Lovely story

Not sure I love this cover, but the story is great. The characters were believable, helped each other, overcame differences, and worked together quite well.

Theater groups, and Mock Trial are the main groups featured in this YA novel. Narrated by two protagonists, you learn bits about them with each chapter, thus the character development is quite nice.  The chapters are set up as if they are part of a trial, which is nicely done.

I never heard about "yarn bombing" prior to this book, but it features prominently in this novel.
If you are looking for heartfelt drama (with plenty of humor) this book is for you.

                                                       ANOTHER GREAT DEBUT!
We are so fortunate that we have another wonderful author coming to our school. She is a debut author, whose wonderful debate experiences in college, led to her job as the debate consultant for the Tony-nominated Best Play on Broadway: What the Constitution Means to Me.

Her Debut novel, is a middle grade book titled Pippa Park Raises her Game.  It is essentially an ode to Great Expectations, or perhaps a wonderful new version of it.

Pippa lives with her sister and brother-in-law, since her mom had to move back to Korea.  She is dealing with juggling her love of basketball, her struggles with math, and just generally being a young teen, when she suddenly receives a scholarship to a private school.

She now has to adjust to new friends, and a host of other issues.

This was a great story, and will make a wonderful read aloud as well.

Utter Joy

I have always loved Stephen King, from the moment I picked up Carrie as a teenager, I was hooked on his stories. There have been a few duds, but for the most part his stories keep me enthralled, and usually quite scared.

The books I haven't read were the Dark Tower series, and perhaps I should give those a chance. One novel I loved was The Eyes of the Dragon, which falls into the YA category, but is a wonderful story if you haven't read it.

I just finished Joyland, and I have to say it was a true joy to read. I loved the characters; the protagonist, Jonesy, is a great lead, utterly believable, and his narration leads the story at the perfect pace. Bits of foreshadowing, expertly done, mark it as a novel by King.

It didn't scare me, nor is it meant to. It is a coming of age story...of a 21 year old, a love story, a ghost story, a human story. There are life lessons here, and some wonderful quotes about life as well.

They sell fun at Joyland, and sometimes fun is what is needed, particularly if you spend too much time immersed in the news, politics, tragedies, you need a bit of fun. Read Joyland, enjoy it, take a breath and revel in what many would say is a simple story, but it is one that leaves me feeling hopeful, and there are too many times when that concept is hard to hold on to.