Friday, January 22, 2010

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is about Lia, a high school senior who is struggling with anorexia. Until 6 months ago, she and her best friend Cassie experienced their eating disorders together. Six months ago, however, Cassie broke off all contact with Lia, and today Cassie is dead. She died alone in a hotel room after going on a serious food and alcohol binge. That night, she tried to call Lia over 30 times... but Lia didn't answer. Now Lia is dealing with the grief of losing her former best friend, and feeling like it was her fault. Through all this, Lia's anorexia continues to worsen, to the point where her family doesn't know how to help her anymore. Lia's refusal to eat more than 500 calories each day is slowly killing her, but she can't stop.

This was a really good book. It was so sad to read about Lia's struggles with her emotions and her eating disorder. I felt sad for Lia and for her family, who were at a loss as to how to help her take care of herself. This book is definitely for more mature readers due to the nature of Lia's illness.



Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz

Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz is the sequel to Stormbreaker (the first Alex Rider Adventure). In this action/adventure, Alex has been asked by M16 (England's version of the CIA) to investigate the mysterious murders of two seemingly unconnected, but equally powerful, men. The only tie between the two is that the two men had 14 year old sons attending the same boarding school in the Swiss Alps: Point Blanc. Alex's undercover assignment is to attend the school and learn as much about these boys, the school, and the headmaster Dr. Grief as possible. What Alex finds out is both amazing and terrifying, and puts him in terrible danger.

This was a great spy novel! It was full of action - especially the last 75 pages or so. The descriptions were so vivid, I could really visualize the action in my head. There was maniacal snowboarding, a train accident, breaking and entering, cloning, super secret spy tools, and (of course) mega explosions! All in all, a great action/adventure!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Bites: Scary Stories to Sink Your Teeth Into

Bites: Scary Stories to Sink Your Teeth Into is a book of short stories by some of today's most popular authors, including Christopher Paul Curtis, Peter Lerangis, and Neal Shusterman. There are vampires, werewolves, ghosts... everything you could hope for in a collection of scary stories!

This was a good book! I liked all of the stories - they were creepy, but not too scary. It's fun to read one story at a time and come back to the book for something completely different! I recommend this one to anyone who likes horror, fantasy, short stories, and good authors!