The Best Reader [Search results for elizabeth scott] 

"This is a fantastic book from Elizabeth Scott that new and old fans will enjoy. It's full of emotion, surprise, and honesty — what more can you ask for?" — Miss Remmers

Release Date: May 2011

Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge and 2011 eBook Challenge

"Abby accepted that she can't measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby's life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she'd never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could... "
As my first Elizabeth Scott novel, I didn't quite know what to expect with "Between Here and Forever." I figured it would be very similar to Lurlene McDaniel (from my middle school years) where the dying sister leaves the younger sister all on her own to deal with her devastation and grief before meeting a young man who is also hurting in one way or another. The two (inevitably) develop a wonderful friendship and become either best friends or lovers so that when the sister dies the younger sister isn't all alone.

You get the idea.

"Between Here and Forever" starts out with that general plot line so much so that I almost put it down. But somewhere between pages 50 and 200 something exciting happened and I don't really know what it was. This book went from a book where I was looking at the pages thinking "Oh my, I have a lot left to read" to me looking down and realizing the book was almost finished! I can't exactly say what transformed this book because I have yet to figure it out myself. But I will admit that this book is full of so much more depth and raw emotion than I had assumed or expected.

I will say that Abby's "I suck" attitude did wear on me throughout the novel. At first it made me sad to see her take compliments and misconstrue them to be negative, but this behavior continued to get worse and I continued to get more annoyed. But by the end of the novel I understood why this was necessary; I also understand that this trait made Abby probably more of a realistic and honest character than she would have been without.

There were a few "twists" throughout this novel that I very much enjoyed and didn't see coming. Really. On the plane to BEA (that's how late this post is) there was a moment where I couldn't help but exclaim, "Really! Wow!" and Sheila (Book Journey) may have rolled her eyes at me.:)

This is a fantastic book from Elizabeth Scott that new and old fans will enjoy. It's full of emotion, surprise, and honesty — what more can you ask for?

-Visit Elizabeth around the web here: Website | Goodreads | Twitter
-BUY THE BOOK: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes and Noble | Nook

To the FTC, with love: Review Galley

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott
Publisher: Simon Pulse (May 24th, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 256 pages
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could…
Review: I've always been a fan of Elizabeth Scott and her books. The idea behind this book really grabbed my attention and it was a wonderful read.

The story follows Abby. Abby and her family are going through a terrible time because Abby's older sister Tess is in a coma. Abby visits her every day and is sure her sister will wake up soon. Abby constantly compares herself to her older sister. She doesn't feel that she deserves real happiness. It was easy to see where her feelings came from and how her emotions were ruining so many parts of her life. While visiting her sister, Abby meets Eli. He works there at the hospital and Abby feels he is just the person to get Tess to wake up. I wanted Abby to have more of a fighting spirit when it come to Eli. It was obvious that he enjoyed her company but she wasn't able to see it.

Eli was adorable. He really brought some sunshine to this story. Although he had issues of his own, I enjoyed seeing his personality come forward through the plot. This was one time where Abby noticed that things are not always as they seem. Eli wasn't as perfect as she felt he was. He had problems he was dealing with as well and that allowed Abby to see that maybe her sister's life wasn't perfect either.

Between Here and Forever had several surprising moments. I enjoyed watching the story unfold one piece at a time. I did think that some of the dialogue between Abby and Eli was a little hard to follow. Since both characters struggled with their self-esteem, they often left sentences hanging and wouldn't say exactly what they felt. This sometimes interrupted the flow of the story.

Between Here and Forever shows how a young girl can let comparisons take over her life and how not every life is as perfect as it looks from the outside. Abby gained strength throughout the story and was able to eventually stand on her own. I could see the power behind her 'outside' personality. The subtle chemistry between her and Eli was just the touch this book needed. Abby's journey led her to finally feel she deserved happiness and love.

Find Elizabeth Scott
Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Purchase Between Here and Forever
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

I had starred this post awhile ago — like in April at Good Books and Good Wine and have been meaning to put together a post. I can now cross this off my endless To Do list!

I did okay (read 24/100) — but I'd like to have done much better. I look forward to reevaluating where I stand later on in the year!

