One Pimple is One Too Many - Reading

Hello <3


Today I want to talk about one of my favorite pastimes: Reading.

Now, before you run off because you get enough reading recommendations from school - I thought I'd point something out.

People always tell me that they're not readers. Reading isn't their thing. They've tried to love reading but aside from news stories, required reading from school or traffic signs, they just can't quite get lost in a book.
I say: You haven't the right book. Everyone loves to read, if they don't they just haven't found their book yet.
What do I mean by "their book"? That one book that changed the way you thought, the one that grabbed ahold of you from the very first page and didn't let go until you closed the cover, the one that made you laugh and cry until you couldn't do either anymore....
Let's find your book shall we?


My book was A Picture of Freedom- The Diary of Clotee: A Slave Girl from the Dear America series. I learned to read when I was three so I was always a "bookworm" but this is the first book that I remember reading over and over and over again. It's still on my bookshelf. I haven't read it in years but everytime I see it, I smile because for me, reading the Diary of Clotee inspired me to not only love reading - but to keep a consistent journal and write stories.

Since then I've found many books that I love.

Love Rules by Dandi Daley Mackall
Through Painted Deserts & Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Reconstructing Natalie, Daring Chloe and Dreaming in Technicolor by Laura Jensen Walker
the Christy Miller & Sierra Jensen Series

& my favorite author:
Melody Carlson
I gladly & completely recommend anything she has written. <3



There are so many books out there. Historical Fiction. Drama. Thriller/Suspense. Romantic comedy. Biographies. Inspirational.
I couldn't possibly name them all here.
I would say this:
Check out your local library.
Or even a popular bookstore.
Think about what you find interesting and I can guarantee, there will be a book about it.
If you need help, ask an employee. (Especially if you're at the library. The all love books there ;))


Happy reading!


Ariel

P.S. Weekly book recommendations are right here! Check out Amelia's Book Review Column! :)

Amelia's Book Room: Partly Cloudy & Non-fiction

Today's blog consists of two parts. Part one: Poems!

I think it's about time I review a book of poetry; I don't think I have before. So, today's is by praised author Gary Soto. Partly Cloudy is exactly as it says, poems of teen romance and heartbreak, split into two sections, girl's point of view and guy's. One of my favorites is Hard Work, about a boy exhausted by the job of being in love! "My ride, as you know, is a bicycle. Next time, when we're going somewhere, Could I sit on the bar and you pedal?"

Definitely a fun, inspiring book of poems. I always feel like becoming a poet when I read these! And... OK, self plug here; you can read my one and only poem here.

Part two: non-fiction. I used to be a pure fiction reader; I found biogrophies and such very boring. But lately, I've found the wonders of the non-fiction section at the library! You can learn about so much! I've been into aviation, so I look up 'airship' and boom, I'm learning all about the zeppelin disaster in The Hindenburg, or finding facts on birds for my interest in ornithology. Sure, you can find all this stuff on the internet, but we've got all these books lying around, so why not use them? :)

That's all for today, please leave me a comment and join the book club, and next time you're at the library, try looking for some books on a subject you like!

Amelia's Book Room: Ottoline And The Yellow Cat

So, again, this book is for slightly younger audiences, but it was just so cute, I had to review it.

Ottoline Brown, Master of Disguise, loves splashing in puddles and collecting things. She probably inherited the latter hobby from her parents, who are away from home most of the time, gathering interesting objects for their many collections. Ottoline, meanwhile, stays home in the Pepperpot Building taking care of their collections and being looked after by her best friend Mr. Munroe, a small swamp creature with lots of hair.

Another one of Ottoline's hobbies is solving mysteries, and that's just what she does in Ottoline And The Yellow Cat; there's something odd about all these missing lapdogs and cat burglaries! Chris Riddell's fascinating and detailed illustrations really bring this book to life. I think of Ottoline as a combination of Eloise and Nate The Great. Riddell illustrated one of my favorite fantasy series' by Paul Stewart, The Edge Chronicles. You can learn more about Chris here.

That's all for this week; don't forget to join the book club and leave me a comment! Thanks for reading!

P.S. my dance recital went great! You can take a look at some pictures from the rehearsal and me posing in my costume here.

Amelia's Book Room: Diary of a Fairy Godmother

Hunky Dory is in witch training--or rather, charm school. She's the top student and voted most likely to be the Wickedest Witch in her class. But sometimes she doesn't quite fit in with her classmates. She can turn princes into frogs in a jiffy, but she can't overcome the urge to turn them back. 

