The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick

Okay, one thing to say. If you cannot relate to the tale of at least one of the girls in this book, you are either a boy or crazy. The four girls are Emma, A bookworm with a librarian mom; Megan, a rich designer-wanna-be with attitude issues; Cassidy, the ultimate jock with a supermodel mother; and Jess, an animal lover whose mom needs a reality check. When the mothers of the girls get together and decide to start a mother-daughter book club, the girls are horrified. But the book club turns out to be better for them then they imagined.

This book is a very good book. The chapters are a bit long for reading aloud, but like I said, if you can't relate to one of the girls in this book, you shouldn't be reading it and you stole it out of your sister's bookshelf. It's hard to rate this book, but I'm going to give it 4 stars.

Love,

Annabelle

A Mystery Moment With Annabelle

If you've read my recent posts, you know that I've been traveling this weekend, and that I checked out a bunch of new books at the library to read. To get to the point, there were eight books total, and I am NOT going to go through the hassle of posting eight posts. So I'm just condensing here.


SHERLOCK, LUPIN AND ME: THE DARK LADY




Author: Irene Adler. This is a spinoff series of Sherlock Holmes. Narrated by Irene Adler, the book tells the tale of a young Holmes, the future gentleman thief Arsene Lupin, and Irene meet in Saint-Malo. The mystery ensues when a valuable necklace is stolen, and a dead man is found by the three youngsters on the beach. The characters are really great and well developed. The plot/storyline is weak, though. The plot is a familiar one, but how they come to catch the culprit is actually a pretty good piece of writing, with the writer not revealing the perpetrator until the end. I give this book 3 stars.

THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD STREET: STEALING FROM THE RICH































Author: Peter Abrahams. Robbie is walking home from school when she meets an old beggar woman. Before she knows it, the woman is taken to the hospital, leaving a curious charm bracelet behind. It isn't long before Robbie discovers the bracelet's magical powers. She and three new friends (Ashanti, Silas and Tut-Tut), who also have strange powers given to them by the bracelet, are soon embarked on a quest to steal from the rich, give to the poor, and stop the unjust closings all around the neighborhood. I really like this book. The characters are well developed, the storyline is good and keeps you guessing, and the plot line keeps you guessing about what happens next. Not much violence, except for a few incidences of gangs and street violence. No guaranteed nightmares. There is no language, and only one little mention of drugs in a passing comment. I give this book 4 and 1/2 stars.


THE DIAMOND OF DRURY LANE: A CAT ROYAL ADVENTURE


Author: Julia Golding. Cat Royal lives in a theater in Covent Garden, and she couldn't be happier. That is, until she overhears the owner of the theater telling a shady character about a diamond in the theater. After that, Cat's world begins to spin out of control. A gang war in Covent Garden seems to be imminent. The son of a lord disappears. And what about those treasonous political cartoons being drawn and distributed by the mysterious 'Captain Sparkler'? All I can say is that you'll be captivated and enthralled (and maybe just a little bit horrified) by Cat's description of 18th century London. I give this book 4 and 3/4 stars.

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT

































Author: Avi. Fabrizio is a servant boy, eager to please his master, Mangus the Magician. But Mangus doesn't seem to want a servant. But when Mangus is accused of treason, he will need all the help he can get from Fabrizio to find the real traitor and clear his name. This book is a real page-turner that will keep you guessing until the end. Is the traitor the superstitious Prince Cosimo, or the scheming Count Scarazoni? Will Fabrizio be able to uncover the traitor without getting himself killed? It's actually a fairly short story considering the mystery of it all. 4 stars.


THE TRIXIE BELDEN MYSTERY SERIES





Author: Multiple in the series. This is a Nancy Drew type mystery, but I like this series better. Trixie is a young teen, and along with her friends Jim and Honey Wheeler, Diana Lynch, Dan Mangan, and her brothers Brian and Mart, she solves mysteries. Her enthusiasm and fervor to solve the mysteries will infect the reader with the same type of excitement. I'm not going to get into any details about any specific book (There are just too many), but when you read them, you'll know what I mean when I say they Nancy Drew could have taken lessons about friendship and getting along with people from Trixie. 4 and 1/2 stars for the entire series.


Well, that's the summary of my weekend :D. I hope that you'll take a cue and dive into one of these books. *Sidenote* most of these books are in a series, but these that I checked out are the first in their  series.


Annabelle

Pssssst

So, I know I just posted yesterday, and that this isn't really a review, but I wanted to chronicle a little book adventure I'm having.


Tomorrow I'm leaving on an eight-hour trip, so while I was at the library yesterday, I checked out six mystery books that I've never read before. I swore to myself, "Annabelle, so that you have enough to do in the car on Friday, don't you dare read one of those new books." I have to say it's been a struggle. I was with Amber at the library, and she was telling me about starting the Hunger Games. "I wasn't going to read it," she said, "I was at Sierra's house, and I saw it on the shelf (Sierra is not her real name, but I'm not going to use it for security reasons). I was just going to read the back. Then I was just going to read the first sentence. Then the first chapter. Before I knew it, I was hooked." I know just how you feel, Amber.

So here I am, home alone. The books are sitting in my traveling bag, just calling my name. But as of right now, I've put in some metaphorical earplugs, and I'm effectively ignoring the impulse to devour my books. The lesson here: IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE SELF-CONTROL!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!


Annabelle

Samwise the Brave (Amber's Quote, Unquote)

As a huge Lord of the Rings geek, I shall commence to write down one of my favourite quotes. This may or may not be from the book, I do not, unfortunately, remember, but it's at a pivotal point in The Two Towers, the middle installment in Tolkien's famous three-part saga.

It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end it's only a passing thing, this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it'll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's still some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

- Samwise Gamgee

And so I just wanted to share that.

Allons-y!

Amber

Tallulah Says

In "Up From Jericho Tel" There are quotes from the fictional character Tallulah at the beginning of each chapter (excepting the first one). Since they in no way relate to the story, and I happen to like them very much, I shall commence posting one once a month.


"A star should demand three things in her contract: her name above the title, a limousine to take her to and from the theater and fresh Belgian chocolates in her dressing room. If she doesn't want the chocolates, then she should demand free hospitalization, for it's certain that she's crazy."

        - Tallulah, chapter six.





A little wisdom from Tallulah :)


Annabelle

Up From Jericho Tel by E.L. Konigsburg

Okay, so having a little trouble with my image setting thingy. :( Sorry.

Anyway, Up From Jericho Tel is a book about a girl named Jeanmarie and a boy named Malcolm. Both are what Jeanmarie calls 'latchkey children'. They are not popular, and not part of the clone group. Clone is Jeanmarie's term for girls and boys who "knock themselves out to be just like everyone else and then brag about how they are different." Jeanmarie and Malcolm bond and become friends over an extremely unlikely activity. Burying dead animals in the woods in a spot that Jeanmarie dubs Jericho Tel. When they find a dead dalmatian, though, things start. The two friends are sucked down through a box called the Epigene to find an actress named Tallulah, who is dead. Tallulah sends them on a quest to find her missing necklace, the Regina Stone, and the three things needed to make a star. Jeanmarie and Malcolm are both stubborn, know-it-alls, and smart-alecky. There is (extremely) mild language in the book, but otherwise I would suggest it for families.

I give this book 4 and 1/2 stars, with a caution for young children.

Annabelle