The Girls at 17 Swann Street

The Girls at 17 Swann Street

by Yara Zgheib

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.

Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears – imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.

Yara Zgheib's poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting, intimate journey of a young woman's struggle to reclaim her life. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street.

From GoodReads

Review:  This book was beautifully written even though it deals with a topic such as anorexia.  This is my first book about an eating disorder and I didn't know what to expect.  I didn't expect to be brought to tears several times and have to put the book down because I just couldn't keep reading because of how emotional it was.  My heart broke for the characters at 17 Swann Street and the hopelessness they felt at needing to eat.

Anna is  a former dancer and develops body image issues.  She falls into a trap of eating less and less and can't get herself out of the hole she has created.  She and her husband move to the United States from Paris and she falls into a deep depression.  She doesn't see what has happened to her and her husband doesn't know what to do.  Eventually Anna enters an inpatient treatment center at 17 Swann Street where she meets other young women who are like her.  Some have been battling eating disorders for years.

The book is written alternating between the present and flashbacks to things that happened earlier in Anna's life that lead to her issues.  We get a glimpse into how her eating disorder came about but yet the cause isn't pinpointed exactly.  Maybe that was done intentionally because perhaps there isn't just one defining moment.  During therapy, we are able to hear Anna's thoughts which she does not voice to the therapist.  We know that tragic events happened in her childhood.  Personally I felt that Anna's transformation comes a little too easily.  She didn't seem to deal with all her issues, her past, her depression, etc while at the treatment center.  I felt like there were a lot of unresolved issues and that her improvement couldn't have happened without dealing with all her issues.  The end seemed to come too quickly.  This is why I couldn't rate this book with 5 stars.

I still very much enjoyed reading this book even though it was highly emotional.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing my book club complementary copies.  We will enjoy discussing this book!

Rating: 4 stars

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

by Chris Grabenstein

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library.

Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot to be one of the first 12 kids in the library for an overnight of fun, food, and lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors remain locked. Kyle and the other winners must solve every clue and every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route. And the stakes are very high.

In this cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Night in the Museum, Agatha Award winner Chris Grabenstein uses rib-tickling humor to create the perfect tale for his quirky characters. Old fans and new readers will become enthralled with the crafty twists and turns of this ultimate library experience.

from GoodReads

Review:  This book was enjoyable for readers of various ages.  My children enjoyed this book as much as I did.  The story is about a game inside a library where the goal is to find a secret exit.  There are many kids in the book who show what good teamwork is and how you can achieve more with cooperation.  The story is full of various puzzles that are fun trying to figure out as the characters are trying to figure them out.  The kids who are locked in the library sure know more about the library system and authors than most adults!  This book is fast paced and keeps the reader in suspense throughout the book.  Definitely a book that kids will love!

Rating: 4 stars

The Circuit

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child

by Francisco Jimenez

Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Memoir

Synopsis:  These independent but intertwined stories follow a migrant family through their circuit, from picking cotton and strawberries to topping carrots-and back again-over a number of years.  As it moves from one labor camp to the next, the little family of four grows into ten.  Impermanence and poverty decline their lives.  But with faith, hope, and back-breaking work, the family endures.

from the back of the book

Review:  This book tells the story of Francisco and his family as they cross the border and move into their migrant worker life in California.  The family has hope that their life will be better in the United States.  Francisco tells an honest story about what it was like to move from one farm to another and live in tents or run down buildings.  He talks about attending school but being uprooted all the time and not being able to understand the language. But he also talks about the bond among his family members.  This book is eye opening to what migrant workers both adults and children live through.  I thought the ending was a bit abrupt and I want to know what happened in the rest of Francisco's childhood.  There are 2 more books so I may have to pick them up!

Rating: 4 stars

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

by Eleanor Coerr

Illustrated by Ronald Himler

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis: Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic--the star of her school's running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan.

from GoodReads

Review:  I've read this book a couple times before, once when I was growing up and once as an adult.  This was my third read of the book but I still enjoyed it as much as I did the first two times.  This book tells the story of Sadako, who unfortunately gets leukemia as a result of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.  She is a healthy girl who is full of energy and life and then sadly gets sick.  This story allows kids to read about the effects of the bomb on the people of Japan and get a look into Japanese culture.  The book is very sad but eye opening.  One thing I really like about this book is that it is about a serious topic and about a 12 year old girl but written at a low level.  This makes a perfect book for older students who are reading at a lower level.

