Wednesday, September 03, 2008

ESP isn't all it's cracked up to be...

I made soup for dinner tonight. It was so tasty and completely worth going to 2 different stores to get the ingredients.

Today's book was provided by the publisher, via The Picnic Basket, which is another one of those sites you should know about. I was really excited when it was offered, because I really wanted to read it after reading Leila's review.

Also! Below! A Contest!

Vibes Amy Kathleen Ryan

Kristi is psychic. Life isn't easy when you can hear the popular girls thinking such things as Why is she such a drama queen? and Why does she wear those horrible outfits. Life really isn't easy when the most beautiful boy in school, whom she shouldn't care about, but does, thinks sick every time he sees her. It doesn't help when your best friend's head is full of gross fantasies involving your ginormous boobs somehow being wet. Opera at full volume is really the only thing that can keep the voices at bay.

But that's all background. The real drama of this story has nothing to do with the voices Kristi hears. The drama comes from sources readers will identify with--the mean popular girls, the mean not-as-popular girls, ex-best friends, boy friends who want to be your boyfriend, and serious parental drama.

What's even better is that Kristi is definitely human. She's mean and makes wrong decisions. Sometimes she learns, sometimes she doesn't. She's an excellent biting voice to YA fiction, a la Cyd Charisse in Gingerbread.

The book looks pink and light. And it is pink, but there's a reason Kristi is wearing such dark eyeshadow. This isn't depressing, but it's not fluffy. This is a book that has meat, while still being funny.

Mom might be a little overweight, but she's still an absolute health nut. For my fifth birthday party she got me an all natural carrot cake from an organic bakery that sweetens everything with honey. Hildie took one bite of it and announced to the room, "Ew! This takes like bird poop!"... You think my mother would take all this under advisement when selecting the cake for my next birthday, but she not. She got me a carob-raisin mocha chip, which was as yummy as it sounds.

I highly recommend.

Look for it October 6.

But, if you can't wait... I have a copy of give away. Email me at kidsilkhaze at yahoo dot com with the subject line "Vibes" by midnight (Eastern) next Wednesday. Winner will be chosen by random drawing. Open to everyone!

1 comment:

Deborah Sloan said...

Just saw your posting about THE PICNIC BASKET and wanted to say: thanks for helping to spread the word! (And so glad that you featured VIBES on your site -- love that book). The blog's just a few weeks old, but already over 1,000 visitors and loads of great children's and YA books are being put in the hands of those who use them with the kids which is what it's all about. The more at the picnic, the merrier! Hope to see you at the picnic (and be sure to subscribe to the site's feed so you can be alerted when new books are posted -- a fantastic historical novel by Laurie Halse Anderson went up this morning, hint, hint...).