In My Mailbox July 13-18

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Open Ice – Pat Hughes
NICKY TAG! NICKY TAG!

All his life, crowds have been cheering for Nick Taglio.
He’s been skating since he could walk, scoring goals since he picked up a hockey stick. He’s only a sophomore but he rules the ice, because Nicky Tag’s a fighter. Which means you have to take some hits; concussions come with the territory. When he gets another head injury, his doctor, his parents, and his coach tell him he can never play again. Too dangerous, they say. He can’t risk his future.
But they don’t understand that without hockey, Nick has no future. It’s not a game, it’s his life. And nobody can stop him from playing.

In My Mailbox July 6-11

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. 🙂

The Pursuit of Happyness – Chris Gardner (signed)

In this astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga, twenty-year-old Milwaukee native Chris Gardner arrives in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprises everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance.

Yet no sooner has he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm, than Gardner is entangled in incredibly challenging circumstances leaving him and his toddler son homeless on the mean streets of San Francisco, never guessing that he would one day become a crown prince of Wall Street.

Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

Second Skin – Jessica Wollman

Appearances can be deceiving. Sam Klein’s found that out firsthand. All she wanted was to be popular. But sometimes what we want is the absolute worst thing for us.

Sam discovers that Kylie, It-girl of Woodlawn High, owes her popular status not to her expensive clothes, highlighted hair, and spot on the cheerleading squad but to a magical second skin. Nobody can actually see it—but they can feel it. And if you’re wearing the skin, you feel incredible. Invincible. Popularity is yours.

So Sam stole the skin from Kylie. Now she’s the most popular girl at school, while Kylie’s social life takes a serious hit. Sam can barely recognize herself. Her old geek clique is history—but are her new friends really people she can count on? The skin is clinging tighter to her each day . . . can Sam get it off before it’s too late?

Chasing Boys – Karen Tayleur

An insightful coming-of-age novel for girls with no interest in being “Pretty in Pink”.

El Marini just isn’t fitting into the new life she’s been forced to create without her dad. Her mom and sister have accepted his absence and moved on, but El is convinced things will get back to normal if she just keeps her feelings of loss to herself and waits it out. Life at her new public school would have been unbearable if weren’t for Eric Callahan. As her crush grows to epic proportions, she’ll do anything to be more like the popular girls he notices, even buying the first pink top she’s ever owned. But then she meets Dylan, a quiet artistic-type who is both unnerving and annoying as he shines a light on El’s misguided attempts to attract Eric. El’s need for acceptance will hit home with teens as she finally sees that chasing boys has distracted her from making peace with the past and finding herself.

The Boyfriend Game – Stephie Davis

I rested the ball on my hip and walked back toward the equipment shed. In the dark.

Alone. With a boy.

I would be completely freaking out over varsity soccer tryouts if it weren’t for the new student, Graham, who’s helping me practice. He has the most amazing green eyes, curly brown hair, and perfect legs. Plus, we have lots in common, since all we both care about is soccer! Well, that’s all he cares about. But my heart beats so fast when we’re on the field together . . . and I don’t think it’s just from all the running around.

In My Mailbox June 29 – July 4

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. 🙂

Eyes Like Stars – Lisa Mantchev (ARC)
All her world’s a stage.

Bertie Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater. She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents. She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own. That is, until now.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.

The Summer I Turned Pretty – Jenny Han
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer — they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

In My Mailbox June 22-27

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. For more information, go here. Also, I’d like to remind you all of the Book Pile Contest and the Suite Scarlett Giveaway I am having. Be sure to enter!

Giving Up the V – Serena Robar
Spencer Davis just turned sixteen. But unlike most hormonal teenagers who seem obsessed with sex — like her entire crew of friends — Spencer just doesn’t get it. She’d rather wait for the right guy and the right moment. But that moment may be arriving sooner than she’d thought.

Enter Benjamin Hopkins, a new transfer student who seems to have his eyes on our V-card-carrying heroine. He’s gorgeous, funny, suave, athletic, and capable of making Spencer’s knees wobble with a single glance. Spencer has never felt this way about anyone before, but is Ben truly V-worthy?

In My Mailbox June 15-20

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. Also, be sure to enter my contest for a chance to win two books. 😉

Suite Scarlett – Maureen Johnson
Her new summer job comes with baggage.

Scarlett Martin has grown up in a most unusual way. Her family owns the Hopewell, a small hotel in the heart of New York City, and Scarlett lives there with her four siblings – Spencer, Lola, and Marlene.

