Hello, everybody! Below are ten books and what weird or funny things Helena searched while reading them.
American Royals, Katharine McGee
In the fictitious world of Majesty, America is a monarchy instead
of a democracy. The story focuses on Samantha, the backup princess, Nina, her
best friend, Jeff, her brother, Beatrice, the future queen, and Daphne, the
girl eager to capture Jeff’s heart and gain power. I searched for Secret
Service protocol because the Secret Service is a major part of the novel.
The Fault in Our Stars features Hazel, a cancer patient, and Gus,
a healthy friend of a friend. They meet in a cancer support group and are
instantly drawn to each other. Together, they conquer the ups and downs of
cancer treatment. Hazel loves An
Imperial Affliction, and I was curious if it was a
real book. It is not, but six pages written by John Green are available to
purchase on Amazon.
Artifice, Sharon Cameron
Artifice, placed during WWII, is about Isa de Smit, whose family’s
art gallery is quiet because of the Nazi occupation in Amsterdam. The gallery
is swarming in debt and with her and her father’s artistic abilities, she
begins the forge old paintings. She sells them to high-profile Nazi officers,
including the leader himself. While I was reading this, I wanted to research
further how to forge old paintings (it is not for any criminal intent).
Cadence is a part of the utterly unforgettable Easton family. They
are perfect - from their blond hair and wealth to their beautiful island near
Martha’s Vineyard. Cadence and her cousins visit their island every summer, and
everything changes when Cadence meets Gat. Because the island that the
Eastons own sounds so beautiful, I decided to research how much an island near
Massachusetts costs (3 acres of an island including a house is nearly 6 million
dollars).
In They Both Die at the End, people own DeathCast, an app that
calls users at midnight to tell them that they will die that day. Rufus and
Orion meet on the Last Friends app and encourage each other to step outside
their comfort zones and have the best day possible. My search was quite grim
- what is the most common way to die (heart disease)?
Anatomy is set in Edinburgh in the 1800s and features Hazel, a
hopeful surgeon. Hazel dressed up as her dead brother George goes to anatomy
lectures and joins a class. When her identity is revealed to her classmates,
she meets Jack, a resurrection man. He gets her dead bodies to dissect to
prepare for the upcoming exam. I searched if resurrection men existed during
that time (they did).
One of Us is Lying, Karen McManus
Brainy Bronwyn, delinquent Nate, athletic Cooper, popular Addy,
and gossip Simon are all sent to detention. When Simon dies from an allergic
reaction, his possible murder is investigated by the four people who were in
the room with him. The four are suspects in a massive case, and they will do
anything to find the real murderer - if there is one. I researched peanut
allergy. It turns out 39% of allergies are from peanuts and sometimes peanuts
can cause anaphylaxis (like Simon has).
A lives in a different body every day, either a girl or a guy
around sixteen years old. One day, when A is a slacker named Jason, A meets
Rhiannon. Every day, A tries to find her, no matter if A is five minutes away
or four hours. When I read this, I was genuinely confused most of the time
and tried to find a reason why A doesn’t have a body. I decided on parallel
universes.
Paper Towns, John Green
Shy Quentin and adventurous Margot are neighbors in Orlando.
Quentin is obsessed with Margot - her quirks, her rebellious nature, and her
general personality. One day, Margot suddenly invites Quentin to join in a
midnight expedition with weird tasks and errands. The day after, she disappears
and Quentin is left to find out where she is. One of Margot’s famous quirks
(and potentially a clue) is her mismatched capitalization. I read about
capitalization rules as a refresher.
Genesis, Holly, and Zoe all live in sleepy Violet, Montana. When
Pastor Jay and Ree Reaps decide to build a megachurch there (on Genesis’s
ranch), the girls have to come up with a plan. They come up with one idea - to
kidnap the pastor’s son and demand that the church move to somewhere else. This
book is also a Florida Teens’ Read, so check it out! I did not know what a
megachurch was, and it is a church that has at least 2,000 members. Currently,
about 1,800 megachurches exist in the United States today.
I thought An Imperial Affliction might be a real book, too!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Top Ten Tuesday.
Lydia