Friday Finds #37

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading. Each Friday, you share the great books you heard about or discovered over the past week: "books you were told about, books you discovered while browsing blogs/bookstores online, or books that you actually purchased."




Faking Faith
by Josie Bloss

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 231
Publisher: Flux
Publication date: November 8, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary



From Goodreads:

"Dylan Mahoney is living one big unholy lie.

Thanks to a humiliating and painfully public sexting incident, Dylan has become the social pariah at her suburban Chicago high school. She's ignored by everyone--when she's not being taunted--and estranged from her two best friends. So when Dylan discovers the blogs of homeschooled fundamentalist Christian girls, she's immediately drawn into their fascinating world of hope chests, chaperoned courtships, and wifely submission.

Blogging as Faith, her devout and wholesome alter ego, Dylan befriends Abigail, the online group's queen bee. After staying with Abigail and her family for a few days, Dylan begins to grow closer to Abigail (and her intriguingly complicated older brother). Soon, Dylan is forced to choose: keep living a lie . . . or come clean and face the consequences."

The Glass Maker's Daughter
by V. Briceland

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 325
Publisher: Flux
Publication date: April 8, 2009
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy



First in The Cassaforte Chronicles. From Goodreads:

"Magic lies at the heart of Cassaforte, medieval city of bewitchments and intrigue. Cassaforte is home to sixteen-year-old Risa Divetri, whose fate is about to be decided by the gods.

Risa has led the sheltered life of a nobleman's daughter, but soon she plans to leave home to study the family craft-creating enchanted glass objects. When the gods are consulted to determine which school she will attend, the impossible happens: Risa remains unchosen. The rejection sends Risa into a spiral of shame, anger, and confusion. If she's not meant to be a glass maker, what will she do?

But when Cassaforte's age-old magic begins to unravel and dark forces threaten the kingdom, Risa's fiery spirit and untapped powers take her on a perilous journey--one that will lead her to her true destiny."

Snow in Summer
by Jane Yolen

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 256
Publisher: Philomel
Publication date: November 10, 2011
Suggested tags: middle grade, fairy tales, retellings



From Goodreads:

"With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face, but Summer suspects she's up to no good - and is afraid she's powerless to stop her.

This Snow White tale filled with magic and intrigue during the early twentieth century in Appalachia will be hard to forget."

Then I Met My Sister
by Christine Hurley Deriso

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 288
Publisher: Flux
Publication date: April 8, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary



From Goodreads:

"It's not exactly easy living in a shrine to your dead sister. Since birth, I've known that everyone loved Shannon. She was perfect--beautiful, smart, talented. And me? Not so much. My parents always expected me to live up to her greatness. But I could never measure up to her, so why even try?

This summer, I've started reading the journal Shannon kept just before she died . . . and suddenly nothing is what I thought it was. The more secrets I learn about Shannon and our family, the more everything changes. And as it turns out, facing the truth is no cakewalk, either."