Updates from jpainte RSS
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12:57:23 pm on September 9, 2010 |
Beastly is a modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which centers around the arrogant Kyle Kingsbury who thinks his amazingly good looks will bring him everything he wants in life. Then a witch cast a spell on him, and he transforms into a hairy half-human half-beast creature. To break the spell, he and a girl must fall in love with each other and kiss. But it seems impossible to Kyle especially with the way he looks after being transformed. The book has been adapted into a movie and will be in theatres March 2011.
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03:03:44 pm on August 13, 2010 |
I have read all three books in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy. I found each book to be well-written and difficult to put down once I started. All three books are definitely highly read book Schoo staff and Schoo students. Watch this trailer to see what the first book is about.
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02:15:26 pm on August 13, 2010 |
I hope you have enjoyed your summer and spent some time reading some great books. I read a little over 20 books this summer, and I did not write blogs for all of them. For the books I have yet to write about, I am going to briefly describe the books and rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 with a 5 being the best. Here we go…
My Father’s Son by Terri Fields * * * * (4-stars)Kevin Windor’s life takes a turn for the worst when the news reports the capture of a serial killer, and the face on the screen is his father.
Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin ***** (5-Stars)Jason Blake tells what it is like to be a person with autism.
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg **** (4-Stars)Told in poetry format, Matt Pin describes his life after being air-lifted out of Vietnam and adopted by Americans.
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck **** (4-Stars)A funny and beautiful story set in a small town during the 1950s about family, neighbors and the gifts they have to share with each other.
Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen ***** (5-Stars)Finn doesn’t particularly like talking and spending time with people because he is shy. His plan to spend the summer interacting with as few people as possible is destroyed when Johanna, a young graduate student with cancer, moves in next door.
Scat by Carl Hiaasen **** (4-Stars)Hiaasen writes another hilarious mystery where protecting the environment is the theme. Nick, the main character, works through the difficulty of having a father fighting in Afghanistan. This book is excellent in audio book format.
Signal by Cynthia DeFelice *** (3-Stars)Owen meets Campion, a girl with startling green eyes. She recruits Owen to help her signal her alien parents, so they can pick her up and take her back to their planet.
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02:20:08 pm on July 18, 2010 |
Have you ever been embarrassed by your parents? Do you find yourself competing with one of your brothers or sisters? Does your best friend think you like him like him, when all you want is to be friends? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you can relate to Hamlet, the main character in The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne. Hamlet’s life is anything but ordinary. Her parents are obsessed with Shakespeare to the extent that they appear in public wearing Shakespearean garb. Now Hamlet’s brilliant eight-year-old sister will be an 8th grader at school with Hamlet. To complicate matters even more, Hamlet is receiving cute origami pigs from a secret admirer! With all of this happening to her and more, Hamlet is finding it very hard to do what she desperately wants to do in 8th grade-fit in. Here’s a trailer for the book:
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04:10:02 pm on July 13, 2010 |
If you are looking for a book full of adventure that well stretch your imagination, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld is the book for you. And just like the books in the author’s previous series, this one will leave you hanging and ready for the next book in the series. To see what the book is about, watch this excellent trailer!
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11:51:30 am on July 8, 2010 |
Auden is an intellectual and studious young woman and because of this, she has missed out on most typical childhood experiences including learning how to ride a bike. It is now the summer after Auden’s senior year, and Auden decides to spend the summer with her dad and step-mom at the beach town where they live. Ever since her parent’s divorce, Auden has not been able to sleep at night. So, she spends most of her nights driving around town stopping 0nly for coffee at a cafe or gas station. Then she meets Eli, and they begin spending each night on a quest for Auden to experience those things she missed out on as a child. Along for the Ride was a delightful story of love, family, and friendship. I stayed up all night to read this book! It was that good! Here’s a video clip of Sarah Dessen talking about her book.
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11:12:54 am on July 8, 2010 |
The Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria McKernan is a tragic tale of life on the Oregon Trail. It’s a story about starvation, sickness, death, but also a story of hope, friendship, and perseverance. It’s certainly not a story for the faint of heart. Check out this trailer for the book.
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02:47:10 pm on July 7, 2010 |
I just finished reading The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman and truly enjoyed it. Here’s a trailer for the book.
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12:20:21 pm on June 23, 2010 |
To be Good Enough according to her parents, Patti Yoon must…1. Score at least a 2300 on her SATs
2. Get into HARVARDYALEPRINCETON
3. Stay away from boys who will surely distract her from her studies
BUT everything seems to change when Patti meets cute trumpet player, Ben. She starts to question if what she wants and what her parents want are the same thing and if success and happiness really are the same. Good Enough is a laugh out loud, cute, enjoyable novel about a girl who “longs to fit in and strives to stand out.”
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11:54:36 am on June 23, 2010 |
In 1963, Sam’s father is a well-known Civil Rights activist who organizes peaceful non-violent demonstrations. Sam’s brother, Stick, has joined the Black Panthers. As Sam watches his friends and family physically and verbally attacked by racists’ members of their community, Sam finds himself having to choose between his father and his brother.
The story moves along slowly at first, but becomes really intense near the end, so stick with it. You won’t be disappointed, and you’ll learn about something you don’t usually learn about in history class.