Literature Young Adult Fiction http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com YA Readers Reviewing Books. Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:34:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Harry Potter Costume: Moaning Myrtle http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/harry-potter-costume-moaning-myrtle/ http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/harry-potter-costume-moaning-myrtle/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:34:00 +0000 First Mate Keira http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/?p=1234

by First Mate Keira

One of my all time favorite costumes to put together was Moaning Myrtle, which I dressed up as for the five Potter film, Order of the Phoenix. I planned this costume way in advance because I wanted to be a great Hogwarts ghost.

I knew going into costume designing that I did not want to go as a white sheet ghost. I wanted to look like a ghost from the films, all silvery and white and transparent (well maybe not transparent that’d be difficult to pull off).

If you want to go as Moaning Myrtle you will need to create a Hogwarts school girl outfit all in white or cream or gray.

  • Cloak – cheap white fabric fastened by a handmade craft clay pin
  • Pin – designed with white craft clay to look like a Hogwarts badge with all four houses represented
  • Vest – hand knitted vest, though yours certainly doesn’t have to be, and I didn’t make mine either, my mother did a long time ago way before Potter came along
  • Tie – gray, borrowed from my dad
  • Shirt – simple white button down, easiest thing to grab
  • Skirt – white pleated skirt, toughest to track down but I did it!
  • Tights – white, another easy find
  • Knee High Socks – another item borrowed from dad
  • Penny Loafers – white, semi-difficult to track down
  • Glasses – Harry Potter plastic glasses (exactly this type: Round Wizard Glasses) coated in glue and silver sparkles.
  • Hair – braided and sprayed with silver hair glitter (hard to tell in picture lighting)

The final look? Fabulous!

Your Turn: Have you ever dressed up as Moaning Myrtle or another Hogwarts ghost? What did you do?

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by First Mate Keira

I’ve dressed up as Rita Skeeter twice now. I just love that viper of a reporter with her poison green quill. The first time I was Rita Skeeter I was as she appeared in Goblet of Fire. The second time I was Rita Skeeter I was dressed as she would be after Hermione captured her and forced her to become a better journalist… as in out of a job and sloppy.

When my hair was brassy from a bad hair bleaching job, I simply had a person design an elaborate concoction of curls on the back of my head. Sort of like a fancy prom up-do. It was held in place not by hairspray but by bobbypins to keep the curls sleek and stylish. The second time around I borrowed a very short curly blond wig and put it on lopsided. That was fun too.

My jewelry both times was a pair of bat and spider earrings. It’s hard to tell in the picture. They were bought around Halloween time when these sort of designs were in boutiques.

I made Rita’s cat eye glasses out of a dollar store pair of reading glasses. It’s an easy craft project. You will need feathers, rhinestones, and glue. Add the feathers to the corners of the glasses to create the cat eye effect and glue rhinestones in whatever pattern you like to the frames. The first Rita costume requires the glasses to look perfect. The second costume can be sloppy or have parts of the design snapped off to create that run-down look.

Both times I brought with me a bright peacock feather to act as my Quick Quotes Quill. I even brought a sample of writing pre-written out as my tester. The quote you’ll want is from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where Rita sequesters Harry in the broom closet. It details how fabulous Rita is and how sharp her quill.

Your Turn: Have you ever dressed up as Rita Skeeter? What did you do?

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by First Mate Keira

The next time you are going to a Harry Potter midnight release or party you can go dress up as Luna Lovegood. There are several ways to do this and they’re all pretty fun to put together.

The first thing you will have to decide is if you’re going in robes or in regular clothes. Robes are pretty easy, you can either substitute a standard witch costume or buy some basic black fabric to fashion a robe out of. For regular clothes you have to be sneaky. You can be a little more tailored like in the movies or you can go the book route – in odd Muggle combinations. A fitted sweater and jeans would do in a pinch though.

Next you have to decide on jewelry because jewelry is a pretty standard feature for Luna. She likes to wear wacky out there pieces and is famous for her radish earrings and Butterbeer bottle cap necklace. I made my earrings out of some craft clay (I highly suggest you hollow out the beads before baking otherwise they are super heavy) and designed a Butterbeer logo on Photoshop to fit a Starbuck Frappuccino cap. I then printed them out and superglued them onto the caps and then superglued the caps together in a V formation and hung with fishing line to make it look like it was floating because of magic.

