Contest Winners!

Wow I hadn't realized that my contest for Out For Blood had ended that long ago. Well the winner for that one was:

Thruthehaze

Congratulations! I've sent your address to the publisher already :) Now for The Lost Saint giveaway, I'm shipping the prize (hopefully sometime this week) to:

Autum F.

Thanks to all for participating and being patient with me!

Bitter Melon

Author: Cara Chow

Summary: Frances has one job in life. To get into Berkeley and become a doctor so that her mother's ambitions for her will be realized. And Frances doesn't think there's anything wrong with that--until the day she accidentally steps into a speech class.

Frances turns out to be a natural at debate and public speaking. But to win in competition, France's needs to say things she really believes--and to hide what she's doing from her mother. And once Frances steps out beyond her narrowly prescribed life, she begins to question many things about the way she is raised. Frances knows she must be obedient to her mother, who has sacrificed so much for her education. But how much is Frances living out the life her mother wants her to have, instead of the life that's right for Frances?

Review: The cover is really pretty and I think it mostly reflects the story. There isn't a huge amount of books about American Born Chinese, so that's why I mainly picked up this book.

Juggling with two cultures is becoming an increasingly common thing now that the US has so many different types of people in one place, but it can be very difficult for some people like Frances. She knows her mother wants what is best for her, but this means sacrificing Frances' care freeness and happiness.

The voice was strong while the storyline was weaved seamlessly. The writing flowed and overall it was an interesting read which is based in the real world.

Rating: 1 2 3 3.5 4 5

2011 YA Contemporary Challenge

Participate in The Undercover Book Lover's challenge in order to balance out the plethora of paranormal books out there right now. Here is the info from Reggie's blog:

"Because of the plethora of paranormal books flooding the market (not that I have anything against it, in fact, I love paranormal books!), realistic contemporary YA fiction has taken the back seat. My goal with this challenge is to get you guys to read more YA contemporary books, hence, the 2011 Young Adult Contemporary Challenge! Spread the word (You can use either images above for the official button)!

What is contemporary? It's the genre wherein the events can happen in real life at the present time. The characters in the novel can be present in real life. Goal: To read a minimum of thirteen young adult contemporary novels published in 2011. Rules: - All contemporary books must be in the Young Adult genre - Books have to be published in 2011 - Open to everybody. Please fill in the form to enter. - You can join whenever you want - If you want to enter with your blog link, you have to post about the challenge. - Link your reviews of 2011 Contemporary books in the MisterLinky below."

The SIGN UP form can be found at the link below! And there will be amazing contests for your participation...!

http://theundercoverbooklover.blogspot.com/2011/01/2011-young-adult-contemporary-challenge.html

~HERE'S ANOTHER VERSION OF THE BUTTON~

Hope you join in the fun and spread the word! :)