Photo Card

Giraffe Gallery Blue Baby Announcements

Shutterfly has custom baby invitations and birth announcements.

View the entire collection of cards.

This Girl is Different by JJ Johnson

This Girl is Different
JJ Johnson
Anticipated publication date: April, 2011
Peachtree Publishing

Summary from publisher's site:

What happens when a girl, homeschooled by her counterculture mother, decides to spend her senior year in public school? First friendship, first love—and first encounters with the complexities of authority and responsibility.

 

"Evie" (her real name is big secret that she wants no one to know) has decided to go to "real" school for her senior year and discovers that her upbringing has not exactly prepared her to live and study in society. I really enjoyed the character of Evie-she seemed real and reminded me of a freethinking student I taught a few years ago. Evie firmly believes in the power of the people to promote positive change, but sadly discovers that not everyone shares her vision and has difficulty adjusting to the hierarchy of authority at her school. Her mother, Martha, does not help matters. Martha does not believe in school, rules, or authority and questions everything. 

Evie manages to make friends with Jacinda (a popular cheerleader) and Raja (Jacinda's cousin who lacks ambition). The contrast of Evie and Jacinda makes an interesting storyline, but I am pretty sure would never occur in a real high school. At times this book is funny, entertaining, and touching, but at other times feels kind of contrived and little bit like a combination of the book "Stargirl" and parts of the movie "Mean Girls". 

About this blog

I received a 3G Nook for Christmas and have decided to enter the realm of "blogger book reviews". I am currently an elementary librarian and I assist at the district level for collection development at all campuses. I signed up to review books for NetGalley.com. This blog will give reviews for NetGalley and anything else I might stumble across.