When each of the Martins turns fifteen, they are expected to take over the care of a suite in the once elegant, now shabby Art Deco hotel. For Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, she gets both a room called the Empire Suite, and a permanent guest called Mrs. Amberson.

Scarlett doesn’t quite know what to make of this C-list starlet, world traveler, and aspiring autobiographer who wants to take over her life. And when she meets Eric, an astonishingly gorgeous actor who has just moved to the city, her summer takes a second unexpected turn.

Before the summer is over, Scarlett will have to survive a whirlwind of thievery, Broadway glamour, romantic missteps, and theatrical deceptions. But in the city where anything can happen, she just might be able to pull it off.

Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide 2008 – Gary Gruber

For more than 30 years, Dr. Gary Gruber has been the leading authority on testing and test preparation—his Gruber Method has helped thousands of students develop critical thinking skills, dramatically boosting their scores on standardized tests. Now in its 11th edition, Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide is the best and most effective complete study guide for students tackling the most important test of their lives.

Can you tell what I plan to do the next few months? 😉

In My Mailbox June 8-13

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. Also, be sure to enter my contest for a chance to win two books from my book pile.

Wake – Lisa McMann

Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people’s dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie’s seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can’t tell anybody about what she does — they’d never believe her, or worse, they’d think she’s a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn’t want and can’t control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else’s twisted psyche. She is a participant….

In My Mailbox June 1-6

In My Mailbox was created by the lovely Kristi from The Story Siren. 🙂

ghostgirl – Tonya Hurley

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I should die before I awake,
I pray the popular attend my wake.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she’s dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn’t stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.

If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we’ll go to be seen.

ghostgirl: Homecoming – Tonya Hurley

Heaven couldn’t be a phone bank, could it?Charlotte Usher discovers that the afterlife isn’t quite what she pictured when she’s forced to intern at a hotline for troubled teens. Before she can officially cross over, she’ll have to be a source of guidance for one such teen. The problem is she doesn’t have much advice to offer since dying hasn’t exactly boosted her confidence level.

 

But when Hawthorne High’s leading, love-to-hate cheerleader Petula and her gothic little sis’ Scarlet find themselves suddenly resting-in-peace in comas, Charlotte’s opportunity to save them will prove to be the risk of a lifetime-for all of them.

In My Mailbox May 18-23

In My Mailbox was created by The Story Siren. =)

The Other Half of Life – Kim Ablon Whitney

A heartbreaking novel based on the true story of a World War II voyage.

In May of 1939, the SS St. Francis sets sail from Germany, carrying German Jews and other refugees away from Hitler’s regime. The passengers believe they are bound for freedom in Cuba and eventually the United States, but not all of them are celebrating. Fifteen-year-old Thomas is anxious about his parents and didn’t want to leave Germany: his father, a Jew, has been imprisoned and his mother, a Christian, is left behind, alone. Fourteen-yearold Priska has her family with her, and she’s determined to enjoy the voyage, looking forward to their new lives.

Based on the true story of the MS St. Louis, this historical young adult novel imagines two travelers and the lives they may have lived until events, and immigration laws, conspired to change their fates. Kim Ablon Whitney did meticulous research on the voyage of the St. Louis to craft her compelling and moving story about this little-known event in history.

In My Mailbox May 11-16

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. =)

Initiation – Susan Fine

…I had no idea what could come of packing all those boys into one school building…how the competition would play out in relentless insults, the constant sorting out that went on every day, all day, to determine who was okay and who was worthless.

The halls of St. Stephen’s reek of money, secrets, and desperation. Competition to be top dog at the Manhattan private school is fierce. But Mauricio Londoño—Latino, middle-class, and new to the brutality of prep school life—just wants to survive ninth grade.

Apartments the size of a city block…Vacations in the Hamptons… Being near all this extravagance, intellect, and beauty is a thrill. But navigating their sparkling world is another story. When two warring freshmen use the Web as a weapon, Mauricio gets burned in the online crossfire and learns firsthand how the privileged don’t always play by the rules.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie – Alan Bradley

In his wickedly brilliant first novel, Debut Dagger Award winner Alan Bradley introduces one of the most singular and engaging heroines in recent fiction: eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. It is the summer of 1950—and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

In My Mailbox May 4-9

I actually received this book last week, but because I was out of town, I could not do an In My Mailbox post. In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. =)

Marcelo in the Real World – Francisco Stork

Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear–part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify–and he’s always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm’s mailroom in order to experience “the real world.” There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm.

He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it’s a picture he finds in a file — a picture of a girl with half a face — that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.

Reminiscent of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary novel is a love story, a legal drama, and a celebration of the music each of us hears inside.