Hunky is definitely too good. When she meddles in Wishcraft, she gets kicked out of Harbinger's Charm School For Young Witches. She decides to run away and become what she's destined to be: a Fairy Godmother. Diary Of A Fairy Godmother is a great story for anyone who likes mixed-up and modern fairy tales, with characters like the charming Rumpelstiltskin, little Goldilocks, and the slightly air-headed Cinderella. One of the things I like about this book is the names of the other students; names like Frantic Search and Acid Reflux.

You can find out more about author Esme Raji Codell here; she has written several other books including Sahara Special and Vive La Paris. In other book news, the similar modern fairy tale series The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley recently gained another novel, The Everafter War. I'm currently reading it! Join the Dekoposh Book Club, leave me a comment, and keep reading!

Amelia's Book Room: The Rope Trick

Lidi is a magician; with shocking orange hair, beauty, and nimble fingers, she captures everyone's attention. She knows every trick there is, except for one: the rope trick. And there's only one magician in the world known to have done it: the great Ferramondo. 

Lidi goes searching for him with her companion, Jericho, performing in taverns for money. Along the way, she meets Daniella, the prophetic orphan "Added Attraction", Julian, a handsome outlaw with a dark past and a price on his head, and Pompadaro, owner of a circus of dancing pigs.

The Rope Trick is an exciting comedy/romance/fantasy/adventure novel from one of my favorite authors, Lloyd Alexander. In the past I reviewed his Chronicles of Prydain series, which you can read here. Like Lidi, this book is sure to attract anyone with a liking for magic and mystery!

I hope everyone gave their moms big hugs on Sunday! You know the drill: join the book club, leave me a comment, and go read!

Amelia's Book Room: The Serious Kiss

Libby and her best friend, Nadine, made themselves a promise—before freshman year is over, they will each get their serious kiss. She has the perfect guy picked out; Zack Nash.

But Libby’s family seems to be falling apart. Her mother eats too much fast food, her father is an alcoholic, and her two brothers are simply impossible. And even worse, they’re moving to the middle of nowhere, taking her away from Nadine, Zack, and her life.

Her new life at Desert Valley High School is looking pretty horrible, until she meets Warren, AKA Warrenville. She begins to wonder if happiness is about being normal, or just being yourself. The Serious Kiss was Mary Hogan’s first novel; she has since written others including Pretty Face, Perfect Girl, and the Susanna series. This is definitely an author and book to check out!

I hope everyone had a good weekend, and happy late Easter to those who celebrate it. Poll: do you think Ozymandias is a weird name for a plush bunny? Haha! Keep on reading, and join the Dekoposh Book Club!

Amelia's Book Room: When It Happens

In When It Happens, Sara just wants to do well in school and find her true love, to make it happen. Tobey wants to win Battle of the Bands and make Sara fall in love with him.

However, the new guy in school, Dave, asks Sara out before Tobey can work up the courage. Dave isn’t the greatest guy, though, and Tobey knows this, while Sara thinks he’s the best thing that has ever happened to her. But Tobey, who used to be a good friend, is suddenly looking much more inviting. I don’t want to give too much away; one of my favorite things about this book is that it goes beyond where you think it would end!

This is a great teen romance novel with believable characters, like Sara’s best friends Laila and Maggie, who sense her drifting away from them when she goes out with Dave. It can be a real page-turner at times, too!

You can check out Susane Colasanti’s web site here; she has written another teen novel, Take Me There. Remember to join the Dekoposh book club, and keep on reading!

Amelia's Book Room: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

I know, I recently did a review of a David Levithan book, but I was at a loss for a review, and he’s just too good!

In Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, it all starts when Nick sees his recent ex-girlfriend, Tris, at a club. When he asks the girl sitting next to him to be his girlfriend for five minutes, it ends up being much more than he expected.

Norah, his five-minute girlfriend, and her friend, Caroline, are in need of a ride home. After Nick’s band members offer to drive Caroline home and make a deal with Norah, they are sent on a wacky adventure that lasts the whole night long. This book is full of music, quirkiness, confusion, and just plain good storytelling. I must warn you, though, Nick & Norah contains a lot of profanity, so if you’re one of our young and sensitive readers, this isn’t the book for you.

Co-author Rachel Cohn has written novels including Shrimp, You Know Where To Find Me, and Gingerbread; she and David Levithan wrote another book together, Naomi And Ely’s No Kiss List. As you may know, Nick & Norah was made into a movie recently, starring Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, and Alexis Dziena. Also, fun fact, the actor who played Farid in Inkheart is in it, too!

Have fun reading, and join the Dekoposh Book Club today! Just put your email in the box on the right side. It’s that easy!

Amelia's Book Room: Stargirl

Leo Borlock lives in ordinary, boring Mica, Arizona. Everyone seems the same at Mica High School. Until a new girl starts school: Stargirl Caraway.

