plus winner of the giveaway!

April 10, 2015 Emily 15 Comments

I review books once a week, usually on Mondays. I’m getting more consistent with my blogging, and I love it. But reviewing books are tough.

I have a review policies page, and I usually loosely follow that when I type up each of my reviews. Sometimes, if the book was okay (not bad, but not extremely good), I’ll sit down and write a list of pros and cons about the book, but that really doesn’t happen often.

The thing is, I feel like I say THE SAME THING every time I post a review. “I really related to this character…” “There was just enough romance in this one…” “The ending took me by surprise…” Sound familiar? So here’s the truth: I kind of dread writing a review.

I’m not going to stop posting reviews. That’s one of the #1 reasons for For the Bookish. But every time I write one, I feel like I should just copy and past my last review and put in the right characters’ and authors’ names.

What do you think? Do my reviews feel repetitive? Do you notice some of the same lines from other book reviewers? Do you have any ideas?? And book bloggers: how do YOU review a book?

P.S. Sorry this is a bit of a short post! Hopefully I’ll make up for it soon. Look out for my next review on Monday, and tell me if it sounds like other reviews!

P.P.S. Are you ready for the winner of the giveaway?? 😀 I drew at random this morning, and this winner is… H.M. Wilson! I’ll be contacting you soon about the gift card, Hannah! =)

discussions

authors appreciating readers

April 8, 2015 Emily 19 Comments

As soon as I finish a book, you can pretty much guarantee I’ll check out the author’s website. Sometimes the website is listed on the about the author section, or the on the back of the book. Most of the time I Google the author’s name to track them down! (I am a professional stalker.)

Even months, or years after I’ve read a book, I still follow the author and check their blogs all the time. (I’ve been following Heather Vogel Frederick’s blog for two and a half years!) Sometimes, I’m guilty of loving the author so much, I love their books ten times more! (Hey, Rachel Coker!)

But what I really love is when authors take the time to talk to their readers. Give advice, answer their questions on their blog or social media – and answering fan mail is major brownie points in my book! (Pun intended!)

I can’t tell you how many authors I’ve written to. Dozens, probably. But only two authors have replied! Alright, so I understand that authors are BUSY people. (Writing a book isn’t a piece of cake and some ice cream with a cherry on top, peoples.) (On the contrary, READING a book is.) But it meant the WORLD to me that Miss Heather Vogel Frederick took the time to write me, and Mr. David A. Adler (author of the amazing Cam Jansen series – my six/seven year old self couldn’t stop talking about them!) emailed little ole’ me back in their busy, busy lives.

emily — She also sent me two signed book marks!!

I get really disappointed when I go out in search of an author, AND THEY’RE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! What is a bookworm to do?! (Does anyone, anyone know where I can send Ann M. Martin a letter, an email even, to tell her how STINKING AWESOME her books are?? Nope.) (But if you do, seriously tell me!) I mean, I think it’s really sweet to even talk to your readers! Let them know what’s HAPPENING. This is especially why I looove (emphasis on LOOOOVE) Kiera Cass:

Authors who say, “Hey, you read my book. You really loved it. I think my book world is awesome, too, so let’s TALK ABOUT IT TOGETHER!” are just amazing. Shouldn’t an author want to talk about their books to people who are as obsessed as maybe even the author themselves?! I know I would! (And hopefully, if I have a book published one day, I’ll be one of these really awesome authors who care enough to say HI, WORLD. LET’S TALK BOOKS.)

It’s little things that get me giddy inside. If an author has a contest, I FLIP OUT. If they have Saturday Story Starters and encourage their readers to write, I’m like “YES. YESYESYES.”

Readers appreciate authors, and authors appreciate readers! *starts singing* It’s the circle of life….

SO, blog readers! Since I appreciate you, I want to hear from ya! Don’t you love authors who appreciate readers?? I know a couple of you gotten letters from Heather Vogel Frederick – isn’t it the best feeling EVER?! Are there any authors who tickle your fancy? Let me in know in the comments!

reviews

ida b by katherine hannigan

April 6, 2015 Emily 19 Comments

What a hilarious book! I laughed, cried, and pitied Ida B! I think this is the perfect fun, easy read and I loved it. Two bucks later and a whole lot of laughing, here I am with my review for Ida B by Katherine Hannigan!

I liked Ida’s sweet, perfect family and their farm and her cozy home-schooling life. I even liked it when Ida’s whole world changed and she went to regular school. It was a really light read – almost too light.

