Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is $2.99 right now. This is a powerful and multiple award-winning YA novel about a young woman dealing with grief, mental illness, and anorexia.
“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.
RECOMMENDED: Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging is the first book in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison. It's $1.99 right now. Amanda says she loves this series: “Seriously, this is probably my favorite YA series. It's hilarious.”
There are six things very wrong with my life:
1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for the next two years.
2. It is on my nose
3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room.
4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and Oberfuhrer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic teachers.
5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home.
6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive.
In this wildly funny journal of a year in the life of Georgia Nicolson, British author Louise Rennison has perfectly captured the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager. In the spirit of Bridget Jones's Diary, this fresh, irreverent, and simply hilarious book will leave you laughing out loud. As Georgia would say, it's “Fabbity fab fab!”
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The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is .99c for the next 24 hours or so, and appears to be an Amazon-only deal. This book is a fairy tale retelling with the stepsister taking charge of her life. It has many happy reviews from readers who adored the humor and the happy and funny tone of the narrator. Have you read this one?
Everyone knows how all those fairy tales go. The princess gets beautiful, nabs her prince, falls instantly in love, lives happily ever after and leaves her evil stepsisters in the dust.
But what happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect—read pretty, smart, and, worst of all, sickeningly nice—stepsister is dating the charming, tall, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine years old?
Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston.
Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against wildly popular Jake.
Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie’s going to rule the school.
And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.
The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch is $1.99 at Amazon and BN today. This is a middle-grade paranormal/adventure series, often compared to the Lemony Snicket series because the author repeatedly asks readers not to read the books. The descriptions and reviews indicate the books are very funny, and feature adventure, magic, and bad smells. The Name of This Book is Secret is book 1.
Warning: this description has not been authorized by Pseudonymous Bosch.
As much as he'd love to sing the praises of his book (he is very vain), he wouldn't want you to hear about his brave 11-year old heroes, Cass and Max-Ernest. Or about how a mysterious box of vials, the Symphony of Smells, sends them on the trail of a magician who has vanished under strange (and stinky) circumstances.
And he certainly wouldn't want you to know about the hair-raising adventures that follow and the nefarious villains they face. You see, not only is the name of this book secret, the story inside is, too. For it concerns a secret. A Big Secret.
If You're Reading This, It's Too Late is book 2, and is $1.99 at BN and Amazon. This GR review quote http://www.goodreads.com=””>from Gabs nearly made me snort my water: “This book features a surly, centuries-old man who was made in poop who is also a connoisseur of wines.” OF COURSE IT DOES. Excellent!
Beware! Dangerous secrets lie between the pages of this book.
OK, I warned you. But if you think I'll give anything away, or tell you that this is the sequel to my first literary endeavor, The Name of This Book is Secret, you're wrong. I'm not going to remind you of how we last left our heroes, Cass and Max-Ernest, as they awaited intiation into the mysterious Terces Society, or the ongoing fight against the evil Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais.
I certainly won't be telling you about how the kids stumble upon the Museum of Magic, where they finally meet the amazing Pietro! Oh, blast! I've done it again. Well, at least I didn't tell you about the missing Sound Prism, the nefarious Lord Pharaoh, or the mysterious creature born in a bottle over 500 years ago, the key to the biggest secret of all.
I really can't help myself, now can I? Let's face it—if you're reading this, it's too late.
This Book is Not Good For You is book 3. All of the books in this series have 4+ star ratings. I'm thinking of buying the whole series for Freebird – it'd be $10 with the deal price. Have you read this series, or do you know someone who has?
Between the pages of this book lies the secret to the best-tasting chocolate in all the world. I promise, your taste buds will tingle. Your palette will sing! Oh no, have I accidentally tempted you to read this book?
I will warn you, however, the most delicious things are never good for you…and this story is particularly scrumptious! In this tooth-rotting adventure, Cass's mom has been kidnapped by the evil dessert chef and chocolatier, Señor Hugo!
The ransom…the legendary tuning fork. Can Cass and Max-Ernest find the magical instrument before it's too late? Will they discover the evil secret ingredient to Señor Hugo's chocolate success? If you're tempted, take a taste, but just remember…this book is not good for you.
This Isn't What It Looks Like is book 4, and continues the adventures of Cass and Max-Ernest. This time, Cass has eaten time travel chocolate. Seriously, I might buy these for me and let Freebird read them later!
The Secret Series continues in this dangerous and daring fourth adventure. Cass finds herself alone and disoriented, a stranger in a dream-like, medieval world.
Where is she? Who is she?
With the help of a long-lost relative, she begins to uncover clues and secrets–piecing together her family's history as she fights her way back to the present world.
Meanwhile, back home, Cass is at the hospital in a deep coma. Max-Ernest knows she ate Time Travel Chocolate–and he's determined to find a cure. Can our expert hypochondriac diagnose Cass's condition before it's too late? And will he have what it takes to save the survivalist?
You Have to Stop This is the final book in the series. Reviews indicate that book 4 ends on a cliffhanger (yuck) so it's good the whole series is on sale. It's always good when the book that's a Band-Aid to the cliffhanger is as cheap as the cliffy one.
I always feared this day would come. A secret is meant to stay secret, after all. And now we've come to this: the fifth and final (I swear!) book in my saga of secrets. A class trip to the local natural history museum turns dangerous, or perhaps deadly–and I don't mean in the bored-to-death way–when Cass accidentally breaks a finger off a priceless mummy.
Forced to atone for this “crime” of vandalism, Cass and her friends Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji go to work for the mummy exhibit's curator, only to be blamed when tragedy strikes. To clear their names–and, they hope, to discover the Secret–the trio must travel deep into a land of majestic pyramids, dusty tombs, mysterious hieroglyphs, and the walking dead. Egypt?
Or somewhere much stranger . . . In the midst of it all, the Secret still lurks. You're out there, reading and talking about it, and now my life–and chocolate supply–is in the greatest danger yet. So please, with a cherry on top, I'm begging you: you have to stop this!
Ah, I remember reading the Georgia Nicolson series when I was in Highschool. They are indeed fun books! 🙂
If you have a reluctant girl reader, get Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging. You read it. You will laugh your head off as you read it. “What’s so funny?” Read the passage out loud. Any reluctant reader within hearing distance will ask to borrow the book. Lend it! Be prepared with more books in the series, because you just gave birth to a reader! Congratulations.
(For those worried about the title – the heroine gets her first kiss. When asked what it was like, she says, “Wet.” And that’s it for sex. )
A third thumbs-up for Georgia Nicolson. The picture of Angus the cat on that cover is awesome. The books are also available in audio format, which makes the stories even better.
I’ve not read the Pseudonymous Bosch books, but they look great.
My 13 yo read the Secret Series. (So did my 10 yo, but she’s not in the room to ask about it right now.) She says it was really good, except for the end of the last book. She felt like the author got tired of writing and just stopped.
P.S. Sarah, the summary for The Name of This Book is Secret includes a paragraph from the Ugly Stepsister book.