Once in a while there comes a book that captures you in its world for the story’s uniqueness and singularity; Warped is that kind of book.   Tessa Brody, the story’s heroine, is a normal girl who lives with her father.  Her life passes by between school, her work hours at her father’s book store, and fun times along her best friend Opal.  One day, Tessa acquires a tapestry and since that moment she starts having visions from other times where she might have been a crucial piece in the events haunting her dreams.  It’s because of this she gets to know William de Chaucy, a handsome nobleman from the sixteenth century who will make her angry and sigh at the same time.  I loved this book and if I could summarize Warped in a single word, it would be: perfection.  It was exactly what I was craving to read; something with that flame of originality.  The world building is amazing; how their past lives are entwined with current time and how destiny plays a part is exquisite.  The alternative narration styles capture the reader between its pages and the characters conquers them.  Main characters Tessa and William are adorable.  The singularity each one possesses and how they balance each other out is funny and appealing at the same time.  I simply adored them and their differences, from Tess’ vision about life to Will’s handsomeness and irony.  Secondary and tertiary characters do not disappoint.  On the contrary, from the Norns, the story villain, to the perfect sidekick Opal along the main characters will make you live the story from beginning to end.  What I’ve liked the most about every character is that even though they were not main characters, everyone had a story to tell.  Seeing the sparks of every story and how destiny can take or change every one of them not only makes the experience magic, but deep.  This is the biggest credit I can give Guibord in this first presentation where both the world she created and its characters come alive and make the reader’s experience magic.  The end appears to be stable and ties the story nicely.  However, there’s space for another presentation. Warped, a story about life, fate, destiny and a love that will travel centuries to defeat evil and time; where you’ll find yourself warped in Guibord’s words and you will not want to let go.

Book Type: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin Group
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: April, 2010

Author Web Page:

Sixteen-year-old Maggie Bennet’s life is in tatters. Her mother has disappeared, and is presumed dead. The next thing she knows, her father has dragged Maggie away from their elegant Newport home, off on some mad excursion to Yellowstone in Montana. Torn from the only life she’s ever known, away from her friends, from society, and verging on no prospects, Maggie is furious and devastated by her father’s betrayal. But when she arrives, she finds herself drawn to the frustratingly stubborn, handsome Tom Rowland, the son of a park geologist, and to the wild romantic beauty of Yellowstone itself. And as Tom and the promise of freedom capture Maggie’s heart, Maggie is forced to choose between who she is and who she wants to be.

With the same beauty as a portrait that can always be appreciated, that’s how Faithful is descriptively narrated. It tells the story of a youngster called Maggie Bennets, a girl who’s about to debut on society in 1904 when her plans are postponed due to the possibility that her missing mom for several months might still be alive. Maggie will embark a trip far from the place where her dreams and wishes are to find the truth about her mom’s singular character and an unexpected love. Even though the main character possesses the peculiar characteristics of any single girl from that time, there are sparks that an eternal characteristic from any girl is to meet love. It’s occasionally frustrating and sad at the same time seeing Magie’s battle with fact of leaving on a journey that could maybe return her mother under the risk of losing the opportunity of being someone in society that decided social status during that time. Faithful combines the epoch elegance with the scandals, prejudices and common limitations in high society. Maggie’s mother mystery is well worked and is certainly surprising, which makes you understand better the woman you “know” at the beginning of the story. One of my favorite characters is Mrs. Gale, who teaches Maggie that it doesn’t matter where we come from or what society expects from us women, we have the ability to be somebody by ourselves without resigning to our heart’s wishes. Faithful narrates the story of a young woman becoming who she should be and realizing truth makes you free and fills your life with hope.

 

Faithful is excellent material to show life of a specific period, under which laws society was ruled and the role of women in such societies. Extracurricular activities could involve creating a newspaper activity based on the period where students can be able to develop stories with the note tips the book offers.

Prada and Prejudice is a cute, sweet and funny read. Callie, the main character is a girl you can really identify with. Her “time travel” experience is so funny. The writing style is nice and the author’s 19^th century descriptions of period are very well done, my favorite was the descriptions of the dance balls. I have two complaints about the story in general; there’s no explanation for Callie “time travel” experience and I use quotation marks because the reader never knows for sure if it was a time travel experience or a dream. That left me not disliking the ending but not loving it either.

questions.

This book can be used by teachers to show 19th century references in a fun concept. It could be baneful to drive dynamics about stereotypes, group cliques at certain ages and the ways each youngster battles for self searching.

Book Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Little Brown
Age Range: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 8, 2009

Author Web Page:

Sixteen-year-old Lia Milthorpe and her twin sister Alice have just become orphans, and, as Lia discovers, they have also become enemies. The twins are part of an ancient prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other. To escape from a dark fate and to remain in the arms of her beloved boyfriend James, Lia must end the prophecy before her sister does. Only then will she understand the mysterious circumstances of her parents’ deaths, the true meaning of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and the lengths to which her sister will go to defeat her.

The first time I learned something about this book was months ago from: Reviewer X Blog. The reviewer mentioned that Prophecy of The Sister swill be the next big thing we’ll have from Little Brown (yeah! the company who published Twilight). After reading Prophecy of The Sisters, I completely agreed. Prophecy of The Sisters is a story that, as a reader, you can feel you are a part of thanks to the rich descriptive 19^th century content and the exquisite manner the characters are developed. This book has something for everyone; a past era, mythical creatures, biblical references and a little about the coming of age in a different kind of way. Lia, the main character, will not disappoint you in this beautiful dark gothic story. She will take you on a journey about love, loss, self discovering about who she is, who she will be and how can she conquer all of her fears. The ending will leave you desiring more and more. Prophecy of The Sisters is dark, fascinate and a page turner. Prophecy of The Sisters is the first of a three book series.

A group of three books cover images that I like the most from the titles to be released in the current month. Usually I already pre-ordered the titles or own them. I named the section like I did because I like thinking about these covers like they are something that its meant to look.

*Eye Candy: visual images that are pleasant to see.