Student Saturday: Closed for the Season - Mary Downing Hahn

Student Reviewer: Riley E.

I recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a good mystery book to read. I loved this book because it's all about a murder mystery. So, if you are looking for a book that is exciting and reveals more interesting clues each chapter, then this is the book for you. the main character in this book is Logan, who is a young boy going into middle school. Logan and his family just moved into a new town and he does not know anybody.

The only friend he has is his next door neighbor Arthur which Logan's mom does not approve of. The house that Logan moved into was a murder house. There was an old woman that was murdered there three years ago and they still have not found the murderer, Throughout this book Arthur and Logan go on a never ending adventure all throughout town to try and find out who murdered the little old woman.

In my opinion this was a wonderful book because I loved the way the book was so interesting and explained everything so well. I can make a connection to this book because if I were Logan I would try to find out who murdered the little old lady because I am also very curious just like Logan.

Student Saturday: The Garden of Eve - K.L. Going

Student Reviewer: Nina A.

The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going is a fascinating book filled with adventure and magic. It all starts off when Eve's mother dies from cancer. I wondered how could a ten year old girl live without her mother? Especially for ten months! Soon enough, Evie and her father move to Beaumont, New York. And that is when all the adventures and the magic begins. Do you believe in ghosts? Even if you don't have you ever had a feeling like you've seen one? Well you're not alone. Evie has seen someone who died a week ago in the graveyard next to her house. Was that person really dead? Turns out the boy is dead but when he touches anything, it feels solid. His name is Alex and he is also ten. Evie and Alex go through the "dead " woods to find a grave to plant a seed. It's not an ordinary seed. I asked myself, if the seed is magical, what will happen once the plant grows? This seed was given to Evie the night before her birthday from someone she has never met. When Eve's mother dies, it made me appreciate more than I already do.

Before her mother died she always told her beloved daughter, "When I die, there will be a garden and I will meet you there." With the seed Evie has, she hopes this seed will bring her to the garden where her mother is waiting for her. Will Evie be able to finally see her mom again? Or will she have to wait when her time comes? I definitely recommend this book. It is probably one of my favorites.

Cover Reveal

Title: Dead Girl Walking (Royal Reaper)

Author: Ruth Silver

Expected Publication: Summer 2014

Publisher: Patchwork Press

Genre: YA, Paranormal Fantasy

Cover Design: Erica Crouch

Blurb:

In 1346, Princess Ophelia Dacre sneaks out of the castle to visit her boyfriend in secret. A perfect night cut short when she’s brutally murdered.

Ophelia is given the rare chance to become a grim reaper. She must become Leila Bele, cut ties with her old life, and follow the rules of the reapers. Her greatest adventure begins with death.

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20749515-dead-girl-walking

Excerpt:

                "The scroll chose you. For whatever reason, she's your reap."

                "Well, that sucks." Leila chewed her bottom lip. "If I don't do it?"

                Edon hesitated before he said, "Her soul will rot inside her body. Do you have any idea what that’s like? She'll be a living corpse, a shell of a person. She won't feel anything including love. We as reapers, the undead, feel more than she ever will alive."

                Leila swallowed the lump in her throat. "How do you know that?"

                "Because I've seen what it does to a person," Edon said. "That little girl deserves better."

About the Author:

Ruth Silver attended Northern Illinois University and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication in the spring of 2005.  While in college, she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, Deuces are Wild, which she self-published in 2004.  Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories.  Her love of writing led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia.  Silver enjoys reading, photography, traveling and most of all writing. She loves dystopian and fantasy young adult stories.  Her debut novel published by Lazy Day Publishing and Patchwork Press, ABERRANT, was released April 2013.  The second novel in the series, MOIRAI, continues the saga. ISAURA, is the final installment in the ABERRANT trilogy. Ruth has been actively writing since she was a teenager.  Her current writing projects include a YA science-fiction fantasy series, ORENDA, and a YA paranormal series, DEAD GIRL WALKING. Both novels are due for release in 2014. She currently resides in Plainfield, Illinois.

