Ashlynn's Dreams - Julie C. Gilbert

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: Review Copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.

 

From Goodreads:

Before she was kidnapped, Jillian Marie Antel Blairington was just an average bright, brave, headstrong child. She was excited for life in a new house with her Momma and new Daddy. Afterward, she's all that ... and so much more.

Held in a scientific facility, Jillian discovers her past-a family she never knew and a power she doesn't understand. With her ability now activated, she can enter and even shape a person's dreams. Jillian's been kidnapped, and her Gift has been triggered, so she can locate and save Benjamin Connelly, a brother she never even knew she had. She'd better master this strange ability quickly, though, because her life isn't the only one at stake. Her babysitter, Danielle Matheson, is being held as a hostage to ensure Jillian's full cooperation. Slowly, Jillian begins to learn more about her captor and the other genetically altered children held at the facility.

Join Jillian as she tries to survive the training being forced upon her, find her unknown brother, escape with Danielle, and work her way back to a normal life once more.

My Thoughts:

The synopsis was enough to make me want to read this book.  If I was standing in a bookstore with one of my students I would not have chosen the book based on the cover, but I can guarantee you than my student would. That is why I will purchase a physical copy of this book for my shelves at school.  Twelve-year-old Jillian is just like any of my students.  She is down to earth, has a southern twang, as do many of my students.  She differs in the fact that she has a special gift she never knew about. We watch her go from innocence to a much more mature teen by the end of the book.  It was sad that her babysitter was also kidnapped to encourage her to do what her kidnappers what her to do.  Jillian learns the life she has lived was not all there was to her.  She learns just how strong she, and the other children like her must be if they are to survive and possibly escape. 

This was different in the fact it is told in a series of journal entries or letters.  At times it is kind of hard to get into. After a while you get into the flow of the book and you know that it works the best for this book.  Definitely a book you need to check out.  Then check out her next book Nadia's Tears.

Let's Talk Food - One Year Anniversary of Simply Delicious Amish Cooking by Sherry Gore

One year ago Sherry Gore's book "Simply Delicious Amish Cooking" was published.  I had to wait two months to get the book. There was no sense in getting it before I was out of school.  I wanted to try out some of the recipes.  This book is a compilation of recipes from around the community of Pinecraft, Florida.  If you are not familiar with this place of Amish/Mennonites then I suggest you check out my links below.  I am lucky to live less than a mile from this wonderful place.

Bored with eating the same things over and over I decided to try some of their recipes  that were different from mine.  The first thing I tried was the recipe for Shepherd's Pie (p.115).  I am not going to tell you the ingredients. For that you need to buy the book. This recipe had a richer taste than mine and actually used different vegetables than I used. Mine usually consists of mixed vegetables, brown gravy, hamburger and onions topped with mashed potatoes.  I have to say their recipe was much tastier. 

Another favorite was the Breakfast Casserole (p. 44) which I fixed to take to a breakfast at school.  My husband was going through the cookbook and decided to fix the Taco Soup (p. 71).  We love soup and he did an awesome job with this.  Two recipes in the book surprised me.  There were two recipes that I found in the book that made me run to my own  recipe box. One of them is the Amish Oatmeal Cake (p. 192).  This recipe is identical to one passed down to me by my great-grandmother.  The only difference is the types of icing we make for the top.
My great-grandmother mixed brown sugar, nuts butter and coconut and spread it over the warm cake. Her daughter, my grandmother made a peanut butter powder sugar icing and put on top.  It was actually my favorite.  The other recipe I found in the book is a special one to me. Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake (p.194). This  is  another recipe that is identical to one passed down from my great- grandmother.  It was my father's favorite cake.  I try to make it every year for Memorial Day since my father passed away 15 years ago May 28th, just 2 days before Memorial Day. We always had it for Christmas and Thanksgiving.

There are several more recipes I am longing to try from this book. My husband and I have a Nutri-Bullet and while looking through this cookbook I found the Freezer Fruit-and-Yogurt Pops (p.231).  The recipe comes with a variety of combinations.  My husband and I are planning to mix up some of the recipes in our Nutri-Bullet and add some fresh spinach.  They will be ready when the grandkids come this summer and the grandkids will never know the difference.  They suggest using a 5 oz. paper or plastic cup with plastic spoons as the handles.  I've chosen the 3 oz. size because I believe it will be less messy for slow eaters or smaller children. I love the idea that these are fruit and yogurt pops, and in my case will have some veggies slipped in.

