Tweet Cute by Emma Lord- Book Tour

Hi all!

I hope everyone is having a great 2020 thus far. 

Book Cover provided by Book Tour Packet

A few months ago, we were asked if we would like to participate in the book tour for Tweet Cute by Emma Lord. 

*A huge shout out to Jennifer for reaching out to us to be a spot on the Tweet Cute Book Tour*

Tweet Cute follows the two teenager, Pepper and Jack; who get caught up in a crazy situation: their parents happen to be rivals in the fast food business.  Pepper and Jack both run their families' business twitter accounts.  All the while, going to school together and having swim practice together.  

As Pepper and Jack grow closer, they don't realize that they have a two things working in their favor and out of their favor...

An app that allows them to chat to each other while staying anonymous. 
A rivalry between their parents. 

There's all of this stuff going around in the background while Jack and Pepper are working on their friendship and falling for each other.

It was a (no pun intended) cute story! 

I liked how Pepper and Jack changed their views on each other and how the reader got to watch their friendship blossom into this little romance. 

One thing that I liked about the story was how Weazel didn't tear apart Jack and Pepper.  Bluebird and Wolf were going strong! (Well, strong when they were talking to one another on the app...)

I guess that the app didn't tear them apart because of everything else that was going on and what they had went through in the beginning of the book. 

There isn't anything about this book that I would change.  When I think back to it, there wasn't anything that was left out or anything that you wanted to question.  Nothing felt like it was missing. 

Tweet Cute is definitely worth the read.  It's available now!

- Jillian

Nothing Left to Burn by Heather Ezell- Reshelved Books

Happy Friday Eve everybody! It’s the the last week of June. A week from today and it'll be the 4th of July.

I’m happy to say that the weather has been up the past couple of days here. Much better than all of that rain we just had. Not that I’m complaining, rain is a beautiful thing!

I know. It’s a Monday and I’m posting. What is going on?? Blame it on the weather or blame it on that notion that I’m aware I’ll be reading a lot this upcoming week; but I feel like I just gotta this review up now! 

As an employee of the library, I find myself browsing the newly released adult fiction books that are out of the shelf at least once a week. I hardly ever find myself going upstairs to YA sand doing the same thing.  Unless I’ve looked at the up and coming release online, I’m kinda out of the loop.  Now that I’m out of my YA book funk, I found myself picking up this book when it brought back out from being processed into our regular collection. 

The cover art drew me to the book; then the inside cover gave a synopsis that seemed interesting. A 16 year old girl who’s boyfriend is a volunteer firefighter, about to go out and help fight a raging wildfire. Sounds good to me! 

There is no way that I can post this review without including some spoilers. As in the past, if you don’t want any spoilers, don’t read this review! 

If you don’t mind, well then, continue on scrolling down.

**—————- Spoilers are coming!!——————**

Nothing Left to Burn is Heather Ezell’s debut novel. From what I gather from the back panel of the book, this book was inspired by Ezell’s childhood, growing up in an area where wildfires were a common occurrence. 

As one would gather, there is nothing fluffy about this story. It’s emotional and it’s dark (I thought it was dark at least. Poor MB was away this weekend and at certain points, I’d stop reading and text him about how dark this story was). 

This is another book that’s told in the current prospective and then the past. It follows the time line that builds up to the present. 

16 year old Audrey Harper is being evacuated from her home at 5:20am.  There is a wildfire near her gated community that’s gaining momentum and it’s gaining that momentum fast. 

I guess you could say that this is where the reader is formally introduced to Audrey’s boyfriend, Brooks. Brooks is 18 years old and he just graduated from high school. He just graduated from fire school and he’s beyond stoked to be able to fight his first fire- he’s excited to save lives. (This is a commonly mentioned in the story). 

Audrey evacuates to Starbucks, where she meets up with Brooks. He’s in a uniform and he’s eating up all of the attention from the public (NOW. There is something that Audrey says as a comment about Brooks being a volley. Having (and still) been a volunteer, it was a comment I was less than thrilled about. But that’s okay).

