A New Dawn edited by Ellen Hopkins

Are you obsessed with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and impatiently waiting for the next installment? Fear not, for many of your favorite YA authors are in the same boat and they have come together to thrill and inspire with their own take on the series. Megan McCafferty discusses why “The Good Girl Always Goes For the Bad Boy”. Susan Vaught points out that while Edward meets the criteria for a diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (read: Sociopath), this dangerous boy can still make us swoon. Robin Brande compares Edward to the heros of Bella’s favorite books (Romeo, Heathcliff, and Darcy) to ultimately decide which one would make the best boyfriend. And finally for those diehard Jacob fans, Linda Gerber takes us “Dancing With Wolves”. While this book won’t totally quench your thirst for blood, it should sustain you for the few weeks.

Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

If you were on a deserted island and could have 3 items from your current life, what would you choose? For Steven, the choices would be easy—the 3 things he loves most in life: Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie. Okay, you probably understand the first two choices. Steven is a drummer, one of the only 8th graders chosen to play on the All-Star Jazz Band. He’s had a crush on the hottest girl in school, Renee Albert, for as long as he can remember. So those two selections make sense, typical teenage stuff, but Dangerous Pie?!? What in the world is Dangerous Pie? And why in the world would you choose IT over all of the other important things teenagers can’t seem to live without? What if Dangerous Pie and its creator turned out to be the only thing you wouldn’t want to live without?

This book is a 2008-2009 Soaring Eagle Award nominee and will be the Afternoon Book Club selection for September.

Jessica's Review: The Princess Bride by William Goldman

William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" is supposedly Goldman's abridgement of the Florinese man S. Morgenstern's original version. Goldman claims that as a child sick with pneumonia his father would come in and read to him The Princess Bride every night. "A tale of true love and high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing, and a frightening assortment of wild beasts—The Princess Bride is a modern storytelling classic", or at least that is how the story begins. But truly it it! It's a story of true love and adventure. It begins with the milk maid Buttercup (nearly the most beautiful girl in the world) and the farm hand Westley. Every command she orders to him he answers 'as you wish' but what he is really saying is I love you. They share the greatest love ever known in the history of man, but Westley leaves to make his fortune for her. During his journey to America he is murdered by the Dread Pirate Roberts and so Buttercup decides to marry Prince Humperdinck. She is kidnapped before the wedding by a Sicilian, a Spaniard, and a giant but is soon kidnapped from these criminals by a man in black. The man reveals himself to Buttercup only after he has bested the Spaniard in fencing, out fought the giant, and defeated the Sicilian in intelligence. The man in black is in fact Westley, but they are soon separated by the evil Prince Humperdinck and his soldiers. At this point I realize I'm getting carried away with myself and must now stop giving away the entire story! It's a fairytale, an adventure, a love story, a tale of friendship and I suggest it to any and every one whether you're interested in these things or not. If you have seen the movie and loved it then read the book it's just as good. If you've seen the movie and hated it, I suggest you watch it again and learn to like it because this is one of the greatest stories of all time! Love it please! ;)

Rating: 5Q, 5P