5 comments about Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul - 101 Stories of Changes, Choices.

1. My children(9 ,11) start off the day every morning before school reading an uplifting and meaningful story.



2. very goodb value had to buy for school summer reading program. my daughter even liked it and she hates to read.



3. My ten year old daughter really loves this book. She is not very keen on reading, but will sit down and read the chicken soup books. She chose this book as one of her birthday presents!



4. It is sometimes hard to find things to do with your preteen. They are at an age when they want more independence from mom and dad. This book is a great connection - you can cozy up and read a few selections at a time - it's a great way to have fun, and spend time bonding with your preteen. You can then use the stories, or lessons learned for great conversation pieces for discussion.



5. My parents are divorced and reading about how other kids dealt with it really helped me get back on my feet even though they've been divorced for like four years. Reading about how other kids got out of bad situations made me feel lucky because now I know how much worse they have it opposed to me. I know it's hard to deal with these things at first but too many kids dwell on how it stinks to have divorced parents and they don't use this time to try to do something to help yourself or something. If you want to make a difference get off your butt and try to make that difference.

5 comments about Gossip Girl: #1: A Novel by Cecily von Ziegesar.

1. I've watch the TV Show Gossip Girl and am hooked on the gossipy fun and fantastic fashions. While the book lacks in the eye candy, it makes up for it by bringing on the extra scandalous gossip. The kids in the novel are dirtier and shameless. It is certainly different than the TV show but still a very quick and fun read. Suspend your beliefs and just enjoy Gossip Girl, poolside.



2. I started watching Gossip Girl on TV and loved the show, so I decided to give the books a try. In 3 days I have read 4 of the books. I am truly addicted. I have one to finish and 5 more arriving tomorrow!
   
   A word of caution. IF you have younger children you might want to monitor these books. The content and language is mature. I am not saying censor them because, people who censor their children are dumb, but read the book so you can discuss it with them.
   
   If you are mid to late 20's like myself you will love these!!!



3. Serena's come home after getting kicked out of boarding school and everyone wants to know if the rumors are true. Was she pregnant and did she leave her baby in France? Is she really dealing drugs with her initial "S" stamped on each pill? And what's up with her clothes? Is she getting them from a homeless shelter?
   
   All Serena wants to do is hang with her friends and have her old life back. Unfortunately, her friends and old life don't seem to want her back. But don't waste any time feeling sorry for her. She's still rich and gorgeous, and manages to draw the attention of two photo-artists who ask her to model for them and then plaster the city with her pictures. (Well, pictures of some part of her. No one's really quite sure which part, though. Belly button, maybe?) Anyway, she also manages to make new friends and shows signs of adding some depth to her otherwise shallow world.
   
   Don't expect to walk away feeling enlightened after reading this page turner, however. It's not great literature, but it is entertaining and a breezy bit of escapism, much like its tv namesake. Fans of the weekly drama will note some character differences: the names are the same, but physical descriptions, personality traits and economic status vary - most notably in the characters of Dan and Ginny Humphrey. Dan is a little more gritty and angst-ridden and Ginny doesn't look so much like Barbie's little sister, Skipper.
   
   I rated the book five stars because I really enjoyed it and plan on reading the rest of the series. Would I recommend it to you? Well, if you're familiar with and enjoyed Morgan Burke's Party Room trilogy, Melissa De La Cruz's Blue Bloods or Hobson Brown's The Upper Class, you'll probably like Gossip Girl, too. They all center around spoiled, rich kids - or, in the case of Blue Bloods, spoiled, rich vampires - and the dirty secrets that sometimes even money can't hush.



4. the gossip girl books are fun to read. i don't like some of the casting for the show but i think blair(the girl who plays her) is cute



5. Read it when it first came out... However, i'm not satisfied with the cover from the new tv series. These actress do not convey the way i imagined Serena & Blair to look like. I have the complete series and in none of the book cover you get to see the face of none of the girls and i was very pleased with that.

