Sunday Special (33) It's Been A While...

...since my last Sunday Special post. Now I'm here to show you some mock covers I did over the past weeks. The pictures looked really good and their colours were just perfect so I didn't have to add much effects. These are all dedicated to C.K Kelly Martin who has been such a great author friend to me :)

I Know It's Over


One Lonely Degree


The Lighter Side Of Life and Death

All pictures are from inmagine.com. Credits to all the photographers for taking such beautiful and inspirational shots. In the process of browsing through the photos I came across those that were chosen to be official covers for some already published and upcoming books too. Will share with you guys in the next two weeks so watch out for it.


Or and here's a lousy cover for my NaNoWriMo novel. I'm way too behind schedule so I made this to cheer me up (at the time when I was supposed to be writing)

So what do you think of these? Love them, hate them, let me know!

The Comeback by Marlene Perez

Publisher: Point, Scholastic
Pub. Date: August 1st 2009
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 208
Format: ARC
Source of copy: from the publisher - Scholastic

Sophie Donnelly is one half of the most popular and powerful couple in school, until new girl Angie Vogel shows up and compromises everything. Angie steals Sophie's starring role in the school play, and, worse, her super-popular boyfriend. Sophie has been quickly dispatched to social Siberia, but not for long--she'll do anything it takes to make a triumphant comeback.


There was not much to say about this The Comeback. It was a fun read but lacked the factors that would surprise or impress readers. A typical story of a popular girl trying to get back her first place and everything that (she considered) defined her.

Sophie thought she had it all. The popularity, the perfect boyfriend, the leading roles in each and every school play. Until Angie, a newcomer, came and stole the spotlight. Sophie was mad and hurt and she was determined to make a comeback even if it meant being mean to the innocents. Marlene Perez's writing was entertaining so even though everything was way too predictable, you'd never feel the urge to put it down and move on to the next book in your TBR pile.

What was interesting the most was the circumstance Sophie was put under. Ironic as it was, my pity and anger for the girl who suddenly lost it all was the thing that kept me read on to the end. The highschool drama, too, was fun and not overstating at all.

Sophie was such a funny girl. She wasn't the common popular mean girl. Well, she was mean, but you felt bad for her instead of hating her. Her silliness and stupidity would bother readers sometimes - like I couldn't understand why it was so important for her to get back at Angie despite the fact that she knew the girl was not guilty. In term of subordinate characters, there wasn't much development in them (Sophie's brother was cute, anyway). Angie, for example, was a confusing one. At first she acted like she was trying to put Sophie down by any means then suddenly became sweet and timid.

Overall, it was a cute book. Suitable for a fast read in my opinion.

Rating: 2.5/5

Say The Word by Jeannine Garsee

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Pub. Date: March 17th 2009
Age Range: 12 and up
Pages:
Format: hardcover
Source of copy: from author

Dredging up the past can knock the present right off balance.

The world expects perfection from seventeen-year-old Shawna Gallagher, and for the most part, that’s what they get. She dates the right boys, gets good grades, and follows her father’s every rule. But when her estranged lesbian mother dies, it’s more than perfect Shawna can take. Suddenly, anger from being abandoned ten years ago is resurfacing along with Shawna’s embarrassment over her mother’s other family. As she confronts family secrets and questions from the past, Shawna realizes there’s a difference between doing the perfect thing and doing the right thing.


I've not read many novels of this kind, but I'm quite confident to say that Say The Word is one of the most well written books about homosexuality. Told in a very unique point of view - daughter of a lesbian Mom, Shawna's story was true to the core, painful yet still beautiful.

Gloomy, bitter and full of unpleasant happenings were how I defined the book. The writing was neat and the subject was handled with absolute care, however; it didn't make the story feel too adorned. On the contrary everything was raw and ingenuous, something all readers are looking for in a book these days, especially YA releases.

