The Crossover
By Kwame Alexander
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Poetry
Personal Rating: 4/10

This is another book I had to read for my Children's Literature class, and even though it was rather short and written entirely in prose, I had a hard time enjoying it. The story is told in the point of view of Josh Bell, a young high school basketball star. He and his twin brother, JB, are the offspring of one of the greatest basketball legends of their day, so a lot is expected from the two boys. And that is basically all the story is about. There is are some small important moments, but overall I found the whole story rather boring. But I might just think that because the story is all about basketball and I am in no way a sports person.

My biggest problem with this book, I suppose, is that I had a hard time pinpointing a group of people who would sincerely enjoy reading it. It's a young adult novel about basketball, which most high school boys would enjoy, but it is also written as poetry, which I could definitely not see my sixteen-year-old brother enjoying.. I think it was written well but the author missed the mark on writing to his audience. It felt like a book written for adults but marketed to kids. Not a book I would recommend
to many.

Between the Lines
By: Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 7/10

What first appealed to me about this book is the fact that Jodi Picoult co-wrote it with her daughter. I have never read a book by Jodi Picoult before but this one sounded interesting and I've been hearing a lot of good things about it lately. The whole premise of this book is a young girl--Delilah--who falls in love with a fictional prince in a fairy tale, and she is able to really speak and interact with him. Basically every fangirl's dream come true. While the whole idea may sound a little strange, I thought it was written out really well and I found it super entertaining. However there were times when I had trouble suspending my disbelief over the idea of a book character coming to life and and out of of the book. But I did overall enjoy the story and all the fun illustrations that helped bring it to life.

Firegirl
By Tony Abbott
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Personal Rating:9/10

I am enrolled in a Children's Literature class right now, so be prepared to see a lot of middle grade novels on the blog. This was the first book I read for this class and even though it does target a younger audience I really enjoyed it.

Firegirl is about a boy named Tom, a seventh grader who's biggest worry in life is how he can impress the cute girl in school, that is until a new girl moves into their class. The new girl, Jessica, looks quite different from the other students. Jessica was in a fire and now her looks were enough to frighten the other students away from her, even Tom. But as more about Jessica and her accident is reveled, the more Tom looks at his own life, and what's important to him. What is too much to ask for and what exactly can you know about a person from first glance?

I thought this book was outrageously cute and chalk full of important messages for kids. It's about learning to, not only except, but love those who look different or strange. Although I haven't read many middle grade novels before, I thought this one was exceptional. I would recommend it to kids between 10-15.

Abandoned
By Meg Cabot
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Mythology
Personal Rating: 4/10

This was a total random book I picked up at the book store one day and finally got around to reading this month. The only reason I picked it up was because I had never read a Meg Cabot book before (author of The Princess Diaries series) and since she's pretty popular I thought I should read at least one of her books. Sadly, I was not impressed.

The story line of this book basically a retelling of Hades and Persephone, but there are so many retelling of this myth--ones I absolutely love like Everneath by Brodi Ashton--that this one just seemed really unimpressive to me. I felt like the characters didn't go anywhere and where just annoying throughout the entire story. I also was not a fan of Meg Cabot's writing style in this book, it didn't flow really well and there was nothing about her writing that I found captivating or worth reading. I was actually sort of bored reading it. Maybe this book would resonate better with a lower age group, but with protagonists as old as they were, I felt like the writing could have been more mature. It wasn't a terrible book, just not for me.

The Road
By Cormac McCarthy
Genre: Fiction/Horror
Personal Rating: 10/10

This book takes place in a gruesome post-apocalyptic world where food is very scares. A father and son are trying to make their way south, struggle to survive starvation, as well as the groups of cannibals stalking the road. I was warned early on that this book was particularly gory at times, and it's true that there is quite a bit of descriptive carnage--particularly concerning the cannibals--but I actually felt like it was needed in order to establish the themes McCarthy depicts. I thought this was a very powerful book about survival but also about goodness, compassion, and what exactly makes us "the good guys." While this definitely isn't a book I'd recommend to those with weak stomachs, I thought it was very thought provoking and important.
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