New Crayons

New Crayons is the new books I got this week. Credit goes to Susan :)

This week I got about half of the books I'm giving away (I'm madly trying to read them all before I give them away!)

I also got

Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino 2009

For the peaceful highlanders of Guatemala, life has become a nightmare. Helicopters slash like machetes through the once-quiet air. Soldiers patrol the streets, hunting down suspected guerillas. Villagers mysteriously disappear and children are recruited as soldiers. Tomasa’s family is growing increasingly desperate, especially after Mama goes into hiding with Tomasa’s oldest brother. Finally, after their house is razed to the ground and the villagers massacred, Tomasa, Manuelito, and baby Maria set off with Papa on a perilous journey to find Mama and Carlos, only to discover that where one journey ends, another begins. This gripping novel tells the story of how Tomasa’s family survives the Guatemalan army's brutal regime and how, in the midst of tragedy, their love and loyalty — and Papa's storytelling — keeps them going on their harrowing journey as refugees to the United States. Mirrored in the tapestries of Tomasa’s dreams, the dramatic events of the Guatemalan army’s "scorched earth" campaign of the 1980s are tempered with hope and the generosity of the human spirit.

-Thanks Lyn! This is going to be my first MG review :D

Girl v. Boy by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout 2008

Sixteen-year-old Luisa Perez is not looking to win any awards for school spirit. In fact, she and her friends make it a point to avoid all activities considered "extra-curricular." So when her English teacher volunteers her to be an anonymous columnist for the school paper, Luisa's first impulse is to run. But, unlike her high-school dropout sister, Luisa does want to go to college--it may be her only ticket out of a life spent working at the cowboy-themed diner where she waitresses part time--and it would be nice to something on her applications.

Her first assignment is to cover her high school's latest fundraiser, which pits the girls against the boys. Luisa will cover the events from the female POV, while another anonymous writer provides the male perspective--or, at least, that's how it begins. The two columnists soon find themselves engaged in an epic battle of the sexes--a battle that Luisa is determined to win. Just who does this guy think he is, encouraging his peers to act like Neanderthals with their girlfriends? And why can't Luisa shake the very sinking feeling that her new unidentified nemesis might also be her new boyfriend?

-Thanks Steph Su! This book sounds cute :)