Review: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
Publisher: Razorbill (2011), 360 pages

Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

I wanted to love THE PROBABILITY OF MIRACLES but unfortunately it fell short of my expectations.

There is no doubt that Wendy Wunder is a great writer. The writing is not why I didn't love it. The book is a cancer book where the main character, Cam, goes to a small town hoping for a miracle. I have not read many cancer books but this was someone predictable. Except the ending.

The ending was like what the hell because I'm so curious as to what happened.

You know how there are some book titles that absolutely make no sense to why it is the title of the book? Well, THE PROBABILITY OF MIRACLES does not have that problem. Goodness, I think the word, "miracle," was used a hundred times.

In other news, although I did not like this book all that much, I am looking forward to reading the next book Wunder writes. 

2.6 stars out of 5

Cover: D+ Okay, don't get me wrong –the cover is beautiful! I actually find it very pleasing to the eyes but c'mon! The girl on the cover is, I'm assuming, is supposed to be the main character, Cam, yet she doesn't look like she has cancer at all! The only thing that I can see that the MC has in common with the model is that she looks like she could be Samoan, like she is described to be. 
Favorite Character: Um....Cam's grandma or her little sister.
Put-Down-Ability: 3. Though this wasn't my favorite book ever, the writing was pretty engaging and it didn't take me that long to get through it. 

*Source: school library 

Steady Beat, Volume 1 by Rivkah/GLBT March Mini Challenge

Steady Beat, Volume 1 by Rivkah

TokyoPop (October 11, 2005)

Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 192 pages

Summary: "Love Jessica"...That's what Leah finds on the back of a love letter to her sister. But who is Jessica? When more letters continue to arrive, along with flowers and other gifts, Leah goes undercover to find out her sister's secret. But what she doesn't expect is to discover a love of her own--and in a very surprising place! Winner of the Manga Academy’s Create Your Own Manga competition, Rivkah has crafted a beautiful and haunting comedy-drama that reminds us that there is no such thing as a simple love."

Review: I should start off by saying that this is the first ever graphic novel I've read! I decided to read a (GLBT) graphic novel for the GLBT mini challenge for March. Anyways, the book came yesterday and I just decided that today I would read it at school and try to finish. I did not expect to finish it within an hour!

The story is about a girl named Leah Winters who finds a letter that her sister dropped. It is signed "Love, Jessica" and Leah begins to wonder if her sister is gay. She receives a phone call with the person on the other end saying that they could explain it. She goes to the meeting place and her adventure begins. BUT before any huge plot could come in place the story freakin' ends! I absolutely was not expecting that. There was about 30 more pages, but it was a sample of a completely different story...apparently thats how a lot of comics are. Anyways, I should be getting volume 2 in the mail pretty soon. I will read/review that.

The graphics: Well, this comic is in black/white and, like I said, I have never read a comic before so I don't know what's a great comic and what's not when it comes to the art. I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to the pictures but they looked okay.

2 Stars - Maybe it's because the book was extremely short and seemed to cut off at a random time, but I didn't get a lot out of it. But we'll see what happens in the next book..

(I'm not going to do the favorite characters, etc since the book was short.)