Stargirl seems completely different. She wears odd clothes, carries a ukulele and a pet rat everywhere, and sings to people on their birthdays in the lunchroom. At first, the students of Mica are suspicious, especially the popular Hillari Kimble. Meanwhile, Leo finds himself falling head over heels for her.

When the school turns on her, Leo thinks the only thing that can help her is to become ‘normal.’ This is a great book about how everyone is human, accepting others, and it’s a cute romance, too! It will leave you with your head full of enchanted places, fossils, rats named Cinnamon, and a seemingly magical girl.

Jerry Spinelli based Stargirl’s character on his wife and fellow author, Eileen. Other novels he has written include Eggs, Milkweed, and Maniac Magee. He also wrote an autobiography (which I intend to read!) called Knots In My Yo-Yo String, and Love, Stargirl, this novel’s sequel.

Once more, I urge y’all to join the Dekoposh Book Club, and read this book! Enjoy!

P.S. Because I'm a dancer, I wanted to mention that this Saturday is National Tutu Day! If you don't want to wear a real tutu, just put a hair scrunchie on your wrist, and it'll look like a miniature tutu!

Amelia's Book Room: Maximum Ride

Everyone wants to fly, right? Well, what if you could? What if you had wings?

Maximum Ride does. Her and five other children and teens were taken from their parents when they were babies, and experimented on by (literally) mad scientists. Complete with avian bones and fully-functioning wings, they’re able to fly. But that’s not all; they also have strange powers.

Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and (appropriately) Angel have escaped from the scientists who have tortured them for so long, and with the kind father-like Jeb gone, they’re on their own. And the scientists are still looking for them. Things go disastrous when the Erasers, half-wolf half-humans, kidnap the youngest of the bird-kids, Angel, and it all goes downhill from there! Meanwhile, Max struggles with her own problems, such as the mysterious Voice in her head, and her growing feelings for Fang.

Maximum Ride is one of my favorite series’, right up there with Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket. (I used to be so obsessed I wore feathers in my hair to ballet class!) You’ll love all the characters, even dark, quiet Fang and the extremely talkative Nudge. Max narrates the books, and Fang keeps a blog, telling snippets of their story. You can even read it online!

The first in the series is The Angel Experiment, followed by School’s Out Forever, Saving The World And Other Extreme Sports, and, the most recent, The Final Warning. The fifth book, MAX, is set to be released March this year, and a movie for 2010. Author James Patterson has written many popular series’, including Women’s Murder Club, Alex Cross, and Daniel X. You can visit the homepage for Maximum Ride and Daniel X here.

Once again, please join the Dekoposh Book Club, and happy reading!

Amelia's Book Room: Absolutely, Positively Not

Absolutely, Positively Not is an absolutely, positively GOOD book! Hah, I had to get that out of my system.

In David Larochelle’s first novel, Steven is doing everything he can to convince himself that he is absolutely, positively not gay. The thing is, it’s not exactly working. From hoarding pictures of women to dating a different girl every day, Steven still can’t help thinking his new teacher, Mr. Bowman, is handsome. This is a fun book, with lots of laughs. One of my favorite parts is how every time he desperately needs to get his driver’s license, he fails for some inexplicable reason.

You definitely don’t have to be in Steven’s place to like this book. Steven is a fun character, as well as his best friend, Rachel. With unexpected turns, interesting characters, and the general struggle of coming out, this is a great book for any teen.

Absolutely, Positively Not is Larochelle’s first and, so far, only book for young adults; you can take a look at his homepage here.

Once again, for those of you who haven’t already joined, please join the Dekoposh Book Club! Simply sign up on the right-hand side of the Dekoposh blog. It’s gonna be fun!

I wanted to remind everyone that one of my previous books, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, has been made into a movie, which came out this past week. I haven’t seen it yet, but it sounds like it’ll be pretty good! Hey, guys—we need a movie review column writer!

Happy reading, and, maybe watching!

Amelia's Book Room: A Wrinkle In Time

It was a dark and stormy night…

This week’s review is certainly a little dark and stormy. Not exactly Holiday-themed, I know, but I was a bit pressed for time!

It was a dark and stormy night when a strange woman visits teenage Meg Murry, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother. Going by the name of Mrs. Whatsit, the mysterious woman seems to know Charles Wallace, who normally doesn’t even speak to anyone outside of his family. She mentions a tesseract, something which seems to intrigue the children’s mother; and is gone as quickly as she came.

Meg, an unpopular girl in school who seems to create trouble wherever she goes, misses her father—who disappeared while working on something top secret for the government—and doesn’t understand the strange things that are happening. Before she knows it, Meg, Charles Wallace, and their new acquaintance Calvin O’Keefe, are being taken along on a mission through time and space with Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. The three odd ladies explain the act of tessering, which is, in fact, a wrinkle in time.

