Stars: *****
I received a copy of this book to review from Tundra Books back in the Fall but it slipped into the back burner of books to read. Now that I’ve read it, I wish I had read it sooner! I'm counting it towards the Book Around the World challenge too.

Summary: The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons, Fourteen-year-old Amrith is submerged in the cheerful, well-to-do lifestyle in which his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky have raised him. Still, Amrith can’t seem to shake the blurred memories of his life “before,” when his doting mother was still alive. School is out for the summer and Amrith’s holiday plans seem unpromising. Until, like and unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada, and his life suddenly becomes storm-tossed. Shakespeare’s Othello, with its powerful them of disastrous jealousy, plays in the backdrop of the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed.

Stars: **** This book was read for the Young Adult Challenge and the Reading My Name Challenge

Summary: At first Eliza is happy with her new life at boarding school. But a bond begins to develop between Eliza and Helen, a mischievous, unpopular girl, who defies authority, plays practical jokes and doesn’t seem to care what others think of her. It is Helen who starts the daring game among the five girls in the Yellow Dorm…

I really enjoyed this book. It was nice to get a taste of boarding school other than Harry Potter. Many things were the same though, such as the strict rules and dress code and collecting house points. This school (Ashdown Academy) is also open to day students and takes students from Grade 1- Grade 12. Eliza and her friends are in Grade 7 which I think is quite young to board. I could never do it at age 12.

Stars: ***1/2

This book is the 1992 winner of the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award.

Summary: The daughter of an apothecary and the owner of a secret book of healing arts, Urusla is determined to become a great heler – but her ambition makes her an outsider in the Holy Roman Empire. When she is accused of witchcraft and sentenced to burn at the stake, she is given one chance to save herself: she must march in the People’s Crusade to the holy city of Jerusalem. Along with her father and her friend Bruno, Urusla joins thousands of other pilgrims on a harrowing journey, which will expose the dark side of the “glorious” Crusades, and change her life forever.

Review first published at Front Street Reviews.

Stars: ****

Katie McCabe is a 14 year old girl who wants to be known for who she is and not by the McCabe family name. Katie lives with her dad, the sheriff of their town. Katie is a bit of a rebel. She is always getting into trouble with her friend Timmy but after they accidently set fire to a shed, Katie’s life just keeps going downhill.

At the beginning of the book is a Cast of Characters. This is unsual in a novel but if done right, can be helpful when a book has more than a few main characters. My only qualm with Gardner-Griffie’s Cast of Characters is that a little too much information is revealed. It doesn’t ruin the ending of the book, just tells a little about what’s going to happen.

Stars: *****

I chose this book because I picked it up at a library sale but I’m 95% sure I’ve actually read this once before. This is also the first 5 Star book of 2008. (Even thought it's not the first 5-star review posted.) I also read this for the Casual Reading Challenge.

It’s the story of Lauren and her friend Andrea who both feel too fat and want to lose weight. Only Andrea takes it too far. It’s the story of Anorexia and a teen girl’s pressure to be thin. It’s told very well and I think it would be the perfect book to read along with your teen and discuss. I think if more parents discussed this book with their teens, we might make teens more aware of anorexia and the warning signs.
I HIGHLY recommend this book to all teen girls ages 12 and up.