The Emerald Tablet by PJ Hoover

Benjamin Holt has always been different from the kids in his class, besides his best friend Andy who also has the same “abilities” as Benjamin. Andy and Benjamin just don’t get what’s so weird about being able to read people’s minds and making frogs in science class fly into girls’ hair! When Benjamin sees his mom go through a picture and disappear into a speckle of light he’s not that surprised since his life is just a little weird that way -  but that doesn’t stop him from wondering where in the world she went. He soon finds out when his mirror, yes that’s right his mirror, tells him he’s going to summer school. At first Benjamin isn’t at all excited about going (I mean what thirteen year old kid in his right mind would be excited about giving up their summer to go to school, especially when they’re smart!), but then he finds out this school is in another world and the only way to get there is through the same picture that his mom vanished through earlier! When Benjamin arrives in Lemuria all his doubts instantly vanish, but his life gets even stranger. He’s not even at school for ten minutes when he learns that he’s not really human he’s a telegen which is why he has so many different “abilities.” When the Emerald Tablet chooses him as its champion, Benjamin is dumbfounded. I mean while he thought he was special on earth, his powers just make him normal in Lemuria, so why him? While Benjamin was expecting a pretty normal (or as normal as you can get when you’re at summer school on a submerged continent) summer he knows that won’t ever happen know. With Andy and his newly acquired friends, Benjamin has the summer of a lifetime, even if it isn’t your classical definition of fun!

I had such a good time reading this book! I loved every minute that I was reading it and I feel like I want to reread the book over and over again. From the very first sentence I was laughing, and while the book wasn’t intended to be a comedy there were many times where I couldn’t help but suppress a giggle. The very idea for the story was magical. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book along the same lines as The Emerald Tablet. While reading the book I kept thinking that in a way it was almost like a myth that was being told and how cool it would be if it was actually true.

The characters were also very well developed. PJ Hoover really captured the essence of a thirteen year old boy in Benjamin’s character. He had the whole goofy, know it all, I’d rather not be here attitude which made the book so real. I feel like sometimes authors really grasp the ages of their characters and sometimes they don’t, but this is definitely a case in which the author does. PJ Hoover also did a great job incorporating her supporting characters. They were all essential and I loved how she showed that in most cases we need to all use our best abilities to reach a common goal. I also loved her quirky little character Jack, who had the funniest things to say and was an added bonus to the story.

What a fabulous ending. PJ Hoover wrapped up the story at just the right pace and didn’t force or rush anything. She also left quite few questions unanswered which makes me very anxious for the next two books in the trilogy (the second will be out in Fall 2009 and the third in 2010). Fans of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series will particularly enjoy this book, but really I think it would be a great read for anyone. While the target audience is middle grade readers I think both younger and older readers will also enjoy Benjamin’s story and find themselves craving more.  

Some Long Overdue Updates, New Announcements, and New Ideas!

First for the Updates! As I'm sure you have noticed, I haven't been updating the blog as often as I normally do. This is in no way my way of trying to stop reviewing, it's just that this thing called school got in the way! I've mentioned before that this year I started at the North Carolina School of Science and Math, which means I have a boatload of homework every night and don't have much time to read, let alone write reviews. But I've recently begun to get a handle on all of my work and have been flying through books, so now I just have to get caught up on my reviews, which I will hopefully be able to do by the end of this weekend, or next.

Now for author visits. I still have a few lined up, but I am definitely in need of many more authors. So any authors who read my blog, let me know if your interested in doing an interview or guest blog.

Now that I've told you a little bit of new announcements!

First of all I have super exciting news. So you know how everyone in the book blogging world is talking about the Cybils..right? While I am excited to annoucne that I got picked to be on the judging panel for the Graphic Novel board.

Organizer: Snow Wildsmith, Kiddie Lit

Panelists (Round I judges)

Betsy Bird A Fuse #8 Production
Gina Mary Sol Ruiz Cuentecitos, AmoXicalli
Paula Willey Pink Me
Liz Jones Liz Jones Books
Sam Musher Parenthetical.net

Judges (Round II)

Stacy Dillon Booktopia
David Elzey The Excelsior File
Gail Gauthier Original Content
Sarah Sammis Puss Reboots
Tasha Samborski And Another Read Book

This is something completely new to me and as I've said before is completely exciting! And everyone, don't forget to go and nominate your favorite books of the year, as today's the last day (oops the month has gotten away)!

