Heist Society

Heist Society is written by Ally Carter, author of the Gallagher girls series. It is also a nominee for the Truman Award for 2012-2013. Carter is quite good at writing strong female leads, and I was not disappointed with this book.

Kat's family has always been in the same business- and by family I mean everyone! Their business in crime... they are thieves. She's been part of the business since she was a little girl, and she's quite good at it. Even though she has talent, she doesn't want any part of it any more, so she cons her way into an exclusive boarding school at 15. She's doing ok, when her friend shows up and drags her back into the thieving world.Someone thinks her dad stole something big, and they are determined to prove that it isn't true. She and several friends/family members (who are all teens) form a little society and go about pulling schemes and trying to prove her dad's innocence.

Carter writes in a way that makes you root for the "bad" guys. It almost makes you see nothing wrong with their way of life, because they are just so darn good at it! And of course, there is romance. Wouldn't be a good girl book if there wasn't! I really liked Kat as a main character- she's snarky in all the right places, incredibly smart, and talented to boot! Plus there is a sequel, Uncommon Criminals, and another one on the way!

If you like Heist Society, check out the Gallagher Girls series- it starts with I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. Great title, huh?

Deaf Child Crossing

I picked up this book because I found an amazing actress and, as I often do when I find a new obsession, devour everything about/by them... Her name is Marlee Matlin, and she is one of the most famous deaf actresses. She's currently acting on the ABC Family show Switched at Birth, but she's done movies and many TV shows, and is also an author.

Deaf Child Crossing is written from the perspective of Megan, a little girl who is vibrant and excited (and 10), who happens to be deaf. She doesn't let that define her, and quickly becomes friends with the new girl in the neighborhood. Megan teaches her to sign, but she thinks that Cindy is trying to do stuff for her, even though Megan is perfectly capable. The story goes through the first summer of their friendship, and is cute and entertaining most of the time.

Matlin did a good job in capturing a point of view and friendship that isn't written as often as it should be. I mean, how many deaf protagonists do you know? I certainly wish there were more. It's a fascinating culture with yes, it's own culture, language, and values. I loved getting another perspective than the boring textbooks I tried to read about deaf culture.

It is too young for my kiddos- they would be bored in an instant, but elementary kids or kids with siblings who are deaf would enjoy it.

*MG=Middle Grade

Books to Read

So I decided, since I was cleaning out my most recent Goodwill/Scholastic purchases from my car, that I would make an actual stack of the books I want to read this summer. It's HUGE! It includes, in no certain order:

Teacher books (like The Bee Eater and Waiting for Superman)
James Patterson's latest (which is like 5 books!)
The Truman Nominees for next year (already read two of them!)
A ton of YA and middle grade novels (from my school library)
Random books that I actually own but haven't read yet
Plus a few books on tape from the library... I got books I want to read on tape so I can "read" while doing other stuff like cleaning or mowing the grass or whatever!

Seriously, the stack is actually several stacks and there are definitely OVER 100 books there. What did I get myself into???



Off to go eat dinner so then I can get caught up on some of my book/movie reviews!

Thor

 
Thor is rated PG-13 and is 115 minutes long. Thor is one in a "series" done by Marvel Entertainment (now Disney). Marvel, for those of you who don't know, does comic books. Lately (say over the past 3-4 years), they have been putting out superhero movies- Iron Man 1 & 2, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk (not done by the same production company, which is why it's not as good). It's all going to culminate in the ultimate superhero/action movie on May 4: The Avengers. Each movie has introduced us to the characters in the Avengers and given us background. I watched Thor with my dad and Becky (lil sis).

The movie was good- it gave us a lot of background on Thor and is the last movie for Avengers. I liked seeing Thor's home world- it was beautiful, and the detailing was pretty darn awesome. Story was good- it was more of an internal battle than battling a real enemy, although there are bits of that too. I liked how this introduces Thor to the world, since he is not the most "famous" superhero out there. Plus you learn a little Norse mythology, so it's a good story AND educational! :)

I can tell you this-- you can get away without seeing Hulk (either one) or Iron Man 1 and then go see Avengers, but you HAVE to see Thor. I'd say that's the one you have to see before May. Otherwise you will be just plain confused.

And as always with Marvel (except X-Men: First Class) you MUST watch to the end of the credits!!! They leave a little teaser for you, and it's the best bit we got until the full Avengers trailer was released.

