Breathing by Cheryl Renée Herbsman

Breathing by Cheryl Renée Herbsman

Publisher: Viking (April 16, 2009)

Hardcover: 265 pages

Reading Level: Young Adult

Savannah would be happy to spend the summer in her coastal Carolina town working at the library and lying in a hammock reading her beloved romance novels. But then she meets Jackson. Once they lock eyes, she’s convinced he’s the one—her true love, her soul mate, a boy different from all the rest. And at first it looks like Savannah is right. Jackson abides by her mama’s strict rules, and stays by her side during a hospitalization for severe asthma, which Savannah becomes convinced is only improving because Jackson is there. But when he’s called away to help his family—and seems uncertain about returning—Savannah has to learn to breathe on her own, both literally and figuratively.

Review: Savannah's father walked out on her family long ago and her mother has been the one taking care of her and her brother Dog. Savannah is book smarts and has dreams of going onto bigger things as soon as she gets out of her small town. One summer day she meets a guy named Jackson on the beach and soon they find it hard to stay away from each other.

Herbsman writes a sweet, innocent and fast-paced story about first love and how teenagers can truly love one another. Jackson and Savannah are able to maintain their relationship even with the distance between them. Cheryl includes a lot of different things in her characters. For example, Savannah has severe asthma and throughout the book she ends up in the hospital because of it.

At times I found Savannah to be a bit over the top with her melodramatic behavior when she is apart from Jackson, but only just a bit. Jackson is a very sweet guy. He is talented at painting pictures and has a dream of becoming a painting one day. I felt that Jackson was a little too perfect, but again -only just a little.

As this book is in Savannah's POV, I couldn't get over her southern accent (as well as the others!) I haven't read many books set in the south so this was really different. I have to say the accent is a nice touch to the story and makes the setting more believable.

Rating:

Characters: 8/10

Originality: 8/10

Ending: 7/10

Writing: 8/10

Voice: 9/10

Plot: 7/10

Favorite character(s): Hmm. I'm not really sure if I had a favorite character, but I'll go with Savannah's mom. Her personality was one of a kind. I liked that she was a hard worker.

Cover: B. I think the cover is very pretty!

Overall: Breathing is such a sweet book about young love and will have you thinking about those summer days. 3.5 stars.

100+ Reading Challenge

If school, sports, and all the other things in my life will let me, I am going to try and read 100+ books in 2010!

Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. Books started before the 1st do not count.

To sign up and learn more about this challenge go HERE.

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BOOKS READ IN 2010.

1. Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers

2. Viola In Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani

3. Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick

4. Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott

5. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

6. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

7. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

8. House Rules by Jodi Picoult

9. Gone by Lisa McMann

10. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

11. Steady Beat, Volume 1 by Rivkah

12. Steady Beat, Volume 2 by Rivkah

13. A Mess of Everything by Miss Lasko-Gross

14. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

15. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger

16. Boys, Girls, and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman

17. Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

18. Rules of Attractions by Simone Elkeles

19. David Inside Out by Lee Bantle

20. Kiss It by Erin Downing

21. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

22. Riot by Walter Dean Myers

23. Push by Sapphire

24. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

25. Unexpected Development by Marlene Perez
26. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
27. Dramacon, Volume 1 by Svetlana Chmakova
28. Dramacon, Volume 2 by Svetlana Chmakova
29. Dramacon, Volume 3 by Svetlana Chmakova
30. Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson
31. Memoirs of an Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
32. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
33. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
34. Fat Cat by Robin Brande
35. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
36. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
37. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
38. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
39. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
40. It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
41. Shug by Jenny Han
42. I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan

:)

3 4 5 Reading Challenge

Okay. So, I wasn't planning on signing up for anymore challenges, but then I saw this one and couldn't resist!

Chickloveslit is hosting this challenge and here's what she had to say about it:

Rules of this challenge:

1. It will run from August 1, 2009 to August 1, 2010
2. You may sign up at any point in this time period
3. To complete the challenge, you must read THREE books from one series, FOUR books from another series, and FIVE books from another series (For example: Song of Fire and Ice trilogy by George RR Martin, the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, and five of the Chronicles of Narnia books)
4. You do not have to choose your books ahead of time (but are more than welcome to)
5. You do not have to 'complete' a series (i.e. you don't have to read a trilogy for your three book requirement - just 3 books from the same series)
6. Only books that you read between August 1, 2009 and August 1, 2010 count
7. The books you read may count for other challenges

To join go HERE.

