From Inside Cover: Georgia knows what it means to keep secrets.  She knows how to ignore things.  She knows that some things are better left unsaid….Or are they?

When Georgia and her best friend, Riley, travel along with nine other suburban Pennsylvania kids to Anapra, a squatters’ village in the heat-flattened border city of Juarez, Mexico, secrets seem to percolate and threaten both a friendship and a life.  Certainties unravel.  Reality changes.  And Georgia is left to figure out who she is outside the world she’s always known.

My Review: I feel that this book will appeal to women of all ages even though the main characters are teens.  The story is very thought-provoking and sensitive.  The relationship between Georgia and Riley is very indicative of women’s close friendships – a deep knowing of one another along with denial of some of the more touchy areas.  Girls relationships are so complex as is evidenced by the ups and downs Georgia and Riley face on the trip to Mexico. Both girls had their own ideas of what “helping people” involve, which I found interesting.  Parent-child relationship between the girls and their parents are realistic as well as a deep wanting of making the world a better place.  I enjoyed the book. I understood Riley more than the other characters – maybe because I could personally relate to her the best.  The story is realistic, the writing is good, and the cover is beautiful.  I look forward to more books by Beth Kephart.

About the Book: Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.

Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.

Once upon a time, I didn’t know how lucky I was.

When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends — her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.

Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.

This is Alice’s story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.

My Review: This is the kind of book that once you start reading it, you don’t want to put it down. At the same time, this book is extraordinarily dark and troublesome. That’s not to say there aren’t a few glimmers of hope throughout.

It’s hard not to feel for the main character, Alice. And by feel, I mean feel rage on the incredible injustice she has endured, hopelessness at the situations she finds herself in, sorrow over all that she has lost, and hope…that she will somehow find a way. The choice placed before her is so impossible that I honestly felt like I couldn’t blame her either way.

On the surface, this may seem like a book about child abuse or abduction, but underneath that, I found this to be about how the choices we make define us and that ultimately no one can take away from us the power of choice in how we react to situations. She also deals lightly with how we all try to exert our power over others even when we don’t realize that’s exactly what we are doing. In many ways, this book is profound.

Even though this book is classified as YA, the content matter is very adult, therefore, I would recommend this book for mature teens only as there is a fair bit of sexual abuse, some language, and violence as well. Though you may feel like you need a shower for your soul after reading this book, it stayed with me, and the ideas and questions raised by this book haunted me for days afterward. Recommended.

This is an ARC I picked up at BEA and I really looked forward to reading.  I had never read anything by Julius Lester before, but the story was about a young boy who chose not to tell the truth and then had to face the consequences of a destroyed friendship.

It’s a very small book, and my favorite parts were the prologue and the epilogue. I thought they were beautifully written. Unfortunately, I didn’t find that the actual story to live up to the promise. It’s the story of a horrific lynching that took place in the South from the perspective of a young white boy.

I was even more interested in reading the author’s note at the end of the book than the actual story..I found it incredibly informative. I hestitate to give this any sort of final judgement, though. The ARC is very small and the marketing information on the back says the book will be 160 pages long. So I can’t help but wonder if some more meat will be added to the story. I think it could use it.

I have little else to say about this book except that I’d like to give someone else the chance to read it and review it. If you are interested in my ARC, please leave a comment. This giveaway has the condition that you must have a blog of your own that you will agree to review this book on. It won’t take you long to read it. It will be marketed as a YA book and I should mention that there’s quite a bit of frank sexual talk in it. To double your chances of winning, post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post. I’ll choose a winner randomly on July 11th.

Guardian will be available in October 2008 from Harper Collins.

About the book: The Parker twins, Brad and Charlie, didn’t want to join their parents on vacation in Hawaii. A little sister can be annoying, but little sister, Zoey, was over the top. “The three of us aren’t going to Hawaii,” she told them. Her parents were shocked by her statement even though it was true. This was not the first time Zoey offered surprising knowledge of future events, nor would it be the last. Arriving at their grandparent’s cattle ranch in Oklahoma, the twins learn of the disappearance of cattle from the ranch. This knowledge would set of a series of events that would challenge any detective. There were the mysterious neighbors, the strange lady at church, a psychic lazy dog, and a weird little sister to keep the twins totally confused in their efforts to solve this strange mystery.

This is a fun book with an interesting cast of characters sure to keep you entertained! There’s both mystery and adventure!

Now here’s a little bit about D.C. Stewart: D.C. Stewart grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, and spent most of her childhood getting into trouble with her younger brother on their ranch. She began writing short stories in high school, and won a writing competition at a nearby college at age 17. After graduating, she attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University and earned a degree in History, and also met her husband, Scott. She worked for a church in Maumelle, Arkansas as the Communications Coordinator for five years. After moving back to Oklahoma, she chose to stay home with their four year old twin boys, and six month old baby girl, and to pursue her dream of being a full-time writer. The Stewart’s live in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Where Would Cows Hide? is her first novel.

Check out the book on Amazon!

Also, if you are interested in winning a copy of this book here’s how you can try:

1) Email the contest coordinator with the subject line of WWCH Entry at contest@novelinspirations.com

2) Join D.C. Stewart’s ezine list by sending a blank email to: dcstewart_ezine-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
All winners will be notified by May 31st!

About the book: Lonely and a long way from her Iowa home, 12-year-old boarding school student Jeri McKane despairs when her mom can’t make parents’ weekend. Things get even bleaker when the bus carrying her roommate, Rosa, disappears! Does this reporter for the 6th-grade newspaper have the faith and courage to uncover the truth?

My Review: This is a great book for girls aged 8-12 who enjoy Nancy Drew or other mystery stories. Jeri is a fun character who wants to be an investigative reporter. She gets the chance to test out her skills when a busload of students from the school go missing. The setting is interesting and there’s enough snow in the book to make you cold while reading…which makes it a great summertime read! There is also some solid character development and lessons to be learned when Jeri discovers that things aren’t always as they appear.

The best thing is that if you preorder Fading Tracks from Amazon its only 4.99! What a bargain and a great way to keep your kids reading over the summer holiday.

Fading Tracks releases June 2008 from Zondervan.