Tag: penguin teen

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner | Book Review

March 14, 2016 / 8 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Favorites, Review
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner | Book Review

Review: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner effervesces with the warmth and darkness of a small Southern Gothic town. Zentner creates an atmosphere that is both stiflingly oppressive and starkly beautiful – a landscape where both ramshackle homes and restored Victorians can coexist, where there’s dignity in both wanting to leave a small town and wanting to stay. It’s the beginning of senior year, and our main characters, Lydia, Travis and Dill are best friends looking to the future. For Lydia, the future looks bright. She’s a popular fashion blogger with a massive following […]

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Under A Painted Sky by Stacey Lee | Review

March 7, 2016 / 4 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Review
Under A Painted Sky by Stacey Lee | Review

Review: Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee was on so many bloggers’ favorites lists for 2015, and was on my own highly anticipated reads…and then I didn’t read it for ages. Thank goodness for my book club having it as the pick for Jan/Feb, because I really, really needed to read this one, and I think you will, too. Under A Painted Sky is the story of Samantha Young, a Chinese girl living in Missouri on a border town to the Oregon Trail in 1849. She’s been pretty sheltered for most of […]

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Inside of Out by Jenn Marie Thorne

November 25, 2015 / 14 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Book Memes, Waiting on Wednesday
Waiting on Wednesday: The Inside of Out by Jenn Marie Thorne

I first read Jenn Marie Thorne’s excellent debut, The Wrong Side of Right, in August, and it’s one of the best YA books I’ve read that deals with politics (I haven’t reviewed it yet – will get to it, promise!). Jenn’s writing is quietly impactful and insightful – I feel like The Wrong Side of Right is one of those books that flew under the radar a bit and shouldn’t have. So I’m really excited to see a companion, of sorts, set in the same world as Jenn’s first novel, and dealing with some of the same media pressures, but […]

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: Review: The Distance From Me To You by Marina Gessner

October 16, 2015 / 2 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Review, Uncategorized
: Review: The Distance From Me To You by Marina Gessner

Review: The Distance From Me To You is a book for people who like no-nonsense writing and fast pacing. It’s a straightforward look at stubborn, independent McKenna, a 17-year old who decides to hike the entire Appalachian Trail after high school. Without her parents knowing, McKenna decides to go it alone after being abandoned at the last moment by her best friend. Along the way, she meets and falls in love with thru hiker, Sam, who is trying to outrun his very broken home life. The bulk of this book deals with Sam’s and McKenna’s relationship and his belief that […]

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: Juniors by Kaui Hart Hemmings

September 28, 2015 / 2 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Review, Uncategorized
: Juniors by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Review: I admit it: I wanted to read Juniors because I fell in love with the movie The Descendants, which is based on Kaui Hart Hemmings’ eponymous novel. I loved the way that the screenplay perfectly captured the conflict of the teenage daughter and the protagonist father, and I liked how we got a glimpse of some of the cultural and class issues in Hawaii. Juniors expands on those issues, this time fully from the perspective of a teenage girl. Lea Lane is a part-Hawaiian girl who has just moved back to Oahu after several years in California. She’s been enrolled […]

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Waiting on Wednesday: Exit, Pursued by A Bear by E.K. Johnson

August 19, 2015 / 7 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Book Memes, Waiting on Wednesday
Waiting on Wednesday: Exit, Pursued by A Bear by E.K. Johnson

I found out about this book last week and I was completely floored by the title, the cover, and the synopsis. I was a cheerleader in high school, but I wasn’t popular, so this book kind of speaks to me in that way…but I also think it’s going to deal with the body and image issues that I had so much trouble with as a teen. I haven’t read anything by E.K. Johnston yet, but I have heard outstanding things about The Story of Owen and A Thousand Nights, and I’m excited to dig into my first work by this rising […]

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

April 8, 2015 / 10 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Book Memes, Uncategorized, Waiting on Wednesday
Waiting on Wednesday: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Boy Most Likely To Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick  Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers Expected publication: August 18, 2015 Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To: – find the liquor cabinet blindfolded – need a liver transplant – drive his car into a house Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To: – well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters. For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for […]

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“Handle With Care” Review: Mosquitoland by David Arnold

March 9, 2015 / 6 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Review, Uncategorized
“Handle With Care” Review: Mosquitoland by David Arnold

Mosquitoland Author: David Arnold (website | twitter) Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (Penguin Canada) Source/Format: ARC from publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you!) Publication date: March 3, 2015  My rating: 5 out of 5 stars.  “I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.”  After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of […]

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“All of The Sadness I Cannot Live With” Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

February 2, 2015 / 6 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Review, Uncategorized
“All of The Sadness I Cannot Live With” Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I Was Here Author: Gayle Forman (website | twitter) Publisher: Viking Juvenile (Penguin) Source/Format: Hardcover purchased from Chapters/Indigo.ca  Publication date: January 27th 2015  My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.  Buy It: Indigo.ca | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | B&N | IndieBound | iTunes | Google Books | The Book Depository | Audible Cody and Meg were inseparable. Two peas in a pod. Until . . . they weren’t anymore. When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels […]

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Waiting on Wednesday: Mosquitoland by David Arnold

November 12, 2014 / 10 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Book Memes, Waiting on Wednesday
Waiting on Wednesday: Mosquitoland by David Arnold

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that book bloggers are eagerly anticipating. Mosquitoland Author: David Arnold  Publisher: Viking Children’s Books (Penguin Canada) Expected publication: March 3rd 2015   “I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.”  After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of Mississippi, […]

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