No One Wants to be a Burn Out

picture courtesy of adriennemariavrettos.com

Tallyho!

Along with reading about girls getting over guys I happen to finish a book about dangerous things like drugs and other stuff.

Written in first person narrative, Burnout by Adrienne Maria Vrettos tells the story of Nan who is confused with herself. The girl wakes up after Halloween with some weird costume on a train, not remembering how she got there. As the book progresses, Nan's story unravel the reader and her both find out what happened that night.

This book is one of those books that makes you feel like you are inside the book. And it's also a book that shows in a fictional way, the problem of drugs and its affects. I don't have much words for this book because of the fact that it was just so intense.

If you read Go Ask Alice, you will be swept in this one.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

We always Want a Perfect Picture (Book Review)

picture courtesy of readerstore.com)

Having romantic relationships is something that happens every now and then throughout the seasons. It is nothing rare. However being in one can be a roller coaster ride. The whole having expectations to later be broken by the reality of finally seeing all the dimensions of that person; well that is nerve racking.

Reading Picture Perfect by Leila Sales brought me to that whole concept. Written in first person narrative, Picture Perfect is about a girl named Chelsea Glaser who is dealing with a bad break up and ends up working again at the same place she worked every other summer with her best friend, Fiona, to try to deal with it. But as life tends to be a total biotch, Chelsea ends up seeing her ex-boyfriend there and finds out that he will be working there for the summer too. From then on it gets crazy.

I really liked this book for it's witty humor and realistic characters. You have the main character who is someone who believes in the happily ever afters and dealing with the reality of not having it, which is a lot of girls nowadays. Meanwhile, her best friend is the opposite. There is good humor and "uh-oh" moments that took me by surprise. The romantic parts aren't cheesy and the whole adventure part in between was good to keep my interest going.

I personally think this book is really good to read after dealing with a break up; otherwise, it's a great book: try it anyway.


Til Next Blog Post,
Miss Bobo

Hard Love (book review)

picture courtesy of thebookdepository.co.uk

Lately, I have been on a YA realistic fiction binge: catching up on the books I missed circa high school of 2004. There were books I picked up but was too busy to read fully. This book was one of them.

Written by Ellen Wittlinger in a male first person narrative, Hard Love deals with John, the main character, who reads zines while dealing with his broken family dynamic. He avoids his friend, Brian, since he is uber romantic and wants to talk about girls all the time. Everything is its usual negative routine until John decides to meet Marisol the hardcore honest Puerto Rican lesbian zinester (seriously she describes herself that way within the book).

This novel is one of those guy meets girl and thinks nothing is going to happen until he realizes it happened. It's an anti-romantic book that shows what its like to be the guy who gets rejected...kinda like Ted from How I Met Your Mother.

To me the fact that John doesn't get the girl is the hook of the novel. I really didn't like his attitude but at the same time understanding why he is the way he is through his eyes helped to make this book  more interesting. If you're a lover of happy endings I suggest to not expect much with this book because you are not going to get that happy ending. Either way, if you are into the coming of age stories, dig right in.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Crossing (book review)

picture courtesy of examiner.com

I always like reading books exposing or showing different cultures such as in the case of Akata Witch or The Housekeeper & The Professor. I learn something new through the characters or even the environment they are put upon.

Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda does that. Written in the first person narrative, the novel is told in the voice of Xing Xu who alongside his family and friend, Naomi Lee, is a Chinese immigrant. Naomi and him are the only Chinese immigrants in a usual all-white school. And as another year begins, students start to die unexpectedly, reporting before their death a man with a red jacket. As the story progresses, Xing finds out many things of people and of himself that will amount to an interesting ending of the book.

When I read the first page, I got interested. However, as I read more I got more into the book. This book has impeccable vocabulary that it took me back to Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (and that book had so much vocabulary).

The mystery part of Crossing isn't focused on the murderer but rather the after effects that affect the main character. There is a struggle to fit in with a community that has never really seen people from a different ethnicity besides Xing and Naomi. This book got me to see more of the clash between "U.S. land of the free" and the reality of immigrants here. Fukuda did a wonderful job giving a realistic tint to a YA novel. Most YA novels deal with angst and fitting in but this novel deals in a deeper angst: one of living with a constant struggle of fitting in  that is harder to fix than a makeover. After all you can't change where you come from.

I definitely recommend this book if 1. you want to learn new words like "vociferous," "visceral" or "ephemeras"; 2. you like mysteries and ...3. you don't like perfect endings because this book did not end in a happy "perfect" ending. I can write so many more reasons as to why you should read this book but in the end: I rather you just try for the sake of another adventure on the go.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Things Don't Always Stay the Same: Return to Paradise (a book review)

picture courtesy of goodreads.com

Last blogpost I reviewed Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles; which dealt with the perspective of two people involved in a drunk hit-and-run accident.

I liked the book so much, I went and read the second after I returned the first book. Both books took me about 2-3 days to finish so it wasn't much of a big deal to pick up the sequel and finish it.