5 comments about Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff: Stories of Tough Times and Lessons Learned (Chicken Soup for the Soul).

1. 
   
   I was pleased, as I always am, by the product I ordered from Amazon. I am not sure if it was well recieved by my grandson but the Chicken Soup books are such good reading materal.
   
   t
   Thank you, DeLores Hall



2. this book had so many inspirational stories. When i read many of these stories i said to myself-if these people who are suffering (depressed) and can make something good come out of a sad sob story then i definatly can make it.... from whatever is getting in my way. I HIGHLY reccomend this book if you can handle some sad stories and need a little inspiration every now and then. It definantly isn't a waste of money.... if you can really handle these amazing SOB stories!!!



3. I purchashed this book for my niece and she seems to really like it. It's hard to talk to kids sometimes abotu certain things so I always try to encourage her to read certain books. She seems to really enjoy this one.Prompt delivery. product in good condition.



4. We use this book as part of our Bible Study with our teenage girls. It has real life situations and opens up good discussion.



5. The Chicken Soup books for teens are fabulous! My daughter really gets into them, she is not a teen that always is reading, but when she gets a new Chicken soup book she reads until she is done. We even talk about some of the stories in the books. I recommend them. True stories can help a teen get over what ever is going on in their own life problems.

No comments about Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20.

5 comments about The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

1. Where to start? The book was so amazingly discript and..... intriguing. thats the word. intriguing. the story felt so real. it wasnt one of the teenage girl books that show up alot now. the girls werent bratty to each other. they got into small agruments but they wanted the best for each other. carmen helped tibby wen tibby needed some one to tell her everything was ok. and lena was there fo bridget wen bridget needed comforting. crushes, friendship, fear, and feeling neglected by ur parents and so many more feelings that teenagers feel were potryed in a very real way. the book showed me that no matter how crazy your life is that if you surround ur self with a few cloe friends that even the darkest night is bright. the book was amazing and inspiring. a real work of art. i cant wait to read the next book in the traveling pants series. i recomend this book to every girl out there. enjoy!
   p.s. another word to describe how i felt about the book. envious. its so hard to find the perfect pair of jeans



2. I was convinced to see the first movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by a friend who had read the novels. In my early 20s at the time, I rolled my eyes. Surprisingly, I fell for the movie and decided to read the book a few years later. It was amazing how easily I could relate to these four teens life at the time and how quickly I became drawn to Brashares' novels. I throughly enjoyed following the four teens through their summers apart and found myself yearning for a friendship and bond such as the one they held. Brashares does a wonderful job of pulling the reader into the book and making them feel as if they are part of the sisterhood.



3. Shipping was a little slower than anticipated but it arrived quickly and in stated condition.



4. I can't help but read this is one sitting. What can I say? I absolutely adore most of the characters. In my opinion Carmen's life is just so... uninteresting. Carmen herself is uninteresting. I found myself groaning every time the story would transition to her. Anyway, I fell in love with Bridget, Tibby and Lenna - especially Lena. Though the fact she felt the need to constantly remind the reader of her undeniable beauty, I couldn't help but have a soft spot for her. While I was reading, I found a lot of myself in Lenna's character. Quiet, shy, passionate and intense. It doesn't hurt that I often find myself daydreaming about Kosto's character. Bridget is one of the more memorable characters. I found myself quite jealous of her charming good looks, extreme athleticism, and her undeniable intensity. Tibby's story brought out a sniffle or two. Though there is no real transition from Tibby being annoyed by Bailey to Tibby cherishing the ground Bailey walked on, she seemed the most realistic of all the characters. She was easy to relate to and she was quite guarded like Lena.I guess it was their own way of protecting themselves. An overall great, quick read with memorable characters.



5. Normally books written about and for teenagers, I have found, seem to stick to the high school scene - God forbid there be any place else to live life. They also focus on the female character's powerlessness - as teenagers and as young women. Plus the books never lend much credence to the fact that there is life beyond high school -- or they only do so in the abstract sense of: "Oh yeah, college."
   