I had fun reading this book. It was fast paced and all the thrilling events made me very keyed up to read on. So, in other words, Say The Word was unputdowntable. I kept telling myself to put off reading this so I could finish my homework, but I went on sneaking back just to read a little bit more. Consequently, I ended up ignoring homework to finish the book. The world created in the story was very interesting yet it was tough as hell. What would you do if your Mom left your Dad for another woman, totally abandoning you with a complete perfectionists who made you feel so suffocating you just wanted to explode? And then there were family secrets, unexpected intertwinement and fractured friendship, everything seemed to drown our protagonist deeper and deeper in hopelessness.

Shawna's character was interesting, partly because she had multiple personalities, partly because she was in such a dreadful situation her actions conflicted with her feelings. Perfect Shawna, Evil Shawna, Pathetic Shawna, you'd have a chance to meet them all in this book, knowing each side of the girl and how it affected her life. To tell the truth I liked Evil Shawna the most. I loved how she was bitter and sad, and sometimes did stupid things that pained others. I also took a liking to the fact that she could hardly accept the two closest persons to her were lesbians at first. It was convincing and very real. Even when some people said they were cool with homosexuality, they would find it harder to deal once it happened to the ones that actually knew. Or at least that was what I thought.

The ending was okay. It was not bad but I really thought Shawna deserved more than that. She was supposed to pursue her dream and get together with the ones she truly loved and cared for. After all she'd been through I really expected a happy ending. But I guess the ending suited the mood of rest of the book. It was sad. Also, it'd have been less forceful if Shawna and Arye spent more time together and shared more memories. They fell in love too soon and too hard it didn't make much sense to me.

Rating: 4/5

Waiting On Wednesday (36)

Idea taken from Breaking The Spine

The Extraordinary Secrets Of April, May and June by Robin Benway.

Three sisters, three extraordinary, life-changing powers!

I hugged my sisters and they fit against my sides like two jigsaw pieces that would never fit anywhere else. I couldn’t imagine ever letting them go again, like releasing them would be to surrender the best parts of myself.

Three sisters share a magical, unshakeable bond in this witty high-concept novel from the critically acclaimed author of Audrey, Wait! Around the time of their parents’ divorce, sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood—powers that come in handy navigating the hell that is high school. Powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. But could they have a greater purpose?

April, the oldest and a bit of a worrier, can see the future. Middle-child May can literally disappear. And baby June reads minds—everyone’s but her own. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls come together to save the day and reconcile their strained family. They realize that no matter what happens, powers or no powers, they’ll always have each other.

Because there’s one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.


Anyone else thinks of Charmed as soon as you read the synopsis of this book? I love the concept of this very strong, very sisterly and very magical. It sounds different from Robin Benway's first book, which I love with all my heart so I really don't know what to expect. But my intuition tells me it's going to be just as great. I love the names of the sisters and, needless to say, the cover rocksssssssssss.


August 3rd 2010, roll on!!!!

In My Mailbox (37)

Idea taken from The Story Siren



The I Girl (book 1) by Cecily von Ziegesar.

Popular Gossip Girl character Jenny Humphrey is leaving Constance Billard to attend Waverly Academy, an elite boarding school in New York horse country where glamorous rich kids dont let the rules get in the way of an excellent time. Jennys determined to leave her crazy Manhattan past behind and become a sophisticated goddess on campus. But first shell have to contend with her self-absorbed roommates, Callie Vernon and Brett Messerschmidt. Hot guys, new intrigue, and more delicious gossip all add up to more trouble than ever for Jenny. But if getting caught with boys and going up against the Disciplinary Committee is what it takes, Jennys ready. Shell do all that and more to be The It Girl.


Gossip Girl (book 1) by Cecily von Ziegesar.

'Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side, where my friends and I live and go to school and play and sleep - sometimes with each other. We're smart, we've inherited classic good looks, and we know how to party. It's a luxe life, but someone's got to live it.' The Gossip Girl series is the ultimate in glamour and cool - set in New York's glamorous Upper East Side the narrative follows the thrills and spills (with Jimmy Choo shoes and shopping at Barneys mixed in along the way) of its richest and most beautiful teenage residents. 'Gossip Girl' is the ultimate in sophistication, scandal and luxury - in fact if Carrie Bradshaw of 'Sex and the City' had a younger sister, there is no doubt she would be 'Gossip Girl'! Publisher's Weekly is quoted: 'Gossip Girl has the effect of gossip itself - once you enter it's hard to extract yourself; teens will devour this whole'. We will be publishing the series at regular intervals throughout 2003 with a high profile, energetic and suitably cutting-edge marketing campaign. This deliciously catty and engrossing series will be the spicy vanguard for Bloomsbury pushing the bundaries into young adult fiction.


Once A Witch by Carolyn MacCullough.

Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search—and the stranger—will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all. This is a spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.



Like I said before, I don't really like reading books on luxurious lives with mean girls and stuff but I decided to give the two series - Gossip Girls and the It Girl a try because they seem interesting. It must be interesting enough to be turned into TV series and became so popular right? For Once A Witch, I heard so many good things on it and couldn't resist requesting a copy. The cover looks fabulous in real life.

Thanks Maura from Headlines UK, Carolyn McCullough and Jennifer from Houghton Mifflin for getting these book sent to me ^^



Happy reading Monday~!!!!!!!

The Center Of The Universe by Anita Liberty

Publisher: Simon Pulse Aus
Pub. Date: July 1st 2008
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 160
Format: paperback
Source of copy: from the publisher - Simon Pulse Aus

Welcome to the story of my life. Well, at least the story of my junior and senior years of high school. It's a profound, touching, and hilarious (if I do say so myself) tale told through cunning poems, revelatory diary entries, perspicacious (look it up) word definitions, shrewd bits of advice, and off-the-cuff (but brilliant) insights. You'll probably relate to a lot of it. Especially the parts about hating my parents, never feeling cool enough, failing my first attempt at the SATs, having an incredibly romantic (but one-sided) relationship with the coolest guy in school, and getting hexed by my ex-best friend who became a Wiccan. And if you can't relate? Well, step to the back of that humongous line. You'll probably be right behind my family. If you're lucky, my mom'll bring snacks. How can I be who I am and who my family wants me to be when the person I am wouldn't be caught dead with the person my family wants me to be?


What makes a teenager's life dreadful? School? Mean girls? Bad boys aka jerks? No. Parents. At least that was how it was to thirteen-to-nineteen Ania Liberty. Truthful to the max, the story, or should I say a collection of significant memories of tthe author's teenage years, was an awesome read that would unintentionally make Anita Liberty a very best friend of every girl those ages.

The best quality of the book that was it was not fiction and it was hilarious. Told through diary entries, poems of all kinds, self-definition dictionary and even SAT questions, Anita's story was nothing but unique. There were no dialogues at all, not a single one, but somehow it was more captivating than any other normal stories. Even the unpleasant appearance of a small rat in the new apartment, under the pen of Anita Liberty, turned out to be worth-noticing.

Because, as I said above, The Center Of The Universe was purely about teenage life, it had everything that concerned a young adult: schoolwork, life at home, dating and making/breaking friendship. All of these were mixed with special flavors of Anita's humor and lovely poetry skills. This was the book that'd keep you smiling, chuckling and cracking up from the preface page to the acknowledgment.

Although it covered the six most exciting years of Anita's life, the book didn't have a particular change of voice at all. All I saw was a cheerful and somewhat silly girl who always remained positive and hopeful no matter what she had to face with. Everything that happened to her every day was a new experience and she took pleasure in it. People could make she feel bad and depressed sometimes, yet Anita moved on and had fun again just a little while after. Her world wasn't surely pink but she managed to see it that way.

Anita was amazing. Her character, or the younger version of her when she wrote this book, was someone I would befriend with by all means. She was interesting, if not for her hilariousness or friendliness than for her talent. I also admired the fact the Anita Liberty brave enough to show all the readers this part of her life, especially when she showed such strong hatred toward her family members.

To sum up, this book was a book that not only each and every teenager should have on their shelf but the adults may pick up as well. It was the perfect picture of the time when we were young, wild, and was the center of the universe - even though others believed it or not.