I got a little bit bored because a) Ida B was a little bit of a brat basically the whole book and b) I wasn’t even sure what the main plot was. Ida B’s mom got sick? A new family moved in on her family’s property? She has to go to regular school? I was sick of Ida’s whining and just plain hatefulness to the new family and little girl who moves in on her dad’s apple orchard – so that her dad could pay some of her mom’s doctor bills. I was kind of like, “Look, Ida B, I get that you’re ten and all, and your whole precious little world is ruined, but YOUR MOM HAS CANCER AND YOU’RE MAD THAT YOU HAVE TO GO TO REAL SCHOOL AND SAY GOODBYE TO SOME TREES??!”

Yeah. I didn’t like her too much. Buuut then I was laughing because a) she’s a total drama queen, b) her antics to try to get rid of the new family were rather silly and I could see my own little sister doing something like it, and c) I kinda-sorta understood Ida B. What she did and said in the book are what all of our ten-year-old-selves either did or wanted to do. Heck, I kind of wish I did have Ida B’s boldness.

I still think that a lot more could have been done about Ida B’s mother’s sickness. I mean, her mother has Cancer. I thought that should have been more focused on… Ida B is going on and on about the trees that got cut down for the new family to move in, but really? Even if the trees are my best friends, I’d give them up for my mom. Get a grip, Ida B. I wished it were a little bit longer, or the book was focused less on Ida B’s school life and talking to her beloved trees and more turned her friendship with the little girl who lived in the new house. (Or rather, lack there of.)

I guess I just think that the plot could have been better, but I still really enjoyed reading it. It was still worth it! =)

3 and a half stars!

Have you read Ida B? What do you think about it? If not, do you think you would read it?

P.S. I think it would be awesome if you entered my giveaway for a $15 Barnes & Noble gift card here (if you haven’t already) so you can buy this book of adorable-ness and laugh at Ida B with me. 😉

discussions, miscellaneous 'bookish' things

help me pick out dresses & books

April 4, 2015 Emily 19 Comments

Hey, guys! Today I can officially tell people I’ve been keeping up with my book blog for over a year. So today’s a pretty exciting day, too. (Well, not for the disciples some 2,000 years ago, right??) 😉 But tomorrow is going to be even better! (If you haven’t guessed already, it’s EASTER SUNDAY tomorrow!)

My family and I are going to be visiting a friend’s church and going a few hours away to an annual Easter family gathering on my dad’s side of the family. I haven’t been down there for Easter for a few years, so that’s pretty exciting. Plus it’s my baby cousin’s first Easter! I can’t wait to see her!

Look at that crazy hair! We already have one thing in common. My hair’s pretty crazy too. This is what my friend’s face looked like the other day when she saw my bed head:

Come on, I had to use that gif! Anyway, I’m still debating what to wear for Easter.

I think I have a thing for navy. What do you think? Polka dots? Lacey dress? Plain navy? Ohhh the decisions.

If you noticed in the title, I’m doing a “DNF recap,” which in case you didn’t know, “DNF” stands for Did Not Finish. Because (oops, started a sentence with because. Apologies, second grade teacher!), being the bookworm that I am, I tend to actually NOT read some books sometimes. You know that feeling you get when you know you have money to spend? It just feels SO GOOD to know you’ve got money in your wallet.

Yep. I replace money with books, and wallet with bookshelf. Which means I currently have $0 in my wallet, and a LOT of unfinished books. Here’s the stack:

Uh-huh. I know! I feel awful. I didn’t even realize there were so many. I also have a couple… (alright, alright, 6) books on my Kindle I haven’t read…

Do you recognize any books from the stack or on my Kindle? Aren’t there SO MANY??! I am soooo behind.

Which dress do you like? Which book should I read first? Let me know!

blog segments, miscellaneous 'bookish' things

IT’S FOR THE BOOKISH’S BIRTHDAY!!! + MY FIRST GIVEAWAY

April 3, 2015 Emily 27 Comments

It’s SO hard to believe I’ve been blogging on For the Bookish for ONE WHOLE YEAR! It feels like just yesterday I asked my dad to help me set up my blog URL and find a good design for it. (I still think my blog design is the coolest ever. It pays off to have a web designer for a dad.) =)

When I first started blogging on For the Bookish, I wanted to talk about books I was reading and meet girls with similar book interests. That’s still the main purpose of For the Bookish, but I would have never guessed how much I would have grown to love blogging. In my mom’s words, it’s become sort of like my outlet.

