Books Love Me – Reviews

It’s already bad enough worrying about grades and exams during high school without having to add peer pressure and other juvenile issues like bullying and picking on new kids. Have you ever been the new kid in a new school before? How did your school treat the new ones? Were your classmates nice or nasty to them?

16-year-old John Malarkey is the new kid in town and in school, Brook High. He and his mom have just moved to this new town and his mom decides to open a store selling second hand books. (Wouldn’t I like to live near that one!)

Before this, I have never come across the word ‘malarkey’ before. On the cover of this book, the definition given for the word is ‘bullshit’. Yikes! Imagine having such a name! But I also just looked up Answers.com and it also means ‘exaggerated or foolish talk, usually intended to deceive’, which in short means ‘bullshit’. Returning to the book, it suits well as the title and the name of the boy. John Malarkey did more than once tried to talk himself out of trouble.

So one day, a beautiful classmate speaks to John and points him out to two other boys who decide to nab his school bag and run away with it. He naturally chases the boys to try to get his bag back. He failed to catch them but needn’t worry because his bag showed up on his desk in his next class. With a stolen teacher’s wallet in it. John is then accused of stealing.

With John taking the blame for a couple of thefts in school, a shady group called the Tailors who loves to wear Adidas shoes, runs the school like never before. They sell stuff like cigarettes and drugs at the tuck shop but the teachers know nothing about it. They also sell signed report cards without teachers’ comments – meaning the students can be their own teacher and write out their own comments!

They don’t even spare the smart kids out of their cunning schemes. The brainy ones make up the Homework Club and they’re forced to do the Tailors’ assignments with no time to concentrate on their own. John then tries to enlist one of the Homework Club kids’ help. What he plans to do is to clear his name as a thief and also to bring down the Tailors. Both in less than 24 hours.

It’s quite an exciting read and felt suspenseful. I also didn’t realize that a few hours in school could feel like a few days! The first 89 pages were focused on what John did after having his bag stolen by the Tailor boys. I thought it went on for days but it’s only hours actually.

You can say that John’s the high school James Bond. A group of trouble makers pick on him, he comes up with plans and tactics, faces the leader of the pack and then figures out on how to proceed from there. Pick up this book to read about how a new kid fights off the bullies in his new school.

Other Reviews: Chicklish

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I thought it’s just an ordinary book about Bindy Mackenzie and how her life is at school. How she’s like a genius and takes her schoolwork seriously. She even takes life a little too seriously. If you had met her, she might seem a little bit odd and perhaps a little unemotional. I guess she rarely shows her emotional side. All that come out from her mouth are hard, scientific facts so it could be like talking with a walking encyclopedia.

Bindy is a student at Ashbury High, in Year 11 which she thinks is the year that will determine her whole life. Yeah, I guess she’s kind of an extremist too. Anyway, there’s a new self-awareness course called Friendship and Development or FAD. Meetings are held every Wednesday in the storage room at the back of the gymnasium. Bindy’s FAD group consists of 8 people: she, Finnegan, Sergio, Emily, Astrid, Elizabeth, Briony, and Toby. Their teacher is Try Montaine from Ohio. Finnegan has been chosen to be Bindy’s FAD Buddy.

It all started from the Name Game where the members of the FAD group were supposed to write a comment on somebody on a piece of paper with the person’s name printed on it. Everyone knows Bindy is a high achiever, has weird social skills and is always ready to lend a helping hand although it’s sometimes rejected. So for the Name Game, Bindy thinks that the other seven students wrote unkind remarks about her. She has promised herself that they’ll pay for it.

Bindy chose animals to represent the members in her FAD group. For example, she compares Toby to a cane toad. She then lists out the unpleasant characteristics of the cane toad and indirectly refers them to Toby’s personality. She does this to all seven of them. However, when things got too far, Bindy deeply regrets her actions.

She decides to make up to them and begins to spend a lot of time watching their whereabouts. She keenly observes them and thinks of new animals to compare them with. Since this new personal project takes up a lot of time, her assignments and schoolwork are neglected. For the first time in her life, she thinks she might fail Year 11!

Furthermore, Bindy loves writing memos, e-mails, philosophical musings in her diary, entries in her dream diary, letters, and also transcripts. She listens to people’s conversations around her and types them out in her laptop. In other words, she loves to eavesdrop but not with bad intentions. She happened to witness the argument between two supposedly substitute teachers. When one slapped the other, Bindy quickly rushed to the victim and offered to testify about the assault. There’s your Bindy, always ready to offer help to the needy.

