I have to thank Weinstein Books and Perseus Books for sending me an ARC of this title. I didn't know anything about the YouTube Channel before I found out about this book. I've always enjoyed a good ghost story, and when I was younger, I used to go to the library and check out all the "true haunting" books. About 10 years ago I even went to a couple "real" haunted houses with my younger cousin and aunt and my mom. One was a Bed and Breakfast, called the Mason House Inn that is located in Bentonsport, Iowa, where we went and had a paranormal expert named Christopher Moon give us lessons on how to try to catch evidence of ghosts, and even shared his own findings. And we went up to a cemetery at night, and it was pretty spooky. So anyway, when I heard about this book I was instantly interested based on the description.
The main character is Sunshine Griffith. She and her mother have just moved from Texas to a small town in Washington state, and into what Sunshine calls a "creepy" house. And she likes the word creepy. She uses it to describe just about everything, the house, the street that really only seems to contain their house, and what is going on in the house. Right away she gets a weird feeling in the house, and starts hearing sounds. Footsteps on the 2nd floor, even though she figures out that the way it is carpeted up there, she shouldn't be able to hear any footsteps even if there was someone up there. She also hears whispering, most of the time so quiet she can't tell what it is saying, but sometimes she can. And a little girl's laugh too. And anyone who watches scary movies knows just how creepy that sound can be. Next things start being in different places than where she left them. And then, one night she and her mom are both home and hear what sounds like a little girl yelling for help, and splashing noises. They run upstairs to where the bathroom door has slammed shut, and water seems to be coming out as it seems the tub is overflowing. But when the open the door, there isn't anyone in there. The water is pretty gross though, as if the pipes were dirty, and it leaves a slimy coating on everything that touches it. After they get it all cleaned up, it's as if her mom has lost all memory of what happened, as if it got scrubbed away as they cleaned. And now that Sunshine should actually have her mom on her side, her mom acts almost angry when Sunshine brings it up. Her mom begins to change as well, growing more distant.
Yes, she started a new school. And she does make a friend pretty quickly. You see Sunshine was really into photography at her old school, she even has a really fancy camera, and likes to develop the film herself. When she signs up for the art class at her school, it is almost as if it was an afterthought. All the students do all day is get stuff from a craft supply closet and make sculptures out of pipe cleaners and other similar things. The teacher is really weird and creepy. Sunshine is fortunate enough that a nice boy sits across from her the first day. Nolan talks to her and really becomes a good friend. When she finds out that his grandfather really used to be into paranormal things and that Nolan respected and paid a lot of attention to what his grandfather did, she feels able to share what is going on in her house. And together, they start to investigate these strange events. Together they will learn why Sunshine is seeing these things but now her mom isn't.
There is also someone that is an unknown narrator who chimes in every once in awhile. And this person knows exactly what Sunshine is dealing with. But they don't come forward and reveal themselves until the very end.
A great story. The haunting is very well set up in the story, and I like the whole background story that we learn bit by bit throughout the book. I'm guessing there will be a sequel, or a series you might say as the ending of the story leaves us. I enjoyed it so much I had to go start looking through the YouTube channel: The Haunting of Sunshine Girl Network. I got through a few very short, like 1-2 minute videos tonight, and subscribed as well. I'll be going back as I have time to watch on. There are quite a few similar things in the video to the book so far, but it is different enough to be its own thing.
Showing posts with label Perseus Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perseus Books. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2015
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Review: How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love
Remember how I told you that the people in the booths at BEA seemed much friendlier this year? At least compared to when I was there two years ago that is. Well, this is a book that I saw sitting in a publisher's booth and asked if I could have a copy of, and they were nice enough to let me have it! The publisher was Running Press Teens, a part of the Perseus Books Group.
This book intrigued me because it was about a girl who was overweight, and ended up going on a reality tv show to lose weight. She had to lose 50 pounds in 50 days. Now, she wasn't unhappy, not completely, with how she was. She lived in a family of skinny people. Her dad was a former athlete turned motivational speaker. Her sister was an underwear model. And her mother was a former Laker Girl. So she really didn't fit in. But her boyfriend, who was large himself, over 300 pounds, loved her, and she loved him. But one day she found that her family was behind on their mortgage payments, and she knew that she had to agree to the show so they could win the million dollars. As the show goes on, she does learn good habits, but things keep setting her back. Finding out her family may not actually believe in her, or at least some of her family. The stress of eating so much less than she was used to could lead to sneaking food. The fame, going to the movies she sees that she has fans. And then maybe learning things about her family and boyfriend that are shocking, whether they are true or not. And finally, even picking up some bad weight loss habits in order to try to win the show when things seemed to get behind.
This book is really a good look into what goes on in the mind of overweight girls. As someone who has been in that state many times in my life, including at the present time, I definitely identified with things that she may have said or done. I really liked how the show had her do video posts as the show was going on. Her posts were very insightful. I liked how she would realize the things that she did weren't always healthy, either way. My one complaint is the ending. While I think what happens is a good way to end it, I feel the book did it very abruptly, and I was left wanting to know more details about how all of it came out, and what happened to everyone. That's just me.
Overall it was a really good read, and I will be donating my free copy to the high school library where I work.
This book intrigued me because it was about a girl who was overweight, and ended up going on a reality tv show to lose weight. She had to lose 50 pounds in 50 days. Now, she wasn't unhappy, not completely, with how she was. She lived in a family of skinny people. Her dad was a former athlete turned motivational speaker. Her sister was an underwear model. And her mother was a former Laker Girl. So she really didn't fit in. But her boyfriend, who was large himself, over 300 pounds, loved her, and she loved him. But one day she found that her family was behind on their mortgage payments, and she knew that she had to agree to the show so they could win the million dollars. As the show goes on, she does learn good habits, but things keep setting her back. Finding out her family may not actually believe in her, or at least some of her family. The stress of eating so much less than she was used to could lead to sneaking food. The fame, going to the movies she sees that she has fans. And then maybe learning things about her family and boyfriend that are shocking, whether they are true or not. And finally, even picking up some bad weight loss habits in order to try to win the show when things seemed to get behind.
This book is really a good look into what goes on in the mind of overweight girls. As someone who has been in that state many times in my life, including at the present time, I definitely identified with things that she may have said or done. I really liked how the show had her do video posts as the show was going on. Her posts were very insightful. I liked how she would realize the things that she did weren't always healthy, either way. My one complaint is the ending. While I think what happens is a good way to end it, I feel the book did it very abruptly, and I was left wanting to know more details about how all of it came out, and what happened to everyone. That's just me.
Overall it was a really good read, and I will be donating my free copy to the high school library where I work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)