This is a very interesting and heartwarming book about a family’s attempt to rescue their father, yet is very dark and disturbing at the same time. It is, however, one of my favorite books. It’s certainly good for science-fiction lovers, and has a helping or two of fantasy. I love the three ‘witches’, especially Mrs. Who, who is always quoting literature, often in other languages.

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle was the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal, and was adapted into a TV movie in 2003. The "Time Quartet" continues in A Wind In The Door, and after that, A Swiftly Tilting Planet.

Sorry this week’s review is a tad late in the day; I’ve been so caught up in the Christmas rush, and it feels weird not having any dance classes—I’m on winter break—so I completely forgot until the last minute that it was Tuesday!

Happy holidays, all, and I hope those of you on vacation have a great time, and travel safely. Merry Christmas!

Amelia's Book Room: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

This book by Eleanor Coerr is based on the story of a real girl, Sadako Sasaki. Sadako lived in Japan from 1943 to 1955. In the aftermath of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, she died of radiation, ten years after the bomb was dropped.

This is a sad and amazing story. Sadako strove to make a thousand paper origami cranes, hoping that the gods would make her better. The book has information about Peace Day, when people place thousands of paper cranes under the statue of Sadako in Hiroshima. It also has a guide on making your own crane.

I had the chance to meet Mrs. Coerr, and get my copy of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes signed. She is a very nice woman, with a great interest in Sadako’s history.

The book is all about surviving, and even though Sadako didn’t, it is truly a very hopeful and inspiring biography.

In other notes, I had my Nutcracker performance this past weekend; here is a picture of the garlands in the Waltz of the Flowers; I'm the second from the right!

It was very fun; we had the pleasure of working with newscaster Hunter Finnell, who played Mother Ginger. We also had two guest performers, Gary Franco, as Nutcracker and Arabian, and Zuri Goldman, the Sugar Plum Fairy's Cavelier. My mom worked on a lot of the costumes, including Zuri's tunic, the trim on the Sugar Plum Fairy's tutu, the soldier doll costumes, and shorts and hats for the bakers.

One of the parents took over a thousand pictures, which you can look at here. It was a great experience, and I think it looked great! I'll leave you with another photo, me in the middle.

Amelia's Book Room: Killing Britney

So, I know I already did a creepy book for this month, but to tell you the truth, I didn’t even realize it at the time (tee hee). So, in honor of Halloween, here’s another October-themed book.

Britney has everything going for her. She’s popular, her boyfriend is a hockey star, and she’s been accepted as a ‘hockey wife.’ But it suddenly starts going downhill when her boyfriend, Ricky, is killed in a hit-and-run. People close to Britney are dropping like flies, and everyone’s thinking the same thing: will she be next?

I’m afraid this book is not for the weak of stomach, though. Each death leaves you with an anxious ‘no’ on your lips, Sean Olin’s description leaving jarring pictures in your head. This is definitely one of the best murder/mystery books for teens I’ve read, with an especially shocking ending.

You can buy Killing Britney here, but don't forget to look for it at your local library. It's certainly a good book to get you in the mood for Halloween this year!

As a side note, I wanted to remind everyone about the hopeful plans for a book club here at Dekoposh! Personally, I'm not that learned in internet stuff, so I'm not sure how it would work... but I'm sure the Dekoposh team has some good ideas! Please let us know in your comment if you like the prospect of an interactive book club!

That's all for this week; happy reading, and happy Hallow's Eve!

Amelia's Book Room: The Book Of Three

Taran lives a fairly uninteresting life. As Assistant Pig-Keeper on the farm of the old enchanter, Dallben, things can get pretty boring. Taran dreams of adventure; battles, swords, travel, and all things having to do with being a warrior. Instead, our young orphan is left at home taking care of Hen Wen.

However, as stories go, that all changes when something causes Hen Wen to go running off into the surrounding forest. Taran chases after her, only to run into Prince Gwydion, who just happens to be a warrior, and Taran’s idol.

One thing leads to another, and Taran finds himself imprisoned in a dungeon, with only the mysterious and talkative young girl, Eilonwy, for company. Not to mention he still hasn’t found his pig!

Lloyd Alexander puts a quirky twist on the traditional fantasy in this classic novel. The Book Of Three is the first of a five-book series, The Chronicles of Prydain. Despite being a medieval tale, Taran goes through many common situations that us teens and tweens can relate to, like his unrequited crush on Eilonwy, and the simple problem of growing up.

Alexander has written many novels outside of the Chronicles of Prydain, including The Rope Trick, The Iron Ring, and The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man. In 1985, Disney released an animated movie based on The Book Of Three and the second book of the series, The Black Cauldron, and was named after the second book.

This is a wonderful and fun book for anyone who enjoys a good fantasy read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!