The book is meant to be funny but I think I only started laughing at page 387. And during the final pages of the book, it’s no laughing matter though. There are 491 pages and I can say that I enjoyed reading almost every one of them. Bindy’s fellow schoolmates were likeable enough. I thought Bindy likes Toby but she also pays a lot of attention to Finnegan. Toby seemed a little retarded in the beginning because nothing he said seemed intelligent. But later in the story, he appeared to be mature and thoughtful.

I have read reviews on Amazon that this book was really boring but I beg to differ. It is far from boring, I assure you. I like it probably because it’s a school story and I like school stories! By the way, The Kool-Aid Mom sent me this book as I was one of the winners in her book giveaway.

Other reviews: Liz B, Bibliovore

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I would give ‘Does My Head Look Big In This?’ a rating of 7 out of 10. The whole story is told from Amal’s point of view. Amal is 16 and she considers herself as a young Australian-Palestinian-Muslim girl. A few days before the start of a new school term, she contemplates whether to don the hijab or not.

To help her decide, she compiles a ‘To Wear or Not To Wear’ list with 2 columns. The column on the left contains the names of people who will not treat her like an outsider whilst the names in the right column are bound to make her life a living hell if she wears the hijab. Well, so far, the list looks balanced but it’s still a huge decision. Wearing the hijab is not a small matter. In her new school, it’s probably social suicide if somebody wears that every single day.

Anyway, I think you know that she does wear it on her first day of school and got a lot of stares from her schoolmates. Luckily she has the support of two close friends, Simone and Eileen. However, she’s disappointed when her crush, Adam Keane, failed to strike up a conversation with her during the first week of school. Tia and her obnoxious friends, on the other hand, are not exactly kind to her.

Amal also turns to her other two best friends from her old Hidaya Islamic College, Leila and Yasmeen. Leila is extremely intelligent but her mother can’t wait to marry her off while she’s still young. Therefore, there’ll be eligible suitors coming to dinner every time. Yasmeen is the carefree one and simply adores shopping.

As the story goes on, Amal, Simone, Eileen, Adam, and another boy, Josh become fast friends in school. They’ll spend lunch time together, joking with one another, and of course, waiting to see how things will turn out. Simone likes Josh but isn’t sure if he feels the same way. Adam seems to be giving Amal the signals and she’s giving them back.

I enjoyed reading about Amal’s grumpy Greek neighbour, Mrs. Vaselli and how she accuses Amal of doing things like throwing empty cigarette packs in her garden. Amal insists that she doesn’t smoke but Mrs. Vaselli will only repeat what she said. But as Amal gets to know the old lady better, she sees that there’s sadness behind her grouchiness.

It’s impressive that the author has managed to write about a serious issue like wearing the hijab in a light-hearted way. There are hilarious moments at the beginning of the book but as it progresses, it becomes serious as we follow Amal through her trials and tribulations. In the place where Amal lives, the act of covering one’s head in the name of religion is frowned upon as it is not part of their culture. However, in Malaysia, it is normal to see tudung-clad (tudung = headscarf) Muslim women walking around and nobody bats an eyelid.

So, to sum it up, being different is a tough thing and being ridiculed for being different makes things even tougher. In Amal’s case, even her parents fear for her if she chooses to wear the hijab full time. This book tells the story of a gutsy young girl who is determined to stick with her own beliefs even though it’s in a place where not everyone approves of them. Well, we don’t need everyone’s approval, do we?

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Culture Squad, KittyCat, Alessandra

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The story starts with Jenna who is reluctant to open the letter from Harvard University. Would it be a rejection letter or an acceptance one? Well, she got accepted into Harvard anyway and she’s simply thrilled just thinking about it. She’s also 100% positive that her boyfriend, Scott, has been accepted too. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get into Harvard.

In Jenna’s eyes, Scott is the most perfect guy on earth. Everything about him is wonderful to her. The only imperfect thing would be him pressuring her to sleep with him. She’s not ready to take that step yet but he feels that she can’t relax.

Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, seems to be having problems of her own lately. She has to deal with her parents’ divorce and Jenna suspects her of being a shoplifter but she’s just not sure about it. When she saw Courtney knock a bottle of nail polish into her purse, she thought she must be hallucinating. Why would Courtney, who doesn’t seem to have financial problems, be stealing nail polish from a store?

One day, Jenna sees Scott arguing with Courtney. She asked Scott what was it all about but he wouldn’t tell her much. She also won’t ask Courtney because at that time, they weren’t really speaking to each other. That arguing part got me interested in reading more about what Scott is really up to. Why is he hiding things from his girlfriend? What is it that he doesn’t want Courtney to tell Jenna?

Later at a party, Scott does the unthinkable. He does something Jenna thought he’d never do to her but then, she’s just oblivious of his real character. He is nice to her, like trying to be the perfect boyfriend and all, but he just can’t wait for her to say yes.

This would be a good book for teenagers and also for those whose boyfriends keep asking them for sex although they have already said “NO!” many, many times. It’s time to think of whether he’s really sincere or not. Ask yourself if he’ll still be around after you get pregnant. He can tell you that he loves you a lot, promising this and that to you, but just think about it.

The thing about Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, is that why didn’t she just tell Jenna what Scott planned to do? Why did she just keep quiet about it? And also WHY is she still being friendly to Scott when she knows that he’s not a good guy after all? Courtney’s a mystery, that’s all.

Anyway, enjoy Sticky Fingers. It’s been a good and quick read. I’m going to check out other books by Niki Burnham. =)

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Okay, I had better finish up this review for once and for all! Firstly, I cannot say that this book was enjoyable. It just did not have the same wow factor like how Twilight had. There were a few dragging parts in the book with lots of unnecessary things thrown in.

So, all of a sudden Edward decides to leave Bella. For good. He wants her to forget him and everything to do with him. It’s pretty creepy, but it isn’t new here isn’t it since it’s a vampire book and all? Anyway, Edward removed all traces of himself from Bella’s life and it’s obvious that she’s in shock over what has just happened.

She can’t bring herself to believe that she may never see her beloved Edward again. So every day, she goes to school and work and comes back home and does her homework like a good girl. She doesn’t hang out with her friends and she doesn’t laugh much, if not at all. Also, she has nightmares every single night where she will wake up screaming.

Then, she discovers that if she does something dangerous or taking part in any activity where ending up dead is a huge possibility, she hears Edward’s voice in her head, warning her and trying to steer her way out of further trouble. It’s as if he’s right beside her and talking into her ear.

Soon, she’s indulging herself in reckless stunts like riding a motorcycle with her new friend, Jacob. Jacob Black is also another peculiar character but it’s apparent that he likes Bella very much and wished that Edward did not exist. To spice things up, he has his own set of secrets too! The secret will be revealed later in the book.

Edward wasn’t around for the most part of New Moon. He’ll be back though so don’t worry. Bella will have a tough decision to make. Jacob or Edward? She only likes Jacob as a friend and nothing more. Jacob, on the other hand, can’t stand the sight of Edward Cullen. And Bella wants to be with both of them! Well, as a friend to one and as a girlfriend to the other. Hence, it’s a complicated triangle.

I wonder how Eclipse will be. May it not be as disappointing as this one.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Nicole, Framed, Alice

To be honest, I was pretty appalled when I began reading this book. Appalled by how three sexually-hungry teenage boys think about ‘it’ and girls. Perhaps that’s really the way they think?

Dino, Ben, and Jonathan are best friends and they are always talking about doing it. Dino is a good-looking boy and many girls are after him. He’s also known as a player. However, he is desperate to get it on with the prettiest girl in school, Jackie. But, she already has an older boyfriend and is always pushing Dino away. Anyway, later, she decides to just give Dino a ride and then chuck him away.

Ben, on the other hand, is having a secret affair with his teacher, Miss Young. They’ve been meeting each other discreetly and not even Ben’s friends suspect a thing. If they are found out, Miss Young could lose her job because dating a student is totally against the law! Miss Young is a woman who likes to take risks until Ben feels like ending the relationship. He’s not allowed to mix with other girls his age nor have other girlfriends. Miss Young watches him like a hawk.

Jonathan likes his good friend, Deborah. She’s smart, humorous, easy to talk to, and everything. There’s one big issue though. She’s considered fat by the other guys. Jonathan is shy to date her because of her weight. Behind her back, he talks bad about her with his friends, which isn’t very kind. When they kissed during Dino’s party, she’s always hanging on to him but he’s, like, brushing her off or simply ignoring her when she smiled at him.

This book is written from the characters’ points of view, which is what makes this book interesting. How guys think and how girls think, too. Besides that, this story is easy and fast to read. You could finish it in a day or two. It’s a fine book but not one that I’ll be reading again.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: nylusmilk

Buy Doing It by Melvin Burgess