Aerin Renning has been alone since her father died. Without him, her only chance of survival was to learn to fight and to be of more use than the people around her. When the chance to escape arises, it’s not even a question. She takes it knowing that if she’s caught, the penalty is death.

Dane Madousin was born to privilege. With it comes freedom, safety, and education. But not love.

When Academy 7 – the exacting but prestigious school that was built to train leaders – offers each of them a place, they accept. Aerin has nowhere else to go, and Dane would do anything to anger his distant father.

I’ve had Academy 7 sitting on my shelves for several years now. After having it pop up under Amazon recommendations and having book bloggers speak highly of it, I ordered and bought a copy. Then proceeded not to read it for several years. Having noticed it again after a recent clean, I decided to give it a go. I regret not having done so sooner.

Academy 7 is just as good as all of those bloggers kept saying. The characters are strong and sympathetic. Their struggles are affecting without being melodramatic. Despite being a futuristic sci-fi, Osterlund doesn’t get caught up in dazzling us with the world, preferring to tell a compelling story.

On the other side of that, readers who are sci-fi lovers may find Academy 7 too bland for their tastes. The story is good, but it’s a story that could as easily be set in modern times or in the past with a few tweaks.

Much of the story revolves around the two main characters and if they were less compelling than Aerin and Dane, this story would have fallen flat. Both Aerin and Dane are amazing characters in their own rights, though. They have enough similarities that their friendship makes perfect sense, but on the surface they’re very different. Dane is over-confident and tends to make light of things while Aerin is constantly anxious and is very serious about issues that she’s passionate about.

They strike sparks off each other because Aerin wants Dane to care about issues but he’s too scared to care about anything. And he wants her to open up, when staying closed keeps her safe. In some ways they’re both self-made. Aerin had to teach herself everything after her father died, and Dane may as well have not had a father so he had to figure most of it out for himself too.

The only issue that I had with Academy 7 is the backstory. While Aerin and Dane’s relationship is painstakingly honest – rarely falling back on convention, but forging its own path – the backstory is stereotypical and overdramatic. It serves its purpose, but Osterlund did such a good job of injecting real humanity into the relationship between Aerin and Dane that I sort of wish she had pushed their parents’ stories to the same level.

Academy 7 is a genuinely fantastic read. The characters are amazing, and while it is romantic, the focus is more on being a wonderful story than a love story.

Academy 7 – Anne Osterlund

Speak (May 2009)

ISBN: 9780142414378

We eat loads of home made pizza at our place. It’s quick, easy, can be topped with almost anything in the fridge or pantry and is guaranteed to one of the few family meals that makes everyone happy. Yep, that includes Mr 7 yrs, who generally refuses to eat anything anyone else requests. Or anything new. Or anything that looks remotely healthy or interesting. I made this one for my own Mum on Mother’s Day and it was a definite win.

Except for Mr 7. He had an egg and bacon pizza instead.

WHAT YOU NEED:

BASE

250ml tepid water

2tbs olive oil

1tsp salt

2tsp sugar

450g (or 3 cups) of plain flour. Or wholemeal flour. Or you can use specialty bread flour – I never do.

3tbs dried yeast. I use the Tandaco brand and store it in the fridge.

TOPPING

Basil pesto

Grated Mozzarella cheese. Use high quality. Your taste buds will thank you for it.

Feta cheese. I prefer Persian feta to anything else, especially on pizza. Persian feta is softer, silkier and doesn’t dry out in the oven.

Cherry tomatoes

A red onion

Roast beetroot cut into bit-sized pieces. While I do love home-grown beets, for this kind of recipe I always buy the pre-cooked, pre-peeled stuff from the deli or veggie section of the supermarket. Saves on time, mess and stained fingers. Never the canned stuff. Eww.

Fresh flat-leaf parsley

Balsamic glaze. Thicker (and generally cheaper) than balsamic vinegar, this glaze is one of my pantry must-haves. It’s also great on all sorts of salads as well as strawberries!

HOW IT’S DONE:

Well, for the dough, I cheat and use my bread maker on the dough setting. In fact, it’s pretty much all I use the bread maker for. Just add the listed ingredients in the order above (wet to dry), press the button and that’s it. If you don’t have a bread maker, just add the ingredients to a large bowl in reverse order. Mix well with your hands until it forms a dough and knead for ten minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a (larger) bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towell. Place in a warm position for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.

We find one batch makes 4 smallish pizzas, depending how thick or thin you like your base. We like ours on the thin side. I generally make two batches for our pizza-loving family of five, which does require a little forward planning to account for time. Just divide up your dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to size. Easy.

Pre-heat oven to at least 250 C. If your oven gets hotter – lucky you! We often cook our pizzas in the BBQ with the lid closed for this reason.

