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.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June

Robin Benway

Published: August 3rd 2010 by Razorbill

Date finished: April 14, 2014

Source: I bought it

Genre: Fantasy/fiction/super powers

Summary: I hugged my sisters and they fit against my sides like two jigsaw pieces that would never fit anywhere else. I couldn't imagine ever letting them go again, like releasing them would be to surrender the best parts of myself.

Three sisters share a magical, unshakeable bond in this witty high-concept novel from the critically acclaimed author of Audrey, Wait! Around the time of their parents' divorce, sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood--powers that come in handy navigating the hell that is high school. Powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. But could they have a greater purpose?

April, the oldest and a bit of a worrier, can see the future. Middle-child May can literally disappear. And baby June reads minds--everyone's but her own. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls come together to save the day and reconcile their strained family. They realize that no matter what happens, powers or no powers, they'll always have each other.

Because there's one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.

I picked this book from the LA times Book Festival last weekend, got it signed, then proceeded to read it in order to avoid packing (FYI not the smartest idea). I read the majority of the book avoiding packing but finished the rest on a plane.

Quick Question: Am I the only person that loves being on a plane? Your surrounded by a bunch of people all going to the same place and after you get off the plane you’ll probably never see the majority of them again. Your almost in limbo you could be flying over cities, peoples, something could be happening that affects the whole world and while your on the plane your oblivious, none of it can affect you.

The actual book was really good. I love Robin Benway’s writing to be very unique and funny and this book was no exception. I did not fins this book to be as laugh out loud funny as Also Known As but that could be there was no Roux. This book read similar to a journal/diary to me. You read three very different point of views and each one was unique and had it’s own take on what was going on. I wish there was a chapter or two before they discovered their powers so that we saw more of what they were like. A small sense of it was shown throughout the story but a lot of it was told, instead of shown. For example, April was constantly being mocked by her sisters for being the “smart” one but we never saw her studying or doing anything “smart” sister-ish.

April: April was the oldest sister and I feel like she had to deal with the most. With there mom and dad getting divorced responsibility was thrust upon her and then when she began to see the future that responsibility was amplified.

May: May was the middle sister and often felt invisible, when she discovered her power it was invisibility. May had to deal with a lot and didn’t know how to deal with what was going on. When her parents announced they were getting divorced, she dealt with it by getting drunk. She reacted the same way later in the book also. I really enjoyed May’s POV I wish there was more from it.

June: June was the youngest and couldn’t wait to grow up and experience the things she had seen in movies.  I found June’s POV to be very winey. She was constantly complaining about her sisters and thinking she should have been in charge. I understand she didn’t want to be treated like a baby but the way she decided to accomplish that was very immature.

Verdict:

3.5 stars