Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion

So I've stolen this idea from another of my GR groups, I thought it would be a good way to share what we are reading and/or our favorite YA books. The idea is to open up your book to page 46, count five sentences down, and then type out the next couple of sentences, or a whole paragraph, giving everyone a glimpse into the story.

I'll start:

Alistair's eyes widened. "Is there any way we can retrieve these swords?"

"Well maybe we don't have to." Dan nodded to his screen. "The Same markings are on this tattoo."

Dan had never seen Alistair move so fast. He leaned over Dan's shoulder's and squinted at the image. "Are you SURE this was printed on the sword?"




This is from the 39 clue series: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis!

Good book!

I love threads like this...

There was a boy and a girl, and the Crooked Man. They disappeared beneath the earth, and David smelled gumdrops and peppermints, and he heard a little girl crying before her voice was drowned out by the sound of an approaching train.

The Book of Lost Things

This is interesting.

Okay....

"Stay close, Sophie," Nicholas said. "You have no idea of the danger we're in."
"So you keep telling us," she muttered, though right now, she couldn't figure out how things could get any worse.
"Where are we going?" Josh asked. He was still dizzy after the adrenaline rush, and now he was starting to feel shaky as well.
"Just down here," Nicholas said, nodding toward a white stone church on their left.

The Sorceress by Michael Scott

"The school?" Magpie said. "I thought the idea was to educate magidims like us for somehow making a living in a magic-run world."

"Except that it turns out we aren't all 'dims'," Tess said, "and that the teachers are far more than meets the eye."

Spellspam, book 2 of the Worldweavers series by Alma Alexander

These sound good.. really like the one from the Book of Lost Things.

"She wouldn't hurt you," Giddon said. "Do you understand that? But if someone else were to hurt you, Lady Katsa would likely hurt that person."
Katsa put her fork down and looked at Giddon. She hadn't expected this kindness from him.
"Do you understand?" Giddon asked the girl.
The child nodded. She peeked at Katsa
"Perhaps you'd like to shake hands," Giddon said.
The girl paused. Then she leaned and held her hand out to Katsa. Something welled up inside Katsa, something she couldn't quite name. A sort of gladness at this little creature who wanted to touch her.

Graceling by Kristen Cashore (tied for my fav book of the year with Hunger Games....both have great prequels/sequels coming out this fall.)

"That's not true," Eleni replied. "Each person on board has a job to do.
"Except you," Akseli muttered angry now. He narrowed his eyes. "we started on this voyage late because of staying at Lagnas those extra days, didn't we? While your mother was dying? And then we had to linger off Inkoo until your father could rescue you from the Swedes. As if we had all the time in the world!"



Twiligt Child by Sally Warner

Thanks for adding this here, Angie! It's such fun:D

Since page 46 in The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke is the start of a chapter (in my edition) then I'll have to enter the 5th paragraph, 'cause there's not a 6th on the page lol!;D

"There'll be more than enough left for them." Riccio peered greedily into the box. "And we deserve a treat after all that. Madonna, now one has ever managed to get one single lira more out of the redbeard than he wanted to pay. And now he's just given you four times what he first offered us - even I can work that out. Scipio will never let anyone else sell his loot again."

This is a great idea! I'm reading Hunted by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast . heres page 46:
-------------------------------------------------
"I still do not understand. How could the humans be persuaded to come down here?" darius said.
I sighed. "Something you should know about red vampyres-"
"And red fledglings, too, only it's not quite as strong" Stevie Rae interrupted me."
"And red fledglings," I corrected. "they have a mind-control thing they can do on humans."
---------------------------------------------------
Its awesome! I recommend it!

Okay :]
this is from A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

I take another deep breath. "Remember in third grade when you guys had to come to the principal's office to get me?"
They think for a few seconds. Then my father says, "Something about chalk?"
"Right," I say. "Chalk." And at that moment I taste the chalk in my mouth,feel it tickling my throat.

Swim the Fly by Don Calame

I want to wait until they are well out of sight before I leave. I don't want to have to walk with them, next to them, with absolutely nothing to say.
I stand and collect my towel, goggles, and sneakers. I walk slowly toward the gate.
So much for quitting.
Now I'm really screwed.

These are good!