You can visit her online at http://writeawaybliss.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/writeawaybliss

Facebook: http://facebook.com/writeawaybliss

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Silver/e/B008NGH038

Slimy by Karen Arnpriester

Pages: 86
Genre:  Middle Grade, Young Adult, Autobiography
Source: Review copy in exchange for my honest opinion


From Goodreads 
Slimy is the painful account of my experiences as a bullied, isolated and humiliated child. My journey of abuse began in the fifth grade and continued through the ninth. I chose to share my story so that others will understand how bullying can damage and alter a child’s self- image. How we learn to tolerate injustice and mistreatment as if we do not deserve anything better. A belief that can alter a lifetime. My story is sad and filled with powerful memories that affected who I became, but my story is not unique, many children are targeted and suffer quietly without an escape. Every school has bullies, children that are angry, hurtful people who are allowed to control and determine who has value and who does not. I believe that a solution to the rampant epidemic of bullying will need the involvement of parents and teachers, but the most effective resolve for this growing threat will require a student body that chooses not to tolerate bullies and the pain they inflict. The true power belongs to the students who passively watch. These students empower the bullies through their silence and apathy. I hope to encourage the bullied child, inspire the student body to make a difference and expose the fear that bullies operate through.

My Thoughts
 I had the privilege of reading this book before it was published. It was absolutely spot on as far as the message about bullying. As a teacher I felt anger at what the main character had gone through. I felt ashamed that a teacher did not stand up for her. I felt her pain. I realize that bullying comes in all forms. There was so much I could identify with. I've seen kids bullied like this at school and do my best to stop it. Unfortunately, so many of them experience the bullying and never tell an adult. We can't stop what we don't see. I looked at myself and asked if I was doing all I could at school to make sure my students were not being bullied. Was I really as observant as I could be? Was I observant with my children? With a suicide of a young girl here in Florida so fresh on every one's mind I realized that this is important to have in schools everywhere. Students need to know they don't have to be alone or feel afraid to tell someone. As parents we want what is best for our children and grandchildren. This made me ask myself if I was always doing what was best or if I thought my actions would make them stronger. I can't recommend this book strong enough.

Student Saturday: Chomp - Carl Hiaasen

Student Reviewer Ryan P.

This book review is about Chomp by Carl Hiaasen. The publisher of the book is Alfred A. Knopf. This book is published in 2013 and has 290 pages. This book is a fiction adventure because the characters go on an adventure into the Everglades and try to save a TV star. The author is a Florida writer. Every book he writes is about Florida.  I chose this book because I like the Everglades and I love the story Hoot.

The story is about a boy and a girl that tried to save their friend and a TV crew from a gun man. The first setting is Wahoo's house. The weird thing about Wahoo's house is that his house has snakes and alligator's in the backyard and his alligator bit his thumb off. The second setting is in the Everglades. The endless ways you could get lost, the endless trees, and plants to get lost in. In addition to Wahoo is his friend Tuna. Tuna is a friend of Wahoo and came on the expedition with Wahoo and Mickey. Oh, I forgot to tell you about Mickey. Mickey is Wahoo's father in the story. The producer calls Mickey because he has animals in his backyard that he thinks he can use them for his show, "Expedition Survival". The story is told by Wahoo. The story is light hearted adventure because no one dies and they go on an adventure throughout the forest of the Everglades.

The problem the characters Wahoo and Mickey are having is that they can't pay the mortgage cost because of all the caught animals and the food cost. Mickey loves catching animals with his son Wahoo. Raven Stark and Derek Badger want animals to be stage props for Derek Badger's show. Raven Start=k is Derek Badgers TV show manager,

In the beginning of the story, Wahoo and Mickey get a call from Raven Stark that she wants to borrow animals for her show as props. Wahoo said, "dad we need the money".  "OK" he said to Raven Stark. Then Raven Stark said "OK, I will be there." So when it was show tie Derek got ready for thew worst time of his life. He had to wrestle the eight foot long alligator named Alice. But, when it was time to wrestle Alice, Alice wrestled him. When he had enough Mickey got in ad saved his life and that led him to the Everglades. First Mickey caught a snake that bit Derek in five different places. Then when Derek was getting something to eat a bat bit him on the tongue. He had Mickey rip it off. His tongue was swollen for four days straight. Then Derek disappeared in the Everglades. Do you think Derek will survive through the Everglades?

The book was good because it was written by my favorite author Carl Hiaasen. To me there are no weaknesses. The book did hold my interest at the end of the story but not so much in the beginning. I learned that the Everglades is dangerous because i has snakes, alligators and wild hogs and I thought it was full of nature. I thought the end when Derek got lost in the Everglades was the best part of the story. I would like to recommend Chomp to people who like fiction adventure books.