Return to Paradise which is the sequel to Leaving Paradise, deals with Maggie and Caleb growing up. The first book covered how they both reacted towards each other after the accident. Things got out of control after Caleb's release from juvie and soon enough Maggie and Caleb end up facing the emotions they feel towards each other.

However, Caleb makes a decision that hits a bump on both his and Maggie's life. Both continue to carry a secret which play a major role in Caleb's and Maggie's new attitude within Return to Paradise. Eight months have passed and things have changed over that course of time. Caleb and Maggie are forced to deal with the secret behind the accident and how they feel about each other.

I found this book to be more dramatic and have interesting twists besides the "big secret" Caleb and Maggie share about the accident. I found myself laughing and giggling with some of the new characters that are in the story. When it comes to some sequels, I find that they are sometimes rushed and sloppy. This one isn't sloppy or rushed. I could tell that Elkeles took her time developing the plot to be more in depth with the main characters. She didn't give a cliche ending but rather a lingering hope to all her characters. As a matter of fact, this book reminded me of other books I have read when I was in my junior high years. I definitely recommend this book, or rather this series, if you loved Judy Blume's Forever. It isn't the same, but the way Elkeles weaves these characters into this story is almost equivalent in greatness of exposing the reality of the events that happen in every teen's life that aren't just ordinary. Like Judy Blume, she weaves a story of a life lesson hard learned.

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Tell Me What You Know About Me?

Being raised by a single mother always brings its own sets of complications just as any set of parents.

For Billy Allbright, that means being home schooled and raised by his religious mother while having his own sets of desires to be a regular high school kid.

Because his mother has taken the quest to destroy anything that is particularly related to the devil, Billy and his mother are always on the road and so he never gets the chance to stay in a stable environment.

Until, his mother decides to stay at a town with a mormon church. At first, Billy thought this was just another mission and then when he found out the church he questioned what was this all about. While still wondering what exactly is going on, he receives a Bible in the mail with his name on it. His mother proclaims its a sign of God when in reality it turns out to be the ticket to his oddyssey of self discovery.

Reading this book, I found many humorous moments and others that were heart warming. I am actually glad that the author pretty much wrote this story in similarity to Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But its not the same and that is another thing I love about it. There is a whole dynamic between this fight to stay christian and a fight to find his true self. There is a lot of crazy happenings in this book that is unique from all of the books I have read so far. A lot of this book, I didn't expect which is good. You never want to predict what is happening in the book 3 chapters before it even happens. (Maybe that is just me). I would definitely recommend this for someone 16 and up who is looking for a coming-of-age story with no limits.

The Unidentified (A Library Find)

straight from Rae Mariz website

The summer is up with exciting new adventures both outdoors and indoors (especially indoors). On a rainy day is good to grab a few books at your local bookstore or library. So be prepared, this summer is packing.

Recently, I picked out a few books in the YA section at random and found this one.

Written in first person narrative this book shows a world in which school is a game composed by companies selling and marketing products to not only the kids but also the adults. Each student gets a chance to improve their skill by creating, designing and even modeling for the companies they get sponsorship from. Classes are no longer about the basics (i.e math, english, biology); it's about the bonus points.

 The main character, Katey, aka "Kid", gets smack dab in what seems to be a protest from a group who call themselves "The Unidentified." And just for kicks, (I am not kidding, this girl is a Nancy Drew), "Kid" ventures out to find out who are "The Unidentified" and what is their purpose within the Game. Little does she know what twisted Jump Shot ride is waiting for her. 

This book is Nancy Drew meets "A Brave New World." There is sarcasm within the voices in the characters you will appreciate and quirky language that might just be catchy. The writing is great in capturing the archetypes and the social setting of the basic day-to-day high school is captured juuust about right. Personally, this book will do well without being a series since the ending was nor cliff-hanging or cliche. However, your imagination will follow with how advanced the technology in here is depicted. I recommend this book for those days when you want a mental distracting mini adventure. 

Remember that Song...

There is always someone who is stuck being picked on at an early age or being someone’s sidekick friend. They either have a sucky life at home or a sucky life at school. Although, it’s not everyone, the situation is still applicable to a selectable few. This book is exactly that if not a resemblance.

Written in first person narrative, I Want Candy by Kim Wong Keltner is a coming of age story taking place in 1983 San Francisco surrounding the life of Candace Ong who has worked with her parents at Eggroll Wonderland, a Chinese restaurant, for as far as she can remember.

Most of the book is Candace complaining about being the one with the sucky life while her “friend” Ruby, has sexcapades with W.P.O.D.s (“White Punks on Dope”). She does get a taste of what it’s like to have the wild life. And like any other adult, Candace makes a decision out of the climax of these experiences; making this an adult novel instead of the typical YA realistic fiction novel.

Of course, with the voice this novel is given, you would assume these are teenagers within the age range of 16-18. Surprisingly, it is not the case. Candace is 14 and in the eighth grade while her “friend” Ruby is the same.  There is a dash of humor in certain chapters and a pinch of the supernatural. But don’t expect the perfect romance in this book because you really aren’t going to get it. However, there is a lesson just like there was in Jailbait by Leslea Newma (which is a YA novel): don’t take candy from strangers.