The Nanny Diaries
By: Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
Pages:306
Nanny is a student at NYU who is working to afford the rent for her studio apartment. Her job may seem simple; how hard can being a nanny to a 4-year-old boy get? But when the employer is a filthy rich family living in Manhattan, and she’s in charge of their only spoiled son – Grayer X, this job can get a little bit out of hand. Apart from taking care of the X’es well-pampered son (which comes with the responsibility of feeding him, taking him to all his classes, and just generally be his second mother), Nanny also has to run ridiculous errands for Mrs. X herself. An example is getting “Lavender Water” for her parties. Along with her extremely high expectations, she never seems to get off Nanny’s case. Mrs. X has long gone crossed the line and has even called Nan on Christmas in the morning to see if she was available to work. But soon, the situation worsens when the marriage of the X’es begins deteriorating and Nanny is in the midst of it all. During this troubling time, Nanny tries to hold on to her sanity, all the while making sure Grayer is alright.
All in all, this is a great novel to read; it has an interesting story line and is mixed with witty humour from Nan, the adorableness of Grayer, and a small touch of romance. Although the beginning was downright boring, the story started picking pace by the first quarter. I especially enjoyed the moments where Nanny and Mrs. X exchanged dialogue. Unfortunately, all the buildup led to a very disappointing ending; I guessed it’s just what the authors planned, but if I was writer, I wouldn’t want it to end like that…it’s just a bit sad…Anyways, I won’t spoil the ending, so if you want to find out what it is, read it for yourself. Oh, and the movie is coming out in September!!!
Rating: 8/10
Volunteer hours: 3 hrs (total – 49 ½)
s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Title: How I Live Now
Number of Pages: 196
This book is a story about a fifteen year old, Daisy. Daisy's family life is messed up, her mother died when giving birth to her, and her step mom is driving her nuts. Because of the fear that her step mom might poison her, Daisy eats as little as possible. Due to this reason, her dad decides to send her to England to live with her cousins whom she never ever met before. When she comes to England she is very shocked because her 14-year old cousin drives and smokes! She likes her cousins immediately and her and Edmond fall in love immediately. Soon a war starts and Daisy's mom has to go to the city for some peacekeeping work. The kids have the house to themselves, something they loved. Because of several bombings and attacks, all flights were cancelled and electricity was disconnected. The kids enjoyed living by themselves with no one to look after them. But good times never last long. Soon, the government took over their house to keep the troops in their. Osbert, the sixteen year old cousin, joins the army and all the cousins need to split up. Daisy didn't want to split up with Edmond but she had no choice, she and piper, Daisy's nine year old cousin, are sent to live with this old lady. From then on their journey begins; they work in the farms just to help the war and are determined to find Edmond and Isaac, the two twin cousins. After running away from the old lady they travel to the farm where Edmond and Isaac were, their journey wasn’t easy they lived in the forest and wilderness trying to find the food and necessities. But, unfortunately this journey wasn’t worth it. They spent so long, apparently a month, but when they reached their destiny all they found was dead bodies. From then on, the book talks about how the two girls coped with this disappointment. Eventually, Daisy gets deported and Piper is left alone. Six years later the book shows how the war had affected some people. Edmond, who was alive, was a completely different person. He blamed himself for the death of several people. He wouldn’t talk and couldn’t live and enjoy his life for he has seen the death of many. On the other hand, Isaac was able to escape the war and come back home; he had to ditch his own brother because Edmond didn’t agree to leave. He wanted to live and help the others in pain. So as you can see Edmond was suffering six years later and Isaac was himself. Osbert was the same and Piper too. Different people deal with the war differently. Upon reuniting with Edmond, Daisy was quite disappointed. This was because Edmond wouldn’t talk to Daisy. After days and days of explanation, Daisy and Edmond got together. That’s where Daisy decided to live the rest of her life. That’s “how she lives now”.
I actually loved this book, it was so sad:(………very emotional too. I’d suggest everyone to read this book. I would rate this book 4.8 out of 5. This is because the part where they are travelling kind of gets boring but other then that the book is Great!!!!
I actually loved this book, it was so sad:(………very emotional too. I’d suggest everyone to read this book. I would rate this book 4.8 out of 5. This is because the part where they are travelling kind of gets boring but other then that the book is Great!!!!
