Star Power by Zoey Dean

Star Power (Talent, #3)
By Zoey Dean
Publisher: the Penguin Group, 2009
257 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 6/26/2010
Genres: Young Adult, Chick Literature, Realistic Fiction

First Line of Book: " 'Okay, my future star, we're almost done!' "

Review: Star Power was a great series finale! It was short (which made it a quick read), but it was also action-packed, in a figurative sense; every second, Ms. Dean had me wanting more of the "action" that was going on with the Inner Circle. I was stuck with my nose inthe book all day while I finished it.

Mackenzie Little-Armstrong, her best friends Evangelina Becks and Cordelia Kingsley, and the girl she's made into a star, Emily Mungler (celeb name Emily Skylar), have all had some terrible times in the last month, and Mac is determined to make things right for her BFFs. Coco wants to be recognized for her, not her mother, and Mac does her best to help her become the indie singer she's always dreamed of being. Becks is trying out to be the fourth Dixie Gal, but can she stay true to the DGs and her friends? Emily has made it big already! : Her first-ever movie, Deal With It, has started shooting, and all she can think about is her celeb crush Davey Farris Woodward. Can she put DFW aside and focus on her acting career?? Meanwhile, Mac is trying to be the great friend, a thirteen-year-old talent agent for her friends (includes Emily), and a daughter that impresses her mother, L.A., and eventually the world. Can any of them pull it pff without losing each other?

I loved the girly action in this book; it was always making me want to know what was next. The Inner Circle is going through so much, trying to get their lives the way they always wanted them, to have their biggest dreams come true. The girls were so close at the beginning of the book, but it seems like after Emily got to the set for Deal With It, the girls started drifting away from each other. It was drama, as one can always expect in a Chick-Lit, and I liked that. It was what kept the reader (me) wanting more. I've now read the entire series, and I've noticed that every time the I.C. broke apart, they glued themselves back together tighter than before. The characters also have become very grown up-y; not only seeing their needs and their families needs, but what their friends need as well. That was something I really enjoyed knowing they accomplished.

The book was overall amazing, and I wish that there were a fourth book, a companion novel of some sort to the wonderful series. Now, I'm going to try to finish Zoey's other series, The A-List. :D

Rating: (4.5 Wings)

Quotes from the Book:

**So ... unfortunately, I didn't fins any quotes that I liked in this book. Promise that I will remember in future reads to collect even the boring ones. But you should know: for me, collecting quotes from Chick-Lits is hard. I get caught up in the drama, and forget about everything else. So don't be hopping mad if I don't have Chick-Lit quotes. :)**


--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Song of the Sparrow

By Lisa Ann Sandell

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2007

383 pages, hardcover

Date Finished: 6/11/2010

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Coming of Age

First Line of Book: "Motherless. Sisterless. I am both."

Review: Song of the Sparrow was again a great read for me, as I've read it twice before. The story's main character and perspective, Elaine of Ascolat, is very self-conscious. She and her family live with and follow Arthur, during times of war with the Saxons, fighting to bring peace to Britain. They live in army camps and move around, but are stationed in only one during this story.

Elaine is not your average girl; she's lost her mother, and is raised around and by men, being as wild as she wants. Then comes the turner of the book: Her family, all the men she has come to love and care for, must put put themselves on the offensive and strike a final war.

And not only that, but Elaine is being hated by an unexpected visitor. She feels that she must follow her men into war, as she always secretly done, only to have the terrible occur. However, in the end, she is happy, and feels she has found love. Even her hateful guest ends up loving and caring for her as a great friend.

I wish that there were a sequel to the Sparrow, but as there isn't, I will just have to live with the wonderful ending to the book.

Rating:

Quotes from the Book:

"Tirry once told me he would follow Arthur blindfolded and unarmed into battle. I told him he'd better not try it."

"My breath catches. Did he just say that? That I am beautiful? But a girl, he said. . . . He does not see me as a woman. Still, beautiful."

"It is easy to playact with a sword, Tirry once told me, but the actual killing comes much easier."

"My mother's dresses and linens, they will become mine when I marry--though I can't help but wonder if I marry--for who would want to marry a girl with man-thoughts?"

--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, #1)
By Libba Bray
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2003
403 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 4/5/2010
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical Fiction

First Line of Book: " 'Please tell me that's not going to be part of my birthday dinner this evening.' "

Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty was a great series / trilogy beginner. The story revolves around the series main character and protagonist, and my favorite character, Gemma Doyle. She's sent to Spence Academy for Young Ladies in London, far from her beloved home in India. She is somewhat of an outcast when she first arrives, but soon befriends Felicity, Pippa, and her roommate Ann. After her mother's unfortunate ending to life, she starts having terrible visions. She meets a young man named Kartik, who has lost his brother the same way Gemma has lost her mother, and he tells her that she must stop seeing visions, drive them away somehow. She soon learns of her prophesized destiny to defeat the evil Circe and regather the members of the Order, an ancient group of women who all have visions, just like Gemma. Even though she doesn't get the chance to destroy Circe in the first book (where would the fun be in that?), Gemma has plenty of allies: her friends, her realm-dwelling mother, and Kartik, who is sworn to a secret group of men called the Rakshana, and all of these people are willing to help Gemma on her journey.

All in all, this was a spectacular read, and I recommend this book to anyone who has the time to read it.

Rating:


Quotes from the Book:

" 'Couldn't we please take a carriage?'
'I'll take you to keep a civil tone.'
My annoyance has indeed been noticed."

