First up, The Hypnotists, by Gordon Korman. This is his latest book and is the first in a series, though I'm not sure how many books the series will contain. The main character, Jackson (Jax) Opus has always seemed to get by in life easily, but it wasn't something he's ever noticed much. His best friend, Tommy, is the only one who seems to be immune, but doesn't miss how other people treat Jax. At the boys' championship basketball game, Jax starts seeing strange things and the best basketball player in the city, whom he happens to be guarding, is having the worst game of his life. Eventually, Jax is "discovered" by a renowned institute in the city - the Sentia Institute - and its highly-esteemed head, Dr. Elias Mako. When he joins the institute, Jax discovers that he comes from a powerful bloodline of hypnotists and with training, he could be the most powerful hypnotist of all time. But when Jax discovers that Dr. Mako may not be using hypnotism for good purposes, he has to decide whether to go along or to find a way out. I put this book on hold after I read Korman's Ungifted, and it did not disappoint. The writing was funny and the storyline was very entertaining. It leaves you with a cliffhanger wondering what will happen with Jax next.
This one is for the girls - The Distance Between Us, by Kasie West. This title popped up in a goodreads.com newsletter I got this summer and I tucked it away to read at some point. I rediscovered the title & lo and behold, it was available through Overdrive (Mid-Continent's e-book source), so I downloaded it onto my Kindle and loved every bit of it. Caymen is 17 and doing her very best to help her struggling single mom with her business, a doll store. It's not Caymen's dream, but she feels like her mom has given up everything for her, so she's willing to do the same. One afternoon, a boy comes into the doll shop and everything changes. He's the grandson of a regular client named Xander and he is interested in Caymen. The only problem - he's completely and totally rich. Why is this a problem, you ask? Because Caymen's dad was a rich guy who left her mom with a baby and never helped her out again, and she's never gotten over it. Caymen thinks she really likes Xander, but she's not sure how to please her mom and go after something she wants that she knows her mom will hate. The story is a little predictable, but what really made this story for me was Caymen's "voice" telling the story. She was so sarcastic and funny throughout that I found myself laughing out loud many times at her sense of humor. I'm a sucker for a love story too, so it was an all around winner for me!
And finally, here's a link to the Prezi of book trailers we looked at a couple of weeks ago in class. There aren't summaries in the Prezi with the trailers, but I have written about most of them on this blog if you want more information. Click here for Beastly and The Scorpio Races. Click here for Flesh & Blood So Cheap - The Triangle Fire & Its Legacy. Click here for Ungifted. And finally, click here for Mind Games. Or - just ask me about them in class...speaking of which...LIBRARY DAY TOMORROW! Woohoo! I love taking a trip to the library. :)
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