Total Hours: 12 hrs and 30 mins
Friday, May 11, 2007
Title: Swede Dreams
Author: Eva Apelqvist
# of pages: 202
Plot Summary:
Calista Swanson longs to be away from her annoying twin sister and reunite with her Swedish boyfriend, Jonas, who visited her community in Wisconsin as an exchange student a few months ago. She therefore seizes the opportunity to become an exchange student to Stockholm this semester, and is determined to learn the language and culture of Sweden.
She meets very friendly people on her way there: Lena on the plane to Stockholm, her host family, and her neighbours. Much as her experience has been perfect, Jonas hasn't replied to any of her e-mails for a while now, and despite his promise that he would guide her throughout the city, they have not seen each other in Stockholm. Later on, she discovers that he doesn't want to go out together anymore, but she moves on and has a wonderful time learning about the Swedish culture and language, and meeting extraordinary people.
Through her e-mails back home in Wisconsin, she also realizes that she and her sister ought to be closer, and that she should always make choices for herself instead of relying on others' opinions.
Opinion:
I enjoyed learning more about tourist destinations in Stockholm, and discovered that even though it may not be renowned for its tourism, it has a lot to offer to visitors. Apelqvist includes thorough descriptions of the scenery there. Her comments encourage readers to learning about other cultures, about other people, and trying new things, a major recurring theme in the novel. Calista is always meeting new people and learning more about Sweden every day.
As for the actual storyline, I found it a bit dull. There is no suspense as Calista is always surrounded by warm people who would never do any harm to her. She faces almost no challenges. We do not develop any feelings for Jonas because he never appears in person, only through Calista's memories and a single phone call. We only seriously understand the sentiments of Calista and Hakan (her neighbour's friend, who would later become Calista's boyfriend) because of their heart-to-heart conversations - everyone else is a perfect family member, a perfect friend.
Swede Dreams was a good read for its descriptions of tourism in Sweden, but the plot itself was otherwise monotonous.
Main themes and subjects:
Target audience: Teenage girls
Genre: Chick lit
Rating: 3/5
Book review by Fiona T.
* 69 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter
Author: Eva Apelqvist
# of pages: 202
Plot Summary:
Calista Swanson longs to be away from her annoying twin sister and reunite with her Swedish boyfriend, Jonas, who visited her community in Wisconsin as an exchange student a few months ago. She therefore seizes the opportunity to become an exchange student to Stockholm this semester, and is determined to learn the language and culture of Sweden.
She meets very friendly people on her way there: Lena on the plane to Stockholm, her host family, and her neighbours. Much as her experience has been perfect, Jonas hasn't replied to any of her e-mails for a while now, and despite his promise that he would guide her throughout the city, they have not seen each other in Stockholm. Later on, she discovers that he doesn't want to go out together anymore, but she moves on and has a wonderful time learning about the Swedish culture and language, and meeting extraordinary people.
Through her e-mails back home in Wisconsin, she also realizes that she and her sister ought to be closer, and that she should always make choices for herself instead of relying on others' opinions.
Opinion:
I enjoyed learning more about tourist destinations in Stockholm, and discovered that even though it may not be renowned for its tourism, it has a lot to offer to visitors. Apelqvist includes thorough descriptions of the scenery there. Her comments encourage readers to learning about other cultures, about other people, and trying new things, a major recurring theme in the novel. Calista is always meeting new people and learning more about Sweden every day.
As for the actual storyline, I found it a bit dull. There is no suspense as Calista is always surrounded by warm people who would never do any harm to her. She faces almost no challenges. We do not develop any feelings for Jonas because he never appears in person, only through Calista's memories and a single phone call. We only seriously understand the sentiments of Calista and Hakan (her neighbour's friend, who would later become Calista's boyfriend) because of their heart-to-heart conversations - everyone else is a perfect family member, a perfect friend.
Swede Dreams was a good read for its descriptions of tourism in Sweden, but the plot itself was otherwise monotonous.
Main themes and subjects:
- Learning about other cultures and languages
- Meeting new people and building social relationships
- Tourism in Sweden
- Swedish history
- Romance
Target audience: Teenage girls
Genre: Chick lit
Rating: 3/5
Book review by Fiona T.