Hunger Games

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ok, now that the excited screams are over, here's the summary.

Hunger Games is based off the book of the same name by Suzanne Collins. It's rated PG-13 and 142 minutes long. (Woohoo!) I actually saw this movie twice- on opening night at midnight and then again a week later on the weekend. The book/movie is about this 16 year old girl named Katniss. She lives in the futuristic country of Panem, which is located on what's left of the United States. In Katniss's time, every year the country hosts The Hunger Games. A girl and boy are chosen from each district (there are 12) and put in a giant arena to fight to the death... on live television. The Games are "played" as a punishment to the districts- over 74 years ago, they tried to rise up and defeat the Capitol. They failed, so the Capitol punished them.

Katniss's sister, Prim, a slim little 12 year old, gets reaped and is the District 12 tribute. Katniss can't stand for that, so she volunteers to take her place. She's thrust into a world of politics and hunger and things so much bigger than her little world had ever been before. She's not the most personable of people, and has to work hard to overcome that and somehow try to win The Hunger Games. (I'll let you read the book to find out what else happens.)

So for a book to movie adaptation, this was, by far, one of the best that I've seen. I mean, Twilight was crappily done, Lord of the Rings were quite decent, Harry Potter was pretty good, and so were the newer Narnia movies, but nothing really completely grabbed those reader fan bases and held them dear. And then came Hunger Games. It's a long book- 384 pages to be exact, but Suzanne Collins helped write the screenplay. And that, my dear friends, is probably what made the biggest difference. She got to tell her story in her own way. Yes, of course, there were changes/ deletions/ substitutions, but to get 384 pages into 2 1/2 hours, what do you expect?

I could go on about what was changed, but I don't want to ruin anything for you. As always, when you're going to see a book to movie adaptation, READ THE BOOK FIRST!!! It will make your viewing experience way better!!

All in all, it was amazing, and I would gladly go see it a third time! (Which I probably will, after I force my dad to read the book!) :)

American Reunion

I saw this Easter weekend also- but by myself. It is rated R and is 113 minutes long.

Obviously, this is an American Pie movie. It's set 13 years after the first one. The "kids" are getting together to celebrate their 10th year reunion-- a few years late. :) Now, I haven't seen the American Pie movies in quite some time, but it was pretty much as funny as the original. Of course, we get cameos or more of mostly all the original cast. There are some interesting additions, such as Kara, a little girl (now 18) who Jim used to babysit. She's on the prowl, trying to find someone to lose her virginity to... and she picks Jim. That makes for some very interesting situations, not to mention the whole reason the movie is rated R.

It was funny, worth seeing in theaters, but not for anyone who dislikes blatant nudity in movies, and probably not a good idea if you haven't at least seen the first movie. But it was great for some easy laughs!

Save the best piece for last!

October Baby

I saw this Easter weekend with my mom, dad, and little sister. It's rated PG-13 and is 107 minutes long.

I went into the movie not knowing much about it other than this: A young girl gets hurt somehow, goes to the doctor, and finds out that she was an attempted abortion. (In other words, her mom tried and it didn't work.) That's all you really need to know about it in order to go see it. And from pretty much moment one, it hooks you and drags you in.

Hannah has had health problems her whole life- asthma, various surgeries, epilepsy- and she learns that they are all connected. She goes on a journey with her best friend (Jason) to find her birth mom and to figure out who she is. She meets various people along the way who help her figure out her story. (I mean, who can say no to a girl who says she is the survivor of an abortion.)

I thought the movie was very well done- it was tasteful, and probably only rated PG-13 for the sensitive topics. It's definitely a tear-jerker- the scenes between Hannah and her father got me almost every time. (Kudos to John Schneider for that.) It really makes you think about abortion and life and the whole deal with all of that. Obviously, it's a little preachy, but what else would you expect.

I highly enjoyed it, and my mom was a bucket of tears by the end of the movie (even my dad was sniffling!) My little sister liked it, but I don't think she "got" all of it- but then again, she's 12.

It's only available in a limited release right now- so you might have to drive a bit to go see it- we saw it in Des Peres. (Or just see it on DVD... it's one my mom says she'll want and the woman owns like 3 movies... Literally.)

Cool thing- it's based on a true story!

