Girl at Sea by 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 Marlin, 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 discover is that there's something deeper and more mysterious than the sea--her own heart.

...to find what you're looking for.*

----

A summer on the Mediterranean. Sounds great, right? Now add in the other factors - being almost completely shut out from all civilization: no phone, no computer, almost nothing. The "crew" from above. No drawing because the boat is too shaky. And the guess that another art store worker is busy with her art store crush. - and you get Clio's summer.

At the very beginning of the book (the first, like, 10 pages), I didn't think that it was quite my cup of tea. But, as I wasn't very far in, I figured that it'd pick up at least a little bit. Just a little bit more, and it started to pick up. A little more than that, and I was hooked. It took a little bit to get to it, there was romance, drama, and amazinggg adventure.

Each character had crazy defining characteristics, and I don't think that there was a single "normal" character in the book. Normally, I would think of this as overkill - just way too much ridiculousness, and, quite frankly, I generally lose track of who has what going on for the first half [or so] of the book - but Maureen Johnson made it work perfectly; I didn't get the people or their quirks mixed around at all.

As the novel was in first person, I got a first hand experience of everything that Clio felt, and I found myself feeling the same way she did. I felt anger at her mom, disappointment about the trip, more anger towards her dad, frustration with not being able to communicate with the outside world, confusion about Aidan, determination, a bit of happiness, and even more.

Long story short, it was good... really good; I most definitely recommend it. Go pick up a copy and get ready to travel to a crazy adventure on the Mediterranean Sea that explores anything and everything that can happen on a boat.

Rating: 9.2/10

Age Range: Young Adult

Genre: General Fiction/Realistic Fiction

Publication Date: May 29, 2007

Publisher: HarperTeen

*summary from inside flap

-SilverLining

Review Policy

You never know when an author/publisher/publicist will stumble by, so I figured it can't hurt to have a review policy in place.

Reviews:

-We mainly review Young Adult/Middle Grade novels, and together we'll read pretty much anything that is YA/MG.

-A review contains:

~the title and author

~a summary [usually from the book's cover]

~our thoughts on it

~our rating

~the book's information [publisher, date published, etc.]

-We will be completely honest with the review. If we read it and think that it was fantastic, it'll get a great rating; if we fell asleep while reading it, it's going to get a poor rating. [Although if we accept it for review, we're already interested in it, so it probably won't get below a 5 (no guarantees though)].

-We do not guarantee that the received book will be reviewed within a set amount of time, however, we will get it reviewed ASAP [and if it's not yet out, we'll get it done before it's publication date (assuming we receive it at least a few weeks ahead of time)].

-You're welcome to specifically request one or both of us, and we will [most likely] stick to that request.*

-Email us with the basic book information [title, author, publishing house] and if you have a preference of who receives and reviews the book, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Interviews, Giveaways, and Guest Posts:

-As long as you're a YA/MG author, we're more than happy to have interviews, have guest posts, and host giveaways.

-We would prefer to have read the book for giveaway or at least one book by the author to be interviewed/guest post. [It makes for better interview questions and that way we can review the giveaway book.]

-Again, you're welcome to ask that one of us interviews you, and we'll [most likely] stick to that.

Contact us at silverush[at]rocketmail[dot]com.

*However, if one of us is requested and that person does not have time or can't review it, then it might get shifted to the other. Also, if neither of us have time/can review it, it might get turned down [although it will most likely be reviewed by the person requested, and it probably won't get turned down].

Why Do You Read?

While exploring the musings of my favorite bloggers [even though I really needed to be doing homework], I came across Choco [in which a girl reads] 's post "why do you read?" where she discussed why she reads now, why she used to read, etc. [after she finished... well, I'll just let you read it for yourself]. Her last two sentences were "What about you? Why do you read?" And this, dear readers, is my answer:

It all started when I learned how to read [I have no idea when that was. I just know that I did, in fact, learn how]. My favorite book in the world was Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. [if you haven't read it, I would go read it now because it's pretty much the most genius book ever written...] I progressed in my reading skills until I read my [and my older sister's-although she first read it a few years before I did] very first chapter book [which I still own.... along with Hop on Pop] : Opening Books by Mae Knight Clark. [I've always counted it as a chapter book, although it's not a traditional one.]

Once I could read real books steadily and without help*, I read almost anything I could get my hands on: from Sideways Stories From Wayside School to the Mary Kate and Ashley books to the Nancy Drew Notebooks to the Magic Tree House books to everything else in the library. Anytime I got to go to a bookstore, instead of browsing the books, I would sit down right in the middle of an aisle where I found a good book and read [which was nice because we would stay in every bookstore we went to for at least an hour]. And that's what I did as a child: I read.

