March Booklist:

I rate all books out of a possible 5 stars.

Fiction:

1. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (186 pages): This is another book by Spinelli geared towards young adults. I had heard about this book when it came out, but never read it. It’s basically a rebelling story-one weird girl gaining and losing fame with her classmates and ultimately deciding not to conform to their standards. It’s funny, but unrealistic. And I loved it, cheesy as it was. I give it **** out of five.
2. Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash (574 pages): This is book one of the “Tears of Artamon” trilogy. I received the first two for Christmas and finally read them. This one was good, but all throughout the book, I was annoyed with the writing style. It almost seemed as if Ash didn’t really “get” her characters until halfway through the book. But the story and plot was wonderful and unique-something rare in new fantasy. The story basically centers on Gavril Angar as he learns of his new inheritance, including the inheritance of a daemon dragon that lives with him in his body. This book mostly sets up the conflicts and introduces many of the characters, and there are a lot of them. For the first book, I give it *** out of five.
3. Prisoner of the Iron Tower by Sarah Ash (542 pages): This book made me like the first one more than I did. She finally got the hang of her characters and it was easier to trudge through (it was long, like the first). Her writing in general, improved from the first book and it was easier for me to get through the sometimes awkward wording. But, again, the plot and now the characters saved it for me. This whole trilogy is unique in its own way and I am anxious to read the third one when it comes out. I give it **** out of five.
4. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (309 pages): I read this for the infamous YA lit English class. At first I was not into this book, as I consider myself pretty well versed in Vietnam. It took me a while to get into it and I found myself enjoying, especially the character Peewee. He kept me interested in the book. I can see why boys would like this book-it has war, glory, cuss words, everything a boy could want. But I also enjoyed it to an extent. It would be good to use in a history class as a second assignment. I give it *** out of five.
5. Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Saenz (291 pages): I loved this book. As someone with a specialization in Mexican history and studies, I was really excited to read this. It was wonderful and provided such a...different view of life in a Mexican dominated barrio in the United States. It centers on Sammy Santos who lives in a barrio called Hollywood. It follows his life during his senior year of high school and the way he grows and changes with his friends. Simply amazing. This is a book I definitely want to assign in my classes, because it also ties in a lot of other issues besides race. I highly suggest this to anyone, not just for young adults. I give it ***** out of five. And this is definitely my favorite book of the month.
6. The Wish List by Eoin Colfer (252 pages): Colfer is known for his Artemis Fowl series, which I have also read. I got this book for 2 whole dollars at the local B&N! Yay for cheap (and good) books. The book moved very quickly and it was funny. But definitely very young adult. There was nothing really deep in it, but I liked it for its simplicity. But I am only going to give it *** out of five, because so much more could have been done with it.
7. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (263 pages): I love all things Robert Cormier. This book is very dark though and the ending made me sad. There is a sequel and I am debating going and getting it. It follows Jerry, who refuses to participate in the school’s annual chocolate fundraiser. At first kids idolize him, and then they begin to hate him. It’s the ending that really makes this book and it will be something I want to have on my shelf in a future classroom. I give it ***** out of five.
8. The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve (293 pages): The first book I read by Shreve I absolutely hated. But I decided to give her another chance. I liked this book, and enjoyed it until the end. It was a good ending, but I don’t know if I actually liked the last 50 pages or so. I didn’t like the reason Shreve gave for her husband, and I hated the way Robert came in. It didn’t suit the story. You can disagree. But I liked it at the same time, so maybe I don’t need to like the story. I don’t know. But it was definitely an improvement over the other Shreve book I read All he Ever Wanted, which was creepy and stalkerish. I give this one **** out of five.

Total Fiction pages read: 2, 672

Non-Fiction:

1. When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago (270 pages): This was a memoir, which is why I am putting it here under Non-fiction. I really liked the book. It was well-written and insightful. It was also easy to read and reminded me a LOT of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Which might be why I liked it so much. Some parts, however, I had to stop reading because it was a little too graphic for me. I give it **** out of five.
2. Bird Girl and the Man who Followed the Sun by Velma Wallis (224 pages): This was a collection of Native American folktales. Both were passed down to the author by her mother and follow the Inuit’s in Alaska. I like the way she wrote it, weaving two almost unrelated tales into one larger tale, bringing them together at the end. I used to soak up Native American books when I was kid, especially stuff by Scott O’Dell (Island of the Blue Dolphins anyone?) so I really liked this. I give it **** out of five.

Total Non-Fiction pages read: 494

Manga:

(keep in mind pages are subjective, since most pages are primarily pictures, with only a small amount of text)

1. Immortal Rain by Kaori Ozaki volumes 4-6 (576 pages total): Um. Yeah. I am in love with this series. It’s just too bad that the next volume isn’t out yet. Book 4 is definitely my favorite of the series. And I think it’s the artwork that does me in. I think that anyone would enjoy the story line-because they are so different and familiar at the same time. I am glad I picked up the first volume now I will be haunting the site online waiting for the next volume to come out. Simply amazing. I give it ***** out of five.
2. Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki Volume 1 (208 pages): Torrie had told me to go get this, so I did and I loved it. It’s very different from the other two series I have read and this whole set is really long. I think there are 24 volumes in the stores right now. That’s a lot, but I can see how the characters could get drawn out into that. I think this series is more traditional in terms of Japanese culture and really different in art from the other two series. It also has more violence, but a lot of the Manga I have read is violent. Anyways, it’s wonderful and volume 2 is sitting on my shelf. I give it **** out of five.

Total Manga pages read: 784

Pages for the month: 3, 950!!

Yeah, I read a good chunk this month-mostly over Spring Break.

Excerpt.

And it was nothing like the home I remembered. The past, my memories had deceived me.
So I put the wall back up and in it a glass pane. A window, to the darkness outside. A window to our past. It’s there now, I can see, just as I saw it a moment ago.
The window to darkness.