Read
On my TBR List

100. Hate List by Jennifer Brown
99. Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
98. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
97. Among The Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
96. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Claus
95. Forever by Judy Blume
94. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
93. Tithe by Holly Black
92. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
91. Wings by Aprillynne Pike
90. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
89. Angus, Thongs And Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
88. Marked by PC And Kristin Cast
87. Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
86. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
85. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
84. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
83. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
82. The Mediator series by Meg Cabot
81. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
80. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
79. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
78. Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen
77. Evernight by Claudia Gray
76. If I Stay by Gayle Foreman
75. Life As We Knew It series by Susan Beth Pfeffer
74. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
73. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
72. Alana: The First Adventure series by Tamora Pierce
71. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
70. Unwind by Neil Shusterman
69. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
68. Paper Towns by John Green
67. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
66. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
65. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
64. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon
63. The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
62. Blue Bloods series by Melissa De La Cruz
61. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
60. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
59. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
58. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
57. Eragon by Christopher Paoloni
56. Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine
55. The Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith
54. Fallen by Lauren Kate
53. The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot
51. Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke
50. Number The Stars by Lois Lowry
49. Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
48. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
47. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares
46. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
45. The Summoning series by Kelley Armstrong
44. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
43. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
42. Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card
41. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
40. Wake series by Lisa McMann
39. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
38. Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume
37. Looking For Alaska by John Green
36. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
35. A Great And Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray
34. His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman
33. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
32. Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare
31. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
30. Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
29. Forest of Hands And Teeth by Carrie Ryan
28. Holes by Louis Sacher
27. The Outsiders by SE Hinton
26. The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger
25. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
24. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
23. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
22. Uglies series by Scott Westerfield
21. Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia
20. Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder
19. Book Thief by Markus Zusak
18. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carlson Levine
17. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead
16. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
15. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
14. Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery
13. The Giver by Lois Lowry
12. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
11. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
10. Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
9. A Wrinkle In Time series by Madeline L'engle
8. Graceling series by Kristin Cashore
7. Percy Jackson And The Olympians by Rick Riordan
6. Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
5. Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3. Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer
2. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
1. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

Shortly after reviewing "Losing Faith " for Denise Jaden, I received an email from Denise about The Contemps. The email contained a very awesome PDF explanation; because I can't really post a PDF on blogger (that I know of), I simply copied and pasted. THE CONTEMPS: YA Authors Keeping it Real Embrace the Real!
www.thecontemps.com Introducing The Contemps!

We're a group of YA authors with contemporary novels releasing over the course of a year. We are passionate about realistic fiction because these are the books that remind us we're not alone in this real world. Our mission is simple — to spotlight contemporary fiction for young adults through blog posts, author events, and (over)sharing from our teen years.

We hope you'll help us spread the word to readers about our group! We have fun things planned on the site
all year long, including a contest going on NOW through November 15, 2010.

Take the Challenge! Read 18 of our 21 books and enter to win all 21 of our books! The contest is open to anyone age 13 — 113! Visit the "Get Involved" page at www.thecontemps.com for more information.

Read, Write and Celebrate Realistic YA with:
Denise Jaden, LOSING FAITH (S&S/Simon Pulse, 9/2010)
Kody Keplinger, The DUFF (Little, Brown/Poppy, 9/2010)
April Henry, GIRL, STOLEN (Henry Holt, 9/2010)
Mindi Scott, FREEFALL (S&S/Simon Pulse, 10/2010)
Daisy Whitney, THE MOCKINGBIRDS (Little, Brown, 10/2010)
Sarah Ockler, FIXING DELILAH (Little, Brown, 12/2010)
Courtney Summers, FALL FOR ANYTHING (St. Martin's Press,12/2010)
Michael Northrop, TRAPPED (Scholastic, 1/2011)
Sara Bennett Wealer, RIVAL (HarperTeen, 2/2011)
Lindsey Leavitt, SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD (Bloomsbury, 3/2011)
Kirsten Hubbard, LIKE MANDARIN (Random House/Delacorte, 3/2011)
Micol Ostow, FAMILY (Egmont USA, 4/2011)
Emily Wing Smith, BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE(Dutton, 4/2011)
Jo Knowles, PEARL (Henry Holt, Spring, 2011)
Hannah Harrington, SAVING JUNE (Harlequin Teen, 5/2011)
Lisa Schroeder, THE DAY BEFORE (S&S/Simon Pulse, 6/2011)
Elizabeth Scott, BETWEEN HERE AND FOREVER (Simon Pulse, 6/2011)
Melissa Walker, SMALL-TOWN SINNERS (Bloomsbury, 7/2011)
Brent Crawford, Third CARTER book (Disney-Hyperion, summer, 2011)
Kristen Tracy, SHARKS AND BOYS (Disney-Hyperion, summer, 2011)
Sarah Darer Littman, WANT TO GO PRIVATE? (Scholastic Press, 8/2011)

I printed two copies of the PDF and have one up for my students to see (above) and one up with my own progress (which is very little right now, "Losing Faith" and "The DUFF") (below).

Since posting these I have had several students ask how they can get in on the "challenge" and what the prizes are. I've had such a great response that I have about six girls coming in after school on Wednesdays to talk about what they are currently reading and how far they have come in the challenge.

This has turned out to be a fantastic classroom activity that has really sparked the interest of my students. I only have one book on my shelf right now, "The DUFF," but students have really gone out of their way to find these books, at least the ones already released.

My class and I will be participating in this challenge, will you?

