Word Out 2011

Blog down your fines posts! See what other teens are reading.

Earn $2 in library bucks towards your fines when you share your favourite reads.

Djeneba reviewed Black Widow by Nikki Turner

This book is really interesting by the way the author describes the people and the author always kept you on the edge. In this book the main character Isis feels cursed because of what has happed in her life. Her dad was killed by her mom; her mom was in prison for killing her dad. She watched the lover of her life go to jail and die by the state. When she finally found strength and let herself get into another relationship her new boyfriend beat her baby out of her and her sister ended up in jail. To top it all off a man she went to for help killed her husband just because he wanted her all to himself. She just felt she was cursed in so many ways and I really hope there is a revenge sequel soon to revenge her dead husband.  I was a bit disappointed by the end result because it was a quick ending and it was like a hard smack to the face. Over all I liked the book because it had a lot of the characteristics I like in books, it has love, lust and plenty of hood in it.

Sabryna reviewed Overbite by Meg Cabot

Overbite is the sequel to Insatiable. When I first read the inside cover I couldn't wait to read it. The inside cover talked about a new job, an ex-boyfriend who happened to be the Prince of Darkness and a new employee to the Palatine, Father Henrique – who 2 of the main characters do not trust. The book was great, but not as good as the first one. In the first book, each chapter started out with the time and location of the character, Overbite did not. I expected (from reviews) for there to be more of a love triangle between Meena, Lucien and Alaric. But there were good things to this book, unlike the first one I was never confused about what was going on. The end of Overbite had me wishing I hadn't finished the book. Right now Meg Cabot has said maybe when asked if there will be another book in the series, I really hope there is because I just love the story and characters!

Maryam reviewed Blue Bloods by Melissa De la Cruz

Blue Bloods is the first novel in Melissa De La Cruz's Blue Bloods vampire fantasy series for Young Adults.  Melissa de La Cruz is the author of popular teen series The Ashleys and The Au Pairs but this is her first foray into the world of vampires.Schuyler, the story's main protagonist, is possibly the most likeable character but there were times when I found it hard to believe in her character and emphasise with her.  In particular there is a part of the story where is asked if she wants to be a model.  She doesn't. But she gets given a jeans modelling campaign anyway.  Please, life just doesn't work that way. I know this novel is fantasy but I couldn't suspend my disbelief for that|Some factual elements have been mixed into the vampire mythology too – such as the voyage of the Mayflower and the story of the lost colony of Roanoke.  Melissa De La Cruz comes up with an alternative explanation for the complete disappearance of the settlers colony in 1590 and a gives the word Croatan  a new meaning.  This is an inspired use of what is perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of early American history.Even though the characters in Blue Bloods are only barely engaging, the plot and vampire mythology carry the story well enough to make this a very readable book.  There are also enough loose ends to make readers want to follow up this story with the next instalment (Masquerade) in this series.
Teen vampire fans who wish to vicariously enjoy the lifestyles of the rich and privileged should enjoy this.

Sophy reviewed How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

The name of this book immediately grabbed my attention as I was on my book scout in the library the other day. I had no idea what to expect from this book at first, but I thought I might as well read it since it is indeed Summer break right now.
This book is down-right hilarious. It's about a girl named Amy who gets dragged on an unexpected trip to Israel for the Summer with her father. Or as she calls him,  the 'Sperm donor'. She's never had a great relationship with him because of her family's rocky past. Amy considers herself to be an 'accident', and going to Israel with the Sperm Donor is the last thing she planned to do this Summer. When she arrives in her fathers hometown, it's the complete opposite of what she assumed it would be like (a war zone).
The Summer vacation seems like a jail sentence at first to Amy, but after a while she's actually enjoying herself with the presence of her Safta (grandma in Hebrew), cousins, new friends, and a new lover?! By the end of the trip Amy comes back to America with a new found respect for her culture, her father (she finally drops the nickname) and for herself.
A great summer read!

Maleeha reviewed Heist Society by Ally Carter

Heist Society is simply indescribable. It is such a great book that there was no way that I could put the book down until I had finished it. It is a book about:
A girl.
Thieves.
Family.
And a mystery.
As the story begins, the protagonist Katarina, short for Kat, Bishop's family is a family of thieves. Kat's father had been accused of stealing 5 paintings from one of the biggest thieves, Arturo Taccone, but her dad denies the accusation. Therefore, Kat decides to find the paintings herself, along with her friends, and bring them to Arturo Taccone himself.  Arturo Taccone tells Kat that she has 2 weeks to get the paintings, no more and no less. One day on, while visiting the biggest museum in the world, Kat figures out that Arturo Taccone paintings are behind 5 other priceless paintings. She found the paintings but now, she needed to know how to get them out of the world's largest museum. With the help of her billionaire friend, cousin, and other friends, Kat manages to sneak the paintings out of the meseum. Along with that, she also tricks Arturo Taccone and sends him to jail for stealing other paintings.
Ally Carter is such an amazing author and I love how she unravelled  the mystery. The second Heist Society book also came out and I am definitely going to read it. The Gallager Girls series by Ally Carter and also a good read. Enjoy the book!

