This meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.
I got an absolutely lovely haul this week and I am super excited to start reading them all! :)
For Review:
1. What I Didn't Say - Keary Taylor
Getting drunk homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat. His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.
2. Candy Experiments - Loralee Leavitt
A group of children clusters around the sink-and-float bowl. “That one floats!” they cry as a Three Musketeers bar hits the water. Eager to try, they pour in handfuls of M&Ms, Mars bars, Starbursts, Twix, and whatever else they can unwrap, exclaiming as candy bobs and colors swirl. They’re so engrossed, they never notice that their Halloween stash is going, going, gone.Candy Experiments teaches children a new use for their candy. As children try eye-popping experiments, such as growing enormous gummy worms and turning cotton candy into slime, they’ll also be learning science. Best of all, they’ll willingly pour their candy down the drain.Candy Experiments contains 57 science experiments, 29 of which have never been previously published. The book contains nine chapters with topics such as secret ingredients, color, density, and heat. The book is written for children between the ages of 7 and 10, though older and younger ages will also enjoy it. Each experiment includes basic explanations of the relevant science with information from scientific textbooks and interviews with experts.
3. The Great Unexpected - Sharon Creech
I had big thoughts to match the big wind. I wondered if we find the people we need when we need them. I wondered if we attract our future by some sort of invisible force, or if we are drawn to it by a similar force. I felt I was turning a corner and that change was afoot. In the little town of Blackbird Tree live two orphan girls: one Naomi Deane, brimming with curiosity, and her best friend, Lizzie Scatterding, who could talk the ears off a cornfield. Naomi has a knack for being around when trouble happens. For she knows all the peculiar people in town--like Crazy Cora and Witch Wiggins and Mr. Farley. But then, one day, a boy drops out of a tree. The strangely charming Finn boy. Then the Dingle Dangle man appears, asking all kinds of questions. Curious surprises are revealed--three locked trunks, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge, and that boy. Soon Naomi and Lizzie find themselves zooming toward a future neither could ever have imagined. Meanwhile, on a grand estate across the ocean, an old lady whose heart has been deceived concocts a plan. . . .
As two very different worlds are woven together, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech celebrates the gossamer thread that connects us all, and the great and unexpected gifts of love, friendship, and forgiveness.
4. A Dog Called Homeless - Sarah Lean
"My name is Cally Louise Fisher and I haven't spoken for thirty-one days. Talking doesn’t always make things happen, however much you want them to." When Cally Fisher sees her dead mother, real as anything, no one believes her. So Cally stops talking – what’s the point if no one is listening?
The only other living soul who sees Cally's mum is a mysterious wolfhound who always seems to be there when her mum appears. But without a voice, how will Cally convince anyone that her mum is still with them, and how will she ever persuade her Dad that the huge silver-grey dog is their last link with her?
An outstandingly assured debut novel from a sparkling new talent.
The only other living soul who sees Cally's mum is a mysterious wolfhound who always seems to be there when her mum appears. But without a voice, how will Cally convince anyone that her mum is still with them, and how will she ever persuade her Dad that the huge silver-grey dog is their last link with her?
An outstandingly assured debut novel from a sparkling new talent.
5. The Spindlers - Lauren Oliver
Looking across the breakfast table one morning, twelve-year-old Liza feels dread wash over her. Although her younger brother, Patrick, appears the same, Liza knows that he is actually quite different. She is certain that the spindlers-evil, spiderlike beings-came during the night and stole his soul. And Liza is also certain that she is the only one who can rescue him.
Armed with little more than her wits and a huge talking rat for a guide, Liza descends into the dark and ominous underground to save Patrick's soul. Her quest is far from easy, and the road to the spindlers' nests is riddled with danger. She must brave tree snakes, the Court of Stones, and shape-shifting serpents before facing her greatest challenge in the spindlers' lair, where more than just Patrick's soul is at stake.
6. The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck - Emily Fairlie
Two sixth graders solve the eighty-year-old mystery of their school, Tuckernuck Hall, in a clue-filled scavenger hunt that leads them to unexpected treasure. A classic mystery filled with humor and heart.
7. The Key and the Flame - Claire M. Caterer
Eleven-year-old Holly Shepard is hardly one of great magical power. She’s just an ordinary girl living in an even more ordinary American suburb. Her brother Ben excels in the advanced-math class while Holly pulls a C for daydreaming and doodling on her test papers. But her greatest wish—to escape her humdrum existence and experience true adventure—has just been waiting for the right moment to come true.
When the family travels to England for the summer, Holly finds more adventure than even she bargained for—an ancient iron key that unlocks visions, portals, and even the magic long slumbering in Holly herself. With Ben and his friend Everett, Holly travels to Anglielle, a medieval kingdom where magic is outlawed and those with magical powers are hunted by a ruthless king. Holly soon discovers that her magic is the most sought-after of all. Packed with magic and adventure, The Key and the Flame is only the beginning of The Wandwright Pentalogy, a five-part series that chronicles how Holly, Ben, and Everett strive to restore magic to Anglielle and defeat the evil forces that hold the kingdom in its grip.
8. Midnight City - J. Barton Mitchell
In a post-apocalyptic world controlled by alien invaders, two teens and a young girl with mysterious powers embark on a dangerous journey. What they find will change everything...
9. My Name Is Olivia...and I Can't Do Anything About It - Jowi Schmitz
Olivia is ten years old. Her first big problem is that her mother has died. The second big problem is that her father doesn't really know how to go on living. Olivia and her father's home is a small boat sitting in the garden of a barbershop. "Temporarily," says her dad. But how long is "temporarily?" Olivia is in a new community, going to a new school, and has to figure out on her own how to grow up with the new normal of no mother and a father who is physically present but psychologically distant. Olivia is strong, though, and shores up both her home and her family with an incontrovertible sense of humor. Smart for her age and vulnerable, brave and funny - Olivia will steal your heart. Olivia comes from the literary line that includes Cassandra Mortmain of I Capture the Castle and Opal Buloni of Because of Winn Dixie.
10. Starring Me - Krista McGee
Kara McKormick is told she's auditioning to star in a new teen variety show. But it's what she isn't told that could change her life.
Chad Beacon quickly rose to fame after winning America's Next Star, but he doesn't want his entire career to be about singing. There is so much more he wants to do-like act. The new variety show sounds like the perfect next step for him, but his parents want him to have a co-star who shares his faith since they'll be spending so much time together.
Acting is high on Kara's priority list. But a relationship with God? Not so much. In fact, she's tried to stay away from anything religious. But God is after Kara's heart and He's put people in her life who are showing her there's far more to Christianity than rules and judgment. And just when it seems that Kara's going to have to give up her acting dream, God reveals that she may have a starring role after all-in a story so big only He could write it.