Review: The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Title: The Education of Bet
Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin BFC
Pub. Date: 7.12.2010
Genre: Historical YA
Keywords: Identity Swap, Secrets, Gender Roles, Family, Romance
Pages: 192
Description (from GoodReads):
Bet is sixteen, very intelligent, but only knows as much as her limited education will allow. In Victorian England, girls aren't allowed to go to school.

Will is also 16, and though not related by blood, he and Bet act like brother and sister. In fact, they even look like brother and sister. And though they're both raised under the same roof, by the same kind uncle, Will has one big advantage over Bet: He's a boy, and being a boy means he isn't stuck in the grand house they call home. He gets to go out into the world--to school.


But that's not what Will wishes. He wants to join the military and learn about real life, not what's written in books.


So one night, Bet comes up with a plan. She'll go to school as Will. Will can join the military. And though it seems impossible, they actually manage to pull it off.


But once Bet gets to the school, she begins to realize the education she's going to get isn't exactly the one she was expecting.
 
THE EDUCATION OF BET took me completely by surprise! Before this novel, I'd never read anything by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, but I was intrigued by the description.
 
I found the lengths Bet and Will go to in order to disguise Bet as a boy entertaining. I was skeptical that Baratz-Logsted would be able to make this aspect of the novel believable, but I actually found it very convincing. I especially loved that there were adults at the school aiding Bet in her quest for an education.
 
It was inspiring to see Bet fight so hard for something she wanted... something other than a boy. Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance, but it was refreshing to see the main character so passionate about something else. It definitely reminded me how lucky I am to have the opportunity to go to school... with all the stress, homework, and insane costs, it's easy to forget that.
 
But wait! There's romance too! Which, honestly, I should have anticipated, but I really hadn't. It was interesting an interesting and memorable romance, since, during the development of the romance, Bet is still disguised as Will. Understandably, this leads to some awkward moments, but Baratz-Logsted did a wonderful job making their story believable.
 
Grade: A
 

Review copy provided by publisher.

One Question Blog Tour feat. Lauren Baratz-Logsted!

Today Lauren Baratz-Logsted visits The Hiding Spot as part of the One Question Blog Tour to promote THE EDUCATION OF BET, which was released July 12th! As the name implies, I was able to ask Lauren one question before she traveled on to her next stop at There's A Book!

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The Question

My blog is dedicated to my personal hiding spot, books. Who, what, or where can be credited as your personal escape from reality?

Well, you got me. The only answer I can possibly give is the same answer you gave: books. Whether reading them or writing them, books are my escape. When reading, I get to explore other worlds. When writing, I get to create worlds that others will hopefully want to explore with me. Really, I'm a one-note person. When my daughter is in school, I either write or read pretty much every minute from 7am to 4pm. One thing I do wish? That I could read the way I did when I was younger. By that I mean truly lose myself in a book. I can remember lying in bed at night with a new book when I was a kid, stopping every so often to fully visualize characters and settings to the point where it was as though I was living inside the story. As a result I still have a map in my mind of exactly what I think the Devon School from A Separate Peace looks like. But ask me to describe in detail the setting from a book I read last week and, unless the author's power of description was truly spectacular, I can't tell you a thing. So the escape is still there but it's a different escape than it once was.

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For more about Lauren and her novels, visit her website!

And be sure to check out some of the other questions Lauren's been answering... and what's coming up!

July 26: Christina/Insert Book Title Here: What advice would you give an aspiring author? HERE



July 29: Danielle/There's A Book: Recently, you mentioned that you have an absolute "love affair" with door stops aka Fat Books (BiblioBuffet's Writer-in-Residence). Having said this, knowing that you've written some "skinnier" books, and must have a few favorites of those out there...I'd like to ask what your top 5 "skinny" books are and none of them may have been written by yourself or a family member. HERE

Review: Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Title: Siren
Author: Tricia Rayburn
Publisher: Egmont USA
Pub. Date: 7.13.10
Genre: YA
Keywords: Supernatural, Siren, Love, Friendship, Sisters, Murder, Myths
Pages: 352
Plot (from arc):
Something deadly waits beneath the saves off Winter Harbor, and this summer, no one is safe.
Vacationing in Winter Harbor, Maine, is a tradition for Vanessa and Justine Sands, and that means spending time with the Carmichael boys. This summer, Vanessa is determined to channel some of her older sister’s boldness, get over her fear of the ocean, and maybe turn her friendship with Simon Carmichael into something more.
But when Justine goes cliff-diving after a big family argument, and her body washes ashore the next day, Vanessa is sure that it was more than an accident. She is more certain of this, when she discovers that her sister was keeping some big secrets and Caleb Carmichael’s gone missing! Suddenly, the entire oceanfront town is abuzz when a series of grim, water-related accidents occur, with the male victims washed ashore grinning ear to ear.
Vanessa and Simon team up to figure out if these creepy deaths have anything to do with Justine and Caleb, but what Vanessa discovers might mean the end of her summer romance and life as she knows it.

I consider myself lucky when I say that I was able to read SIREN months before its release. In fact, I picked it up based solely the title and cover art, before I'd ever even heard of it. I had no idea what to expect, but soon found myself completely immersed in the mystery and romance of Rayburn's phenomenal YA debut.

