Sister Gee

Sister Gee,

The ones from June are the newest books I've read. You may have to hit the older to see rest of the book reviews.

Thanks,

Hannah

Anne of Avonlea

Anne of Avonlea

By: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Pages: 206

ISBN: 1604598581

Genre: Historical Fiction

Setting: Avonlea, Canada

Anne of Green Gables returns. Anne has decided to stay in Avonlea and teach after her dear Matthew has passed away. Gilbert Blythe gave up the school in Avonlea so that Anne could stay and teach. Marilla couldn’t take care of Green Gables by herself so Anne gives up her scholarship and moves back home. The new school year begins and Anne is faced with new challenges of teaching new kids. She is faced with the challenge of the Pye family and many more students. Anne and her dear friends have started an Improvement Society, to help improve Avonlea as a whole. Anne has grown up a lot since first coming to Green Gables but she is still very much Anne. As always I love the book, I love the interest it sparks within me. I can’t wait to get to the next in the series. I look forward to the break between semesters I think I’ll find myself reading.

The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty

My Name is America: The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty; United States Marine Corp

By: Ellen Emerson White

Pages: 177

Genre: Historical Fiction; Vietnam War

Setting: The Vietnam War Hill 881N

The story of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, was a perfect follow up to War Is… Mighty Mouse as he fellow marines called him entered the Marines to follow in the footsteps of his father and his father’s father and so on. He also did it so that he could get college paid for. As we watch the transformation happen we see a child turn into a man. You see a child that is actually wishing for a fight begin to beg for the fight to end. You watch as the friendship grows between him and Bebop his bunkmate. He learns that there is more to life than football and cute girls.

I grew up reading the Dear America series, I love it. I still do. I love feeling like I am a part of the journey that each of the character takes. I felt the same sadness the they felt as they lost someone close or the fear when they were is situations that pulled them further and further from their dreams.

War Is...

War Is… soldiers, survivors, and storytellers talk about war

Edited By: Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell

Pages:266

ISBN: 9780763642310

Gerne: Non-fiction War

Setting: This novel is set throughout many different wars. It place during the war, before the war, and after the war showing many different aspects of the soldiers fight.

War Is… is a well done book. It tells the stories that many of us are too afraid to ask. I know I am. My best friend served for 18 months in Iraq, she’ll never be the same. I have seen my strong and unstoppable friend hit the ground after a ladle is dropped in the kitchen, I have witnessed her restless sleeping, and I have seen her lose many friends after switching branches of the military in order avoiding going back to war. This book opened a new light on life. I think for a young adult reader it could give new insight to a life that they take for advantage. The scary thing is the people that this book is targeted for are the people that will be someday making that choice one whether or not to enlist. I hope that it can shed some light on the situation for them.

Once Dead, Twice Shy

Once Dead, Twice Shy

By Kim Harrison

Pages: 232

ISBN: 9780061441684

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: The place between death and life

Madison is dead, well sort of. She has managed to escape death by stealing the dark angel’s amulet. Now she has to figure out how to continue living life dead. She also has to figure out how to not to live life protecting and telling time. She has to figure out if she is the good or bad guy, all while figuring out the regular stuff like how to deal with her dad and how to keep a relationship going while dead. Luckily for her the man she is loving on is okay with the whole her being dead thing. I am not much of a fantasy reader so this one was hard for me to get into but I could see how people would enjoy this novel. I guess that means I don’t have much to say about this one.

Stuck in Neutral

Stuck in Neutral

By Terry Trueman

Pages: 114

ISBN: 0064472132

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Setting: Shawn McDaniel’s Mind

This book was an interesting one. I loved reading it. It has a serious manner with humor at the same time. It is told from Shawn McDaniel’s point of view. You see Shawn has cerebral palsy. He has no control over any of the muscle in his body. This everything from his hands and feet to his eyes, he is totally dependent on his family. The hard part is his family has been told his entire life that Shawn is pretty much brain dead. He has no hope for the future he is stuck in time. He goes to school where is taught the same thing day after day. Here’s the kicker, Shawn thinks his dad is planning to kill him, and Shawn has the evidence to back it up.

The origanl reason I wanted to read this book was because of my last boyfriends, who happened to have cerebral palsy. He isn’t like Shawn, he has much more control over his body and is in great health. He doesn’t have seizures like Shawn, but I was hoping that maybe the book could give me a better understanding as to why my last boyfriend acted the way he did sometimes. And it actually helped a lot. I think this book would a great way to get special needs people a little more of a positive rap.

She Said Yes

She Said Yes

By Misty Bernall

Pages: 163

ISBN: 0743400526

Genre: Memoir

Setting: Colorado, Columbine High School, where two boys went on a shooting spree, killing 12 students and one teachers and injuring 21 others. The boys in the end took the guns on themselves and killed themselves.

This is the story of one of the students that was killed in the Columbine school shooting. It is told by her mother and re-lives the moments right before and after the death of Cassie Bernall. It was actually interesting to get the history of Nicole. You find out in the book that only a few years before Nicole was killed after being asked if she believes in God, with a gun to her head and saying yes, Cassie didn’t believe in God. If fact she was very deeply involved with witch craft. It was a startling change in the story that I wasn’t expecting. Her mother recalls her discovery of the involvement of months of hell and hatred from Cassie. I remember when Columbine happened. It was scary, for years afterward and I am sure today this event changed everything. I remember going on lock down after a gun was found on a person in school. I remember my sister being pulled out of school for the last 3 months of the school year because a boy put her on the top of her hit list. This book brought to life the real people that are effected by one person’s decision.

Zel

Zel

By Donna Jo Napoli

Pages:227

ISBN: 0141301163

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: An old village town that has Knights and village people and country folk.

Zel is a retelling of the story of Rapunzel. It is about a girl, that should be a woman that is taken captive by her mother after her mother sees that Zel is growing and falling for a youth. A youth is a young man that catches the eye of a young woman or vice versa. Zel’s youth is Konrad and Konrad’s youth is Zel. This story had me going through loops. I really never knew what to expect from it. I don’t want to give to much of the story away but I’ll give a bit of an outline. Zel and her mother go to the market twice a year. While in the market Zel goes to the smithy and enchants a horse, Meta, while Meta’s owner, Konrad, watches. There is something there. Konrad doesn’t know it but he has fallen in love at first sight. Zel leaves the village and the story takes a Cinderella turn on events. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys the retelling of stories that most American children grew up hearing.

Mr and Mrs Bo Jo Jones

Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones

By Ann Head

Pages: 202

ISBN: 0451163192

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Setting: The south in the 1960’s

July is just like every other senior in high school. She is excited for the future brings and is living in the moment. She has a boy that isn’t exactly her boyfriend but might as well be because of the amount of time they spend together. July and Bo Jo go to prom together and afterward end up going to the beach together afterward where they do what a lot of teenagers do these days. July is mortified afterward. She is disappointed in the “mistake” she made. She had prided herself on the fact that she was waiting till she was married to do any of those types of activities. As it turns out Bo Jo feels just as bad about the whole thing. But things get worse. July is pregnant. They make the decision to go across the state line and get married. The story goes from there. July and Bo Jo have to make decisions about school, where to live, the baby and so much more. The story ends in a totally different way than I thought. I did enjoy the book a lot. It was a good read and I found myself not wanting to put it done which is good because it isn’t broken up into chapters.

Love That Dog

Love That Dog

By Sharon Creech

Pages: 86

ISBN: 0060292873

Genre: Poetry

Setting: Classroom

I really enjoyed this one, not just because it was short but because of its humor. Jack explains to you that poetry isn’t for boys, he doesn’t even know it but he is telling his story through poetry. It is so well written that you are caught off guard when you realize what you’ve just is in fact poetry. So back to the story, Jack is a boy who is assigned to read and write poetry. It all fits. It all works. He writes about his dog in chunks and in the end you get a well written poem about the tragedy of his dog.

Emmett Till

Getting Away with Murder:

The True Story of the Emmett Till Case

By Chris Crowe

Pages: 128

ISBN:0803728042

Genre: Bibliography

Setting: Money, Mississippi in 1954

The story of Emmett Till is the beginning of the civil rights movement. Reading through this story you learn of the history of our United States. It wasn’t always peaches and sugar blossoms. Emmett Till was a black, fourteen year old when he left Chicago in the summer of 1954 to go visit his uncle in Money Mississippi. He was like most 14 year olds, he thought he was invincible and didn’t understand the rules completely. When he was bragging to his new friends in the south about how back home his “girlfriend” the picture he showed was a magazine cut out of a white woman. The boys got to talking and Emmett went into a store and talked to a white woman. It isn’t 100% clear what was said and exactly what happened but in this time things like that weren’t said. After the woman’s husband got wind of the incident he went after Emmett. He went to Emmett’s uncle’s house and beat on the door asking for “the boy who done the talking.” After taking him to the car and confirming that Emmett was the boy they drove off with Emmett. The next time Emmett was found he was so badly beaten that he was unrecognizable besides the ring he wore.

I think that this book was well written, it is the perfect introduction to the civil rights movements. Specially because Emmett was the same age as most of these kids that will end up reading this book. I like how it isn’t all words. He shows the pictures that he talks about. It helps make the story real and it starts to form questions in my own head. After reading the book I wrote my grandma asking her if she remembered the Emmett Till story. I called my dad and asked him if he’d heard of it. I ask all my friends. I get into deep discussions about the whole thing. It gives me a greater understanding for what I do have.