Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber

Crossing the Tracks is a story about a girl named Iris whose father doesn't seem to care about her anymore. He owns a shoe shop, so he cares a great deal about footwear and having the right pair of shoes for every occasion, and he's dating a woman Iris can't stand, but he doesn't seem to notice Iris other than her getting in the way.

One day, she finds out that he's sending her off to live with a doctor and his mother, neither of whom she had met before, and be a caretaker for the doctor's mother. She boards the train with the perfect shoes for the occasion, stiff as they may be, and exits the train barefoot.

Over the summer, she learns a great deal about herself and the people around her. She helps a girl she can't stand, and gains a new interest in an old friend.

It's a good story, and as it is focused around a doctor's household, there are some of the most hilarious remedies for ailments I've ever heard of.

The story is sad at times, but not a downer. There is love, but it is not strictly a romance. Happiness, but not clownish. Overall, it's a great mix, with good storytelling and fantastic characters. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

I'm not Barbara Stuber, nor did I write the book for her.

-Kj

"Trust in Me" Selena Gomez

Hey, have you ever seen Disney's movie The Jungle Book?

Well, long story short, it's about a kid named Mowgli who is literally raised by wolves in a jungle in India. There are tons of predators everywhere; Shere Kahn the tiger, King Louis of the orangutans and monkeys, various creepy crawlies and Shere Kahn's right hand man, Kaa the snake.

Kaa is a constrictor, so he doesn't use venom or anything like that, he simply squeezes the life out of his lunch. Mowgli looks like a good sized lunch. He hypnotizes Mowgli by singing "Trust in Me" and the kid is about to become his lunch.

How does it end? Well, it's a Disney movie, so that should give you a pretty good hint, but you can go ahead and watch it if you're curious. But that's not why I'm posting this.

Selena Gomez does a fantastically creepy cover of "Trust in Me" and if you're interested in hearing one of Hollywood's cute little sweethearts singing something not so cute or sweetheartish, you should check it out.

It's on Grooveshark, so you can look it up for free. I haven't searched for it on Youtube though, so there might be a video, in which case it could either hype up the creepy or tame it out a bit.

Anywho, I'm not Selena Gomez, and Disney owns the song!

-Kj

Legacy by Thomas E. Sniegoski

Hey guys, I've been up to my neck in summer reading and I have some highlights for you.

The first book in my pile is called Legacy and it's by a guy named Thomas E. Sniegoski. This is a story about a regular guy named Lucas, just living his life as a mechanic at this tiny little shop in the middle of nowhere. He's eighteen, dropped out of high school, lives with his mom, and doesn't really have much of a future outside the auto shop.

One day, he gets paid a visit by some guys from his old school. The leader is mad because Lucas made a comment about his girlfriend, so they get in a fight. Lucas is winning when he gets stabbed in the gut by the angry leader. The other guys run away while Lucas sinks to the floor. He pulls out the knife and he's pretty sure he's going to die when his boss comes in and sees the giant blood stain on his shirt. The boss gets kinda freaked out, but Lucas is feeling better. He lifted his shirt and... nothing. No gaping hole where his guts should have been, no ache, not even a scratch. But suddenly he's famished, so he heads across the street to the diner where his mom works and gets lunch.

A day or two later, an old man with a brand new Mustang pulls into the auto shop. There's nothing wrong with the car, the man just wanted to talk with Lucas. He has news. The man is really the Raptor, the superhero in charge of protecting Seraph City, and Lucas is his son.

Check it out, it's a good, fast read, but not totally mind candy. I had fun with it.

By the way... My name isn't Sniegoski, this is not my book, I'm just the reviewer.

-Kj

Five Flavors of Dumb

Hey, I recently read a new book titled Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John.

It's about a deaf girl who goes to school to find that a band is playing on the front step. They're playing so loudly, she can feel the vibrations of the music pulsing through her. They won a contest recently, so they get to record some of their songs, but there are a few problems... They play individually, not together so there's no cohesiveness. Their tempers get riled up very easily. They play mainly covers of other songs, so they would need to ask permission and probably pay the original songwriter royalties for that if they were to record it. And they don't have a manager.

That's where our deaf girl, Piper comes in. She agrees to manage the band, and with the help of her talented guitarist brother and the guy she plays chess with, they work on pulling the band together.

Some problems... The lead singer is an arrogant jerk, the bass player (lead singer's brother) hardly ever speaks, the lead guitarist has an extremely short temper, and there's no drummer. They also lack a second guitarist.

If I keep telling you how it goes, you'll have no reason to read it, so go read it!

It's a good read for the teens, though it might not be appropriate for kids.

Oh, and is my name Antony John? Actually, you don't know for sure, do you? But just trust me. I did not write this book. It's a good read, but not mine. 

-Kj

This Time

Hey,

I don't know if you've ever seen August Rush, but the song "This Time" is really pretty and kinda sad. 

"I wondered what would happen if I left it all behind,

Would the wind be at my back? Could I get you off my mind?

This time..."

I found a fan video for you, so if it turns off, let me know and I'll fix it up for ya.

Check it out 

-Kj

P.S. Need I say it? The song isn't mine. 

Comment moderation

Hey, sorry for the super long wait time between posts!

I've been way busy lately, and just haven't had much time. =/

Anyway, I put up comment moderation because although there are some very nice, interesting comments on my Zack Kim post, there are also a lot of awful spamming comments that no one under the age of eighteen should have to read. So to those of you who comment because you truly like what I have to share, I thank you, and will be happy to post more as time goes on and allow you to continue commenting. But to those of you who want to share your links to inappropriate sites, this is a G rated blog and will stay that way until further notice.

And yes, I do translate what you say into English.

Thanks for commenting, and I'll be writing more as I get more free time! =)

-Kj

Zack Kim Playing "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

Hey Guys,

I was browsing the blogs I'm watching, when I saw that Zack Kim published again. I'm a huge fan of his work, what he does is plays music on his electric guitar. Some of his best songs are entirely composed of hammer ons and pull offs, stuff like the Chocobo theme from Final Fantasy and stuff.

Anyways, lately I've been hearing this song, "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay on the radio, and it's got a really beautiful melody that sounds really familiar, like I've heard it before... Anyway, Zack Kim played the melody and it sounds really awesome! Check it out! 

By the way, if you know of another song that sounds kinda like this, let me know because I've got this insane case of dejavu from it and it won't go away. Every time I hear it it gets stronger. Maybe it means something interesting or important that I just can't remember happened while this song was playing or something, but that dejavu just won't go away.

Later!

-Kj