Rating: 4.5/5

Friday Flavor (3) Five Reasons To Love The Treasure Map Of Boys

Last time Lara Zielin shared her love for the book she's always loved. This week, it's Susane Colasanti's turn to spill about the novel she adores. Guess what it is?

Well, you don't have to wait long. Let's hear (or more precisely, read) what Susane has to say:

Book title: The Treasure Map of Boys

Author: E. Lockhart

When did you finish it? August 23, 2009

Why do you love it so much?

E. Lockhart is one of my favorite authors. I adore her writing style. The way she can evoke such strong emotions with just a few well-selected words has always impressed me. Since there are so many reasons to worship this book, I have compiled a list of some of mine.

Top Five Things I Love About The Treasure Map of Boys

1. Fun word choices like “pony-tailing around” and “snarfled.” Oh, and “ag” of course.

2. It kept me entertained for over an hour in airport security lines.

3. The whole Fresh Fiasco on page 25.

4. Boy problems, girl drama, mental health issues, and friendly zoo animals.

5. Like Sara in When It Happens, Ruby is looking for something real.



You don't believe that Susane loves this book that much? I have more convincing proof.




Look at how bright Susane's smiles are. She even kissed the book! Notes: pictures taken in Vancouver in front of Science World.



Is it enough to make you excited about the book and pick it up right away? Hopefully it is for you because it is for me already. I don't just want to devour this book, I want to read the whole series too. Which girl doesn't want to learn more about boys, especially in such cute stories?

The Book Review Club NOV - Teach Me by R.A Nelson

Publisher: Penguin Aus
Pub. Date: March 22nd 2007
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 272
Format: paperback
Source of copy: from publisher - Penguin Aus

What happens when a high school student and her teacher cross that line?

Teach Me by R. A. Nelson is a powerful debut novel that readers will not be able to put down. From the very first page, Nine speaks in a voice that is at once raw, honest, direct, and unusually eloquent. "There has been an earthquake in my life," she says, inviting you inside an experience that fascinates everyone-an affair between teacher and student-and giving a personal answer to the question: How does this happen?

R. A. Nelson's strong writing is paired with a story we all want to hear, resulting in a novel that will speak to every teenager. A novel about a love so intense that the person you're with becomes your world, and when you lose that person, you lose your world.



This book was so awesome I could squeal all day. A perfect combo of truth and lies, love and betrayal, passion and anger, poetry and science, Teach Me was a true work of art that would reach out to not only teenagers but adults as well.

Teach Me was the book of many firsts - first time stepping into the world of poems and inconclusive dreams, first time falling deep into forbidden love, first time having the heart shattered and first time realizing the true meaning of life. The story grabbed your attention at the very first page with the seemingly bizarre but interesting protagonist - Caroline, or Nine as she called herself. There were no chapters at all. The book was divided into many different parts with a very poetic title for each, allowing the author to switch between very different scenes and the readers to explore various sides of Nine's story.

The devlopement of the story was amazing. At first you got this feeling of a very elegant novel where everything was gentle, sweet, delicate. Then came the passion, the desire, the addiction, pushing things to the verge of explosion. The change of voice was so smooth you hardly recognize the difference. It was still Nine, the smart and outstanding girl who tried to find the answer to the cause of her heartbreak. Sometimes what was happening was vague hence incomprehensible but that only made you wanted to read more and more. The book became unputdownable just then.

Nine wasn't a typical girl. Her personalities changed during the process of her story. Just like the book itself, on the first half all you saw was an intelligent girl who accidentally got herself involved in a relationship with her teachers yet things were under control . The rest of the book, on the other hand showed a confused and outrageous Nine who would do anything and everything to break the ones who had made her life this anguish. As for Mr. Mann, I wasn't really impressed by him initially, he just struck me as some jerk who took advantage of kids. But there was his side of the story too, with a hurtful twist that completed his character.

