Books for the Break!

Once Upon A Time: Before Midnight - Cameron Dokey

Etienne de Brabant is brokenhearted. His wife has died in childbirth; leaving him alone with an infant daughter he cannot bear to name. But before he abandons her for king and court, he brings a second child to be raised alongside her, a boy whose identity he does not reveal.

The girl, La Cendrillon, and the boy, Raoul, pass sixteen years in the servants' care until one day a very fine lady arrives with her two daughters. The lady has married La Cendrillon's father, and her arrival changes their lives.

When an invitation to a great ball reaches the family, La Cendrillon's new stepmother will make a decision with far-reaching effects. Her choice will lead La Cendrillon and Raoul towards their destiny - a choice that will challenge their understanding of family, test their loyalty and courage, and, ultimately, teach them who they are.

Angelica's Note: Without giving anything away, I'll say that I just love this retelling of Cinderella. A 'must read' for Cinderella lovers.

Blood Red, Snow White - Marcus Sedgwick

The time for princes and Tsars and holy madmen was gone. In its place came a world of war and revolution, tanks and telephones, murder and assassination.

Beyond the vast plains, deep in the snowy forest, the great bear that is Russia wakes from a long sleep and marches to St Petersburg to claim its birthright.

Its awakening will mark the end for the Romanovs, and herald an era that will change the world. In 1917 the Bolsheviks hold power in the newly renamed Petrogard. Lenin and Trotsky govern from palaces where the Tsars once danced till dawn.

Another man played a part in it all. His name was Arthur Ransome, a journalist and writer who left his English home, his wife and daughter, and fell in love with Russia and a Russian woman, Evgenia. This is his story.

At times bleak, at others rich, poignant and tender, Marcus Sedgwick blends a fairy tale, spy thriller and love story in a novel that lingers long in the memory.

The Celebutantes: On the Avenue - Antonio Pagliarulo

Okay, so I took this book out to take a glimpse into the life of celebutantes. Just started, and the point of view changes at each chapter, which I am thankful for.

This is the official blurb:

The Hamilton triplets - Madison, Park, and Lexington - are accustomed to living in the public eye. Heiresses to a billion-dollar media empire, they have been raised in New York's most elite circles and, at sixteen, know firsthand the demands of being celebutantes. It isn't always about designer labels and lavish parties. There are people to impress, appearances to make, and paparazzi to outrun. Not to mention high school to finish.

But when fashion editor Zahara Bell is found dead in a one-of-a-kind frock from Lex's unreleased clothing line, and then the priceless Avenue diamond goes missing, getting to class is far from the triplets' minds as their first pair of Manolos. One of the girls is a suspect, and the sisters find themselves in the middle of a scandal that could sink their reputations and their father's companies for good. And the press is ready, willing, and able to lend a hand.

The Hamilton sisters need to stick closer together than ever before - the killer is still out there, and if they don't solve the case, their (sometimes) good name could become dirtier than a certain hotel chain.

Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta

My old school, St. Stella's. only goes to Year Ten and most of my friends go to Pius Senior College, but my mother wouldn't allow it because she says the girls there leave with limited options and she didn't bring me up to have limitations placed upon me. If you know my mother you'll sense there's an irony there, based on the fact that she is the Queen of Limitation Placers in my life.

Francesca is at the beginning of her second term in Year Eleven at an all boys' school that has just started accepting girls. She still misses her old friends, and, to make things worse, her mother has had a breakdown and can barely move from her bed.

But Francesca had not counted on the fierce loyalty of her new friends, or falling in love, or finding that it's within her power to bring her family back together.

Angelica's Note: I haven't read this book yet, but judging from Ms. Marchetta's previous novels that I've read [Looking for Alibrandi and On the Jellicoe Road] I'm thinking this book will be just as fantastic.