Save The Turtles!

Marina Kuperman has been living in Costa Rica for almost five years. After visiting the Playa Grande’s Leatherback Turtle National Marine Park and seeing this critically endangered animal, she became so moved that she not only wrote the book Turtle Feet, Surfer's Beat but also founded the online community for kids, teens and their parents to take action in a fun way to help marine preservation.

What is ‘Turtle Feet, Surfer’s Beat’ about?
My book revolves around a typical suburban teen girl, Penelope, from the States that is forced to go to Costa Rica with her parents for her father’s job assignment. Involuntarily, her parents sign up Penelope to spend two weeks at the Leatherback turtle biological station (for ‘her own good’). Penelope, obviously isn’t pleased but forgives the horrid accommodations and the never-ending bug brigade as she sees the turtle and instantly pledges to do all she can to help it from extinction. But hang ten, dudes! Penelope is about to get help. One lonely night, as she’s patrolling the beach for turtle poachers she stumbles and falls directly into the arms of the local surf champ. Together they dive into the world of surfing and marine preservation.

Your website www.turtlefeetsurfersbeat.com is more directed at a community setting rather than focusing directly on the book, why is that?
I figure, a good read helps to get us all hyped-up to take action and make a difference, especially if it’s for a good cause. And that’s exactly what my book intends to do. Since, we are all in the know about the conditions of our oceans, and really wanna do something to start making a difference. Plus, we also know that everything is so much more fun to do when you’re having a blast at it with friends. So, that’s exactly what www.turtlefeetsurfersbeat.com is all about. It’s not your typical site of more information thrown at you, but rather a way to get involved and join forces with your favourite surfers, musicians, artists, conservationists, and other cool people already taking action.

Don't Wanna Sneeze! Achooo!

I've got the flu! I've got the flu!

NO, I'm certainly not happy about it, it's obvious! How did I get the flu? I have no idea. This morning, in class, while writing notes, I was busy wiping my nose away. Disgusting, yeah, but I can't help it. I had to go to class like a good girl on a Monday morning. Even though my nose was behaving like a waterfall.

Then, I got home and continued sneezing. I can't count the number of times my heart stopped to give way to my sneezes. It is terrible. I hate getting the flu.

Well, I bought Scott's Emulsion Orange Flavour and will take 3 spoonfuls a day after every meal and at the same time hoping that my flu will miraculously go away. I have more classes to attend tomorrow!

I'm still reading Holes by Louis Sachar. If I set my mind to it, I can finish it today because I'm halfway through the book. Most unfortunately, I'm busy sneezing so I don't think I'll get much reading done. And I have one more assignment to complete. Yes, only one assignment left for me. My friends have two more! But, after the assignment, it's time to get ready for my exams, which will most likely begin at the end of next month.

All right. See ya then.

Missing Pages!

I bet you've gone through this before, where you borrowed a book or two from the library and one of them have some pages missing! Yeah, that's just what happened to me. I borrowed a book related to my class and was saddened to find that the pages jumped from page 14 to page 29! Looks like I've got to borrow another of the same book again.

Why do these people tear pages off the book? It does not even belong to them in the very first place. Some people don't even return the book, which is terrible. Well, at least if you borrow a book, please bear in mind to NOT tear out pages that you like. Photocopy them! That should be the way, isn't it?

By the way, last night, I installed more plugins from WordPress for my book blog, Books Love Me! One of them is inserting our signatures at the end of each post, which is so nice.

However, I can't seem to get rid of the black border around my signature and it's placed in the centre. I have to do a few things(not sure what!) to remove the border and also to place it at the left hand side. Anyone willing to help? Thanks in advance!

How Many Books Do You Own? Do you even count???

I feel like doing a meme about books now and searched through my favourite search engine, Google! And this came out.

Total number of books owned:

Nah, I don't bother to count. I'd like more books but too bad, space is limited, you see, so it's hard to keep a lot of books. And those that I don't like, I try to get rid of them!