So, I don't know exactly what's on page 46, because I'm listening to the audio book. So, instead, here's an excerpt from the 46th minute:

"And the food! What we took on was quite something! And I should know, for I helped lug it all on board. Sixteen hundred pounds of potatoes, thirty-two hundred eggs, one-thousand pounds of butter and cheese. All in all we loaded up close to twelve thousand pounds of food for the voyage. And when you've seen it spread out in the loading bay, and hefted up on your shoulders, you wouldn't think an entire nation could eat so much food. Now, here was the amazing thing, that all her provisions and cargo and gear and passengers and crew, the Aurora weighed more than two million pounds. She was a giant to be sure. 900 feet from stem to stern, 14 stories high. But fill her up with hydrium and it was like weighed nothing at all. This morning, all it took was two men, one at the bow, one at the stern, to take hold of her and carry her out of the hanger and across the airfield to the mooring mast. Easy as that."



I love this book! I'm so sad I only have a few chapters left. But It's quickly becoming a favorite:)
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Okay, I'm reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. :)

"I've tried to remember," said Montag. "But, hell, it's gone when I turn my head. God, how I want something to say to the Captain. He's read enough so he has all the answers, or seems to have. His voice is like butter. I'm afraid he'll talk me back the way I was. Only a week ago, pumping a kerosene hose, I thought: God, what fun!"
The old man nodded. "Those who don't build must burn. It's as old as history and juvenile delinquents."
"So that's what I am."
"There's some of it in all of us."

I love Fahrenheit 451!

Yeah, it's really interesting so far.

ohh i read that for school this past year. it was okay ... cool premise but i wasn't so crazy about it. >_<

It has a cool plot, but I thought the dialogue was really weird sometimes...

Seriously though, who in the world says something like, "Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests. Politics? One column, two sentences, a headline!"-Beatty

Unrealistic and just bizarre. 0_o

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians-book 2)

"But the fire. How-"

"He's a Cyclops." Annabeth paused, as if she were remembering something unpleasant. "They work the forges of the gods. They HAVE to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you."

I was completely shocked. How had I never realized what Tyson was?

But I didn't have much time to think about it just then. The whole side of the hill was burning. Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of, which I didn't figure would fit in our normal recycling bins.


**I know it's a little long, but I didn't want to stop in the middle of the scene.

Aw... I read that earlier in the year, Jennifer - reminds me how much I need to read the third!!

Mounica wrote: "It has a cool plot, but I thought the dialogue was really weird sometimes...

Seriously though, who in the world says something like, "Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, ..."


I thought that language was thrown in to make it Sci-fi? I haven't read it in a long time but I thought that's why the words were weird.

Hmm, I never thought of that before, Angie. Maybe that's it. Thanks.

I swung myslef up to a nice sturdy branch at about giant's eye-level and put my back against the trunk. The music ran through me like keep-awake. Water Rat hadn't said anything about sitting still, so I bounced until the tree creaked and shook.

The Changeling by Delia Sherman

This is fun!!

All of the petals were tinged a dark blue at the center that faded to the softest sky blue in the middle and white at the ends. The edges were ruffled and looked eerily like the African violets her mother painstakingly grew in their kitchen. There must have been twenty of the soft, petal-like strips. Maybe more.
Laurel turned her front to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

(this is more than a paragraph but I thought the second little paragraph added a lot)

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

So far I really like this book!!

That's an awesome book :-)

That book sounds NEAT!

I just finished it tonight, *LOVED* it!!!

OOh - you're right, Jill, that second paragraph took the story to a whole different level ;> I'm checking it out now...

I think you'll like it -- it's also going to be the start of a series. I'm excited to see what direction it goes. If you guys read it tell me what you think!

Will do!

When they were dragging themselves upstairs to bed, yawning their heads off, Jill said, "I bet we sleep well tonight"; for it had been a full day. Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next.

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. I love that series!

"Because it is important to know things. For example, I just recently learned that Roman Emperor Vitellius once ate one thousand oysters in one day, which is very impressive act of abligurition," he said, using a word he felt sure Katherine wouldn't know.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

The doctors told Dad to buy a Blubber-O-Meter 3000, a bathroom scale with a giant dial that was easy to read. Jennifer had to do the dirty work, weighing me in my tattered yellow robe to make sure I stayed fat. For the first couple of months, she measured my sins every morning and called in the results to my doctor once a week. The ugly numbers made me cry.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Jill wrote: "I just finished it tonight, *LOVED* it!!!"

ooh, i loved that book too! :D

"Will you have to go and fight?" David asked his father, once dinner was over.

"No, I shouldn't think so," his father replied. "I'm more use to the war effort where I am."

"Top secret," said David.

His father smiled at him.

"Yes, top secret," he said.

