Crank By: Ellen Hopkins

Synopsis:

In Crank, Ellen Hopkins chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank.

Rating:★★★★★ 😍

Review:

     I absolutely, positively, no freaking doubt about it, LOVED this!!!!! This was just an amazing piece and I can't wait to get Glass the next time I go to the library. I felt so emotionally invested in these poem and that's the best thing that could ever happen while reading any kind of poetry. I would definitely recommend this as a must read for poetry. This is a must read for all poetry lovers as well as for any newbies. Just be warned there are tough topics being discussed in this, such as drug abuse and rape, for anyone who may have triggers.

Lumberjanes By: Noelle Stevenson

Synopsis:

Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together...and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! Not only is it the second title launching in our new BOOM! Box imprint but LUMBERJANES is one of those punk rock, love-everything-about-it stories that appeals to fans of basically all excellent things.

Rating:★★★

Review:

     I liked this but I didn't love it. I felt like something was missing for me, maybe a little more humor, but I did enjoy the laughs that I did have, especially the bathroom dilemma. I wish I would have gotten to know more about the characters in this book but sadly they're still strangers. I probably will pick up the second installment out of curiosity to understand what is really going on with the plot, for hope of getting to know the characters, and to try to make this somewhat memorable.

Nimona By: Noelle Stevenson

Synopsis:

The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

Rating:★★★★★

Review:

     I loved this so much! I had so much fun reading this, the graphics were really cute, the dialogues were funny, and I loved the sarcasm and just the realness of the conversations. I found myself becoming emotionally invested in the characters and in the plot itself. This made me want to love super villains more than what I currently do. The end shocked me but it also very satisfied me. I thought the extra comics at the end were really cute and a very nice touch. I just loved everything about this and I definitely recommend this to everyone, unless you're just not into super villains!

Ivy in Bloom: The Poetry of Spring from Great Poets and Writers from the Past By: Vanita Oelschlager

Synopsis:

Ivy in Bloom captures the weariness of a young girl tired of a long winter. "I stare out the window," she says on the first spread of brown and gray, "looking for birds or flowers / or even warm showers / but I don't see any such thing." But then Spring comes when "March is out of breath snow melting to flowery waters and watery flowers spring rose from its wintry rest." And Ivy's "heart dances with daffodils." As these words also dance across each spread, Ivy's world erupts into a riot of color. 

Ivy in Bloom introduces the poetry of Dickinson, Longfellow, Browning, Wordsworth, Frost and others. Excerpts from their writings, as seen through Ivy's eyes, will open up poetry as a way for children to express their own feelings about the changing of seasons. This book includes longer excerpts and brief bios of each author.

Publishing Co.: Vanita Books

Release Date: April 1, 2009

Rating: ★★★★★

Review:

     Okay, so this is going to be a fairly short review but I received this from Netgalley and Vanita Books Publishing in exchange for my honest review. I did not realize when I requested this that it was a children poetry book so you can imagine my surprise when I opened it up and saw the cutest artwork ever. This was such beautiful, yet simple writing, it made you feel so innocent while reading this. I really enjoyed this and I will definitely be adding this to my daughter's book collection.

The New Jim Crow By: Michelle Alexander

Synopsis:

The New Jim Crow was initially published with a modest first printing and reasonable expectations for a hard-hitting book on a tough topic. Now, ten-plus printings later, the long-awaited paperback version of the book Lani Guinier calls “brave and bold, and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Levering Lewis calls “stunning, will at last be available.

In the era of colorblindness, it is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. Yet, as legal star Michelle Alexander reveals, today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against convicted criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. Once you're labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service are suddenly legal.

Featured on The Tavis Smiley Show, Bill Moyers Journal, Democracy Now, and C-Span Washington Journal, The New Jim Crow has become an overnight phenomenon, sparking a much-needed conversation including a recent mention by Cornel West on Real Time with Bill Maher&mdas;about ways in which our system of mass incarceration has come to resemble systems of racial control from a different era.

