I enjoyed this book once I got into it. It's important to know that there are two stories that are taking place (3 actually), and eventually they all converge. The premise that there is a sacred object that a young girl's parents had and died for. She eventually finds that object and learns that it is a book about a pirate. She teachers herself how to read (which is my main suspension of belief), frees another teen who is caged and used for ultimate fighting. Their mission is to go find grandma who was kidnapped and set this book in motion. But remember there is a whole other pirate story that she reads and eventually melds into the main story. It's actually not as confusing as I am making it, and it is pretty interesting. I would read the next ones if I had time. But I don't have time, and I will be just fine with my future life not really knowing what will happen. It's still a recommended book for those who enjoy fantasy.
3.5/5 stars
I enjoyed this book once I got into it. It's important to know that there are two stories that are taking place (3 actually), and eventually they all converge. The premise that there is a sacred object that a young girl's parents had and died for. She eventually finds that object and learns that it is a book about a pirate. She teachers herself how to read (which is my main suspension of belief), frees another teen who is caged and used for ultimate fighting. Their mission is to go find grandma who was kidnapped and set this book in motion. But remember there is a whole other pirate story that she reads and eventually melds into the main story. It's actually not as confusing as I am making it, and it is pretty interesting. I would read the next ones if I had time. But I don't have time, and I will be just fine with my future life not really knowing what will happen. It's still a recommended book for those who enjoy fantasy.
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4/5 stars Quirky. Fun. And of course, living in Austin didn't hurt much since I knew exactly what he was talking about with plastic fields for football. Norris Kaplan has just moved to Austin with his mom from Canada. It is there that he realizes that he isn't all that great at making friends more than making scenes with his witty yet offensive banter, including when he has a literal run-in with the cheerleaders. But a few people take a chance on him and decide to be his friend. He has his ups and downs, as any typical high schooler does. He has a crush, and friend, and that loner guy that seems to put sense into his world, who was, in my opinion, the best character in the book (go team Liam!) Plus, I couldn't help but see Ben Philippe in the role of Norris, so imagining his expressions and inflections was very easy to do. Anyway, this is a funny LOL book that will appeal to anyone who likes a good realistic fiction with equal parts romance and snark. 4/5 stars
I don't know that I would have enjoyed this as much as I did if I wasn't aware of all the landmarks that were put in the book. And while it was definitely a quick read (I read it in one day), it definitely had a suspension of belief in that an 18 year old is being asked by the FBI to take over a job that the previous person had just been killed to do. So there's that. And I won't lie in that I knew right away who the bad guy was (well, sort of- but you have to read this to figure out what I mean). Overall, it was a fun book so long as you can enter into the same frame of mind that you use in watching Spy Kids.
4/5 stars
Set in the year 2002, a young Muslim girl who wears a head covering is starting a new school. After so many threats and bullying for her religion, she has a chip on her shoulder. When one new classmate attempts to be her friend, she is not sure how to trust him or how to react. As the two get closer, she is worried about the repercussions of their relationship, but is shocked when she starts to realize that maybe she has also predetermined how other people will react. It was kind of hard for me to remember the paranoia from 2001 and the few years closely following this time, so I appreciated the perspective this book gave me. I think that there were more things that Ms. Mafi could have written that were far worse than what happened in the book, but it still gave the same feeling of fear and unrest for many Muslims at the time. This book is a good reminder for students to remember that people, despite their religion or country or culture or anything else that is seemingly unique, are still people and shouldn't be judged on what others with similarities have done.
