In My Mailbox (10)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Fire - Kristin Cashore

Summary from Goodreads: Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans.

Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.

Graceling was the first book I reviewed, and I adored it. I gave it five doodle-hearts, and then handed it to my mother to read. She's the one who lucked out earlier this week when I picked up Fire while in the middle of reading three other books, she finished it in twenty-four hours, and she says it's even better than Graceling.

Split by a Kiss - Luisa Plaja

Summary from book cover: Jo has never been one of the popular kids... until she moves to the USA. Suddenly the coolest girls at her new high school adopt her, and the hottest boy, Jake Matthews, notices her. But when Jake picks her as his partner in the kissing game Seven Minutes in Heaven, it's not half as heavenly as she imagined!

Jo has a choice: should she carry on with Jake for guaranteed popularity - or should she tell him where to get off and risk losing her new friends...?

At this moment - Jo splits. She's Josie the Cool - girlfriend of Jake, member of the in-crowd. But she's also Jo the Nerd - rejected by the It girls, single... ordinary. Will her two halves ever come together again?

I think this sounds so cute! Kind of like Mean Girls meets Sliding Doors, maybe? I've only read the first few pages so far, and I've laughed out loud already.

Little Brother - Cory Doctorow

Summary from Goodreads: Marcus, a.k.a w1n5t0n, is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works, and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school's intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco.

In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they are mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

I read the beginning of this one some time ago, and have been meaning to pick it up. Then I saw on Misty's blog that it's available to download for free at the author's website. (Edit: link to Cory Doctorow's donation for schools program here.) Awesome much? So thanks to Misty for the heads up.