by Jeania Kimbrough

My Book Review Rating: 4 out of 6 stars

Synopsis

Every January and August, tens of thousands of teenagers from around the world go on foreign exchanges.

The experience can be one of the most positive and beneficial aspects of young adult studies. The ability to learn from and appreciate differences in other cultures is something that can make us all better global citizens. The added benefits of language acquisition, knowledge of different countries and customs, personal growth and self-reliance often help exchange students become more successful in future life endeavors.

However, being an exchange student is almost never as easy or wonderful as it sounds. Homesickness, experimentation with cultural norms contradictory to one’s own, and integrating into different social environments can feel daunting at times and affects all participants at various levels.

Van Diemen at 17 walks the line between positive and negative aspects of the experience through the eyes of Kara Jagger, a seventeen year old American chosen to study in Tasmania for a year. Set in mid-nineteen eighties Australia, the novel is essentially the story of a girl who is not completely honest about or secure in who she is. Is she the perfect exchange student? No. But her story sounds like real life, the way that imperfect but well meaning people often get stuck in unexpected, messy situations.

Why did you decide to read this book?

The author asked if I would like to review an advanced copy of this book and I happily agreed.

My book review

In Van Diemen Australia, thousands of miles away from her home in America, 17 year-old exchange student Kara is struggling with personal issues that threaten to have her sent home prematurely.

Just as she starts to feel hopelessly lonely and disillusioned with her adventure she meets Ben Carston, the counsellor who is supposed to offer support to get her back on track.

Before too long this troubled exchange student and her knight-in-shining-armour counsellor are compelled to admit their true feelings for each other and embark on a secret relationship that could cut her adventure short, and risk his position on the programme.

In Van Diemen at 17 Jeania Kimbrough takes the reader on a journey far from home and explores themes of loneliness, eating disorders, love and teenage angst. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and struggled to put it down. A great YA read that I heartily recommend.

Jeania Kimbrough holds graduate degrees in both Communication and Information Studies from Rutgers University and Teaching English as a Second Language from Northern Arizona University. Her bachelor’s degree is in English, with a minor in Spanish, and is reflective of the passion she has always had for literature and language. Although she’s lived and traveled in over twenty different countries, home has always been the Desert Southwest. She likes to think she was born in the middle of a dried out ocean, and has been thirsty ever since.

You can find out more about Jeania over at her blog.

Order Van Diemen at 17 by Jeania Kimbrough from Amazon

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by Andrew Klavan

My Book Review Rating: 4 out of 6 stars

Synopsis

Charlie West went to bed one night an ordinary high school student. He woke up a hunted man. Terrorists are trying to kill him. The police want to arrest him for the stabbing death of his best friend. He doesn’t know whose side he’s one or who he can trust. With his pursuers closing in on every side, Charlie makes his way back to his hometown to find some answers. There, holed up in an abandoned mansion, he’s joined by his friends in a desperate attempt to discover the truth about a murder he can’t remember-and the love he can never forget.

Why did you decide to read this book?

I was sent an Advanced Reading Copy of this book by the publisher.

What did you like about this book?

Even though The long Way Home is the second in the Homelanders series I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. It’s a great Young Adult thriller that I really didn’t want to put down until I found out what happened to Charlie.

Published by Thomas Nelson this book has a Christian theme and it is Charlie’s faith that gets him through the trouble he faces when he becomes involved with an anti-American underground group of terrorists.

The Long Way Home is fast-paced with some thought provoking themes included and I’m sure this book would be enjoyed by teenagers looking for an adrenaline-pumping adventure!

Share a quote from the book

“I dried myself off with a couple of paper towels. I looked at myself in the mirror. The guy looking back at me was six feet tall. Thin but with broad shoulders, good muscles, still in good shape. I had a lean, kind of solemn face with a mop of brown hair flopping over the forehead. brown eyes- serious eyes- probably too serious for a guy who was only eighteen – but honest and straightforward. At least, I always thought they were…”

About the Author

Andrew Klavan has been nominated for the Mystery Writer of America’s Edgar award five times and won twice. He is the author of several bestselling novels turned movies, including Don’t Say A Word, True Crime, and Empire of Lies.

He is currently writing a series of thrillers for young adults called The Homelanders. The first two novels in the series are The Last Thing I Remember and The Long Way Home. The third book: The Truth to Remember is scheduled for publication in November 2010.

Click here to find out more about Andrew Klavan

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Twilight

by Stephenie Meyer

My Book Review Rating: 5 out of 6 stars

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About the author

When Stephenie Meyer woke up in July 2, 2003 she had no idea that her life was about to change forever. This stay at home mom of three boys had a dream that featured such realistic characters that she couldn’t get them out of her head.
Find out more about Stephenie Meyer…

Buy Twilight by Stephenie Meyer from Amazon

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My Book Review Rating: 4 stars – take teenage angst and boarding school and throw in a bit of supernatural terror and suspense and you’ve got yourself an enjoyable read!

This book was a Christmas gift from my brother… which means it was on my Amazon wish list… which means that at some time I must have read a great review of it at another book lover’s blog! [If it was you then add a link to your review in the comments box ]

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the novel when I first started reading; we are introduced to Gemma Doyle, the main character, and her mother as they shop at an Indian market. Before long things take a turn for the weird as Gemma sees her mother kill herself in a vision, well I say kill, it’s more of a sacrifice.

After her mother’s death Gemma is whisked off to London to a boarding school for young ladies (this is 1896 by the way); a place she begged to go just before her mother’s untimely death but now isn’t quite so sure. Once at school Gemma begins to experience more visions and meets a young man who threatens bad things if she succumbs to them.

As the tale unfolds Gemma begins to learn about a shadowy group called The Order, where young girls before her have experienced similar visions and stepped into The Realms, a place where magic lives. Gemma and her friends; Pippa, Felicity and Ann find themselves caught up in a world where their wildest dreams can come true – which of course makes them all a little power hungry and puts The Realms at risk of being taken over by Bad Magic.

Libba Bray pens an intriguing and suspenseful tale in A Great and Terrible Beauty and even throws in a hint of passion (not too much – this is a Young Adult novel after all!). I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be on the look out for the other two novels in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy.

Read on to order your copy of the book – or to see reviews from other readers.

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My Book Review Rating: 3 stars – an enjoyable read, but I’m not really sure I fully understood it!

Sean Beaudoin is the acclaimed author of Going Nowhere Faster which was nominated for the YALSA Best Book of the Year award. In Fade to Blue he introduces us to Sophie Blue – an artistic and sarcastic girl turned goth following the disappearance of her father one year ago on her birthday – and Kenny Fade – a basketball god with a hot cheerleader girlfriend. Sophie and Kenny don’t have much in common… except for the feeling that they are losing their minds!

Fade to Blue is a teenage comic-scifi-thriller novel, filled with humour and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing that by the end of it all you’re not really too sure what actually happened!

And just to avoid any confusion – despite what you might expect from the cover of this book, it is not a graphic novel – though it does have a comic book insert in the middle.

Thanks for reading Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin, a post published on Blue Archipelago Reviews. Why not visit us and leave a comment :)