Hey everyone! My name is Rachael and I am way excited to be contributing to the BookDivas blog!! I’ll start with a little bit about myself: obviously, I am a book reviewer. My reviewing nickname is The Book Muncher (some of you may have heard of me), and I run a reviewing blog: http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com/

So, the last book that I’ve reviewed for BookDivas is Fact of Life #31 by Denise Vega. It’s about a girl named Katima Flynn, also known as Kat. She works for her mother Abra at Abra’s Midwifery, and she pretty much loves it there. But, like everyone does from time to time, she screws up. So from there, she needs to fix all the numerous problems in her life.

Fact of Life #31 was a really funny and well-written book. It’s also a great coming-of-age story. I have to say the most unique part of this novel though was the incorporation of birth and the Midwifery. I think it’s really cool how this novel totally respects life.

So that’s all for now guys!! But don’t worry, I’ll be back soon!!!

Hi everyone, this is Kayla again and i thought i should share with you some of the cool places you could win free books on the web.

There are some nice contests over at Harper Teen Publishers, you could win Gone by Michael Grant (you could also win a PSP); a signed copy of How To Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sara Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle; a copy of Frenemies and a $500 gift card to Alloy; a signed poem written by Francesca Lia Block; or a chance to win all four Pretty Little Liars books.
http://www.harperteen.com/contests.asp

teenreads.com is having two bags of books giveaways, the first is at the top of the page, the second a little way down. There is also a Cathy’s Key and iPod giveaway; and a chance to win an ARC of The Hunger Games.
http://www.teenreads.com/

Every week Penguin Group has their Plug Into Penguin sweepstakes. All you have to do is send an email to the specified email address with your full name, address, and date of birth, and there’s a new book every week.
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/youngreaders/plugin_sweeps.html

Random House is holding a sweepstakes to win “a collection of this summer’s must reads”, and all you have to do is subscribe to the Sister Ink newsletter.
http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/sisterink/sweepstakesrules.html

I think I saved the best for last. Teens read too. All you have to do to enter all the contests on the site (this month there are 19 books and 60(!) copies being given away) is send one email to the email address shown on the sight. Every month they have new books, and more chances to win!
http://www.teensreadtoo.com/Contests.html

Hey Divas! I’m Jennifer and I’m going to let you in on a secret:

I do not buy books unless I plan to reread them.

With that in mind, I had no interest in reading anything new this week. Instead I wanted to rediscover books on my shelf and find out what made them worthy of being there in the first place. Here is what I read this week and why:

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott is one of those books that makes me sigh with satisfaction. It’s just… well, perfect. Kate is a likable character – she’s a typical, confused high school girl. Her family is messed up because her dad quit his job to sell vitamins, her best friend isn’t really her best friend anymore, and there’s this really dreamy guy that she knows she can’t have, but she wants anyway.

Wake by Lisa McMann is such an intriguing story and I discover something new each time I read it. What would you do if you didn’t dream like other people? What if, instead of having your own dreams, you get sucked into the dreams of others? For Janie, that’s not a hypothetical question - it’s a way of life. And the one person who knows Janie’s secret isn’t who he seems to be. Who exactly is the dark and ever-changing Cabel? And what do his dreams mean… for Cabel and for Janie? This is just such a smart book and it really makes me think. I love it!

Labor of Love by Rachel Hawthorne makes me want to drop everything and visit New Orleans… and maybe even pick up a hammer. The main character, Dawn, doesn’t want a boyfriend as she’s still suffering after breaking up with her boyfriend at the prom. She just wants to focus on helping rebuild New Orleans, one house at a time. Dawn and her friends can’t resist the temptation of visiting a psychic, because it’s just something one does while in New Orleans. It’s not like anything a psychic predicts is really going to happen, is it?

Summer in the City by Elizabeth Chandler is a book that makes my girly girl heart flutter. Jamie begs off spending the summer with her dad and his new girlfriend, and decides to spend the summer with her mom instead. Upon arriving, she meets a guy dressed up as a Baltimore Hon, who makes a seriously romantic, though mysterious gesture. Then Jamie meets the dreamy poet living next door. Finally, there’s her lacrosse coach who has been rather obvious in his disdain for her, and yet, she finds herself thinking about him too! It sounds like it should be confusing… and for poor Jamie it is, but as a reader, it’s a just a sweet and fun summer read!

Finally, there is Tropical Kiss by Jan Coffey. Morgan goes to visit her dad in Aruba. While she’s looking forward to getting away, she doesn’t have high expectations because she and her father barely know one another. To make matters worse, her dad has some random guy named Cy living on his property and it’s obvious they are close. Even worse, Cy is totally hot, every girl in Aruba wants him, and Morgan figures she doesn’t stand a chance. Oh and there’s also the fact that her dad is totally up to something and Morgan worries he’s messed up in something illegal! What started out as a dreaded vacation turns into a vacation filled with intrigue, romance, and learning who her father really is.

Trust me, I have more than five books on my shelf, but these are the ones that I decided to reread this week. Are there any books you are compelled to reread? Tell me about them - I’m always looking for something new to add to my collection!

Hi Book Divas, this is Kayla and I thought I should share some of my favorite new YA titles.