It isn’t hard to guess what the novel is about, given the description and title, but that doesn’t stop Tricia Rayburn from writing a compelling mystery with a great love story. Sure, the reader knows that there will be mysterious deaths and Vanessa's relationship with a childhood friend will most likely grow into something more, but the lack of mystery is made up for by the superb writing and characters.


When I hear "siren," the first thought that pops into my head is mermaids. Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid to be precise. Sirens are not mermaids, which Rayburn makes abundantly clear. There are very few YA novels that involve honest-to-goodness, homocidal sirens, but, if they're anything like Rayburn's, I wish there were more. I'm hopeful that Rayburn will further explore siren lore in her future novels; in SIREN the history and motivations were mentioned, but I would love to see further exploration.

Despite the obvious spoilers about the mysterious deaths, Rayburn still keeps readers on their toes. While it is quite obvious who is killing these men, the why isn’t so clear. In addition, Vanessa’s sister dies under mysterious circumstances, adding an unexpected twist. Justine’s death can't be pinned on the sirens as easily as male deaths.

Apart from the supernatural plot line, SIREN is also a great coming-of-age story. Vanessa grows significantly throughout the novel as she discovers more about herself, Justine, and the history of Winter Harbor. I found her relationship with her late sister to be particularly interesting; there was so much more to the sisters’ story than I had anticipated.

And then there’s Simon. SIREN's description boasts a burgeoning relationship between Vanessa and Simon, which, of course, caught my eye. I definitely like romances where "friends" find themselves becoming "more than friends" and Rayburn writes the evolution wonderfully. There's just the right amount of tension and denial and confusion.

Grade: A

Waiting on Wednesday (30)

WoW is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine!

I have two WoW picks today, since one will be released in July and the other is a 2011 release. I'm broken hearted about having to wait for OTHER WORDS FOR LOVE, so I've consoled myself with THE GRIMM LEGACY!

Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal
Delacorte/1.11.11
Description (from author website):
Ari Mitchell feels invisible at her Brooklyn high school. Her hair is too flat, her style too preppy, and her personality too quiet. And outside school, Ari feels outshined by her beautiful, confident best friend, Summer. Their friendship is as complex and confusing as Ari’s relationship with her troubled older sister, Evelyn, a former teenage mom whose handsome firefighter husband fills Ari’s head with guilty fantasies.

When an unexpected inheritance enables Ari to transfer to an elite Manhattan prep school, she makes a wealthy new friend, Leigh. Leigh introduces Ari to the glamorous side of New York—and to her gorgeous cousin, Blake. Ari doesn't think she stands a chance, but amazingly, Blake asks her out. As their romance heats up, they find themselves involved in an intense, consuming relationship. Ari’s family worries that she is losing touch with the important things in life, like family, hard work, and planning for the future. Meanwhile, Summer warns her that what she feels for Blake is just an infatuation. Not real love. But Ari’s world is awash with new colors, filled with a freshness and an excitement she hasn’t felt in years.
When misfortune befalls Blake’s family, he pulls away, and Ari's world drains of color. As she struggles to get over the breakup, Ari must finally ask herself: were their feelings true love . . . or something else?

I'm on a bit of a contemporary YA kick right now, so OTHER WORDS FOR LOVE hold definite appeal.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
Putnam Juvenile/7.8.10
Description (from GoodReads)
Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library— a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That’s where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales: seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White’s stepmother’s sinister mirror that talks in riddles.
When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime—or captured by the thief.
Polly Shulman has created a contemporary fantasy with a fascinating setting and premise, starring an ordinary girl whose after-school job is far from ordinary— and leads to a world of excitement, romance and magical intrigue.

I'm not sure I have to explain why I'm excited about THE GRIMM LEGACY. I adored Shulman's ENTHUSIASM and I have no doubt that I'll enjoy this one!

Cover of the Week (8)

Cover of the Week is a weekly feature at The Hiding Spot, in which I share a cover that gives me that swoony feeling.

Take Me There by Carolee Dean

Simon Pulse/7.20.2010
Description (from GoodReads):
Sometimes sexy, sometimes sad, and always intense, Take Me There is a dark and surprising novel about a boy on the run who's headed nowhere fast.

Dylan has a bad-boy past and a criminal record. He knows that rich, beautiful Jess is way too good for him—but she has always been the one person who sees through his tough exterior and straight to his heart, and he has been hopelessly in love with her from the first time they met. He would change his life for a chance with her.
But trouble follows Dylan wherever he goes, and a deadly mistake soon forces him to hit the road and leave his dreams behind. He’s on the run and in search of answers—answers to questions he wishes he’d never asked.

For the longest time the only information I could find of this novel's plot was that first line of the description. Still, I knew that I needed to read this novel: the cover is perfect. Placement of title unique and eyecatching, check. Captivating tagline, check. Great cover image that is not only appealing to a romance junkie like myself, but interesting with its slightly off center angle, check. Now, the story just has to live up to that gorgeous cover!

Waiting on Wednesday (26)

WoW is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine!

