Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Review & Giveaway: Populazzi by Elise Allen


Populazzi by Elise Allen

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

# of Pages: Hardcover, 400

Publisher: Harcourt

Cara has never been one of those girls: confident, self-possessed, and always ready with the perfect thing to say. A girl at the very top of the popularity tower. One of the Populazzi.

Now, junior year could change everything. Cara’s moving to a new school, and her best friend urges her to seize the moment—with the help of the Ladder. Its rungs are relationships, and if Cara transforms into the perfect girlfriend for guys ever-higher on the tower, she’ll reach the ultimate goal: Supreme Populazzi.

The Ladder seems like a lighthearted social experiment, a straight climb up, but it quickly becomes gnarled and twisted. And when everything goes wrong, only the most audacious act Cara can think of has a chance of setting things even a little bit right.

Looking back now, there are so many things that I would change if I could go back and do high school over again. I would not care what the “Populazzi” thought about me and be confident (much like I am now). Cara has that opportunity. She is starting over at a new school and, along with her best friend Claudia’s help, she has a new leash on life and a way to become the top of the ladder…. The Populazzi. The most popular. The group everyone else only wishes they could be a part of. To Cara, the project of climbing the social ladder seems like an easy thing, but not something that she isn’t going to invest much time and effort in. She lacks that confidence. Things quickly change.


I have to say that I thought that this was going to be another one of those cutsie books where the main character is striving to be popular and faces the challenges… blah, blah, blah. How wrong I was! I laughed, was heartbroken at times and fell completely in love with the characters in this novel. Cara and Claudia remind me a lot of my best friend and I (one is the more reserved of the two…. Not me!!) but yet they balance each other out perfectly. Simply stated, I loved Archer. He is my kind of guy and was very well written throughout the novel. While the plot was a typical plot for this story line, it was completely enjoyable and I know that my students will love it as much as I did. Oh… and the tension at the end- DANG!! J Elise Alan is definitely an author to watch out for!


Visit Elise HERE to find out more about her books, writing and lots of other cool stuff!


Now it is time for you to WIN a copy! If you are a US resident, fill out the form below to enter. The contest will end on September 2, 2011!



Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Been Reading A Lot of Childrens Books...

To get ready for this year with my read alouds and the like, I have been reading a lot of children's picture books. I thought that I would just post some of them here so that you can check them out too! Enjoy...

Butterfly Tree by Sandra Markle




About Hummingbirds: A Guide for Children
by Cathryn Sill




Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng




The Pink House by Kate Salley Palmer








Older Brother, Younger Brother: A Korean Folktale by Nina Jaffee







H is for Hero: A Military Family Alphabet by Devin Scillian
 
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