Bookburger

10 SEC LIT CRIT: Top 10 Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro

Hey all--here's incredibly cool teen reviewer Hannah to tell us about another one of these prom-themed YA novels....this one's called Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro. Take it away Hannah....

Have you ever been prepared for the night of your life, when, all of a sudden, it comes crashing down? Nicolette Antonivich has. Two days before prom, her spur-of-the-moment date decided to dump her, and her beautiful prom dress. Months later, she still can't give the dress, or the guy, up, and more things than prom are starting to come crashing down. Her home life, her school life, and her friendships all take a turn towards the unexpected, and it's up to her and her prom dress to make things better. Well, maybe with the help of her best friends incredibly cute older brother, too. I liked the book a lot, and read it all at once. I might not spend money to buy it, but I would definitely check it out at the library.

10 Sec Lit Crit (special prom edition): Prom Dates from Hell

Back when your friendly neighborhood burger-flippers (ie, the bookburger masterminds) were going to proms, there were no books to get you into the prom-season spirit...you just had to get all anxious, dread-filled, and dress-obsessed on your own. Now, big publishing houses are sending prom-themed novels out into the world like so many corsage-pinned debutantes....and we've got Hannah, our teen reviewer extraordinaire to get all Simon Cowell on them. So here's her first prom-novel review...

If you have a slight fear of demons, or of mirrors, then Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore is not, and i repeat, NOT the book for you. I'm pretty sure I was up till five this morning wondering whether i was imagining the putrid smell of burning. (Don't worry, I was)

Anyway, this was a great book. The writing was fabulous, the plot line made perfect sense, and I couldn't put the book down. I highly suggest it for anyone who does not fall into the catagory of extremely afraid of everything or easily influenced by thought. Or for people like you who don't actually mind being afraid.
Or maybe you're like Maggie, a hero with pretty good intuition and enough salt to save the world. That's all she needed--or had--when well-known people in her school started suffering odd accidents. Was this just a coincidence, or was something 'hellish' happening? Read it before your prom--or else!

PS Bookburger's on vacay til next week...see you then!!

10 SEC LIT CRIT: Boys That Bite by Mari Mancusi

Every full moon, it seems, a novel about nightstalking dental misfits turns up in our mailbox.  Here's teen reviewer Hannah's take on Mari Mancusi's Boys That Bite, which came out in paperback last year.

A few months ago I reviewed Mari Mancussi's Stake That! I liked it alot,
and I was incredibly pumped to read its prequel, Boys That Bite. And it didn't dissapoint me--I couldn't put it down. Imagine being bit a week before prom by an incredibly gorgeous vampire (who was actually going for your twin sister).  Hard to picture? Well, you honestly don't have to... you could just read this book! Because that's exactly what happens to our friend Summer, who's just trying to get through high school, and doesn't really need an aversion to sunlight on her plate. Mari Mancussi has done it again and I'm betting she'll do it at least one more time... I can't wait to read Girls That Growl!

10-second lit crit: Incantation by Alice Hoffman

Here's the latest mini-review from Hannah, our 15-year-old critic extraordinaire:

I actually didn't really want to read Incantation all that much. I couldn't really tell what it was about from the back cover, and that made me a little wary. But when I find a book, I read it, regardless of whether I think it's going to be good or not. And guess what--it was good! It was pretty intense, too, though, so if you're not one up for alot of gory details, this probably isn't the book for you. It shows the horrid persecution of Jews in the 1500s in all-too-vivid detail. But it also reveals the way life goes on, and how good things and love can come out of even the worst possible situations.

Thanks Hannah!

10-second lit crit: Stake That!

Hey--it's time for another mini-review (we keep 'em short because you know how most reviewers babble on and on...) from Hannah, our teenage reading queen. She read Mari Mancusi's Stake That. This toothy YA tale isn't out until December 5, but we wanted to give you a little nibble in advance...take it away, Hannah:

Stake That:
Vampire books are amazing. That comes as a bit of a shock to me, as I always thought they would be dark and gloomy and creepy, but when I [somewhat reluctantly] started reading Stake That! I couldn't put it down. Mari Mancusi knows what she's doing--she was able to write just like a teenager, online slang included, and make the impossible seem real. It's hard to say anything about the book with out giving away the whole plot, but I'll just let you know, it includes all the things that make a book amazing: gorgeous vampires with accents, dangerous missions, and quite a bit of kissing. =]

10-Second Lit Crit!

We'd like to do more book reviewing here at the burger--but we're busy, dude. So are you, right? And have you ever noticed how most reviewers kind of blather on? We sure have. So as of today we're introducing  a new concept in literary critique. It's called the 10-second lit crit. We'll be getting guest reviewers on here to tell it like it us and keep it short. So say hey to Hannah. She's fifteen, a Bookburger reader, member of the B-list, and now a 10-second lit critic!

Hannah's take on a new release by Flux: Nina Wright's Homefree

Here's a page turner about a girl who's constantly being shuffled around by her desperate-for-money-and-a-husband mom. All of a sudden she starts getting shuffled around by... well, herself. A great read for people of all ages, especially those who enjoy a good teleportation every once in a while, along with other amazing paranormal stuff...and just a hint of teen romance. It's a pretty sweet catch for anyone who's ever felt alone in life. And hey, who hasn't?

Speedy and painless, right? Thanks Hannah! Think you could be a 10-sec lit critic? Drop us a line.