The Renaissance of Marikin's Blog

Hello to all my readers who have been patiently awaiting an update of my blog. I appologize for the wait, so to make up for it, I am posting not one, not two, not even four, but FIVE Featured Books for you to vote for your favorite. These are a few of my favorite reads (channeling The Sound of Music on that one) that I have been wanting to Feature but couldn't decide. Take a look and make sure to vote for your favorite!

The Girl Who Could Fly- Victoria Forrester
Piper McCloud's ability to fly sets her apart from the other kids, so her mother sends her to an exclusive school for children with exceptional abilities, but even there she does not fit in with the other students. A novel for fans of The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman, with a super powered twist!

An Egg On Three Sticks- Jackie Moyer Fischer
In the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1970s, twelve-year-old Abby watches her mother fall apart and must take on the burden of holding her family together. A great coming of age debut filled with dark humor and brilliant sarcasm.

A Mango Shaped Space- Wendy Mass
Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the death of her beloved cat, Mango. This book, by the author of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, makes you wish that you had the ability to see colors with letters and sounds like Mia does!

Bloody Jack- L.A. Meyer
Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, thirteen-year-old orphan Jacky Faber disguises herself as a boy and connives her way onto a British warship set for high sea adventure in search of pirates. Jacky takes the British Navy by storm with her clever plans and Cockney ways. First book of an amazing and adventurous series.

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight- Brad Barkley and Heather Helper
Calliope and Eliot, two fifteen-year-olds in Asheville, North Carolina, begin to acknowledge some unpleasant truths about their parents and form their own ideas about love. When Cal and Elliot meet by chance, they feel an immediate connection. Together they must face their isolation, the threat of yet another move, and the deepening of Eliot’s father's obsession. In their case, love just might be everything it's cracked up to be.

Please vote for your favorite title to be Next Week's Featured Book. See you next week!

100 Summer Reads

Okay, as you all know, I have been way behind on Featured Books. This is because I have been super busy, and because I am compiling, at this very moment, a list of 100 books to keep you busy over the summer!!!! I know its a lot, but when I was younger, I was scrambling to find something to read during summer break. So, voila!! A list to create zero reading boredom! I shall have this posted by late May to early June. You may find some repeats from Featured Books, but this is sure to feed your need to read! (Hey, that rhymes!) I'll keep you posted!
-Marikin

The Last Two Week's Featured Books

Hey-
Sorry about the last two weeks! Life has been crazy, and books and blogs had been put on hold. I'm sorry about getting behind on the Featured Books! This week's book will be posted shortly. Sorry loyal followers! Keep posted!
-Marikin

This Week's Featured Book-3/16-3/22

For this week's Featured Book, I chose Coraline by Neil Gaiman. This was recently made into a movie, so I decided to read it. Here's what this novel is about:

Coraline moves into an apartment building with her mum and dad who both love work more than her (or so she thinks). She finds her self becoming bored without anything to do and no one to play with. Her neighbors are strange and they always call her Caroline when her name is Coraline. One day, she finds a locked door in her apartment. Her mother opens it for Coraline only to reveal a wall of bricks. The next day while her parents are out, Coraline gets the key to the door and opens it. There she finds a hall which leads her to her "other" mother in a parallel universe. Coraline loves it there and comes back the next day to her "other" mother, until her "other" mother begins to change. She's no longer the nice mother she used to be. She wants to keep Coraline forever. With the help of a cat, Coraline must escape before its too late.

A great, yet somewhat creepy read! I enjoyed it a lot! Keep posted and don't forget to vote in the poll! Coraline is one of them!

This Week's Featured Book-3/8-3/15

This week's book is one I stumbled on while in the library. It's called Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks, author of So B. It. This is one of my all time favorites! Here's what it's about:

Jamie Reardon has always heard that bad things come in threes. So after his cat, Mister, dies, his father leaves, and his aunt Sapphy has an accident that causes her memory to develop a skip, Jamie hopes his life will go back to being as normal as cornflakes (a phrase in the book). But unfortunately there's one more bad thing in store for Jamie -- something he'd give anything to be able to forget -- and this one leaves him feeling like a stranger to himself. Jamie tries in vain to find the magic trigger that will help Sapphy's memory jump the scratch, like the needle on her favorite Frank Sinatra record, but in the end it's Aunt Sapphy who, along with a curious girl named Audrey Krouch, helps Jamie unravel the mysteries of memory and jump the scratch in his own life.

I love this one! A great read for everyone! Keep posted for next week's book! Don't Forget to Vote in the poll! It's your favorite book-turned-movie, so please vote! Thanks!

This Week's Featured Book-3/1-3/8

This week's pick is a book that I really enjoyed. It's called Dancer by Lori Hewett. As the title suggests, this book is about a ballet dancer, and as the cover suggests, she is African American. I'm a dancer as well, (not ballet, though), and there are many dance terms in this book that I recognized. Here's a summary of Dancer:
Stephanie is a dancer. Ballet classes six days a week leave little time for anything else, but Stephanie doesn't care; ballet is all she's ever wanted to do. When a new girl beats out Stephanie for the lead in the class performance of Sleeping Beauty, she begins to question her chances for success. Will there always be a better dancer? How many African American ballerinas win major roles anyway? Then Miss Winnie, a glamorous, retired African American ballerina, takes Stephanie on as a pupil and gives her the encouragement she needs. Stephanie's own parents, however, don't understand her total dedication to dance, worrying about such an insecure future. In perfect counter-position is the incredibly talented dancer Vance, who is being pushed into a ballet career by his Aunt Winnie but who wants to make music videos instead. Conflict with her parents, the competition of ballet school, and her first social experiences begin to get to Stephanie as she learns what life is about.

A great read. I really enjoyed this one. As always, I am open to book suggestions, and I don't have a book planned for next week, so if you can drop me a line, that'd be great! Sorry about posting so late, but I was busy with dance!:) See you next week!

This Week's Featured Book-2/23-3/1

For this week's book, I chose A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz. This was a great book club read that I couldn't put down! Here's a synopsis:

Maud Flynn is not the ideal adoption candidate at the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans. Miss Kitteridge, the superintendent of the orphanage, considers Maud to be an eleven-year-old troublemaker, yet Hyacinth Hawthorne is set on adopting Maud to live with the three Hawthorne sisters. Maud is awed by the new clothing, tasty treats, and home, and she is especially drawn by Hyacinth's attention to her. Hyacinth refers to Maud as the Hawthorne sisters' "secret child" and there are mysterious rules to follow. Maud will not be attending school and she is not to be seen nor heard when there are guests in the house. Once the Hawthorne sisters trust Maud, they let her into the family business—holding seances. Early in the story Maud is mesmerized by her new life, especially with Hyacinth, but as she begins to understand more about the secrets, Maud sees things from a different perspective. The story unfolds, including a friendship with the deaf housekeeper, Muffet, with intriguing twists and turns as the reader follows Maud and her life in the Hawthorne household and business.

A great book! The author really makes you feel like you're actually there! Stay tuned for next week's pick!