Rating: 4 stars

Riding Freedom

Riding Freedom

by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Illustrated by Brian Selznick

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis: Charlotte Parkhurst never acted like most other girls.  She climbed trees and fought with boys and worked in a stable.  She had a way with horses that was like nothing folks had ever seen.

In the mid 1800s, some people didn't think it was proper for a girl to behave like Charlotte, and they tried to stop her.  But Charlotte was smart, and she came up with a plan that would let her live her life the way she wanted-a plan so clever and so secret that almost no one figured it out.

A top-notch horse rider, a legendary stagecoach driver, the first woman to vote in the state of California and probably the United States, Charlotte Parkhurst, known as Charley, was a real person with a larger-than-life story.

from the book jacket

Review:  This historical fiction book gives readers a look at a character who most people would not know anything about.  The story starts with Charlotte growing up in an orphanage where she finds an outlet in caring for and riding horses.  She wants to be free from the unfair treatment at the orphanage so she decides to run away.  Charlotte turns into Charley and learns to drive a stagecoach.  Charlotte is portrayed as a very strong girl and woman who knows her own mind and follows her dreams.  I really enjoyed reading about her life and I wish that this book could have been longer so we would have known more about her!  This is definitely a great book for kids to read!

Rating: 4 stars

Before We Were Yours

Before We Were Yours

by Lisa Wingate

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Synopsis:  Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize that the truth is much darker. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together—in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions—and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation . . . or redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

from GoodReads

Review:  This book broke my heart so many times but yet I really enjoyed listening to it.  The story is told in alternating perspectives between Rill and Avery.  Rill, a twelve year old girl who grew up with her young parents on the Mississippi River, has such an emotional voice in this story.  Avery is a strong, confident woman who knows her duty to her family.  Rill's story of being torn away from her home and sent to live with her siblings in a horrible orphanage was so difficult to read but yet her love for her siblings shines through.  The fact that this story is based on real events was shocking as it unbearable to think about the treatment of children under Georgia Tann's direction.  My heart broke for all of the children who were victims of this so called adoption agency and the horrors that they endured.  There were many times that I was almost brought to tears thinking about these children.  There is not much that the author explicitly says as to what happened but the reader is left to infer what happens and that might even be worse!  Avery's story is not quite as interesting but she is the person who is trying to discover a connection between her family and a story she hears from a woman at a nursing home, May Crandall.  Avery is persistent in digging through her family's history as she discovers that she may not want what her family wants for her.  I feel that Avery's story was there as a means to end for the reader to figure out how her family is connected to Rill's story.  While my review may make this book sound too depressing or horrific, this book is not that!  This book is eye opening to something that happened in our history.  It's compelling and well written.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors

by B.A. Paris

Genre: Thriller

Synopsis:  Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace.

He has looks and wealth; she has charm and elegance.  He's a dedicated attorney who has never lost a case; she's a flawless homemaker and a masterful gardener and cook, and she dotes on her disabled younger sister.  Though they're still newlyweds, they seem to have it all.  You might not want to like them, but you do.  You're hopelessly charmed by the ease and comfort of their home, by the graciousness of the dinner parties they throw.  You'd like to get to know Grace better.

