Zero Repeat Forever by G. S. Prendergast

Zero Repeat Forever is a 5 star book.  I don't say that too often.  I LOVED this book.  First of all the cover.  It's stunning.  Go ahead and judge this book by it's cover.  Beautiful.  I know I've recently wrote another book review on here where I claim that I dislike science fiction and here I am again reading science fiction and giving it top ratings.  Maybe I do actually like science fiction?!?!  This book is a few pages short of 500 and I didn't want it to end.

Zero Repeat Forever is about a group of kids away at a camp for the summer in Alberta when the world is taken over by another life form.  They can see big cities exploding in the distance.  They believe if they leave the camp they will be killed.  They've seen videos.  They are called Nahx.  They shoot you with a dart and that's the end.

Raven and her friends have been living at camp for a few months now but their food supply is dwindling, winter is coming and they need to make a move.  See if they can find other survivors and search for more supplies.  But it doesn't take long before they are face to face with their first Nahx.

Zero Repeat Forever is a dystopian Beauty and the Beast story.  I was constantly being drawn in for one more chapter.  The only negative thing I could say is that there are a handful of references to some drug use that just felt unnecessary to me.  Unfortunately, not a book I can buy for my school but perfect for grade 9 and up.

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

Lucinda Hayes is loved and adored by her family, friends and others but someone has brutally murdered her.  There are many suspects.  Ivan is the school custodian with a previous conviction and was the one who found Lucinda.  Cameron is the boy next door that has an obsession with Lucinda.  Jade has wished Lucinda dead for making her life miserable.  Who murdered Lucinda?

I enjoyed Girl in the Snow by Danya Kukafka.  The characters were well developed.  The story was very suspenseful and I wasn't able to predict the killer.

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

Young Jane Young is the story of a young girl made some mistakes early on in life.  Some mistakes with a married, older, important man.  When her mistake is revealed she's the one that gets smeared in the media.  He comes out with a long successful career and marriage still intact.  With a bleak future Jane leaves town and builds a new life for herself where no one knows her name or recognizes her.  Fast forward 13 years later when she's got a new life built for herself and a curious daughter about to make it all coming crashing down again.

I really enjoyed all the characters in this story.  They were funny and just my kind of humor.  The book was very fast paced.  I always love a book that writes with different character's perspective.

This is the second book that I have read by Gabrielle Zevin.  Check out my review of her first novel  The Storied Life of A. J Fikry as well.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

Isa, Kate, Thea and Fatima meet when beginning a school year at a residential school in Salten.  They seemed to destined to be best friends when they bond over a lie.  This begins the lying game.  There are rules for the lying game and points rewarded.  It's all fun and games until the lies become life and death.

15 years late the girls are trying to move on with their lives but they are still lying.  When Kate sends a text message saying 'I need you.'  The girls grab trains and come running.

The Lying Game is a story that slowly unravels with details being revealed at a pace to keep readers intrigued.  I felt like I was clenching my jaw at the suspense and tension of this novel.  Ruth Ware is a talented suspenseful storyteller.  She is also the author of The Woman in Cabin 10.

The Ice-Cream Makers by Ernest van der Kwast

Making ice cream is hard work.  There are a lot of long days.  Churn churn churn the ice cream.  It takes a family to run a successful ice cream shop.  Giovanni comes from a long line of ice cream makers.  Imagine then the upset when Giovanni decides he doesn't want to be in the family business.  He wants to travel the world reading poetry.  When Giovanni pops home from is world travels his father makes constant jabs about his 'work'.  His brother won't even speak to him for 12 years until he needs a favour.  A big favour.  

I found The Ice-Cream Makers a bit hard to get into at first.  The book jumps around a bit which caused me to have to go back and re-read paragraphs feeling I had missed a detail.  Every night I read I was craving ice cream and I would love to travel to the village on the cover.  Ernest van der Kwast has left me dreaming of Italy and ice cream.  

The Ice-Cream Makers will be in store August 1st, 2017.

Edit - I've just come back from Italy and I thought of this book often.  There are so many ice cream makers around Italy and it's certainly true that they need to compete for new and competitive flavours.  So yummy!

Bubba Begonia You're Such a Lucky Guy by Gerry O'Brien

A few years ago I visited my local Chapters bookstore to find some books for my young son.  Gerry O'Brien was at the store doing a signing and his Bubba Begonia books looked exactly like what we were after.  Bubba Begonia books are the perfect length for a young reader and they are action packed with so many funny scenes.  

In Bubba Begonia You're Such a Lucky Guy, Bubba believes he's anything but lucky.  His parents have just sat him down for a talk to tell him they are moving his baby brother into his bedroom.  Then maybe he does get lucky when his parents agree to getting him the puppy he's asked for 5,000 times.  But Bubba quickly learns that puppies are a lot of work - and trouble! 

Bubba has a great group of friends that bring a lot of fun to the stories.  The books are also filled with funny little poems that children will love.  Bubba Begonia You're Such a Lucky Guy is book number five in the series and is in stores now.   

The author, Gerry O'Brien, enjoys doing school visits.  I had him out to my school a few years ago and the students loved him!  He really inspired them with his stories.  After Gerry's visit the students spent weeks acting out his books on the playground.

Lyttle Lies: The Pudding Problem by Joe Berger

Sam has been known to tell a tall tale.  He will admit that he has a reputation for telling the truth.  The truth is complicated.  Like an elephant.  It's just too big to deal with.  So Sam chooses not to deal with the truth.  Instead he tells these elaborate stories that mostly get him into trouble.  Mostly everyone knows he's lying but even when faced with the pressure of telling the truth Sam still stretches the tale.

Fortunately though Sam (and the author Joe Berger) are great storytellers.  The Pudding Problem is a fun and enjoyable twisted tale.  Even though Sam is a compulsive liar, he is a likable character.  Most of his lies are harmless except when dealing with big mean Feeney.

I really connected with this story.  When I was in grade 2 someone stole my sandwich at school.  I ate a summer sausage sandwich every day.  Mine was missing from my lunch bag.  But Katie had a summer sausage sandwich in her lunch bag that looked like one my Dad makes me.  I'm inclined to believe that the teacher and principal believed me as I'm not a compulsive liar like Sam - and maybe how little Katie was.  In the end my parents were called and said there was definitely a summer sausage sandwich in my bag.  Anybody else have to deal with a Sam or Katie when they were a kid?  

Lyttle Lies: The Pudding Problem is a nice clean fun story.  I love the lie detector that comes at the back of the book.  I think this would be a real hit with my students and I will definitely purchase this book for my school library.  I think this story has the makings of a great sequel and I'm sure we will see more of Sam.  

This book is in stores now and is recommended for children ages 8-12.