* 69 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter
Monday, May 07, 2007
The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
By: Jaclyn Moriarty
Pages:491
This book is a companion to “The Year of Secret Assignments” – although there really is no connection to it. The reader is introduce to Bindy Mackenzie, the nerd girl at Ashbury High. She excels in all her classes and earns and average of 99.9%, sadly she is not one of the most loved people at her school. Recently, she enrolled in a new course being offered – the Friendship and Development Project. Apparently, this class (consisted of 6 other students) is supposed to be a “life raft” for each other, and a place where they will provide support and chat about issues facing adolescents. Bindy sees no reason for her to join such a group and finds it all rubbish. She starts bad-talking about the members in her FAD group, and soon got everyone to turn against her. Then, all life starts falling apart; she begins to have hallucinations, fail exams, skip classes – and she doesn’t care at all. (Okay, here is the part that is a little weird, you will have to read the story to get it). So back to the plot synopsis about her life falling apart, theses are all signs showing that she is slowly dying. How could she be dying? Who would want to kill her? Why are they killing her?
I was a bit confused about the relation between the title and the story in the first place. It wasn’t until I read 3/4 of the book did I finally got the meaning. This is because the title makes it sound like it is a mystery book with detectives and all that, but the writing sounded like a regular high school fiction with a nerd girl cast for the main role. Like the first book the author wrote, this is not told in narrative perspective. Presented in the form of letters, transcripts, diary entries, emails, and other documents, this story has a plot line which matches that of “The Year of the Secret Assignments”. A definite excellent read!
Rating: 8.5/10
s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours: 3 (total – 46 ½ )
By: Jaclyn Moriarty
Pages:491
This book is a companion to “The Year of Secret Assignments” – although there really is no connection to it. The reader is introduce to Bindy Mackenzie, the nerd girl at Ashbury High. She excels in all her classes and earns and average of 99.9%, sadly she is not one of the most loved people at her school. Recently, she enrolled in a new course being offered – the Friendship and Development Project. Apparently, this class (consisted of 6 other students) is supposed to be a “life raft” for each other, and a place where they will provide support and chat about issues facing adolescents. Bindy sees no reason for her to join such a group and finds it all rubbish. She starts bad-talking about the members in her FAD group, and soon got everyone to turn against her. Then, all life starts falling apart; she begins to have hallucinations, fail exams, skip classes – and she doesn’t care at all. (Okay, here is the part that is a little weird, you will have to read the story to get it). So back to the plot synopsis about her life falling apart, theses are all signs showing that she is slowly dying. How could she be dying? Who would want to kill her? Why are they killing her?
I was a bit confused about the relation between the title and the story in the first place. It wasn’t until I read 3/4 of the book did I finally got the meaning. This is because the title makes it sound like it is a mystery book with detectives and all that, but the writing sounded like a regular high school fiction with a nerd girl cast for the main role. Like the first book the author wrote, this is not told in narrative perspective. Presented in the form of letters, transcripts, diary entries, emails, and other documents, this story has a plot line which matches that of “The Year of the Secret Assignments”. A definite excellent read!
Rating: 8.5/10
s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours: 3 (total – 46 ½ )
Title: EVIL HAS A NEW DOMAIN...ANGEL
# of pages: 307
Angel is a vampire who has a human soul. He has commited innumerous amount of crimes and now wants to become good and repay to the community. To make sure that all his sins are forgiven he goes to Los Angeles and opens up a detective agency. It's called "Angel Investigations" and their motive is "To help the helpless". His agency has only two more workers, a girl named Cordelia and a half-demon and half-human guy Doyle.
Wierd things have been happening in Los Angeles, something is killing people in a wierd way, leaving behind only the skin and powder of the bones. Who could possibly do this? Well...there are these demons living in the city, their victims are usually from different parts of the city. These demons are able to read the mind of the person in front of them. This way they are able to transform in to the love of the person in front of them. This makes it easier for them to kill people. But why is it killing certain specific people only? Well...he needs to kill one person from each sunsign to complete his cycle. After this cycle is completed, he will be immortal. Immortal, meaning he will be able to eat ANYONE he wants to eat ANYWHERE he wants to eat.
The police department doesn't believe there is such thing as demons living in this city. They are looking for human culprit in the city. The only person that can do the job now is Angel. He doesn't only need to destroy the demon, he also has to make sure that the cult that is after the demon doesn't get there before them. The cult is after the demon so that they can bind the demon to their will.
This is not only a hard task but also an emotional one for Angel. This is because when ever Angel sees the Demon, he sees his love, his x-girlfriend. This form of demon makes it harder for Angel to attack him.
I LOVED reading this book. It has sooo many twists and surprises in it. It's like the unexpected is alwayz happening in this book. I suggest everyone to read this book.
