libscote's reviews
6271 reviews

This book was good, but I didn't realize it wasn't going to complete an arc of the story, that the story would continue with Gwen using a different spider moniker. I thought it was a duology.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I'd be hard-pressed to give a particular reason, but none of it landed particularly well--I felt like the scientist was suddenly off, the reveal about the mom was kind of fast, and I didn't really understand the romance aspect. It wasn't bad, it just didn't blow me away.

This mystery reminded me a bit of "The Westing Game." I can't think of another book like it at the moment, but I love the small town feel of Gifton, Georgia, where everyone is in everyone else's business all the time. Grady and his dad are down on their luck after Grady's mother died, to the point where they are in foreclosure on the house. A mysterious inheritance from a distant relative could change everything, if only Grady's dad can believe and Grady can solve the mystery of the old sampler. This was a fun summer read and I think kids will love both the mystery and the nosy neighbors. 

I love a book with slightly unusual pairing, so hockey girl plus drama boy worked for me. Sometimes I found it a little hard to tell if someone was blushing or if it was just the regular under-the-eye lines, but that didn't deter from the story for me. Overall it was good.

Wings of Fire or Warriors (Cats) but with Dinosaurs.

Shannon has always wanted to be an actor, but has been a little too nervous to try out, so she usually ends up doing tech stuff. When the director hears her sing just after auditions, he asks her to try out and she gets a part! This changes the dynamic a bit between Shannon and her two best friends, especially when she gets the role one of her friends wants. While all this is happening, her grandmother moves in with Shannon and her mom, causing more friction. Shannon tries to keep all of this plus her OCD under control, but it ends up being a bit too much at times. Shannon needs to speak up for what she needs before it all gets too far.

I enjoyed this look at OCD because it's a little different than what we might normally think of for symptoms. I also thought it portrayed an interesting family dynamic. My one complaint is

I kind of felt like Shannon was a little too hard on Elyse, especially after she was mean to her at the party, and I felt like no one really expressed that to Shannon? It seemed to be a lot of "Elyse is responsible for everything." I would have liked to see some more emphasis to Shannon on her actions at the party and her reaction to Fatima's attempts to go between her and Elyse.

Laura has moved in with an aunt she barely knows after her parents are sent to rehab. She's convinced it is a temporary thing, and does everything she can to prevent getting too attached to anyone and anything near her Titi's home. Plus, her Titi doesn't even seem all that excited to host her. A stray dog and a new friend might help change Laura's mind if they can break through her defenses. 

This book is a good examination of what drug addiction and recovery can look like through the eyes of a child, including how they might blame themselves for what happened. A short but effective novel.

Pretty good. I got the second volume in the series to see what that's about as well.

This type of nonfiction isn't my typical read--I've never been one to strongly enjoy theory or essays that aren't fully narrative. I'm glad I worked my way through it though--there were a lot of good points and things to think about. I probably would have kept it longer but it needed to go back to the library.

I don't think I would have read this one if it wasn't nominated for the North Star YA Award. I'm familiar with the tropes Hazelwood likes her main male love interest (dark haired, extremely tall, hands that dwarf the female love interests somehow) and thus every time Nolan was described I was taken out of the book because I was too busy laughing about these tropes. I know that some kids will definitely love it.