Book reviews for the young and the old. This site reviews children, teen, and adult books with a few interesting things thrown into the mix. Check out the labels on the right hand side for specific genres or topics.
Monday, October 5, 2009
3 More Down
Winnie's War by Jenny Moss
Publisher: Walker Books
Pages: 178
Source: Library
The year is 1918 and the influenza pandemic is rushing through Coward Creek, Texas. This is the name of the town where Winnie lives. her father builds coffins for the towns people. he has been kept busy for qute some time. Winnie worries about all of the people who are getting the flu. Winnie has to learn to stay strong as the flu hits her own family and her friends. This was a slow book for me. I did enjoy the character development. I saw Winnie as a rambunctious child and then saw the underlying strength. Since I know so little about the Spanish Influenza the book has made me hungry to learn more.
The Last Invisible Boy by Evan Kuhlman
Publisher: Ginee Seo Books
Pages: 233
Source: Library
Finn Garret has suffered a terrible loss. His father died while coming home on a plane. Finn wakes up one morning to find that he is less colorful. His skin is pale and his hair is turning white. It is as if a giant eraser is beginning to erase him. throughout the book, Finn gives out quizzes, he makes drawings and makes his entries as entries into a space log. As Finn begins to accept the changes to his life, his physical apearance begins to make changes. I really thought I was going to like this book but I didn't. I would say it was cute. There was nothing in particular I could put my finger on about it. It was just not the type of book I would usually pick up and put on my shelves for my students. Having said that, I was reading the book at school and one of my students borrowed it during class and loved it.
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 266
Source: Library
In an age when it is not good for a black girl and a white boy to be seen together, Dit and Emma find themselves thrown together to stand up for the rights of one of their friends. Henry Otis, known as dit is excited when he finds out that their new postmasterhas a son. Finally he has someone that he can pal around with all summer. To his surprise the postmaster doesn't have a son, he has a daughter named Emma. Worse yet, Dit's mother has decided that her son should be a gentleman and show Emma around town. The more their friendship grows the more they see and feel the prejudice fro others around town. Emma and Dit have a friend who is accused of a crim he didn't commit. They feel responsible and decide they have to help. The problem with this plan is that Emma's father has been told he is going to be transferred. This was another book that gave great insight into race relations in the early 1900's
The opinions expressed in these review are mine alone and do not represent the views of the panel.
Labels:
Middle Grade,
Young Adult
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I found The Last Invisible Boy somewhat disappointing myself--it never grabbed me...Winnie's War has been on my tbr list for ages!
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