Last book bought:

Holes by Louis Sachar (Paperback)! I saw half of the movie on TV3 a few weeks ago and I sort of remembered that Holes is a must-read book. There were two versions in Borders. One was a hardback and cost RM60++, which I'll not pay for a book! And since there was a cheaper paperback version, only RM27.90, I grabbed it.

Last book read:

Doing It by Melvin Burgess.

Five books that mean a lot to you:

1) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge
3) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
4) Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
5) Roots by Alex Haley

Tag five people to continue this meme:

1) nylusmilk from The Literary Pursuit
2) Becky from Becky's Book Reviews
3) Erlynda from advent child
4) Princess Shin from Cherry, Plum, Peach and Damson blossoms
5) zeek from The Way I See It

New Look For Booksloveme.com!

Yup, it's a whole new look. Just changed the theme because I found another site using my usual theme. So, I happened to find this nice, new one and decided to take the plunge and changed it!

Oh, I'm not without problems anyway. After upgrading my WordPress version and installing the new theme, now all the apostrophes(') are gone. They've been replaced by mindless characters. For example:

This is the second time I’m reading something by Noel Streatfeild. The story starts with Harriet Johnson who’s not feeling very well and doesn’t look very well either. She’s nearly ten years old but she doesn’t have the energy and vivacity of normal ten-year-old kids.

And now, I suppose I have to edit EVERY single one of my posts! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! How long will that take, huh? It seems like forever to me. If there's another way, I'll gladly try it. As long as it's easier and faster!

Have You Read Them?

I was blog-hopping and came to Chasing Ray - Everybody's Favourite Coming-of-age Novels, Including Many You May Not Have Heard Of. Some award thing was going on and a few lists of books have been put up. They are the winners, I guess. Check out the ones that you've read and hunt for those which you haven't yet!

Books Girls Will Identify With Strongly

Say Goodnight, Gracie by Julie Reece Deaver (death)
The Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti (death)
Swollen by Melissa Lion (death)
Upstream by Melissa Lion (death)
Define Normal by Julie Ann Peters
Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Weiss (problem)
Born Confused by Tanja Desai Hidier (multicultural)
Figuring Out Frances by Gina Willner-Pardo
A Room on Lorelei St by Mary Pearson (problem) MULTIPLE VOTES
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen (death)
Pursuit of Happiness by Tara Altebrando (death)
The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredericks
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (problem) MULTIPLE VOTES
Stained by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
So B It by Sarah Weeks
An Egg on 3 Sticks by Jackie Fischer (death)
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (multicultural)
The Alison Rules by Catherine Clark (death)
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson (death)
Nothing But the Truth and a Few White Lies by Justina Chen Headley (multicultural) MULTIPLE VOTES
Camilla by Madeline L'Engle
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins (multicultural)
Not So Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen by Mitali Perkins (multicultural)
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engle (death) MULTIPLE VOTES
Good Girls by Laura Ruby
Zazoo by Robert Mosher (multicultural) MULTIPLE VOTES
Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci
The Queen of Cool by Cecil Castellucci
Beige by Cecil Castellucci MULTIPLE VOTES
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (problem)
A Brief Chapter In My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt (death)
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (death)
The Keeping Days series by Norma Johnston
Kalpana's Dream by Judith Clarke (multicultural)
The Geography of Girlhood by Kirsten Smith
Make Lemonade by Virginia Wolff
Celine by Brock Cole

Books Boys Will Identify With Strongly

Born to Rock by Gordon Korman
The Blue Helmet by William Bell (death) (Released only in Canada)
Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers (multicultural) (death)
King Dork by Frank Portman
Nothing But the Truth by Avi
Tyrell by Coe Booth (multicultural) (problem)
Funny Little Monkey by Andrew Auseon
Theories of Relativity by Barbara Haworth-Attard (problem)
What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Pum-Ucci (death)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky MULTIPLE VOTES
Hatchett by Gary Paulson
The Knights of Hill Country by Tim Tharp
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings (death)
The Maze by Will Hobbs
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Jude by Kate Morgenroth (death)
Pool Boy by Michael Simmons
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher (multicultural)
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher (problem)
Megiddo's Shadow by Arthur Slade (death)
Amaryllis by Craig Crist Evans (death)