I even designed a working edition of the Quibbler using Photoshop. I printed it out and stapled and glued the pages to make it work properly. It was a huge hit during the fourth Harry Potter movie release, Goblet of Fire. Everybody in the line wanted to read it and take pictures with it, especially once they saw that it was designed to be read right side up when the cover was upside-down.

Your Turn: Have you dressed up as Luna Lovegood? What did you do?

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by First Mate Keira

Title: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl Book 7)
Author: Eoin Colfer
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 357
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: A criminal mastermind is plotting escape from the underwater fairy prison in Atlantis. Everything is in place and ready to go when a series of lucky incidences go his way. First that Mud Boy, Artemis Fowl, appears to be suffering from a guilty conscience triggering a fairy psychosis called the Atlantis Complex. The boy sends his bodyguard away, lures several high ranked members of LEPrecon out into the middle of nowhere, and provides the perfect distraction for the mastermind’s plans. Nothing can get in his way now… cue sinister laughing.

Why I started this book:

I picked up Atlantis Complex because I have read the previous six Artemis Fowl books. It wasn’t available in audio from the library yet or I would have selected that format.

Likes:

  • Atlantis is a secondary city for the fairies. It’s not as big as Haven, but it’s just as important. I wish there had been more time spent in and around Atlantis instead of just focused on the prison and the mastermind’s escape route.
  • The giant squid was pretty epic. I like how it was a thinking creature and used tools, primitive though they were. (“I’m a nut!”)
  • The reprogrammed amorphobots. Foaly’s peaceful scientific advances intent on looking for life on Mars becoming nearly unbeatable weapons was pretty cool and clever.

Dislikes:

  • Orion Fowl was a waste of space both inside Artemis’ head and also on page. I expected more than bad poetry frankly as Artemis’ arch enemy.
  • Foaly was completely useless. He was good for the phone he carried, that’s it. The rest of the time he was patently unhelpful always saying the goo-bots he built weren’t programmed to do what they were doing. Of course they weren’t! That’s why everything was going to hell in a hand-basket.
  • Artemis should have been fully healed from the Atlantis Complex before the end of the book. I don’t like that it’s been left open for a plot device in the next book.

Buy: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl, Book 7)

Rating: 3 Treasure Chests

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by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer

Title: Best Friends and Drama Queens (Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls: Book 3)
Author: Meg Cabot
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 240
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Allie gets excited when she learns that that they are getting a new student from Canada! Mostly because that means she won’t be the new girl anymore. But when she finally meets Cheyenne, she finds out how incredibly BOSSY she is! Allie thinks her life is over when Cheyenne’s rules make Allie fight with her best friends. What could she do to solve Cheyenne’s attitude? Will she get her best friends back? Will she lose them forever?

Why I Read This Book:

I read this book because it’s the third book in the series Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls. I can’t wait for the fourth book!

Likes:

  • Cheyenne is the perfect 4th grade bully. She threatens people to make them do what she wants. She’s the perfect “villain” for this setting better than Rosemary from earlier in the series.
  • I like how Allie doesn’t give into Cheyenne. She stays strong and doesn’t let her get her cruel ways.

Dislikes:

  • I didn’t like how Erica, Caroline, and Sophie give into Cheyenne so easily! I mean, I think if Allie can stand up for herself than they can. Or at least make it harder on her to peer pressure them.

Buy: Best Friends And Drama Queens (Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls #3)

Rating: 3.5 Treasure Chests!

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by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer

Title: The New Girl (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Book 2)
Author: Meg Cabot
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 222
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: On top of all the moving problems, Allie has to start a new school. She thinks things are looking up until Rosemary; the school bully, threatens Allie by saying that she’s going to beat her up. Allie is terrified of her now and asks everyone for advice. But she isn’t sure who to believe! She is, in fact, the new girl. Will she trust someone’s advice that she shouldn’t? Was Rosemary serious? Or will Allie come to school one day with a black eye?

Why I Read This Book:

I read this book because I’m reading the series Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls and I enjoyed the first one so I wanted to see if I’d enjoy the second one just as much.

Likes:

  • I like how the most unlikely person gave Allie the best advice! (Mr. Elkhart.) It just comes to show that anybody can be just as helpful as the next and that you should never underestimate someone.
  • Allie had good friends to help her feel better about Rosemary. Caroline, Erica and Sophie promise not to let Rosemary near Allie.

