For The Win by Cory Doctorow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

On-line gamers beware!
Millions of people around the world addictively play in multiplayer online games, battling to win virtual gold, jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, millions of “gold farmers” slave in electronic sweatshops harvesting virtual treasure that their employers then sell to First World gamers for real money.

But unrest brews across the globe as slave gamers unite to create a union that challenges the status quo. From the US to China to India, young gamers fight pitched battles in the virtual world.   Their aim: crash the economy of every virtual world and win their emancipation.


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http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10794589-life" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px">http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320463268m/10794589.jpg" />Life'>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10794589-life">Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal'>http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/200052.Mal_Peet">Mal Peet

My rating: 3'>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/355406900">3 of 5 stars


Life : an exploded diagram
By Mal Peet

Forbidden love
Class barriers
Politics
War
Environmentalism
Some major explosions, both literal and not.

This book has them all.  A story that spans generations set against a backdrop of war and global politics. It describes minute facets of the characters lives in intimate, colorful and satisfying detail. Clem came, a “wartime mishap,” whose birth was brought on by a German air raid over rural England is smart and has a gift for drawing. He attends school on scholarship which brands him as trying to “get Above Yerself.”.  Clem falls in love with Frankie, the daughter of a wealthy man. Both know this romance can go nowhere but they become deeply involved.
Mr. Peet’s narrative drips with sentimentalism about the past; it’s full of delightful colloquialisms and humorous anecdotes. For example, imagine Clem trying to find out about sex through Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
Mr. Peet depicts the uncertainty of both young love and of the nuclear threats of the time.
Does love conquer all and win out in the end?




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Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Virtuosity is all about addiction. Addiction to music, winning, competition, drugs, winning, forbidden romance, winning, violin, and did I mention WINNING?
Carmen and Jeremy are preparing for the biggest violin competition in their lives. To win means assured fame and fortune; to lose means the virtual end of your violin career.
Carmen and Jeremy are the favorites to win. They are competing directly against each other and they are both addicted to WINNING. However, they have a huge crush on each other. The competition brings anxiety, tension, disappointment, frustration, fear of failure; when you start praying to break a leg or some catastrophe so you can get out of this situation.

Despite the interference of an annoying controlling mother, Carmen’ struggles to succeed without her anti-anxiety drugs but can she succeed

It doesn’t go at all the way you’d expect. Wait for the ending and the aftermath.


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Six at the Table: Take the 70s, Add Family and Mix Well by Sheila Maher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This could have been written about me!  It brought back such memories : Curly-Wurlys, the excitement of a bottle of pop (rare occurrence), being so self-conscious at school, Teddy's ice-cream (my absolute favorite.  I enjoyed my memories as they were revived through reading the book.



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The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I knew how it would end right from the start.  Stereotypical - handsome, intelligent, empathic hero meets beautiful, hardworking super(single)-mom and voila! The chapters from Keith's perspective were interesting and it can't be faulted as a beach read.



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The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us by Tanya Lee Stone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whether we love her or hate her, we all know her.  Barbie : destructive role model or just a toy?
A brief survey of Barbie, from concept to development and then we follow her changes and how she relates to girls through the years.  The author discusses the Barbie quandary – is she a positive or negative influence on her owners?
Through plenty of photos we see Barbie’s different roles through the ages as she graduates from nurse to surgeon, stewardess to pilot.  Her development mirrors society.  And Barbie is not just an American phenomenon; she is world-wide and her different facial and body images are documented.
A fast and captivating read for anyone.  Makes you want to resurrect all those Barbies you once owned. Oh wait, I cut her hair and I’m sure I lost her clothes too.


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Redwall by Brian Jacques
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had to read this for my book club. I would never have picked it up if not for the club.  I don't plan on reading any others.  It is well written.  But I am shocked to think of it as written for tween.  It is so violent, and graphically violent to little animals.  If I had read this when I was 10 I would have been devastated.


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