This is definitely a favorite recipe book. It is one of three Amish Recipe books I own.  I will try to get them reviewed in the next couple of weeks since I use them as well.  Trust me I have many to choose from, but I'm finding that I love the Amish/Mennonite recipes because they are so close to what I grew up with.

The more I learn about the Amish and Mennonite the more recipes I find that are similar.  No, we are not related to any Amish that I know of.  However, A large portion of the Amish have German ancestors as well as the fact that they pass recipes around.  I have ancestors that came from Pennsylvania and were German.  So who knows, maybe somewhere along the line they were neighbors to an Amish person and shared recipes.

I have had the privilege of meeting the author of this book. Sherry is such a down to earth person. If you want to know more about her check out my links below.

Sherry Gore
Pictures of Pinecraft from Sherry's Site
Article by NY Times about Pinecraft
Facebook

Student Saturday: The Maze Runner - James Dashner

Student Reviewer: Aeryn

I adored this book. From the moment I started reading questions popped into my mind and I felt like I was there watching Thomas. This book has a wonderful mysterious setting that gets you wondering. I think this book has you going through the solutions trying to figure out the solution to the problem so that the suspense  will stop. There are so many variables that it is so hard to find out the answer until the book tells you.

Thomas is the main character in this book. He has a curious personality and seems to have a knack forgetting himself in trouble. Thomas also does some extremely brave things that tend to be partly stupid also. He is around sixteen years old with brown hair. The book also says that Thomas is around five foot nine feet tall. Nobody can really tell how old they are because everybody in the Glade lost all of their memories except for their name.

The Glade is the setting of the book. It is in the middle of a giant maze. The Glade is several times the size of a football field and is surrounded by four gray stone walls that are a perfect square around the court yard. Each wall has an opening  in the middle of it and before nightfall every night giant stone slabs slide into place to cover the openings from the horror outside the walls.

The whole story started with Thomas sitting in the cold dark box for who knows how long waiting to get out The group of boys pull him out of the box into his new life in the Glade. Thomas is overwhelmed at first trying to figure out what all of these new terms mean and what everyone is talking about. Then a runner runs into the Glad and is on the brink of exhaustion. Thomas finds him and immediately gets interested in the works of the runners. The runners job is to try and find a way out of the maze.  So far there is nothing. One day Thomas wandered upon the graveyard and he heard something rustle in the bushes. A crazed kid jumped out and tried to kill Thomas all because the kid thought Thomas would ruin them all. A horrible fate befell this kid.  Only a few days passed and another kid showed up and she was the last one ever to come up in the Glade through the box. This girl helped them figure out the maze but there were still some major kinds in the plan. will the gladers be able to smooth out the kinks and find their way home or will they have to stay there forever?

I would recommend this book to people who love suspense in a book. this book is a cliff hanger. Every chapter adds something to the problem. I also think that people have a knack for solving problems would enjoy this book. I think this because the whole book is a huge problem and variables just keep adding and adding on until finally it's solved. People who like to solve problems will get the joy of solving a problem in the form of a really good book. I know that I really enjoyed this book so I think plenty others will too.

Mommy's A Mole - Eve Carson

From Goodreads:
There is no crueler tyranny than that which is exercised under cover of law, and with the colors of
justice." - U.S. v. Jannotti, 673 F.2d 578, 614 (3d Cir. 1982). The sun trickled through the dense tangle of the spring's budding branches. Karen Wolfe Churgin walked her dogs on April 18, 1990, on her remote wooded property on Chebacco Road. The veterinarian spotted a white sphere obstructing a drainage ditch. Churgin's home sat on top of the bluff overlooking Chebacco Lake, and the lower-wooded basin was often flooded with water. The sparsely inhabited wilderness in Hamilton, Massachusetts attracted hikers and bikers, but was also a secluded setting known for criminal activity. From a distance, she saw an object, a white sphere. When she reached to dislodge it, she reeled back in horror. She immediately called the police. "I saw something in the woods that looked like a punched-in volleyball," Karen told the Beverly Times on April 25, 1990. "I looked closer and it was a human skull. It had suture-like zigzagged lines. Those are unique to human skulls." Officer Hat eld was the first to respond, and the initial conclusion determined the discovery was, indeed, a human skull. Hamilton Police Chief Walter Cullen arrived at the scene next and photographed the find. The Massachusetts State Police Crime Prevention and Control Unit, CPAC, dispatched Cpl. Dennis Marks to take charge of the crime scene. Local police sent the skull and a nearby black boot to Hunt Memorial Hospital to examine, but nothing else surfaced in the initial cursory search of the surrounding area. Notices went out to departments to assist the resident force, and names poured in to compare the cranium to known missing persons. Joan Webster's name appeared on the list, but the resting spot was more than thirty miles from the long-speculated crime scene at Pier 7 in Boston. "Of course, it's being checked out, but the location doesn't seem to correlate. Circumstances pointed to her being taken out in a boat and dumped at sea. This is something way up north and doesn't tie to anything." -George Webster Harvard Crimson April 28, 1990.

