Top Ten Tuesday: Literary BFFs

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish. This is my first time participating!

This week's topic is: Top Ten characters I'd like to be best friends with:

1. Jo from Little Women. I got this from Jessi at TB&TB. I can't believe I had forgotten about her! I had to include her after seeing her on Jessi's list. I remember loving Jo as a kid.

2. Nita & Kit from the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I just reviewed the most recent one here. Nita & Kit are both teens who discover they are wizards when they come across a library book in So You Want to be a Wizard. I loved this book as a kid and I've kept up with the series ever since (25 years later!!)

3. Will Stanton from the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. He was my first literary crush. All you Harry Potter fans? Read the Dark is Rising series and then talk to me.

4. Sabriel from the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix. She can control the dead. What's not to like?

5. Ruby Oliver from E. Lockhart's books. Read my latest review here. Ruby is funny and cool and even if she thinks she's a bit neurotic she'd keep life interesting being her friend!

6. Luciano and Arianna from the Stravaganza series. I apparently like magical, fantastical, adventurous couples for friends!

7. Colie from Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen. I'd probably be BFF with all of Sarah Dessen's characters, but Keeping the Moon was the first book I read of hers so it's always held a special place in my heart. It really spoke to me. Even though I was in my 20s at the time, I remember feeling very much like Colie did.

8. Lyra Bellaqua from His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. She's a spunky girl with a fierce sense of loyalty. Plus, I introduced Philip Pullman to egg drop soup at a Chinese Restaurant (true story).

9. Evanjalin from Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta. Because she is a "strong female hero" in every sense of the word. She kicks ass, sacrifices everything for what's right, and is not afraid to make the hard decisions.

10. Curious George. He knows where the fun is and makes some on his own if he can't find any. And he's a monkey. Who doesn't want to be BFFs with a monkey?

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A Wizard of Mars--Diane Duane

Title: A Wizard of Mars
Author: Diane Duane
Publisher: Harcourt, 2010
549 p

The last Wizards book was in 2006--Wizards at War--and I was thrilled to see that Diane Duane decided to write another story. I was also thrilled that I actually wrote a detailed review of the last book because it helped refresh my memory!

A Wizard of Mars takes place shortly after the events in Wizards at War. Go ahead and click on the link up there, I'll wait. This 9th book finds Nita and Kit averting another disaster a little closer to home. They've traveled to many different planets and solar systems as wizards, but no other planet is as mystifying as Mars. There's no sign of life or wizardry on Mars, but the wizards are drawn to it and feel as though they've lost some connection with it. Kit in particular is obsessed with solving the mystery of the red planet, even if it means straining his friendship with Nita. Nita doesn't quite get Kit's obsession and tries to be understanding and at the same time deal with her sister Dairine's obsession with finding the lost Roshaun.

Duane jumps right into the story like we've never left the wizard's world. This is not the book to start the series with! Readers need to know the history and back story of the first eight books to fully appreciate this one the way it's meant to be appreciated. Since I've read all of them (even if I did need a little refresher) it was easy to jump right along with Duane. Nita and Kit feel like old friends to me now. Except that I'm the only one who keeps getting older (I'm pretty sure I was around 10 or 11 when I read the first book, close to the same age as they were.) Nita and Kit are growing up though--and so is their wizardry. The first few books were clear good vs. evil battles. Wizardry was very much black and white. But now that our heroes are a bit older and more experienced they see that life is NOT black and white and good vs. evil is not so clear-cut. This is the first book that the Lone Power does not play a big obvious role, but is instead more subtle with his deceptive influence.

The lost Roshaun is not found and Dairine's story is secondary in this book. Hopefully that means there will be another Wizards book soon.
 
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Peter Marino Giveaway Winners

Thank you for all for entering the Peter Marino giveaway! I used random.org to generate 4 random numbers and made sure that 4 different people won.

So the winners are:

Comment 10: Melanie
Comment 18: Jen
Comment 6: John
Comment 17: Annette

Please e-mail me your snail mail info and I'll forward it to Peter Marino.