Also my blog has had 21,600 visitors, which just completely blows me away as my blog's only been around for 10 months. Yet another very exciting piece of blogging news!!

Next on the list to talk about is a new feature, which I'm hoping will be lots of fun for everyone.

I have found that I have a huge stack of books that I have duplicate copies of or else I've already read, so I thought why not do a contest. It's hard though to give a stack of books away, so I thought I would give one book away per week. The question is how? In my opinion it's always fun when you have to earn you entries, so I devised an easy and hopefully one way to enter. Here are the rules:

Every Sunday I will post a new trivia or thoughtful question. It could be related to the current giveaway book, a random book, maybe a book I reviewed over the past week, a question about an author, your opinion on a subject, or maybe just a completely random trivia question.

Just send me an email, andanotherbookread @ gmail. com with the answer. You can comment if you want, but please note you would be giving the answer away!

Just for entering you get one entry, for getting the answer you get an additional entry, and if you advertise the contest (just include the link in your entry) you'll get one more entry.

Also all contests will only be for U.S. residents.

Sound easy enough?

So for this week, I'm extending the contest for Jeanne Du'Prau's latest book The Diamond of Darkhold, from last week to end on this Sunday. Those who already entered will get an extra entry and can still enter for more entries this week.

This week's question is:

Which actor plays Lina in the City of Ember?

Good luck all!! Don't forget to email me your entries. It will end on Saturday at 12:00 P.M.

More About Ember!!

So I thought that I would tempt you all with the brilliant trailer for The City of Ember movie, which comes out October 10th.

Enjoy!!






Also comment here and tell me what your favorite movie that has been based on a book is, and you'll be entered into a drawing for a copy of The Diamond of Darkhold. The movie can already be out, or it can be upcoming. All comments must be made by Sunday October 5th at 10:00 p.m. EST. Winners will announced on Monday, along with a quite large announcement!! Have a great week. One last thing...if you blog about my contest, just include the link or shoot me an email and you'll get an extra 2 entries!

And Another Awesome Author Visit: Jeanne DuPrau

Yes, author visits have been a little lacking, as school has majorly interuppted by blogging/reviewing/*gasp* reading life, but fear not as I have a great author visiting us today!

Jeanne DuPrau is the amazing creator City of Ember series. Not only are the books bestsellers, but City of Ember has been made into a movie which is set to come out on October 10th. So read on for a fun filled interview. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

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1. What sparked the idea for The City of Ember ?

I grew up in the 1950s, when many people were worried that there might be a nuclear war. Some of them were building bomb shelters in their back yards. I think this influenced my idea for Ember—a city built to protect the human race from a terrible threat. But I was also just interested in the idea of a city that had no light other than electricity. What would it be like to live in such darkness, and to know that light and food and supplies were all running out? And not to know about weather or trees or animals (except for a few rats and insects) or any other places? All this grabbed my imagination. And once I'd written The City of Ember, I hoped it would make people think about our world—about the sun and the moon, the forests and the ocean, the wind and the rain—and how precious it all is.

2. Do you see a lot of yourself in the characters you created?

Yes, both Doon and Lina are like me in some ways. Lina likes to draw and to use her imagination and to go fast, Doon likes to solve puzzles and he’s interested in bugs and in nature in general. All those things are true of me. Doon and Lina are much braver than I am, though.

3. Are you beyond excited that your book is being made into a movie?

Of course! It’s absolutely amazing. It does mean that I have to have the same conversation over and over: Person: “Your book is being made into a movie? Wow, that must be exciting!” Me: “Yes, it’s really exciting!” But I’m not complaining.

4. Did you have any say in the casting or storyline of the movie?

No, none at all. But I’m really glad Bill Murray is playing the mayor, and Saoirse Ronan I think will be perfect as Lina.

5. Did you originally intend for The City of Ember to turn into a four book series?

No, I had no plans for anything beyond the first book. When The City of Ember was a success, my editor suggested a sequel might be a good idea. I had to admit I was a bit curious about what would happen to Lina and Doon, so I wrote The People of Sparks. Then a very different idea occurred to me—at first I thought it wasn’t connected to the Ember books, but soon I realized it was. That was The Prophet of Yonwood. And finally, I wanted to bring the story back around to its beginning and tell how the threads of all the books came together. That’s what I’ve done in The Diamond of Darkhold.