Prize:

• 1 winner will receive an ARC of Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott and an ARC of Stay by Deb Caletti.

• Swag includes: a signed Deadly bookmark, a Losing Faith bookmark, a The DUFF bookmark, a Return the Heart bookmark, a Soul Savers signed postcard, and a button.

• You must be at least 13 to enter.
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US Only and ends May 31st.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

Special thanks to Simon & Schuster for making this giveaway possible!

More blogoversary giveaways will be added! Sign up to receive the post via email (on the right sidebar), or check this page each day for updates. I will add each new giveaway to that list and have it on the left sidebar

I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler (Sourcebooks Fire 5/1/2011) Shift (Shade #2) by Jeri Smith-Ready (Simon Pulse 5/3/2011) Bite Club (The Morganville Vampires #10) by Rachel Caine (NAL Hardcover 5/3/2011)

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books 5/3/2011) Everfound (The Skinjacker Trilogy #3) by Neal Shusterman (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 5/3/2011) So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti (Viking Juvenile 5/3/2011)

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace (Flux 5/8/2011) Bitter End by Janenifer Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 5/10/2011) What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen (Penguin Young Readers Group 5/10/2011)

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs (Walker Books for Young Readers 5/10/2011) Tighter by Adele Griffin (Knoph Books for Young Readers 5/10/2011) The Lucky Kind by Alyssa B. Sheinmel (Knoph Books for Young Readers 5/10/2011)

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott (Simon Pulse 5/24/2011)

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 5/3/2011) Die for Me (Revenants #1) by Amy Plum (HarperTeen 5/10/2011) The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski (EgmontUSA 5/10/2011)

Flawless by Lara Chapman (Bloomsbury 5/10/2011) The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 5/10/2011) Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 5/23/2011)

Starcrossed (Starcrossed #1) by Josephine Angelini (HarperTeen 5/31/2011) Blood Magic (The Blood Journals #1) by Tessa Gratton (Random House Books for Young Readers 5/24/2011)

If you know of any other new releases for May 1st-31st feel free to add them in the comments so others will know about them!

In February I bought my Nook and can proudly say that I have yet to purchase a book on it! I have a few free Nook Books from Barnes and Noble, but by far most of my Nook reading comes from NetGalley and occasionally from the S&S Galley Grab.

"Caught in the Net" is where I showcase what I've currently downloaded and am ready to read! Links are to Goodreads.

From NetGalley
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini 5.31.11
Hereafter by Tara Hudson 6.7.11
Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade 6.7.11
Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz 6.28.11
Lost Voices by Sarah Porter 7.4.11
Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough 8.1.11
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab 8.2.11
Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson 9.1
The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima 9.20
Wherever You Go by Heather Davis 11.14

From S&S Galley Grab
Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury 5.24.11
Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott 5.24.11
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma 5.27.11
William's Midsummer Dreams by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 6.7.11
All The Things You Are by Courtney Sheinmel 6.14.11
The Secret Prince by Violet Haberdasher 6.28.11
Wildefire by Karsten Knight 7.26.11

Huge thanks to the S&S Galley Grab and NetGalley for supplying my addiction.

"I loved this book — it was a quick, fulfilling read that grabbed me from the beginning... Started and finished within 24 hours — I could not put this book down." — Miss Remmers

From Amazon.com...

"Get this, I'm supposed to be starting a journal about "my journey." Please. I can see it now: Dear Diary, As I'm set adrift on this crazy sea called "life"... I don't think so.
It's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her. And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone now, and she doesn't want to talk about it. They wouldn't get it, anyway. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to have your best friend ripped away from you. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to know it's your fault. Amy's shrink thinks it would help to start a diary. Instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia. But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was—and the present deserves a chance too."
I loved this book — it was a quick, fulfilling read that grabbed me from the beginning. I didn't know what was going on and I had to find out. I finally started piecing together the story around page 44, but I still couldn't slow down. Started and finished within 24 hours — I could not put this book down. Even after the book closed, I found myself thinking of Amy.

Besides the riveting plot, the characters were wonderfully written. Amy's anger, guilt, and sorrow was so real — I knew her. Readers' hearts break for Amy when the realization of what happened hits. No, Amy's not innocent — but that's what makes this story real and powerful. Amy is flawed, as well as Julia, Caro, and the rest of the characters. Even the secondary characters, Caro, Patrick, and Mel, were realistic and individual. No two characters were similar. Beth, who had probably four lines of actual dialogue, was phenomenally written. It's this unperfect cast of characters that creates a great character and plot driven book.

If I had to say one thing that bothered me it would be the cover (and I never comment on covers). The cover didn't match the book and just didn't fit, in my opinion.

I will definitely be adding this book to my classroom next fall, it's completely appropriate and is one of the most real books I've ever read.