Customer Reviews

Luv Ya Bunches: A Flower Power Book

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In Luv Ya Bunches, Katie-Rose, Milla, Violet and Yasaman are all experiencing their first week in the 5th grade.

Katie-Rose is the techy one - she normally hides behind her camcorder. She and Camilla or "Milla" for short became friends over the summer at their summer camp. But now that school is about to start Katie-Rose is stressing because she's not sure if her friendship with Milla will continue.

Milla is the beautiful, popular one. She wears all the trendy clothes, and hangs out with the coolest girls in school (although Modessa and Quin - said coolest girls, are not very nice). She lives with her two mothers and is stressing because slowly she is realizing that the coolest girls in school might not exactly be who she wants to hang out with.

Violet is the new girl in school. She just moved with her father to town and is none too happy about having to leave her friends behind. Not to mention she is suffering over the loss of her mother. She is assessed by the other girls and is promptly offered to be part of the popular clique. She wears the right clothes and has the perfect attitude - but will she fit in?

Then there's Yasaman - although she's been in the same school with these other girls, she has always been seen as an outcast. Her classmates see her as different because she wears a hijab and comes from a Muslim family. But underneath all that she is quite the whiz at html code. She has created a social network (similar to MySpace, Facebook, etc.) but she has no friends to tell about it.

The story is told through all four points-of-view, including some fun instant message chats, and some very inventive screenplays and daydreams (courtesy of Katie-Rose). Each girl has her own personality and they all four compliment one another. It touches on topics that are very real to young girls - anywhere from bullying, to fashion sense, to just everyday issues - like overcoming differences and accepting who you are. I loved all the illustrations and the cutesy chat forums were uber adorable. I think all young girls can enjoy this story - it is definitely geared towards the 9-12 age group. It is also noted that this is book one - so we will definitely be reading more about the girls in the future.

This was a really fun, easy read. It's not annoying, so even if you're above the age of 10, you'll still love it.It centers around four girls, who are all named after flowers. They don't know it yet, but they will soon become close friends at the end of the book.It has the basics: the bad guys, the good guys, the person in the middle, and a happy ending.
I love that this book is multicultural, with people from various backrounds. It's a nice break from the same race books. And they included the middle eastern that I usually don't normally see in books.I love the common flowers name thing, it's cute and it works. I love that it's REAL and not those fake books i used to read when I was in 5th grade. Yes, people do care about fashion in the 5th grade.
I don't love that they have cell phones in the fifth grade. I guess now everyone has a cell phone, but really? What does a fifth grader need a cell phone for. I don't love all the labeling all that much,but it wasn't used in a rascist way or anyting, mostly so you knew who was who. Not to come off mean or whatvr, but my parents were mad when they heard people were writing books about 'two moms living together'or 'two dads'. Especially for kid's book, they didn't like it. So if you're a mom or dad and you don't like that type of stuff just know that this book has little, tiny references to Milla having two moms.
Lots of instant messaging, so it's like the younger ttyl.


Sorry for any mistakes or misspellings. :-) I'm only 13. lol

My 9 year old daughter wanted to buy this book because she is going to 5th grade and found the subject relevant. I don't understand why the words "slotty" and "pole dancer" have to show up in a children's book!! She asked me what these words means and I was extremely surprised!!! Why can't the author of a children's book keep the material appropriate for a child??? This book will definitely being returned.

Katie-Rose doesn't have any friends at school. She's really hoping that over the summer, popular girl Milla will ditch her not-so-nice friends and want to hang out with her, instead.

Milla's not too sure who she wants to be friends with. Her current friends aren't always nice, but she doesn't want to be a social nobody, either.

A new girl, Violet, enters the mix, and she's waiting to see which social group she should join. She's not afraid of resident mean girl, Modessa.

Soon, Katie-Rose befriends Yasaman, who loves computers. She's made her own website where friends can chat with each other.

When Milla's good luck charm disappears, the outcome changes everything. Will the four girls find their way navigating through social pressures?

LUV YA BUNCHES is the first book in a new tween series that mentions Myracles's characters from her other popular INTERNET GIRLS series. This one reads as a younger version of that series, and will contain three more books. It's a very cute story - with IM chat and mini screenplays included.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

I loved the diversity in Luv Ya Bunches, from the characters ethnic backgrounds, to their home situations, to their friends at school, these four girls realize that none of that matters when it comes to true friendship. I also loved the diversity of storytelling methods such as IM conversations, screenplay format, and regular narrative. While format changes are a personal favorite of mine I think they also work well for reluctant readers.

While I had to keep reminding myself that the girls were 5th graders and not in junior high (I guess things were different when I was their age!) I think this story of friendship can be appreciate by anyone from late elementary school age to junior high and beyond, I mean heck I'm nowhere near their ages and I enjoyed reading it!

While I liked all of the characters, personally my favorite character was Yasaman. She's a bit of a loner, a computer/internet guru and a Muslim. It's very exciting to see more and more Muslim characters in young adult and childrens books recently. I'm also excited that this is a start of a series and that we will get to know a lot more about this group of new friends!