Madapple by Christina Meldrum just hit stores on May 13th and is an amazing first book from a very talented new author (in my opinion).

The Host by Stephenie Meyer isn’t technically considered young adult, but it is an amazing story that anyone– young or old, Twilight fan or not– would love. It was in stores on May 6th.

Wake by Lisa McMann is an amazing beginning to a trilogy. I can’t wait to read more about Janie, and her power to be drawn into other people’s dreams.

Although Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr came out last year, her sequel to the book, Ink Exchange, was just released on April 29th. Both of these books are an amazing look into the world of Faeries, and i’m not talking about the Tinkerbell kind eaither.

Undone by Brooke Taylor gives you an unparalleled look into the mind of a teenager after loosing her best friend. Unfortunately this book won’t be in stores until July 22nd.

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong is the first book in the Darkest Powers Trilogy. It hit stores July 1st and i’m already dieing for the next book in the series!

Generation Dead was released on May 6th and has already started becoming a hit. What do you do when dead teenagers start to come back to life? An amazing book.

Here are some books that are on my “to be read” pile and look very promising.

Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher. It hit stores last October, but i’ve heard very promising reviews.

Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall should be in stores on July 29th, once again i’ve heard very good reviews.

Dream Girl by Lauren Mechling will be out on July 22nd. What would be cooler than having the name Claire Voyante and having psychic visions.

That’s all for now, if you have any suggestions of any other good books feel free to comment.

Hey everyone! My name is Tirzah and I am excited to be a contributor to this fantastic blog. For my first post, I thought I’d tell you a bit about the first comic book (or is it considered manga? I really have no clue, I’m completely hopeless when it comes to these things) I have ever read.

That’s right, the very first. Now, normally I have tried to steer clear of mangas and comics and whatnot, mainly because I thought that the pictures in mangas look a bit silly. I’m sorry, I don’t meant to offend anyone with this comment, but if I am going to pick one up and get a story out of it, I want the pictures to at least look realistic.

100 Girls was a bit different though…everyone’s facial features seemed to be in proportion, the illustrations weren’t too childlike, and it was neat to see things from all of the different angles. The storyline really grabbed you after a few pages, giving litle tantalizing glimpses at what was really going on in a sinister lab across the country. Read my full review here.

The final verdict on this comic? I’d like to explore more of them…starting with the sequel to 100 Girls.

Our new friend and performing artist, Dan Reed, recently shared an amazing video with us that he created call The Dictator. Using a powerful clip from the Charlie Chaplin film, ‘The Great Dictator’, it is amazing how relevant the words still are today - and we can’t help but wonder if they are maybe even more relevant today than back when the film was originally created in 1940.

Using powerful imagery of today’s world intermingled with the Chaplin’s soliloquy, Dan’s message grounded us, awakened us, and most importantly, made us want to make sure everyone sees this video.

So don’t waste another minute and watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzf6xE4zdpo

We needed to know what Dan’s thought were behind making this video. Here is what he had to say:

‘The Dictator’ started off from the idea of recording the Chinese Harp. As with many of the tracks from the new record, I wanted to mix the taste of world instruments over what could be called traditional Western modern music. A gentleman named Brad Fish, who played the Chinese Harp like an acoustic guitar, lived down the street from me in Jerusalem, where the majority of this record was recorded. I invited him to play over a rhythm track I had programmed. He played a few tracks and I took them back to the studio where I began editing them in to different chord progressions, similar to what I did with the Charlie Chaplin speech much later on, but with music rather than words.

The track lived as an instrumental for about six months, as I struggled with lyrics and melodies that would represent the subtle feeling of hope that the music gave me on it’s own. When I discovered segments of the Charlie Chaplin’s film ‘The Great Dictator’ on Youtube one late night, it struck me deeply that Mr. Chaplin wrote and directed the film in 1940, years before the world was fully aware of the atrocities that were happening in Poland and Germany. For his vision to play a ‘Hitler type’ character, but in a complete role reversal by giving speeches about the strength that lies in opening our hearts, about compassion, self-awareness, courage to say no to war… was something that hit me deeply, especially living in Jerusalem, just miles away from the wall that divides Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

After I edited his speech to rhythmically and economically fit to the track, I began to hear the chorus lyrics and melody come in to play. Living in the Middle East it is easy to become cynical toward the concept of peace. As much as it is discussed and desired, it is the day to day reality and complexities of the situation that brings a sense of hopelessness and despair to the greater possibility of peace one day, not just there but in the world at large. The lyric “Some day the dolphins will take back the sea” or “Running from love is our fall from grace” was a balance point to what Mr. Chaplin was speaking to, empowering the human soul, where as the lyrics sung represented what may happen if we do not get our act together as a human race.

In the end I hope the song and the video is a good representation of Mr. Charlie Chaplin’s message all those years ago, and hopefully it will give it new life in this age… our time. It asks the question… Will we rise to the occasion to be good stewards of our communities, our families and this earth… or will we simply play ‘follow the leader’ in to the shadows through corporate global-ism, environmental devastation, and the betrayal of human and animal rights?

What do you think of this video and the message in it? Please share your thoughts with us here on our blog or on the Book Divas message board!!

Update:

Check out these great behind-the-scene photos from the making of the video.