Boys & Girls Will Relate Equally

Shadow of a Hero by Peter Dickinson
Friction by ER Frank
Homecoming by Cynthia Voight (death)
Just Like That by Marsha Qualey (death)
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Toll Bridge by Aidan Chambers
(Also all books in the Dance sextet by Aidan Chambers)
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli MULTIPLE VOTES
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Lottery by Beth Goobie (death)
It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (problem)
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Giver by Lois Lowery
Bridge to Teribithia by Katherine Paterson (death)
Kimchi & Calamari by Rose Kent (multicultural)
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (death)
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotsen
A Thief in the House of Memory by Tim Wynne Jones
Catalogue of the Universe by Margaret Mahy
Side Effects by Amy Koss (problem)
All of the Above by Shelly Pearsall (multicultural)
London Calling by Edward Bloor (death)
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

Books GLBT YAs Will Identify With Strongly

The Geography Club by Brent Hartinger (and sequels) MULTIPLE VOTES
Baby Be Bop by Francisca Lia Block
The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson MULTIPLE VOTES
Luna by Julie Ann Peters
Far From Xanadu by Julie Ann Peters
Keeping You a Secret by Julie Ann Peters
Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle
Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
Rules for Hearts by Sara Ryan
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan MULTIPLE VOTES
Wide Awake by David Levithan MULTIPLE VOTES
Dramarama by E. Lockhart
My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci
The Realm of Possibilities by David Levithan
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
Totally Joe by James Howe MULTIPLE VOTES
M or F? by Lisa Papademetriou and Chris Tibbetts
In the Garage by Alma Fullerton
Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters
Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle
The Hookup Artist by Tucker Shaw
So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez
What's in a Name by Ellen Wittlinger

Mysteries/Thrillers That Include Characters Coming-of-Age

The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin
As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Classics (Published before 1970)

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith MULTIPLE VOTES
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Just Above My Head by James Baldwin
The Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (death) MULTIPLE VOTES
Christy by Catherine Marshall
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield
White Boots by Noel Streatfield
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury MULTIPLE VOTES
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh MULTIPLE VOTES
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by EL Konigsberg MULTIPLE VOTES
The Outsiders by SE Hinton MULTIPLE VOTES
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Grass Harp by Truman Capote

Graphic Novels

The PLAIN Janes by Cecil Castellucci
Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Black Hole by Charles Burn
Blankets by Craig Thompson

Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Bartimeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud MULTIPLE VOTES
Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman MULTIPLE VOTES
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer MULTIPLE VOTES
City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
Warriors series by Erin Hunter MULTIPLE VOTES
Siberia by Ann Halam
Valiant by Holly Black
Cats of Seroster by Robert Westall
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Attolia books by Megan Whalen MULTIPLE VOTES
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander MULTIPLE VOTES
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana wynne Jones
Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones MULTIPLE VOTES
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Bulter (multicultural)
Corbenic by Catherine Fisher
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean
Magic or Madness trilogy by Justine Larbalestier (multicultural)
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (death)
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Beginning Place by Ursula K. LeGuin
House of Stairs by William Sleator

Adult Books With Coming-Of-Age Themes
(These were originally published for adult readers but many have been republished for YA readers now as well.)

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Shadow Baby by Alison McGhee (death)
A King Must Die by Mary Renault (also SFF)
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (also SFF)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (multicultural) (death)
Boys Life by Robert McCammon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene (multicultural)
The Girl I Wanted to Be by Sarah Grace McCandless
The Small Rain by Madeline L'Engle
Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn (death)
A Girl Like Che Guevera by Teresa de Caridad Doval (multicultural)

I've never heard of, like, 85% of the total of books listed above! Shows how little-read I am.