Edited 11/29/10: One of the winners never got in touch with me, so using random.org I generated a new number. Comment 3: Librarina was chosen. Full disclosure: I know Librarina in real life, but that had no effect on the random number drawing! 

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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.

Perks of Being a Wallflower--Stephen Chbosky

From the Vault

This review was originally written--handwritten no less--in December 1999 before the Age of Blogs. I'm not editing it at all because I don't believe in tampering with history. For other old reviews, click on the "From the Vault" tag.

Title: Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky

1999

Genre: problem novel

Subjects: depression, sexuality, adolescence

Summary: 16 year old Charlie spirals down into a depression during his freshman year of high school. He begins well, and becomes friends with two people who show him more of life than he's ever seen, but until he accepts a traumatic event from his past, he can't break away from depression. 

Critique: Set in the early 1990s, Chbosky has realistically portrayed the time as well as universal issues teens of all decades deal with. Dialogue (seen in Charlie's letters) is great. Format is great. With Speak, a must read of this year's books. 

Recommendation: Yes

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Real Live Boyfriends--E. Lockhart

Title: Real Live Boyfriends
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2010
240 p hardcover, 224 p ARC

This book will be published December 28, 2010. But I read an ARC that I WON FROM E. LOCKHART. That's right, peeps. I won an ARC. But fear not, that won't affect my review. 

We last left Ruby Oliver in The Treasure Map of Boys when she finally recognized her true feelings for Noel and was rewarded with a real live boyfriend. We pick up in Real Live Boyfriends with Ruby blissfully happy with Noel. But this is Ruby we're talking about, we know blissfully happy doesn't last forever. And sure enough when Noel is visiting his brother he suddenly turns into a pod-robot lobotomy patient. Ruby's one chance at true love is shattered, she's fighting with her mom, her grandmother dies and her dad gets depressed. And yet this is the best Ruby Oliver book to date!

I've gushed about Ruby before as well as about E. Lockhart, so you know I'm not just saying this because I think that maybe, just maybe, she might actually read this review since I won the book from her. Ruby is one of those characters that we just want to root for. She's funny even at her worst moments. She's real. She makes mistakes and then makes more mistakes trying to fix those first mistakes. Through it all she keeps her sense of humor. Sure, she's boy-crazy and she's searching for true love but she keeps her own identity, she stays true to herself, and never turns into one of those empty-headed need a boy to complete me type of girls. She even breaks up with a perfectly reasonable boy because he's not the one she really needs and in the end she's not willing to sacrifice herself and settle for less than true happiness.

If you've read the first three books, Real Live Boyfriends is a MUST- READ. If you haven't read the first three, you've got some time. Get on it now and you'll be all ready for the December release!

I was not compensated for this review other than winning the contest for my snarkiness and receiving the book. 
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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.

The Treasure Map of Boys--E. Lockhart

Title: The Treasure Map of Boys
Author: E. Lockhart
Delacorte Press, 2009
244 p.

This is the 3rd Ruby Oliver book. Ruby's adventure with boys started in The Boyfriend List and continued in The Boy Book. Here's a funny--I had always loved The Boyfriend List after I did the YA Author You Need to Read article about E. Lockhart I couldn't believe I hadn't read the sequels. So I requested them from the library. The Boy Book came and I read it and loved it and the whole time I thought wow, it's like I know what's going to happen, but not in a bad predictable writing way, but just in a, I know you so well Ruby way. I came on here to write my review and searched for E. Lockhart so I could link to the review of The Boyfriend List. And what came up? A review for The Boy Book. Yeah. I READ THE BOOK ALREADY. I have no explanation, other than I have 3 children and I am turning into my mother.

And now, for the review.

Lockhart calls this book a companion novel and not a sequel. She's right in that a reader could pick this up and not be completely lost without reading the first two. But it's so much more enjoyable when you do read the first two and you can think things like I know you so well Ruby. In The Treasure Map of Boys Ruby is navigating her way through the state of Noboyfriend while maintaining flirtations with various boys, including ex-boyfriend current cad Jackson and loyal but mixed-message sending Noel. She does all of this the only way she can--with humor. Ruby is nowhere near perfect and she knows it and that's what makes us like her even more. We want her to end up with the right guy, not just any guy, and we want her to have friends who are true friends. It's a credit to Lockhart's writing that she has created such a charming character.