I feel like this introduction to Brooks, lays the ground work for what’s going to come. Meaning, I was 1/4 of the way through when I guessed that Brooks was going to be the arsonist. (Just go ask MB, he’ll confirm!)

The more I learned about Brooks and his relationship with Audrey, the more I thought about how the weak prey on the weak. How Brooks saw that Audrey was quiet and kept to herself; how she was vulnerable and how he took advantage of that. (Mind you, this is all my opinion).

As the reader, I wanted to be strong for Audrey.  To remove her from that situation with Brooks. As the book went on, I thought that she was slowly starting to see the light. 

Then the ending starting to play out. 

Oh my word. 

Talk about DARK. 

The ending of the story was dark. It was raw. (I felt like it was really messed up too).  

Woah. 

Wow. 

Nothing Left to Burn is burning out this review with 4 coffee beans out of 5.  It was a great story. It was very dark but it was written incredibly well. 

- Jillian

The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody- Reshelved Books

Has anyone ever experienced a "book hangover"? No? If so, you're lucky!

For some reason, Where the Crawdads Sing gave me a serious book hangover.  The book that I picked up to read after it was not The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (sorry, MB >_<) but rather The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody.  

I picked up this book a couple weeks ago at Barnes and Noble.  It was on an end cap and the cover was really pretty! I read the back of the book and figured that I'd give it a try.  As I'm sure that some of you have noticed, I haven't been reading a lot of YA lately.  I haven't found anything that I've been excited to read (but that will all change with my next review!) 

For some reason plants make me think of airports

Was this the best book to read after a book hangover? Meh, that remains to be seen but I couldn't think of any other way to start off this review....

The Chaos of Standing Still introduces the reader to Ryn Gilbert, an 18 year old who spent the last 11 months and 31 days on learning how to navigate through her life without her best friend, Lottie.  Ryn is on her way home from Atlanta, but due to a blizzard and a lay over at the Denver Airport- Ryn won't be able to make it home for the 1 year anniversary of Lottie's death. 

The story flashes back between the present, with Ryn being in the airport during the snow and in the past through a series of flashbacks.  

With each flashback, the reader learns more about Lottie and Ryn's relationship with her.  Lottie was this intense force field that was constantly moving around Ryn; she seemed to influence everything that Ryn did.  Without Lottie, Ryn's life completely fell apart.   I'm not a psychologist and I'm not going to try and diagnosis a character but as the reader, you could tell that there was something going on with Ryn.  She seemed to be very withdrawn and at times, you could sense that she was anxious.  Ryn has an obsession with googling questions for answers; regardless of the question, she was always looking for an answer. 

 Ryn trips and falls, causing her to unknowingly switch phones with a guy named Xander.  This accidental swap causes a chain reaction of a series of events that create one very unforgettable night at the Denver Airport for Ryn.  It's a night that causes her to think back to Lottie and to help her move forward. 

The only way you're going to find out about the events from that night is if you read the book.  I'm not going to spoil it for anyone!

I found The Chaos of Standing Still to be super heavy!  The topic that it tackles, for me, was something that I found to be heavy.  Ryan has a massive amount of survivor's guilt toward what happened.  Here is this girl, she lost her best friend and as a result, she lost her ability to live.  That's not something that's easy to digest.  When you learn about their past, to me, it seemed like Ryn really loved Lottie.  I thought that maybe it was more than a friendship type of love.  Feel free to disagree with me but I seemed to me that Ryn was in LOVE with Lottie.  So much so, that her feeling toward Xander kinda surprised me.

As the reader, your heart broke for Ryn :(

I would Brody's book a solid 4 coffee beans out of 5. 

(I actually lent my copy out to a co-worker! I'm looking forward to hear what she has to say about the book.)

-JB

The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler - Resehelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers! 

Today's review is something sweet.  It's The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler.  