By Midnight: A Ravenwood Mystery by Mia James
Publisher: Gollancz
Pub. Date: July 15, 2010
Plot (from GoodReads):
April Dunne is not impressed. She's had to move from Edinburgh to Highgate, London, with her parents. She's left her friends - and her entire life - behind. She has to start at a new school and, worst of all, now she's stuck in a creepy old dump of a house which doesn't even have proper mobile phone reception. Ravenwood, her new school, is a prestigious academy for gifted (financially or academically) students - and the only place her parents could find her a place, in the middle of term, in the middle of London, on incredibly short notice. So she's stuck with the super-rich, and the super-smart . . . and trying to fit in is when the rest of the students seem to be more glamorous, smarter, or more talented than she is, is more than tough. It's intimidating and isolating, even when she finds a friend in the conspiracy-theorist Caro Jackson - and perhaps finds something more than friendship in the gorgeous, mysterious Gabriel Swift. But there's more going on at Ravenwood than meets the eye. Practical jokes on new students are normal, but when Gabriel saves her from . . . something . . . . in the Highgate Cemetery, and then she discovers that a murder took place, just yards away from where she had been standing, April has to wonder if something more sinister is going on. . . . and whether or not she's going to live through it . . .

BY MIDNIGHT sounds like it has all of my favorite things! I'm especially excited about the mentions of romance and mystery! Plus, I really like the cover art!

Cover Alert: Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Forget You by Jennifer Echols
Publisher: MTV Books
Pub. Date: July 20, 2010
Summary:
Zoey’s life in her Florida beach resort town is happy and organized. She’s the captain of her high school swim team, and she works for her dad at his popular water park. Then her dad has an affair with one of his employees, and her mother has a breakdown. But Zoey begins a committed relationship with a hot lifeguard, which makes her feel stable, even if things aren’t perfect at home. Everything is still under control.

Until she has a car accident that she can’t remember. She should have been with her boyfriend that night, but he doesn’t seem to know anything about the accident—and he doesn’t seem to care. The person who does care, and knows more than he’s telling, is Doug, Zoey’s darkly handsome arch-enemy who saved her from the wreckage. As Zoey begins to piece together what happened that night, she finds her sense of control over her life was only an illusion. And she inches closer to discovering the darkest secret of all: why Doug has fallen in love with her.

GOING TOO FAR is one of my all-time favorite books, so I've been looking forward to Echols' next MTVBooks novel pretty much since I finished the last line in GTF. The cover art for FORGET YOU is just as compelling as Echols' last novel... and the plot summary sounds amazing as well. This book is definitely one that I will be rushing to the bookstore for. And devouring. Immediately.

Cover Alert: Other by Karen Kincy!

Other by Karen Kincy (Flux, 7/1/10)

Seventeen-year-old Gwen hides a dangerous secret: she’s Other. Half-pooka, to be exact, thanks to the father she never met. Most Americans don’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for Others, especially not the small-town folks of Klikamuks, Washington. As if this isn’t bad enough, Gwen’s on the brink of revealing her true identity to her long-time boyfriend, Zack, but she’s scared he’ll lump her with the likes of bloodthirsty vampires and feral werewolves.

When a pack of werewolves chooses the national forest behind Gwen’s home as their new territory, the tensions in Klikamuks escalate-into murder. It soon becomes clear a serial killer is methodically slaying Others. The police turn a blind eye, leaving Gwen to find the killer before the killer finds her. As she hunts for clues, she uncovers more Others living nearby than she ever expected. Like Tavian, a sexy Japanese fox-spirit who rivals Zack and challenges her to embrace her Otherness. Gwen must struggle with her own conflicted identity, learn who she can trust, and-most importantly-stay alive.

This cover is absolutely amazing! It fits the description wonderfully - I love that the girl in the image is starting to transform at her shoulder. Can't wait for this book!
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Waiting on Wednesday (12)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine!

*Not final cover image
Forget You by Jennifer Echols (MTVbooks, July 2010)
Zoey’s life in her Florida beach resort town is happy and organized. She’s the captain of her high school swim team, and she works for her dad at his popular water park. Then her dad has an affair with one of his employees, and her mother has a breakdown. But Zoey begins a committed relationship with a hot lifeguard, which makes her feel stable, even if things aren’t perfect at home. Everything is still under control.

Until she has a car accident that she can’t remember. She should have been with her boyfriend that night, but he doesn’t seem to know anything about the accident—and he doesn’t seem to care. The person who does care, and knows more than he’s telling, is Doug, Zoey’s darkly handsome arch-enemy who saved her from the wreckage. As Zoey begins to piece together what happened that night, she finds her sense of control over her life was only an illusion. And she inches closer to discovering the darkest secret of all: why Doug has fallen in love with her.

Jennifer Echols' Going Too Far is one of my favorite books of all time, so you can imagine my excitement at hearing MTVbooks is releasing another of her books! Forget You sounds absolutely amazing - I have a feeling that I'm going to be rushing to the bookstore to get this one the day it comes out! I definitely have high expectations! :)

P.S. Sorry that this is up a day early! I messed up the scheduling a bit... :S