6. When did you realize you wanted to become a writer?

Far back in the mists of time. Actually I don’t think there was ever a moment when I thought, “I want to be a writer.” Writing was what I was best at. I worked hard at it, I wrote many different things, I sent them out, they got published—and voila! I was a writer.

7. Do you have any other books in the works?

I’ve been taking a break since The Diamond of Darkhold, but a few ideas are beginning to swirl slowly around in my mind.

8. Are you going to continue the series?

No, the Ember series has come to an end, although there might—just possibly—be another Ember-related item to come. It’s too early to speak about that one, though.

9. What advice can you give to aspiring writers?

Read a lot. Write a lot. Write all kinds of different things. Be interested in people and in the world around you. Learn the essentials of writing—grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, how to organize thoughts. Write because you have a terrific story to tell, or a vital idea to explain, or fascinating information to put forth.

10. Do you have any other questions that you wish I had asked?

How could you not ask about my dog?! He’s a Cairn terrier, and his name is Ethan. He helps with my writing by sleeping peacefully most of the day.

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Still haven't had enough of the fabulous Jeanne DuPrau? Well here are a bunch of links with information about her and her books. Also there are links to the fellow bloggers who are also participating in her tour.

Diamond of Darkhold:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375855718

The City of Ember:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385736282

The People of Sparks:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375828257

The Prophet of Yonwood:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440421241

Jeanne's Bio: http://www.jeanneduprau.com/about.shtml

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Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler

When all of the characters at Disney World go on strike teenagers are called in as backup. When Ella hears the ad on the radio advertising the openings she jumps at the chance to get away from living with her aunt and crazy cousins. Not only is it an escape from her aunt, but hopefully this stint at Disney will distract Ella from her thoughts about her dead brother and parents who dumped her so that they could go on a mission in Africa. When Ella arrives at Disney she gets cast as none other than Cinderella, all because the shoe fit. Now she goes around getting married everyday at 3:00 to a prince charming who fits into the Disney world a little too well. While she has her prince charming she can't get over Luke.

Luke plays Dale, as in the annoying Chip and Dale chipmunks. Chip is played by none other than Luke's girlfriend Cassie. While they have a connection and Luke thinks Cassie's hot stuff, he just doesn't seem to have the same connection with her as he has with Ella. When Luke and Ella pair up for a team bonding scavenger hunt they learn more about each other and find out just how compatible they are together. While they don't exactley complete the list of scavenger hunt items, Ella and Luke manage to find more than they could ever have imagined.

I was so excited to pick this book up. I love books that have to do with Disney world, especially The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson which was great. So I was basically expecting a more romantic version of The Kingdom Keepers. For me it felt more like a classic chick lit novel. I was disappointed that I couldn't distinguish the characters from each other. Even though the book was told through alternating perspectives and that each author took charge of one of the characters I felt like Ella and Luke were the same person. I also thought that the writing was very choppy. The sentences didn't flow together and the scenes didn't seem to follow in a logical pattern. Looking past all of that though, I did enjoy the fluffiness of the story and it is definitely a light summer read.

Geek Abroad by Piper Banks

The Snowflake Gala is done and out of the way and Miranda Bloom, math genius, is headed off to England for Christmas break to visit her mother. When she arrives, she expects to spend her time sightseeing with her mother and catching up. What she doesn’t expect is that Henry, the son of her mother’s publicist, will be showing her around London as her mom still has lots of work to do. Miranda doesn’t mind too much, especially since Henry’s so adorable, but right now she’s not sure what’s going on with her and Dex and doesn’t want to risk messing that up.

When Miranda returns home she is greeted by confusion. She still doesn’t know where her and Dex stand, Hannah (her stepsister) is still being really nice to her, her best friend, Charlie, is hopelessly lovestruck, and the dreaded MATh team competitions are quickly approaching. On top of all of that, Miranda’s evil stepmother has become even more unbearable, making her life nothing short of crazy.

Will Miranda’s semester pan out the way she wants, or will all her confusion lead to a tangled up mess?

It’s rare that you find a sequel better than the first book, but I think in this case GEEK ABROAD definitely outdid its predecessor, GEEK HIGH. The characters were more developed, it felt like there was more going on in the story, and overall I thought it was a better book.

First of all, I felt I really got to know Miranda in this book. As the book progressed, she became a more secure individual and she took on a leadership role with her MATh team. I really enjoyed seeing her develop into a stronger individual and really stand up for what she believed in. I could see a lot of myself in her and felt a real bond with her. I also could not stand Peyton, Miranda’s evil stepmother. What’s funny is this is not a bad thing at all. I loved how the author created such an unlikeable character. It was infuriating to see the way that Peyton treated Miranda and I am eternally grateful that my mom treats me so well! It was also nice to see Miranda’s dad stand up for her in this book. He didn’t take any flak from Peyton and his bond with Miranda (and the reader) really developed in this book.

