Make Way for Abby Spencer!

Expected Publication:  March 1st, 2014

Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood

By: Varsha Bajaj

Albert Whitman & Company

ISBN-13:  9780807563632

What thirteen-year-old Abby wants most is to meet her father.  She just never imagined he would be a huge film star -- in Bollywood!  Now she's travelling to Mumbai to get to know her famous father.  Abby is overwhelmed by the culture clash, the pressures of being the daughter of India's most famous celebrity, and the burden of keeping her identity a secret.  But as she learns to navigate her new surroundings, she just might discover where she really belongs.

Review

     Abby Tara Spencer has spent her whole thirteen years wondering what her Dad was like - and most of all why he wasn't part of her life.  When a severe allergic reaction to coconut topping on her frozen yogurt sends Abby to the hospital, her Mom decides it's time to tell her the whole story of what happened with her Dad all those years ago.  They also decide to try and contact him for a full medical history, for Abby's sake.  When they find him, things turn out more different than any of them expected.  Especially Abby's Dad, who is a huge Bollywood movie star in India and didn't know she existed!  Going to India to meet him and her ailing Grandmother is more than Abby ever imagined.  But can they really fit into one another's lives after all these years?  And what happens when the paparazzi catches wind of things?  Is Abby's new-found relationship with her Dad over before it even begins?

     I usually steer clear of middle grade novels.  Not out of any serious dislike or aversion, but because I sometimes find myself struggling to sympathize with or remember those in-between years as I'm reading about characters in that age group.  It's uncomfortable for me, makes me feel old, and causes me to give lukewarm reviews to match my feelings (in all but a few special cases usually).  I'd rather avoid the whole process if at all possible.  Occasionally one still manages to get into my to-read pile, when the synopsis interests me enough to overlook the classification and main character's age.  This is one that managed to slip through.  May I also just say how seriously impressed I am that Albert Whitman & Company put a cover on this that represents the true heritage of the main character and didn't whitewash it!!!  That fact I have to say this and be surprised by it (pleasantly) is sad in today's world.  But many characters/books aren't represented accurately by their covers.  Thank you to the publisher for doing right by this one!

     I must say that I really enjoyed this one!  Abby was portrayed extremely realistically for a thirteen year old girl, with a close and happy family.  Her friends were supportive and happy when she found her Dad, but also voices of reason.  I particularly love Abby's relationship with her Mom for not being the single Mom, Gilmore Girls stereotype of a relationship.  I loved that they were close, but her Mom was without a doubt the parent in that family.  Her Grandparents were also very supportive and sweet, even when Abby went to visit her Dad.  I loved the glimpses into Mumbai that we got once Abby was there, and seeing the culture of everyday India juxtaposed with the excesses of Bollywood, through the eyes of a sheltered American girl.  Yet we also got to see the fun side of things, with Abby making friends with a boy named Shaan and them being tagged as extras on her Dad's movie set.  

     Probably the only reason I can't say this book is perfect is the cliche way that Abby's existence got into the media and the crappy way her Dad handled it at first.  Although I seriously loved the ending, which made up for that almost completely.  Also, the truth about why the letter Abby's Mom sent never got to her Dad was well-handled too.  It didn't make her Grandpa into a villain, just a man who made a mistake.  This is where I'll leave things so I don't give any major spoilers, but it was a wonderful book and I highly recommend this even if middle-grade isn't normally your thing.  This one was worth stepping out of my comfort zone! :)

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, Albert Whitman & Company, via NetGalley.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is March 1st, 2014.*

Chaotic, Messy Life

Expected Publication:  September 10th, 2013
The Chaos of Stars
By: Kiersten White
HarperTeen
ISBN-13:  9780062135926

Isadora's family is seriously screwed up.

Of course, as the human daughter of Egyptian gods, that pretty much comes with the territory.  She's also stuck with parents who barely notice her, and a house full of relatives who can't be bothered to remember her name.  After all, they are going to be around forever -- and she's a mere mortal.

Isadora's sick of living a life where she's only worthy of a passing glance, and when she has the chance to move to San Diego with her brother, she jumps on it.  But Isadora's quickly finding that a "normal" life comes with plenty of its own epic complications -- and that there's no such thing as a clean break when it comes to family.  Much as she wants to leave her past behind, she can't shake the ominous dreams that foretell destruction for her entire family.  When it turns out there may be truth in her nightmares, Isadora has to decide whether or not she can abandon her divine heritage after all.

Review

 

     Isadora lives in Egypt with her extremely crazy.  An outside observer might think they are crazy, religious extremists.  In a way that's true -- they're the Ancient Gods and Goddesses of Egyptian myth!  But Isadora herself is only human and has nothing but anger and feelings of betrayal from her parents.  So when she gets the opportunity to escape and live with her older brother in San Diego, she takes it eagerly.  Forced to work in a local museum by her controlling parents, Isadora reluctantly becomes friends with rambunctious Tyler (whose Aunt runs the museum), Ty's boyfriend Scott and their good friend Ry.  Of course, there are feelings other than just friendship building between Ry and Isadora, there is someone trying to steal something from the new Egyptian museum exhibit they're assembling, and Ry has his own, complicated family history.  Can Isadora leave behind her cynical outlook in life and learn to let love in for once?  Will she be able to save her parents and her friends from certain destruction, or will her stubborn anger ruin them all?