I love talking to everyone who comments on my blog, and following other book blogs like mine. Because of For the Bookish, I’ve found so many great books to read and so many great friends, all over the world! (Including getting my first pen pal through the blog- which is so awesome because I’ve always wanted one and now I have the best pen pal ever!)

So thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave a comment, or read a post. Thanks for telling me about great books to read and giving me a place to ramble and be silly and still take me seriously. 🙂 I’ve had a fantastic year blogging on For the Bookish, and I hope I will for many more years to come!

To thank you all, I’m hosting my FIRST EVER giveaway on For the Bookish!! I’m giving away a $15 Barnes & Noble gift card to the winner. Enter below! =)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you guys so, so much! Until Monday!!

blog segments, discussions, miscellaneous 'bookish' things

for the bookish’s one year blogoversary tag!

April 1, 2015 Emily 23 Comments

Hey, guys! As promised, today is For the Bookish’s one year blogoversary TAG! That means I’m tagging myself, and YOU! Answer the questions I answered below on YOUR blog and don’t forget to add your link way at the bottom of this post. 🙂 And if you don’t have a blog, but follow and comment on For the Bookish, I’ve got some questions for you, too!

When did you start your blog? I started my blog on April 3, 2014. (THAT’S ALMOST A YEAR AGO. HOLY COW.)

What the purpose of your blog? Has it changed since then? I started my blog to talk about the books I was reading and rant about authors and characters and post book reviews! I’m still doing that and having a blast with it.

Did you blog on another blog before then? I’m adding this question ’cause believe it or not, I blogged for a good four years before I started For the Bookish. (‘Betcha didn’t know that, now did you?) When I was eight, my dad helped me get a domain name so I could blog about anything I wanted. I mostly talked about my cat and what I ate for lunch… (who am I kidding, I still talk about my cat and recipes/what I ate recently! Haha!), and then I kind of stopped. For the Bookish is more about books and reviews and authors (and anything bookish!) than it is my personal, what-I-ate-for-lunch boring kind of stuff, even though I do post on Saturdays sometimes about what’s been happening in my life.

Why did you start your blog? I sort of answered this in the last two questions, but I wanted a blog specifically for talking about bookish things! It’s been really fun getting to know everyone who follows my blog in the comments, and since starting For the Bookish I’ve discovered more books and book blogs than I ever would have.

What made you first think writing a blog could be fun? (Did you follow other blogs, did you know someone who wrote a blog, did you want to make money off of it?:) Well, like I said, I blogged on my other blog for four years before I started For the Bookish. (That was great, because I was already really familiar with WordPress and I knew what I was doing, for the most part. And besides, my dad is a web designer!) I only followed 3 or 4 other blogs, and only one of those, I think, was a book blog. I think a girl from a Taylor Swift fan club I joined a couple of years ago had a blog, and she nominated me for a Liebster award. That’s when I realized there was a whole little community of different blogs, and there such things as blog awards and guest posts and memes and tags and all!

How did you come up with your blog name? Is there a meaning (quote, life lesson, etc) behind it? Actually, I came up with ‘For the Bookish’ as a name for a bookstore, not a book blog. I would like to own a book store someday, and so naturally, in a story I was writing, I gave a character my dream book store, but I had no idea what I should call it. I don’t remember the other ideas, but For the Bookish was my favorite. If I own a book store one day, I think I’ll name it For the Bookish, too. Or The Shop Around the Corner. 🙂

How/when do you get ideas for your posts? In the shower, in the car, while reading a book, when I’m supposed to be doing Latin. You get the picture. I don’t really know how to answer this. Ideas just pop into my head when I’m not even thinking about them. Sometimes I’m a little stuck, and I don’t know what I’m going to blog about. That’s where tags, guest posts, and even book reviews come in handy.

When do you type up your posts? Usually on Sunday. Since December or January, I’ve started blogging consistently every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and sometimes on Saturday, for random rambles/goings on in my life. But most Sundays, I’ll type up the next three posts and schedule them to automatically post, so they’re already up on the blog before I even wake up. Sometimes I’m running a little behind, and I know what I’m going to blog about, I just haven’t actually written the post. (That’s why sometimes I post a little late in the day.) Right now, I’m typing this on Saturday, and you won’t read it till Wednesday!

So now it’s YOUR turn! Answer the questions on your blog and tag everyone else to join in. I can’t wait to see your answers!

If you don’t have a blog, I’ve got some questions for you, too (and even if you do, feel free to answer these questions in the comments!)