 

My Thoughts:

As I began reading this book I was immediately reminded of another controversial book.  Lois Duncan wrote a book called, “Who Killed My Daughter”.  Both books have ruffled feathers of those they had at one time been close to.  I can’t imagine the pain and agony knowing a loved one was murdered and then finding so much evidence that was tainted, twisted and misused.  This review in no way says I believe either side.  I will say that the author has definitely produced a lot of evidence that makes me believe that things were not what they appeared to be. There were way too many inconsistencies.  To me the thing that is so difficult to deal with was the fact that her husband and his  family turned on her.

Joan Webster was the sister-in-law of the author of this book. She went missing shortly after Thanksgiving. Eve Carson was not satisfied with the answers she got  about Joan’s disappearance and eventual discovery. When she tried to ask questions she was attacked by those you would consider on her side.  Joan has done a lot of work on her own and provided a lot of documentation to backup her beliefs.  My one hope is that she finds what she is looking for, the truth in this case.  Maybe by writing this book she will create enough buzz to truly have this case solved.  This is definitely  a book I recommend to those who love reading true stories.

 

About the author:

Author Eve Carson has a degree in economics and industrial management from Purdue University. She joined the Webster family when she married Joan’s brother Steve in 1980 and belonged to the immediate family when Joan disappeared. She eventually took on the unresolved case after becoming alienated from her two daughters. Carson reveals hidden and explosive evidence in this tell-all book about one of Boston’s most sensational unresolved murders. She puts a personal face on victims of covered up crime and the dire consequences of public corruption.

 

 

Student Saturday: The Batboy - Mike Lupica

Student Reviewer Arjun

I just finished reading The Batboy by Mike Lupica. Mike Lupica is a sports writer for the New York Times. The Batboy is about this four-teen year old boy who's father was a professional baseball player. When his parents got divorced, the boy, Ben, gets a job as a batboy for the Detroit Tigers as a summer job. His mom Liz Dudley, is tired of being around baseball after her husband left. When Ben is a batboy, he meets an all time great, Hank Bishop. Hank was one of the best players that the MLB had, until people found out he took drugs (PED) performance enhancing drugs. Now, after a fifty game suspension, he is now back to baseball. Ben really wants to hang out with his idol, Hank Bishop. Since Hank doesn't like company, he is getting frustrated thinking Ben is trying to bother him. Ben asked many other players what was wrong with Hank. Some players say that he is just getting used to being back to baseball and just wants his own space. When Ben tries to help Hank he always gets criticized for not doing it perfect. For example, when Hank broke his fifth bat of the game, Ben went in to the Tigers locker room to get a new bat. When Ben gave Han a new bat, Hank started yelling at Ben to do something right for once, An unlikely friendship builds when Hand shows Ben the correct way to swing a bat when Ben is having trouble hitting the ball on hiss travel team. When Ben is watching baseball downstairs, his mom, Liz Dudley, comes down and watches the game with Ben.  Ben knows something is up because his mom never wants to get near baseball.  When Hank Bishop comes up to bat, Liz Dudley starts to smile. Ben asks her why she is smiling and she fesses up. Liz told Ben that she likes Mr. Bishop.

