In My Mailbox 26

This was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. If you want more information check out their blogs. All summaries are from the book jackets.

Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler

“Don’t worry, Anna, I’ll tell her okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?”
“Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?”

According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna light-heartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie - she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it means to truly love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

I am so excited to read this. I haven’t heard a single bad thing about it.

Dairy Queen - Catherine Gilbert Murdock

When you don’t talk,
there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Harsh words indeed, from Brian nelson of all people. But D.J. Schwenk can’t help admitting to herself that maybe he’s right. Because it’s obvious that no one is talking about why D.J.’s best friend, Amber, isn’t so friendly anymore. Or why her little brother, Curtis, never opens his mouth. Or why her mom has two jobs and a big secret, or why her college-football-star brothers won’t even call home nowadays. And certainly no one is talking about how D.J.’s dad would go ballistic on her if she tried out for the football team. There’s definitely a lot not being said. And that’s not even mentioning the many reasons that Brian Nelson is so out of D.J.’s league.

When you don’t talk,
there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Welcome to the summer that fifteen-year-old D.J. Schwenk of Red bend, Wisconsin, learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.

This sounds like a perfect summer read.

Strange Angels - Lili St. Crow

Dad? Zombie.
Mom? Long gone.
Me? Well, that’s the scary part.

The Real World is a frightening place. Just ask sixteen-year-old orphan Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken down her fair share of bad guys. She’s armed, dangerous, and ready to kill first and ask questions later. So it’s gonna take her a while to figure out who she can trust…
Dru Anderson has been ‘strange’ for as long as she can remember, travelling from town to town with her father to hunt the things that go bump in the night. It’s a weird life, but a good one - until it all explodes in an icy, broken-down Dakota town, when a hungry zombie busts through her kitchen door. Alone, terrified, and trapped, Dru’s going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. The monsters have decided to hunt back - and this time, Dru’s on their menu. Chance of survival? Slim to none.

This sounds right up my alley!

Before, After, and Somebody in Between - Jeannine Garsee (signed)

And my third brilliant thought of the day is: I am so-o-o freaking screwed!

Before the end of homeroom on her first day of tenth grade, Martha Kawalski knows she’s in trouble. The school’s toughest girl, Chardonnay, has already threatened her life, and things at home aren’t much better. Fresh out of rehab, Martha’s mom has moved them into her new boyfriend’s run-down two-family house in the ghetto. But here, as Martha watches her mom’s willpower dissolve, her dreams of college and playing the cello slip away.

Then, in an almost Cinderella-like twist, Martha gets a chance to start over and reinvent herself. Enter Mr Brinkman: a wealthy lawyer who invites Martha into his home. But even as the Brinkmans make Martha feel like one of the family, she knows they can’t be as perfect as they seem. After all, in the real world, fairy tale endings don’t last forever…

I won this in a contest from Carol at Bookluver Carol Reviews and Jeannine Garsee signed a copy and sent it to me. So thanks both of you, I’m looking forward to reading it.

I also got:

The Island of Dr. Moreau - H.G. Wells
Frankenstein - Marry Shelley

I have to read those over the summer for English Literature.

Sophie