How long have you been following For the Bookish?
What are your favorite kinds of posts?
What kind of books do you read?
Are there any books I’ve reviewed on FTB you wouldn’t have read otherwise?
Who are your favorite authors?
What would you like to see more of on For the Bookish?

I hope you guys all like this tag! I hope you all join in! I can’t wait to see your answers. Add your link to your post below:

‘); // ]]>

reviews

one for the murphys by lynda mullaly hunt

March 30, 2015 Emily 19 Comments

I’ve seen One for the Murphys at Barnes & Noble dozens of times, but finally decided to get it yesterday, especially because a regular commenter on For the Bookish (hi, Brooke!) said it was really good. And she was definitely right. In fact, One for the Murphys was even better than I was expecting!

After Carley’s stepfather takes quite a beating to her and her mother, Carley ends up in foster care while her mother is regaining her strength. Through thick and thin, the Murphy family loves Carley and shows her what a family is. I loved the family dynamic in this book. Although at first Carley thinks the Murphys are, they’re not a perfect family. But everyone has their place and loves each other. Carley even teaches the Murphys about family, too.

I thought that One for the Murphys would be more predictable than it was. In fact, almost everything in this book came at a complete surprise for me. But I wasn’t disappointed at all. Nothing ended or turned out exactly like I had hoped, but in a way, it turned out even better.

I would have liked the book to be even longer (but I’d say that about any of my 5-star reviews!) I liked that Carley met some friends at the school she was going to while she was with the Murphys, but I think I would have liked to have known a little more what her life with her mother was like.

Lynda Mullay Hunt did a really great job at changing my opinions about both Carley and Mrs. Murphy – and even Carley’s real mom! In the beginning, Carley didn’t want to accept Mrs. Murphy because she was the mother she never had. I was completely on board with Carley, because she if I were in her position, Mrs. Murphy would bug me, too. But then I was thinking, “Mrs. Murphy is doing everything she possibly can to open up her home and her heart to Carley, and Carley keeps shutting her down. How can she be so kind??” So I was sad for both of them… but then, in the end, there was a sudden twist that made perfect sense!

I also hated Carley’s mom with a passion.

Overall, I would totally read this book again, in a heartbeat. It’s already been added to my favorites shelf!

5 stars!

I know a couple of you read One for the Murphys – what did you think of it? If you haven’t, do you want to?

blog segments, miscellaneous 'bookish' things

interview with anna banana // animal lover, novelist, & coolest little sister

March 27, 2015 Emily 24 Comments

Hey, guys! So here’s another post for For the Bookish’s one year of bookishness coming up (April 3rd is my ONE YEAR BLOGOVERSARY!) I’ve had this idea for a while and thought it would be fun for For the Bookish’s birthday posts. You can read the interview below, or listen to it below! Sooo, finally, meet my little sister!

To start things off, Anna, why don’t you tell a little about yourself? Well, I like to play with our cats… and we’re taking care of our friends’ dog, Olive, for three weeks, and I like to take her outside. Hmm… what else do I like to do?

Don’t you take a martial arts class called Arnis? Yes, I do! Oh, and I like to play on Animal Jam (animaljam.com), and my username is acope321, if you want to buddy me. (Anna is obsessed with Animal Jam!) and I home-school…

You mentioned playing with our cats and Olive, the dog we’re taking care of for a few weeks? You like animals? Yes, I LOVE them.

What are your favorite animals? My favorite animal would probably be a snow leopard. I love arctic wolves… I have one on Animal Jam named Princess Icy Wolf. Anyway, I really love exploring outside, and stuff like that.

Do you like to read about animals? Yes, I love reading about animals.

What are your favorite books? My favorite book… well, I love all books, but my favorite book – there’s this magazine called Zoobooks, and I love Zoobooks. I also like books that have animals. And I love, love, love these books my dad has. They’re like puzzle books and crafts…

What are they about? They have different things, like about people.

They’re like brain teasers, right? Yeah, some are like brain teasers.

So what kind of chapter books or novels do you like reading? Well, I like The Boxcar Children, that is like my FAVORITE books!

You LOVE The Boxcar Children, don’t you? And I’ve read books 1, 2… and now I’m on book 3, and they’re epic! They’re epic books. You can order them on Amazon, they’re really good.

Do you have a favorite author? My favorite author would have to be Dr. Suess, though he’s dead. (That’s okay! Jane Austen is dead, too, right?) Lots of my – most of them – of my favorite authors are either dead or in jail!