Start Date: February 21, 2017

Finish Date: April 3, 2017

Rating:★★★★★

Review:

     This was truly amazing and downright informative! I learned things I didn't know, things were bought to my attention that I did know, and this just made me want to inform others of what I now know. It's upsetting to me that a book this good and honest does not have as big a media following as other books. This is not a book that is police bashing or bias it simply states the facts of what is going on in American society thoroughly. I believe this should be considered required reading for high school students. I absolutely recommend this book to literally EVERYONE, any age and any race, this is a read I feel that people need to digest and understand. 

March 3-in-1

The topic for March's 3-in-1 is Books You Regret Buying and that is a pretty self explanatory topic. The 3 in 1 series was started in a Goodreads group called Booktubers from around the world created by Cherrie Walker.

Booktubers From Around The World ⇨ https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/195015-booktubers-from-around-the-world

1. The Body in the Woods By: April Henry

   I read this way back in October of 2015 thinking that it was going to be a very creepy murder mystery and was very disappointed. I ended up giving this 2/5 stars wishing it would have done more for me. There was a very paranoia feeling coming from this but I wasn't afraid or creeped out. I wish I would have checked this out of the library instead of paying my money for it.

2. Cruel Crown By: Victoria Aveyard

   I read this in January of 2016 and I hate that I didn't like this novella because I love the series so freaking much. I ended up giving this 3/5 stars. So basically this is like two novellas wrapped into one and you would think that would be an amazing thing but I think that is exactly what ruined this for me. Queens Song was about Queen Coriane and I loved that one because we don't get to know much about her from the series. But there is also Steel Scars which is about Farley's background which was boring and didn't need a novella, in my opinion, to tell about her upbringing. Her story could have been told with simply one or two pages in Red Queen or Glass Sword.

3. The Sorceress By: Michael Scott

   I hated this one so much that I DNF'd (did not finish) it and I only gave it on star because I couldn't give it zero. This is the third book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series and may not have been a bad book it could have been the fact that I bought this thinking that it was book 2 but later finding out that it was not. I skipped a whole book and missed a lot, which would explain why I was completely lost from what I did read, and I really liked the first book so I'm fighting with the decision of rather or not I should start over and make sure I buy them in the correct order.

Elementary, She Read Bk. 1 By: Vicki Delany

Synopsis

Gemma Doyle, a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her Great Uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. The shop--located at 222 Baker Street--specializes in the Holmes canon and pastiche, and is also the home of Moriarty the cat. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body. 

The highly perceptive Gemma is the police’s first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman's suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance. But when Gemma and Jayne accidentally place themselves at a second murder scene, it's a race to uncover the truth before the detectives lock them up for good.

Fans of Sherlock Holmes will delight in the sleuthing duo of Gemma and Jayne in Elementary, She Read, the clever and captivating series debut by nationally bestselling author Vicki Delany.

Publishing Co.: Crooked Lane Books

Release Date: March 14th, 2017

Rating: ★★★★

Review:

I received this book from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for my honest review. It took me longer to finish this than I thought it would but that was a personal decision. I loved that got an actual murder mystery and not a murder mystery over shadowed by a romance, thank god! I loved how the mystery was built up from the beginning because it wasn't overwhelming but it also wasn't hidden information. 

I also like how we got a couple chapters to date the characters before we got down to the nitty-gritty. I was actually able to build a relationship with the characters, good or bad, I got the chance to know them. I really enjoyed this murder mystery but Gemma, the main character, started to really aggravate me because she was way too smart to do so many dumb things, constantly putting herself in bad situations. She was just such a frustrating character. Detective Estrada was pissing me off the whole book with her time wasting by looking for things that weren't there, Ryan who was also a detective, and also very realistic, just happened to be a former flame of Gemma's, which in turn I think fueled the dislike that Estrada had for Gemma...but I could be wrong.

I actually really liked how it ended even though I wish it would have ended with some clear romantical direction between Ryan and Gemma but with that being said I see where the next book is going to pick up on that note. Even though Gemma started to annoy me I still enjoyed piecing this mystery together and I would recommend this as a good mystery book for someone starting to venture out into the mystery genre.