Follow Friday & The Blog Hop (3): Influenced & Coveted ARC

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee.

This week's question is:

Q. Talk about the book that most changed or influenced your life (was it a book that turned you from an average to avid reader, did it help you deal with a particularly difficult situation, does it bring you comfort every time you read it?). 

I have always been a reader, but I think the book that most changed my life was The Girl Who Owned A City by O.T. Nelson.  It’s an old book, and I had to read it in seventh grade for my reading class (back when we still had classes devoted to reading).  The book got me thinking about what would happen if a kid actually did own a city because all the adults were wiped out with a virus.  We had to do a project in my reading class about where the best place to locate a city would be if all the adults were gone.  My group chose a school because the classrooms would be like makeshift houses on street, there would already be a nurse’s office, a cafeteria, and a library, the main staples of a small society can be found in any school.  Anyway, this book made me a more avid reader than I already was because I wanted to know what other types of books were out there.  This post has actually made me want to go track that book down and read it again, which I might just do if I can find one at my library. :)

The Girl Who Owned A City: “A killing virus has swept the earth, sparing only children through the age of twelve. There is chaos everywhere, even in formerly prosperous mid-America. Gangs and fierce armies of children begin to form almost immediately. It would be the same for the children on Grand Avenue but for Lisa, a ten-year-old girl who becomes their leader. Because of Lisa, they have food, even toys, in abundance. And now they can protect themselves from the fierce gangs that roam the neighborhoods. But for how long? Then Lisa conceives the idea of a fortress, a city in which the children could live safely and happily always, and she intends to lead them there.”

What book has changed your life?

 The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.

This week's question is:

Q. “What is the one ARC you would love to get your hands on right now?”

Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls #5)

Author: Ally Carter

Release Date: March 20, 2012

Description: The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, her memory is a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and dirt under her nails. All she wants is to go home. But even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers as Cammie and her friends face their most difficult challenge yet. With only their training and a few clues to guide them, the girls go in search of answers on the other side of the world. But the Circle is hot on their trail and will stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.

I would have to say Ally Carter’s upcoming release Out of Sight, Out of Time the fifth in the Gallagher Girls series.  I don’t know if the ARCs for this book would exist, and if they do I don’t know when they’d be coming out because the book isn’t due to release until March 20, 2012.  

I want this ARC because frankly, I can’t wait until March for this book.  I am obsessed with Ally’s books and would love love love to get my hands on an early release of one of her books.  I will have to re-read all four of the books in the series so far to remember what happens because it’s been a while since I’ve read them, but it would be so worth it to have an ARC of this book.

What ARC are you dying to get your hands on?