     I haven't read anything written by Kiersten White before and was curious to see if I would like it or not.  I have friends who love her 'Paranormalacy' series, but I've been kind of hesitant to get into another series that has vamps, weres, etc. in it.  Well, let's just say I won't be seeking out any books by White in the near future.  I am a mythology nut, for Egyptian mythology especially.  But this book wasn't really about mythology, as much as it was about a teenage girl with Mommy and Daddy issues, who doesn't believe in true love (or that it would even be worth it).  What little mythology was involved in the plot was woven in clumsily and the tidbits at the beginning of each chapter were hit or miss.  I was pretty positive of who the 'villain' was before even the halfway point of the book and the hints White kept bashing me over the head with were unnecessary by far.  Most of the book was spent with Isadora being an abrasive, judgmental bitch to everyone while trying to assimilate to life in America.  Ooohhh, Isadora like interior decorating, Coca Cola and hates boys.  Okay, whatever. 

     Isadora spends most of the book treating everyone else like complete crap and yet Ry for some inexplicable reason really likes her romantically anyways.  The revelation about his heritage and prior connection to Isadora was so obvious, that I found myself rolling my eyes more so than gasping in 'shock' over it.  The bits with the dreams just downright confused me and had me skimming over them to get through the rest of the book.  The majority of the book had no conflict and while I do enjoy contemporaries with paranormal elements thrown it, when I go in expecting mythology that's where I want the focus to be!  The romance between Ry and Isadora just wasn't enough to save this book for me, and the 180 her character does at the end of the book pretty much alienated me completely.  Kudos to White for keeping me reading till the end, but honestly wouldn't recommend it unless you're already a fan of hers. 

 

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication is September 10th, 2013.*

Not Dead Just Yet

Published:  September 1st, 2012

Undead (Undead # 1)

By: Kirsty McKay

The Chicken House

ISBN-13:  9780545381888

Out of sight, out of their minds: It's a school-trip splatter fest and completely not cool when the other kids in her class go all braindead on new girl Bobby.

The day of the ski trip, when the bus comes to a stop at a roadside restaurant, everyone gets off and heads in for lunch. Everyone, that is, except Bobby, the new girl, who stays behind with rebel-without-a-clue Smitty.

Then hours pass. Snow piles up. Sun goes down. Bobby and Smitty start to flirt. Start to stress. Till finally they see the other kids stumbling back.

But they've changed. And not in a good way. Straight up, they're zombies. So the wheels on the bus better go round and round freakin' fast, because that's the only thing keeping Bobby and Smitty from becoming their classmates' next meal. It's kill or be killed in these hunger games, heads are gonna roll, and homework is most definitely gonna be late.

Review

     Bobby is the new girl again after moving back to the U.K., having lived in the U.S. since she was little and her Mom's job first took them from the U.K. to America.  Now she is on a ski trip to Scotland with her new classmates, dealing with their harassment because she doesn't sound British enough or like an American either.  So when they get to the diner, Bobby stays on the bus with budding juvenile delinquent Smitty.  But when everyone else comes toward the bus, they've changed for the worse.  Now all their classmates (except stuck-up Alice and nerdy Pete) are coming after them, hungry for their flesh.  Trying to make an escape, they find shelter at a nearby manor that seems deserted.  But who has created these zombies and why?  And what will they do when they realize that there are survivors?  Can Bobby, Smitty and Alice make it back into the real world or will they be silenced once and for all?  This was a funny book.  It had a great sense of humor, which is definitely a plus when it comes to zombies.  I especially loved the snark and prissiness that Alice brought to the group.  Other than Bobby (whose Mother's involvement was kind of iffy in believability), Alice and Smitty, most of the other characters were fairly forgettable.  Because mostly, it was those three characters that the focus was on.  When someone else came into it, they were normally temporary to the plot.  Other than the humor, the plot was a little bit circumspect.  I never quite believed that the corporation would conduct such an unsupervised experiment and not try to contain it more.  Plus, the reasons were never explained much.  My favorite quote in the book was from Alice:

“It’s such a nightmare!” Alice cries. “They want to kill us!” Her eyes narrow. “And Shanika’s got my CoutureCandy bag, the bitch!” she says to the driver. “Run them over!”

Like I said though, Alice's personality was a high point.  The struggles to actually escape the zombies, with the bad weather, messed up bus, lack of gasoline and the hurt driver were very realistic though and I commend that.  Overall, if you like your zombies with some laughs this is the book for you.  But nothing will ever top My Life As a White Trash Zombie by: Diana Rowland.  That was my high point in zombie fiction.

VERDICT:  3.7/5  Stars

***No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**