Main Characters: Mattie Gokey, Grace Brown

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace’s drowned body is fished from the late, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder.

Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, this astonishing novel weaves, romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, real, and wholly original.

Anna’s Thoughts

por•ten•tous
This is by far one of my favourite books, for so many reasons!

My second favourite thing about A Northern Light is Mattie. I love Mattie, she is a very rare type of person (I’ve come to find out) which I have been blessed with of having plenty of in my family. The type of person that will do anything within their power for their family, even though it’s not exactly what they want to do with their life. Mattie puts her dreams aside to help her father and her family until she finally meets a tutor that lets her know that it is okay for her to follow her dreams, and pushes her to do exactly that! Donnelly also managed to tug on my heartstrings with Mattie’s struggle with how to deal with Grace, and the secret that only the two of them, and one other person the police can’t find, share. Throw in a cute boy who isn’t so smart, and doesn’t expect much of her, a black best-friend (remember: this was 1906), and a pack of friends whose mother deals with some extreme problems, and you have one little girl with a big weight on her shoulders. Yet, Mattie manages to handle it all in stride, grace, and with hope for the future. Mattie is honestly one of the strongest, most believable, honest, likable, and well written characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

My third favourite thing about the book is Mattie and Weaver’s word games. Often times when they’re throwing words back and forth, I found myself trying to play along – choosing words neither of them had said yet – and often times I also failed. I love reading, I love writing, but a large vocabulary of words has never been my strongest suit. Therefore it was awesome being able to read an amazing story as well as learn some new things (words) along the way, more-so than usual.

The number one thing that I absolutely love the most is actually a combination of two things: 1, the fact that Grace Brown was once a real person, and her story really happened; 2, the writing. Grace’s story is so utterly heartbreaking (maybe more so cause I’ve read anything I could find on it), and Jennifer Donnelly did such an amazing job of combining something she wasn’t even alive for into a world she never got to see so authentically. I never questioned what she described, any of the language, people, settings, etc. While reading the book for all I know, she HAD been alive and HAD witnessed the horrific incident on Big Moose Lake.

You can find out more about Grace and her story on Wikipedia and truTV Crime Library.

Main Characters: Meredith and Mallory Brynn

Summary:

Meredith and Mallory Brynn, are mirror twins born on either side of midnight one New Year’s Eve. They have always been inseparable. But after they are nearly killed in a mysterious fire on their thirteenth birthday, the bond that has always joined them unravels. They begin to have visions and dreams that reveal the deep secrets kept by the people around them. Meredith and Mallory realize they have each been given a gift: Mallory can see deep into the past, Meredith can see the future. But when they discover that one boy is not what they imagined, their lives will be changed forever. If they can survive?.

Anna’s Thoughts:

The Midnight Twins sounds so much better than it actually is, however, I will still be buying the second one. I shall explain:

First of all, the first half of the book is about completely useless, until the fire and the girls’ 13th birthday. It was completely all over the place, and I honestly spent chapters being unaware of exactly when things were happening. That is pretty much all there is to that.

Secondly, over and over again I’ve heard a rule for writing that utterly makes sense: Don’t name your characters names that are too alike. With this I am left wondering what in the WORLD made Mitchard name her characters Merry & Mally. I understand they’re twins, totally get it – I – however, am the reader and it took me a good half of the book to get used to that the names were so similar, and to learn who was speaking. It is very clear that she attempts to make their personalities different but when little things are going on, or things are happening fast, and I read a sentence with Mally & Merry in it, I often found myself reading back over the paragraph just to make sure I had the right twin. Having said that though, the characters are interesting, while they are typical twins (in relevance to most books with twins, that is) – meaning, complete opposites – they are also well thought out, described, and unique. Once you DO learn each of their voices, personalities, and traits, then it’s easy to tell them apart, it just takes some time to get there.

Other than the completely useless first part of the book, and the confusion with the names, once the girls come into their powers, the book picks up and actually does quite a good job at holding interest! Once all the good stuff starts happening it’s actually quite hard to put the book down, and I kept guessing just as long as the girls did about who the culprit of the fire was, and who was trying so hard to freak Mally out. It stays slightly confusing with the names, but by the end of the book I had just about gotten completely used to it. The last of The Midnight Twins defiantly makes up for the beginning – therefore, I will be buying/reading Look Both Ways (Midnight Twins #2), I really look forward to seeing how Meredith and Mallory’s story continues.

Anyone who knows me knows I have been reading the Georgia Nicolson books since I was a mere little one, and by mere little one, I mean in 8th grade. EIGHT GRADE! Do you know how many years ago that was? Oh, you don’t? Well, I do, it’s been… wait for it… NINE years! Nine! Can you believe that? I remember sitting in for my FCAT (Florida standardized test) very clearly trying my hardest not to crack up reading Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging! Oh, goodness my childhood is slipping away from me! Quarter life crisis here I come!

This is why I don’t talk about these books, they make me 14 again (and very dramatic)! Anyway, my very very first Waiting on Wednesday is Georgia’s last confessions! Sob time!

Are These My Bassoma’s I See Before Me?
Fab (Final) Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
By Louise Rennison

Released July 2009 in the U.K.
October 6th 2009 in the U.S.
(Gold cover is UK version, purple cover is US.)

Ohmygiddygodspyjamas! The tenth marvy book in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson is here! Get ready to laugh like a loon on loon tablets.

It’s the FINAL instalment of Georgia’s fab and hilarious diary!
Does Georgia escape the cakeshop of luuurve?
Can there be more heartbreaknosity in store?
Will the Sex God pop up again unexpectedly (oo-er)!
And what about the supreme accidental snogmaster Dave the Laugh?
Will she FINALLY choose her only one and only?
So many boys, so little time…

Who do you pick for Georgia? I vote for Dave the Laugh all the way!

