beTWEEN the Bookends is a new book-themed subscription box for girls ages 9 through 13.
Each box will feature 2-3 hand-selected books, along with 4-6 age-appropriate beauty and lifestyle items. The founder of beTWEEN the Bookends — 13-year-old Jillian — reads all of the books and tests all the products before they make it into the box. This ensures that everything is tween/teen girl approved! In addition to the books, lifestyle items may include fun pens, jewelry, bath products, nail polish, hair accessories, bookmarks, notepads, keychains, and more. (Note: While all of their products are new, some books will have a line down the bottom of them. This helps keep their box affordable, and ultimately give you more items!)
Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate and/or referral links.
Subscriptions are $29.99/month or less with multi-month commitments. They also offer a mini box for $16.99/month. — For a limited time, you can save 15% on your first month (full sized box) with coupon code “READWITHROSEBUDS“!
Let’s see what’s in the August 2020 beTWEEN the Bookends box!
Everything was shipped in a white box with a cute beTWEEN the Bookends logo sticker on top.
A peek inside!
An info card revealed the titles of this month’s books and highlighted a small shop where one of the items was sourced.
Willows vs. Wolverines by Alison Cherry
The first book was ideal for August, as it takes place at summer camp. (Though a little bittersweet, as most camps are likely shut down this year due to Covid-19. 🙁 ) According to the description on Amazon, this title is recommended for ages 9-13 — perfect for this box! My girls just turned 8 and are still into chapter books with pictures, so I’ll be putting this away until they’re ready to tackle something more “mature”. 🙂
From Amazon:
Izzy Cervantes and her best friend, Mackenzie, have spent summers together at Camp Sweetwater since they were eight. So when their parents decide to ship them off to Camp Foxtail instead, the girls find themselves completely out of their element—and worse yet, in different cabins!
Izzy feels like an outsider in Willow Lodge. But when she hears about the time-honored prank war between the Willows and the Wolverines, the rival boy cabin, she sees a chance to make her mark. Convinced the girls will never accept her as one of them unless she has roots at Camp Foxtail, she boasts that her older brother is the most respected prankster in the camp’s history and would be happy to help them win the war. In reality, Izzy doesn’t even have an older brother, but the Willows embrace her as their new secret weapon, and Mackenzie agrees to help her hatch a series of epic stunts.
As the hijinks escalate, so does Izzy’s popularity. But she becomes so focused on impressing her new friends that she starts neglecting Mackenzie, putting her friendship and her secret prank-master identity in serious jeopardy.
Can Izzy keep the truth under wraps and win her best friend back, or will she end up on the wrong side of her allies as well as her enemies?
Call Me Sunflower by Miriam Spitzer Franklin
The second book sounds like it involves more serious topics/feelings, yet is recommended for ages 8-12. Again, my (newly) 8-year-olds are still stuck on books that include unicorns and/or fart jokes, so… We’ll be saving this one for a couple years as well. 😉
From Amazon:
Sunny Beringer hates her first name—her real first name—Sunflower. And she hates that her mom has suddenly left behind her dad and uprooted their family miles away from New Jersey to North Carolina just so she can pursue some fancy degree. Sunny has to live with a grandmother she barely knows, and she’s had to leave her beloved cat and all her friends behind. And no one else seems to think anything is wrong.
So she creates “Sunny Beringer’s Totally Awesome Plan for Romance”—a list of sure-fire ways to make her parents fall madly in love again, including:
Send Mom flowers from a “Secret Admirer” to make her dad jealous and make him regret letting them move so far away.
Make a playlist of his favorite love songs—the mushier the better—and make sure it’s always playing in the car.
Ask them about the good old days when they first fell in love.
But while working on a photo album guaranteed to make Mom change her mind and rush them right back home, Sunny discovers a photo—one that changes everything.
Sunny’s family, the people she thought she could trust most in the world, have been keeping an enormous secret from her. And she’ll have to reconcile her family’s past and present, or she’ll lose everything about their future.
3C4G Unicorn Nail Polish
Speaking of unicorns… Both of my girls immediately grabbed this sparkly unicorn nail polish when I showed them the box. The pale pink polish is studded with colorful glitter in various sizes. Unfortunately, the unicorn head came off of the brush when I opened the bottle, but we’ll try to get it (glue it?) back on.
Hamburger Notepad
I feel like I had something similar to this when I was a kid, but not quite as cool. The pad is made up of six different “layers” — top bun, lettuce, cheese, tomato, burger, and bottom bun — with 120 sheets in all. Of course, since my kiddos are vegetarian, we’ve declared this to be a veggie burger. 🙂
Bracelets
This cute bundle consisted of 4 individual bracelets: 3 made of string (one with a silver star charm), and one beaded stretch bracelet. They can be worn alone or all together for a fun layered look.
Lip Balm & Lip Balm Holder
What tween doesn’t love lip balm?! This balm was made in the USA and smells like sweet watermelon. Make sure it’s always by your side by tucking it into this colorful fabric lip balm holder/keychain!
Flamingo Sticky Notes
Any kind of paper/stationery/notebook-related item is an instant hit with my girls. This flamingo-shaped sticky pad was no exception.
Flamingo Pen
What’s cooler than a flamingo-shaped sticky note pad? — A flamingo pen to pair with it!
AGypsySoulsCurios Rainbow Soap
How pretty is this handmade rainbow bar soap?! I honestly planned on stealing it for myself, but luckily for the girls, I found out that it’s made with goat’s milk (not vegan-friendly) so it’s all theirs. 😉 I love its light scent of orange peel, patchouli, and ylang ylang.
DIY Bestie Bracelets
Okay, I gotta say… This kit looked really cute based on the packaging alone, which made for a bit of disappointment upon opening it up and finding just two pieces of string and two charms. I mean, I’m not sure what else I was expecting, but it just kind of made me laugh. That said, I’m sure my girls will like it.
Oh K! Cherry Blossom Hand Cream
This k-beauty inspired hand cream is too cute and was another item my girls will likely fight over. 😉 The adorable panda bear container can even be reused for small trinkets once the cherry blossom scented lotion is all gone.
Bag of Trinkets
Speaking of trinkets… Tucked inside of a little orange bag were 2 tiny dog figurines, a big-eyed seahorse, and a strawberry-scented pencil.
Bookmark & Sticker
I believe all boxes come with a new bookmark. The one we received has pretty “chalk” designs with the words “I love reading” in the center. A sweet little elephant sticker was also included.
My girls and I had a lot of fun unboxing August’s beTWEEN the Bookends box! While the books were still a little advanced for them (but ideal for the age range of this box), the girls loved all of the age-appropriate “lifestyle items” that were included. I appreciated that there was nothing too mature (like “real” makeup or fake nails) and that there was a nice variety of different items. I personally would have LOVED having a box like this delivered to me every month when I was a kid/tween! So fun! 😀 — Remember, for a limited time, you can save 15% on your first month (full sized box) with coupon code “READWITHROSEBUDS“!
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