National Book Festival!!!!!

Okay, today was probably the busiest, weirdest, and most strenuous day this year for my family, we had football, we had t-ball, we had baseball, we had groceries, but to make all of this bearable we had THE NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! alright so we were on the Beltway going downtown (Washington dc) and I'm just jumping in my seat smiling like theres no tomorrow because we had only an hour break before my baby brothers first "bash ball" same thing as t-ball only for smaller kids game, and I had to relinquish my much needed hair cut plans to go, but it was beyond worth it (even if I only stayed for about an hour). I got to see Holly Black: (Ironside, Valient, Tithe, and the Spiderwich Chornicles) speak for a while and got an awesome bag and pictures and posters and and and!!!!!!! It was just so great getting to play tourist in my hometown, locals take everything for granted, everyday they walk by the Washington Monument ( its so awesome during crew season we row right on the Potomac in Georgetown so we are literally underneath it and every time we go up river we "pass" it but because of the sides it always looks like it's in front of us!) and see the Capital building on their way into work and are surrounded by some of the most influcenal and powerful men and women of America, but they still whine and complain about their day jobs, *sigh* the world is so blind.
Anyway, it was just so cool and so Washington DC. I loved it. This is me and my little sis out on the Mall! We also got to see THE Magic School Bus, and the dudes from C-SPAN.




and then theres me again bursting with joy, yeah, I'm dork, isn't it great!?

Sammy Keyes and The Wild Things, Wendelin Van Draanen

I probably should jhave posted these reviews ages ago and a few will be pure copy and paste from several Word documents rotting away on my moms hardrive. Among these is a review I did on The River, By Gary Paulsen (and Brains Winter after I dig it out of my binder from a few years back) But before I go deep into the Canadian Wilderness with a boy struggleing for survial I want to share a more recent read, well not that recent, i mentioned it in a previous post as I finished reading it at 3am. Sammy Keyes and The Wild Things, a pleasent, fast, and witty adventure, that I would have liked moreif it had stayed a little more to form with previous Sammy Keyes escapedes (my favorite, and the first one I read, is Sammy Keyes and the Art Deception, but being a self described art-freack and a "long-winded" reader it shouldn't surprise that many I went for the longest book in the sierse and the one with "art" in the title)
Sammy is at it again, only this time instead of fending off mummies, psychotic kitty freaks, art thiefs, crimial masterminds, and landlords, shes out to save the condors?! A little dramatic, Nancy Drew meets Indian Jones as she treks through the frogotten "wilderness" of Santa Maria with a bunch of bid obcessed girl scouts. Encountering some of the worlds worst blisters after(*gasp*) she gave up her high-tops for bulky hiking boots and running into some very unlikely people along the way; My overall impression was a bit dull for an adventure/mystery. But I recomend it for younger readers and people who like high quality humor or at least irony.
:) good book. read it.

The Empress's Tomb, By Kristen Miller

Alright due largely to technical difficulties and my stomachs uncooperative state (and a very unfair banishment from the computer seeing it got to train up to New York and I was stuck at home) I have been unable to finish this review and been out done by many other reviewers with their witty remarks on how awesome this book is, and I haven't even finished yet!? It is a very unfair world, and that is why I was completely enamored with the first Kiki Strike adventure; Kiki Strike's world is full to a fault (a very good fault mind you) with all the reality of a modern teenage girls drama-ridden life with an inside pass to an elite group: The Irregulars.
This inside pass gives you leave of boredom and gives you something to look forward to after Algebra homework, and one of the real reasons I fell in love with the book was because it made you feel like you had real friends on your side. This naturally is not something I tell my teachers when I review books for them, but in general it helps to have a teen heroine who's modern, intelligent, witty, and has a cunning that would leaves you wondering what could she possibly be planning, but you know will win in the end. This heroine however in the course of the book was shifted back and forth from Ananka Fishbean, the narrator and "girl next door" type, to the mysterious Kiki Strike. Both are brilliant in all there written glory, and the adventures that the two encounter together along with five other "delinquent girl-scouts" are incredible. And I haven't even started on the book this review is supposed to be about.

Back to the Empress, The Irregulars: Kiki Strike, Anaka Fishbean, Oona Wong, Luz Lopez, Dee Dee Morlock, Betty Bent, and new-comer Iris are at it again with New York City under attack from mugger, gaint squirrels, a haunted mansion, and naturally the Irregulars themselves. Very morally centered around how secrey breaks trust and undersrtanding, lies, and deicet play along that theme as well, daring the limits of the thin threads that hold the Ireggulars together. With the help of a vintidicated artist, a poisoned bullet, a love potion, and secrets hiddened for years, the unlikly heronines face a bigger challenge then they thought when they end up facing one another looking for answers. And it turns out even with the help of an eleven year-old dressed like a creme-puff, Dee Dee can not concoct a potion strong enough to hide the stench of lies among them. All the while Ananka faces a fate worse then death, banishment from New York to pig-ridden West Virginia. Death, I must say, would look far brighter a future then such a prospect. And then they all lived happily ever after... yeah right. This book wasn't your average "flash light under the covers" (guilty as charged) read, I fear Ms. Miller was wrong when she said I'm tough to please, this may be true with fantasy, with mystery all it takes is a good moment of truth, which, I can happily assure you The Empress Tomb can more than suffice.
The Empress really makes you wonder about your own acquaintences and the secrets so subtly hinted at before, but not entirlly interesting. Now these little untold truths are so shockingly mysterious as you begin to wonder about all the siggns your friends might have given as clues or insights. It's all curiouslly awakening. With all these details I've hardly even begun giving an opinion, well an unbiased one anyway. And now my horribly honest judgement of Ms. Miller's writing
**Mwaa Ha Ha Ha**
It was so completely WICKED!!!!!! Someone already used "awesome" so I'm forced to resort to other adjectives defining brillaince...Superb, for one, refeshing, and different (which is a very very good thing). This book comes highly recommended and is for anyone who is in love with New York and/or mystery. The book also gives helpful insights on how to be myertious, which was so cool because I got to try it out after being sick for half the week--none of them needed to know my whereabouts anyway. The other advice in the book was equally great. So I'm completely in love with the Irregulars and the book was well worth the two year wait and I will gladly wait twice as long, as long as there is promise of more adventures with the mysterious Kiki Strike and company.
Ms. Miller isn't that cynical though and has kindly given us an insight into the odder happenings of New York and fasinating facts on other bizarre and otherwise over looked information that will blow your mind, all of which can be found at Ananka's Blog

parting thought:

Do you believe in ghosts?