Gail reviewed the Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

The Gathering takes place in a small town on Vancouver Island with a population of about 200.  There, the St.Cloud company filled the town with employees that were promised the best care for their children.  All employees that were hired have young children and the St. Cloud company thought that the best way to attract the paren'ts is to promise the best for the children.  In this town, the main character, Maya lives with her paren'ts.  Maya was adopted at the age of five and has a paw print shaped birthmark above her waist. Her best friend's called Daniel and her other best friend, Serena, drowned in a lake.  The incident was deemed an accident but both Maya and Daniel have different opinions. Besides that, the new guy, Rafe, is constantly following Maya, wanting her to be his girlfriend. Mix that was a bunch of cougar appearences, a shady women by the name of Mina Lee that wants any information the towns children can'tell her, and the unnatural events that are occuring and you have a very complicated life.  So what does Maya do when she figures out who she really is and uncovers a huge conspiracy happening in her own town?
I love Kelley Armstrong books.  More like i really like her adult books (The Women of the Otherworld series).  Her teen books (The Darkest Powers Series) wasn't too good in my opinon so i was quite hesitant to read this book but i gave it a shot and well, it's definitely Kelley Armstrong. There aren't as many, shall we say, romantic scenes as one expects from the Women of the Otherworld but this book has it's fair share.  For once though, i'm happy to say that the plot of this book was not driven by the romantic relationships the main character has. In fact, the entire plot of the book is introduced ever so slowly.  The reader does really know what it is until the main character realizes. Basically the lie gets bigger and bigger and more secrets are revealed as the protagonist realizes that her small and quiet town might have more secrets then it seems to have.  Of course, this book has to have some reference to the supernatural but Armstrong took a different route this time.  The supernatural part of this book was more connected to First Nations and their tales as oppose to our perceptions of vampires, werewolves, etc.  What i also really liked about this book was that Kelley Armstrong wrote it so ingeniously that you don`t even realize that at the beginning, she's already revealed what the big secret is, but you don't know about that because you don't know clearly what's happening to the main character and what you're reading about. In fact, all i though about when reading the first couple of chapters is that the main character was getting visions and possibly she had some sixth sense.  Well i was sort of right. The fact is, when the secret is revealed, the facts sort lining up, and you have a EUREKA moment when you realize that the signs were all there, you just didn't know what you were looking for.  I found the characters to be also very intriguing.  Maya is a very stubbern girl who often thinks too much in to events and people.  Daniel is the overprotective best friend who has his own problems to deal with.  The romance in this book was also not what i wanted. I always seem to be rooting for the overprotective, caring boy; not the bad-guy who the girl is obviously attracted to.  Lastly, the ending of this book is a major cliff hanger. I`m probably going to read the second book just to see what`s going to happen to them. Leave it to Kelley Armstrong to keep me hooked.  So if you`re a fan of fantasy, action, dark secrets, and Kelley Armstrong of course, read this book!

Rukayya reviewed Gone by Michael Grant

It's just a normal day for kids at Perdiro beach, like Sam, Astrid, and Quinn who were in class when it happened. Just like that in a blink of an eye all the adults (meaning 15+) dissapear. No one knows where they've gone or what's going on but everyone's first thought-no adults. There is a sense of freedom and kids start creating a mess – stealing candy from the stores, taking cars for a ride and who's to stop them? But things soon take a turn for the worse. We find out that there's a huge wall that starts from the Nuclear plant in Perdiro beach and extends all around and it's very peculiar. You can't touch it without pain and it sort of like a fishbowl… and everyone inside Perdiro beach are the fish. Strange things start to appeat like coyotes that can'talk, snakes that can fly and kids with powers. Sam takes the role of leader and tries to maintain order but only after a couple days do other kids start showing up from the private school on the other side of Perdiro Beach. Coates, the school for "troubled" kids. But this isn't the only problem, they soon find out that there are things way way worse. So everything goes even more downhill from there, and some kids who are about to turn 15 start to dissapear. Of course no one knows where they go to. Sam, with the help of others try to figure things out, but not everyone is willing to be the good guy like Sam but soon enough the kids will have to learn how to live with it all. There are supposed to be 6 books in this series.
Gone is a book that I would recommend for anyone, whether you like to read or not. It's realy intersting and the plot has so much going on without it being confusing. It's always keeping you on your toes and making you guess what's going to happen next. At the moment there are only four books out- Gone, Hunger, Lies, Plague and I loved every single one of them, some more than other but it's still a great series you should read! There are quite a few characters and it may get you a bit confused at first but after you figure it out it's great. Read the books!!!! :]