I absolutely adore Myracle's books- her writing style is full of humor, heart, and truth. This is the beginning of a four-book series and while there's no cliffhanger ending, I'm eagerly anticipating the next book because I loved reading about these four diverse characters and want to see what they get up to next. One of the things I love about this book is how it showcases diverse characters and families; one character, Camilla, has two moms, which has caused quite a hubbub in the schools, despite the fact that both moms are rarely shown or talked about. Aside from that, the first sign of diversity is right on the cover, which features all four girls- African, Asian, Caucasian and Middle-Eastern. What's great is that there's no hesitations because of race or religion or family structure (i.e. single parent, two moms) in these four girls becoming friends; the only obstacles that pop up are normal fifth grade problems.

Myracle has created a wonderful book for middle graders to read that will teach them about accepting others without hesitation while also providing some funny moments, like when Katie-Rose thinks in movie style and the prose turns into a screenplay inside her mind (for how she wants a certain event to go) or as stuff is happening (when she's using her video camera). She shines with dialogue and getting into the main characters' heads and fully fleshing a character out, though when it comes to the secondary characters, they're still a bit flat, but it's just the first book, so perhaps more details will come out in future volumes. Overall, a fantastic start to a series and another winner for Myracle.

Also, just so everyone knows, this book is told mainly in prose, but also includes bursts of IM conversations (which do include fun emoticons), blog entries, and screenplay format.

Fun fact- Toward the end of the book (like in the last 100 pages), Yasaman mentions loving a book series of girls who go to a spy school. I emailed Lauren about it, asking if she was talking about the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter and it turns out she was! I was the first to notice apparently, and not even Ally knows it, though she does now.

I hadn't heard of Lauren Myracle prior to receiving this book in the mail, but she has apparently written quite a few books - ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r are the ones mentioned on the cover of my copy. I was glad to note that Luv Ya Bunches is the first in the series, and she sets the end up nicely to be able to lead into other stories.

The book was a light, easy read, which is to be expected since it's for a younger teenager to read. The story was fun, because she brings together IM conversations and views from a camera as well as the normal dialogue. My copy was printed in black and white, but I would be interested to see the color copy, because I bet it makes it even more appealing to read.

Some of the inner dialogues of the fifth graders (who narrate the story in turns, by chapter) seem a lot older than a fifth grader to me (at least myself as a fifth grader) so I had to keep reminding myself that the book is taking place in a fifth grade. Luv Ya Bunches also is written just over a one week time span, but the events that take place are definitely plausable (which I am very happy for, because sometimes the time span and what happens don't match up in books - or in TV, for that matter... has anyone seen 24?).

If you're a teacher in a classroom looking for some easier reading for your students or have a daughter around this age range, it's a great book - long enough that it will keep a reader's attention for awhile, but not so long that you're wondering when it will be over. I'm sure Lauren Myracle's other books are similar in nature, and would probably be good picks for a younger sibling/daughter/friend, too. The bright pink cover and drawings of cartoon girls would help with appeal if your reader judges books by the cover. You're supposed to be able to go 'hang out' with the characters in the book at LuvYaBunches.com, but when I checked it was just a place to buy the book - it would be very neat if it ended up turning in to an interactive site. I guess we'll see!

Excellant story about middle school girls and their path to learning what is really important in life....... a heartwarming story portraying what really matters while hilighting the journey of acceptance for these individuals talents and cultural differences.

uv Ya Bunches, although written for a younger (target age group: 9-13) audience, is a book that will easily be enjoyed by readers of a wider span of ages. Speaking as an 18 year old, I genuinely enjoyed this book for what it was, not in a "aw, look at the cute younger kids!" way. I think I was most excited about seeing a Muslim girl portrayed not as the "token Muslim girl" (even though in some ways, that was still her role), but as a genuine character in a group of 4 entering fifth graders. All of the characters are fantastically well-developed for a group of 11 year olds, which is a real testament to the amazingness of Lauren Myracle's writing. The social networking site, [...] (it needs a better name!) brings the girls all together in a really cute way-something you do actually get to see in the day of Facebook, Myspace, Ning, and the like. I was very glad to see she did an IM-format book featuring a younger generation, though the nod back to the original Internet Girls was adorable! The fact that the book was written in present tense really helped provide a playful edge to the story. The girls are so realistic and, as a result of that, extremely likeable. They are given real-life struggles that are portrayed so elegantly by Myracle, in a way that is not overwhelming at all for 11 year olds to read, but also a way that adds a lot more dimension to both the books and the characters. The situations these girls go through are all things that real girls go through (I can tell you that the incident with the turtle? Yeah, I had that same thing happen to me in the third grade with a beanie baby, being framed to look like I had stolen it and put it in my backpack. SAME story.) and it is important that there are books like this out there to serve as reassurance that their situations are not at all unique, that others are dealing with the same thing, they are far from alone. I am so proud of Lauren Myracle for addressing real life issues, messed up parents, girl fighting, and more, things that we as a society oftentimes fail to prepare our daughters for. This was a story with real life girls dealing with real life struggles in a way that shows friendship as stronger than any difficulties they may be faced with.

Rating: 5/5

This story has everything a middle school girl needs to know. This story could relate to your flaws and you could solve it the same way like these girls in the story. Every girl has drama in their lives. Thry have many ways of talking to eachother. They have this website called luvyabunches.com. They talk about everything on this website. They tell stories and just have a blast. That is the fun part about being a girl.