What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know

So, if you look at some of my earlier (and ill-formatted and quite boring) blog entries, you'll notice that I am a fan of Sonya Sonnes. The first book of hers that I picked up was What My Mother Doesn't Know. And solely because of the title. As you can probably guess, What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know is the sequel.

It picks up after Sophie's decision to publicly date Robin. What is different about this novel in verse, is that it is from Robin's point of view. It's fascinating. He loves being with her, but he's broken hearted for her because she has become just as much of an outcast as he has always been and he hates seeing her friendless. When one of her bestfriends does eventually come around it completely changes their relationship. Not that she likes him any less, but before that moment it had only been the two of them against the world.

Robin also starts going to a college art class, where he suddenly finds himself "cool". As he struggles to make things right with Sophie, he finds himself sought after by a girl in his art class. He has a sort of romance with her, but he loves Sophie and ends it with her. He kisses her goodbye and ends it once and for all (they never went very far to begin with), but as he turns around, Sophie just happens to be standing in the street.

At the end they kind of make up and we think they have the potential to still be together. It wasn't a very satisfying ending and even though I loved (LOVED) reading it, I just can't shake that there is more to this story. They get in a fight so close to the end of the book that I never felt satisfied with how it was resolved. Hopefully there will be a third. If there is, at least one person will buy it.

The Dark is Rising

I read this a few months back and have been meaning to post about it for a while now. I like Susan Cooper. Seriously, The Dark Is Rising Sequence is a great introduction to fantasy for young readers. The Dark Is Rising is actually one of only a handful of fantasy novels given a Newbery Honor. That means it has literary value and you don't have to take my word for it.

The story introduces us to Will Stanton, who learns that he is a Guardian of the Light. He must collect the four things of powers in order to fend off the dark. Well, that's pretty much a summary of the entire series. In this book he is only acquiring one of the things of power: The circle of Light. In order to do this he must collect the six signs.

Will is 11 years old, on this major quest discovering things about the world around him, and being chased by The Black Rider. It's certainly enough of an adventure story, but it's deeper than that. We learn more about Merriman, who trains Will in how to be a guardian of the Light. Merriman is not the perfect Uncle we meet in Over Sea, and Under Stone. He is deeper here and it is a startling look into the sacrifices that have to be made in order to keep the world safe from the Dark. We also meet Will's family, since his quest doesn't take him completely away from his family.

Overall, it is a great story that has depth. I had forgotten how much I actually enjoyed reading it, and am now excited to read the next one in the series. As a side note, I have no idea if the movie is any good, although I remember being excited when I watched the trailer. They made a sequel so it couldn't have been too horrible. Well, one can hope anyways. As another side note, I am a little shocked to discover that my spell check has the word "newbie" but not "Newbery". What is this world coming to?