Reading Abounds

Title:   Every Day Series:  Book 1 of The 'A' Series (Every Day, Another Day, Someday) Author:  David Levithan Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 71586 Description:    Every morning A wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Definitely the write up was what interested me with this book, the cover not at all. Notes:    Everyday A wakes up in a different body.  Sometimes, he’s male, sometimes she’s female.  A might be gay, straight, or transgendered, diabetic, blind, or a drug addict.  Everyday is new. A doesn’t mind waking up in a different body everyday until he wakes up in Justin’s body and falls in love with Justin’s girlfriend Rhiannon.  Rhiannon is the only person who seems to see A ...

Title:  Liesl & Po Author:  Lauren Oliver Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 71661 Description:    A mix-up involving the greatest magic in the world has tremendous consequences for Liesl, an orphan who has been locked in an attic, Will, an alchemist's runaway apprentice, and Po, a ghost, as they are pursued by friend and foe while making an important journey. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Read the Delirium Series by this author and thought I would try this stand alone title. Notes:   An intricately connected novel, with a wide cast of interesting characters.  Liesl, after the death of her father, has been relegated by her horrible step-mother to a room in the attic (very reminiscent of many fairytales).  There she meets the ghosts of Po and Bundle. They are drawn to Liesl literally by her drawings. Po becomes the go between for Liesl and the otherside.  Meanwhile, Will, the magicians apprentice ...

Title:  I'm Not Dying with You Tonight Co-Authora:  Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 200829 Description:    Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot. Rubric Rating:  Level 1 - Leave it Why I Read It:  Listened to the Audiobook as it was recommended by my local library Notes:  Lena and Campbell are different, very different but for now they're stuck together.  Lena is a popular girl in school with amazing fashion sense and what you would think is a very good head on her shoulders... except when it comes to her boyfriend Black in whom she can see no wrong.  Campbell is the new girl in school.  Her mother has moved away and she's been forced to move in with her father, who other than dropping her off at school doesn't make much of appearance.  Campbell ha...

Title:  Burning Blue Author:   Paul Griffin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 75470 Description:    When beautiful, smart Nicole, disfigured by acid thrown in her face, and computer hacker Jay meet in the school psychologist's office, they become friends and Jay resolves to find her attacker. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   I had read Adrift by Paul Griffin and this novel sounded good as well. Notes:    I liked this book and read it over the course of two days.  Jay and Nicole go to the same school, they know of each other but don’t know each other.  Nicole is the school beauty queen and Jay is a loner with epilepsy. At an assembly in Freshman year Jay had an epileptic attack in front of the whole school.  He hasn’t been back since with the exception of meeting with Mrs. Schmidt the school Psychologist. Nicole’s life was great until someone squirted battery acid onto her face.  When Jay a...

Title:  Salt to the Sea Author:   Ruta Supetys Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 143529 Description:    In this novel based on real-life events, Prussian World War II refugees find their hopeful exodus turning into a desperate fight for survival when the ship on which they are escaping sinks in the Atlantic. Rubric Rating:   Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:    I have read all of Ruta Sepetys’ other books and knew I wanted to read this one as well. Notes:    This novel had a bit of a slow start for me but I loved the opening lines of each characters’ chapters – For Joana guilt is a hunter, for Florian, Fate is a hunter, and for Emilia, shame is a hunter, and for Alfred fear is a hunter.  The book alternates perspectives between these four characters and I either loved or hated them all. Joana is a Lithuanian fleeing from the invading Russian forces. She is trained nurse traveling with a group of fellow refugees. Flor...

Title: Blood in the Water Series: Tides of War - Volume 1 Author: C. Alexander London Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 87271 Description:   Cory McNab is a member of the Navy's Marine Mammal Program where he is partnered with a search-and-recovery dolphin named Kaj, and their new mission is to help locate a spy submersible lost in North Korean waters, but first they have to win the trust of the Navy SEALs who are assigned to deal with the problem. Rubric Rating: Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It: Chosen for a Read Aloud. Notes:    After Cory drops out of the Navy Seals he’s unsure whether or not he wants to even return to the military but after his brother is attacked by a great white shark and he is rescued by a wild dolphin Cory knows what he’s meant to do.  He joins the Navy’s Marine Mammal program and is partnered with a dolphin named Kaj. When a spy submersible goes missing in North Korean waters Cory and Kaj are called upon by the Navy Seals for a sea...

Title: The Accident Season Author: Moira Fowley-Doyle Perma-Bound Catalogue#: 128557 Description:    Every October Cara and her family become mysteriously and dangerously accident-prone, but this year, the year Cara, her ex-stepbrother, and her best friend are 17, is when Cara will begin to unravel the accident season's dark origins. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: Great Title and Tag Line Notes:    It is October.  It is the accident season.  Every October Alice, Cara, and their ex-stepbrother, Sam, batten down the hatches and prepare for the accident season.  Sometimes it’s not bad, just a few cuts and bruises, but sometimes it’s horrible, with broken bones or worse. Cara’s friend Bea predicts a bad one, but not just a bad one, one of the worst.  While Cara struggles to find understanding about the accident season, is it supernatural or fate, or just made up, she decides that in order to find out for sure,...