Rootless by Chris Howard

Pages 336
Source:  I purchased it
Genre: Middle Grade, Young Adult Science Fiction
Warning:  Mild Language

From Amazon:
17-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree—they were destroyed more than a century ago—his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .
Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo—a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can't escape the locusts—the locusts that now feed on human flesh.

But Banyan isn't the only one looking for the trees, and he's running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he's forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.

In this dazzling debut, Howard presents a disturbing world with uncanny similarities to our own. Like the forests Banyan seeks to rebuild, this visionary novel is both beautiful and haunting—full of images that will take permanent root in your mind . . . and forever change the way you think about nature.

My Thoughts:
When I read the premise of this book and read about the map on the woman's body, I immediately thought of the movie, "Waterworld".  The story is well written and carries you along at a steady pace.  The characters are well defined.  The author has done a great job of giving you one perspective of a character only to throw something in the main character's path that makes you look at the character again and re-think your feelings.  I have read several books over the last year that are of the dystopian type  that shows to what extent people will go to control society when things go wrong.  Banyan was hired by a man named Frost to build trees on his property.  The trees are made from scrap metal and lights.  It is the closest thing they have to a vision of real trees.  When Banyan meets the young girl who lives in the house with her mother, Frost and his son he learns from an item she has that his father may not be dead after all.  His journey to find his father leads him to learn that all that he has been told is not necessarily what  is true. When they mentioned the trash island he is taken to I immediately thought of the research some of our students did last year for our environmental unit. The researched "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch".  I wondered if this was the inspiration for the trash island.  This was a really great book.  The use of the words "damn" and "hell" were the only two curse words in the book.  I would suggest this book be read by 8th grade and above as it talks about the boys feelings toward a girl.  There is nothing lewd in the book.  It is just him mentioning his feelings of desire. unfortunately I hear this daily as I walk behind kids at school.  That doesn't mean I want to hear it or condone it.  It is however a fact of life that kids this age have raging hormones that we as adults try to keep a lid on.  That is the only reason I would recommend it for the upper middle school or high school student.  This is an author I had not heard of before and one I will definitely look forward to reading in the future, especially since this was just the first book in the series.

The Carvings: A Short Story Anthology by Drake Vaughn

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Source: I received a copy in exchange for my honest review

From Goodreads:

The Carvings Collection: A selection of ten shocking tales from the crinkled mind of Drake Vaughn. The short stories span every arena of horror - from psychological tales of imagination gone wrong (“Dolls” and “Carvings”), to supernatural monsters (“Master Key,” “Sales,” and “Flatheads”), to realistic crime (“In The Chair,” “The Test,” and “Driver’s Seat”), along with a new spin on old tropes (“Trip to V-Town” and “The Garden”). All are bite-sized chunks for fans of horror and dark pulpy fiction.

My Thoughts:

I love short stories.   When I only have a few minutes to read I can sit with a good short story and get my reading fix.  This book is filled with great stories.  I must tell you that some of the language is a little rough in a couple of the stories.  However, if you can just jump over those words you will thoroughly enjoy the book.   The first story “Dolls” held the utmost creep factor.  When I read stories like this it makes me wish I could spend the day getting to know the author, just to see how they really think.  “In the Chair”  reminded me of one of those great movies you see on TV where you think the criminal is going to get caught only to have things spun around in some weird twisted way that catches you by surprise.  I mean this in a good way.  “The Garden” was one of those stories that took me by surprise.  It leads you to think one thing and then you get to the last page only to have it be something completely different than what you thought.  I would have to say my favorite of all of the stories was the one the book was named after, “The Carvings”.  Once again the author leads you down a path only to surprise you at the end.  I have to say that this was one ending that completely surprised me and I completely agreed with.  You really need to read this book to see what I am talking about because I’m not going to say anything more that I have said.

About the Author:

Drake Vaughn is the author of The Zombie Generation, along with many other pieces of dark fiction. His self-proclaimed “crinkled fiction” is a blend of horror, dark fantasy, and speculative fiction with a heavy psychological bent. His tales appear deceptively simple, but transform into a wild spree of suspense, madness, and trauma. He lives in Santa Monica, CA with his wife and a black cat named Shadow (who he is certain has come back from the dead on a number of occasions.)

To discover more of his crinkled tales, please visit his Amazon page.

