Student Saturday: Incarceron - Catherine Fisher

Student Reviewer: Jillian M.

Summary:  Incarceron is about two main characters named Finn and Claudia. Finn is inside the prison trying to escape with his oath brother and two other friends. The  thing is, the prison has a mind of its own. It thinks and controls everything in the prison. The prison  always watches with its millions of tiny, glowing, red eyes. Meanwhile, Claudia is outside the prison trying to help get him out because she thinks that Finn is Prince Giles, who she was supposed to marry since they both were seven years old. Eventually her friend, and tutor, Jared beams her into the prison to help Finn escape. Sadly, since there are only two keys that can get them out, only Finn and Claudia can get out. Jared is trying to fix the machine because Claudia's dad, the warden of the prison, took both keys and beamed himself into the prison, so they can't get back in to save their friends from the self-aware prison. Anyways, if they did get in they would have no way out unless they found her dad and took the keys back. The fate of Finn and his friends shall remain a mystery until the second book.

Most interesting thing that I learned form this book: The most interesting thing that I learned for Incarceron is that sometimes we do one thing and don't see the real consequences of our actions until it's too late to do anything about it. In this case it's the prison. Incarceron was created to help reform people that were bad, but in the end the prison is alive and has a ind of its own. What was intended to help people, instead ended up hurting people. What is alo interesting is that the prison is a result of a previous generation's actions, but continues to affect present and future generations.

I would recommend this book to a friend because I enjoyed the suspense, mystery, and the little twists to the story.

In Mint Condition 2013 - Shannon John, Editor

I was contacted by email and asked if I would be willing to read and review an anthology.  I happen to like anthologies so I had no problem saying yes.  This book is definitely different from most books.  The book is full of poetry and short stories that lean to the dark side of literature.  I enjoyed each story, some more than others.  One of my favorites was "A Place in Pine Island". This was the story of a man's run in with an alligator.  "Mr. Scratch's Murder Circus was a poem that reminded me of the freak side-shows at carnivals.  A lot of them dealt with the topic of death.  Call me a morbid person if you want but I enjoy reading things like this.  Each author was chosen from several people who had submitted their stories or poems.  After choosing the stories to be placed in the book, artists were found to illustrate each entry.  The book is full of both talented writers and artists.

You can find out more here.   The stories are so good that I read the entire book in a couple of hours.  I just couldn't put it down.  I will tell you the stories are for the more mature reader and there is some graphic language.  I would definitely read another anthology written any of these sixteen authors.

The Last Buffalo by Ed Kienzle

Pages:  214

Genre: Middle Grade Adventure

Source: Received a copy from the author

From Goodreads:

The Last Buffalo Little Kettle watches, heartbroken, as the last buffalo falls lifeless to the ground in what he has come to call The Winter of the Red Snow. Little Kettle has been waging a personal battle to stop the killing as the animals leave Yellowstone seeking winter forage. When his nephew Wyman is born, Little Kettle passes the mantle of protecting the buffalo to him, proclaiming the boy the Keeper of the Buffalo. Though he instills in Wyman a deep love for the animal that once ruled the Western Plains, the youngster struggles under the weight of the this great responsibility he's been asked to bear. He yearns for a more normal life. Wyman gives up the task for a short time but then the dreams come. Or are they visions? Join Wyman and his newfound friends Alex and Jacob as they share a great adventure in and around Yellowstone. A bear, a peace-pipe, an Indian maiden, a mysterious shape shifter, and a touch of mysticism teaches the trio about their and the buffaloes past. Love trust and persistence lead them to discover the secrets of their dreams and fulfill the role of Keeper of the Buffalo. The Last Buffalo is geared toward young readers who enjoy the outdoors, or children in whom parents wish to instill a sense of respect, a spirit of compromise and an appreciation for nature.

My Thoughts

As I read this book I began to think about a movie I saw in the late 1970's called The White Buffalo. It was about Wild Bill Hickok and Crazy Horse chasing after a white buffalo.  This white buffalo haunts their visions or dreams.  That was the part that reminded me of this book.  The three children in the book all have the same dream or vision of a white buffalo.  The major difference between the movie and the book was in the movie they were trying to kill the buffalo.  In the book the idea was to save this rare buffalo.   I found the environmental message to be just as important today as it would have been years ago.  Don't know what the message is I'm talking about?  Read the book.  I am looking forward to putting this book on my shelves at school. It is a book that will be enjoyed by both boys and girls.