Main Characters: Alexis, Kasey, Megan, Carter, Sarah

Summary:

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents’ marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.

When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it’s all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening–to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she’s the only person who can stop Kasey — but what if that green-eyed girl isn’t even Kasey anymore?

Anna’s Thoughts:

This. Book. Was. Perfect.

I am a big ghost story fan, be it books, short stories, t.v. shows, etc – I’ll read/watch it. (Oddly though I’m not a fan of the movie Ghost.. hmm.) I’ve been this way since I was a kid, always hunting out good ghost stories, wanting to visit ‘haunted’ places, and you know what? Out of all of those stories I’ve read/seen/heard, this book takes the cake. And the trophy, ribbon, the red Corvette, and anything else you’d ever dream of giving a ‘winner’. The reason why? I managed to read this book in all of two sittings, I fought off sleep for hours to finish this book. Usually it takes me 3-4 days to read a book, and unless I LOVE it, it’s usually read a few times before I sleep and maybe once or twice throughout the day. I started this book yesterday around noon, and I got just about half way through it. I woke up this morning at 4AM, and I swear when I saw it sitting on my desk next to my bed, I had to fight against picking it up just to go get something to drink. Katie also managed to scare me. Me. The person who ONLY gets scared when someone teases her that there is a miniature red-headed doll with a knife hiding in her closet. Go figure, I’d pick up a book with dolls in it.

Bad Girls Don’t Die is a fast paced, exciting and enticing story. I was sitting on the edge of my seat (you know, assuming I was in a seat) through the entire thing wondering, What’s going to happen next? Why is Kasey acting weird? Etc. (There are many more questions, but they’d give the story away.) I couldn’t turn the page fast enough to find out what would happen next. There was not a slow, or dull moment throughout the entire book, never a moment I thought to myself: Well, I could have lived without knowing that. Even the beginning, where most books lack interest in favor of learning about the character, was fantastic.

The characters were all their own, the plot was, somewhat, cliche, but Katie wrote it in a way that completely made it new. It was vivid, and descriptive, and most of all it was a classic ghost story – something that is becoming rare nowadays. I fell in love with all of the characters, not just one or two of them. Alexis, Kasey, Megan, Carter, even Sarah. And the bad guy? Was creepy as hell. I hope to whatever powers there are that even though this doesn’t end like there should be a sequel with these characters, that there is. That the next book will be about these same four people.

In short: There isn’t one thing I would have changed about this book, not one single word.

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren – who in turn was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.

So. This is what I call a ‘Between Week’ which means we’re in-between checks. So, not too many books this week, but complete awesomeness still!

Before I get to it though, I want to thank everyone who commented on last weeks post! We’re still new to this, so not sure if this wears off or not but we had SO much fun looking through everything all of you got in your mailbox’s – adding things to our ‘To Read’ lists on the way! Hopefully we can do this again this week too!

So without further ado, here is what we’ve got to show you (poet, I know haha):

Anna:
Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents’ marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.

When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it’s all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening–to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she’s the only person who can stop Kasey — but what if that green-eyed girl isn’t even Kasey anymore?

---

Jenny:
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn’s shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler.

Calli’s mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter’s voice.

Petra Gregory is Calli’s best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor.

Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.

---

We also got Artemis Fowl 2: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer from BookMooch, but we’ve already read it, this one is for my Mom!

So! That’s it for this week! These will probably be the first two books we do double reviews on! I know I will def be reading The Weight of Silence, since I’m the one that actually told Jenny about it – and I’m pretty sure she was interested in Bad Girls Don’t Die as well! We’re both almost done with our books so there should be reviews soon!

Main Characters: Lia & Alice Milthorpe, Sonia, Luisa

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Lia Milthorpe and her twin sister Alice have just become orphans, and, as Lia discovers, they have also become enemies. The twins are part of an ancient prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other. To escape from a dark fate and to remain in the arms of her beloved boyfriend James, Lia must end the prophecy before her sister does. Only then will she understand the mysterious circumstances of her parents’ deaths, the true meaning of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and the lengths to which her sister will go to defeat her.

Anna’s Thoughts:

Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t even know what to say! I had been entranced by this book ever since I heard about it, and I am SO glad I heard about it. I don’t think that life would be complete if I had missed this somehow! There would be a little piece of me missing that I never knew wasn’t there!

First of all, I love the characters! Lia and Alice have such distinct personalities, after the first quarter of the book, if she had left out their names altogether, I’m quite certain I could have figured out who was saying/doing what. However, one of the only things about this story that I didn’t like was, having a younger sister also, I am not so sure I would have given up or turned on my sister so quickly having been on opposite sides of a prophecy or not! Other then that, I absolutely love it!

I’ll fully admit that nothing really happens in the book, as in, there aren’t any huge fight scenes, no one gets kidnapped, they don’t really go anywhere, etc (Not counting Lia’s trips in the Otherworlds). However it doesn’t even matter! The writing, the learning, everything that Lia does to learn about the prophecy and her reactions and thoughts when she does, not to mention the vivid and detailed cluttered way we learn about everything that happens makes up for the non-existent action packed scenes! Other than something that happened at the end being reversed ( which is why this book is lacking 1/2 a star, but can’t tell you what it is, trust me – read it and you’ll know), there is not one way I think this book could have been better!

In short, this book is a shockingly good debut from Michelle Zink, that utterly left me craving the next book (Guardian of the Gate), I cannot get Lia out of my head, what will her decision be? Who will find the keys first? Will Lia change? Will Alice change? The book seems to put them on certain sides, but as Henry says; Only time will tell.

Too bad that time is April of 2010! Uggh!