The No-Good Nine Tag!

**This post is sponsored by Penguin as a part of the blog tour for The No-Good Nine**

I don't really read a lot of middle-grade, but when I do, I generally end up loving them. The No-Good Nine is a middle grade novel that takes place after Christmas in Pittsburgh in 1931. I definitely recommend reading this book during the upcoming holiday season. The No-Good Nine follows nine children who are on Santa's naughty list, and got coal in their stockings. They band together and create a secret society that plans to travel to the North Pole to get revenge on Santa. I really enjoyed this novel, it's very funny, and it's a book younger readers will definitely adore. I ended up giving it 4 out of 5 stars. However, I think this book can appeal to all age groups, and I've created an original tag to reflect that. Some of the books I'm going to recommend will be middle grade books, some will be YA books, and some will be adult books. Each character in the book goes by the word that describes why they are naughty instead of their real names, such as the thief, or the cruel. So this tag, the No-Good Nine tag, is composed of nine questions, and for each question I'm going to talk about a book with a character that fits the description of each character.

1. Peter: A book with a character who is a know-it-all

For this question, I'm going with a character/book that you will all roll your eyes at. And that is none other than Edward Cullen from Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. I know, I know, could I have picked a lamer book? Probably not. But still. Twilight was a huge part of my childhood, and despite all of it's flaws, I still love it. Plus, Edward Cullen is the definition of a know-it-all. He's over 100 years-old, and has degrees in a lot of different things, and because he doesn't sleep, he can spend the night reading and studying and whatnot. But he can also read minds, and therefore knows what everyone around him is thinking, making him the literal definition of a know-it-all. He's also insufferable in the way a lot of know-it-alls are.

2. Luigi: A book with a character who is a liar

For Luigi, I'm going with another unoriginal book. Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard. First of all, the word "Liar" is in the title. But more importantly, basically all of the characters, particularly the main characters, Hanna, Spencer, Aria, Emily, and of course, Ali, are pathological liars. The TV show has made Pretty Little Liars a household name, but it started with a book that became a 16-book series. Are they the best written books of all time? No. But they are addicting, and fun, and another important part of my childhood. By the time I started reading them, 9 of them had come out. The series had already been extended from 4 to 8, and then to 12. And then it would be extended to 16, and with a new book coming out roughly twice a year, I waited about 4 years for the series to be complete, what with the prequel novel and a short story collection also released within that period of time. But the good news is, you can binge-read all 16 (technically 18) books in the series right now! Just make sure you wait to read the prequel, Ali's Pretty Little Lies, my personal favorite, until you've at least read the eighth book.

3. Henry: A book with a character who is a brat

Believe it or not, Henry Alistair Chaudfront III, AKA the brat, was my favorite character in The No-Good Nine. You see, when a well-written brat is so hilarious and so funny and so ridiculous that you just can't help loving him/her because he/she is just so darn funny that he/she is so fun to read about. Of course, badly written brat's are not fun to read about (like Eadlyn from Kiera Cass's The Heir). But the brat in The No-Good Nine is a really well done character. So I decided to pick a brat from a book who is really well done. And that is Eddie, from Crazy Rich Asians. Eddie is perhaps the brattiest character I have ever experienced in literature. He is absolutely ridiculous! And that's saying a lot considering the book is called Crazy Rich Asians and 95% of the characters are crazy and ridiculous. But Eddie is the most ridiculous of them all. Any scene with Eddie ended with me laughing out loud. He's a brat, but he's a good brat, because you can't get enough of him. If for some reason you haven't seen Crazy Rich Asians the movie yet, read the book, then watch the movie, and then read the other two books in the series!

4. Tommy: A book with a character who is a hooligan

To be quite honest, I can't really think of too many books with hooligans... though there are probably some obvious ones that I'm missing. But what comes to mind is Ponyboy from S. E. Hinton's iconic book, The Outsiders. It's been a long time since I've read this book, but I do remember that it is about two warring gangs, the Greasers and the Socs, in Tulsa. Ponyboy is the main character, but I do remember he is quite gentle and sensitive, and doesn't fit the definition of hooligan as well as some of his brothers and friends might. The Outsiders is end-of-spectrum middle grade/YA. I'd say it is mainly YA, but I do know that it is required reading for a lot of 7th and 8th grade classes.

5. Tuesday: A book with a character who is cruel
I know this is slightly unoriginal, but I couldn't think of a better cruel character than Prince Cardan, the namesake of Holly Black's The Cruel Prince. I mean, Cardan is the cruel prince. And to be fair, all the fae in this book are cruel; the whole idea is that it follows a girl who is a human and wants nothing more than to belong in the world of fae... except that the fae are incredibly cruel and hate humans with a passion. If you love fantasy, if you love faerie stories, if you love intrigue and politics and dark tales, you'll love The Cruel Prince! And who knows? Maybe you'll end up loving Cardan...

6. Maxwell: A book with character who is vainglorious 

Is there a more vainglorious character than Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell?

7. John: A book with a character who is rude

Believe it or not, it was quite difficult thinking of characters from books who are rude, so I ended up going with Alex from Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow. Alex is pretty rude; he's always tricking Morrigan and her friend simply to enjoy watching the outcome for his own benefit. Nevermoor is a fantastic middle grade novel (the sequel is coming out in November!) with a whimsical setting and eccentric characters, and I highly recommend picking it up!

8. Mimi: A book with a character who is a goody-two-shoes

Chris Colfer's The Land of Stories is one of my favorite series! And one of the main characters, Alex, is a goody-two-shoes, at least at the beginning of the series. Alex has a twin, Connor, and while they are very close, they are polar opposites. Alex is quiet, she is an excellent student, and she never gets in trouble or ruffles feathers like her brother, Connor. The Land of Stories is a middle grade series, but readers of all ages will enjoy it; the biggest strength of this series lies in its creativity, and you'll just have to read the books to understand why! And just like The No-Good Nine, The Land of Stories will appeal to readers of all ages; I read the first book when it first came out when I was in middle school, and proceeded to buy each new book the day it came out, with the sixth and final book coming out when I was 17!

9. Pearl: A character who is a thief 

My pick for this is also somewhat unoriginal, as the word thief is in the title... if you haven't already guessed, I'm referring to Liesel from The Book Thief. Liesel, in my opinion, is a justifiable thief. She is stealing books that are supposed to be burned in Nazi Germany during World War II. While her intents may not be malicious like Pearl's, she is still a thief all the same!

I hope you all enjoyed this post, and I hope you decide to pick up a copy of The No-Good Nine, which comes out TODAY!

**Thank you so much to Penguin for including me in the blog tour for The No-Good Nine!**


XOXO,


Isabella