I LOVED my ARC of book 1 and I'm going to meet the author for the second time. I love Jon Scieszka and I would love to read this book! Thanks for the giveaway! :-D

Gretchen Müller is the perfect young Nazi girl who looks up to her uncle Dolf and has learned to hate the Jews. She has a great life, and has no reason to question society. Until one night, when she sees something she wasn’t supposed to; her brother killing an innocent Jew. Soon after, she starts seeing tears in her familiar world and then she meets Daniel, a Jew who she can’t help but admire because of his story and his honesty. Gretchen knows she can’t keep meeting up with Daniel, but he’s caught her eye. Now Gretchen must decide who to trust and where her loyalty lies: in the life she’s known for the last decade, or in Daniel and justice for the Jews. An utterly real and well-written novel, Blankman’s debut is sure to quench historical fiction fans’ thirst. Thoughts: This book. Guys. This book. The setting was so real and shocking as was the writing and you could imagine yourself in that horrible world, right along with Gretchen and Daniel. It was spine-tingling experiencing the characters being in the same room as Hitler and, golly, to have your world shattered like that and you see the true evil and brainwashing behind the Nazi party. You can tell that Anne did a lot of research by how the setting really comes alive. The beginning was a bit slow, but it was for story-building and things started getting really intense as you went along. I can’t wait for the sequel and to jump back into this rich story and continue the adventure with Gretchen and Daniel.

Gretchen Müller is the perfect young Nazi girl who looks up to her uncle Dolf and has learned to hate the Jews. She has a great life, and has no reason to question society. Until one night, when she sees something she wasn’t supposed to; her brother killing an innocent Jew. Soon after, she starts seeing tears in her familiar world and then she meets Daniel, a Jew who she can’t help but admire because of his story and his honesty. Gretchen knows she can’t keep meeting up with Daniel, but he’s caught her eye. Now Gretchen must decide who to trust and where her loyalty lies: in the life she’s known for the last decade, or in Daniel and justice for the Jews. An utterly real and well-written novel, Blankman’s debut is sure to quench historical fiction fans’ thirst. Thoughts: This book. Guys. This book. The setting was so real and shocking as was the writing and you could imagine yourself in that horrible world, right along with Gretchen and Daniel. It was spine-tingling experiencing the characters being in the same room as Hitler and, golly, to have your world shattered like that and you see the true evil and brainwashing behind the Nazi party. You can tell that Anne did a lot of research by how the setting really comes alive. The beginning was a bit slow, but it was for story-building and things started getting really intense as you went along. I can’t wait for the sequel and to jump back into this rich story and continue the adventure with Gretchen and Daniel.

In Divergent, Beatrice Prior lives in the dystopian world of Chicago. She is sixteen, and it is the time of year when sixteen year olds take an aptitude test and decide what faction they will spend the rest of their life in. Chicago is divided into five factions—Amity, the peaceful, Abnegation, the selfless, Candor, the honest, Dauntless, the brave, and Erudite, the intelligent. But Beatrice is different from the other sixteen-year olds. She fits in with more than one of the factions. She is Divergent, which is rare and dangerous. Beatrice changes her name to Tris when she chooses Dauntless, and learns how to fight and overcome her fears. In an exciting, hooking, coming-of-age story, Tris finds herself fitting in with Dauntless and faces her fears. Divergent amazed me. It is a truly incredible book, and one of the best dystopians I have ever read. It stands out from the others that I have read because it has a different concept, and it is a great new take on the genre. I love the idea of the five factions, and that the setting is in a futuristic version of Chicago. The characters have defining qualities—Four is mysterious, Tris is brave and fearless. There is so much action in this book, and so much suspense that you won’t be able to put it down. I can not wait for the Divergent movie, which is sure to be incredible, and I can’t wait to read more of Veronica Roth’s books!

Eliza Boom is her father’s inventing assistant. She and her dog, Einstein, have had many great ideas for inventions, but none have worked out. As her father says, there are 99 failed inventions before a great one! After giving a class bully an early birthday present, Eliza’s father loses a spy ribbon (his top-secret project). But then, Eliza realizes that she tied the ribbon onto Zoe’s present, and it is now in Zoe’s hair! Now, before her dad finds out, she must get the spy ribbon back and try to get some revenge on Zoe. In a short, illustrated chapter book, Eliza tries to save her dad from big trouble. What I thought: This is definitely a book for younger readers—it is short, illustrated, and geared toward a younger audience. I think if you are starting to read chapter books, then this is a great book for you, with some action/adventure, and some fun things that happen in it. With a nice story and interesting illustrations, this is definitely a great read for starting readers!

I really want to win this! I LOVE all of his other middle school books, and the fact that it is about treasure hunters is awesome! Can NOT wait to read it, and I hope I win!

Tommy Smythe has gone missing. No one knows where he went, and nobody’s sure if he does either. His bike was found by the pull-out. You see, Tommy was, is, a science “geek” so to speak. He believes in wormholes and parallel universes and is really interested in quantum physics. For all anyone knows, he could’ve gone through a wormhole. Told from 21 unique perspectives that are all centered around the pull-out and connected to Tommy’s disappearance, Lindsey Lane’s debut gives you insight on the lives of people all sharing something in common, while having completely different stories. My thoughts: This book was very intriguing. It’s about the disappearance of Tommy, but the story isn’t actually really that focused on Tommy. It’s really cool, taking a look at all these characters lives and getting to know them a little bit. It basically is a book of short stories that are all related to Tommy and the pull-out, and that’s what made me want to pick it up and read it. I’m glad I did. There were a couple of chapters that were definitely for a more mature audience. I thought this book was a thought-provoking, fresh and different read that broadens your horizons to other people’s lives and shows you that nobody has it perfect. A nice added touch were the journal entries from Tommy’s journal in every chapter. They really made you think, and put a nice little bow on the gift. All in all, I would recommend this book for anyone in the mid/upper YA category who wants a quirky and intelligent read.

Tommy Smythe has gone missing. No one knows where he went, and nobody’s sure if he does either. His bike was found by the pull-out. You see, Tommy was, is, a science “geek” so to speak. He believes in wormholes and parallel universes and is really interested in quantum physics. For all anyone knows, he could’ve gone through a wormhole. Told from 21 unique perspectives that are all centered around the pull-out and connected to Tommy’s disappearance, Lindsey Lane’s debut gives you insight on the lives of people all sharing something in common, while having completely different stories. My thoughts: This book was very intriguing. It’s about the disappearance of Tommy, but the story isn’t actually really that focused on Tommy. It’s really cool, taking a look at all these characters lives and getting to know them a little bit. It basically is a book of short stories that are all related to Tommy and the pull-out, and that’s what made me want to pick it up and read it. I’m glad I did. There were a couple of chapters that were definitely for a more mature audience. I thought this book was a thought-provoking, fresh and different read that broadens your horizons to other people’s lives and shows you that nobody has it perfect. A nice added touch were the journal entries from Tommy’s journal in every chapter. They really made you think, and put a nice little bow on the gift. All in all, I would recommend this book for anyone in the mid/upper YA category who wants a quirky and intelligent read.