But it's difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love.  Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn't work.  How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim.   Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen.  Or why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder what's really going on once the dinner parties are over and the front door has closed.

from the book jacket

Review:  I'm going to be honest...I could not put this book down and read it all in one day!  At first I was a little put off by the first chapter because there was something off about Jack and Grace but we didn't know what and they seemed too perfect.  But that was all part of the ruse.  We quickly learn that all is not what it seems and Grace is being held prisoner by Jack.  It takes a while to figure out exactly what happens but we are kept in suspense to find out if/when/how Grace is going to free herself and her sister Millie, who has Down Syndrome, from Jack's clutches.  The book alternates between present and past so we can get a glimpse as to how Grace and Jack met and what happened in their relationship and marriage early on.  Towards the end I was a little thrown off by how the past and present seemed to catch up to one another and the present jumped ahead in time so that the past was just a few days prior.  That transition seemed to come out of nowhere.  I also thought that the ending wasn't dramatic enough.  I was waiting for this really suspenseful moment and it didn't come. a little anticlimactic.  Thrillers are generally not my genre but this one I liked because I could see inside the people to see what motivated them and this was more psychological rather than action.  Jack was unlikable but Grace was likable albeit a little weak.  Overall this was a good thriller, not action packed, but one that will keep you reading all day and night.

Rating: 4 stars (although I really wanted to give it 3.75 stars)

The Light We Lost

The Light We Lost

by Jill Santopolo

Genre: Romance

Synopsis:  Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice.  But before she can make her decision, she must start her story-their story-at the very beginning.

Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes them forever.  Together they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter.  When they meet again a year later, it seems fated-perhaps they'll find life's meaning in each other.  But then Gabe becomes a photojournalist assigned to the Middle East and Lucy pursues a career in New York City.

What follows is a thirteen-year odyssey of dreams, jealousies, and ultimately, of love.  Lucy will begin a new life with handsome and reliable Darren, while Gabe will travel the world.  Their journey will take Lucy and Gabe continents apart but never out of each other's hearts. And Lucy will find herself asking: Was it fate that brought them together?  Is it choice that has kept them away.

Lucy's powerful voice brings to life the universal truth of first love, of being completely understood for the first
from the book jacket

Review:  This is a love story between Lucy and Gabe that spans over many years and across countries.  Lucy and Gabe first met in college but didn't start dating until a year later.  They really only dated for a few months before life took them in different directions but somehow they continued to love each other while being with other people and being far apart from each other.  While I enjoyed their love story and the passion they felt for each other I had trouble liking Lucy because of how she treated Darren, her husband.   I felt that Lucy wasn't being fair to Darren who truly was a great guy who loved her.  Lucy clearly couldn't get over loving Gabe even though she knew she needed to and Darren was her fall back and not her true love.  I felt bad for Darren the whole book.  I also wondered the whole time of how much Lucy and Gabe really loved each other if they weren't willing to sacrifice anything for each other.  If their love was truly all consuming and burned like a wildfire (a metaphor that the author uses), then why wouldn't they have given up careers for each other?  All that aside the story captured my attention and I needed to know why Lucy was writing this whole story to Gabe.  We know something happened but we don't know yet until the very end.  I'm going to be honest, half way through I almost skipped to the end to find out what happened but I restrained myself!  This story definitely pulls at your heart.

Rating: 4 stars

The Compound Series

The Compound Series (#2-4)

Mother Before Wife, Just Keep Sweet and Prophet Take All

by Melissa Brown

Genre: Fiction, Suspense

Synopses:

Mother Before Wife: Secrets. 

So many secrets. Nothing but secrets.

I started another life with a new husband, thirteen new sister wives and a new place to call home.
But the secrets weigh on me, on all of us.
And every secret leads back to the Prophet the, self-proclaimed, mouthpiece of God.
The man I’ve worshiped since childhood, the man we obey without question.
And he’s the man who will destroy us all.

I must reveal his secrets. 
Prove his betrayal, his lies and his deceit.
I will not be silenced, no matter how hard he tries.

And I will never give up. Ever.  

Just Keep Sweet: Obstacles.

So many obstacles. Nothing but obstacles.

Months ago, I agreed to help Aspen Black take down the Prophet of the FLDS—to prevent her daughter from being married at an early age, and to save innocent lives from systemic abuse on the compound.

The obstacles in this case are mounting, as are my feelings for Aspen. The tension between us is palpable and I know there’s more to our connection than the increasingly difficult case at hand. But, she’s not only married to the Prophet’s brother, she’s equally devoted to her faith. Two obstacles that just may be insurmountable.

But, no matter what happens, I will close this case. 
Even if it kills me.

Prophet Takes All: Fools.

So many fools. Nothing but fools.

That worm of a detective, my mother, Paul. Fools—all of them. But Aspen, oh Aspen…she was the biggest fool of all.

Aspen Black, a seemingly ordinary woman of the compound, transformed into the utter bane of my existence in just a matter of months. She had the gall to question me, to seek the counsel of an outsider, and to disobey my word.

To add to her list of transgressions, Aspen recruited my own brother in the crusade against me. For this, they must both be punished. And their daughter, Ruthie, is the key to their retribution.

Aspen and Paul will pay for their crimes against the one true prophet. If it’s the very last thing I do. 

from GoodReads

Review: First of all I just need to point out that I'm rating these three books with 1 rating and reviewing them as one because I read them back to back and even though there is an end to each of the books that doesn't mean that the story is over.  The story isn't finished until the end of Prophet Takes All.  If you don't have all of them in your hands, you'll be left in suspense.  Don't say I didn't warn you!  I could have seen these three books compiled into one longer book as the story flowed directly from one book to the next.

These three books are so much more than the first book in this series, Wife Number Seven.  They are not romance novels although there is a sex scene or two scattered in the books, the most being in Wife Before Mother.  There is drama, suspense, mystery, conflict and more.  I was so drawn to these stories and needed to know how the situation would be resolved.  I was sickened by what was revealed in Just Keep Sweet and became increasingly angry with the prophet.  Each book has a different narrator with a different voice, Aspen in Mother Before Wife, Jonathan, a police detective, and Paul, Aspen's husband, in Just Keep Sweet, and Clarence, the prophet, in Prophet Takes It All.  It was hard to read a story from the prophet's perspective as he was such a unlikable man.  My blood boiled by the end and I was so disappointed by the turn of events.  Thankfully the story finished as I wanted it to!

The writing style remained the same from Wife Number Seven to these three books so the same issues I had with the writing were present in the next three books.  There were chapters that were third person narratives scattered in between the first person narratives which were disruptive.  I do feel that the writing improved by the end (there were no flashbacks with ellipses!) which kept me engaged in the books.

Overall this is a good series and you could skip the first in the Compound series if you are not a fan of steamy romance novels.  Brinley and Porter do appear in future books and we do realize why Porter had the issues that he had but if you haven't read Wife Number Seven there is enough explanation that you would be fine.

Rating: 4 stars

The Ebb Tide

The Ebb Tide

by Beverly Lewis

Genre: Christian Fiction

Synopsis:  Sallie Riehl has dreamed of traveling at least once before settling down to join church, so she is thrilled at an unexpected summer opportunity to nanny in Cape May for a well-to-do family.  However, saying even a temporary good-bye to Paradise Township means forgoing baptism another year, as well as leaving behind a wood-be beau.  Yet the weeks in Cape May soon prove unforgettable as Sallie meets a Mennonite young man whose friendship she quickly begins to cherish.  Has she been too hasty with her promises, or will she only find what her heart is longing for back home?
from the back of the book

Review:  I thoroughly enjoyed this light fiction book about Sallie discovering what life is like outside of her Amish village and what the world has to offer her.  All the characters in this book were so sweet and caring that it made the book so heartwarming.  I felt like the book was a bit predictable but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.  I've read some Christian fiction books where the religious aspects of the book don't fit in but this book was so well pieced together and flowed so well.  There's not much more to say than this is a nice, quick and easy read!

Rating: 4 stars

Speak

Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis:  Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-the-summer party by calling the cops, so her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't know hate her from a distance.  It's no use explaining to her parents, they've never known what her life is really like.  The safest place for Melinda to be is alone, inside her own head.  But even that's not safe.  Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she admitted it and let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens.  And then she would have no choice.  Melinda would have to speak the truth.