Dislikes:

  • I thought it was unnecessary that Allie got s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o upset when she first found out Mewsette was a boy, not a girl like she wanted. I mean, something like that should not matter … right?

Buy: The New Girl (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls)

Rating: 4 Treasure Chests!

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by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer

Title: Moving Day (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Book 1)
Author: Meg Cabot
Format: Hard Cover
Page Count: 240
Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Allie Finkle is pretty happy with her life … even though her brothers are annoying and her best friend cries over everything. Things start going wrong when her parents announce that they are moving! What is she going to do now? To help herself survive though the move, she creates a book of rules that every girl should follow. Will her rules for girls help her? Or will her past happy life be gone forever?

Why I Read This Book:

I read this book because I found out that this book was part of a series (Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls) and decided to try it because I've been looking for more series to follow.

Likes:

  • It was easy for me to relate to Meg Cabot's Allie Finkle because I had to move from a place that I had to live in for a L-O-N-G time and could relate with the main character on that point.
  • I liked Allie’s comparison between the two elementary schools.

Dislikes:

  • It seemed a little babyish and young for a 4th grader to be scared of a disembodied zombie hand in her attic to me. If it were me I would totally think it was a Halloween prop.

Last Minute Thoughts: I liked this book! And I’m defiantly getting the next book in the series to see what happens next and if it gets better.

Buy: Moving Day (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls)

Rating: 3.5 Treasure Chests!

]]> http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/review-moving-day-allie-finkles-rules-for-girls-book-1-by-meg-cabot/feed/ 0 Review: Shadow-Kiss by Richelle Mead http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/review-shadow-kiss-by-richelle-mead/ http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/review-shadow-kiss-by-richelle-mead/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:45:22 +0000 First Mate Keira http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/?p=1205

by First Mate Keira

Title: Shadow-Kiss (Vampire Academy Series, Book 3)
Author: Richelle Mead
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 443
Grade Reading Level: Grade 9+

Summary: Lately Rose has been seeing her dead friend around St. Vladimir. Mason’s ghost, if that was what she was really seeing was messing with her and screwing up her trials. Nobody else saw him. So her only explanations were crazy or incompetence. Neither she wants to own up to, but given her lack of options there’s only one way to really go. On top of that, Victor Dashkov is being tried for his crimes but without any of the key witnesses there! If only Dimitri or somebody could get them to the royal court to ensure he was sent to Moroi prison. Oh and Moroi around the school were showing up bruised and injured, but to a one, they are all quiet about what happened to get them that way. What on earth is going on?

Why I started this book:

It’s the next in the series and I had read the previous two. Mead does a lot of exposition and telling in the first couple of pages so anybody can hop into the series at any point in time and know without a doubt what was going on both in story arc and world building.

Likes:

  • Who wouldn’t love getting to beat up on a teacher? Rose and her fellow dhampirs get to do just that with all their training instructors during their trials. Rose gets matched up with Lissa’s boyfriend, something she’s not happy about and when Mason’s ghost shows up causing her to lose focus and get Christian ‘killed’ it causes big, big trouble for her.
  • Adrian. Love him. He gets the quartet (Rose, Christian, Lissa, and Eddie) to the royal court so they can testify against Victor.
  • Rose and Dimitri lying at court. Victor smirking knowingly in the background and his parting shot.
  • SPOILER… I’m probably the only weirdo who will like this but I was glad when Dimitri was changed into a Strigoi. It sucks. It’s super angsty. It totally means more drama. For those reasons I love it. I also know somehow, probably with spirit, Dimitri will be changed back into Dhampir or at least Moroi. But this is conjecture. I have more books to read before I can know this for sure.

Dislikes:

  • The Moroi torture brigade at the school all trying to figure out how to use compulsion. Now if we’re going to talk about crazy that’s crazy and also beyond stupid…in more ways than one since they are the reason the Strigoi can access St. Vladimir’s in the first place. I was surprised that Rose didn’t go kick all of them in the teeth when she learned that.
  • I’m not a big fan of the whole head-hopping business. I get that it’s part of Rose’s shadow-kiss abilities, but I’d much rather focus on her and her story than Lissa’s.

Buy: Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, Book 3)

Rating: 4 Treasure Chests

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by First Mate Keira

Title: Frosbite (Vampire Academy Series, Book 2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 327
Grade Reading Level: Grade 9+

Summary: Because Rose was out of school for two years, she’s only now able to take her Qualifier. She's going to be tested by one of the best guardians ever to graduate, Arthur Schoenberg, who’s currently guarding a royal Moroi family. When they first arrive at his home, the two find inside Arthur, his Moroi family, and a few extra guardians slaughtered in what appears to be a massive organized Strigoi attack, something that was believed to be impossible. What are they going to do now?