3 Books From a Series

(Ruby Oliver Series by E. Lockhart)

1. The Boyfriend List

2. The Boy Book

3. The Treasure Map of Boys

4 Books From a Series

(The Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar)

1. Gossip Girl

2. You Know You Love Me

3. All I Want Is Everything

4. Because I'm Worth It

5 Books From a Series

(The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison)

1. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

2. On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God

3. Knocked Out by my Nunga-Nungas

4. Dancing in my Nuddy-Pants

5. Away Laughing on a Fast Camel

I own none of these books and so hopefully my library we'll have them in! C:

In My Mailbox (14) Christmas Edition

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @The Story Siren.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! It snowed where I live and churches and a lot of other places were closed, so everyone was pretty much stuck at home. It's okay though, I wasn't going anywhere anyways. C:

Borrowed:

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Bought:

Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert

For Review:

The Green Bronze Mirror by Lynne Patricia Newark

Swag:

I got some really nice bookmarks of The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney! They're so pretty. I'd take a picture of them, but I don't have a digital camera.

Presents I got for Christmas:

Criminal Minds: Season 4 DVD

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (extended edition) on DVD Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (blu ray) on DVD

Rubik's Cube

I also got $15 from my sister!

Can't wait to see everyones IMM!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I just want to take this time and wish you all a Merry Christmas! I woke up to lots of snow (so cliché. I know) and it looks like we're going to be stuck inside the house for awhile. I hope you guys are having a super awesome holiday!

Also, Rae is the winner Explorer X-Alpha! I've already contacted her and she already sent me her address! Congrats!

Invisible Lines by Mary Amato

Invisible Lines by Mary Amato (& Illustrations by Antonio Caparo)

Publisher: EgmontUSA (November 24, 2009)

Hardcover: 336 pages

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

For Trevor Musgrove, life isn't always bright and cheerful. His family just moved to Hedley Gardens, a tough housing project its residents call "Deadly Gardens." He goes to school with rich kids who have everything, while he has to work to afford soccer cleats. It doesn't help that the best athlete in school, Xander Pierce, happens to have it out for him. Mistakenly enrolled in an advanced science class taught by an odd but engaging teacher, Trevor is thrown headfirst into the world of natural science. Through all this, he will learn that life can spring up in the darkest places-- maybe even in Deadly Gardens.

Review: I haven't read a MG book in so long and I'm so glad that I got the chance to read this one!

Mary Amato writes in a way that captures the voice of a preteen boy so well that it feels as if you are witnessing the real thing. I absolutely loved reading about Trevor. He's living with his younger brother & sister and mother. They live in these bad apartments and don't have a lot of money. I loved that this book dealt with real life issues and all of which were written in a way that a younger audience can deal with.

One of the issues in the book is Trevor doesn't have enough money to be on a club soccer team. You can tell that he has a passion for the sport and as I was reading the book, I just felt bad for him and the things he went through. Also, I envied Trevor's artistic talents. Drawing was another passion of his and he used it wisely. He started his own little business around school and drew stuff for his little brother. And at the start of each chapter there are illustrations and I thought those were nice!

Another big aspect of the book is Trevor's science class. He is put in Summit Science -an advanced class- by mistake. His science teacher is one of those teachers that always keeps the class interesting and fun instead of the more common reading out of the textbook type as well as being a teacher that really cared about his students.

I really enjoyed the character of Diamond. She lives in the same apartment building as Trevor and is always singing throughout the book as she has dreams of becoming a famous singer one day. Amato does a great job describing a situation that Diamond and Trevor face. My only problem is I wished there had been more of this character!

Rating:

Characters: 9/10

Originality: 7/10

Ending: 7/10

Writing: 9/10

Voice: 9/10

Plot: 8/10

Favorite character(s): Trevor! I found myself rooting for him throughout the whole book. So likable and has many great qualities about him!

Cover: B. So artistic and creative! Very nice.

Overall: Go pick up this book if you are looking for a realistic and genuine read! I will definitely be reading more of Mary Amato!

In My Mailbox (13)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren!

Only one book this week.

The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicated by Donna St. Cyr

"Robert Montasio did not think his day could get any worse until his sister drinks a bizarre soda that causes her to start shrinking. Robert's only hope is a mysterious organization known as the Secret Cheese Syndicate. Unfortunately, they cannot help without a special cheese that has been lost for years. Now, with a tiny little sister in his pocket, Robert has to travel the world to find the Mystic Cheese of Eliki and, perhaps, discover secrets from his family's past."

I won this from 2k10 giveaway! Thank you. C: