I picked this up on a whim at the library, and was taken away by the story. A teen girl is driving her brother, but they crash into water and he doesn't make it. Although, maybe he does because she sees him flying into the air (his name, by the way is Peter, and hers is Wendy.) Their brother, Michael, is mute after the accident, but when Wendy convinces him that Michael is still alive, they go on the quest to find him. This is an amazing depiction of the grief process and how we can convince ourselves what we really want to believe.
4/5 stars
I picked this up on a whim at the library, and was taken away by the story. A teen girl is driving her brother, but they crash into water and he doesn't make it. Although, maybe he does because she sees him flying into the air (his name, by the way is Peter, and hers is Wendy.) Their brother, Michael, is mute after the accident, but when Wendy convinces him that Michael is still alive, they go on the quest to find him. This is an amazing depiction of the grief process and how we can convince ourselves what we really want to believe.
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4.5/5 Stars Georgia Tann is real. So is the Tennessee Children's Home Society. So is the fact that both of these were touted as being wonderful, even by Eleanor Roosevelt. And yet, the story Lisa Wingate reveals is far from glorious. It is brutal, and real, and heart wrenching. I never knew that children were being stolen from their homes, only to be "saved" and then adopted (sold) to the high bidders. In this story, Lisa artfully crafts a family from all her research that showed that there were horrific acts that seemed inhuman to children. And yet, they persevered. I enjoyed both the modern day story and the recollection of being in the Tennessee Children's Home, although now I want to learn so much more of what really happened. It makes me wonder how many times we have touted something as heroic, yet the truth is nothing like the presentation (i.e. Greg Mortensen from Three Cups of Tea). Makes you think. 3/5 stars I enjoy magical realism. But my problem is that I'm always looking into things for the symbolism of things (like glass pumpkins, stained glass coffins, moons, red hair) and then get frustrated when I don't understand the reasoning for the magic. The writing in When the Moon was Ours is beautifully written, although the dialogue threw me a few times with the poetic language of description and then the abrupt "gonna" in the speaking. And the story is pretty interesting, too. After reading about Anna-Marie's life, her transgender husband, it makes the story all that more intriguing (there are a couple of transgender characters). Overall, great, somewhat slow, and again, the magical realism sometimes stumped me, hence the 3 star. But it is definitely one that I would recommend to students. 4/5 stars Wow, so interesting! I have been telling lots of people about this book. It's one of those that kind of messes with your brain and you start thinking, "What if this is true?" Matrix-y, if that's a word or adjective. So, this guy has a lovely life- loving husband, great kid, family movie nights, the whole nine yards. Then he's kidnapped and sent to an alternate world created by him, but with different choices. And he is desperately trying to get back. Not only was Dark Matter a great plot, but I think it had some pretty good themes as well- love, what constitutes a successful life, how our choices dictate what happens to us (sometimes). Well written, good action, and fairly thought-provoking. I may have to join the Blake Crouch fan club. If there is one. Or wait, maybe I did in an alternate world... 3/5 stars Interesting graphic novel full of intrigue and espionage. I sound a little bit like the guy who introduces movies at the previews. So imagine that voice as I write: A woman goes to find the mole in Russia, only to find that there are more secrets to be found than what she first was sent to do. In a very Alias feel, atomic blonde surprises us at every turn. Cue in lots of shooting, hiding in crowds, etc. And music that is suspenseful. Or, if you want, just watch the movie even though there are some changes from the book. But then again, when aren't there changes? 3.5/5 stars I was a little creeped out with this book. It is a middle grade book, but the content is kind of scary. Maybe I don't read a lot of scary books so I don't have a good bar of comparison. Here are the parts that I truly enjoyed in the book: there was a good diversity (Korean heritage), parents are involved and nice (some family drama that was pretty realistic), and it was set in DC, so I totally felt right at home. Scary parts in my opinion: there were evil ghosts that were possessing little children, and I can't say that I've ever seen two middle schoolers become such best friends in 5 seconds flat. But I'm interested in reading Ellen Oh's other books, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm going to have her at my school in a couple of months. I'm a huge fan of hers for being a founder of We Need Diverse Books. And she makes my son laugh. 4/5 stars I had no idea how blasted crazy Ernest Hemingway was. In fact, it makes me want to read more of his books since I have quite some background on him and the reason for some of his stories. I appreciate that in Paris Wife, Paula McLain wanted to make sure that out of his four wives, his first wife had a position of respect. I won't lie, I was a little annoyed with her whining, and our book club had quite a good time analyzing her, but I also don't know what it's like to be her, married to a man like Ernest. But overall, I was engaged for the entire book, and I hope to read more about the other wives. I will also try to read his autobiography to be fair and impartial. But until then, the 20's Parisian American artists were all crazy! Speaking of, Paula, if you are reading this, can you do a book of Zelda Fitzgerald? That would be fun! 4/5 stars
Um, I liked it. I don't know why. I am still wondering what I read. But deep inside me I think what I read was incredibly clever. The summary, by the way, is a little off, so don't trust the main description of the book. But, I can't summarize, so I'm just being judgy now. Hold Me Closer Necromancer meets Kill Bill. Maybe? But that's a movie crossed with a book. Still works, so I don't care. Tongue in cheek humor, but lots of killing and disgusting at that. But there's a plot eventually, of one girl who has a plan (to do what? not sure until the last 100 pages). A little sad, a little funny, and little surprising. I don't know how to describe the book. But I will say that you will either love it or hate it. Oh, and you need to read it. The audio is fine and dandy, but reading it really made it better for me 3/5 stars
This is a great book that brings together the life of gamers as well as the economics of supply and demand. I'm not a gamer, so there were lots of things that I didn't truly understand, but I did like the idea of a young girl learning about life across the world, realizing that America is not the answer to everything. As she, the gamer digs deeper into the world, she meets with a Chinese student trying to survive. But health care such as it is, the students was sick and couldn't perform in the game like he should have and so lost hours and must decide to either be in pain or quit. Now her ire is up and she is going to fight for the justice of the workers. He got fired. No bueno. My beef with the book has nothing to do with the book, really. Maybe it's just in general with society, or the gamers, or whatever. The girl in the book was chunky. The avatar was super cute, probably hot in avatar world. Why? Just wondering.We can't be healthy or look perfect, so we should live vicariously through pixels? Again, nothing to do with the book, but it seemed as good a place to complain as any. 5/5 stars
Look at the cover. Really, really, look at it. Fuzzy guy, right? That's because the illustrator did a phenomenal job, in my opinion, of representing this book. Deming, the young boy whose mother disappeared when he was 11, never was able to get a handle of who he was. He loved his mother, loved his life, and then it all went away with her. He was shipped off to the suburbs to well meaning people who decided to fill their voids with adopting a child. Deming doesn't do well with school. He looks at the world through music, but only his music. And he's a gambler, which has gotten him into trouble. On the other side we have Polly, who is Deming's mother. She knows what she wants, is determined to make a life, and then she is told she can't have the life she wanted. And as she grows older, she becomes less certain. Interesting book for our book club. It touches on several issues of today, showing how they are all connected- immigration, teenage pregnancy, socioeconomic stuff, adoption, gambling, and identity. |
AuthorI'm a high school librarian. I love to read. Really. Love. To. Read. Archives
December 2023
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