from the book jacket

Review:  This book follows the life of Melinda, a high school freshman, through her first year of high school.  From the beginning of the book we know that something tragic happened to Melinda but we don't know what (unless you read reviews on GoodReads beforehand like I did and know what happened to her) but we do know it causes her to change and shut down.  Melinda enters high school with no friends and decides that she is not going to speak.  She retreats inside herself and stops caring about things we assume she used to care about.  Since Melinda doesn't really talk, there is almost no dialogue.  What we get is her internal monologue and her feelings about her school, former friends, her troubled home life and so much more.  She clearly needs help but yet no one recognizes it except for the art teacher which is somewhat cliche as are other parts of this book.  The fact that no adult in the school recognized that Melinda was depressed even though she had many meetings with her guidance counselor really made me angry.  Her parents made me angry as well as they did nothing to help her except for berate her about her lowering grades.  From the author's interview at the end of this book I learned that high schools are now teaching this book which I think is a smart move.  It may be a little cliche and may be outdated a bit but the message is important.

Rating: 4 stars

Your Perfect Life

Your Perfect Life

by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke

Genre:  Chick Lit

Synopsis:  Best friends since childhood, Casey and Rachel couldn't lead more different lives.  While workaholic Casey rubs elbows with celebrities daily as the host of Gossip TV and comes home nightly to an empty high-rise apartment, stay-at-home mom Rachel juggles an oops baby, two fiery teenagers. and a husband who only physically resembles the man she fell in love with two-decades before.  After an argument at their twentieth high school reunion, they each throw back a shot to try and save the evening.  Instead. they get a life-changing hangover.

Waking up in each other's bodies the next morning, they must figure out how to navigate their altered realities.  Rachel is forced to face the broadcasting dreams she gave up when she got pregnant in college and Casey finally steps out of the spotlight to confront the real reason why she's alone.  Each woman will soon discover she doesn't know herself-or her best friend-nearly as well as she thought she did.

from the back of the book

Review:  This book was different than most chick lit books out there.  The women in this book were not in their 20s, they were in their late 30s like me which made for chick lit that was more relatable to an older audience but perhaps not the younger crowd.  Though this book does check off several of the chick lit necessities: partying (alcohol), fashion, celebs, etc.  All that aside, this was a great summer read.  Rachel, a mom to three, seems to be stuck in a rut and changing lives with Casey, a single, workaholic, famous, live-in-the-moment kind of woman gives her an out of motherhood for a while.  I think most mothers could relate to Rachel.  Casey, who has worked in television for her whole career, gets to live out a fantasy she didn't know she had while living in Rachel's life.  The women learn much about themselves and what it takes to change back into their own lives.

Rating: 4 stars

The Sound of Gravel

The Sound of Gravel

by Ruth Wariner

Genre: Memoir

Synopsis:  Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father's forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turn a blind eye to the practices of her community.  Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity.  At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible.  After Ruth's father--the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony--is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of a another faithful congregant.

In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where Ruth's mother collects welfare and her stepfather works a variety of odd jobs.  Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realizing that perhaps the community into which she was born is not the right one for her.  As she begins to doubt her family's beliefs and question her mother's choices, she struggles to balance her fierce love for her siblings with her determination to forge a better life for herself.

from the book jacket

Review:  This is going to be a hard review to write without giving anything away that is not included in the synopsis.  Yes, this is a book about a girl who grew up in poverty and squalor in a polygamous community but yet this is also a book about another topic that is not mentioned in the synopsis and that topic plays a large role in shaping Ruth, her relationships, her family, and her ultimate decision to leave LeBaron.  Ruth tells about her childhood in a somewhat matter of fact way without asking the reader to pity her.  I spent a lot of the book wondering why any woman would choose to live in polygamy and be brainwashed by the doctrine but as an outsider it will be something that I will never understand.  I very much disliked Ruth's mother, Kathy, for the choices she made and how much she overlooked what was happening with her children and failed to defend them.  Tragedies happened that could have been prevented (at least in my mind) which made me angrier at Kathy.  Ruth, however, was able to love her mother despite everything and learn from her.  I was amazed at Ruth's strength, commitment to her family, and ability to persevere.  She amazingly escaped from her life in the LeBaron community and raised her younger siblings even though she was only 15 years old herself.  This story is captivating, hard to read at times, emotional, and ends on a positive note.

