to the exquisite story telling of this author Susan Vaught.

I must say that originally, I was beyond drawn to this story, because the macabre side of me loves anything involving graves, cemeteries, and boys who live or dwell in them. But I wasn't prepared for how good this novel actually turned out to be!

Vaught does an amazing job portraying the voice of a teenage boy. I fell in love with Del, the protagonist, easily. I also found it enjoyable the way she revealed much of the storyline. Del insists that he doesn’t want to tell the audience right away what he did that got him arrested, for fear of being judged by the audience, just like everyone else in his town judges him. But, as Del gains confidence in himself and his newfound love interest, we find out exactly what happened in a series of flashbacks and conversations.

Del is a teenage boy, obsessed with music, his bird Fred, and haunted by his past. In a digital age, one can’t help but relate to this story of living with the consequences of your actions, no matter how unprepared you may feel or how safe cyberspace may feel. This dark secret that Del keeps from the reader, webs the entire plot together, and threatens to come lose at the story’s climax.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but trust me. You want to read this novel. It’s intriguing, it’s funny, it’s serious, and it’s well done.

I love you Del.


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Reading Reading Reading

So lately, I've been trying to finish reading a specific ARC from an author that I really love.

And for some reason I can't.

It's... boring. It sounds like she wrote her new novel trying to sound like someone else. But she doesn't need to. Her previous writing style was perfect. This is just... weird.

Being that I picked that ARC up on my own accord and no one is waiting for a review, I figured that I would set that one down for now and start reading a different novel that I am excited about.

It's called Sammy Keyes and the Night of the Skulls by Wendelin Van Draanen.

It looks like a fun, Halloween-esque read. We shall see.

Stargirl

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I thoroughly believe that anyone in the world will love this novel. I finished feeling good about myself and empowered to make good changes in the world and in myself. I strongly recommend reading this book.

Meet Stargirl Caraway. She’s a mysterious, happy go lucky, and unique girl living in an all too familiar cookie-cutter world.

She’s compassionate, considerate, and goes the extra mile for everyone… Which is why the people in her school don’t understand her. She is written off as weird. Bizarre.

Stargirl doesn’t notice..at first. She goes on to serenade people with her ukulele on their birthdays, wear strange clothing to school, and cheer for her school and their rivals during games.
But Stargirl isn’t obvious. Soon she starts to see the differences between herself and the others around her. In fact, she sees more than most humans do in a lifetime. Stargirl just believes in following her heart, which is harder to do that we’d all like to admit.

Follow Stargirl as she learns, grows, and falls in love in this amazing novel that teaches that though it’s not easy, it’s always important to be true to oneself.


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SUNDAY NIGHT.

I just finished reading "A Tale Dark and Grimm" by Adam Gidwitz.

All I can say is WOW.

The entire book is written in third person, such as any age old fairy tale. It follows Hansel and Gretel through multiple fairy tales that intertwine and weave their coming of age stories together. Though merely children, Hansel and Gretel aren't given any mercy (which is yet another reason to live Grimm's fairy tales), and the entire novel is filled with incredible challenges that the reader can't help but wonder, "How in the world will they get out of this?"

Gidwitz also does a wonderful job of balancing dark with light with hilarious commentary throughout the entire novel.

Please Adam Gidwitz, write another one!

August 27th 2011

Recently, on a road trip with one of my best friends Johanna Banana, we stopped at a Barnes and Noble in Palm Desert. After perusing the titles for a long while, I came upon "A Tale Dark & Grimm" by Adam Gidwitz.

I picked it up, intrigued by the cover (which is awesome), and continued on to the introduction. It is amazing. I was caught off guard. Gidwitz had me laughing so hard that I was tearing up. In this, he takes several fairy tales/children's tales, especially ones from Grimm's Fairy tales and writes them in an entertaining and intricate children's tale.

It's awesome to read a YA/Middle grade novel that can be funny for both adults and kids. That has perfectly placed humor and blood. Lots and lots of blood. I'm a little less than half of the way through thus far. I'll let you know how it goes.