Seventeen

When seventeen-year-old Sophia dares to prove to her she should stay alive, her suffering is at its climax, her predicament at its worse, and her adolescence at its most difficult.
Sophia is taking summer courses at a New York City college before her senior year of high school, lured to the program by Shauna, her best friend from California. Blessed with all that society considers attractive and intelligent, Shauna succeeds with guy after guy, course after course. Sophia, meanwhile, fails in every course, at every challenge(especially attracting date-worthy males), and with everything she touches....or so she thinks.
Constantly reminded of her own beauty and brains, haunted by pangs of worthlessness, and noticed by only her lanky friend J.P., Sophia begs life for a single decent reason to stick around. Days slip by and she continues her silent countdown until...the greatest hope she can find becomes the deepest threat imaginable.
As she makes her final attempt to confront life among adults, this bold adolescent and feisty storyteller shreds the life she comes to know.
Sophia's plight is the plight of every girl or woman who's ever felt substandard, who'd ever questioned her own value, indeed every person who's ever wondered, "is life worth the suffering?"

I was amazed at this book. I was very very disappointed to have to give up on reading it. I get very close to the characters in the book I'm reading and if the book is good enough, I'll start to almost feel what they feel, and as you can tell, Sophia is suicidal. Reading this book was starting to throw me into a deep depression even though it was so good, and I finally had to call it quites. Not after reading the end of course! What amazed me the most was how...the author, was right on the dime with almost everything! He might as well have been a high school girl himself! If there is a woman out there who hasn't felt what Sophia is feeling at least once in there life I'd LOVE to meet them! If there is anyone out there who loves a good book and does't get too close to the characters...you should read this!

Trissa and the Necklace of Nulidor

One day twelve-year-old Trissa discovers that everyone in her village is under a spell. Everyone but her! Desperate to find someone who can break the spell she flees, leaving her village behind. An old herbwoman tells her to seek help from a wizard who lives far away, and her journey takes her across the Three Kingdoms. Along the way she's joined by a kindly troll and a short, fat palace guard. They are pursued by the twin princes of Kallayne, the best hunters in the Blue River Kingdom, as well as by a huge, dangerous bird. Meanwhile, an evil wizard watches Trissa and her friends in his magic mirror and plans the second spell that will kill everyone in the Three Kingdoms.
I had a great time reading this book by Willow. I was impressed with her creativity. I think that this would be more of a book for preteens and maybe young adults as well. My favorite thing about books is reading about new, and mythical creatures and magic, and this book hit the spot. In the beginning I was a little insertion about Trissa and the Necklace of Nulidor, but my fears soon faded away as I got deeper, and deeper into Willow's story. Keep reading!!:)

Cycler

Jill McTeague s your average smart senior trying to get her dream date to ask her to the prom. Of, course those monthly blood transfusions aren't exactly average-but it's not like she's got anything fatal. What no one knows, except for Jill's parents-who live in constant feat of the secret getting out-is that for the four days Jill is out of school each month, she's not having blood transfusions. In fact, she's not even Jill those days. For four days of every monthly cycle, Jill becomes Jack, a boy-complete with all the parts-and Jack has to live out his four days as a prisoner in Jill's bedroom. But Jack's personality has been gaining strength over the years sense the cycle began. He is growing more rebellious and less content with his confinement, while at the same time his cycles are becoming more frequent. Now Jill's question about the prom isn't simply who she will go with, but who will she be when the night arrives?
This has to be my favorite book I've read all year!(I can't remember past then!) my all time favorite thing about Cycler was how easy it was for me to connect to the characters, or to dislike them! I felt like I knew the characters, without the author having to get over-descriptive in the process. I didn't pass a single dry spot in Cycler, and I also found it surprising that the author truly did know what a high school girl and boy would normally be thinking. A lot of authors kind of like to pretend they know what's going on in a teenager's head,but let's face it. They almost never do.
The only thing I didn't like about Cycler was just how it ended. The author could have totally kept on going, and frankly, I didn't want it to end!

Recovering Dad

Another great Bianca Balducci mystery! Libby Sternberg is inspirational for all young, or even older, readers who are interested in writing. Recovering Dad was hard to not skip to the ending. It took me almost less then a day to read it, because I was so fascinated by the words on each page. What I like best about Recovering Dad was, how easy it was to picture what was going on. Libby did a great job of describing the characters, but not over whelming you with description like a Steven King book. I can't wait to read my next mystery! Give it a try!

Uncovering Sadie's Secrets

Bianca Balducci is an intelligent girl how I think that many young adults will be able to relate with very easily. The author, Libby Sternberg, has a great way of keeping it real, while still keeping it interesting. This was the first mystery I've ever read so I have to tell you, I was surprised to find out how much I wanted to know what happened in the end! You may need some self control to keep you from skipping to ending in this book!

Ice Land

Warned by the fates of an impending disaster, Freya embarks on a dangerous journey deep into the mountains to find a magnificent gold necklace said to have the power to alter the course of history. Meanwhile, the country is on the brink of war as the new world order of Christianity threatens the old ways of IceLand's people, and tangled amid it all are two star-crossed lovers whose destiny draws them together-even as their families are determined to rip them apart. I
IceLand had to be one of my all time favorite books! It rocked! In the beginning I got a little lost when it changed points of view, for one chapter it would be Fulla and before you knew it it was now Freya. Yet, I loved the characters! It may have just been me and my obsession with mythology, but I found the characters really easy to relate with, so when the author wrote what they were feeling like, I could really understand what she meant, and that made only want to read it faster! The only bad thing that happens when you read IceLand is how it make you sad when you've finished it! I never wanted it to end!

Shootind an Albatross

It's 1943, the 170th Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army has taken over the El Rancho Golf Course in Los Angeles, becoming uninvited nieghbors to the Hollywood movie moguls living along the back side of the course. This happens in the only year in history that the PGA canclelled the entire season of professional golf. Combine a military presense with a beautiful golf course left unused, and the setting becomes ideal for a challange match between the Army General and Navy Admiral. Niether man could play the game, so each chooses a partner from the ranks. The general selects Private Evan Wilkins, a gifted golfer from McCall, Idaho, who gets thrown into a world of wealth, power, and rage.
When I started to read Shootong an Albatross, I gave it the benifit of the doubt thinking 'Oh, it's just the begining, I'll get more into it soon,' but the days wore on and I was still finding the book difficult to read. I don't know if it's because I'm a younger age than what the book was made for, or what, but I didn't get past chapter 4. I think that older people could really apperciate the time setting of this book and follow it a little better than I did.