   This book takes place over a summer - no school. You get a very real sense of the power these young women have, to get up and go, to face their fears and so on. And, since this book distances itself so much from the "school" scene, the fact that there is a future not only of college but beyond college is evident. Life is evident as not only a now but as a fluid thing and that is part of what makes this book incredibly awesome, to me.
   
   The book also acknowledged both childishness and maturity, both on the parts of the adults and of the teens. Which I appreciated. It also showed whole families struggling with things like death, divorce, and generation gaps. It made these huge issues seem ordinary and I found that unique, especially in a for-teen book.
   
   For complaints: the cutting back and forth was a bit disorienting, I liked the fact that the author did go from girl to girl (POV-wise) third person wouldn't have captured it quite so well, I just wish she didn't do it so quickly. You were constantly moving, almost journeying yourself, from one girl to the next and from one adventure to the next. I think this was mainly due to fear of a reader's short attention span then due to any stylistic attempt with journeying though.
   
   My other complaint would be the lack of closure on Bridget's story. Too much had to happen for that story to have closed gracefully and so it was left hanging. Perhaps purposefully. After all the author did go on to write a second book. One I hope to get my hands on as soon as possible.

5 comments about Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School: 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Younger Teens.

1. Got this for my grandchild and she loved it! Said she reads it over and over.



2. My niece "Lizzy" loed this book as she prepares to enter the wilds of Middle School.



3. Teens Talk Middle School, edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Madeline Clapps, and Valerie Howlett, was truly inspiring. This non-fiction book was written by 101 people who wanted to share stories about their middle school years. If you are looking for a story about bullies, true love, finding passions or embarrassing moments, there is always an exciting chapter filled with those kind of stories for you to read. Each writer explained how they resolved, and expressed their experiences with teachers, friends, and other classmates in their pieces. Some of these stories were never resolved or acted on and the students expressed how they moved on or just lived through it. Teens Talk Middle School taught me how to deal with some of my own problems, as well as helping me feel more confident with myself. In this book, I saw other people talk about how they worked through tough experiences in middle school which showed me I can do it too. One story I wish to highlight, is about a boy named Conrado, who wanted some bullies to stop making fun of his weight. Everyday Conrado would go home and tell his dad about his problem; but he would tell his son to laugh it off. After Conrado overcame his fear of confronting the bullies, he came up with his own comeback. In the end, Conrado felt very good about solving his problem. All of the editors did an excellent job putting together such amazing stories. Teens Talk Middle School is a great book for any young teen, and was so much fun to read.



4. Teens Talk Middle School, edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Madeline Clapps, and Valerie Howlett, was truly inspiring. This non-fiction book was written by 101 people who wanted to share stories about their middle school years. If you are looking for a story about bullies, true love, finding passions or embarrassing moments, there is always an exciting chapter filled with those kind of stories for you to read. Each writer explained how they resolved, and expressed their experiences with teachers, friends, and other classmates in their pieces. Some of these stories were never resolved or acted on and the students expressed how they moved on or just lived through it. Teens Talk Middle School taught me how to deal with some of my own problems, as well as helping me feel more confident with myself. In this book, I saw other people talk about how they worked through tough experiences in middle school which showed me I can do it too. One story I wish to highlight, is about a boy named Conrado, who wanted some bullies to stop making fun of his weight. Everyday Conrado would go home and tell his dad about his problem; but he would tell his son to laugh it off. After Conrado overcame his fear of confronting the bullies, he came up with his own comeback. In the end, Conrado felt very good about solving his problem. All of the editors did an excellent job putting together such amazing stories. Teens Talk Middle School is a great book for any young teen, and was so much fun to read.



5. I bought this for my middle schooler and she loves it and it has practical advice in it. I also read it and like all Chicken Soup books I highly rate it.

5 comments about The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening (rack).