In this novel, Penny's mother and father are going through a divorce, but fourteen year old Penny doesn't really know what's going on.  Her mother moved Penny and herself out of NYC and back to her home town of Hogshollow.  Here, Penny enrolls in her first year of High School and her mother opens a bakery, where Penny works decorating cupcakes after her classes.  Still, Penny retains her naivety surrounding her parents divorce and her eventual choice of where she wants to live. She isn't quite sure what's going on.  She knows she's in Hoghollow for the "now" but she doesn't believe that it's forever and no-one has really told her differently.  A lack of communication becomes a theme of the novel both where Penny's parents fail to explain to her what's going on, and Penny fails to ask even when she begins to speculate and have questions. In addition to exploring lack of communication, this novel is all about Penny learning to put down new roots, while somewhat retaining her old ones. 

Bascially, while this novel touches upon the idea of what could be considered "tough" coming of age subjects, it's really just a cute novel about starting a new school, making new friends, having a crush, and decorating A LOT of cupcakes. It's also a quick read that will be making you want more. 

So Dewey Readers, if you haven't checked ut Hepler's books go ahead and do so!  I give this novel 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

Until the next read!
~Jessica   

Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi - Reshevled Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

Have you ever accidentally fell into a textual relationship... or friendship?  You know, where you just text someone and never hang out?  Where the very essence of your friendship lies between the words inside your phone?  Well, that what happened to Penny Lee, when she awkwardly ran into Sam while he was having a panic attack.  They exchange numbers and become each other's "emergency contact." 

And such is the basis for Mary H. K. Choi's debut novel Emergency Contact, which has been noted for being perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Rainbow Rowell.  AND having read all three, I can assure you that it is! 

So a bit more about this novel.  Penny's high school life was pretty much non-eventful.  She had a boyfriend that she liked but wasn't passionate about, she had okay friends, and pretty good grades, but nothing really stood out.  Her single mother always tried to be the "cool" mom, and more of a friend figure rather than a parental one.  Now Penny is off to college in Austin, Texas, and she's EXCITED.  1) because she no longer feels like she has to watch over her mother and 2) because now she can pursue her dream and actually start to cultivate her life.        

Meanwhile.... Sam, also in college for film, is poor.  He literally only has $17 dollars in his bank account, and he's working in a cafe.  Sam is a pancake man, and he sleeps on a mattress above the cafe.  He's trying to get over his ex-girlfriend.  In fact, he's been clean of all communication with her, that is until she shows up one day to tell him that she's been a few weeks late.......     

I adored the premise of this book, but it took me a while to get trough it.  Was my reading slump causing me to lose my attention span? I'm not sure, but I DO think that I'm going to add it to my I Read Y.A. Book Club list.  So Dewey readers, I leave you with a rating of 4 out of 5 Coffee Beans.... or pancakes.... whichever you prefer.  

P.S.  Sam didnt't really specifically make pancakes in the novel (he was a pie and donut guy),but I think imagining pancakes only makes the novel better.  

Until the next read!

~Jessica 

Every Day by David Levithan - Reshelved Books

Deweys... 

I just finished a wonderful YA novel. 

And I'm itching to share it with you!! To me, this book is something beautiful.  I loved the concept.  I loved the way that the story was told. 

I just loved this book.  It's as plain and as simple as that.

Every Day by David Levithan tells the story of "A" and Rhiannon. 

When "A" wakes up each morning, "A" has a new body and it's never the same body twice.


When we meet "A", we find "A" waking up as a 16 year old boy named Justin. It's during this day as Justin that "A" meets Rhiannon. 

"A" is instantly taken back and captivated by Rhiannon.

Now here is the thing about "A", when "A" wakes up in a different body, "A" usually sticks to following the daily tasks of that body.  "A" doesn't like to cause disruption or any change. 

Once "A" meets Rhiannon that all changes.... 

Rather quickly, "A" started to throw caution at the wind and make decisions that were rather reckless.  The impacts of some of "A"'s decisions did negatively affect Nathan.  Nathan woke up on the side of the highway, in his parent's car- unaware of how or why he got there. 

In 16 years, "A" never once has had an encounter where discovery is the end result. 

In a weird twist of events, "A" comes close to jeopardizing all that "A" has known. 

