Lola And The Boy Next Door

Lola And The Boy Next Door

Stephanie Perkins

Published: 2011

Publisher: Dutton Books

My copy is a….. Library book

Summary: 

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion...she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

    

Im trying to get better at writing reviews even if I have no idea where to start. This was one of those books I had no idea how to start the review of. So while my computer was updating I made a list on my raw feelings about the book. So starting from the top!

1)    Long: I feel like this book was to long. I loved the story line and the writing was soooo cute! But in the middle I was dragging my feet waiting for the story to pick up again.

2)    Cute: This book was so cute! Cricket and Lola’s history and their relationship was so adorable! (not to mention Anna and St. Clair’s relationship…)

3)    Overly Emotional: Lola was portrayed as way to emotional in my opinion. I get that she was stuck between two guys but the number of times she began crying for no reason and just getting to emotional over the smallest things was ridiculous!

4)    Writing: The writing in this books is so cute and adorable and I love it its amazing. Its not metaphor this/ amazing quote to quote for all time that but just sweet and adorable.

5)    Lola: Form Lola’s funky outfits to the fact she makes it all herself I really liked her. Lola was original, very stubborn, and super creative, which reminded her of myself… and while I think I’m not overly emotional my dad would probably disagree.

6)    Characters: All the characters were very well developed and interesting. I personally really liked Norah. I found her character while not to be a good parent a good figure to have in Lola’s life.

Well that’s the quickest review I’ve ever written!

Verdict:

3.5 stars

A good read if you liked Anna and The French Kiss or The Geography of You and Me

Noggin

Noggin

John Corey Whaley

Published: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
My copy is a..... Hardback I bought

Goodreads 

Summary: Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t. Now he’s alive again. Simple as that. The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too. Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars. Oh well, you only live twice.

I would have never read this book if I hadn’t seen a panel with John Corey Whaley on it. I am so happy I did see him because this book is amazing. Noggin was amazingly funny. The way Travis dealt with all the changes that happned while he was dead was so pure with no ulterior motive. He just wanted his life to be how it was before he got sick.

In a lot of books similar to this I saw that I wish there had been more of a background. With Noggin I didn’t think this once. The story starts with him waking up, no longer dead. If there had been chapters from before he died it would have felt out of placed. There were flashbacks throughout the book of before he died and it was enough that we got a sense of his life pre-death.

Characters:

Travis: When Travis woke up he expected for everyone to have not moved on, to have waited and stopped his or her lives while he was away. Yet when he slowly realized that hadn’t happened and his best fried, Kyle, wouldn’t be in his math class and his girlfriend was engaged, to a man other than him. He dealt with the majority of the changes as well as he could. In some ways people expected him to act the age he would be if he didn’t die.

Verdict:

3.5 stars

This book is hilarious and defiantly worth a read.

Catalyst

Catalyst

Laurie Halse Anderson

Goodreads   

 

Summary: Meet Kate Malone-straight-A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, new girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harvard" Pangborn III), unwilling family caretaker, and emotional avoidance champion. Kate manages her life by organizing it as logically as the periodic table. She can handle it all-or so she thinks. Then, things change as suddenly as a string of chemical reactions; first, the Malones' neighbors get burned out of their own home and move in. Kate has to share her room with her nemesis, Teri Litch, and Teri's little brother. The days are ticking down and she's still waiting to hear from the only college she applied to: MIT. Kate feels that her life is spinning out of her control-and then, something happens that truly blows it all apart. Set in the same community as the remarkable Speak, Catalyst is a novel that will change the way you look at the world.

After meeting Laurie Halse Anderson at the LA Times Book Festival I put Catalyst on my to read list and soon after got it at Powells (aka book lover heaven). The majority of Laurie’s books deal with “big” topics (rape, PTSD, anorexia, etc.) and Catalyst was about a “normal” teen problem, not getting into a dream college. While this problem wasn’t as big as some of the others it is still huge.

Kate has made it seem like she has a perfect life. She gets straight A’s, she a science and math wiz, she has a good strong group of friends, and is in a healthy relationship. At home she doesn’t get along with her dad is the caretaker of her family. She doesn’t know how to deal with the stress of waiting to hear from MIT, making her deal with it by running at one am and barely sleeping. I think a lot of adults don’t realize the stress put on teens to get into a good college. I’m in ninth grade and whenever I talk with my parents friends I don’t see often I’m always asked two questions: 1) How’s school? and 2) what colleges do you like?/Have you been to any colleges?/*insert other generic question about college here*. So while the book didn’t cover a “big” issue it covered an issue I felt many teens could relate to.

As usual I loved Laurie’s writing and there are some of my favorite quotes (spoiler free of course) down below.

Verdict

 

5 stars!!

I think this book should be read by anyone in high school.  The writing is incredible the issue is very present, and it is an amazing story.

Quotes

“It’s like I’ve been chopped into tiny pieces of Kate, and all my pieces look like me and run like me and talk like me and act just the right way, but they are all lost in this maze. Bad Kate (still stalking me) says the maze has always been there I’m just seeing it for the first time.” (Page 135)

“My mask slips into place. I can hear the elastic bang twang, vibrate, then go still. I smile. ‘Thanks for listing about the college thing. You really helped a lot.’” (Page 189)

Top 10 Tuesday

Top 10 tuesday is a weekly post sponsored by the Broke and Bookish. This weeks Top 10 Tuesday topic is one I’m SUPER excited about. The topic is 10 characters that would be my BFF. Without farther ado…. 

1.     Emma Hawthorne - Mother Daughter Book Club: OMG Emma would probably be one of my best friends of all time. She is one of the only people that could probably keep up with how fast I read a book.

2.     Wren – Fangirl: Wren…Wren…Wren… Wren just seems so book nerdy/awesome/only other person I know who would rather read then go out on a Friday.

3.     Daisy Appleby – Revived: Daisy just has the best sense of humor, is super smart, and is calm in basically any situation.

4.     Delilah – Between The Lines: Delilah is so awesome. I feel like we would just click and she just reminds me of myself.

5.     Hazel Grace – The Fault In Our Stars: Hazel loves books so much and has such a passion for them.

6.     Annabeth Chase – Percy Jackson: I love Annabeth’s love of knowledge and sense of humor. I feel like she would be the perfect friend to have in class cause she could A) help you study and B) correct the teacher causing an argument getting us out of class.

7.     Roux – Also Known As: Roux is so hilarious I think she would be the best friend ever!

8.     Luna Lovegood – Harry Potter: I am in love with Luna’s quicky-ness and her bravery to not be bothered by what people think of her. I think she would be the type of friend you could go to for any problem and she would give you great advice.

UGHHHHH! I got so close but I’m stumped for the last two! Hopefully I have better luck next week. 

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