1. I loved this series ! It was exiting and had a really well written storie line . My mom and I bolth read the series and we bolth loved it ! The charectors have very difforant personalitys and back ground . exept for the brothers Damon and Stefen ! Eleana who is torn between the two brothers is from a hole difforant backround . I loved this book and the series is very exiting , and somthing is always happening ! I would recomend this book to anyone . It was defenetly a book you can't put down !



2. After watching the new TV show, I just could'nt get enough. So I started reading the books. They are great!!!



3. The premise of the novel is a little cliche, but it's a guilty pleasure read. I'll admit that the vampires felt like actual non-Twilighty sparkle vampires, which was a major plus for me. Despite some of the grammer mistakes, this was a very good read.
   
   Elena wasn't exactly my most favorite main character, but I think that's because she was created to be like that. She's selfish and bratty, but she was also a popular girl so her character was kind of sterotypical. I don't believe that she and Stefan were in love for having so little contact with each other, so I think it was just lust.
   
   Damon and Stefan's interaction in the story were fairly intense. I liked the fact that they were rivals.
   
   The ending was kind of open ended so I'll be checking out the second book in the series.



4. The Vampire Diaries The Awakening is the first book of this series by L.J. Smith. This novel is 253 pages. The novel starts off with Elena Gilbert writing in her diary about how summer is over and she doesn't know how to face school again after the death of her parents. Elena is stuck in a boring house living with her Aunt Judith and younger sister. Even though Elena is the most popular girl in school and has so many friends she feels empty inside. Then, Elena meets Stefan Salvatore, the new guy in high school. Stefan is the mysterious type of guy which interests Elena. She makes it her goal to get to know Stefan as best as she could, even though he has many secrets.
   During the school's Halloween dance, an incident occurs that has everybody frightened. Mr. Tanner, the history teacher was murdered. All the students think that the new guy, Stefan had something to do with it. Stefan is forced to disappear for the night, but Elena follows him and learns a deep dark secret about Stefan. He is a vampire. Instead of being frightened, Elena realizes that she loves Stefan. Later, they discover that Stefan's evil brother, Damon has been the one behind all of the murders going on in the city of Fairview. Damon is also a vampire, but unlike Stefan, he is bad and murders innocent people. The book ends with Damon kidnapping his brother. Elena is left in the dangerous presence of Damon hoping to find her vampire boyfriend.
   I decided to read this novel because I started watching the T.V. series on the CW, which I really enjoy. However, the book is very different from the show. I personally found this book boring and predictable. It is written in third person, therefore it is a bit slow. I feel like I couldn't get interested in the words. This novel disappointed me and did not reach my expectations. I don't think that I will continue reading this series. I recommend the T.V. show The Vampire Diaries, not the novels.



5. So Elena is this kind of shallow girl who thinks she can have anything and anyone she wants. She had this really nice boyfriend named Matt but apparently there just wasn't any chemistry there. And as soon as she sees Stefan she throws him out the window to chase after the new kid who acts like he doesn't want anything to with her. What she doesn't know is that Stefan is actually a vampire, though I noticed that not once does it say the word vampire in this book. Not once.
   
   Stefan is a very old vampire who got turned by his girlfriend back in Italy. She also happened to like his brother and turned him as well. The two brothers have been at odds ever since. And it's all about to happen again with Elena.
   
   Okay, I have to say I debated for quite a while on weather I wanted to read this or not. I watch the CW show and I actually really like it, despite all the teen drinking and sex (my husband calls it the Vampire Slutteries, lol). I'd read some reviews saying that the show is better, and well, I have to agree. Elena isn't that likable, at least to me. She's shallow and self centered. I couldn't quite figure Stefen out. He's good, he's bad, he's a mess...? Maybe that's just supposed to be the whole mystery to him but it didn't quite work for me.
   
   As for the writing. Ugh... I was often confused in parts, not quite understanding what was going on and what it had to do with the rest of the story. It's really awkward and clumsy at parts and the plot seemed fairly underdeveloped.
   
