It's an awful, blurry picture and I apologise. The camera went dead after I took one pic so it will have to do. I have had a good week in which I bought some novels when I really shouldn't. That being said, my holidays are about to begin and I have some marking, semester planning, First Aid training, Harry Potter 6, and a 48-hour reading challenge to jump into. Colour me thrilled.
IMM is a concept by
Alea and
Kristi - long may they reign.
Review Copies:
Sprout - Dale Peck How many secrets can you hide in plain sight? Sprout Bradford has a secret. It’s not what you think—he’ll tell you he’s gay. He’ll tell you about his dad’s drinking and his mother’s death. The green fingerprints everywhere tell you when he last dyed his hair. But neither the reader nor Sprout are prepared for what happens when Sprout suddenly finds he’s had a more profound effect on the lives around him than he ever thought possible. The reviews I have read so far are making me eager to read this one. Not that the reviews are bad, just so-so.
The Bride's Farewell - Meg Rosoff
On the morning of her wedding, Pell Ridley creeps out of bed in the dark, kisses her sisters goodbye and flees - determined to escape a future that offers nothing but hard work and sorrow. The road ahead is rich with longing, silence and secrets, and each encounter leads her closer to the untold story of her past. And then she meets a hunter - infuriating, mysterious and cold. His fate appears to be strangely entwined with her own.Will he help her to find what she seeks? Or must she continue to wander the earth, searching for love and lost things . . .
I am embargoed on this one until late October so I won't read it for awhile. Not sure what to expect other than an entrancing read.
Pink - Lili Wilkinson*
Ava Simpson is trying on a whole new image. Stripping the black dye from her hair, she heads off to the Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence, leaving her uber-cool girlfriend, Chloe, behind.Ava is quickly taken under the wing of perky, popular Alexis who insists that: a) she's a perfect match for handsome Ethan; and b) she absolutely must audition for the school musical.But while she's busy trying to fit in - with Chloe, with Alexis and her Pastel friends, even with the misfits in the stage crew - Ava fails to notice that her shiny reinvented life is far more fragile than she imagined.
Totally fun cover. In the midst of my own musical upbringing (meaning I watched them, I have no talent) and my recent fascination with Glee, I am excited to read this little, pink jewel. (Side note - I love a movie from a few years back called Camp, which is all about a musical theatre sleep away camp - mountains of naughty fun!)
Saltwater Moons - Julie Gittus*
In the beginning it seems so simple. A poem in the mail. A weekend invitation to the coast. But when Sun says yes to a midnight walk, her life becomes suddenly complicated. Saltwater Moons tells the story of Sun Langley during her final months of Year Twelve. There's the intensity of her first relationship, complicated by the fact she continues to exchange poems with her boyfriend's best mate. It's a story about love and betrayal, about constantly longing for the things we can't have.
Such a lovely cover. Published last year, I think this might be starting off a theme of books that are hard going at the moment. By "hard", I am referring to emotionally taxing. Can't wait to get stuck into it.
Bought:
Once - Morris Gleitzman*
ONCE is the story of children in the Holocaust, poignant and powerful without being frightening or graphic. With his gentle and utterly alive manner, Gleitzman reads the tale of Felix, a Jewish boy who runs away from the convent where his parents had him hidden and roams the countryside with an orphaned girl until they find their way to the cellar of a print shop in the Warsaw ghetto, where an old dentist has been protecting lost children.
I am thinking of using this as my term 3 class text. I can't believe I haven't read it yet but that will soon change. It's apparently both moving and amusing, which is Gleitzman's calling card.
Knife - R.J. Anderson
As the Faery Queen's appointed Hunter, Knife alone has the courage and skill to fight the crows and other predators who threaten the Oakenfolk's survival. Yet neither she nor the Queen can do anything to stop a mysterious magical disease from claiming the faeries of the Oak one by one. But there are humans at the bottom of the garden, and a glimpse inside their House convinces Knife that they have powers and knowledge that could help her people. Still, if the human world has so much to offer, why is the Queen determined to keep the faeries away from it? Is there a connection between the House and the Oakenfolk's loss of magic? And why is Knife so drawn to the young Paul McCormick — that strangest of creatures, a human male?
Knife determines to learn the truth about the Oakenfolk's relationship to humanity, no matter what the Queen might do to prevent her — a quest which threatens the growing friendship between herself and Paul, puts both their lives in jeopardy, and challenges everything Knife has ever believed about humans, faeries, and her own heart's desire. And when at last Knife discovers the secret the Faery Queen has been hiding, she is forced to make an agonizing choice between love and freedom that will change her life, and the lives of her people, forever.
I told RJ that I hadn't seen it on the shelves anywhere and I hadn't. One hour and four bookstores later, I found it's delightfully purple (and shiny) loveliness. I suspect this will be a faery week for me!
Girl At Sea - Maureen Johnson
Sometimes you have to get lost.
The Girl: Clio, seventeen, wants to spend the summer smooching her art-store crush, not stuck on a boat in the Mediterranean. At least she'll get a killer tan.
The Mission: Survive her father's annoying antics. Oh, also find some underwater treasure that could be the missing link to a long-lost civilization.
The Crew: Dad's absentminded best friend Martin, his scary girlfriend Julia, her voluptuous daughter Elsa . . . and then there's Aidan, Julia's incredibly attractive, incredibly arrogant research assistant.
What's going on behind Aidan's intellectual, intensely green eyes, anyway?
As Clio sails into uncharted territory she unveils secrets that have the power to change history. But her most surprising discovery is that there's something deeper and more mysterious than the sea—her own heart.
I didn't like 13 Little Blue Envelopes and warmed up to Suite Scarlett. This is my third attempt at seeing if I can fall for MJ's writing - I love her in person, just not so much in words...yet. I have been told this is many blogger's favourite so I am giving it a go.
Note - *'s indicate Australian authored titles.
I am taking part in the 48 Hour Challenge over at the YA Reads Forum....It's my first proper challenge and I am a little nervous though I have no idea why. My main intent it to make a dent in my continuing to blossom TBR pile of doom.
Hollywood Ending - Kathy Charles 
