IMM 15

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Kristi at The Story Siren which highlights the books that have been arrived into our houses each week. Each of the books listed below have been bought new, from charity shops, have been sent via publishers or authors, acquired via a book swapping website or borrowed from friends.


Push by Sapphire - An electrifying first novel that shocks by its language, its circumstances, and its brutal honesty, Push recounts a young black street-girl's horrendous and redemptive journey through a Harlem inferno. For Precious Jones, 16 and pregnant with her father's child, miraculous hope appears and the world begins to open up for her when a courageous, determined teacher bullies, cajoles, and inspires her to learn to read, to define her own feelings and set them down in a diary.

This was recently made into a movie called Precious. I haven't seen the movie and I didn't realise the movie was based on a book either. It sounds quite sad, but that seems to be my thing these days.

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So Much To Tell You by John Marsden - Scarred, literally, by her past, Marina has withdrawn into silence. Then, at her new boarding school, she is set the task of writing a diary by her English teacher, and finds a way of expressing her thoughts and feelings and of exploring the traumatic events that have caused her distress. Through Marina's diary we gain an insight into life on her dormitory, and her difficult relationship with her father, who injured her in an angry moment. Eventually, Marina makes tentative friendships and, in a moving denouement, is reconciled with her father.

I recently read a review of this at another UK book blogger's site, I Was A Teenage Book Geek which sounded like this is a book that I'd really enjoy reading. I've only just noticed that this and Push are both novels in diary format. What a strange coincidence! (Finished this one already and enjoyed it!)

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Chanda's Secret by Allan Stratton - A girl's struggle amid the African AIDS pandemic.

"As soon as I get back from the shabeen, I go next door to see Mrs. Tafa. I have to ask to use her phone to let our relatives know about Sara. I'm nervous. Mrs. Tafa would like to run the world. Since she can't run the world she's decided to run our neighborhood."

So speaks sixteen-year-old Chanda, an astonishingly perceptive girl living in the small city of Bonang, a fictional city in Southern Africa.

While Mrs. Tafa's hijinks are often amusing, the fact is that Chanda's world is profoundly difficult. When her youngest sister dies, the first hint of HIV/AIDS emerges.

In this sensitive, swiftly-paced story readers will find echoes of To Kill a Mockingbird as Chanda must confront undercurrents of shame and stigma. Not afraid to explore the horrific realities of AIDS, Chanda's Secrets also captures the enduring strength of loyalty, friendship and family ties. Above all, it is a story about the corrosive nature of secrets and the healing power of truth.

Through the artful style of acclaimed author Stratton, the determination and resilience Chanda embodies will live on in readers' minds.

And this one is for Caroline's HIV/AIDS in YA Literature week over at Portrait of A Woman. I expect it to be a very sad and moving book.

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Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder - I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

I've been hearing great reviews of this one from some American blogs and I'm thrilled that it will be published here in the UK in January! I adore this cover, it makes me that little bit more excited to read it.

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My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent - Being a teenager just got much more complicated. There is something very wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh: she senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally. Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next.

Isn't that interesting cover art? Lots of people rave about Rachel Vincent, so I feel like I really need to read more of her work. This looks like an excellent place to start :)

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Entangled by Cat Clarke - 'The same questions whirl round and round in my head: What does he want from me? How could I have let this happen? AM I GOING TO DIE?' 17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got there. As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget. There's falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see? Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here? A story of dangerous secrets, intense friendships and electrifying attraction.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Really. I am so super excited to have this book. I really, really cannot wait at all to read it. My happy dance was danced with this one. (I know which book I'm reading first.)

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Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew—just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road—diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards—this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

Ooh. I didn't realise this was one was going to be a hardback book. Flicking through it, it looks like it'll be fun to read, with the photos and drawings and lists and scraps and things. And you know how much I adore road trips, don't you? (Don't you?)

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Also! This just in - the postman has just delivered NINE books by Joseph Delaney in the Spook's Apprentice series! Wow. All those books. Better get reading.


And from the library.. (which I've been really impressed with lately!)

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld - Super excited to read this, the sequel to Leviathan!

The Dead by David Gatward - Another sequel, this time for a new horror series.

The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer - Wow, am I on a roll with the sequels? The follow up to Life As We Knew It.

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick - After reading White Crow, which I adored, I thought I'd never look out for more books by Marcus Sedgwick

iBoy by Kevin Brooks - I just finished another book by Kevin Brooks this week, Kissing the Rain, and have picked up another book by him!

Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman - Besides Entangled, this is the book I'm most excited about!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - The size of this one intimidates me just a little, but I'm sure I'll love it.

Trash by Andy Mulligan - I absolutely adore the cover of this one.

Which books came into your house this week?