Why I started this book:

I recently finished Vampire Academy and Frostbite is the second in the series. You can read book two without having read book one because the opening of Frostbite gives the full rundown on the world, it’s culture, people, and sums up the last book.

Likes:

  • The change of pace and setting. When a second equally lethal attack happens relatively soon after, all winter travel plans are changed for both the school, the families of the students, and the royal court. Safety can only be found in large numbers and so many go to a Moroi exclusive ski resort that runs at night.
  • While the grownups try to figure out what to do about the Strigoi, Rose is trying to figure out her love life. Caught between the man she loves, the boy she thinks she should, and a flirtatious bad boy Moroi royal, Rose has a lot on her plate.
  • Mia coming over to the light side and not being such a horrible character. Hurray!
  • Adrian giving Rose all that perfume and her response. Too cute.
  • Adrian's nickname for Rose, "Little Dhampir."

Dislikes:

  • Rose’s relationship with her mother, Janine Hathaway. I much prefer happy mom-daughter pairs compared to hostile warring fractions. Neither Rose or Janine understand the other and instead of truly talking they gripe and bungle every conversation.
  • Rose’s bond to Lissa seems awfully one-sided and only convenient for Lissa. If only the bond between them worked in reverse! At least about being able to see inside each other’s heads.
  • Have I mentioned the Dhampirs are brainwashed to be pro-Moroi all the time? Sheesh. Seriously, why can't the Moroi protect themselves? Good thing the Ozeras are around or the outcome of Frostbite would be way different.

Buy: Frostbite (Vampire Academy, Book 2)

Rating: 3.5 Treasure Chests

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by First Mate Keira

Title: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy Series, Book 1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 332
Grade Reading Level: Grade 9+

Summary: After two years on the run, Rose Hathaway and Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir are captured by a group of Guardians and sent back to St. Vladimir’s Academy. Lissa is a Moroi, or a good vampire, and the last of her royal line, making her a princess. Rose is a mix of human and vampire, known as a dhampir. Dhampirs grow up to be Guardians, who are the protectors of Moroi. From the beginning dhampirs are taught “They come first” and that they need Moroi to reproduce. Best friends, Rose and Lissa share a bond, something that they learn more about back at school. There was a reason they left St. Vladimir’s in the first place… and now that they’re back again they have to navigate the social hierarchy, catch up on two years worth of classes, fall in love with two inappropriate boys, and solve the mystery that sent them fleeing in the first place.

Why I started this book:

I kept seeing the book series in stores, around the blogosphere, and in the library. It was recommended to me as a good series for Twilight fans. I finally picked it up when I heard it might be made into a movie sometime in the future.

Likes:

  • The friendship between Lissa and Rose. They seem to really care for each other and want what’s best. They get into fights, they keep secrets from one another, but they’re very tight and supportive too. They don’t compete with each other.
  • Mead captures the spirit of a teenage girl and infuses it into her heroine, Rose. She becomes a perfect pot of contradiction with heavy sarcasm, flirting, insecurity, and confidence.
  • I like that the half-vampires and good vampires are alive and that the blood drinking is limited to Moroi and Strigoi (undead/bad vampires).
  • Mead creates a solid story based on real folklore, like the Balklan myth of Dhampirs, and imagination. I really like the integration and world-building. It’s pretty complex.

Dislikes:

  • The underage romance between Dimitri and Rose. She’s a year shy of being legally an adult and it might not make much of a difference to some people, but it rubs me the wrong way and sends a bad message.
  • All the dead animals being planted on and in Lissa’s things by some weirdo. No wonder Lissa and Rose ran before – wouldn’t you to get away from this sort of creepy stalker displays? Yuck.
  • Yet again, all the cool kids and everybody else seems to be drinking and/or smoking or have done it in the past. Doesn’t the word underage count for anything? Where are the teachers on all of this? Sheesh. There needs to be several room raids since lockers aren’t in use.
  • There’s a lot of telling instead of showing in the novel, which can make it hard to read and occasionally a little lackluster, but the plotline and characters have me hooked.

Buy: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, Book 1)

Rating: 3 Treasure Chests

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