MOVIE NEWS: JACE WAYLAND from The Mortal Instruments Series has been casted!!!!!

*I've heard rumors that this might not be official news. It seems pretty official on ology.com, so we will see.

JAMIE CAMBELL BOWER as JACE WAYLAND

GO to Screenology for more info!

What do you think? Hot or NOT?

and...

Lily Collins as Clary Fray

GO to Screenology for more info!

Very good choice, if you ask me!

Reading Teen is Sharing The Love! BEA GIVEAWAY!!

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED!
WILL ANNOUNCE WINNERS SOON!!



First Place - Choose two books!

Second Place - Choose one book!

Open Internationally

Must be a follower of this blog

GIVEAWAY ends 6-25-11

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
You Are My Only by Beth Kephart
Pretty Bad Things by C.J. Skuse
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey
Abandon by Meg Cabot

For more chances to win BEA books

go to Reading Tween and sign up for middle grade goodness!!!

Audiobook Review: Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 182 pages
Publisher: Listening Library (Audiobook) Unabridged Edition March 14, 2006, Delacorte Books for Young Readers (November 13, 2007)
Buy the Book: Audiobook, Paperback

At the Manhattan School for Art and Music, where everyone is “different” and everyone is “special,” Gretchen Yee feels ordinary. She’s the kind of girl who sits alone at lunch, drawing pictures of Spider-Man, so she won’t have to talk to anyone; who has a crush on Titus but won’t do anything about it; who has no one to hang out with when her best (and only real) friend Katya is busy.

One day, Gretchen wishes that she could be a fly on the wall in the boys’ locker room–just to learn more about guys. What are they really like? What do they really talk about? Are they really cretins most of the time?

Fly on the Wall is the story of how that wish comes true.

I listened to this on audiobook.  The reader was fantastic.  I thought she was very articulate, while at the same time actually sounding like a teenage girl.  I totally bought that she WAS Gretchen Yee, and not just reading about her.  She's probably the best female (teen) reader I've heard.

As far as the book goes....hmmm.....I'm of two minds.  I had NO idea what this book was about when I picked it up.  I didn't even read the description.  All I knew is that I loved Lockhart's Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and wanted to see what else she had out there.  Fly on the Wall was interesting, funny, and a little quirky.  Gretchen is a very likable, though somewhat whiny, character who I wanted things to work out for.  As in Disreputable History, I could tell that the author is very witty and intelligent, just by the dialog of the characters.

However, I can't say that I particularly liked the subject of the book.  The beginning starts out really sweet.  Gretchen is having boy trouble.  She just can't understand them, and wishes she could figure them out.  Then she somehow, for some reason, turns into a fly stuck in the boys' locker room at school.  There she proceeds to tell every last gory detail about the male anatomy.  Every.  Last.  Detail.  Over and over again.  And while her mouth, and the mouths of the other teens in the locker room are quite foul, for some reason all the boy and girl "parts" are described with words like "gurkens" and "biscuits" and "booties".  It was kind of weird, and I just felt like a creeper.  And what really bothered me about it, is that if this were a "guy fly" on the wall of the girls bathroom, describing girls and objectifying them the way Gretchen did, we would be having a Peeping Tom fit.  I feel like women have been fighting to be respected for such a long time, and that the way some try to gain power, is by turning it around on guys.  "If you're going to objectify us, we'll objectify you right back!"  Like the way to solve the problem of men behaving like sexist pigs, is for women to behave that way too.  I just don't get that.  Of course, I'm sure some would say it's all in good fun, and I'm reading too much into it, but I just don't want my daughter thinking that the way to gain power is to make other people less.  

There were good messages in this book too; being an individual, standing up for others, realizing that everyone has self-esteem issues etc.  And, honestly the writing is fantastic and witty and upbeat.  However, if you're an adult, like me, you'll probably just feel weird hearing about teenage boys in all their glory. :(

 AUDIOBOOK

Game on!

 BOOK

It's a draw

• Sexual Content:  Heavy with Extreme Dialog
• Profanity: Very Heavy
• Violence: Heavy bullying
• Other Notables: Smoking

For more details, check out Fly on the Wall on Parental Book Reviews.