4/5 stars It took me a while to get into the book, but then I couldn't stop reading it. I thought it would just be a book about a neighborhood dispute about a tree (which wasn't that far off), but it was so much more. I won't lie, I wasn't too impressed with any of the people except the kids, but that's probably what the author was intending. In fact, it seemed like none of the adults had many redeeming qualities. The narrator was more like a chorus of the neighbors watching the entire thing play out, like a voice over discussing where the mistakes were being made and the impact of each move to the overall outcome of the book. It's a sad book, showing where community can be acerbic and judgmental. It can also show where our own delusions will ultimately ruin us (yeah, Brad in the book, I'm talking about you). This book will stay with me for a while as I still try to play out all the concepts in the book. 4/5 stars This book is perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying. I won't say I couldn't figure it out, but I will say it was fun to watch it play out. A group of students who are going to a scholarship awards dinner ends up getting locked in a room where they are told one of them must die in order to get out. And as we read, we learn about all the secrets of each person told from the perspective of one girl (so kudos for not having multiple points of view- that can get exhausting at times if not done well). This is a great mystery for all the high school students looking for a good mystery. It's a little grim, but not overly so. 4/5 stars
At first I was a little bored with the book, but then I really started to get into it. I mistakenly thought that it was about Napoleon's wife, but once I realized it was just about a friend to him (and romantic interest at one time), I was able to relax and just enjoy the book since I wasn't worried about when the two would get married. The thing about this book is that it was truly a time period piece, especially regarding the roles of women. So many times we will read books with women who would just as easily live in today's world rather than in the 1700's. In Queen's Fortune, the women were shown to be just what the time period expected them to be- "dutiful wives" who are meant to live for their husbands. While I'm not saying I agree with this, I think it's important to see the true world back then. So while the main character was shown to be a good friend and good wife, it also showed that there weren't too many independent choices that she could make back then, including when it dealt with the love/hate relationship between Napoleon and her husband as 1st general to Napoleon. She did have a few moves of her own, but for the most part, this novel revealed the narcissisms of Napoleon and the people who would give everything to be in his inner circle.
5/5 stars I'd been wanting to read this book for a while, and since it's on Hoopla and we've been in quarantine, this was the moment I was waiting for. And it didn't disappoint. The plot was great in that it followed the Pride and Prejudice plot perfectly. It was not exact which is good, but it wasn't just little elements here and there to plop on the moniker of "retelling" for the story. Rather, this story was set in the 'hood, where Zuri is proud of her family and her neighborhood. But then the wealthy family moves in, complete with a couple of good looking sons, and now Zuri is torn between her loyalty to the only place she's grown up, and admiring the gentrifying changes. Such an amazing book that will put perspective on not only the classic telling, but what is happening today in our cities. 5/5 stars
To read this book in tandem with Heroine by Mindy McGinnis, I'm not even sure I want to take aspirin anymore. But this book also shows the dangers of drugs, but on the steroid side of things. David Espinoza is a high school guy who is picked on for being super skinny. He's got a great group of friends and a very supportive father. But when the bullying shows up on YouTube, he decides to make a change and goes to the gym. And from there, he discovers the "benefits" of steroids. It's an accepted thing for many sports (and definitely not for others), but what this book shows is how it also has so many side effects that far outweigh the supposed benefits. Amazing book and I think every athlete considering this alternative should read it. 5/5 stars When you read a book like this, you realize how much a community is important. When a star basketball player choses to go to a private school to improve his chances at a basketball scholarship, he didn't realize that his best friend and almost everyone else from his neighborhood feel as though he deserted them. Now he is stuck not feeling like he is anywhere. But then when his best friend starts to talk to him again, we as the reader see that there are ulterior motives, which despite the good intentions turns out to be very, very wrong. I think in this book I learned, again, that I have a very one sided view in life. It's interesting that another Virginia Readers' choice book this year is all about having true grit as the ultimate decision of success. But when the world keeps closing its doors on you, then the choices are far less than for someone else with more security. Although this book did not support bad decisions, it did show that with support of community, friends, and family, life has more options than your own perspective. 5/5 stars This book is not for everyone, as it gives insight as to how people get hooked on opioids. A girl whose world is softball is in a car accident and has to take pain meds while in the hospital and during recovery. She loves the feeling of being pain free, and finds another person to is able to continue her supply, and it gets worse from there. There's only one point of disbelief, when a step-mother also happens to be a recovering drug addict, but for the most part, this is an amazing journey to take for anyone to realize how easy it is to become addicted to opioids. There no longer is a stereotype.
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AuthorI'm a high school librarian. I love to read. Really. Love. To. Read. Archives
December 2023
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