Mini Reviews; Aristotle and Dante, Five Children and It, and Girl Online

Summary:
Dante can swim. Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari’s features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.

But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other―and the power of their friendship―can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

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I had high expectations when I started reading this book as I had heard so many good things about it. Fortunately I quickly discovered that it was as good as people had told me it would be. I very quickly fell in love with this story and all of the characters. I wanted to stay in their world, to discover more of their secret and to just witness thair lives. This book has a unique voice and a very fascinating and lovable main character. It holds a realistic romance and was just a book that I really enjoyed reading abd would definitely recommend to others.

Summary:
The five children find a cantankerous sand fairy or ‘psammead’ in a gravel pit. Every day ‘It’ will grant each of them a wish that lasts until sunset, often with disastrous consequences. Never out of print since 1902. The Introduction to this edition examines Nesbit’s life and her reading, showing the change in childrens’ literature from Victorian times.

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I read this book as part of my book group (and was then too ill to go!) but I am fairly certain I would not have read this book otherwise. I am also certain that if I had started this outside my book group, I would not have finished it. To me, this book had many flaws but my biggest problem with it is that the writing style seemed condescending and patronising. I know I am no longer a child but I feel even as a child, I’d have grown irritated by this book. Add to that a very boring and repetitive story and you should see why I really didn’t get on with it.

Summary:
I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has – I can’t believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! – and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes…

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family – and the panic attacks she’s suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love – and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny’s cover – and her closest friendship – forever.

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I had trepidations when it came to this book. I had heard some mixed reviews about it and then there was all the drama surrounding it. However, I am really glad that I got around to reading this one anyway as I actually really enjoyed it. I loved the blog posts in this book, really enjoyed the plot and just found myself swept away by the story. There was insta-love in it that irked me slightly but essentially this was a cheesy, cute romance story that I couldn’t put down. It made me get emotionally invested and I went from cheesy smile to tears to smile again in a matter of moments. It may not win any awards but if you’re after a teen book that is cliched but still entertaining then you should definitely read Girl Online.