Coming in 2014 and a Review

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year!  I hope you have a wonderful new year.  May 2014 be the year that your reach all of your dreams.  I am changing things up this year.  I recently went back over the books I still have to review and realized I am way behind.  I am leaving five days available for new requests each month until I catch up all of my review.  There are just too many I need to catch up on. My plan is to read and schedule reviews a week at a time so I can then have time to write and handle my school load.

This will be a year of many changes.  Some I will decide on as I get into the new year.  Some will be happening whether I want them to or not.  My daughter and grandchildren will be moving away from me the day after New Years.  They will only be one hour away.  However, it is not the same as having them just down the street. It is best for everyone involved.  It just hurts knowing I now have no grandchildren real close.  I do have one about thirty minutes away.  We only get to see her when my son comes down from Georgia and picks her up and brings her to my house.  Divorce does things like that to grandparents and grandchildren.  Haylee and Jacob will be moving with their mother an hour away since my daughter was transferred.  We both need to break from each other for many reasons. I think, (I hope), it will make my visits with my grandchildren more special.  I fear the youngest of only three will forget me if he doesn't get to see me as often.  That is just my own fear. I will miss my time writing with my granddaughter.
Another change this year is my commitment to losing weight.  I don't know how quickly I'll be able to take it off.  I am facing another surgery in the new year which will hamper some of the weight loss.  I need to get more exercise and so I am making a commitment to get more in 2014.  That is one of the reasons for scheduling reviews in advance.  I don't want any excuses for not exercising.  Now, to my very first review of the new year.

Another Forgotten Child by Cathy Glass
Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir
Source: I won a copy from LibraryThing
Disclosure: The opinions expressed here are my own.  I have been compensated in no way for my honest opinion.

From Goodreads:
Eight-year-old Aimee was on the child protection register at birth. Her five older siblings were taken into care many years ago. So no one can understand why she was left at home to suffer for so long. It seems Aimee was forgotten.

The social services are looking for a very experienced foster carer to look after Aimee and, when she reads the referral, Cathy understands why. Despite her reservations, Cathy agrees to Aimee on – there is something about her that reminds Cathy of Jodie (the subject of ‘Damaged’ and the most disturbed child Cathy has cared for), and reading the report instantly tugs at her heart strings.

When she arrives, Aimee is angry. And she has every right to be. She has spent the first eight years of her life living with her drug-dependent mother in a flat that the social worker described as ‘not fit for human habitation’. Aimee is so grateful as she snuggles into her bed at Cathy’s house on the first night that it brings Cathy to tears.

Aimee’s aggressive mother is constantly causing trouble at contact, and makes sweeping allegations against Cathy and her family in front of her daughter as well. It is a trying time for Cathy, and it makes it difficult for Aimee to settle. But as Aimee begins to trust Cathy, she starts to open up. And the more Cathy learns about Aimee’s life before she came into care, the more horrified she becomes.

It’s clear that Aimee should have been rescued much sooner and as her journey seems to be coming to a happy end, Cathy can’t help but reflect on all the other ‘forgotten children’ that are still suffering…

My Thoughts
This is not a story for the faint of heart.  It is the story of a foster parent who takes in a child that most would never touch.  Aimee is eight years old and unlike her five older siblings, she was left with her mother instead of being removed.  Eight years she suffers abuse at the hands of her mother and many others.  No child should have to experience the things Aimee experiences.  The book was frustrating at times because at one point in my life I worked for children and family services in my state.  The things that you learn about happening to children is horrible.  Cathy has done a wonderful job of letting the reader  be an observer yet feel like they are right there.  I have never been a foster parent.  I have seen so much through my job as a teacher.  Sometimes the things we learn from our students are just as heart wrenching and makes us wonder how someone could let something happen to a child for so long and do nothing.  I have great admiration for people like Cathy.  As a matter of fact a friend of mine, an author by the name of Karen Arnpriester is one of those angels who takes in kids.  I have the highest respect for people like them.  I believe that books like this should be read to bring attention to, and open the eyes of people who might not want to see what is going on around them.  I highly recommend this book.

Freak: Memoir of an Outcast by Howard Shulman

Pages:  280

Genre:  Adult, Memoir

Source: Review copy from author.

From Amazon:

FREAK: Memoir of an Outcast is the author’s improbable but true story. When only days old, an infection attacks the author’s face, destroying his nose, lower lip, eyelid, and upper palate. Abandoned at the hospital by his parents and made a ward of the state of New Jersey, he is placed under the care of a state-employed surgeon who experimentally re-builds his face. Beginning what would become decades of reconstructive surgeries and skin grafts, Howard Shulman embarks on an unforgettable journey to find his place in the world. With street smarts and humor, bullied and outcast, he defies all odds by rising from dishwasher to successful entrepreneur. An unexpected twist of fate leads him to his birth mother — a chance event that drives home the lesson of what it will cost him if he doesn’t make peace with the past. By turns heart wrenching and funny, Howard’s story is a testament to the human spirit. FREAK will resonate with readers long after the final page.

My Thoughts:

There are many words that could describe Howard Shulman.  Pity is not one of them. After reading this story of courage and survival I feel like there are so many lessons we could learn from him.  This is an inspiring and uplifting story. Bullied, unloved by his parents, Howard proves to us that no matter what the obstacles or how unsurmountable they seem they can be conquered.  There is always room for hope.  This is a story that should be read by everyone.  What problems I have seem so small compared to what he has endured.  This is the way to end the year with a story that is definitely uplifting.

The Wrong Side of Right by Tom Gosinski

Pages: 210

Genre: Adult, Memoir

Source:  I received a copy to review

From Goodreads:

Intoxicated by the promise of travel, the sparkle of politics, and a fascination for the mystery of wealth, Tom redirects his life into what, he feels, will be a satisfying, promising future. However, once on the inside, he realizes the sparkle was created by mirrors and the fascination and mystery were illusions carved in smoke.

My Thoughts:

I wasn’t sure about reading this book for several reasons.  I’m glad that I did.  This is an honest look through To Gosinski’s eyes at the drug problem Cindy McCain had.  He could have trashed and bashed her.  Instead he took a more diplomatic approach that takes the reader from the way he met her to the having to make the decision to blow the whistle on her  This is definitely an intriguing read.

Escape From Berlin by Irene N. Watts

Pages: 432

Genre:  YA, Adult Historical Fiction

Source: (Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program.)

From Goodreads:

Good-bye Marianne - As autumn turns toward winter in 1938 Berlin, life for Marianne Kohn, a young Jewish girl, begins to crumble. First there was the burning of the neighborhood shops. Then her father, a bookseller, must leave the family and go into hiding. No longer allowed to go to school or even sit in a café, Marianne's only comfort is her beloved mother.

     Remember Me - Young Marianne is one of the lucky ones. She has escaped on the first Kindertransport organized to take Jewish children out of Germany to safety in Britain. At first Marianne is desperate. Marianne speaks little English and is made to feel unwelcomed in her sponsor's home and, most of all, she misses her mother terribly. As the months pass, she realizes that she cannot control the circumstances around her. She must rely on herself if she is to survive.

     Finding Sophie - Sophie Mandel was only seven years old when she arrived in London on the first Kindertransport from Germany. She has grown up with a friend of her parents, a woman she calls Aunt Em, and despite the war and its deprivations, she has made a good life for herself in England with her foster mother. She has even stopped thinking about the parents she left behind. Now the war is over, and fourteen-year-old Sophie is faced with a terrible dilemma. Where does she belong?

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book.  In the past we have taught about the Kindertransport in my class.  However, I liked this much more than the book the county had picked for us.  It gave us a realistic look into how children were actually treated.  Those of us who have studied and taught about the life of a Jew during the times of the Nazis know that they had a lot of persecution to deal with.  Many parents sent their young children off to England for safe keeping, never knowing if they would be seen again.  They believed that the people taking in their children would treat them like they would their own. This was not always true.  Many of them as you learn from the stories in this book wanted them for free labor,  others saw them as traitors or demons.  I felt for Marianne the main character of the first two stories.  She is bounced around form one home to another.  Mistreated, thrown out or forced to live in opposition to her religious upbringing.  Sophia, the young girl Marianne meets on the train is treated much better.  Her “Aunt Em” is a friend of the family and treats her as if she is a relative. There is very little written about this time and it is refreshing to find a book that does such a wonderful job of telling it, even though the story is historical fiction.  This will be a great addition to my bookshelves at school.