Will "A" become known? Will Rhiannon and "A" be able to sustain their relationship? 

What will happen with "A", Nathan and all of the commotion that Nathan is causing? 

Well... I'd suggest that you read the book to find out! 

For a book that's worth 4.5 coffee beans, I think that's pretty fair!

I feel that Every Day is a good representation of the power of love.  You can see how much "A" does love and care for Rhiannon and how much "A" is willing to risk. 

I liked how there was no protagonist (I say this because Nathan is able to move forward past his experience). When the reader looks at the book as a whole, there were three main characters.  The bodies that "A" visited daily, those were just extra (if that makes sense).  Yes, we got to learn a little bit about the bodies but after meeting Rhiannon, "A" was just using those bodies as vehicles. 

Don't get me wrong, the "bodies" that Levithan wrote for "A" to visit were very diverse. Male, female; boy, girl; black, white, Asian; and poor, rich. The family dynamics and the background stories for each body were all different. You got to see bodies who had "perfect" families, bodies who were suffering from mental illness (Kelsea who wanted to take her own life) and the body who was suffering from a drug addiction. 

I loved the ending.  I thought it was beautiful.  I loved how "A" was able to find the perfect representation in a body that would be constant and consistent for Rhiannon.  I loved how "A" took the time to make memories for Rhiannon and Alexander.  I also was proud of "A" and I liked how as the reader, you were able to see that "A" was able to grow.  

I will gladly say it again that I give this book 4.5 coffee beans.  I would definitely recommend it to those who are looking for an easy and quick read that is an enjoyable yet powerful read.

~ Jillian

36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone! 

So, let's talk about love.  Specifically, do you think that love can be formed through a survey of 36 questions answered together by two complete strangers? Well, Vicki Grant and her novel 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You thinks it just might be possible.  

This kind of kills the mystical and spiritual idea of love, no?  Well according to Grant, there was a study by Dr. Arthur Aron that suggests the love can be engineered through such a survey.  I took Psych 101 in college, not that I remember much of it other than that I had to color - yes, color - a picture of the brain, so I can't really say that I am familiar with the study  Actually, I could be a good reference librarian and research the study, but I'm doing laundry and painting cats right now...and don't really feel like it, so we'll just go with what the novel proposes.

The premise of this novel is a study with the hopes of proving or disproving Dr. Arthur Aron's hypothesis.  Can love be engineered between two strangers through 36 questions.  The two strangers that we meet are Hildy and Paul.  Both from two very different economic and familial backgrounds.  We have Hildy, the child a stereotypical nuclear family and who's mother is a doctor, and we have Paul, the child of a single mother who is poor and lives on his own.  Hildy signs up for the study because she feels honor bound by science, and Paul signs up because he wants the $40 it pays. 

What I liked about this novel is that it is written as an epistolary, where we have the question and answer/dialogue form.  This makes the novel read rather quickly.  What I didn't like about the novel is that Hildy and Paul do not answer the questions within the domains of the study room.  They leave the room!  They answer them through online messaging! In coffee shops! And God knows where else!  They have days to answer these questions! AND they have days to talk about other things that stem off of the questions, so of course love is possible.  Their potential love is not just based off the survey alone.  It's a learning process, just like any other relationship would be.  

So dear readers, I give you a rating of 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  I read this book within a day and I DID enjoy it, but besides the study not really being a study, Hildy annoyed me.  

Until the next read!
~Jessica 

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone.  

The past two weeks have been difficult, and as a result I've been suffering from a gigantic reading slump.  For someone who loves books, this has really sucked.  But I have been trying to power through and get back to it! 

So dear Dewey Readers, today I'm going to give you my take on Stephanie Perkins' new novel, There's Someone Inside Your House.  I loved Anna and the French Kiss.  It was a cute romance set in Paris, who wouldn't like it? Right?  Well, this novel is a totally different direction for Perkins because it's a horror story. While parts of the novel border on gore, I wouldn't say it's scary or grosteque.  Rather, it is Perkins' take on the movie Scream.  To say I was excited to read this novel would be an understatement.   