" 'This is the Spence [Acadmey] motto: Grace, charm, aand beauty.' " Mrs. Nightwing

"He's not much older than a boy, really. Maybe fifteen with a nose he hasn't grown into quite yet. If we have to make a run for it, he's the one I'm kicking first."

" 'We'll find out what you're hiding from us yet.' Felicity
'A crazy aunt in the attic, perhaps.' Pippa
'Or a sexually depraved fiend who preys on young girls.' Felicity
'You forgot the hunchback.' Gemma"


--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi: A Novel
By Yann Martel
Publisher: Harvest Books, 2001
401 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 5/2/2010
Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Modern Classic, Realistic Fiction

First Line of Book: "My suffering left me sad and gloomy."

Review: Yann Martel has greatly succeeded in bringing together the life of a boy who goes by the name Pi. Martel has not only included humor points in the book (one of my favorite's being about Pi's name), but has explained the hardship that Pi went through while stranded on a lifeboat with zoo animals for 227 days in the Pacific Ocean.

Piscine (pronounced pea • seen) Molitor Patel grew up as a young boy in India, and when he was sixteen, his familey decided it would be good for them to move to Canada. So off they went, and soon, the ship sinks and everyone is dead, save for a hyena, orangutan, rat, zebra, Bengal tiger, and Pi himself -- all of which, besides Pi and the tiger, die early into their Pacific journey.

From then on, Pi is trying to train the Bengal not to eat him. From a whistle to a raft, the boy comes up with very many ideas. At one point, they even come upon an acidic island. This is an amazing book that I would love to read again, but not any time soon because I still remember the story line. I will definitely be thinking about reading more of Martel's work.

Rating:


Quotes from the Book:

"Immobilizing darts don't bring on sleep gently, like a good cup of tea; they knock out like a bottle of hard liquor straight up."

"Ignorance is the worst doctor, while rest and sleep are the best nurses."

"Do not drink urine. Or sea water. Or bird blood. Do not eat jellyfish. Or fish that are armed with spikes. Or that have parrot-like beaks. Or that puff up like balloons."

"Do not urinate in your clothes. The momentary warmth is not worth the nappy rash."

"No one who was called 'Pissing' in his childhood would be caught dead with a cup of pee at his lips, even alone in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific [Ocean]."


--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

Testing, Testing

Hello blog viewers! This is just a test-post to see if I can send posts to be published to my blog from my phone.

So apparently it worked! ;)

--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Marked (House of Night series, #1)
By P.C. and Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2007
306 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 5/28/2010
Genres: Fantasy, Coming of Age, Young Adult

First Line of Book: "Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker."

The Review: The Casts have done an excellent job at starting a series. The characters were original, but they also faced several normal teenage challenges, like trying to fit in and wanting to have friends. The plot was great, and characters (such as Zoey's roommate Stevie Rae and her friends Damien, Shaunee, and Erin) were great to meet and read about. They all have a specific history of their lives before being a fledgling that makes them who they are at the House of Night. Zoey Redbird, the book's main character and protagonist, is Marked within the first few pages of the book. From the time she sees Dark Daughters leader Aphrodite doing a dirty deed, to the achievement of becoming the leader of the Dark Daughters and a High Priestess in Training, Zoey is truly tested in ways never before known to her.

This is a great book for people who like to read about vampires or fantasy worlds. There is quite a bit of profanity in Marked, though, that's actually very surprising considering it's a mother-daughter work. Where was the role model mother in P.C.?

But if you can look over the over-excessive cussing, I think you will truly enjoy the book. I would recommend this to anyone who is at least 13-15 years old, in effect of the profanity.

Rating:

Quotes from the book:

"I enjoyed the way the world looked, sparkling and new, but it was my body that kept drawing my attention. I floated closer to it. I was breathing in short, shallow pants. Well, my body was breathing like that, not the I that was me. (Talk about confusing pronoun usage.) And I/she didn't look so good. I/she was all pale and her lips were blue. Hey! White face, blue lips, red blood! Am I patriotic or what?"

" 'Hey, y'all!' Stevie Rae rushed up. 'How was Vamp Soc? Did y'all start the Amazons?'
'It was cool. . . . I had no idea they really cut off their right breasts to keep them out of the way.'
'They wouldn't have had to if they'd been as flat as me,' Stevie Rae said, looking down at her own chest.
'Or me,' Damien said dramatically."

--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

The Beginning of the Path

Hello to all my fellow book lovers! My name is Zakiya, and this is my very own book blog. Here you can read my reviews for books that I have recently read. I will also try to keep you updated on what books I'm currently reading and what I would like to read soon.

I'm 13 years old, and am about to start the eighth grade this August. I spend a lot of my time reading or on the computer. When I'm not on an ah-mazing site called Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/), I am on another blog that some of my friends and myself started last month, For the Love of Reading (ikissbooks.blogspot.com). There are a bunch more book reviews on both these sites, so have a looksies!

For some of my posts, I will have Guest Bloggers to come share their love of books with you. There will also be something called "Read It with a Buddy" soon. I will let you know more about it when I get the first one planned. *mysterious-ness*

I'm super excited about providing book reviews and other fun stuff for you to enjoy. I will begin posting some book reviews tomorrow. Feel free to leave comments on anything at any time! I would love to hear your opinions. :)

--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

P.S., I would also like to thank my co-authors at For the Love of Reading for getting me interested in blogging. "Thanks, girls!!"