My Nano Project

Teenage Hillbilly Hell Snip

Thanks guys for taking a peek at my smexy scene for THH :)

Breakup Bible by Melissa Kantor

Plot: "Jen Lewis is having a great junior year. She is the features editor of the school paper, and she's dating Max Brown, the paper's editor-in-chief. Everything is perfect-that is, until Max says, "Maybe it would be better if we were just friends." In shock and total denial, Jen wonders how she is going to deal with the pain of seeing Max in school every day. Her misery only intensifies when her grandmother gives her a book that she heard about on the radio. Dr. Emerson's The Breakup Bible claims that "there's no reason a woman can't get over a breakup very quickly if she'll just follow a few basic commandments." Jen is doubtful. What does Dr. Emerson know about her and Max?"

Plot: Okay I loved the beginning! I think we all can relate to having your heart broken by some boy, but I found myself telling her to quit whining over Max and move on already. Yeah, Yeah Yeah. I Know easier said than done, but she has her opportunity, but she just can't seem to get past Max long enough to take it. So I liked the novel, and would recomend it to anyone who like romantic comedies.

Dark of the Moon (Dark Guardian Series) by Rachel Hawthorne

PLOT: "I've loved him forever, but he can never be mine.

brittany is determined to prove herself to the Dark Guardians. And yet she's been keeping a devastating secret: She hasn't experienced any of the intense, early signs of change that mark a Dark Guardian's transformation. The only intense feelings she has are for Connor—and she's kept that a secret, too. But she knows she'll never truly have Connor's love if she's not a Shifter like him.

At the first full moon after her birthday, her greatest fear is realized: She doesn't transform. Brittany is so desperate to become a wolf that she'll go to extremes she never thought possible . . . and put all the Dark Guardians in incredible danger."

Review: I cannot say enough good things about this series! I love, love, LOVED it! I'm so excited that there will be a book four. Put this on your must read list. :)

Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

Plot: "From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. When Josh was a 12-year-old seventh grader, he was sexually abused by his history teacher, the young, beautiful (and married) Eve, who manipulated him into believing they were in love. Carefully crafting a narrative structure, Lyga flashes between that traumatic time and the present, when Josh, now a senior (at the school where The AstonishingAdventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl took place), learns that Eve is being paroled. The author handles heavy material with honesty and sensitivity, capturing both the young Josh's excitement and his realization that his pleasure brought its own sort of guilt. Years later, he still struggles: he flies into rages (he punches a baseball coach in an opening scene), and he experiences flickers, brief moments which feel like actual immersions in the past. Josh also has trouble pursuing Rachel, who seems like a perfect match, because he cannot trust his physical instincts; he is, as his psychologist puts it, afraid to do anything at all because it might be the wrong thing. Details like Josh's obsession with calculating baseball statistics round out his character; the statistics speak to his intelligence and, more tellingly, to his attempts to control his world. Even his inevitable face-off with Eve proves a revelation. Readers may find the ending too neat, given the extent of Josh's problems, but in their richness and credibility the cast—Eve included—surpasses that of the much-admired Fanboy. Ages 16-up. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition."

Review: This novel had me curious from the start. I had to understand why this male MC was so angry. Once I figured out why, I wanted to help him move past it. This was out of my normal pleasure reading novels, but I couldn't put it down. It was nicely written and had great voice.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Plot: "Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along."

Review: I love it when the MC has a plethora of boys pining for her attention and this book feels that guilty little pleasure for me. Belly is the typical teen who learns to deal with boys that find her attractive.I liked this novel because it had you guessing who she would end up with.

The Lost Summer by Kathryn Williams

PLOT: "For the past nine years, Helena Waite has been returning to summer camp at Southpoint. Every year the camp and its familiar routines, landmarks, and people have welcomed her back like a long-lost family member. But this year she is returning not as a camper, but as a counselor, while her best friend, Katie Bell remains behind. All too quickly, Helena discovers that the innocent world of campfires, singalongs, and field days have been pushed aside for late night pranks on the boys' camp, skinny dipping in the lake, and stolen kisses in the hayloft. As she struggles to define herself in this new world, Helena begins to lose sight of what made camp special and the friendships that have sustained her for so many years. And when Ransome, her longtime crush, becomes a romantic reality, life gets even more confusing."

Review: This is a lovely tale of the beauty of friendship, and how every relationship has it's ups and downs. There is a brutally honest "first time" scene I found refreshing. So many times in YA it just fades to black. I really liked the characters in this novel, but the ending felt a little lacking to me. But for all you curious writers out there, pick it up and thumb through it :)