An unlikely friendship builds between a boy in need of a father, and a man in need of a family. I liked this book because I like baseball and I think Mike Lupica is a great author. This book was awesome

Goat and the Terror Birds – P.J. Gilbers

 

 

 

Genre: Children's Fantasy
Source: Review Copy from author

I loved this book. The idea of a goat whose mission in life is to help children is wonderful. In this story Mac lives with his Aunt Maddy and cousin Suzie.  His mom is dead, he’s being bullied, and his dad is off somewhere on one of his trips.  His dad is in Patagonia looking for the rare Terror Bird.  Think of the raptors from “Jurassic Park” with beaks and you get the idea.  Maddy has been trying to find Mac’s dad. She is being pressured to sell the house to pay bills. Sir William the Goat is on a mission to help stop the sale of the house, find and rescue Mac’s dad, and help Mac believe in himself.  This is a must read book by elementary kids.  There are so many lessons that can be learned from this story. At the same time kids will love the story of hope and the wonderful pictures within its pages.  If you want to learn more please visit the authors webpage.   www.pjgilbers.com

84 Ribbons - Paddy Eger

 

Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Young Adult
Source: Review copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.

 

From Goodreads

Seventeen year old Marta Selbryth realizes her dream of becoming a professional dancer when the Intermountain Ballet Company in Billings, Montana invites her to join their 1957 season. As Marta's new life unfolds, she must learn to face not only the successes of dancing in the corps de ballet, but the challenges and setbacks that might crush the dream she's had for so long.

After a couple of mishaps, Marta settles into life in a boarding house located near the ballet company. Her landlady, Mrs. B., is friendly, reduces her rent when Marta's offers to bake for the boarder and later allows her to use the basement as a practice studio. The two male boarders are supportive; Carol, a fellow boarder, ignores her.

Marta spends her free time practicing when she's not spending time with her new friends Lynne and Bartley, her fellow corps dancers. Their time together becomes an important lifeline through their first year.

Madame Cosper, the artistic director, is a demanding woman. Marta begins their association poorly when she makes a disastrous choice. Expecting expulsion, Marta receives a second chance in the form of dancing the unpopular character roles during the fall and winter performances. Marta determines to dance every role with confidence in hopes of proving to Madame that she's up for every challenge.

Steve, a young college man and a reporter, spots Marta when he's assigned to write an article about ballet for the local paper. He's attracted to her and begins his pursuit. Over the months ahead, he becomes her tour guide of the area and attempts to convince Marta to be his girl. But her steadfast focus is ballet and some of her adventures with him lead to problems with Madame Cosper.

Shortly after Christmas, everything changes for Marta, Bartley and Steve. Significant events permanently influence their lives. Each must deal with exhilaration and heartbreak as well as frustration and changes that test their ability to cope.

 

My Thoughts

I was excited to read this book.  I have always loved ballet. I am a realist.  I knew I would never be able to dance ballet. So I did the next best thing. I let my daughter take dance classes. Like Marta my daughter went through a lot of challenges.  One of the things this book talked about was Marta losing weight to dance.  I watched so many girls including my daughter have eating disorders because of dance.  It is a dangerous path but one that can be overcome.  She had the benefit of having a dance teacher who recognized these issues and had those students eat lunch with her.  If they didn’t eat, they didn’t dance.  I had a current student of mine read the book.  She said it is right on target as to the mental, physical and emotional sacrifices a dancer must make.  She also said she had to make a choice whether this was the life she wanted.  She is much younger than Marta but said it is a decision girls her age must make all the time.  As you find in the book it is not as glamorous as their performances make it seem.  This is a book that anyone, whether they are a dancer or not will enjoy.  They will be able to identify with so many things in the book, even though the time periods are different.  I have a line of students waiting to read this book.

 

Student Review by Isabella

Marta Selbryth is a young woman who had the love of dancing. She had grown into a talented young woman who has a chance to dance at a professional ballet company. She leaves the comfort of her home for Billings, Montana. She will sacrifice everything to achieve her dream.  I think this story shows the true life of a dancer and her thoughts.  I can connect myself to Marta because we both struggled to keep up dancing. We both left behind something fantastic. I recommend this book to my mother who loves realistic stories and has the love of ballet.

The Case of Secrets - Alfred M. Struthers

Genre:  Middle Grade, Mystery
Source: Review Copy from author

Mysteries have always been my favorite genre. I was excited to review this book.  I had no idea what I was in for. Take one kid named Nathan who hates attics, spiders and books and put him in a situation where he must take something upstairs to the attic for his mother. Brought back memories of when my mother would make me take things upstairs to a closet. We all hated that closet because it was spooky. With Nathan he runs into lots of creepy spider webs and then a mysterious book falls on the floor in front of him.

Now imagine, this boy who hates to read can't seem to put this book down once he has started it. You have the start to a great mystery. Give him a brainy sidekick named Gina to help him and now you have a great mystery.