It still gave David a thrill to think that his father might be a spy, or at least know about spies. So far, it was the only interesting part of the war.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

OK so I put Book of Lost Things on hold at the library! It seems like a must read!

This isn't exactly 5 sentences down, but close enough:

She lets him go, but his shoulder still throbs. "You didn't have to do that," Connor says, trying not to show how much it still hurts. "It's not like I was going to hurt you or anything."

"Yeah, well, now you won't for sure," says Risa, maybe sounding a bit guilty for being so harsh.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This is an excellent book -- from the description you think it's going to be gory (atleast I did) but it's really less than The Hunger Games, and just as gripping. I would highly recommend it!!

I wonder now if she asked us to help her so she could talk to us about her dying. She, who had always been so candid with our questions about injured birds and sick grandmothers, never spoke with us about what was happening to her, and I wonder if she weren't trying to create a way for us to talk about her impending death.

This is an adult novel but often lists under ya: Into the Forest by Jean Hegland .

Angie wrote: "OK so I put Book of Lost Things on hold at the library! It seems like a must read! "

It's really good so far! :)

Jill wrote: "This isn't exactly 5 sentences down, but close enough:

She lets him go, but his shoulder still throbs. "You didn't have to do that," Connor says, trying not to show how much it still hurts. "It'..."

OMG UNWIND!!! I. LOVE. THAT. BOOOK!!!! Sooo amazing and gripping and scary and ... ahhh. I liked it way better than The Hunger Games. And yeah, it's really not gory at all, which I think makes it a lot creepier ... Well you have to read it to know what I mean. :]

It was all very interesting, Nancy thought but it wasn't the information she was after. If Dirk really wanted to turn Nancy on, he'd tell her what he knew about Kim.
"Listen," she said, finally interrupting him.
"I don't want to be rude," but you said you might be able to help me out on this case, that you might have some information for me."

"That's right," Dirk answered with an easy smile. "I might.But I told you, I need to know everything you know first."

Nancy was trying to decide what to tell him when Dirk parked the car, got out, and led her to a dock where a outboard boat loaded with two surfboards was tied. They jumped on, Dirk started the engine, and as they sped away, Nancy glanced back at the dock. Ricardo was standing there, watching them. Nancy felt a chill as she watched the figure grow smalller. What was Ricardo doing there, anyway Had he followed her and Dirk? Were he and Dirk connected in someway?

This is an young adult novel, Hit and Run Holiday by. Carolyn Keene

♥ Brigid ♥ wrote: "Jill wrote: "This isn't exactly 5 sentences down, but close enough:

She lets him go, but his shoulder still throbs. "You didn't have to do that," Connor says, trying not to show how much it still ..."

I know what you mean about the lack of description making it creepier -- your imagination can really go wild!! I didn't expect to cry over that particular character (if you've read it you know who I mean) but I actually did! Very well-written book.

I know, right?? I cried at that part too ... and I had hated him throughout the whole book but at the end ... aaahhh >_< i will never get that out of my mind. Brilliant book, brilliant!!!

I love this type of thing!

She wasn't going out with anyone, and would serve as a plausible decoy.
"It's Julie. You know, Julie Moore?"
"Ethan, Julie Moore is way out of your league. She dates jocks."
"Todd, stop being such a pain in the ass!" Jackie said. "Okay, so, Ethan, what are we going to do to get Julie's attention?"
"Mom, you're crazy."

The Sixth Form

The Sixth Form seems like a good book!

It is a good book! Not really what I had expected it to be, but in a good way! :)

At the opposite end of the hall an empty chair sat outside one of the rooms. It had a policeman's hat underneath it. I hurried down there to find a sign on the door. NO VISITORS. I went right in.

There were six beds, all empty, except the farthest one over by the window. The sheets rose up, trying hard to accommodate the occupant. I plopped my bag on the floor. "Rosaleen?"

The Secret Life of Bees

The black-haired boy beside her was more than striking. He was probably Jace's height, but seemed taller, even sitting down; he was slender and muscular, with a pale, elegant, restless face, all cheekbones and dark eyes. There was something strangely familiar about him, as if Simon had met him before.

The girl spoke first. "Is that the vampire?" She looked Simon up and down as if she were taking his measurements. "I've never really been this close to a vampire before – not one I wasn't planning to kill, at least." She cocked her head to the side. "He's cute, for a Downworlder."

- City of Glass (!!!) =)

I am currently reading Blood promise the 5th book in the vampire academy series. I am on page 203 and so far it is very good.I cant wait til Rose faces Demitri face to face.The suspense is killing me.