I was EXTREMELY excited for this novel since I first found out that it was going to be published back at this year's BookCon.  When I placed the purchase order for the book at the library, I sat there with great anticipation waiting for the UPS man to arrive with a package.  Is it my YA order?  No? Maybe next week... 

I actually never watched the movie Scream, although I have seen bits and pieces of it while flicking through television channels once upon a time.  That being said, I basically know the way that the story plays out and was able to clearly say that, yes, this novel is Scream.  

But while reading it I became a little disappointed.  In the back of the novel, Perkins writes that she had wanted to read this book, so her friend suggested that she write it instead.  Isn't that what author's do?  Write the book you want to read. (I remember someone saying something alone those lines back during my undergrad creative writing courses.)  But anyway, I wasn't blown away with this novel, and I just expected something little bit more. 

So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a short review and short coffee bean rating of 2.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

I also promoted this novel at my library in our YA Monday Book Talks before reading it.  If any of you have read it, comment below with what you thought! 

Until the next read.

~Jessica  

P.S.  Here is my YA Monday video. (I look tired. I'm putting on a face mask right now!)  More to come & suggestions are welcome! 

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I never read E. Lockhart before but I always felt like I had.  I liked her, even before I knew that I liked her.  Does that make sense? Probably not.

Anyway, I was super excited to read Genuine Fraud.  I was even more excited when it came in to the library, and being the librarian who places the ya book orders, got to check it out first. *happy dance!*

This book wasn't what I expected it to be, even though I'm not really sure what I expected.  For most of the book I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but at the same time I couldn't put it down.   Maybe this post doesn't make much sense, but I think the whole premise of the book was to not make sense in the sense of hiding the true sense.  (what?)

 

So, for a brief summary of this book.  

There's a girl named Jule.  When Jule was little (7 or 8) her parents were brutally murdered.  They were spies, and Jule grows up to follow in their footsteps.  She's tough, she's beautiful, and she's not afraid to kill.  There's also a girl named Imogene.  She was / is Jule's friend, but she's been missing.  Is she dead?  Is she alive? Why is Jule pretending to be her?  How many people has Jule killed?  Is Jule even who we really think she is?  Are the romances that Lockhart suggests in the novel real, or are they part of Jule's games?

This is the uncertainty that encompasses this book.  

I'm not a fan of action novels, and sometimes the uncertainty of this novel threw me off.  However, there were some really interesting lines and prose made me keep wanting to read.  That being said, I had assumed that once I reached the end of the novel, everything would sort of tie together and fall into places, but I'm not quite sure that it really did. But I kind of liked it??

So For the Love of Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 3.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Fans! 

I just finished a new novel called Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger.  It's a ya suspense novel that tackles twitter, anxiety, and fangirl culture.  

This photo was really hard to take.
I had to hold my computer backwards & upside down. 

A Brief Summary 
The novel centers around a love for a pop star named Eric Thorn.  There are Twitter pages devoted to those who love Eric, where the accounts post photos of him, essentially stalk him, and believe that they are "friends in the head" with him.  One of these Eric Thorn fans is Tessa Heart, who's Twitter handle is @TessaHeartsEric.  Tessa is agoraphobic so this Twitter interaction is just about all the communication that Tessa has with the outside world.  However, Tessa wasn't always phobic of being outside or with people.  How she became agoraphobic is one of the mysteries this novel uncovers. 

Eric Thorn also has his own private Twitter...Can you guess what it's called?.... @EricThornSucks. A hate account about himself? Yes.  Because Eric hates the Eric that the fangirls love and that his PR team has made him become.  The famous Eric is not the real Eric, and the famous Eric sort of sucks.  The fangirl nature of this book is explored when @EricThornSucks begins DMing @TessaHeartsEric.  