My thoughts on BEA 2011... The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

THE GOOD

I had such a good time at BEA 2011. This was my first time so I did not know what to expect. NYC was the perfect spot for such an event. There were so many booths... Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Scholastic, Harper Collins, Random House, Harlequin, Hachette, Perseus and Little Brown, just to name a few. Beautiful stacks and stacks of books to giveaway, cute/whimsy book bags to carry them in, swag galore and on occasion free donuts, cupcakes with sprinkles, mini bars with crackers, cheeses, fruit and wine for your pleasure. It felt like Christmas morning to me. The Book Expo was so massive it was overwhelming at times. I had to pace myself and not take everything that was just handed to me, for I could not carry it all. I of course got some young adult books, middle grade books, cookbooks and some boring school books. I was in heaven. It was a lot of work though, books are very heavy. (I know, I know, I bet you feel really sorry for me right about now :))

The Reading Teen crew stayed at Casa De Blogger, a beautiful home in Brooklyn. We met wonderful book bloggers and made some new friends. Susan with Wastepaper Prose  blog did the cooking and did an amazing job. Thank you Susan for all your hard work, it was greatly appreciated :) 

 I will say though, if I never ride the subway back and forth from NYC to Brooklyn, that will be fine with me! Haha.

THE BAD

Organization... would be the key word right about now! Several times I would be standing in line waiting for a book signing and it was hectic. Crazy. Unorganized. When that many people are in one building with the same common goal... Organization is the key to success. I would say lines with certain book signings and publishing companies went more smoothly than others. For instance, lines that handed out tickets were way more successful than those who didn't. If you did not have a ticket... You did not get the free book. Simplicity at it's best! Line cutters were not a problem in ticketed lines.  

Organization... Hundreds of people would be standing in line before the floor opened, BEA staff would walk by and tell us to leave space for food stands and other businesses, sometimes not in a very nice way. Why in the world would a crowd of people standing in line know to leave space for vendors to set up? Here's an idea: next year rope off a designated line and don't be rude to the attendees who have no way of knowing otherwise.

These are just some of the reasons BEA'11 did not run like a well oiled machine. However, it did not take away from the fact that I had the time of my life!

THE UGLY

I'm about to step on some toes... so here it goes...

This is the first time I felt like I was in high school since I graduated. I was sometimes ashamed to call myself a blogger. I heard so much gossip, complaining, whining, back stabbing, and just plain mean, hurtful, angry, things from convention attendees. It was sad. Just standing in line, waiting for a book... I wanted to say, "hey guys, we are in line for free books about to be signed by authors, why so negative?". I tried to stay very quiet all week, just because I was observing and most of all did not want to be a part of all the juvenile antics. It was pathetic, most of us bloggers are adults and behaved like children. I actually heard people tattling on each other... I mean C'mon bloggers. Aren't we in this together? Shouldn't we stand together and be a classy group of people? Treat others as you want to be treated... right???

LINE CUTTING....  was so bad, way worse than at ALA'10. People who get in line early to get a book have paid their dues, so cutting in line "to talk to a friend" and staying is just plain wrong. It's sad really that the line cutters (you know who you are) just don't care about those who actually worked for the book. I'm sure everyone is guilty at some point and some more than others, but we must work hard to make a better name for ourselves. We want publishing companies and authors to respect us for what we do, we will never earn that respect by behaving this way. Ever. Don't kid yourself... this behavior is noticed more than we might think.

GREEEEEED...  Many times publishing companies would stack books and ask us to wait for an extra five-ten minutes until they were done. Well, some did not care, they would just grab and run anyway. I can't tell you how many times I was pushed around or see someone else pushed so people could get to the front to grab a book instead of waiting with everyone else until the representatives from the publishing company would give their okay to begin the frenzy of noise. Haha... Danielle Frenzy of Noise, I needed your blog name. 

In summary, it seems that in this economy, publishing companies need us more than ever before. We promote new books as effectively as (if not better than) professional advertising firms. Bloggers, keep up the good work with all the amazing reviews you do. All the hard work you put into them is much appreciated, by the entire industry. Let's strive for a better BEA'12. Let's put aside our differences, be nice, stop gossiping and just enjoy each other, work together for the greater good. Do the right thing and good things will come to you. We are all in this together, we want to be the 'go-to-guy' for publishing companies to get the word out about the books we love so much, let's not give them a reason to be annoyed with us. I look forward to seeing all the wonderful bloggers and friends next year that I met during this past week. Also, many thanks to the authors who attended the book expo and signed books for us to enjoy. A special thank you to all the publishing companies for all the great books and your patience. ~ AMY

@ReadingTeen2

Book Review: The Necromancer by Michael Scott

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Ember (April 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780385735322
ISBN-13: 978-0385735322

Buy the book from Amazon

San Francisco:
After fleeing to Ojai, then Paris, and escaping to London, Josh and Sophie Newman are finally home. And after everything they've seen and learned in the past week, they're both more confused than ever about their future. Neither of them has mastered the magics they'll need to protect themselves from the Dark Elders, they've lost Scatty, and they're still being pursued by Dr. John Dee. Most disturbing of all, however, is that now they must ask themselves, can they trust Nicholas Flamel? Can they trust anyone?

Alcatraz:
Dr. Dee underestimated Perenelle Flamel's power. Alcatraz could not hold her, Nereus was no match for her, and she was able to align herself with the most unlikely of allies. But she wasn't the only one being held on the island. Behind the prison's bars and protective sigils were a menagerie of monsters-an army for Dee to use in the final battle. And now Machiavelli has come to Alcatraz to loose those monsters on San Francisco.
Perenelle might be powerful, but each day she weakens, and even with Nicholas back at her side, a battle of this size could be too much for her. Nicholas and Perenelle must fight to protect the city, but the effort will probably kill them both.

London:
Having been unable to regain the two final pages of the Codex, Dee has failed his Elder and is now an outlaw-and the new prey of all the creatures formerly sent to hunt down Flamel.

But Dee has a plan. With the Codex and the creatures on Alcatraz, he can control the world. All he needs is the help of the Archons. But for his plan to work, he must raise the Mother of the Gods from the dead. For that, he'll have to train a necromancer. And the twins of legend will make the perfect pupils. . .

My Review

And so continues an incredible series. The Necromancer is the fourth installment to The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel and these books are just fantastic. Really, I haven't enjoyed a whole series like this in a while. They're just crazy good.

Some of the things I like about it? Sure, you can read my reviews for the last three books of the series here. But here's my review for The Necromancer.

One of the most obvious things of these books is the amount of time each one covers. I guess the average is about two or three days. So far, the whole series has spanned the time of a little over a week. This being said, you know that since each book is fairly long, you know that they're very detailed. And at first, I thought this would get tedious and boring after a while. I was wrong. Michael Scott goes into deep parts of the story so it's easy to get everything. And this is one of those stories where you just have to get every detail you can. Otherwise, your head might possibly explode. The finale of the series, The Warlock, came out just a few days ago. I got the book the morning of May 24, the day it came out. Sadly, I finished it the night of May 24. There is only one complaint that I can think of: I wish the book had been longer. Yes, it was a fairly long book, but I don't think I can wait till the fifth in the series comes out.

Once again, Mr. Scott demonstrates his ingenious writing skill. I, personally, am baffled at how he gets the inspiration for all this stuff. It really is amazing how just when you think the rest of the book is a straight highway ahead, the road of the story goes into another set if twists and turns. This dude really knows how to write... Whatever genre this book is in. Fantasy? Historical fiction? Mythology? Methinks I will call it Scottstoricalantasyology. That seems like a good name.

Who would've thought Prometheus was southern?

Where's Perry? NYC Style

So...no Second Hand Saturday today because the Reading Teen Crew is still in NYC!!  Instead we thought we'd play "Where's Perry?"  Kit got a Perry the Platypus bag from the new awesome Disney store in Times Square, see if you can spot him in theses pics!

Did you find him??  We had way too much fun doing this! 

SHS will return next week, and we'll be sure to share all our BookExpo America pics too!

Book Review: The Girl in The Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (May 24, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373210337
ISBN-13: 978-0373210336
Buy the book: Amazon 
Visit the site: Kady Cross

In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one…except the "thing" inside her.

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch….

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help—and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on—even if it seems no one believes her.

My Review

Okay, let me set up the story for you... It's 1897 in England. Things are much different than you would imagine. The setting of this book is very fast paced, easy to read, witty, funny, adventurous and enjoyable. I just love the way Kady Cross wrote The Girl in The Steel Corset.

Finley Jane finds herself in a little trouble and while she is trying to get out of that so called trouble, she runs into Griffin. Really! Runs into him. Well, Griffin the gentleman that he is can't necessarily leave poor, beautiful Finley just laying on the ground hurt after he practically runs her over with his Velocycle, now can he? Oh, how the story gets good after Finley Jane (I love her name) has the pleasure in staying in his mansion getting better, eating amazing gourmet food and pampered with beautiful clothes, and a chance to make new friends and start a new life... all while getting acquainted with newly found Griffin King.

