Mackenzie Blue: Friends Forever?

by Tina Wells

In the third installment of the Mackenzie Blue series, Zee and her friends are off for their school's annual camping field trip, where they have to spend a week in the wilderness. Zee is super excited when her best friend from Paris, Ally, joins the trip while visiting. But things aren't going as smoothly as Zee hoped for - her friends are acting weird, a mysterious Mountain Man is prowling around their cabins at night, and more!

Mackenzie Blue: Friends Forever? was certainly as cute as its predecessors, but it wasn't my favorite. Zee definitely grows a lot in this book, and it was interesting to see her relationships with her friends change, but some of the situations were just too unrealistic and shallow for me to sympathize and relate with. However, it was still an entertaining read that elementary and middle school kids are sure to enjoy!

P.S. Yesterday was my sister Maya's 13th birthday. She wasn't feeling well and had a nasty fever, so she didn't have a very good birthday. If you could please head over to her blog and leave a birthday greeting or comment, that would be much appreciated! Thank you!

Rereading

Rereading The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. This is one of my favorite quotes:

"There was a lull in conversation, and in the quiet, someone from a side table addressed the king. 'Your Majesty,' he asked innocently, 'is it true that your cousins once held you down in a water cache?' ...'Is it also true that they wouldn't let you out until you agreed to repeat insults about your own family?'...

"The king shrugged his shoulders slightly and said, 'I could send you to ask them.'

"The man laughed. His laughter was edged with contempt. 'It would be a long trip, Your Majesty. I would so much rather hear the answer from you.'

"'Oh, the trip would be quicker than you think,' said the king, pleasantly. 'Most of my male cousins are dead.'"

I'd forgotten how funny this book was!

TEDxRedmond

I'm going to link to Maya's post here because I think she said it beautifully: TEDxRedmond last night was such a successful event - fun and inspiring for everyone! The theme was "Power to the Students!" and we had an amazing lineup of speakers and performers (all kids!) share their ideas and experiences at the event.

I was one of the speakers (the first one, in fact) and it was a wonderful experience - the other speakers and the whole audience were so supportive! It was so weird when during every break, I was called for interviews. I definitely was not expecting that! It was awesome when some kids asked me for my autograph though. And a few people Tweeted about my speech! :P

As one of the event organizers as well, it was relieving to see the event pulled off so successfully and professionally without any glitches. I think there will be videos of the event up soon - for those who didn't attend, I think everyone (students, teachers, parents, and more) can get something out of this conference by watching the talks online.

I think this event really proved to people how much potential kids have. The whole event was planned solely by kids (although we did need a little adult help for sponsorship, etc.), and when we see what amazing things all the speakers and performers were able to accomplish, it's very empowering and inspiring.

Here are a couple pictures to leave you with:

Maya and I standing next to a piece of the Berlin Wall, housed in the Microsoft Convention Center:

From left to right: Me, Jordan Romero (currently the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest!), Maya, and Zoe Sprankle (one of the performers at TEDxRedmond who has an amazing voice!)

Book suggestions, please?

Does anyone know of a good historical fiction novel set in Europe sometime during the Renaissance Period? Preferrably one that's not extremely long or difficult to read, and the more exciting, the better.

Thanks!

September at Readergirlz

This month at readergirlz, we're going to be discussing Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever (see my review here) by Maureen Johnson over at the blog. These books are hilarious, and Maureen is super funny and entertaining as well, so it's going to be a fun month! Come on over and join in the discussions!

Backyard

Summer is basically over here (it's cloudy and starting to rain), but our roses and some of our other flowers are still in bloom:

This last photo was taken two months ago, when we still had pretty sunsets: