Wonder

Wonder

by R.J. Palacio

I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. (description from Amazon.com)

I really enjoyed this book. It is interesting and heartfelt and sends a great message to just be kind to other people. Poor Auggie has a face that sends others screaming, but when he starts regular school, he finds that once people get to know him they can get past that and he makes some wonderful friends.

I found this book to be very realistic in that not everyone came to love Auggie. Some of the kids he met were still jerks and so were their parents. Some of the things that people said to Auggie were exactly the type of things that I could imagine people saying in real life. What I loved, though, was the people who came to stand up for Auggie...and the people that learned from Auggie.

This book is mostly told from Auggie's perspective, making it heartbreaking at times to read, but it is also told at points from the perspectives of his sister, his best friend, and others in his life. This added a bunch of really cool viewpoints that made the story much more real, as well.

Recommended to anyone that likes real-life stories and books that explore family relationships.

 

Full disclosure: Borrowed from my library

Monday's Movie and TV Talk! (6)

 

Welcome to Monday's Movie and TV Talk! I don't know if I'll do this every Monday, or just sporadically on Mondays, but I LOVE TV and movies, so I figured why not add some of that to the blog for fun?? It'll be especially awesome when I can tie things into the YA book world...

Okay, so I don't know where you all live...but I'm in Connecticut and this past weekend we were hit with a super-fun blizzard. It also happened that my brother-in-law was here from Arizona, so on a weekend when I could have been snuggled up and reading, instead I spent a TON of time cooking, cleaning, entertaining, and yup...shoveling. 

 

Anyway, you'd think I might have watched some TV or movies in there, but not really... I did see the newest Ice Age movie finally, but today, I'm actually going to talk about the two movies I watched the week before because I think they go together really well for a post. 

 

So, first, I watched PITCH PERFECT, which I LOVED!!

 

First off, as a Gleek, I had to love that this movie covered the same sort-of random bursting into song moments that Glee does.  This was the slightly raunchier (at times) college version, which I loved, as well.  Even with the naughty bits, this movie still had not only great girl-power type friendships, but also a sweet romance. *sigh*

 

I ended up watching this movie twice before bringing it back to the library, which is something I almost never do...and a great indicator that I eventually need to own this one. :)

 

Then, I watched the newest dance movie in the Step Up series, STEP UP REVOLUTION.

Man, do these movies make me want to take dance classes!  This one was set in Miami, which I desperately want to visit, and actually featured a pretty cool (though mostly unrealistic) plotline.  Boy heads up flash mob dance group...meets hot dancer girl...discovers her father is head of the hotel chain that wants to destroy his neighborhood...they band together to set up "protest" dance mobs to get hotel plan nixed.  As I said, not really realistic, but super fun to watch and root for!!

 

I loved the flash mob aspect of this movie and thought they got to exhibit a lot of really cool types of dances based on the locations where they appeared.  I liked the sense of neighborhood loyalty and being true to yourself that were big themes in this movie. 

 

I also LOVED that this DVD version let you just watch the dance sequences again in the special features, too!!

 

All in all, it was a musical, upbeat sort of week.  The kind that leaves me smiling and dancing my way through doing the dishes or folding laundry...

 

Any thoughts on either movie?

The Immortal Circus

The Immortal Circus

by A.R. Kahler

 

Murdered contortionists aren’t exactly what Vivienne signed up for when she ran away to join the circus. But like most things under the big top, nothing is what it seems. With a past she can't quite remember, Vivienne finds that running away forever might not be as appealing as it once sounded—because forever means something quite different at the Cirque des Immortels.

Aided by her friends Kingston—a feisty stage magician whose magic is quickly stealing her heart—and his sarcastic assistant Melody, Vivienne finds herself racing against the clock to discover the culprit behind a series of deaths that should be impossible. However, the answer she seeks might reveal more about her own bloody past—and future—than she bargains for.


The show's just beginning.


Step right up... (description from Amazon.com)

Wow. This was my first experience getting a Kindle "serial," and it was actually pretty cool. I paid a one-time purchase price for this ebook and then had five segments delivered to my Kindle App automatically as they were released.  They were two weeks apart and it was sort of like waiting to see the next episode in your favorite TV show... the sense of anticipation definitely kept me hanging, ready to devour the next part of Viv's story.

Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton will devour this book.  It is the same dark, decadent, and dangerous type of world.  Secrets and dark twists lingered around every corner.  Though I'm not always a fan of amnesia stories, here it really worked because it was tied into Vivienne's contract with the circus and as the story unfolded more and more was revealed until we realize we don't really know Vivienne at all. 

If you like dark, twisted stories, check out this title.  I'm really hoping that a sequel is in the works!

Full disclosure: Serial ebook purchased for my Kindle App