I loved, loved this book! It was so much fun to read. Romantic, action and everything Steampunk. This book captivated me completely. I can't tell you what made me want to read this book from cover to cover before putting it down. So many little things... like the love triangle between Griffin, Finley and handsome Jack Dandy. Or, was it the fact that Finley had a doctor Jeckle, Mr Hyde thing going on and you did not want to make her angry. Or, the way the action scenes just grippingly (is that even a word?) captivated you until the scene was over and done with so you could actually take a breath. I'm not sure which part was better, I enjoyed the whole freakin thing from beginning to end.

I want to be Finley Jayne, just her name alone, I love it. She was such a good character. So interesting, many levels of complexity and intrigue. Griffin is well... WOW! He was very handsome and debonair, yet had a cocky side to him as well. Emily was Griffin's right hand, the brain behind all the cool gadgets. She was such a cute sweet little red head, She and Sam well, Oh I haven't gotten to Sam. Strong big bloke, he is Griffin's best friend. He was quite a turd because of his distrust for Finley, I guess it's just because she was the new girl with a secret. Jasper, the American Cowboy was really funny, cool and clever, nice having him around. Aunt Cordelia, Hmmm... she was quite the devil, very protective of Griffin and also distrust Finley the new girl in the mansion, she gave poor Finley such a hard time. AND last but not least Jack Dandy, he was quite the character with his cockney accent, I felt cool just reading his lines. The Steampunk villain in this case, "The Machinist" was your typical evil guy who wants to rule the world.

Velocycles and men made out of steel , the imagination of Kady Cross must have for her first Steampunk Chronicles is really off the charts, I can't wait until the next one. Read this one for sure :)




One VERY cool Steampunk book!



Content:

• Sexual Content:  Mild/Moderate (harassment)
• Profanity:  Mild
• Violence:  Moderate

For more details, check out The Girl in the Steel Corset on Parental Book Reviews.

Harry Potter: In One Word

The Harry Potter Cast was asked to sum up their experience in one word.  Here's what they had to say...



Don't you just want to cry?

Character Interview: Elizabeth from The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

The Education of Bet was one of the first books that I ever received for review.  I wasn't sure what I was going to think about it, but it ended up being a book that has really stuck with me.  I liked this book so much.  So, I was very excited when I was chosen to do a character interview with Bet.  It's been awhile since I read this book, but the interview is making me want to pick it up and read it again!  And if you haven't read it yet, you're in luck, the paperback is now available!!  Check it out here.

Bet feels confined by her place—neither family nor servant—in the home of her wealthy benefactor. Will, the boy who’s been like a brother to her since they were four, is unhappy with his fate as well. So Bet makes a plan: She’ll pretend she’s a boy and take Will’s place at school.

When she arrives at school, Bet finds boys act rather brutish when they don’t think there’s a girl in their midst. But brutish Bet can handle it. It’s the stirrings of attraction for her roommate that get Bet into real trouble.

Hi Elizabeth! It's been a long time since we've "spoken." I hope you're doing well! Do you mind if I call you Bet? Or, maybe I should call you Will, just to keep up pretenses!

How humorous you are! I don't mind at all if you call me Bet. While it's true that Will came up with that name for me - well, "came up with" is not quite accurate; it's what he called me because he couldn't say "Elizabeth" when we were small - I've grown used to others addressing me so as well.

Was it hard to live in a home, not knowing quite what your place is? You're not technically family, but you're not a servant either.

I don't like to complain, not when so many in the world have it so much worse. After all, I could have been an actual servant - worse, I could have been sent to the workhouse after my mother died! Still, it was hard in its way: never being entirely one thing or the other.

Dressing like a boy in order to get an education was very brave. Did you feel brave at the time?

In the moments when I wasn't feeling terrified, most definitely! As you know, I wanted to dress as a boy to get an education - a specific goal. But I never suspected how much I would experience a general sense of freedom. Boys: they have so much natural confidence that comes with their station in life, such a sense of entitlement. Did you know that simply jingling the change in one's pockets, loudly, can make one feel powerful?

What was the first thing you noticed about living life as a boy?

That trousers are more comfortable than corsets and gowns.

You were bullied a lot by the "other" boys. Were you ever tempted to just give up, and tell them your secret?

Not really. Of course it was hard at times - Hamish physically beat me! But I'd given up so much to be there - the comforts of life at Grangefield Hall; decent food; compromising my own ethics in lying to Will's great-uncle - I couldn't possibly walk away.

Having a roommate that you're starting to have feelings for has got to be hard. Especially when he thinks you're a boy. How did you deal with that?

Poorly, I think! I know that my words and behavior confused him greatly. But then, I was so confused myself.

What are some words you would use to describe James?

Unusual: unusually self-assured, unusually smart, unusually kind, unusually handsome.

What is your best memory of life at Betterman Academy?

For my own reasons, I can't tell you the best moment but I can tell you the second best. There was a dance. James believed me to be Will Gardener but I'd made a pretty gown, donned a wig and, after convincing him that Will was sick, further convinced him that I was Bet, Will's sister. We got to dance briefly - one of his hands in mine, the other against my waist - but the best part came afterward. As I wrote in my diary, "...all I truly wanted in that moment was just what I had: to be standing there, a girl, next to a boy I liked so much, watching the world dance by."

 Thanks, Bet, for taking some time to answer our questions!  I hope everyone loves your story as much as I did.

If you'd like to read my review of The Education of Bet, you can find it here. 

Book Review: Insight by Diana Greenwood

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (April 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310723140
• ISBN-13: 978-0310723141

Buy the book from amazon

Some secrets won't let you go. Elvira Witsil lives about as far away from civilization as you can get, in a remote corner of Wisconsin where nothing much ever happens. In a house crowded with her mother, her cantankerous grandmother, and her little sister, Jessie, Elvira feels forgotten and alone. Their house also contains numerous secrets, and Elvira's family holds their secrets closely. Secrets about the father that Jessie never knew, and that Elvira can't forget. Secrets about that day five years ago. And the one secret that Elvira can't quite understand: that Jessie sees things no one else can see. These secrets will lead Elvira and her family on a journey far away from home---on a journey toward redemption and healing---if she can just bring herself to believe.



My review:
Before anyone gets excited about me doing some awesome review,

let me just stop you there.

I don't really have much to say about Insight.

I didn't love it and I didn't hate it.

It was just right in the middle of, "eh."

The story was interesting, but it didn't grab me like I really wanted it to.

It kind of just kept a very anti-climatic, steady pace.

I also didn't feel like there was a very strong character or story development. 

Insight just wasn't my cup of tea, and I'm thinking it was written for a younger audience. 

One thing I did really love about Insight, is no matter how much Elvira 

complained about how much her life sucked, (which it did. I would complain as well)
and no matter how much she said how much she hates her family,
you can tell deep down, that she loves them, and would do anything for them.
The author did a really good job at capturing that.

Anyway, to wrap things up here, I did not hate this book.
It just wasn't something I'd want to re-read.
So I am sure there is somebody that would love this book!
So give it a try, and tell me what you liked about it.

For content, check out Parental Book Reviews

Top 5 Ghost Books by Leah Cypess, Author of Mistwood/Nightspell

Today as part of The Teen Book Scene blog tour for Nightspell (Mistwood #2) by Leah Cypess, we've given the blog over to Leah who is sharing her Top 5 Favorite Ghost Books!  Thanks, Leah!

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn. This book, about a girl whose stepsister’s weird behavior has something to do with a long-dead child, is THE quintessential ghost book in my mind. I don’t remember how old I was when I read it, but I do remember that I had to get the book physically out of my room before I could even try to get to sleep.

(Oh, and if you check this out on Amazon, PLEASE do not read the spoilery SLJ review.)

[2] Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. When the clock strikes thirteen, Tom discovers an entrance to a long-gone world. More magical than scary, and a book I reread dozens of times as kid. I even wrote a book inspired by it, called “The Thirteenth Hour.” Fortunately, like most of my preteen writing attempts, that book is lost on an obsolete computer somewhere.


[3] Passage by Connie Willis (adult). About a psychologist investigating near-death experiences. And the Titanic. And Alzheimers. And memory. Ultimately, it’s not exactly a ghost book, but a book about death itself – the stark fact of it, which is more terrifying than the scary tales we build around it.


[4] Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan. In which a girl is sent to a very creepy boarding school. For someone who doesn’t really like being scared, I was pretty quick to snatch up every Lois Duncan book I could find as a teenager. I distinctly remember finishing one of them when I was home alone; I threw it across the room, curled up in a ball on the couch, and didn’t move until my parents got home.


[5] Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (upper YA). About a future America where everyone below the age of 16 can see ghosts. It’s fascinating to me that this book came out at around the same time I was writing Nightspell, and I think it’s the only other book I’ve ever read that explores the concept of a society of ghosts. Also, as a former lawyer, I love the idea that ghosts seeking vengeance make the most annoying clients ever.

What do you think?  Have you read any of these books?  What are you're favorite Ghost books?

If you haven't read Mistwood, now is the perfect time to start, the second book, Nightspell is coming out May 31!  You can order it now!