   Now, I was impressed how the book still felt current and like it could have been written today, instead of back in 1991. For being 19 years old, not too bad! I find myself wondering if maybe this was the first urban fantasy with a vampire going to high school, you know, the whole concept that has swept the YA board these days? Maybe not. IDK
   
   Despite all it's flaws and awkwardness, I did kind of enjoy it. The characters eventually grew on me in a way and I finished it in 3 days.

5 comments about Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood.

1. I love the sisterhood!!! Reading these books makes me want to be apart of this group. You fall in love with everyone of these girls. I only have one more left I will be very sad to say goodbye to the sisterhood, at least i can read again and again. The author is so good because she confronts real teenage problems and feelings I remember feling the way these girls do when i was a teenager. These books are not just for kids.



2. Love this series and this was my favorite book of the series. I just wished it had ended a bit better for some of the characters.



3. i absolutely loved the series. i cant wait to start reading the 4th book. ann brashares is an amazing author. anbody who loves to read about young love and friendship would love this book.



4. I enjoyed the first 2 books in the series and the third was not a disappointment! Good read.



5. Girls in Pants:the third summer of the sisterhood is my favortie of the four books. my favortie story line is Bee's becasue she goes back to camp and see's Eric again!

5 comments about The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle (rack).

1. We all said Stephenie Meyer's books were for teenagers... this one is for sure for them. The verbiage is teenage level... easy read though that kept me going through the end.



2. I'm really getting into The Vampire Diaries, despite my initial misgivings with The Awakening. I really like how this story is turning out. I like how all of the characters' motivation is so clear, at least it seems to be. I can't wait to find out what happens with Stephen, Damon and Elena. I'm also really enjoying Bonnie's ability. The evilness of Caroline and Tyler brings a normal problem to a supernatural situation and I felt that worked very well.
   
   The Struggle had a better sense of finality than The Awakening. It feels like a full story, left slightly open-ended to allow for another book to follow. Instead of being separate books in a series, these books seem like all parts of the same book. I read this book immediately after The Awakening and it seems as though these books are best read one right after the other.



3. My 11 year old daughter is hooked on vampires but some of the books out there are just too mature for her so I heard about this series and thought I would read it first to be sure it wasn't too dirty for a young girl. I really enjoyed it and so did she. We are hooked to this series.



4. This book was as good as the first one, if not better. I really liked Stefan and Elena's relationship in the book.
   The book starts off with Elena yelling for Damon, Stefan's evil brother. Shocking, I know! She is yelling for him because he has taken Stefan somewhere and Elena can't find him. She only knows that he is in trouble.
   Elena goes through quit a bit of trouble in this book. She get her diary stolen, only to find out that it was someone she thought was her friend took it to get back at her. Also, Damon, Stefan's brother keeps getting into her head and talks her into doing things that she doesn't want to do. He wants to steal Elena away from Stefan. And at the end of the book she gets into a car accident which makes the ending totally awesome! Sounds weird saying it, but you have to read the book!
   I actually found myself rooting for Damon at the end of the book. I think his "powers" came out of the book and worked on me. :) But before I finished I was rooting for Stefan again.



5. I purchased this book along with The Awakening for my daughter as part of her Christmas gifts. She had asked for both. When I received the book, I should have checked it over carefully. Having always been pleased with Amazon purchases, I quickly wrapped the books for her to open Christmas morning. Much to our dismay, this book has several torn pages and is missing pages 47 through 50 something. Of course I purchased it in Nov. so the 30 day return time is past. I realize it is my fault for not double checking my order, but I do hope everyone else will always check theirs and not do like me assuming things will always be good. My daughter was terribly disappointed and so was I. I now have a book no one will want.

5 comments about The Second Summer of the Sisterhood.

