Books with Hearts on the Covers

Getting into the Valentine's Day mood and have compiled a list of books with hearts on the cover.  Thought they may come in handy for someone.  All of these listed are YA books, I am sure there are tons more!

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Between You and Me by Marisa Calin

In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

In the Cards: Love by Mariah Fredericks

Triple Shot Betty’s in Love by Jody Gehrman

Hooked by Catherine Greenman

Green Heart by Alice Hoffman

Pure Red by Danielle Joseph

Undercover by Beth Kephart

My Beating Teenage Heart by C. K. Kelly Martin

Being Friends with Boys by Terra Elan McVoy

Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks by Laren Myracle

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Maggie Bean in Love by Tricia Rayburn

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Accidental Love by Gary Soto

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky

The Heartbreakers by Pamela Wells

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel" by Jeff Kinney

Why do I insist on writing reviews for books that I loved?  The review usually consists of something along the lines of this book is amazing, you should read it!.  So anyways...Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel is a hit!  Jeff Kinney has brought Greg back in all of his middle school craziness- and you won't be disappointed.  This time, Greg is getting ready for the big Valentine's Day dance.  The only problem?  His best friend Rowley is spending more time with Greg's date than Greg is!  As usual, I laughed out loud as I was reading.  Kinney's characters are hilarious and quite believable.  It's easy to dislike how self-centered Greg can be, but since this is his diary, I don't feel too bothered by it.  In that way, I feel that it is a very honest piece of writing.  I always look forward to these books, and can't wait for the next in the series to be released!

*Readers- this is the perfect gift for boys on your Christmas list!*


Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Chrissa" by Mary Casanova

I'm a little sad that I didn't enjoy this book very much.  Typically the words American Girl on the cover of a book means that I am in for a quality reading experience, but it felt like this book dropped the ball.  Mary Casanova's Chrissa starts on Chrissa's first day at her new school.  It is also Valentine's day, her favorite day of the year.  She gets assigned to sit at the same seat cluster as the "Mean Bees" and her day goes downhill from there.  The worst is when she only receives one Valentine- and she's certain that the rest have been stolen.  The rest of the book focuses around the Mean Bees bulling Chrissa and how she over comes the mean things they say and do to her.  

Now, don't get me wrong.  Bullying is certainly an important issue and one that should be taken very seriously.  However, I felt like this book was written to cover a topic that was not yet discussed in the American Girls world.  There didn't seem to be a lot of motivation for why the girls acted the way they did.  At one point the Mean Bees convince Chrissa's brother to pick on her as well.  That moment in the book seemed so out of character and it took me out of the story.  The writing came across as a little false, like the author either didn't care about what she was writing or that she isn't a strong writer (which is odd as I just finished the McKenna books and thought that the writing in those was just fine and they are by the same author).  There were also some subplots that could have been really interesting, but had little focus, especially Gwen's story (I would really like to see a separate book or two about her).  Since this book focuses on such an important issue, it's sad that I didn't think this book was well written.  I plan on reading Chrissa Stands Strong and really hope that it has a better focus and feels more realistic. 

Happy Reading!

-Melly