We don’t know that one guy is in jail! (Some kid told me in the 4th/5th grade Shell Silverstein was in jail. He died in 1999!) Who was your other favorite author, who wrote those poetry books? Shell Silverstein.

What kind of books does he write? Well, he writes like poem books. There’s this one I can repeat:

“I made myself a snow ball as perfect as could be.
I thought I’d keep it as a pet and let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas and a pillow for it’s head.
Then, last night it ran away.
But first — it wet the bed.”

And that’s just one of his many poems! I love that.

So you really like poetry, like Shell Silverstein and Dr. Suess. Yeah!

So, Anna, do you consider yourself a bookish person? 🙂 Um… well, sort of. Not really, I more prefer playing outside, but I do love books. There aren’t a lot of books that I like, but if you find the PERFECT book, I… love it. If you find the perfect book, I LOVE IT.

So you like to read, and a couple years ago you started writing, is that right? I believe you spent nearly two years writing a book! Yes, actually! It’s, uh… three years.

Three years! Wow, that’s dedication. Yeah, I started it three years ago.

So three whole years ago! That’s what, you started it when you were 7… now you’re 10? I think it was like 5 or 6… I think I was 6. I started it in the first grade, it’s called Journey to an Unknown Land.

“Journey to an Unknown Land….” It’s not published… I still have to make it better (add better adjectives… and stuff), because I started it in the first grade! And you can tell what grade I was in when I was writing it, on certain pages.

Yeah, because your writing got better! It’s 61 (Front and back on notebook paper!) pages, it’s the longest I’ve ever written – longest I’ve ever finished, actually.

So what was the writing process for you like? How did you start writing it? How’d you get the idea…? Well, I like journey adventures – oh, my favorite movie is Journey to the Center of the Earth.

So you kind of got inspiration from that? Like there’s a part where they’re in this ocean and I have this book, I can read you a page from it.

That’s okay. So your story, Journey to an Unknown Land was kind of inspired from Journey to the Center of the Earth? Yes, and like when I was writing the story, I read other kinds of books like it, so it could give me inspiration.

Yeah, that’s a pretty good piece of writing advice, to read the kind of genres that you’re writing. So what is Journey to an Unknown Land about? Well, there’s this little girl named Lizzie (I’m probably gonna change her name), annnd… she is kind of a… brat, but there are these bullies that bully her everyday and then she gets in a fight with her mom at dinnertime, ’cause she’s always just being rude and stuff… when she goes on a journey to an unknown land, she realizes there’s more to life. Annnnd there’s this little thing named Emily – like she’s a little furry square with a tail, that’s all it is. And there’s like this unicorn thing, it’s not full unicorn, it’s like just a beautifully colored horse, and I forgot its name, but she meets them, and on the way she meets others, and so it’s more than just them, but they go along with her on the way. Not the others, she just help the other things out, but the horse and Emily, they go along with her on an adventure.

So for three years you wrote this book – how long is it? It’s about 60 pages long.

Wow! That’s impressive. Do you plan on editing it any time soon? You mentioned having to add adjectives, and things… because you started it in the first grade! Yeah, I need to edit it a lot.

Well, that sounds fantastic to me! I can’t wait to read your finished novel, I’ll definitely have to share that on the blog. 😉 So that’s it for today! I enjoyed interviewing you today, Anna Banana! Mm… please don’t call me that. I go to Arnis (my martial arts class), and there’s this girl, and eeeevery time she calls me ‘Anna Banana.’

It annoys you? YES.

Well, I’m going to call you that anyway. Bye, everyone!

guest posts

bringing in blog followers

March 25, 2015 Emily 17 Comments

Hey, everyone! Today, Audrey at The Measure of a Book is joining us today with tips for bringing in blog followers! (Yes, I know, this is GOLD!)… in honor of For the Bookish’s FIRST BIRTHDAY (!!!!), she’s doing a post blog-related. Look out for some more cool posts coming your way! Here’s Audrey!

Hello there!

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Audrey! You can find me at my own blog, The Measure of a Book.

In honor of Miss Emily’s 1 year blogoversary … she has asked me to do a guest post, and I must say, I’m quite honored! So first, allow me to congratulate Emily!!!

Today, in order to keep with the blogging theme, I thought I’d share some blogging tips

I have had several people, new to blogging, ask me about gaining followers. That is definitely the most FAQ. How do I gain followers?

And so, in return, I have emailed them something very similar to what I’m about to share with you today.

