Remember When: House of the Scorpion

In Remember When I revisit awesome books from the past.  These may be books I read when I was in school or just a few years back.  Either way they are books that need to be remembered and revisited.  I hope more of you think about doing a Remember When and spread these fantastic books around!

This Week I'm Remembering:

The House of the Scorpion

by Nancy Farmer

 I read this book several years ago and LOVED it.  I wish more people would read it.  The concept is pretty interesting - the idea of cloning people and why Matteo was cloned.  The sentence that got me in the summary before I read it was that he was "harvested" and grown in a cow! How could that not get your attention?  Although the story is long it held my interest because it has action, mystery, and suspense.  And or me, it had me cheering for Matteo.  I so wanted him to be free and find happiness.  I remember it being very difficult to watch him go through what he did as he found out he truth behind his life.  But it was also fantastic watching him grow stronger and go after what he wanted.  Ever since reading it, I've hoped for a sequel but there has never been a sign of one. 

If you want another opinion of the book, Melissa from One Librarian's Book Reviews just posted a review of this book.  Check out her review of The House of the Scorpion.

From Goodreads

At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I?...I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born."

"You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her."

To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. A room full of chicken litter with roaches for friends and old chicken bones for toys is considered good enough for him. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico -- Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA.

Review: The Dead Boys

This edition of For the Guys is a Review!

Title: The Dead Boys

Author: Royce Buckingham
Released: Sept 2010

From Goodreads
In the desert town of Richland, Washington, there stands a giant sycamore tree. Horribly mutated by nuclear waste, it feeds on the life energy of boys that it snags with its living roots. And when Teddy Matthews moves to town, the tree trains its sights on its next victim.

My Review
Oh my goodness what a book!  I started reading it on Sunday evening and didn't stop until I was done.  At first I found it super creepy.  When I was little I was very easily scared by noises outside my window, so one of the first scenes with him in bed at night had me curled up in the the corner of my couch eyes wide heart pounding! Ok I did calm down after that but as Teddy met the different boys I kept wanting to yell at him to run, run away fast! I think the worse came when headed out in the middle of the night.  I would've stayed home and shook in my bed, but Teddy was very brave and wanted to figure out what had happened.

Beyond all the creepy and scariness, I really liked Teddy the main character.  Like I said, he was brave but he was also smart as he tried to figure out how to undo what had been done.  He thought on his feet, went forward when he could've gone back and cared about more than himself.  How could you not like a character like that!

In the end I really enjoyed the story.  From page one it grabbed me and took off.  I loved how quickly the action started - if you don't like reading it would be great for you! It was exciting and scary and it held my attention the whole time (remember I read it in one sitting!)  I will admit a few times I got confused but I think it was more because I was reading so fast since I really needed to know what was going to happen.  The story wrapped up well, and I was satisfied with the outcome. 

Final Thought:  My heart still pounds a little faster when I think of the story
Best stick-with-you image: The black widow spider and.... well read it to find out
Best for readers: who are ok with being scared
Best for ages: 11+

Review: The Lost Saint + a GIVEAWAY!

Title: The Lost Saint

Author: Bree Despain

Release Date: Dec. 28

From Goodreads
Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace’s relationship with Daniel is put in danger — in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her — not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

Today we have a guest review from one of my students.  She took BOTH books home over Thanksgiving and read them! Do you think she like the series.  Here's her thoughts on The Lost Saint.

Her Thougts

I really liked this second book of the Dark Divine series.  I loved how Bree created characters and scenes that just pulled me through the pages from start to finish.  I like how the main character, Grace, is adjusting to her ‘situation’ with the help of Daniel.  I also liked how she made it so funny that you just had to laugh out loud.  Then other parts that made your mouth hang open.  I thought that the author did a great job of keeping you on your toes throughout the whole book.  So you never know what’s going to happen or who you should really trust.  I think that it is the perfect sequel to the Dark Divine. 

Didn't she do a great job saying how much she liked it without giving anything away??? That's super hard to too! 

I complete agree with her. Some of you may remember that I liked The Dark Divine but didn't love it.  I will admit that I liked this one better!  The story seemd stronger to me.  It had been my year for liking the sequel better.  hmmmmm

Well now for your chance to find out what you think of it.  I have an ARC of The Lost Saint to give away as well as a bottle of pretty blue nail polish that matches that on the cover! 

To Enter please fill out the form

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Ends Friday Dec 10

Must respond to winnig email within 72 hours

Waiting on Wednesday Entice

This is inspired by a meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. In this post I talk about books yet to be released that I'm excited about OR already published book's I've seen that I'm really wanting to read. I also like to try and find books other bloggers aren't sharing so that more books are shared.

This week I'm waiting on:

Entice

by Carrie Jones

Released: December 14

I don't think I'm waiting on this one as much as my sister! She's really excited for it to come out.

From Goodreads

Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that's not quite how things have worked out.

For starters, well, Nick is dead. Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?

And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned. She's Astley's queen.