Let Your Mind Blume

I think Judy Blume is one of the best childrens' authors ever, even though most of her books were written back in the 70's. She really knew how to relate to children, and her books are really funny. So to go back to what I used to read, I reread two of my favorites. The books I read were actually my mom's old copies, because she read them when she was little.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing: I first read this book a long time ago, when I was like 6 or 7. It's about Peter Hatcher, who has a little brother named Farley Drexel, but everyone just calls him Fudge. Fudge gets into lots of trouble... from covering a suitcase in stamps to dumping peas on his head. I think every kid should read this book, it's a classic and short, too, so a quick read.
Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great: Meet Sheila, Peter Hatcher's annoying neighbor who's scared of everything from dogs to thunder storms to spiders to swimming. She and her family (the Tubmans) go away for their summmer vacation and Sheila has to confront all of her fears... with some new friends. I loved this book too because I can sort of relate to Sheila, how she makes up lies so her friends won't discover how scared she really is.

Yep, great books Judy Blume writes.

The Calling

Okay, as soon as I stop hyperventilating I'll talk about The Calling (The 7th book in the Sweep series) but for now I'm too traumatized by what happened.
In this book, we get to read Ciaran's Book of Shadows entries and we discover he's Morgan's father, not Angus, as we all were led to believe. I kind of had a hunch about this, so it wasn't a big surprise.
Cara came very close to ruining this book for me, though. She wanted to tell me the ending, but I said no, so all she would say was, "The ending made me cry." I don't cry easily, but I can see why she did... Morgan breaks up with Hunter! She did it because she thinks that, being a full Woodbane, she's incurably evil and doesn't want to hurt Hunter. I think that the gesture was sweet, BUT SHE'S AN IDOIOT. And Hunter finally confesses he loves her! Even before he said it out loud, you could SO tell he did, though. Like here:

"You were a vision, you know," he said, his voice soft and low. "Standing there in the hall in that innocent gown, your hair shining, holding a toothbrush of all things. I just wanted to run away with you."
"Really?" I whispered. "Where?"
"I don't know. Didn't think it through that far." He brushed back a strand of hair from my face.
(pg. 63)

And the ending...

"Things-- things have changed," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I'm sorry, I just don't love you anymore."
Hunter looked at me. We both knew I was lying.
"Listen." His voice was ragged. "I came here to tell you something else. I never really believed in all this muirn beatha dan stuff. I thought it was just romantic nonsense. But Morgan, you are my muirn beatha dan. I realized that when I thought I was going to lose you to Amyranth. I love you-- absolutely, totally, forever. You know that."
(pg. 188)

OMHP!! Isn't he awesome??? This next line is the last thing he says. I think it means that she can choose to ignore him and distance herself, but he'll just keep trying.

"We all make our own choices," he called after me.
(pg. 189)

I ♥ HUNTER

OMHP so I am falling head over heels for Hunter even more than Morgan is, if that's possible. Because I just finished Spellbound, Book 6 in the Sweep series.
And in this book, there are a couple of big surprises... good and bad.
First, CAL'S BACK!!! I was like, NOOOOOOOOO!!! I didn't want Morgan to fall for him again over Hunter, and that did cause a rift between them at first. But at the end, we see that SELENE AND CAL ARE GONE FOR GOOD!!! Even better for Morgan and Hunter, now there's nothing to come between them!
I feel sorry for Mary K., though. She was always another of my favorite characters, and she gets put into some danger in this book too.
We also get to read Selene's Book of Shadows entries at the beginning of each chapter. You find out some surprising things...
The ending was pretty good too: "All I could do was hold Mary K.'s hand and start to think up what I would tell my parents. Every version started with, 'It's because I'm a witch.'"
One last part about this book (besides the fact that there are so many good Hunter-and-Morgan scenes): Morgan finally gets caught up with all the other blood witches, knowledge-wise. She mindmelds with Alyce and gains a lifetime of knowledge. Sure, she almost dies, but I thought it was worth it.

A Very Corny Braid!

If you read Party Princess, you will know what I'm talking about. I love Meg Cabot's books... Something about them just makes you want to read them all (if you're a teenage girl, at least, which I am). Party Princess is part of her Princess Diaries series... It's Volume VII, and the only one I hadn't read.
I can't believe I haven't read it, though! I mean, there are so many little inside jokes and things I didn't pick up on later in the series... This is where they all were. I think I need to list the inside jokes.

Inside Jokes in Party Princess I Missed Out On Before I Read It
1. Mia's dancing
2. When The Guy Who Hates IT When They Put Corn In The Chili actually gets a real name
3. When the Drs. Moscovitz got divorced *sob for Michael*
4. Fat Louie's Pink Butthole
5. The Zine
6. Braid!

I don't think anyone can live without knowing what these mean. You will only know what these mean if you read Party Princess. While you're at it, read the whole series...
Although the movie adaption of the first book (Disney's The Princess Diaries) kind of sucked. First off, it says specifically in the books she has blonde hair, not brown, like Anne Hathaway does. And Grandmere's not supposed to be NICE! I'm sorry, Julie Andrews, but you're not evil enough. Also, Michael leaves after the second movie! They're together for almost the whole series, no way did he just leave her!

But yeah, the books are AWESOME. So if you are a hysterical teenage girl who fell in love with Twilight, read these, because The Guy Who Hates It When They Put Corn In The Chili has some Edward-from-Twilight-ish qualities... But Michael's way better.

Black and Blue

Yes, the title does refer to bruises, but in a totally disturbing way. You'll see on the front cover that Time Magazine said it was "Heartbreaking." They are quite right... This was a very suspenseful story about a lady (Frannie) whose husband abused her, physically and I would say emotionally, too. To save her son, she contacts an agency that can help battered women "disappear" from their husbands and previous lives forever, never to be abused again. She and her son run away to Florida, but she has a feeling her husband Bobby, a New York cop, will find her again.
The thing I liked about this book was the minor characters; people like Cindy, Benny, Grace, etc. They really came to life, and they reminded me of people I already knew. (Example... Cindy reminds me of Genieva, my brother's friend's mom.)
The real shock in this book, however, comes at the end...
I also know I'm not the only one who liked this book so much, because as you can see in the picture, Oprah recommends this book too!