1. This book fell extremely short. The transition from the first book which was heartfelt, sincere and interesting to this sequel was far too dramatic for my taste. This book was nothing short of bland and the characters were nearly impossible to relate to. Bridget's story seemed to bare the only legitimate plot. I can't say the same for the other characters. Tibby seemed false, Carmen was nothing short of unbearably irritating, and Lena was... not Lena. Well at least not the Lena I've grown to love. Her character was too forced, too unrealistic. The fact that the author thought it was okay for her ruin Lena's relationship with Kostos had me fuming. In the commentary in the back of the book she states "...I knew better than to form any real hopes for Lena and Kostos - not in this book anyway..." Well, then why did she feel the need to waste pages and pages and pages expressing Lena's extreme and undeniable love for Kostos? I'm sure Ann thought that this would make her writing style seem more mature and less predictable. Hello?! This book couldn't be more predictable. The the plot of this whole book seemed off and unoriginal. What are the odds that what happened to Lena had happened to Lena's mother. What are the odds that Lena finds herself entranced by Paul while in a trance of her own. I'm sure she's only fascinated by Paul because he reminds her of her Bapi but come on, man. What are the odds that once Brian took off his glasses, Tibby would begin to have true feelings for him. And what are the odds that Carmen wouldn't learn from the mistakes she had made last summer and would ruin her mother's life because she was a selfish brat? See? PREDICTABLE.



2. The four girls decided to put off wearing the pants all school year long in favor of bringing them out only in the summer time. At the start of their second summer Tibby left to go and do a film program at a college in Virginia, and Bee took off to find her roots, and herself, in Alabama. Lena and Carmen are staying home, but things are never simple when it comes to this sisterhood! Lena faces the ashes of her relationship with Kostos while Carmen deals with her mother's new flame David. Altogether though I thought this book was much darker then it's first book, and not nearly so uplifting. All of the girls seemed to be in a great deal of more trouble then last summer and to be facing tougher problems, also it seemed to me that some of the girls hadn't learned much from the last summer and had lessons that needed repeating.
   
   I thought this book was a lot darker than the previous Sisterhood, there was lots of loss to face, and change to acknowledge and deal with. I especially liked the dynamics between the Sisterhood and their mothers, and the flashes of the mother's own Sisterhood. All of the girls grew and changed throughout this novel, even if the lessons learned were just reiterations of old ones, but I think all of the girls managed to find themselves in more trouble this summer than last and had to experience more hurt as well.
   
   A sadder take on the Sisterhood, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood was still a powerful book, and a good addition to the series. I look forward to reading about their third summer.



3. I enjoyed the first book -- the adventures of the girls as they wrestled with early adulthood -- so I was very much looking forward to the sequel. Unfortunately, this book was largely phoned-in; the author's laziness is apparent in the fact that she replicates, almost entirely, one of the plot points of the first book (Carmen, apparently not learning ANYTHING from the summer before, tries to sabotage her mother's new romance...hmm, where have we seen THAT before? Seriously Ann, you couldn't come up with ANYTHING more original?).
   
   Also, a variety of challenges seem to MIRACULOUSLY resolve themselves in such an unrealistically convenient way that it can be attributed to nothing more than the author trying to quickly & sloppily tie up loose ends. Some of the characters remain quite immature -- Lena and Carmen especially. The girls tend to veer wildly between stubborn immaturity and wise insight --- and NEITHER end of the spectrum feels authentic... The most compelling character in the series, Tibby, gets only a few passing thoughts in her frustratingly predictable story arc.
   
   I feel like I spent more time reading the book than the author spent trying to come up with new ideas and realistic character development. It's a fun, "lite" summer fairy tale that is a faint carbon-copy of the earlier book.



4. A fun, quick read... this one centers around mothers and daughters and that loving (and explosive!) relationship. Well written, quick read - I read the whole thing in a day.
   
   One thing though...
   
   Surely someone will wash these pants soon, right? Ewwww...



5. After reading the first in this series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I had to read the second book. This is a fun and addictive series. The books are quick, light reads.
   This second book in the series was great. I like how the story continued, the storyline was very emotional. It was hard to put down, and I found myself tearing up at parts, then laughing out loud at other parts. I will be reading book 3!