Contest Saturday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now. Click the links to enter them. I will hold my own contest on the last Contest Saturday of each month. That means my first contest will be on January 29th. Details will be on that post.

Win a pre-order of Delirium by Lauren Oliver HERE Ends 1/29

Win a Holiday Prize Pack HERE Ends 1/10

Win a copy of Lose/Queen by Jodi Lynn Anderson HERE Ends 1/12

Win a copy of Clockwork Angel AND I Will Save You HERE Ends 1/15

Win some Born at Midnight book swag HERE Ends 1/13

Win some Unearthly book swag HERE Ends 1/12

Win a copy of The Locket by Stacey Jay HERE Ends 1/26

Win THREE books of your choice from a list of many HERE Ends 1/9

Win one of two prize packs HERE Ends 1/31

Win an Alice in Wonderland necklace with book charms HERE Ends 1/25

Win a copy of A Touch of Mortal by Leah Clifford HERE Ends 1/23

Win a copy of Loser/Queen by Jodi Lynn Anderson HERE Ends 1/27

Win a $55 gift code to use at any CSN store HERE Ends 1/17

Win $25 for a shopping spree at The Book Depository HERE Ends 1/9

Win a $100 gift card to a variety of book stores HERE Ends 1/9

Win a prize pack of books HERE Ends 1/9

Teen Issue: Organization

Note: These are my personal, unprofessional opinions from my own experience.

Organization: Being in high school is pretty demanding and stressful as it is. One of the hardest things for me is staying on task and getting everything done before the last minute. Unfortunately, several times I have left projects, papers, and homework in general until the last minute. This doesn't only apply to school. I'll wait too long to do my laundry and am then left with nothing to wear. Or I'm planning to have friends over and end up waiting too long to clean up, and in turn being embarrassed. Here are some methods that I use to keep my life a little more organized and on track.

• Make a "to do" list. This can get as obsessive as you want. It can be a simple list of things such as "clean room, take shower, finish algebra," or you can get more technical with "Vacuum floor, pick up clothes, put away books." That way you can remember exactly what you want to do.
• Make a schedule. This is very similar to a to do list but has a little more structure. An example would be: 12:00- Do math homework, 1:30- Put laundry in washer..etc.
• Put reminders on your phone for big projects or even short term goals. That way you can get a little update on what you need to do. For example, "Science project due next Wednesday."
• Instead of getting really stressed out about a project or a paper that you have to write, turn it into a lot of little homework assignments instead. Decide to write a 100 words a day, or buy of all the supplies you need by the weekend. That way you can think of it one piece at a time instead of trying to take everything on at once.
• Get friends to bug you. It helps when your friends know what you need to do. Then they can randomly as you how a project is going or how far you are. Also, you want to please and impress your friends. You want them to be proud of you, not disappointed, this will push you to get things done faster and better.

Simple things like these will make your life a little less hectic. I am the stressful friend in my group because I often take a lot on at once, but these things help me out and keep me more relaxed. Here are some supplies that can help organize your life:

• A cork board. After you make a list of things that you want to do, just tack it up.
• A dry erase board. Write your to do list or schedule here.
• A planner/agenda. Helps you keep track of things you want to do.
• A calendar. Makes it easy to plan out long term plans and goals.

I hope these ideas help you out. If you have a teen issue that you would like me to discuss don't hesitate to e-mail me. txmandaxt@yahoo.com

-Amanda

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Title: The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

Author: Kody Keplinger

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Age Group: Young Adult

Grade: C

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This book made me think about some things. I'm still in high school so the things that were talked about could be applied to me and my group of friends. I've never really thought about being the DUFF or anything of that sort, but I have thought about being the least liked friend or getting left out, etc. After I finished the book I talked to my friends and they felt the same way. We thought it was funny that each of us felt like the DUFF.

The whole concept of the book is a little cliched. You know, the whole "I HATE him. Wellll he isn't so bad...actually I like him. I HATE him again." It was predictable. Also, a lot of Bianca's actions didn't align with the personality that she put forth. There was often no reasoning and Bianca, as a character, was mostly boring and desperate for attention. At first I liked her strong will and confident attitude. I could also appreciate that she was the "mature" friend. Later though, after she gives in to the DUFF concept and lets it tear her apart it was hard to like her. Why would she be with a guy that made her feel that bad? It just annoyed me.

The best part of the book was probably Bianca's relationship with her parents. Most of the time it took a back seat to Wesley, but when it came out, it sucked me right back into the book. Most teens can relate to parent issues including divorce which made the book a lot more readable. It was great to see their relationship evolve.

Another thing that I really liked was Bianca's sarcastic and witty comments to Wesley. Those random moments where she would grow a back bone and stick up for herself. And made me proud.

Overall Bianca wasn't a completely horrible character and the plot was a bit interesting and fun. The characters on the side lines also got their time to shine.

-Amanda
Book received free from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Waiting on Wednesday

Across the Universe by Beth Revis--January 11th

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next. Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Drought By Pam Bachorz--January 25th

Ruby dreams of escaping the Congregation. Escape from slaver Darwin West and his cruel Overseers. Escape from struggling to gather the life-prolonging Water that keeps the Congregants alive--and Darwin rich. Escape from her certain, dreary existence, living as if it's still the early 1800s, when the Congregation was first enslaved. But if Ruby leaves, the Congregation will die without the secret ingredient to the Water: her blood. So she stays, and prays to their savior Otto, who first gave Water to the Congregants... and fathered Ruby before he vanished.When the Congregants discover Ruby's forbidden romance with an Overseer, they beat Ford to stop her from running away with him. Ruby steals their store of Water to save Ford's life and is banished. Ruby has everything she's dreamed of: a modern life with Ford. But the modern world isn't what she thought it would be, and Ruby can't forsake the Congregation. Love and loyalty push Ruby to return and fight for her family's freedom...at a terrible price.

-Amanda