What I Thought  
At first I thought I might choose this book as a book club choice for my Adults Who Read YA group, but then I thought "eh...maybe not."  If it weren't for the suspense / thriller aspects of this book it could have easily fallen flat while being seen as "too childish" due to the fangirl obsession.  However, I really could not put this book down and finished it rather quickly.  The more I thought about this book, the more I liked it.  However, I don't think I'll be doing it for the next book group... at least not yet. 

So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Until the next read! 

~Jessica  

Words In Deep Blue by Cath Crowley - Reshelved Books

Why hello there, For the Love of Dewey readers!

Today I offer you a review for a well promoted  (by publishers on the IG) and highly esteemed ya novel, Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley.  

This book takes place in an Australian used bookstore.  Could the setting be any more perfect?  In this bookstore there is a shelf where patrons underline words in books, leave notes and thoughts within the margins, and write letters in the hopes of someone specific finding them...while others do so in the hopes that these notes are never found at all.  In this novel there are two main characters, Henry, who's parents own the bookstore and who is suffering from his first "I don't love you anymore," and Rachel, Henry's at one time best friend, who is forever changed since she tragically lost her brother Cal to a drowning accident, and who is and always has been, secretly in love with Henry.  

In addition to love and loss, this novel also touches upon the idea of jobs that pay to live and jobs that become a meaningful part of life.  Can money buy happiness?  Sometimes, I think that it could, and I sort of wish I chose a career where a master's degree would bring in the big bucks $$$.  After all, if you're not comfortable can you ever be truly happy, or would you forever be strapped with worry?   Then again, if your passion lies within a job that doesn't pay much, would doing something else for the rest of your life lead to resentment?  Maybe resentment exists with both options. This is what I was thinking about when Henry's family proposes selling the bookstore in the hopes of giving Henry and his sister George a better life.  The bookstore itself almost seems like a fairytale place.  It is an oasis amongst the stacks.  It is something that I know I would LOVE to call home... but is it feasible for the long run? 

Overall I adored this novel.  It's cute yet thought provoking, despite Rachel's grief, isn't overly sad or depressing.  So Dear Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans. 

P.S. This is book is my second library book club book, and is also the 1st book to be discussed in my new group for Adults Who Love to Read YA in September!!!  For those of you in the New Jersey area who love to read ya, message or comment below to find out how you can join!

~Jessica  

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon - Reshelved Books

Hello fellow Deweys! 

Today I finished reading Nicola Yoon's The Sun is Also a Star.  I absolutely loved her novel Everything, Everything so I was excited to see a copy her latest book on my library's ya shelf.  The Sun is Also a Star is a love story that tackles the scientific perspective of love against the romantic perspective, by finding ways to blend the two together in order to find an example of a love that is real.  This novel also goes beyond the typical ya romance by broaching tough issues such as deportation and family racism.  

Natasha and her family are from Jamaica.  Natasha's father came to America to pursue a dream of acting.  A dream that has not been able to support the family of four.  When the family's visa's expire and Natasha's father is in trouble for a DUI, the family faces deportation.  Natasha, who has dreams of going to college, tries to fight her own deportation but nonetheless fails.  At one point the reader feels sympathy for Natasha.  Is it her fault that her family came to America, allowed her to grow up here, and ultimately let her down?  Should she pay for her parent's mistakes?  In the novel, Yoon mentions that Natasha knew her family was illegal and that her mother was going to buy her a Social Security Card with real stolen numbers so she could go to college.  Knowing that her mother was going to do that for her, and now can't, makes Natasha's heart break a little.  However, Yoon also mentions through the voice of Daniel, the boy Natasha falls in love with, that Natasha shouldn't be blamed because "She was a kid.  She didn't have choice.  It's not like she could have said Mom, Dad, our visa expired.  We should go back to Jamaica now" (Yoon, 2017, p. 294).  This makes the reader wonder could Natasha have said something?  Or is this newly found love blind? 

