The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away

 

Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Release Date: 8/27/2013

Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the conclusion to the bestselling Secret Language of Girls trilogy, Marylin and Kate find that boys can be just as complicated as friendship.Marylin knows that, as a middle school cheerleader, she has certain obligations. She has to smile as she walks down the hall, be friends with the right people, and keep her manicure in tip-top shape. But Marylin is surprised to learn there are also rules about whom she’s allowed to like—and Benjamin, the student body president, is deemed unnacceptable. But maybe there is a way to convince the cheerleaders that her interest in Benjamin is for their own good—maybe she’ll pretend that she’s using him to get new cheerleading uniforms!

Kate, of course, finds this ludicrous. She is going to like whom she likes, thank you very much. And she just so happens to be spending more time than ever with Matthew Holler. But even a girl who marches to the beat of her own guitar strings can play the wrong notes—and are she and Matthew even playing the same song? She’s just not sure. So when Matthew tells Kate that the school’s Audio Lab needs funding from the student government, she decides to do what she can to help him get it.

But there isn’t enough money to go around, and it soon becomes clear that only one of the two girls can get her way. Ultimately, though, is it even her way? Or are both girls pushing for something they never really wanted in the first place?

My Thoughts:

I think this book was absolutely adorable! It really explored friendship and the difference between healthy friendships and unhealthy friendships. From the first book in the trilogy to the third book in the trilogy, the readers are extremely connected to the characters. The author did a great job conveying the emotions that Marylin and Kate were experiencing. I did, however, wish that there was more of an interaction between Marylin and Kate (Marylin's previous best friend), as well as Marylin and Rhetta (Marylin's new best friend). This was generally a cute read, of which I would recommend to 6th graders and up.



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Liebster Award

Hi everyone!

We have been nominated for the Liebster Award by My Bookshelf is Never Full!  Here's how it works: Once you are nominated, you mention who nominated you and you answer the 10 questions that they posted. Then you nominate 10 more blogs followed by less than 200 people and write 10 questions for your nominees to answer. Don't forget to post a comment on each of your nominees with a link to your post, so they know that they were nominated! Because our blog has multiple authors, we are each answering the questions briefly in different colored font. Two of us will nominate two blogs and post on their blog, and two of us will be nominating three blogs and posting on their blog. This goes for the questions as well-two of us will write two questions, and two of us will write three.

Color Key:

Kathy will be writing in pink. 
Emily will be writing in purple
Katie will be writing in blue

Here are the questions:

1) What was your favorite series of the past year?
My favorite series of this year (although, it's been around for a few years, the most recent was just released) is definitely The Gallagher Girls Series by: Ally Carter.
My favorite series that I have read so far this year has been The Selection Series by Kiera Cass.
My favorite series that I have read this year was the Watersong Quartet. I read all four of the books this year. This is a hard question, though, because there are a lot of other series that I like.

My favorite series that I have read this year is the Infernal Devices.  I spent the majority of my Christmas holiday reading the final book in the series.

2) Who is your favorite minor character in all the books that you've read?
Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter by far.
Either Nico from the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus books, Issac from The Fault in Our Stars, or Marlee from the Selection series.
I like Tris' friend, Christina, from the Divergent trilogy.

William Herondale, from the Infernal Devices series, is, by far, my favorite character.

3) Have you quit a book recently? If so, what was it's name and why'd you quit it?
No, I have not. I try not to quit books in the hopes that they might eventually pick up.
I recently quit the Mortal Instruments series. It sort of lost its touch for me, but I'm trying to pick them up again.
Earlier this year, I quit reading 17 & Gone because there were some other books that I wanted to read instead.  I think I wasn't in the mood for it.

A few weeks ago, I stopped reading the Unseen 2 due to a lack of time and overcommitment at school.

4) What is the largest amount of books that you've bought at one time?
I actually don't often buy books, because I usually get them from the library, so I guess maybe three.
Normally, if I'm allowed, I'll buy three books.
The most I've bought at once is probably two or three. Typically, I buy one book per bookstore visit.

The largest number of books that I have bought during a single trip to the bookstore was 9 books.

5) Why did you start blogging?
I had been toying with the idea of starting a blog for quite a while, so I was excited when Olivia asked me to co-own her new blog. I wanted to share my love of reading with others and hopefully convince more people to read.
I started this year on Kathy's request. I really like blogging and I think that it was a great decision on my part.
I started blogging because I love books and wanted to write about books that I love. I started in March 2012.

I started blogging because I wanted to share my love of books with others and share my thoughts and opinions with those who enjoy similar books.
6) What are some books that you love, but most others don't?

Their Eyes Were Watching God by: Zora Neale Hurston. I know many people do like this, but in my age group, they don't seem to enjoy it. If one can't grasp the language of the book, it can be quite difficult to read.
A majority of people I know love reading, so I'm not exactly sure. Most likely any book because people my age hate books with a fiery passion that could rival the burning of 5 suns. (Kathy says that this was dramatic, but it's true.)
I like a lot of books, but I'm not really sure which of the books aren't loved by other people.

One of my favorite books was A Separate Peace, which was a summer reading book that the majority of my classmates despised.

7) Have you ever been ashamed to read a certain book in public? Which one?
Nancy Drew. In 9th grade. Yeah. Erm. YOLO.
Twilight. All of them. I wasn't ashamed at the time, but now I am.
I'm not usually ashamed to read books in public.  Sometimes, if there is a couple kissing or almost kissing on the cover, I don't like to be seen reading the book at school.  But I still bring it to school anyway.

I was embarrassed to carry around the Mortal Instruments books, particularly City of Bones, due to the pictures on the front cover.

8) What are your favorite reading spots? 
I like to read everywhere and anywhere, so I don't necessarily have a favorite spot to read.  
My room or the library. I like it quiet. However, I'm extremely good at tuning people out, so I can read pretty much anywhere.
I like to read on my bed, or in my family room.

I like to read in bed or in an armchair by the fire.

9) How do you organize your bookshelf?
Yeah....I use the, uh, "stack, cram and shove method."
I use the same method as Kathy.
Yeah, I use the same method as Kathy and Emily.  I tried to organize alphabetically, but it didn't work for long.  Now, not all my books fit on the shelf, so I have stacks of them on my floor.

I initially tried to organize my books alphabetically, as well, but I currently have Rowling next to Clare.  So that evidently didn't work out well.

10) What author would you love to meet? Why?

I'd love to meet Jane Austen. It was so courageous of her to write when women were discouraged from it. I'd love to have a conversation with her!
Either J.K. Rowling because she's amazing or John Green because he is what fights off all the world-suck.
I would love to meet Trish Doller because Something Like Normal is probably my favorite book ever, and I love Where the Stars Still Shine.

I would love to meet J.K.Rowling due to her amazing rags-to-riches story.
Our  blog nominations:

1.Pink Polka Dot Book Blog
2.The Ultimate Bookworm's
3.Weaving Pages
4.Ice Queen Bookshelf
5.Nook Book Merlin
6.Buckling Bookshelves
7.Musings of a Bibliomaniac
8.Spun With Words
9.Eternity Through Pages
10.Mo Books

Our questions:
1. What was your least favorite book and why?
2. When did you start to enjoy reading?
3. What stand-alone book do you wish there was a sequel to?
4. What books do you think kicked-off your love for reading?
5. What book that had a sequel did you think should not have had one?
6. Do you ever DNF books?  If so, what book have you DNF'ed recently?
7. What is your favorite genre?
8. What is one of your favorite books in your favorite genre?
9. What book(s) have you been wanting to read for awhile, but just haven't gotten around to?
10. What is the greatest number of books that you have been read at one time?

Hope you all have a lovely day!
-Pages in Paris

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