**

As I grew physically and mentally and became an older child, I started moving from the Magic Attic Club books and the Boxcar Children [along with the aforementioned books] to books by Sharon Creech, [others by] Louis Sachar, Roald Dahl, etc. Even as I hit the tween range, I was a bit hesitant to walk across the library to the three bookshelves [yes, only three. My local library is super small.] that made up the YA section. I stuck with my friends in the JF section until about 7th grade when I finally became confident enough [and even then it took a lot to walk all the way across]. And now, I automatically walk straight to the YA section, although I sometimes hit up the JV/picture books/adult fiction.

So there's a brief history of my reading life. But that didn't exactly answer the question.

Why do I read? I read because I'd rather be in Narnia than in this world, in Europe than in the U.S., in Greece than in Ohio. I read because when you crush on book characters, you don't need to worry about saying/doing the wrong thing in front of them.

Why do I read? Because it transports me to a different world, whether it be completely realistic or total fantasy. I read because "books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back." ***

Why do I read? To take a break from the dramas of my life and listen to the dramas of others'. I read because I care about whether Charlotte will manage to save Wilbur and whether Harry will defeat You-Know-Who; I care about the crazy school of 30 floors with one classroom on each floor and whether Sam-I-Am can convince him to eat green eggs and ham.

Why do I read? The answer is simple: I read because I love it.

So... Why do YOU read?

-SilverLining

*Actually, I read everything before then. I remember going to the library one time and checking out SIXTY Easy Readers. Sixty.

**In case if you were wondering/care at all, I read the Harry Potters sometime in between being a tot and a tween, however I don't remember exactly when [although I think I read them in the summer after 2nd grade/year of 3rd grade... I had a reading level considerably higher than my grade was.]

***Quote by the ever fabulous John Green.

The Elements of a Good Book (1): The Prelims

When you think of a good book, what do you think of? Is it quirky characters? Amazing settings? An epic romance? A tragic ending? Most likely, you think about the plot line: was it good? bad? average? I, however, think that there are several things that play a part in your decision of how a book was, and through a series of posts, I plan to explore them.

Although most would start with the obvious plot line, I’m starting with what you think of a book before you even start it.

The Cover

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” the old saying tells us, but how many of us actually don’t? Not many, I’m sure. [For most of us, it's not even possible.] I’ll be the first to admit it: I judge books by their covers all the time, and it’s one of the main factors that helps me pick up a book (assuming I know nothing about it).*

We all have different opinions on covers. For instance:

I, personally, like the cover on the right a lot more: it’s striking, elegant, simple, draws my attention; the cover on the left, however, is a little too boring, yet busy, and I find it kind of ugly. Therefore, I think that I’ll like the right book more than the left one without knowing anything about it. On the other hand, you might adore the left cover with all of your heart, but abhor the right cover.

To make it simple: covers matter. And so do

Titles

Let’s face it: most of us would much rather be reading a book with an intriguing title like Leviathan than something boring sounding like Troll Fell. And yes, I pick out my books based on how cool sounding/entertaining/not lame the title is. I wouldn’t even consider picking up a book like Troll Fell because I don’t like the title, so I think it probably won’t be a very good book. And right below/beside the titles are usually the

Authors

I have a massive crush on John Green and a massive girl-crush on Maureen Johnson**. Because of this, I will gladly pick up any book written by either of them [and several other authors] at any given time. I love all of their books, so a new book by them is bound to be amazing, right? And because I have these crushes, I want to love every book ever written by them ever. And the same way, if I’ve read a few books by an author and hated them all, I’m bound to hate their newest book also. So I probably won’t even give it a chance because I already don’t like it.

Summaries

On almost every book, there’s a brief summary of the book. Most people will pick up a book and read its summary (assuming it has passed the cover-title-author test). If a book sounds good from the summary, most people will read it/like it. If it doesn’t, then they won’t. Simple as that.

Others’ Opinions

There are always books that wouldn’t pass our cover-title-author test, but we read them anyway. Why? Because of what others have to say about them.

If my best friend who has the exact same taste in books as I do loves a book, I will too. It’s set before I even start the book, so I don’t really have a chance to form my own opinion.*** Also, if John Green says he loved a book, I decide that I will too because I love John Green, so I have to love the same books he does. Likewise, if my favorite YA book blogger gives a book a 10/10, it must be fabulous, so I run to a bookstore to purchase it without knowing anything about it.

There are also books that we would be drooling over because they pass the cover-title-author test with flying colors, but our best friend/author crush/favorite blogger hated it, so we automatically do too.

Others’ opinions don’t give us time to form our own opinions of things, or we alter our opinions so that they’re not as extremely different from others’.

Conclusion

Covers/Titles/Authors/Summaries/Other Opinions matter. We care about all of these, whether we embrace it or deny it, and our opinions of books form before we've even begun to read.

-SilverLining

*Just a sidenote on covers: Steph Su has a feature on her blog called Cover Lust where she finds the most amazing covers and posts them up for all to see. I suggest checking it out.

**The author; not the character from Rent. And I do realize that this could be considered really odd/creepy. What I mean is that if she ever asked me if I wanted to hang out/be best friends [which I realize is highly unlikely], I would say yes without second thinking.

***This [and the next examples] isn’t really how I think, but some do.

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford

Icelandic hairdressers are the happiest people in the world.

Bea is not an Icelandic hairdresser.

Neither is Jonah.

New to town, Bea is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day. You know the type: very cheery, very friendly, very average. But instead, the alphabet conspires to seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet observer who hasn't made a new friend since third grade. He's not a big fan of people in general... but he's willing to make an exception for her. Maybe.

Bea and Jonah are not going to have a friendship like other people have a friendship, where it's all based on gossip and parties and what everybody else thinks. Instead, their friendship comes from truth-bound conversations, shared secrets, daring stunts, and late-night phone calls to the same old-timer radio show. They help each other and hurt each other, push away and hold close. It's not romance, exactly - but it's definitely love. And it means more to them than either one can ever really know....

For anyone who's ever entered the wonderful, treacherous, consuming, meaningful world of a true friendship, How to Say Goodbye in Robot will strike a deep and lasting chord. *

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Almost all of what I want to say about this book is said in the summary. [I promise the first three sentences make sense once you read the book.] From August of one year to October of the next, I was always entertained, always wanting to know the next bit. And I want to tell you that this was a cute story, but it was more than that. It wasn't exactly deep or cute or funny or tragic or, well, anything else that I can list. It was just... it. In a good way. It was a great blend and a great balance of these and more. It also (and I hate to say this aloud) wasn't angsty. A lot of more recent YA books have so much angst, and that's probably because we YAs have so much angst (well, some do). But just because there is a lot of YA angst doesn't mean I want to read about it. But that's just me.

So now that you've read all of that, you're going, "Well if it was so great, Silver, why is it only a nine? Huh?" The response is somewhat simple: parts of it just weren't up to par for me. Don't get me wrong, they were still good, but they just weren't quite there. That's it. But, it was still a great book, and I do recommend it.

Rating: 9/10

Age Range: Young Adult

Genre: General Fiction/Realistic Fiction

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

Publisher: Scholastic Press

*summary from inside flap

-SilverLining

2010 A to Z Author Challenge

In my searching around for books for the Debut Author Challenge, I came across the Alphabet Challenge. The challenge is to simply read a book for each letter of the alphabet. I've put together a small list that is subject to change (going by author).

A-D:

E: After by Amy Efaw

F-I:

J: The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

K:

L: How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

M:

N: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

O-Q:

R: The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

S-V:

W: So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld

X-Y:

Z: Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

I'm also adding two new elements of my own: in addition to reading these books, I have to post reviews on all of them, and none can be books I've read before. [I'll add links to the reviews once I do them.]

So... is anyone else taking the challenge?

-SilverLining

2010 Debut Author Challenge

I've been contemplating the idea for the past couple days, and I've decided to participate in the 2010 Debut Author Challenge, hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren. The general idea? To read a set amount of Young Adult/Middle Grade novels published in 2010 by debut authors. My personal goal is 20, as I've hit the stream late and only have 8 months to participate.

I put together a list of a few of the books I want to read, which will grow sometime along the lines. But, for now, here's my list:

1. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. (Published by Dial; March 9, 2010)
2. Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn. (Published by HarperTeen; March 16, 2010)
3. The Snowball Effect by Holly Nicole Hoxter. (Published by Laura Geringer Book; March 23, 2010)
4. The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison. (Published by Little Brown and Company; April 12, 2010)
5. The Karma Club by Jessica Brody. (Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux; April 27, 2010)
6. Change of Heart by Shari Maurer. (Published by WestSide Books; April 28, 2010)
7. Restoring Harmony by Joëlle Anthony. (Published by Putnam Juvenile; May 13, 2010)
8. Sea by Heidi R. Kling. (Published by Putnam Juvenile; June 10, 2010)
9. The Absolute Value of -1 by Steve Brezenoff. (Published by Carolrhoda; September 1, 2010)

I'll adjust the list as it changes and add links to reviews once I get them up.

-SilverLining

P.S. Is Rush on board?

P.P.S. Are YOU participating this year?