Red Maple Mini Reviews - 2# Haunting Violet

by Alyxandra Harvey

Violet Willoughby is convinced that ghosts don't exist. Having participated in her mother's fake séances, she has learned that ghosts are just ways to scam people of their money. However, when she has terrifying hallucinations of a drowning girl, she learns that while she doesn't believe in ghosts, ghosts believe in her. She later finds out that the girl was Rowena Wentworth, who had drowned last year. With suspicious actions by everyone, Violet must find out who the murderer was before another person gets killed.

I found this book has a little bit of something for everyone: romance, action, suspense, fantasy, history, and mystery. It always kept me on my toes wondering who she was going to be betrothed to, if her mother was going to be found out as a fake, or if she would be killed by Rowena's murderer. I would recommend this book to young adults who like a well-rounded story.


Reviewed by Kate

Red Maple Mini Reviews - 1# Home Truths

by Jill MacLean

Brick MacAvoy plans to escape his abusive father and negligent mother the minute he turns sixteen. However, when he learns that his little sister, Cassie, is just as vulnerable to his father's attacks, he realizes he needs to stay and protect her. Throughout the book, he learns that he's just as bad as his father by bullying other kids. In the end, he comes to the realization that he's a bully and decides to never hurt other kids again.

I found this book very inspiring and meaningful. The author found an effective way to introduce the topic of bullying and I understood it a lot better than any teacher ever explained it to me. The fact that the characters seemed very realistic helped me appreciate the effects of bullying.


Reviewed by Kate

The Book Mine Set's Canadian Book Challenge

Recently, I joined the 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge hosted by The Book Mine Set. My friend Heather from Books and Quilts had told me about this challenge in July, when it had started. I'm a bit late in joining, but better late than never, right? The challenge is to read and review 13 Canadian books before the next Canada Day, July 1, 2012. I figured the challenge will motivate me to post on this blog more regularly. I have no trouble reading Canadian books, as I love to keep up with my favourite Canadian authors and discover new ones, but sitting down to write a review takes more work. Despite the late start, I managed two reviews since joining. Kate did not officially join this challenge, but she too is hoping to add more reviews in the coming months.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Final Post

I managed another hour of reading last night and half-hour this morning to get halfway through Dragon Turn. Kate read for two hours last night and another this morning. She finished Haunting Violet and started The Once and Future King by T. H. White.

Here are Kate's totals:
Hours of reading: 9
Total pages read: 656
Books finished: 2 (Home Truths by Jill Maclean and Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey)
Other books started: 1 (The Once and Future King by T. H. White)

My totals:
Hours of reading: 7.5
Total pages read: 475
Books finished: 1
Other books started: 1
Mini-challenges done: 3 (Hour 1 end-of-event meme, Hour 6 Top 5, Hour 12 end-of-event meme)
Cheerleading hours: 1.5

Kate and I spent 18 hours participating (reading and cheerleading) in the read-a-thon, so as promised, we've donated $36 to UNICEF.

Now for the end-of-event meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
   Definitely the hour that coincided with my normal bedtime.
   
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
   Young adult books are always good for these events.
   
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
   I always wish I could have more time for visiting other people's blogs and still have time to read. I would love to extend the read-a-thon by a couple of hours so we could have an "intermission" or post-event period for blog visiting, to leave encouraging or congratulatory posts.
   
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
   I'm really happy the read-a-thon didn't land on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend this year, as we're usually busy with travelling or family activities on holiday weekends.
   
5. How many books did you read?
   For me: one finished and another started. For Kate: two finished and another started.
   
6. What were the names of the books you read?
   For me: The Guardian by Andrew Pyper and The Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock
   For Kate: Home Truths by Jill Maclean, Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey, and The Once and Future King by T. H. White.
   
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
   Can't decide -- we liked them all!
   
8. Which did you enjoy least?
   Can't decide -- we liked them all!
   
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
   I temporarily subscribed to all the blogs I was covering so I could immediately see the updated ones in Google Reader.
   
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
    Kate and I will definitely participate again. I will try to do more cheerleading next time.
    

Thanks to the organizers for another extremely well-run event!

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Update #2

We are at the halfway point of the challenge. Since the last update, I've read 3 more hours and Kate has read 2.5, to make a total of 6 hours for each of us. I finished The Guardians by Andrew Pyper and have just started The Dragon Turn: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 5th Case by Shane Peacock. Kate is halfway through Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey, another book from the Red Maple list.

I've also spent some time on my cheerleading duties, checking out other readers' blogs and getting some good recommendations as a result. Because of a social commitment this evening, I'll be offline and away from my books for a while, but I hope to squeeze in a bit more reading before I go off to bed tonight.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Top 5 Mini-Challenge

Lisa's World of Books is hosting one of the Dewey's Read-a-thon mini-challenges, which are always a lot of fun. This one asks, "What are the 5 books you are looking forward to in the next few months or really into next year?"

Here are Kate's top 5:

• The Mark of Athena, next in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordon, to be published in fall 2012.
• The Calling, the next book in the Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong, to be published in April 2012.
• Fear, the next book in the Gone series by Michael Grant, to be published in April 2012.
• The Ghost of Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen.
• The next book in the Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordon, to be published in spring 2012.
  

Here are my top 5:

• River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
• Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
• Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
• Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson
• The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (whenever that will be published)
  

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Update #1

Seven hours have gone by since the start of the read-a-thon and here is where we're at. I've read for about 3 hours and accomplished this:

• Finished the last 20 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to finally complete my year-long reread of the Harry Potter series!
• Am halfway through The Guardians by Andrew Pyper, his most recent novel about a group of friends and a haunted house.
• Listened to Linger by Maggie Stiefvater on audiobook during a half-hour walk.

Kate has done even better. She finished Home Truths by Jill Maclean in 3.5 hours of reading. She was so absorbed in this book that she pretty much read it continuously, with only one big break to go for her voice lesson. I'm hoping that she'll provide a full review later, but she says that this novel, about bullying and child abuse, is a very good story. It is on the Ontario Library Association's recently announced 2012 Red Maple list.

The final exciting bit of news is that we won a Dewey's Read-a-thon random draw prize! We always love participating in this very well-run event.