Red edited by Amy Goldwasser

I bought this book last October and I am not sure why I took so long to read it. It was well... amazing. Red is a collection of 58 stories, written by teenagers. Some are about self esteem, family, crushes, love, hobbies, pop culture, and the many other things. These essays will speak to you, no matter what age, you are. They are funny, cute, and sometimes heartbreaking. I didn't actually know that Jocelyn and Jordyn were in it, till shortly before reading it. It made it a little bit more awesome.
I highly recommend this to everyone. Seriously, check it out.
Peace out, Sarah.

Willow by Julia Hoban

Rating:
Characters: 20/20
Setting: 9/10
Plot: 17/20
Originality: 18/20
Writing: 19/20
Recommendation: 10/10
Overall: 93/100 or A
Seven months ago, Sixteen year old Willow was driving on a rainy night in March with her parents. There was a horrid crash and her parents died. Willow now lives with her brother and has to work at the university library in order to make ends meet. She is known as the orphan girl that killed her parents at school. She also secretly cuts herself to get rid of the pain. One day, a random boy named Guy finds her secret and destroy the "safe" world that she created. He turns her world upside down by trying to help her.
Willow has a fresh voice and spirit in the book. Hoban has created fantastic characters that you will remember. David, Willow, Guy, and the other characters are original and seem real. She left their appearance for you to decide and focus more on personality. Willow is a gripping book that you won't be able to stop. The plot is full of twist and turns, and the ending is left for you to make your decision. I found it to be perfect for the ending. I also found Willow and Guy's relationship to be cute. It was amazing that he would do anything for her to get better. Willow is too amazing for word and I highly recommend it. I really loved this book.
Peace out, Sarah.

Say The Word by Jeannie Garsee

Rating:
Characters: 18/20
Setting: 9/10
Plot: 19/20
Originality: 20/20
Writing: 19/20
Recommendation: 10/10
Overall: 95/100 or A
Shawna Gallagher has the perfect life, well she tries to anyways. Then she gets a call from Fran. The women that her mother left her for, ten years ago. It turns out that Shawna's mom has had a stroke and is dying. She takes the first possible flight from Cleveland to New York to see the women that abandoned her, when she was seven.
By the others choices and the past, Shawna has to find the difference between being perfect and making the overall right choice.
I really liked Garsee's first novel, Before, After and Somebody in Between. So when I heard about Say the Word coming out, I had to read it. I loved Shawna, she was so real and had so much to deal with. I liked her relationship with LeeLee and how when they fought. Also how realistically, they became friends again. I also loved that Say the Word was more about family and friendship, then love. Dr. Gallagher also became one of my least favorite characters ever, and I felt sorry for Shawna having to deal with him. I highly suggest this book, Garsee is definitely an author to watch.
Peace out, Sarah.

The Season by Sarah Maclean

Rating:
Characters: 19/20
Setting: 10/10
Plot: 19/20
Originality: 17/20
Writing: 19/20
Recommendation: 10/10
Overall: 94/100 or A
Alexandra Stafford is seventeen in the 19th Century. She is just about to start her first Season. Alex doesn't really want to attend the Balls and other event in all there ritzy and glorious decoration. Neither do her brothers, Will, Nick, and Kit that are being forced to attend with their younger sister by their mother, Duchess of Worthington. Alex doesn't believe that she can find a husband that will allow her to have her own freedom and be intelligent.
Alex starts having feelings for the newly titled as the Earl of Blackmoor... also known as her childhood friend and neighbor, Gavin. As, Alex and her two best friends, Ella and Vivi uncover a mystery surrounding the Earl of Blackmoor and the former one. They believe something else is going on.
I loved this book. It was amazing and it was hard to put down. The setting was really well done. Maclean creates strong female characters with Alex, Ella, Vivi. They each had various personality. I liked Alex's three brothers and Gavin as well. Gavin will make you wish that you were in the book. The humor in this book was also there and it made me laugh... a lot. The mystery wasn't overdone or too little, but perfect. It had a lot of suspense that will have you turning pages, even though that the ending is kind of predictable. I can not say how much I recommend this book. Just go read it as soon as possible. I know that you will love it. I also can't wait for Sarah Maclean's next book, since this was such a wonderful debut.
Peace out, Sarah.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Score: 5/5

Summanary: Alice was kidnapped from a school field trip, at age 10. She enters the world and is completely controlled by her captor, Ray. She has been beaten, starved and sexually abused. As, she reaches fifteen. She no longer looks or acts like a little girl. Ray decides that she needs to find someone else, another little girl. Will she end up like the last Alice and be killed? Also, will she ever make it back to 623 Daisy Lane and to her family?

Note: This book is amazing. I love Elizabeth Scott's book. They are all well written. She has published 3 other books (Bloom, Perfect You, and Stealing Heaven) in a little over a year, which is incredible. Living Dead Girl is a wonderful tale. It is not a safe world, sadly and there are sickos like Ray out there. I like how the book is honest and doesn't sugarcoat it. This book was really direct and though it was short it did leave me satisfied. I don't understand why it was a hardcover, when it was under 200 pages. I also love the strength that she gave to her heroine. I am going to shut up, because I'll keep fangirling her.

Elizabeth Scott's Blog: http://www.elizabethwrites.com/blog/

Some other bloggers' opinions:

http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2008/09/living-dead-girl----elizabeth-scott.html

http://presentinglenore.blogspot.com/2008/09/book-review-living-dead-girl-by.html

Rumor has it that Steph will have Elizabeth Scott thing in December and also check out Steph, because she is awesome:

http://reviewerx.blogspot.com/

Happy Reading!

Love Sarah.

Bliss by Lauren Myracle

Grade: 4/5

Summary: Bliss was left with her grandmother, when her hippie parents ran off to Canada. She is now the new girl at Crestview Academy. This will be Bliss' first school. She also has to change her lifestyle from living on a commune to the living in the city.
Crestview Academy was a convent before it was a school. School legend is that a girl named Liliana, jumped from the third store of the building. She sense that something is wrong with the school. She can hear the Liliana's plead to come set her free, but she can tell the voice is one of evil. Bliss just wants to make friends; not hear a dead Liliana's voice. She meets a girl, Sandy that is obsessed with the past. Especially that of the suicide at Hamilton hall. Sandy also tries to justify the Manson Murders. Bliss also becomes friends with Sarah Lynn, a popular girl that Sandy hates for some reason. As one of her friends goes deeper into the hole of evil, Bliss wants to save her, but she might lose someone else.

Notes: This book is amazing. The layout is awesome. Each chapter is started by a quote with references to “The Andy Griffith Show,” the Charles Manson murders and racial intolerance. Sometimes, there is a diary entry from another character that goes by S.L.L. The diary entries have blood splattered on them. I also really liked Bliss, she is a really sweet girl. She is quite innocent, which is perfect for a horror novel. Lauren Myracle of telling a story in the 1969's. The plot was amazing. I think this is Myracle's best work, and highly recommend it.
A book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AsM9UK3OiU
Peace out, Sarah.