Cindy Ella by Robin Palmer



Cindy Ella is tired of hearing about prom. She doesn't care about her dress, date, and shoes. It doesn't help that that's all that her stepsisters are talking about. Cindy turns to the school newspaper to get her opinion out there. After trashing the prom, it looks like no one is on her side except for her best friends. and surprisingly Adam Silver, who just happens to be Cindy's crush. Can she still have her fairy tale ending. I always love Robin Palmer's takes on classic fairy tales. The book felt fast paced and I enjoyed the slight surprises - although they were pretty easy to see from the beginning - they were still interesting when they happened. The ending seemed too happy and unrealistic. But other than that I can't complain about anything else in the story.                                                                                                       My favorite part of the story was Cindy. She is a much stronger and more empowering main character than Cinderella. Even though her stepsisters and her "fairy godmother" still had the same roles as they did in the original Cinderella, they felt quite original.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

It's their first summer apart. After coming across a magical pair of pants that happen to fit all four of them perfectly, they promise each other that they will send the pants around to each other no matter where they are. Lena is going to Greece to stay with her grandparents. Carmen is staying with her father and his new family. Bridget is going to Baja California to play soccer. And Tibby is staying at home and working. Are the pants magical enough to help all four of them deal with their complicated relationships?

The overall tone of the book changed to fit the different girls. It really helped to connect and understand each of them. The story that seemed to stand out the most was Tibby's, it was sweet and brave. I can't think of any significant negatives in the story. Some of the decisions that the characters, especially Carmen and Bridget, made were not the ones that I would make. Overall this book is totally worth your time.

All of the characters were important. Lena, Bridget, Tibby and Carmen are the perfect set of friends but not in an unrealistic way. The supporting characters such as Kostos were important and stories with them as the main character would be interesting to read about.

If you want to hear about my own "traveling pants", you can click here.

Deadly Pink by Vivian Vande Velde

Grace feels like she has always grown up in her older sister's, Emily's, shadow. Emily works at Rasmussem, where she helps create virtual reality games that are so realistic, you can smell the flowers in the game. All of a sudden Emily traps herself in the game, Grace is the only one left to get her out. What could have possibly happened to force Emily to hide there? There's only so long that Emily can stay safe in this virtual game, that much exposure to Rasmussem's technology can kill Emily. Grace must step into the game to get her sister out but is there any chance that Emily will listen?

I loved that the story immediately stepped into the main conflict, which was that Emily has hidden herself in a little girl's virtual reality game. The story line was very original. Some parts of the story were useless and didn't add to the story but they didn't take away from it either. One of those parts was when Grace only got half of her wish because she only paid half the price of it. The tone of the story was uninteresting but the story was good enough that the tone could be easily forgotten. Even though the end wasn't necessarily "happy" but it was very well-thought out.

I really liked how much Grace and Emily grew by the end of the story. At first both of the sisters seemed really boring but then Grace was supposed to be average and Emily was supposed to be mysterious. I liked the other characters too but they weren't really that important in the story. There was one character that Grace meet when she was in the game. Even though Grace couldn't understand him, it felt that he would be significant to the story but it turned out that he was useless.

 

The Princess and the Pauper by Kate Brian

Julia Johnson is struggling with money. She isn't nearly as rich as the other girls in the school, her mother is on her own to provide for Julia and her cat. Suddenly, Julia gets an amazing and scary opportunity when Carina, the princess of Vineland, comes to school. Who knew they would look so similar? And ten thousand is a lot of money and just might be enough to help her mother. So when Carina proposes that Julia and her switch places, how can she say no? The plan seems great until Carina doesn't come back so they can switch back. How much longer can she keep this up?

The idea behind this story has been used so many times that it's tiring. The author did however bring a new sense of originality into it. The story seemed choppy at times but it made it more suspenseful. It didn't have the happy ending that I was hoping for. I would have liked to see a different one. It was a pretty good book but I wouldn't read it to seriously.

Both Julia and Carina seemed pretty annoying. They also didn't grow much by the end of the story. No character really stood out much. So I can't say much about them. But Carina was too immature and Julia was too serious. Although I did like Carina did gain maturity in the end.

 



Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calontia

Kaitlin Burke has always been known as the famous celebrity from Family Affair. But Kaitlin's had enough of it. She just wants to go to high school without people recognizing who she really. So she comes up with the ultimate plan to disguise herself and go there against the beliefs of her parents and publicist. How long can she keep this up? How will Austin react when he learns the truth about Kaitlin?
At first I loved this book but then the plot started to get cheesy. But I kept reading anyway. This book is probably the worst in the entire series. The writing style was cute and easy to relate to. I also liked how it was pretty easy to follow even though the overall plot was complicated. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a light-hearted book and can wait to read the second book which is much better.
The characters were believable. But Kaitlin didn't seem like the heroine that she was supposed to. Some of the characters were classic. Austin was a great but came off as annoying at times. The Burke family was pretty funny and interesting to read about.

I've reviewed two others of Jen Calonita's novels. Here is a link to her Sleepaway Girls and here is a link to her Belles.