For the toppings, use the pesto as your sauce rather than tomato paste. Top with beetroot, sliced cherry tomatoes, sliced onion and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese (mostly just to hold it together). Cook until the cheese has begun to melt, and the base is no longer doughy. Add broken-up feta and cook for a further five minutes, or until the mozzarella is bubbling. Remove from the oven or BBQ, sprinkle with chopped parsley and a swirl of balsamic glaze. There you have it – healthy vegetarian pizza that looks great too.

A Thousand Pieces of You is a science fiction romance that explores travelling between dimensions, or parallel universes. When Marguerite “jumps” into each dimension, she jumps into her own body in a different world. This also gives the reader a feel of time travelling as well. Each dimension is either more or less advanced than the one she knows; yet, there is also the one that is so similar it’s hard to tell the differences.

Marguerite’s parents are scientists and have discovered how to jump to the other dimensions by the use of a Firebird, a small device that the jumper has to wear at all times, or they risk losing memory of who they really are and never returning home. The discovery of this ability to jump dimensions also brings trouble. When Marguerite’s father is murdered, she decides to follow his path through the universes to seek revenge.

When I began the book, I felt it was going to be very fast-paced with lots of action. I was pleasantly surprised that in some of the dimensions we get to stay for awhile and live the life of another Marguerite. From England to Russia to America, Marguerite jumps all over the world and experiences different versions of her life (mostly wealthy ones) and times of what might or could have been.

What I enjoyed most about the book, and why I would recommend this one, is the romance factor. There is an underlying storyline of the possibility of soul mates; the idea that no matter what time or place, some souls are meant to be in each others lives. There are a couple of twists in the story that I also enjoyed and thought brought a lot to the story. Even though this is not technically a time travel novel, at times it feels like it is; therefore, I would recommend this to fans of time travel books, science fiction and romance. I really enjoyed it and think you will too.

For those that enjoy audio-books the narrator for this one does a fantastic job; I highly recommend it.

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published November 4th 2014 by Harper Teen (first published October 7th 2014)

Chris Glabb picks his top two fashion YouTubers for you to check out!

Bethany Mota:

To anyone who knows anything about YouTubers, it’s not gonna be any surprise that Bethany Mota made the list. This beauty guru is well known for her makeup tutorials and classic “Tumblr Inspired” outfits. I mean, she came out of nowhere and took over YouTube with her crazy following of nearly 9,000,000! Let’s look at her style shall we?

Connor Franta:

I absolutely adore Connor Franta! I think he’s the leading man, the founding father if you will (you probably won’t because that wasn’t very clever) of YouTubers fashion.

Here are a few things that I love that Connor has worn!

Christopher Glabb:

Y’all know I’m also a YouTuber right?

If not, you can always watch a few videos here:

https://youtu.be/0AmY-8Rbw_c

https://youtu.be/diKjea3yHtU

Also, you can read my personal blog here:

www.teenonscene.com

Chris 🙂

Shaneyah Galley reviews Pitch Perfect 2

This is going to be a slightly biased review, as I’ve been hanging out to see this movie since rumours of a Pitch Perfect sequel started flying last year. You have been warned.

The movie starts with the infamous President’s birthday concert that lead to the Bella’s being kicked out of the ICCAs. Chloe is utterly devastated, and is determined to win the world championships so that the Bella’s will be reinstated before they all graduate. Well, all except newbie ‘legacy’ named Emily.

We see routines from two new groups – both of whom we saw in the trailer – and renown acapella group Pentatonix make a cameo in the worlds as the Canadian team. One old group (besides the Trebles) makes a comeback with a new member. It’s so hilarious, I’m not going to spoil it for you.

All in all, this movie is a super fun sequel to the original flick. Catchy songs, a cute and kind of weird romance sub-plot, and lots of self-discovery by protagonist Becca. This is definitely one to see with your friends and lots of popcorn. Major props to Elizabeth Banks who produced the last film, and makes her directorial debut with this one.

Now see what Belinda Hamilton thinks.

The Bella’s are back, as are the fun A Capella battles and the great soundtrack.

This time they are trying to save face, or should I say, butt, from a disastrous performance for President Obama, you’ve seen the trailers… yeah that.

As part of their punishment they’re replaced by the European group on what should have been the Bella’s victory tour. Enter Das Sound Machine, the team they have to beat at the world titles.

The old cast is back and the newbies make me smile, including the Green Bay Packers. Uh huh I agree with Fat Amy on that one.

As with most sequels, the impact isn’t as punchy as the first time around; however, there are just enough laugh out loud and ‘oh no he didn’t just say that sexist remark,’ moments to save it from yawnsville.

I didn’t mind paying the $17.50 it cost to sit in a dark room with perhaps the 6 other people and sing along and snort giggle together.

I just hope they either realise the storyline has run its course and quit while they’re ahead or switch it up considerably if a third instalment to the franchise is to be considered.

If money is tight, wait for the DVD, hopefully the extras will be just as funny and add to the comedic value of the film.

4 out of 5