Overall this book was an impressive read of two people who fell in love and unconsciously taught each other things that were, hard to accept, but necessary to lead a real life. It was sad, almost too painful so if you have a faint heart, think twice before you pick it up

Rating: 5/5

Waiting On Wednesday (35)

Idea taken from Breaking The Spine

The Lighter Side Of Life And Death by C.K Kelly Martin.

Sixteen-year-old Mason Rice is having the night of his life. He's just delivered an incredible performance in the school play, basked in celebratory afterglow vibes at the party of the year, and lost his virginity to one of his best friends—the gorgeous but previously unobtainable Kat Medina. His dreams are coming true, and the future looks golden.

Unfortunately, Kat sees things very differently. Crossing the friendship line was a big mistake, and all she wants is to forget it and move on, even if that means forgetting Mason altogether. What's a guy to do? Well, if you're Mason, you hang your hopes on the first attractive twenty-three-year-old you cross paths with. At first Mason wonders if he's imagining the chemistry . . . until Colette invites him over to her apartment. Suddenly Mason's living in a whole new world.

Acclaimed YA author C. K. Kelly Martin offers a sexy, soulful story of one confused boy, two girls, and all the complications that ensue in this romantic feel-good love story that celebrates friendship, first love, first lust, and second chances.


This book sounds perfectly HOT. The only thing it needs to complete the package is a really cool cover. Judging from the previous covers of C.K's books I think we all can hold up our hope. The premise is new and nostalgic just like I Know It's Over and One Lonley Degree. One more point for the male narrator and another one for somewhat scandalous relationship. I can't wait :(

Find the lighter side of life and death in May 2010.

In My Mailbox (36)

Idea taken from The Story Siren.


Secret Society by Tom Dolby.

An eccentric new girl. A brooding socialite. The scion of one of New York’s wealthiest families. A promising filmmaker. As students at the exclusive Chadwick School, Phoebe, Lauren, Nick, and Patch already live in a world most teenagers only dream about.

They didn’t ask to be Society members. But when three of them receive a mysterious text message promising success and fame beyond belief, they say yes to everything. Even to the harrowing initiation ceremony in a gritty warehouse downtown, and to the ankh-shaped tattoo they’re forced to get on the nape of their necks. Once they’re part of the Society, things begin falling into place for them. Week after week, their ambitions are fulfilled. It’s all perfect—until a body is found in Central Park with no distinguishing marks except for an ankh-shaped tattoo.


I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure by Larry Smith, Rachel Fershleiser.

True tales of love, loss, good friends, and bad hair days filled Not Quite What I Was Planning, the New York Times bestselling first book in the Six-Word Memoir series—an international phenomenon. Some of the very best were by teens, so the editors decided to create a book written entirely by those bold, brash truth-tellers. From cancer to creativity, prom dates to promiscuity, and breaking hearts to breaking laws, the memoirs in this collection reveal that often the youngest writers have the most fascinating stories to tell.


The Naught List by Suzanne Young.

As leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), Tessa’s mission is twofold: pep preservation and relationship salvation. That’s right, Tessa is a head cheerleader whose night job is catching cheating boyfriends in the act! Thank goodness her own relationship with Aiden is strawberry-smoothie purrfect—except for the fact that she’s been concealing her nocturnal habits for, oh, two years.

Aiden suspects something’s up, and his patience is wearing thin. But in the meantime, Tessa’s far too busy to deal with her own romantic roadblocks. The Naughty List is at maximum capacity; because so far, every single suspect on it is 100% guilty.

But Tessa’s in for an even bigger shock when Aiden’s name shows up on The Naughty List, and she’s finally forced to confront the unthinkable: is her own boyfriend just as naughty as all the rest?


I'm reading the six word memories book at the moment and mang it was good. Such talented teens, they can summarize their lives in just six words and make us react to it. I'm also very excited to start The Naughty List book 1. Who doesn't like reading stuff about naughty boys? LOL.

Thanks Kelly Tapper from HC & Suzanne Young for these books ^^

Happy new week, happy new books. Lame I know =.=