Sunday, November 27, 2016

When I Found You

When I Found You
by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: Nathan McCann though he didn't want a family.  But when he finds an abandoned newborn in the woods, he feels an inexplicable bond with the boy and tarts to make plans to raise the child as his own-until the baby's grandmother steps forward to claim him.  Nathan makes a request of her, though: to one day bring the boy to meet his rescuer.

Fifteen years later, the widowered Nathan gets his wish when the boy and his grandmother show up on his doorstep.  Named Nat and now an angry teenager with a criminal record, the boy is once again in need of rescuing.  Nathan takes Nat in, swearing to never abandon him, Nathan believes that with love and patience anyone can change.  And he just might be right.
from the back of the book

Review:  The premise behind this book was captivating.  A man finds a baby in the woods and feels an instant connection and wants to remain in the child's life forever.  A boy grows up in a lovless home and rebels against his grandmother.  The grandmother figures that the man can help the boy and he does.  Nathan is a saint, never loses his patience, and always has the answers.  He was a little too good to be true.  He also seemed emotionless.  There were emotions from Nat but not from Nathan.  I wanted more from the book.  The story moved weaved in and out of Nat's and Nathan's lives for many years and we really get to see how their relationship grows and changes.  It was a very heartwarming story.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Rump

Rump
by Leisl Shurtliff


Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Fractured Fairy Tale

Synopsis:  In a magical kingdom where your name is your destiny, twelve-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone's joke.  But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change.  Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold-as much gold as he wants!  His best friend, Red, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she's right.  With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.

To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen.  The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship-and a cheeky sense of humor-he might triumph in the end.
from the back of the book

Natalie's Review: I really like this book because I like how they solve the problem that Rump had.  This is the true story of who Rumpelstiltskin is.  In the first place Rump didn't have part of his name but at the end he finds out his name.  Other people would like this book because it is kind of funny and that it has fairy tale characters in it like Rumpelstiltskin and Little Red Riding Hood.  There were pixies in the story and they were funny because they would bite people when someone stepped on their nest or when people gold.

Noah's Review:  I thought this book was spectacular because I like mixed up fairy tales and ones that are made funnier and better.  This book is better than Rumpelstiltskin because it tells more about Rump's life and how he learned how to spin straw into gold.  I also liked that he didn't know his name and how he learns his whole name at the end.  People who like made up things and stories that are based on other stories will like this book.  I rated this 4 stars because there weren't exciting events that happened in the first few chapters.

Editor's note: There are many fairy tales and characters that are alluded to in this story but the book never comes out and says that other fairy tale characters are in the story.  These were just passing comments and not connected to the story but it is interesting to see if kids can figure out what character/fairy tale the author is referring to.

Natalie's Rating: 5 stars

Noah's Rating: 4 stars

Monday, November 21, 2016

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

Genre: Play, Fantasy

Synopsis:  Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts...

It was always difficult being Harry Potter, and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and a father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted.  As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: Sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
from the book jacket

Review:  I really enjoyed this continuing story of Harry Potter but I may have liked it so much because I love all the previous Harry Potter stories and I miss having new ones.  I did miss the magic of the books and the flowing writing that was present in the novels since this book is written as a play.  At times it seemed a little abrupt but I think that is due to not seeing characters act out the lines.  I also had a hard time aging Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Draco and that made some of the lines and actions a little funny/silly.  So many of the characters that we know and love from the previous books were present and their personalities were the same.  Ron provides some comic relief to Harry's and Albus's seriousness.  The series has moved on so that we are set up to read more about Harry's son, Albus and his antics at school rather than Harry's forty-year-old life.  We do see a lot of Harry in this book but I could see how the next screenplays (if there are any) might be more focused on Albus's life.  Harry does bother me a little in this book as he still seems to carry some of that teenage angst attitude that he had in the later books but hopefully he grows up a little after this book (I'm talking like they are real people!)  I think it would be really interesting to see this play on stage and see the emotions and actions carried out in real life.

Rating: 4 stars

Friday, November 18, 2016

Out of My Mind

Out of My Mind
by Sharon M. Draper

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory.  Her head is like a video camera that is always recording.  Always.  And there's no delete button.  She's the smartest kid in her whole school-but NO ONE knows it.  Most people-her teachers and doctors included-don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again.  If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what he thinks and knows...but she can't, because Melody can't talk.  She can't walk.  She can't write.

Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind-that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever.  At last Melody has a voice...but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

Review:  I can't imagine not being able to share your thoughts with others and having others think that you are not capable of intelligence.  My heart just ached for Melody at the beginning of the book when we hear her thoughts and frustrations with not being able to communicate.  My heart broke when students, and staff for that matter!, were so insensitive to her and said such hurtful things about her.  My heart was torn to pieces by the hurt Melody feels at the end.  This book could be very eye opening for young people to not judge people by what they look like and to treat everyone kindly.  I think this book has such a positive message for kids.