Fans of the first two will eat this one up, if they haven't already, and I dare say that those who are just coming to the series will seek out the previous books as well.
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Breaking Dawn giveaway winner

Using random.org to generate a um, random number, I'm happy to say that comment #2, Inspired Kathy, has won Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer.

Thanks for participating in our (my) first giveaway!

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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.

Stravaganza: City of Ships--Mary Hoffman

Title: Stravaganza: City of Ships
Author: Mary Hoffman
Bloomsbury, 2010.
356 p. 


The Stravaganza Series started with City of Masks in 2002. Lucien is a high school boy in England dying of cancer. He finds an old notebook, falls asleep with it, and is magically transported to 16th century Talia, like our Italy, in a parallel world. He is not plagued with cancer in Talia and is able to help the citizens of Bellezza (Venice) with their crisis. City of Masks sets the stage for the rest of the series--in each one a relatively unhappy English student stravagates to the Talian world and must help their city overcome some obstacle. The series continues in City of Stars,  City of Flowers and  City of Secrets.

In City of Ships the stakes are getting higher in the Talian world. The independent city-states are on the brink of war with the Gate people, as well as the constant threat of the Di Chimici family. Isabel is the newest Stravagante and overcomes her poor self-image and low self-esteem while helping the city Classe defend itself against a naval attack from the Gate people and a land attack from the Di Chimici. The former Stravaganti all lend a hand, both in England and in Talia, to help protect the country they've all come to love.

I love this series. It's great for book discussion groups, for classes. The author includes notes detailing what Italian city she's based her cities on and how she's changed them (Classe is based both on the Italian Ravenna and Classe). Students could research the modern cities and show similarities with their fictional counterparts. They could compare the Di Chimici family to the Medici family of Italian history. This series would be great for one of those interdisciplinary projects--read the book in English class and talk about the real history in History class.

Despite the fact that it's so great for teachers to use with students, it's still a good series for teens to read for fun! There's adventure, suspense, and a little romance in each book. Arianna/Luciano fans will not be disappointed in City of Ships. Although the story is Isabel's to tell, our favorite original couple is not forgotten and plays a pivotal role in the latest novel as well. The romance is not overwhelming but just enough to satisfy the curious and not turn off the uninterested. The book, as well as the whole series, is good for boys and girls, middle through high school. I am eagerly awaiting the next book City of Swords which should come out in 2012.

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Companions of the Night--Vivian Vande Velde

From the Vault

This review was originally written--handwritten no less--in August 1999 before the Age of Blogs. I'm not editing it at all because I don't believe in tampering with history. For other old reviews, click on the "From the Vault" tag.

Title: Companions of the Night

Author: Vivian Vande Velde

1995

Genre: Supernatural

Subjects: vampires; morality

Summary: 16 year old Kerry encounters murder, kidnapping and vampires when she visits a laundry to retrieve her brother's teddy bear. Through it all she learns about morality, lying and betrayal.

Critique: Great story. One complaint--I would have liked to see Kerry reunited with her family at the end. I'd like to know what story she gave them!

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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.

Peter Marino's "Magic and Misery" Giveaway

Looking to round out your LGBT collection? Just want to win a free book? Today is your lucky day. Peter Marino is supplying FOUR copies of Magic and Misery for a very special giveaway.

Here are the rules:
You must live in the US.
You must enter before Friday, November 19, 2010. 

How to enter:
Leave me a comment telling me one idea we can help the LGBT community (especially youth). Just one idea. If you're really having a hard time coming up with something besides wearing purple, you can also just tell me what the LGBT community means to you. If you have no idea what LGBT stands for, well, you need to do some research.

For additional entries (for each additional entry, you need to leave a separate comment):
1. Follow this blog and leave me a comment telling me you're a follower.
2. Like my facebook page and leave me a comment about it.
3. Follow me on twitter and leave me a comment.
4. Retweet my giveaway tweet and leave me a comment.

There are FOUR potential winners, so even if you're not interested in winning, please spread the word to others. Thank you!

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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.