WITCH & WIZARD

WITCH & WIZARD

by James Patterson

and Gabrielle Charbonnet

2009

314 pages

From Back Cover:

It's overwhelming. A city's worth of angry faces staring up at me like I'm a wicked criminal. The stadium is filled to capacity. Hundreds of thousands of curious, uncaring, or at least indifferent, faces....

And there are no moist eyes, much less tears.

No words of protest.

No stomping feet.

No fists raised in solidarity.

In fact, as the countdown ticker flashes onto the giant video screens, it's looking to be my family's last day.

I see my brother, Whit, wondering if there's some last-minute way out of this. I see my mother crying quietly for Whit and me. I see my father, stooped with resignation, but smiling at me and my brother-trying to remind us that there's no point in being miserable in our last moments on this planet.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. There's a lot to cover before we get to the details of our public execution.

So let's go back a bit.....

Now that is a build up! I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I'm so glad I waited to get it from my local library rather than buying it at the book store. If I had spent my own money on it...well, it would have been even a bigger disappointment than it was.

I'm a big fan of James Patterson's adult books. I LOVE the Alex Cross series. I started getting a bit disenchanted after reading The Beach House, one of the first books he co-authored. The next book- I can't even recall the title because I didn't finish it. It was also co-authored. Our relationship has gone down hill since then.

Witch & Wizard sounded so promising. I gave it a shot. The story felt pieced together-like someone didn't edit it before sending it to be printed. The main characters, Whit and Wisty Allgood were so over the top-it was almost laughable. And the bad guys were so BAD it was laughable. What a time waster!

I finished the book but I couldn't wait until the last page so I could be done with them and their story. I won't be wasting my time with the sequel that is sure to come.

This book is available for check out at the Salmon Public Library.

A Chance To Win Some Free Books!

GIVEAWAY!
Emily over on A Few Good Books is giving away a ton of books that have been cluttering her shelves. Get over and enter to win. Go!

IT'S MONDAY-WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Another week! Where is the month going?

Sheila from One Person's Journey Through the World of Books is now running this meme.

It's so much fun to check out what other bloggers are reading. Once again Sheila is offering an incentive prize for those who join in and comment.

Get on over there and check it out.

Sooo this week I'm reading-

Witch & Wizard

by James Patterson

Love, Stargirl

byJerry Spinelli

MARKED

MARKED

by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

2009

320 Pages

When sixteen year old Zoey Redbird is marked one day at school by a tracker-life as she knows it ends. She leaves her family and friends behind to attend the House of Night. A school for vampyres. There she not only has to deal with making new friends and adjusting to a new school, she also has to hope that her body accepts "the change" and she doesn't suddenly drop dead.

This series has been HOT at the library so I was pretty excited to read Marked. I'm not really sure what expectations I had for the book but felt let down regardless. I felt like the "teen language" was way overdone by the characters. There was a oral sex scene at the beginning of the book that was just weird and unnecessary. Lastly, the rituals that the character partake in were long and boring.

I know that a lot of people have enjoyed this series, but I'm not one of them. The end of Marked leaves the story wide open for the next book in the series called Betrayed. But honestly I could care less who or what Zoey Redbird is betrayed by. This is a series I won't be jumping into.

This book is available to check out at the Salmon Public Library. I caution readers that this book contains strong language and sexual situations.

IF THE WITNESS LIED

IF THE WITNESS LIED

By Caroline B. Cooney

2009

224 Pages




This fast paced thriller takes place in the span of 24 short hours. Four children are orphaned by horrible circumstances beyond their control.
Sadly the media was there to witness every tragic event unfold.
First, their mother decides to forgo cancer treatment to give her unborn child a chance to be brought into the world. This decision bring protesters and unwanted media attention.
Sadly, the mother does not survive after giving birth to a beautiful healthy little boy. The media is there when they try to bury and grieve for their mother.
A short time later an "aunt" Cheryl shows up at the door to help pick up the pieces and starts helping take care the family. One day as their father is backing down the driveway he stops for some reason to fix something. While he's under the car baby Tristin escapes his car seat and accidentally releases the parking break, causing the jeep to run over their father.
Now baby Tristan is blamed for the death of both parents. The family breaks apart shortly after the burial of their father. Madison goes to live at her godparent's home. Smithy headed to a boarding school in another state, while Jack stays behind to try to care for baby brother Tristan.
The Fountain family seems doomed by sadness and separation until Jack accidental over hears a conversation that "aunt" Cheryl is having with a T.V. producer. It seems that Tristan's upcoming third birthday is about to become a media circus once again. Suddenly these scattered siblings put a plan in motion to protect their baby brother and bring their family together again.

I don't want to give away too much of the story with my review. I can tell you that once I picked it up and started reading I absolutely couldn't put it down. I had to know what was going to happen to this poor family. Also the story is sad, I mean these kids lose both parents! That's a pretty heavy subject. I was hoping and praying that this siblings would conquer and come together. I would really like to get my hands on a couple of Caroline Cooney's other books to see if they are as exciting as this one. I heard "The Face on the Milk Carton" and "Whatever Happened to Janie?" are good ones. So I'll be on the look out for these.
I recommend this book for ages 12 and older. This book is available for check out at the Salmon Public Library.

GIVEAWAY!

I

IN WHICH A GIRL READS is offering a very cool giveaway!

$20.00 from The Book Depository which mean it's open to international bloggers also!

Go to http://inwhichagirl.blogspot.com/ to enter.

Hurry people.....it ends March 6th!

FLOUR BABIES

FLOUR BABIES

by Anne Fine

1992

178 pages

Mr. Cassidy, teacher of room 8 forsees nothing but trouble ahead when the annual school science fair asks his class aka The Sads and The Bads to submit a project.

The class unanimously votes to have flour babies after a student named Simon mistakenly over hears a conversation that leads him to believe that at the end of the experiment they will be able to destroy their flour sacks.

The six pound flour bags are passed out and each boy is given the responsibility to care for his baby around the clock and record his responsibilities and thoughts in a journal. Also the babies come with a set of rules:

Page 34

1. The flour babies must be kept clean and dry at all times. All fraying, staining, and leaking of the stuffing will be taken very seriously indeed.

2. Flour babies will be put on the official scales twice a week to check for any weight loss that might indicate casual neglect or maltreatment, or any weight gain might indicate tampering or damp.

3. No flour baby may be left unattended at any time, night or day. If you must be out of sight of your flour baby, even for a short time, a responsible babysitter must be arranged.

4. You must keep a Baby Book and write in it daily. Each entry should be no shorter than three full sentences, and no longer than five pages.

5. Certain persons(who shall not be named until the experiment is over) shall make it their business to check on the welfare of the flour babies and the keeping of the above rules. These people may be parents, other pupils, teachers, or members of the public.

Day by day the boys figure out different ways to deal with their babies-one boy quickly reaches his breaking point and kicks his baby into a creek, while another starts a babysitting service and makes money by charging the other boys to take their babies off their hands.

Simon has a surprising reaction to his baby-rather than it being a burden he actually starts to feel affection for his little sack of flour.

As the three week experiment draws to an end Simon starts to understand the full time responsibility that his mom has faced raising him as a single parent and starts to come to terms with his absentee father.

I thought flour babies was a good story. A good lesson to be taught about parenthood and responsibility. I had a little trouble with the translation and language with the book. The boys did not sound American although the story is set in America. But all in all worth a read. I recommend this book for ages 10 and up. It is available for check out at the Salmon Public Library.