The relationship between Natasha and Daniel forms within 1 day.  In fact, the entire novel minus the last 10 or so pages encapsulates that of a single day.  For me this seemed to diminish the credibility of their love.  Personally, I believe in love at first sight because I've experienced it. Is it a love that works and lasts forever?  Well, that's up in the air.  But it definitely is and can be a love that is real.  It's the amount of activities and conversations within the novel that take place within a single day that I don't believe in. Along with the relationship of Natasha and Daniel, Yoon ties in the struggle of familial racism.  Daniel, a Korean boy, is supposed to fall in love with a nice Korean girl.  Not Natasha. Yet they do anyway.

While the format of The Sun is Also a Star mainly bounces between the perspectives of Natasha and Daniel, other perspectives are also thrown in, such as Natasha's father, a server in a Korean restaurant, a flight attendant, and explanations of science.  For me this gave the novel a unique and well rounded spin.  However, that one day story line sort of irked me. So For the Love of Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.    

Copy Referenced: 
Yoon, N. (2016). The sun is also a star. New York: Delacorte Press.

Everything, Everything By Nicola Yoon - Reshelved Books

Hello fellow For the Love of Dewey Readers!  *Woof, Woof!* I just read an amazing book that left we with a complete and utter book hangover.  This book, just like the photo below, is EVERYTHING. 

Dogs and books are everything. 

I stumbled upon Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon while I was scrolling through Facebook one evening before bed.  Someone had shared a trailer to a movie that was coming out and it looked good. I don't really watch movies, but when I found out it was also a book I got SO excited.  I immediately placed it on hold at my library, and it was everything I hoped it to be and more.   

I LOVED photographing this book. 

So, what would you do if you had a terrible illness that suppressed your immune system to the point where you had to live inside, be homeschooled online, only see certain visitors monitored for their health, and breathe filtered air?  What kind of person would you be?  Do you think that you would know what you were missing if you never knew it was there?  For Madeline Whittier this is her reality and the only life she has known.  Madeline  has a rare disease known as SCIDS, which the novel describes as a disease that surprises her immune system to the point where any "trigger" has the point to kill her.  I have never heard about SCIDS before, so I decided to learn more about it.  As a future librarian and person with anxiety, I probably shouldn't have Googled it but I did.  Did I mention that I wasn't feeling well when I read it?...  Anyway for those of you who are curious, here is a link to a website dedicated to SCIDS.    

Back to the book. 

One day, a new family moves into the house next door.  The boy, who is about her age, and his sister go to Madeline's house to bring over a bundt cake, but over course they can't come in and Madeline's mother cannot accept the cake.  This sparks an interest and  online friendship that blossoms into sneaky yet sterilized visits between Madeline and her new neighbor, ultimately causing Madeline to question her life, her dreams, and love.  

A For the Love of Dewey rating of 5 out of 5 coffee beans! This book is gripping, it is inspiring, and it's a bookish love story.  Check out the trailer to the movie to be released this year!

~Jessica

P.S.  Nicola Yoon liked our post on Twitter!

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland - Reshelved Books

One Fish, Two Fish, Blue Fish, Lots of Fish.....

Isn't this cover just awesome!?  I know we've talked about this before, and how you should never ever judge a book by it's cover...but I'm guilty once again.  I had stumbled across this cover while scrolling through our #bookstagram and thought the fish just looked so real. And they do, right?

Anyway, upon doing some detective work to figure out more about this book I read a Goodreads summary that compared Sutherland's Our Chemical Hearts to Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park and John Green's The Fault in Our Stars.  I wasn't a big fan of The Fault in Our Stars but I absolutely devoured Eleanor & Park, so I decided to give this book a chance, checking it out of my local public library.  

This book is just...WOW.  It has elements of tragedy, of grief, and of death as found in The Fault in Our Stars, but it also has an Eleanor and Park love story while giving the reader a glimpse into various family dynamics.  This novel shows the struggle of finding balance with life and grief, as well as with daily responsibilities in conjunction with the larger picture that makes life actually worth living.  This novel tells the story of love, of loss, of heartbreak, and of healing.  It's also told from a male perspective, which makes it a great novel for both boys and girls to read.  I don't want to tell you anything more, I just want you to read it.  

So my dear For the Love of Dewey readers, I give you my rating of 5 out of 5 coffee beans!