Total Hours: 9 hrs and 30 mins
Friday, May 04, 2007
Title: Shopaholic & Baby
Author: Sophie Kinsella
# of pages: 359
Plot Summary:
Becky Bloomwood is now working at The Look, a new department store that has been dubbed the "biggest retail disaster in British history". The spare time gained from the lack of customers to serve is used to ponder her preparations for her baby due in December, including finding a new family-friendly home to move into.
However, once again, life is in ruins when she discovers that her new obstetrician is, in fact, her husband Luke's ex-girlfriend. She attempts to find out whether Luke and Venetia are in a relationship, while struggling to find the perfect home, and buying essentials for the baby.
Opinion:
Once again, this Shopaholic sequel was a thrilling read and was one of those novels I simply couldn't put down. There were quite a few twists in the plot, and it was hilarious to constantly see Becky trying to make things better for herself when she is really only making it worse - a theme that is difficult to be tired of. Another repeated concept, seen in the prequels, was that Becky was faced with an impossible array of challenges in her life and she was obliged to find a solution to them. The fact that every time, she manages to have a happy ending reduces the tension, but I suppose that's a general feature of most chick lit novels.
Overall, I would highly recommend this novel to all chick lit enthusiasts, especially those with an interest in fashion and simply a sense of humour.
Main themes and subjects:
Genre: Chick lit
Book Review by Fiona T.
* 66 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter
Author: Sophie Kinsella
# of pages: 359
Plot Summary:
Becky Bloomwood is now working at The Look, a new department store that has been dubbed the "biggest retail disaster in British history". The spare time gained from the lack of customers to serve is used to ponder her preparations for her baby due in December, including finding a new family-friendly home to move into.
However, once again, life is in ruins when she discovers that her new obstetrician is, in fact, her husband Luke's ex-girlfriend. She attempts to find out whether Luke and Venetia are in a relationship, while struggling to find the perfect home, and buying essentials for the baby.
Opinion:
Once again, this Shopaholic sequel was a thrilling read and was one of those novels I simply couldn't put down. There were quite a few twists in the plot, and it was hilarious to constantly see Becky trying to make things better for herself when she is really only making it worse - a theme that is difficult to be tired of. Another repeated concept, seen in the prequels, was that Becky was faced with an impossible array of challenges in her life and she was obliged to find a solution to them. The fact that every time, she manages to have a happy ending reduces the tension, but I suppose that's a general feature of most chick lit novels.
Overall, I would highly recommend this novel to all chick lit enthusiasts, especially those with an interest in fashion and simply a sense of humour.
Main themes and subjects:
- Romance
- Shopping
- Fashion
- Marriage/ Separation/ Childbirth
Genre: Chick lit
Book Review by Fiona T.
* 66 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Bowling for Columbine
Documentary Film by Micheal Moore
Won 5 awards
Although you think this film is about bowling, you're wrong. This film is much more than bowling, it's talks about guns and violence in the states. You know South Park? Well, guess where Matt Stone got the idea? Colorado of course! They're gun nuts! (or are they just nuts?) Micheal Moore also compare U.S.A to Canada. There are a lot of guns lying around here,....but our gun death rates are twice as low as the state's! He also blames the media, the government and the NRA (National Rifle Association). He takes a serious problem and turns it into an unboring film to teach those who watch it. Even the director of The Inconvenient Truth used Micheal Moore's way of expressing global warming (you should watch that film too!) This is a very serious, but funny enough to suck you into the story. There is also some language that is inappropriate. I love this film a lot. There are some parts that are a bit boring, Very good documentary!
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
See it!
Rachel
Documentary Film by Micheal Moore
Won 5 awards
Although you think this film is about bowling, you're wrong. This film is much more than bowling, it's talks about guns and violence in the states. You know South Park? Well, guess where Matt Stone got the idea? Colorado of course! They're gun nuts! (or are they just nuts?) Micheal Moore also compare U.S.A to Canada. There are a lot of guns lying around here,....but our gun death rates are twice as low as the state's! He also blames the media, the government and the NRA (National Rifle Association). He takes a serious problem and turns it into an unboring film to teach those who watch it. Even the director of The Inconvenient Truth used Micheal Moore's way of expressing global warming (you should watch that film too!) This is a very serious, but funny enough to suck you into the story. There is also some language that is inappropriate. I love this film a lot. There are some parts that are a bit boring, Very good documentary!
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
See it!
Rachel
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