Likewise, feel free to follow him on Twitter and like his page on Facebook. Or join his mailing list at his website:  www.DrakeVaughn.com

Student Saturday: Scat - Carl Hiaasen

Student Reviewer: Sarah

Scat is a magnificent book about a boy named Nick. Nick does not give up very easily and is very courageous, determined and an interesting person. Nick gets caught up in the mystery of his witch like biology teacher's puzzling disappearance, and to his surprise he hopes she is okay. Nick and his friend Marta find themselves caught up in the middle of it all. This adventure takes them to the "Black Vine Swamp" and it's animals safe and so much more. I connect the most with Marta because she is often very scared to make a change, but truly wants to. She and I both need to improve on becoming risk-takers. In my opinion I think that this is a very funny, heart warming and adventurous book. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy mystery and realistic fiction.

Unclouded Day by William Woodall

Source:  I received a copy for review

Genre:  Young Adult, Fantasy

From Goodreads:

Brian's life is a hard one. Abandoned by his father, abused by his alcoholic mother, and mocked by his classmates, his only treasures are his beloved little brother and his old guitar.

Then Brian finds a magical amulet in his attic, and things begin to change. Soon he has more power and wealth than he's ever dreamed of, and for a while all seems to be well. 

But Brian has made a terrible mistake which may cost him everything, and his only hope is to seek out the Fountain at the Heart of the World, wherever that may be.

A beautiful tale of what it means to have faith even when God seems to be asking the impossible.

My Thoughts:

This was another one of those books that once I started it I sat up until I finished it.  I was so engaged I thought I had read a short story.  The time flew by so quickly.  I felt so sorry for Brian and his younger brother.  The story starts off with such heartbreak when we learn what type of mother they have.  She is the type of person you really want to hate.  You don’t hear much about the father until later on. This story, although fantasy has so much to teach us.  When Brian finds the amulet he kind of lets the power go to his head.  I have been a fan of the TV show “Once Upon A Time”.  Mr. Gold aka Rumplestiltskin has a saying every time someone comes to him for magic.  He reminds them that they need to remember that “magic comes with a price”.  It seems that Brian never thought about the price of using the amulet until it was almost too late.  What I didn’t understand was why his mom waited so long to let him know she knew he had it.  It added another layer of hardness and uncaring to her character.  This story has a redemptive side.  This is an allegorical novel.  It can be read by young and old, Christian and Non-Christian and be enjoyed by all.  I read this as an e-book.  This is a book I most definitely want to get for my classroom.  I even know which student is going to get to check it out first.  This is definitely an author that needs to be recommended more often.  I look forward to reading and reviewing another of his books I have called “Tycho”.  Go ahead and check him out.

You can find his website here.

Collapse: A Survival Thriller by Scott Carleton

Genre: Adult Thriller

Source: Purchased

Pages:  108

From Goodreads:

Based on real-life events this part action-thriller, part cautionary tale, Collapse is the story of one man’s fight to save the ones he loves when the tenuous fibers that hold society together become strained and begin to snap.

Matt Avery is put to the test as his entire city experiences a loss of electricity, failure of lines of communication, and civilian looting and violence. With a wife, daughter, and small circle of friends in his company, Matt’s survival skills and nerve are tested as he fights to protect his home and feed his family in the wake of disaster.

Matt must make difficult life and death determinations that no one ever hopes to face. Matt has been planning for this moment for years, but now that it is upon him, does he really have what it takes to survive?

My Thoughts:

Once I started this book I could not put it down.  I had to read it from beginning to end.  I have my students complete a creative writing assignment each year that puts the world in a position where things do not work and they must find a way to survive.  In this story when power goes out and civilians are told to stay home we see what can really happen.  It is scary to think that people will behave the way they do in the story. Unfortunately, whenever we have had any major catastrophe we see the ugly side of humanity.  The question is, are we really prepared?  I live in Florida and we have hurricanes.  We are told to keep a hurricane kit ready.  I know for a fact that the more time that goes by without a major hurricane the less we follow that directive.  The same goes with people who live in earthquake or fire prone zones.  History has demonstrated that when society hears the tornado sirens or tsunami sirens and nothing happens they get complacent.  With all of the technology we have today, do we rely on it so much that we won’t be able to function or survive?  I recommend this book to everyone.  It is terrifying on one hand and an eye opener on the other.