The author did such a wonderful job I almost believed the story was true. The feeling I felt while reading this book took me back to my years in elementary and middle school where you could always find me in the mystery section of the library. I love architecture so learning some new architectural words made this book even more enjoyable. I loved both characters.

Nathan and Gina had been neighbors for years. Gina had an attitude that came off as though she was better than Nathan. Seeing him out think her at times was satisfying. I also enjoyed learning more about his grandfather and the way the author tied up the loose ends only to leave us wanting to read more. I do hope I was vague enough to make you want to read this book.

Four Picture Books

Books by Emily Thomson

One Bear

This is a cute book for the youngest child ages 2 to 4.  It contains simple colorful pictures that are done in bright pastel colors, coupled with rhyming phrases that help parents teach their children to count from one to ten.  It is also a simple way for parent to teach children to identify the different animals.

All the Baby animals on the Farm

This is another great animal book by Emily Thomson. This time we take a look at baby animals around the farm. Children will learn something about all kinds of farm animals, from the dog and cat, to the pig and calf.  There are so many more animals to learn about in this book. They will enjoy the wonderful, brightly colored pictures and will soon be able to name the animals on the farm.




Books by Kathryn L. Novak

Easy as 1-2-3 Come Learn About Bugs A-Z

This is a unique picture book in many ways. The author is also the illustrator of this book. She used bright polka-d0tted backgrounds for each page. Each page is full of rhyming information about the fascinating life of bugs. This book contained a lot of information. I enjoy reading children’s books that teach adults as well. I’m sure my grandkids will love this book.

The Very Best You

This is one of the best books I’ve seen that encourages kids to accept who they are and to love themselves the way they are. The book is full of positive affirmations. The pictures are bright and cheerful making the child want to read this book over and over again.

Where you can find the author:

 Facebook  

Goodreads 

Website    

Twitter 
 

Call Me Clumsy by Matthew Weinrich

Genre: Memoir, Humor
Source: I received a copy from the author

From Goodreads:
So begins the "odyssey of awkwardness" that is Call Me Clumsy, the my-life-so-far memoir
of Matthew Weinrich. Through utterly humbling experiences that span the decades of his life, Weinrich provides anecdotes that are equally cringe-inducing and laugh-out-loud funny. From his experience as a consummate slacker to his marriage proposal gone horribly awry to an unfortunate run-in with the fine men and women of the TSA, Weinrich bring you along as he strolls down memory lane, for better or for worse.

Ultimately, Weinrich gives us a heart-warming picture of the humility of a child of God who knows, without a doubt, that the old adage applies to him:
God is God, and I am not...
...not even close.

 

My Thoughts:

I laughed until I cried.  I identified with so many of the goofy things he did.  I have been clumsy when it comes to injuries to my feet and legs.  I’ve broken both feet twice, both knees twice and both ankles. I used to get teased for falling “UP” the stairs. I don’t think I have ever done anything quite as embarrassing as the things I read about in this book.  I have promoted the heck out of this book to my teacher friends.  There is something for everyone in it.  The story I identified with the most was “Fingers on Home Row”.  Matt and I are both teachers.  As such we have each had our share where we were doing what we thought was our best to encourage students only to have them burst into tears. Why? Because we didn’t pay enough attention to our students and take into consideration any concerns they had AT THE TIME, only to learn that because we had not, we had in actuality made the student feel there was no way they could succeed.  For me it was a student who kept insisting they could not read because they had an issue with short term memory.  I just knew I could help them.  Later talking with several students, the school counselor and the parents I learned he had a brain injury that made short term memory almost impossible.  I felt so terrible.  Some of Matt’s stories show us that there are people out there who are willing to help us out when we really mess up.  He also shows us that God definitely watches out for us when we put ourselves into stupidly dangerous situations.  I want everyone I meet to read this book.  It is one I have read over and over and over.  That’s not something I do very often.  It is definitely one of my favorites to read.

 

Author Bio

Born in Superior, Montana in 1984, Matthew Weinrich grew up in Montana, New Mexico, Nevada and Oklahoma.  He currently lives in Oklahoma City and teaches at Western Oaks Middle School in the Putnam City School District.  He is happily married to his beautiful wife Danielle of six years.  Matt and Danielle have recently welcomed their first child, a son named Elijah.  In his spare time Matt enjoys playing sports, writing, watching baseball and being involved with his church.

Website
Goodreads