Let me begin by saying, I don’t have like a million followers or anything. But I have a decent and steady amount of them, along with blog views. So I’ll tell you what I know works 🙂

The first thing I would say about gaining followers, is to be patient. You don’t gain 100 followers and subscribers in a day. It’s a very long process which includes trying to find out what your readers are looking for.

To do that, you first have to find out where your readers are most likely coming from. Are they parents looking for reviews? Girls looking for a website where they can read fangirl posts about their favorite novels? Fellow bloggers looking for inspiration and blogging-buddies? Avid readers? Aspiring writers? Find out WHO is reading your blog already, then go for that audience.

Before I move on, I will say this: DON’T give up what YOU want to blog about, JUST for followers! Find something your passionate about and blog about it! People like you will be your audience, but you do want to keep them on board.

So… how do you find out your audience? Blog about a subject and see which post everyone liked best! You can find out in several ways: 1.) At the end of each week, post a poll. List all the posts you did that week, and see which one was the favorite. You’ll know what your audience looks forward to. 2.) Which one got the most likes and comments? I always try to like or comment on posts I really loved. I know as a blogger that it’s encouraging, and that it helps us see what it is our readers want.

After you’ve found your audience, tie it in with your passion. I’m a book blogger, and say my audience is mostly parents wanting to find clean reads for their kids. I’m going to post a lot of reviews.

Let’s say my audience is a herd of fangirls wanting to gush about their favorite books–which just happen to be one of the ones I gave a good review on. I’m gonna post things like ’10 signs your a Lord of the Rings fan’ or ‘You know you’re a Anne of Green Gables gusher if…’

Let me pause to say, posts like that get me THE MOST likes and comments. I ALWAYS get at least 3 followers after posting book/movie themed posts like that.

So find your favorite books, and do some cool posts about them.

The next thing to do would be, comment on other blogs! ESPECIALLY ones like yours. Ones with similar audiences! Lots of my readers come from other blogs, and some of my FAVE blogs I found through comments on other websites.

Another small thing I recommend: Always put a ‘read more’ tag in your posts. That way, email subscribers have to come to your blog to read the rest of your post instead of viewing it all from their email. When you go to your stats page, you’ll see how many people were interested enough in a post, to visit your site.

Guest posts are a GREAT way to gain readers! If you ever want me to do a post for you, let me know! 😉 Guest posts REALLY draw people in. Just the idea of a new writer, sounds cool–especially if you have an intriguing name for the post.

One more tip: Blog button. Create a blog button (if you don’t already have one) for other bloggers to post on their blogs. But if you do create one, be sure to post other blogger’s buttons (or just their link) on your site, too. No one wants to post someone’s button who won’t even share other blogs’ link 😉 To do this, just Google ‘Blog button creator’. You will find sites that will walk you through it. Some are easier than others.

I hope this was helpful for you bloggers out there… new or old! Blogging is a blast, so don’t ever let the lack of followers get you down. It’s like a sport… do it for the fun, not the winning.

Congrats again to Emily and For the Bookish! And thank you so much for having me!

xoxo,
Audrey

reviews

ungifted by gordon korman

March 23, 2015 Emily 18 Comments

I really like different perspectives. Last week, I read a book about a genius, “gifted” girl named Willow and this week I read a book about a totally “ungifted” boy named Donnavon. (Although this week is really two weeks ago because I’m writing this two weeks before you’re reading this. It’s all very confusing.) This book was hilarious! I loved the plot, the different perspectives, and the cute robot cover. It was hook, line, and sinker, for me.

I think what I really liked about this book was the different perspectives. I’m a big fan of switching perspectives, period, but especially in Ungifted, because I got to see how the “gifted” kids and the “ungifted” Donnavon were really good for each other. Because even though Donnavon wasn’t gifted in academics, he was gifted in so many other things. When he accidentally ended up at a school for gifted children, he may have flunked most of his classes, but he brought his classmates together and everyone realized he was good for the school.

Plus, this was one of those books that had me laughing out loud. Donnavon was sarcastic and cynical, and I loved that he always ended up on top, “floating” along like his ancestor who survived the Titanic! 😉 I think a lot of kids would really enjoy this book, too. It made me realize that we’re all good for each other, even if the cut-ups are annoying and the know-it-all’s are snotty.

The ending couldn’t have ended better. The whole book had me smiling, but still genuinely excited to see how things would turn out. I knew that things would turn out great, because the characters were optimistic and the story itself was light and fun. I loved this book. =)

5 stars for Ungifted, and two thumbs up!