Rating: 4 stars

El Deafo

El Deafo

by Cece Bell

Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Graphic Novel, Memoir

Synopsis:  Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends. 

Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school--in the hallway...in the teacher's lounge...in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?

This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way.

from GoodReads

Review:  I'm still not a huge fan of graphic novels but I can see how this book, both story and format, would highly appeal to kids.  This is a semi-autobiographic novel of Cece's life growing up with hearing loss.  Cece, who is portrayed as a bunny, gets sick as a young child and loses most of her hearing but hearing aids and learning to lip read help her continue to be successful in a hearing environment.  Cece is so self conscious about sticking out and being different that sometimes she doesn't realize that people are overlooking the hearing aids.  This book is funny but also sends a powerful message about accepting differences.  While it is an easy book to read, I think it would be most meaningful to slightly older kids--perhaps around 4th grade. 

Rating: 4 stars

The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner

by Deborah Ellis

Genre: Juvenile fiction

Synopsis:  Afghanistan, a country that lies south of Russia between Iran and Pakistan, has been fought over for centuries.  Today the country is in the hands of the Taliban, whose extreme religious views include forbidding women to appear in public without being covered from head to toe.  Women cannot go to school, work outside the home or leave their homes without a man to escort them.

A powerful and realistic novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship, The Breadwinner brings the terrible situation home to North American young people with humanity and power.  Eleven year old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city.  Parvana's father-a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed-works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write.  One day he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food.

As conditions for the family grown desperate, only one solution emerges.  Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana most transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner.

from the book jacket

Review:  I am intrigued about different cultures and how people live in other countries.  This book was a good introduction to life in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban.  For students and children with no background knowledge, this book would be a good place to start.  Parvana is a young girl who is allowed out of the home to help her father who is crippled.  When her father is arrested, Parvana turns into a boy so she can make money for her family.   Parvana's eyes are opened, as well as the reader's eyes, to the treatment of Taliban leaders and how dangerous it is for her to keep her identity a secret.  There is conflict between Parvana and members of her family but the family bond surpasses the difficulty.  One of my complaints with this book is the ending.  This book doesn't really end--there is no resolution.  There are 2 other books in this series and it seems like you have to read all three of them to really come to the end of the story.

Rating: 4 stars

Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s

by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Genre: Young adult fiction

Synopsis:  Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life...until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.

from GoodReads

Review:  This book is all about characters and their developments and relationships.  Willow is a quirky girl who is brilliant but has no friends.  Dell is her school therapist who is quirky in his own way too and one that doesn't seem to care much about anything.  Willow finds unlikely friends in Mai, Quang-ha, Patti, Jairo, and Dell who help her move past the grief of her parents dying and discover the meaning of family, friendship and love.  Readers are drawn into this story and feel such pain for Willow but also can see how she helps bring other people to together in unexpected ways.

Rating:  4 stars

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty

by Joshilyn Jackson

Genre: Women's fiction

Synopsis:  A Grown-Up Kind Of Pretty is a powerful saga of three generations of women, plagued by hardships and torn by a devastating secret, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of family. 

Fifteen-year-old Mosey Slocumb-spirited, sassy, and on the cusp of womanhood-is shaken when a small grave is unearthed in the backyard, and determined to figure out why it's there. Liza, her stroke-ravaged mother, is haunted by choices she made as a teenager. But it is Jenny, Mosey's strong and big-hearted grandmother, whose maternal love braids together the strands of the women's shared past--and who will stop at nothing to defend their future.

from GoodReads

Review:  I very much enjoyed listening to this book because of how engaging the narrator was.  Later I found out that the narrator is the author which was probably why the story was so engaging!  This book is so different from other books that I have as the story is very southern.  Each character had such interesting and quirky personalities and their own way of talking.  You could really tell that Mosey was a teenage by the way that she talked probably made more pronounced by the author reading her voice.  The book didn't seem to take itself too seriously and I appreciated the light humor that it offered, at least I took some things as humorous even if it was not the intention of the story.  Characters seemed a little over the top which also made the story seem a little lighter.  The details in the story, however, are not light from drugs to solving the mystery of the bones to recovering from a stroke.  This is a good read for when you are looking for something not too heavy.  I'll be picking up more books from this author in the future.

