Running Out Of Time

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. 1995. Running Out of Time.

Jessie Keyser has lived her whole life in a small village, Clifton, where the year is 1840 and a disease is threatening to become an epidemic. But what she doesn’t know can save her...for outside her small village, the year is 1996. In the 1980s, a millionaire had a ‘brilliant’ idea of creating an authentic tourist attraction where volunteers would throw themselves back in time while tourists secretly watched. Jessie’s mother and father were two of the original volunteers. The rules were simple. Anyone was supposed to be able to leave if they changed their mind. While they couldn’t discuss the ‘twentieth-century world’ with just anyone, they could tell their children once they turned twelve. They were supposed to have access to modern medicine in the case of life-threatening illnesses. But what happens when the rulebook is thrown out? Can Jessie save her village from disaster? Full of secrets and surprises, RUNNING OUT OF TIME is an exciting science fiction read.

Reading the Author Challenge

Today is the first day of the Reading the Author Challenge hosted by Incurable Logophilia. This is a fairly simple and straightforward challenge. You pick an author. Any author. You choose the number of books. You choose which books. The challenge ends December 31, 2007.

My author? Orson Scott Card. My books? Speaker for the Dead. Ender's Shadow. And Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus. Why only three? Well, none of these are YA books. And none of them were published in 2007. So every hour I spend reading them is one hour less I have to devote to reading what I'm supposed to be reading. So three it will be for now. Perhaps, with the 24 Hour Reading Challenge coming up, hosted by The Hidden Side of the Leaf, I'll be able to knock off many on my tbr pile and I can squeeze in a few more titles. We'll have to wait and see.

The good news? This goes perfectly with my own challenge I'm trying to promote: the Cardathon Challenge. My challege begins "officially" in January. I'm finding that most people are shopping now for their new year challenges. But unofficially, my participants can start the day they join. Chris has already posted a review of one, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. While you're at his site, be sure to check out his post, How I Found My Favorite Author. His post is a response to my prompt on sharing your story on how you became a fan. Read mine here.

For those curious of the Cardathon rules and wondering why Bridge To Terabithia--clearly by Paterson and not Orson Scott Card is part of the challenge--then read the guidelines on eligible books.

To qualify for the Cardathon Challenge a book needs to meet one of the following criteria:

1) a book written by Orson Scott Card
2) a book edited/compiled by Orson Scott Card
3) a book with an introduction by Orson Scott Card
4) a book reviewed by Orson Scott Card on his official website.

Meme time

First meme of the month, of course, this is only the first day of September, but still. I saw this one at Sarah Miller's blog.

Last book I bought:

I bought Eclipse on August 7th. I just couldn't wait.

Book I'm reading:

I'm currently reading that ever-so-thick 7 Science Fiction Novels of H.G. Wells. Last night I finished Dragon's Keep. And I'm one chapter into Dracula. But I have other *books* that are calling out my name. Some are due at the library this Wednesday. And others are due back at TWU on September 10th. So Dracula might have to wait a week. But NOTHING can stand in my way of finishing Wells.

Total number of books I own:

Freakishly too scary. The only databases I have are for Bibles and Christian nonfiction. I have about 60 or 70 of one. And 400 of the other. But I would probably say several thousand books or more. Probably greater than anything I could count to. I have at least two hundred books stacked up waiting to be read and reviewed. As I said. Very very scary.

Three books that mean a lot to me:

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Umbrella by Taro Yashima

Favorite Book:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. [Hint: Join the Cardathon Challenge "officially" beginning in January to see for yourself what makes this book so great!]

Last film I saw:

I haven't seen a movie in the theatre all year. The last one I saw was Pirates II. And that has been awhile I know. The last film I saw at home was Journey to the Center of the Earth. I watched it for the Book to Movie Challenge.

Three films that mean a lot to me:

This one is very hard for me. There's my silly, romantic side that gets all *giddy* at "Nobody puts, Baby, in corner." and "I carried a watermelon." And then there is this grown-up side that knows this answer shouldn't be embarrassing.

Sound of Music.
Anne of Green Gables. The first two movies. Not the horrible, wretched third one that is a sin.
Princess Bride

Last CD I bought.

Caedmon's Call: Overdressed. Casting Crowns: The Altar and the Crown.

Song currently playing:

None. I haven't been listening to music this week. I've been listening to Life As We Knew It instead.

Songs that mean a lot to me:

'83 by John Mayer.
Sing by The Carpenters
All You Need Is Love by The Beatles

Favorite Food:

Chocolate cheesecake.

Favorite Drink:

Coke.

Favorite Charity:

First Book

Favorite Vacation:

I love Colorado Springs :)

Favorite Vice:

Sarcasm

Dragon's Keep

Carey, Janet Lee. 2007. Dragon's Keep.

I loved Dragon's Keep. It was just so good. Rosalind is a princess. That means her life must be perfect, right? Doesn't royalty bring with it perfection? Doesn't being a princess make you entitled to having EVERYTHING you ever wanted? Not if your Rosalind. Rosalind and her mother, the Queen, are keeping a secret. A big secret. Rosalind's 'wedding finger' is a dragon claw. It's a shameful secret hidden behind golden gloves. Rosalind has more than the pressure of a shameful secret weighing her down though, her mother reminds her constantly that she is the one--Rosalind is the one--that will fulfill Merlin's six-hundred-year prophecy about bringing peace to the kingdom and restoring everything--everyone. Her destiny--her future--may just be tied up with her left hand--though she doesn't know it. The Queen is always searching for cures, for healers--even if those "cures" come from whether dark and creepy sources like the mountain witch. But the cures aren't working, and at times Rosalind feels she's being punished for her mother's crimes. Rosalind's destiny weighs heavy on her. Because of it, men--good men--are sent to war AND sent to fight and kill the dragon.

Rosalind is a princess with a heavy burden and some difficult choices. Her story is exciting and one-of-a-kind.

This book reminds me of The Last Dragon by Silvana de Mari, Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley, and Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.

Among the Enemy

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. 2005. Among the Enemy

When the government is overthrown in AMONG THE BRAVE, the celebrations only last for mere minutes. Soon the dreadful news sink in. The Population Police have overthrown the government. And the Population Police show no mercy. Matthias is the narrator in our sixth book of the series. Matthias and his friends Percy and Alia are taken by the population police along with the whole student body of his school. In fact, one of the first things the new government did was to close down all schools and to ‘take’ the children as a work force saying that they’d have to start earning the food they’d eat if they want to survive. But when the truck carrying the three children has an accident, things go in a different direction. While Percy and Matthias survive the crash, their youngest friend, Alia is in serious danger. With a head injury, she remains unconscious for days. Forced to carry her as they make their way through the woods at night, it seems almost unbearable until their situation gets even worse. When Percy is shot in the leg, it’s up to Matthias to figure out a way to save both their lives and his own. What is a young boy to do? Overwhelmed, Matthias’ adventure is only beginning.