Please add this book to your To-Read List!

~Jessica    

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather - Reshelved Books

Witches, ghosts, Salem, and pumpkin lattes...No, it's not October, but how could I pass up a book that takes a modern look into the Salem Witch Trials by placing Samantha Mather, a descendent of Cotton Mather, inside this spooky town?

I found How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather (yes, the author is a decedent of Cotton Mather as well) at Target. I walked around the store with it in my arms 3 times until I decided that yes, I needed to buy this book.  For those of you who aren't up to snuff on your witchy history, the Salem Witch Trials occurred in the 1690's in Salem, MA with the killing of 20 people who were accused of witchcraft.  Cotton Mather was a minister who, as according to Wikipedia, tried to prove that demons were alive and real in Salem (Wikipedia, 2017).  

Reviews of this book as found on it's Google Books page claim it to be a mixture of the Salem Witch Trials and Mean Girls.  I guess I can see how this is kind of true.  In this book, Samantha's father goes into a coma, resulting in Samantha and her step-mother returning to her father's hometown of Salem.  Once in Salem, Samantha learns about her heritage and how it makes her disliked by the kids in her school who are descendants of the people murdered during the witch trials.  The descendants take on the role of the "popular" crowd, targeting Samantha and making her feel uncomfortable and bullied.  Hence, Mean Girls.  

I enjoyed this book up until the point where the book began to take a dive away from the witchy history of Salem and Samantha, and shift towards a supernatural Casper-like ghost story that was too flamboyant to be believable.  This is seen where Samantha makes friends and falls in love with a ghost, as well as by how the person who her step-mother is quickly changes....almost too fast.  

For this reason, I am going to give this novel 3 out of 5 coffee beans.  I didn't like the ghost friendship or the elements at the end, but I did enjoy the novel overall.  

For readers who are looking for a historical novel with a modern twist, this probably isn't the book for you.  However, for reader's who enjoy ya paranormal reads,  even if elements may not be too believable, then give this book a try! 

~Jessica 

P.S.  According to a little stalking I did on Adriana Mather's GoodReads and Instagram accounts, not only is this novel going to become a movie BUT Mather is also coming out with a second book that takes Samantha and places her on the Titanic.  Apparently, Adirana Mather's ancestors were also on the Titanic.  How crazy is that?.... And, she's an actress? (Not the actress in the book trailer though!)  

Take a look at the book trailer. This might be one of those rare instances where the movie is slightly better than the book...What do you think? 

Jars of Glass by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler - Reshelved Books

Hello Everyone!  

Surprise, surprise... I haven't posted this as "Currently Reading," but I did finish another book.  So here I offer you my review of the young adult novel Jars of Glass and my For the Love of Dewey Rating of 4.5 coffee beans.  

My boyfriend had noticed that I was looking for this book on a recent date night outing to our local used bookstore.  When I couldn't find it, he surprised me with an e-bay copy!  (Yes, I am a very lucky girl.) I'm pretty sure that this novel is out of print, which is a shame because it really is quite captivating.  

This novel takes place in Maine, and tells the story of a family that is barley functioning and staying together.  The two teenage daughters and their four-year-old brother (who was recently adopted from a Russian Orphanage and doesn't speak much English) live together with their dad above a funeral home.  We don't know much about what happened to their mother, but we do know that although she is still alive, the family mourns her loss as though she no longer is.  Through flashback stories of fairytales full of beach glass slowly unraveling to show glimpses of today, we learn the girls' mother suffered from untreated schizophrenia.  Barkley & Hepler keep the reader guessing what exactly happened to the girls mother, as well as if the family can ever heal and become whole again.  

I really liked how this novel tackles the topic of mental disorders, but places the disorder on the parent rather than the teenage character.  Done this way, Barkley & Hepler show a family dynamic of how everyone is effected by mental disorder and how everyone thus has to find a way to heal.  

I'm going to go back to writing my term papers now.  Please feel free to comment below with what you are reading, and if you're bored, check out our Instagram @fortheloveofdewey!  

~Jessica