Title:  Hollow City Series: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Book #2 Author: Ransom Riggs Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 95713 Description: Jacob and friends have escaped Miss Peregrine's island and flee to London, the peculiar capital of the world, where they are chased by Miss Peregrine's brother. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Continuing with the series and enjoyed the first novel. Notes: Hollow City was a much faster and more engaging read for me than Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  Jacob and the peculiar children are on a quest to find another ymbryne so that they can return Miss Peregrine to her human state.  Using the only items they have available to them - their peculiarities and the book of tales, Jacob, Emma, and the others set out on a quest to find other loops and peculiars.  Their quest leads them not only from place to place but from time to time. In this book we learn more about the differen...

Title:  Sweet Author: Emmy Leybourne Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 118944 Description: On a celebrity cruise launching a new diet sweetener, Laurel is too seasick to even try the new product and beginning to regret taking this vacation, but when her fellow passengers start behaving oddly, her trip becomes truly terrifying. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Interesting cover and title. Notes: Laurel and her friend Vivika have scored big.  Tickets on the Solu Cruise to Lose! Laurel and Viv are healthy 17-year-olds who wear size 14 clothes.  But to today's youth that's just too big.  Everyone on the luxury cruise has been selected as a marketing ploy by Timothy Almstead, the maker of Solu.  The "solu-tion" to America's obesity epidemic.  Tom Fiorelli - or baby Tom-Tom as he's known from his early television days has been hired to do interviews and provide footage for television stations - an exclusive event that is supposed to reinvi...

Title:  Reboot Author: Amy Tintera Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 93743 Description: Twelve-year-old Wren rises from the dead as a Reboot and is trained as an elite crime-fighting soldier, at seventeen she is happily training new Reboots until she is given an order she refuses to follow. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: High/Low title with a great tag line.   5 years ago I died, 178 minutes later I woke up. Notes: This was a really good book.  Wren Connolly is a reboot.  At 12 years old she was shot and killed.  178 minutes later she woke up as a reboot.  At some point she was infected by the plague and this caused her body to reboot after death.  Now she is faster, stronger, less emotional, and heals quicker, and can only die if her brain is impaled.  Something of a mercenary zombie the reboots are given better food and housing than the rest of the population but they are also used a force to patrol the cities.  At 1...

Title:  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children  (Book 1 in the series) Author: Ransom Riggs Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 72163 Description: A horrific tragedy sends sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island, where he discovers the ruins of an old orphanage that was home to children who were more than just peculiar, but possibly dangerous -- and they may still be alive. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It! Why I Read It: Interesting cover and title, and it's being made into a movie. Notes:   Jacob Portman was always close with his grandfather, loved the stories he used to tell, liked looking at his strange collection of photographs.   But as Jacob got older he stopped believing.   When Jacob receives a frantic phone call from his grandfather, and finds him on death’s doorstep, all of his stories begin to feel real.   Could his grandfather have been telling the truth?   Jacob is struggling in the aftermath of his grandfather’s dea...

GUEST POST:  ANGELA THOMPSON - East Northumberland SS Title:  The Conspiracy of Us and Map of Fates Author:  Maggie Hall Conspiracy of Us: Perma-bound Catalogue #: 113033 Map of Fates: Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 113032 Description - Conspiracy of Us: When sixteen-year-old Avery West learns her family is part of a powerful and dangerous secret society, and that her own life is in danger, she must follow a trail of clues across Europe. Description - Map of Fates: Accompanied by Jack and Stellan, Avery jets around the world, unraveling the mystery of the Circle with the aim of setting herself and her mother free, before it's too late. Angela's Rubric Rating:  Conspiracy of Us: Level 2 - Like it Map of Fates: Level 3 - Laud it Why I read these books:   An “ordinary” girl gets thrown into a treasure hunt, attracts the attention of two fabulous looking boys, and has a role to play in a conspiracy that could end the world as we k...

Title:  Adrift Author: Paul Griffin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 104210 Description: Taking a job in Montauk for the summer, best friends Matt and Mike meet a couple girls who enjoy lives of privilege before the group becomes lost at sea in a small boat and must overcome respective differences in order to survive. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love it! Why I Read It: I picked this book at the 2016 Reading for the Love of It Conference in Toronto.  I was just going to glance at it quickly and ended up starting to read it right there. Lori's Notes: This book is a very quick read and I finished it over the course of two days.  Matt and John have been friends for years and are bonded over a shared tragedy in their past.  Matt is smart and hoping to head to Yale, John is pragmatic and is planning to become an electrician.  They're spending their summer working the tourist beaches selling drinks and ice cream and this is how they meet Driana (Dri), Estefani...

Title: Wonder Author: R. J. Palacio Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 61954 Description: Ten-year-old Auggie, born with extreme facial abnormalities, must struggle with the taunting and fear of classmates as he enters a private school in Manhattan in an attempt to live a normal life. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Great cover and multiple requests from customers.  I read 365 Days of Wonder first so I needed to read this book too. Lori's Notes:   This book was fantastic.  August Pullman is a normal kid, except for his face.  August was born with a severe facial deformity, and because of all the surgeries this required August was home schooled.  Now that he is 10, Auggie is enrolled in Beecher Prep Academy. Nervous at first Auggie makes friends with Jack Will and Summer but kids can be cruel and everyone isn't as able to see past Auggie's exterior to the smart and funny kid he is inside.  Kids like Julian who tease Auggie and try to tur...