Rating: 4 stars

The Girl Who Came Home

The Girl Who Came Home

by Hazel Gaynor

Genre: Historical fiction

Synopsis:  A voyage across the ocean becomes the odyssey of a lifetime for a young Irish woman. . . .

Ireland, 1912 . . .

Fourteen members of a small village set sail on RMS Titanic, hoping to find a better life in America. For seventeen-year-old Maggie Murphy, the journey is bittersweet. Though her future lies in an unknown new place, her heart remains in Ireland with Séamus, the sweetheart she left behind. When disaster strikes, Maggie is one of the few passengers in steerage to survive. Waking up alone in a New York hospital, she vows never to speak of the terror and panic of that fateful night again.

Chicago, 1982 . . .

Adrift after the death of her father, Grace Butler struggles to decide what comes next. When her great-grandmother Maggie shares the painful secret about the Titanic that she's harbored for almost a lifetime, the revelation gives Grace new direction—and leads both her and Maggie to unexpected reunions with those they thought lost long ago.

Inspired by true events, The Girl Who Came Home poignantly blends fact and fiction to explore the Titanic tragedy's impact and its lasting repercussions on survivors and their descendants.

from GoodReads

Review:  I listened to the audiobook version of this story and it was not the right choice to listen to as I drove to and from work as it made me cry on many occasions!  Nothing like showing up to work with a tear streaked face!  The heartbreak in this story was palpable.  The story is told in alternating perspectives and the story bounces around in time a bit.  Most of the time we hear either Maggie's or Grace's perspectives.  Grace is often looking back at Maggie's story in the form of her diary.  The modern story of Grace and what happens in her life was not deep and did not add much to the story except to discover Maggie's story and bring it out into the open.  The story of what happened on the Titanic was not extremely original.  At times I was reminded of the movie Titanic as I listened to what was happening in the story.  That being said, I still truly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to people who like historical fiction.

Rating: 4 stars

The Most Beautiful Place in the World

The Most Beautiful Place in the World

by Ann Cameron

Illustrated by Thomas B. Allen

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  Seven-year-old Juan lives in Guatemala, a place of stunning beauty and grim economic reality. Abandoned by his mother, Juan lives with his grandmother and shines shoes. He passionately wants to attend school, but fears Grandmother will say no. Finally gathering his courage, he is surprised when she not only agrees to send him to school but also chides him about the importance of standing up for himself. Juan tells this bittersweet story, which reads smoothly and powerfully on several levels, with warmth and dignity.

from GoodReads

Review:  This is an early chapter book that is written at a more mature level.  The writing style is simple but the topic is far from it.  Juan has a lot stacked against him in his life.  His father left, he was abandoned by his mother, he needs to work to make money for him and his grandma to live off of but that doesn't make him give up on his dreams.  This is a heartwarming story a little boy with such a positive outlook on life.  This is a book that could be read by younger children and older students who may be reading at a lower level.

Rating: 4 stars

Return to Sender

Return to Sender

by Julia Alvarez

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm.  Tyler isn't sure what to make of these workers.  Are they undocumented?  And what about the tree daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected to her American life?  Mari's family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent back to the poverty they left behind in Mexico.  Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences?

from the book jacket

Review:  This book is written in two forms: one, a narrative about Tyler and two, letters written by Mari to various people.  Tyler is forced to confront his feelings about having Mexican workers on his family's farm and how he should act around Mari.  Mari and her family live in fear that la migra (ICE) is going to find them and take them back to Mexico.  Mari's mother has been missing for almost a year but Mari still believes that she is alive and will find her and her family.  This book gives a look into what undocumented workers have to face and how they must feel.  Mari and Tyler develop a friendship that bonds the two of them together as they face a struggle.  There are terrible events that happen in this story so I would recommend it for older readers, not middle grades.  It also has one line that I thought was completely inappropriate (about a character being laid) for students and unnecessary.

Rating: 4 stars