Rating: 4 stars

The Other Daughter

The Other Daughter
by Lauren Willig

Genre: Historical fiction

Synopsis:  Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died, suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage...and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three month before. He's an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter-his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel...not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past-even her very name-is a lie.

Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father's perfidy and bring his-and her half-sister's-charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn't as simple it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister's fiancé...
from GoodReads

Review:  I found this book on the new audiobook section at my library and was intrigued by the premise not realizing that I had added it to my to-read list a year and a half ago!  As I started listening to the book, I was trying to figure out if I really cared.  Rachel seemed to be whiny, immature, and demanding of other people.  I also thought that some of the events and attitudes did not seem to fit with the time of the book but perhaps I just don't know what England society was like in the 1920s.  Sometimes I thought I was back in the 1800s in England.  There was not enough story to make this book move along quickly.  Once you get to the end, the story changes to be a romance and there was really nothing leading up to the end that would make you think the Rachel was romantically involved with someone.  Everything didn't connect in this story for me.

Rating: 2 stars

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

The Woman in Cabin 10

The Woman in Cabin 10
by Ruth Ware

Genre: Mystery

Synopsis: In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie's works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins.  The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea.

At first, Lo's stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant.  But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo hears what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard.  The problem?  All passengers and crew members remain accounted for-and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo's desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong...
from the book jacket

Review:  At first I thought I would not like this book because of the opening to the story--a traumatic event in Lo's life--and how Lo deals with the issue (mainly drinking herself into oblivion).  I was not originally a huge fan of Lo but she did grow on me somewhat (admittedly by the end she still wasn't my favorite protagonist in a book).  I thought this book to be a thriller but I would classify it more as a mystery which also made me like it more as it was suspenseful and there was definite "who done it" attitude.  The events in this book move fairly quickly once she hears the splash in the water that she presumes to be a dead body.  The reader is caught up in a whirlwind of activity.  The story carries you along with the relaxed writing style and the attention grabbing story. I don't believe this is the finest written book but it was entertaining.  The last page of the story makes you second guess what happened in the book so you might be left somewhat hanging if you don't have someone with whom to talk to about their perception of the end.

Rating: 4 stars

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Kabul Beauty School

Kabul Beauty School
by Deborah Rodriguez

Genre: Memoir

Synopsis:  Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation.  Surrounded by men and women whose skills-as doctors, nurses, and therapists-seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use.  Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons.  Thus an idea was born.

With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the Kabul Beauty School welcomed its first class in 2003.  Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers, overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challenges of a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her students to become their families' breadwinners by learning the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup.

Yet within the small haven of the beauty school, the line between teacher and student quickly blurred as these vibrant women shared with Rodriguez their stories and their hearts; the newlywed who faked her virginity on her wedding night, the twelve-year-old bride sold into marriage to pay her family's debts, the Taliban member's wife who pursued her training despite her husband's constant beatings.  Through these and other stories, Rodriguez found the strength to leave her own unhealthy marriage and allow herself to love again, Afghan style.
from the book jacket

Review:  This was such a fascinating look into women's lives in Afghanistan and how one woman helped women learn a skill to make money for their families.  Rodriguez seemed to have such a passion for what she was doing.  There were some heartbreaking stories as well as humorous ones as Rodriguez tried to navigate the cultural differences.  This memoir was written in such an easy to read way that this book just few by.  There were times that I was confused by the time line of the story.  I think that Rodriguez jumped around a but and that threw me off.  Rodriguez had a big personality that seemed to serve her sometimes well in Afghanistan but sometimes not.  She did break quite a few cultural norms and didn't always seem to be remorseful about it.  But overall a good read!

Rating: 4 stars

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

The Tenth Circle

The Tenth Circle
by Jodi Picoult

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time.  She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life--a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always seen her father as a hero.  That is, until her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence.  Suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family--and herself--seems to be a lie.  Could the boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one ot end her childhood forever?  She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a secret tumultuous past he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back to protect his daughter.
from GoodReads

Review:  There are some of Jodi Picoult's books that I love and am captivated by because of the depth of characters.  The storylines are generally so rich and the suspense captures me and makes me continue reading into the wee hours of the night.  The stories generally pull at my heartsrings.  But then there are others of Picolt's books that try to make connections between things that have no apparent relationship and sometimes become muddled.  This was one of the second kind of books.  Trixie's mother is a professor and expert on Dante's Inferno, Daniel lived among Yupik people in Alaska, and then there was Trixie's story which was not what we thought it was.  There were too many additions to the story and Trixie's story did not have the depth that I am used to when reading when I pick up Picoult's books.  There were parts that I found intriguing but parts that I wish I could have glossed over but since I was listening to the book on cd I could do that.

Rating: 3.5 stars