Movies, Life, and everything else

I decided I made it way too confusing on myself to do two blogs, so I'm condensing. That means a smattering of brand new posts!

SO there will be books, movies, life, school, and everything not included in one of those! :)

Author: Andrew Klavan

I stumbled upon Andrew Klavan when deciding which Truman nominee (11-12) to pick first. I was quickly sucked in and devoured all four of his teen series, Homelanders, in a matter of weeks. Upon perusing Amazon, I found that he actually has 16 other books in print and 1 on the way. Yay! Most of the other books seem to be adult novels, but I think I'll try one or two of them this summer and see if they are just as good as his teen series. One of the other novels is Don't Say a Word, like the movie with Michael Douglas- I know that one will be good!

The book that is coming out in May is called Crazy Dangerous. Here is the link to the Amazon summary: Crazy Dangerous.

Sounds pretty good huh? I know I'll be hunting for it at my library this summer!

The Final Hour (4th in a series)

The Final Hour is the fourth and final book in the Homelanders series by Andrew Klavan. Finally! We get to figure out what happened to Charlie and how he's going to solve the whole mystery and clear his name. Charlie is in prison (after all, everyone thinks he is a murderer) and has a flashback of another planned terrorist attack. He has to figure out how to get out of jail and stop it from happening. Action follows every step- something Klavan is extremely good at.


Honestly, all you have to do is look at the cover and it just draws you in. A plane flown by Charlie through buildings that close? All I wanted to do was read quicker so I could get to that exciting moment. And, of course, I had to know how Charlie would finally clear his name. Klavan did a good job at summing up the story and tying up most of the loose ends. It's still a highly unlikely story... but it leaves you wondering, could it actually happen??? Another good "boy" book--done!

The Truth of the Matter (3rd in a series)

The Truth of the Matter is the third book in the Homelanders series by Andrew Klavan. Charlie has (up until now) woken up with no memory of the last year of his life, gone home to try to discover more about his situation, found out he's wanted for murder, and found the girlfriend he doesn't remember. Waterman- that's the name that was whispered to him in secret. Now he has to find out who Waterman is and what he has to do with the mystery surrounding Charlie's life.We also get to find out what really happened to Charlie through memory flashbacks!

Suspense and action hang off of every page in this book. Charlie (and the bad guys) never give up trying to either find the truth or stop the truth from coming out. It definitely keeps you guessing. It's another good "boy" book and I'm glad many of my students kept going with the series. (It helped that I kept bugging them to read the books.) I like how we get to find out more about Charlie- I was eagerly waiting for the truth, and I'm glad Klavan finally gave it to us.

The Long Way Home (2nd in a series)

The Long Way Home is the second book in the Homelanders series by Andrew Klavan. Charlie knows that he is wanted by the police as an accused murderer. He heads back home to try to get some answers. Charlie holes himself up in an abandoned mansion and gets some help from his best friends and the girlfriend he doesn't remember. They play detective and try to get to the bottom of the mystery solving the murder of Charlie's friend from childhood.

This story picks up really soon after The Last Thing I Remember. This wasn't as action-packed as the first book, but you learn a lot more about the Homelanders and Charlie's situation. It's definitely more of a "world-builder" and I appreciated that. There was too much about Charlie's world that we didn't know before. I do like how we learn things as Charlie learns them- it makes it more exciting that way.

Stay tuned for the next two books in the series.

The Last Thing I Remember (1st in a series)

The Last Thing I Remember (TLTIR) is the first in a four part series, The Homelanders, by Andrew Klavan. It's an action adventure series, and TLTIR is a Truman nominee for 2011-2012. Charlie wakes up one day strapped to a chair and has no idea what is going on and who is holding him captive. The last thing he remembers was being at school the day before. Little did he know, it had been a year since that last day at school. The whole book is a struggle for Charlie- trying to remember what happened over the past year and exactly who the Homelanders are.

Good book, full of adventure and action- it was the perfect gateway book for several of my students. The cool thing was that it appealed to both girls and boys. More of my girls actually stuck with the series and continued along. Definitely worth a read!

Just saying hey!

Since my students think I read "all day, everyday" and do nothing else, I thought I'd start a book review blog. Enjoy!

I'll probably start by working back through the list of books I read this school year- you know, if I have time! :)
Oh, and as a disclaimer, most of the books I read are Young Adult or Middle Grade books... you are forewarned!