Murder on the Orient Espresso by Sandra Balzo

Pages: 208

Genre:  Adult Mystery

Sources:  I Received a Review Copy

From Goodreads:

It’s November and Maggy Thorsen, co-owner of the Wisconsin gourmet coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, is in South Florida at an annual crime-writers’ conference with her beau, local sheriff Jake Pavlik, who is due to speak as a ‘forensics expert’.

Maggy’s pledge to behave solely as a tourist becomes trickier than she anticipated when the conference’s opening night event turns out to be a re-enactment of Agatha Christie’s classic, Murder on the Orient Express. As Maggy and Jake reluctantly set off on the night train to the Everglades to solve the ‘crime’, it’s clear that, as in the original novel, nothing is quite what it seems. And amidst rumours of careers taken, manuscripts stolen and vows broken, it seems that in the Everglades – as in life – the predator all too often becomes the prey.

My Thoughts:

I love Sandra Balzo’s stories.  One, they are a great mystery, two they are full of humor. Maggy and her sheriff boyfriend are on their way from Wisconsin to Florida to a Writers’ conference.  The sheriff is going to speak on forensics at the conference.  They will then board a train headed towards the Everglades with an Agatha Christy reenactment on the Orient Express.  Once again Maggie and Jake find themselves in the middle of a real mystery to be solved.  They must figure out who the real murderer is on the train.  This is a quick and enjoyable read.  She is an author I highly recommend.

Student Saturday: Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella

Student Reviewer: Ngan

I loved the whole idea of a girl losing her memory and having to relive her life from a new perspective. The story itself can bring your imagination to work. This story sure brought out my inner imagination. I also loved how the book gave me a visual view of the characters. I love the author in general, but I actually like the book by itself. I also love the twists in the story. I love how she still tries to help even though she has her own problems.

What I didn't like was that I didn't really understand the beginning of the book because it didn't give me any information on any of the characters. I dislike that fact that she has to face so many problems in one story but it does give the book a unique feel. I also dislike the fact that the story isn't that well known.

The story was great with occasional mistakes, but I still wish that more people recognize her books because in my opinion I love her books. I recommend this to people who love twists. I also recommend this ton anyone that likes books that end up having you want to read more, even if there isn't a sequel. There actually isn't a sequel, just so you know. I think you will love this book as much as (or more than) I love this book and story.

Two Great Stories and Two Great Authors

The Turtle's Shell by Vincent Eke
Pages: 46
Genre:  Early Reader, African Folklore
Source: Review Copy

From Goodreads
The Turtle's Shell tells the story of Tobi, a smart turtle who thinks he can get away with deceiving his friends. He ends up learning a few shell cracking lessons. This friendly easy-to-read book shows children how our everyday actions and decisions always consequences. This story also draws attention to the nuggets of wisdom embedded in African cultural stories which can be emulated by any child whatever their racial background.

My Thoughts:
I love reading folklore.  This story tells how the turtle got the patches on his shell.  This is a wonderful story that teaches children the importance of compassion, community service, not being greedy, doing the right thing, sharing, caring for community.  The story is told to a group of children by a wise woman of their village.  When famine his the animal kingdom the lion calls a meeting and they decide to find food and share it. However, the turtle sets out with great intentions but becomes greedy and doesn't share with his fellow animals as agreed.  This is a story that children and adults of all ages will enjoy reading over and over.  The cool thing is that this story book has coloring pages within it.
I look forward to reading more by this author.

Places you can find the author:
www.lionpen.com
Facebook
Pinterest

The Sad Tree and Pronuba by Christina Steiner
Pages: 32
Genre: Children's, Early Reader
Source: Review copy

From Goodreads
A Lonely Tree and a Special Friend... The desert is a lonely place for Joshua, a tree who has never seen another tree like him. He asks everyone in his environment to help him find a companion...but although the desert loves him, nobody can help. Things change for Joshua one beautiful spring night when a tiny moth comes to visit. This exquisite story about the life-cycle relationship between the Joshua Tree and the Pronuba Moth will delight readers of all ages.

My Thoughts
This is a wonderful book about a Joshua tree that grows in the desert. He was sad and lonely because he was the only one of his kind. Then he learns there is another, but he can't move to visit or even see it.  A small moth is allowed to lay her eggs inside his flowers.  In exchange she helps him out. This is a story that teaches a science lesson of how the interaction of nature recreates life.  This was beautifully told, simply told so the youngest child will understand. The pictures were beautiful.  Another great book for children to read or for parents and grandparents to read over and over again to children.