I also really liked how much emotion the author was able to provoke in me. When Miranda was mad, I was mad right there with her. When she got irritated with Charlie I could feel myself getting agitated, as well. I was really impressed with this because not many books get me as involved with the characters as this one did.

This book could also make a great stand-alone book. While it is a sequel, it filled in all the necessary gaps where needed. Even if you haven’t read the first book, GEEK HIGH (which you really should), you wouldn’t be left confused.

And finally the romance in the book was too cute. There were some classic elements to it, but then there were a few times when I thought something would happen and then the author threw us a curveball. Overall, this was the perfect light read, perfect for any time of year. I really hope that the author will create more Miranda-filled adventures that we can all embark on!

And Another Awesome Author Visit: Caroline Hickey

This weeks fabulous author is Caroline Hickey. Caroline is the author of CASSIE WAS HERE (MG) and ISABELLE'S BOYFRIEND (YA), which was just released. While I haven't had the pleasure of reading either of them, I really hope to in the near future.Especially ISABELLE'S BOYFRIEND which has to do with a situation I'm sure we are all to familiar with...liking a guy that's already taken!!

I also want to give a big thank you to Caroline for doing an interview with me, as I know her free time is limited with a newborn in the house!!
To learn more about Caroline you can visit her at her website or the blog her writing group, The Longstockings, run.

Enjoy!!
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1. What made you go YA, instead of sticking with Middle Grade books?

It wasn't a conscious decision, it just happened to be that the next big idea I had after Cassie Was Here was more appropriate for YA. I love middle grade and YA equally, and I plan to continue writing for both age groups.

2. How did Isabelle’s Boyfriend come about?

The book started with the idea of a girl walking her dog after school, on a day like any other day, when suddenly she meets THE GUY. Then I realized that the guy would be taken, and our main character would be willing to do anything to get him.

3. What was your road to publication like?

Pretty typical, I think. I worked and worked on my manuscript (which became my first book, Cassie Was Here) until I knew it was ready to send out. Then I sent queries to several agents who worked with authors I liked. I found one who was a great fit for me, and we sent out the book and sold it to Roaring Brook Press. They later bought Isabelle's Boyfriend as well.

4. Do you see a lot of yourself in your characters?
Wellllll, sorta. Friends and family tell me they hear my voice in many of my characters, which makes sense of course, and my first two books are set in Baltimore where I grew up. But I'm very careful to make my characters fictional, and to only add in the bits and pieces of myself that will round them out. I don't ever want to write a character that's just like me -- it would be too personal.

5. What’s one of the hardest parts of being a writer? The best?

The hardest part for me is days when my writing isn't going well -- when I'm stuck on a plot point, or figuring out a character -- and I feel like I'm never going to write a good word again. The best days are when I get an email from a reader who says they loved my book.

6. What’s your ideal writing environment?

I love writing in my office (the finished attic room of my house), at a coffee shop, or away on a retreat with my writing group, The Longstockings. I like editing on a train or at my kitchen table.

7. Do you write full time or do you fill your days with things other than pages and pages of words?

I have a one-month old daughter so at the moment I'm pretty busy taking care of her. I hope to be back to writing about 2 or 3 days a week when she's a few months old. But even when I'm not writing, I'm thinking about my current work in progress, or reading books for inspiration.

8. Do you mostly read adult books or young adult, or a healthy mix of both? What are the last three books you read?

I try to read a little of everything, but mostly I read middle grade and young adult. They really are my favorites, so why waste precious reading time on boring books for grown ups? The last three books I read were Princess Ben, Sweethearts, and Breaking Dawn.

9. What’s one quirky thing that you care to share?

I'm addicted to post-it pens. I can't revise without them.

10. What can we expect from you in the future?
I'm working on a new book now about a young girl who uncovers a deep, dark family secret. It's only in the first draft stage at the moment, but hopefully I'll get it together enough to send out soon.

11. Are there any questions you wish I had asked?

How about the biggest problem I had writing Isabelle's Boyfriend? I had a terrible time with the ending. I think I wrote three different endings before I finally found the right one. And then I still had to rewrite that about three more times.