D.E.M – Deus Ex Machina by Lee Ness

Genre: Adult, Thriller

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Rachel wants to do the right thing.  She tries to help locate an abducted child through her computer skills and ends up finding herself in over her head.  Not only is she involved when she hears from a vigilante with other jobs, but she seeks out the help of her friend Cam and drags him into the middle of all of this. Each job she and Cam completes leads them deeper until they’re not sure if they’re working for the good guys or the bad guys. This book is like riding a rollercoaster.  You think you know where you’re going in the story then you’re brought over the top on your way to another twist in the story.  If you’re not real computer knowledgeable don’t worry, the author has written it in a manner that those of us who know nothing about hacking, etc. can follow along just fine.  As you travel this path with them you realize that the money they receive can’t be a good thing because if they don’t do what D.E.M. wants they could be killed.  This is one of those books where you know the main character’s initial intentions were good, but saw they were making poor choices that would set it up to take you on a twisting turning thrill ride. Lee Ness did an excellent job of keeping the tension throughout the story.

Dead Scary by Sally Gould

Genre: Upper Elementary, Middle Grades, Adventure, Mystery
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I have and probably always will ghost stories.  They don't have to be super scary for me to enjoy them. They can even be funny. I grew up in an old farm house in Indiana that was haunted. My great-grandmother refused to go upstairs for that reason.  My grandmother slept upstairs and since she was deaf heard none of the things the rest of us did. It took years before my father would admit to what he had seen as a child growing up in that house. I guess that is where my love of ghost stories began.

In this story we have a young boy named Adam who has moved with his family into what they consider their dream home. There is one problem, there is a ghost, who prefers to be called 'an earthbound spirit' who lives in the house. Adam sees Edward sitting in a window seat and introduces himself to him. Edward is shocked to learn that Adam can see him.  Adam knows a lot about ghosts since one of his best friends is a ghost. Edward starts out by setting up rules he expects Adam and his family to follow.  They are more like a list of demands.  Adam is not going to abide by this bossy ghost.  When Edward doesn't get his way he seeks help and his wish is granted.  A pack of Warrior Spirits will evict them.  What will Adam do to protect his sister? How can his ghost busting grandfather help from so far away?  Will he and Edward ever be able to work things out or is it too late?  This is a quick book to read. It took me less than an hour.  The pacing is great and will definitely hold the attention of kids.  This is another great ghost story to add to my school shelves. For the reluctant reader it is short enough to entice them and the story is well written so it will keep them reading.  I wasn't familiar with this author but I will check out her other books.  Hopefully there will be future ghost stories.

About the Author:

Sally Gould loved books from a young age, but ever considered writing them. While she was busy getting up to the mischief that teenagers get up to, she forgot about books all together. Then total insanity took hold and she became a corporate lawyer. Fortunately, she had two sons and they inspired her to write stories for children. Of course, her oldest son is responsible logical, studious, considerate, grateful and even makes his bed. The youngest one is only interested in having fun – lots of it. And, except for his teachers, he makes everyone laugh. Their antics have inspired many of Sally’s stories. Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia with her family and two dogs – Pebbles, who is sensible and Jade, who just wants to have fun.

You can find Sally at:

Her Website
Goodreads

 

The Circle by Mario Escobar

Genre: Adult, Suspense

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This book grabs you and won’t let you go. I loved everything about this book except the ending.  The only reason I didn’t love the ending is it didn’t end the way “I” wanted it to.  It did end the way it was supposed to.  Solomon and Margaret are a simple couple with two children. Solomon is the head of a psychiatric clinic. He has one patient that  intrigues him.  She has been there for years and yet no one has been able to help her.  When he starts trying to get through to her things go extremely bad.

All the way through this book I flip-flopped between who I thought the good guys and the bad guys were. My reason was simple.  They all had qualities that made them appear to be good and then the next minute they did something that made me think they were the bad guys.  I was completely stumped until the very end.  I felt terror for the family involved. As I got toward the end of the book I was so emotionally involved I thought I was going to puke.  Yes the book is definitely that emotionally well written.  I felt like I was a family member going through this terror with them.

The characters were well written.  Margaret especially impressed me.  She showed what a mother would do to protect her children. Solomon, being a psychiatrist knew all of the sign exhibited by those terrorizing his family, yet he was unable to put all of the pieces together until the very end.

So who won out?  You really must read this book to find out.  

Supernova by Braxton Cosby

Genre: Young Adult, Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Braxton Cosby has kept the action and thrill of this book at a thrilling pace.  The story continues where it left off.  William had made the decision to love and protect Sydney instead of killing her. Sydney learned Noella her best friend had also been a bounty hunter, sent to kill her.  Now they have all bonded together.  To round out the group, the onboard system known as IMPI has agreed to also help.  As he evolves, learning more and more human characteristics Sydney gives him the human name "Bill".  William is sure his father has sent a fleet to take them all out.  What William was unaware of, was that his father and his kingdom was under attack.  There are evil plots all around them.  Another team has been sent to earth to  get rid of all of them. One of them is William's best friend.  When he disposes of the other two, will he be able to convince his friend Arrion to join him? Sydey's godfather Henry and his girlfriend, astronomer Jasmine have been brought in to the situation. You would think with all of this protection that things would be going smoothly.  Sydney, who has never had an illness or sickness in her life suffers a broken bone. Then there are the mood swings.  What is happening to her and will whatever it be, end up killing her?  There is enough suspense within these pages to keep you turning non-stop.  Can't wait to read the next one.

Final Three Jerry Eicher Found Reviews

Genre: Amish Romance

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

My Dearest Naomi – Jerry and Tina Eicher

I absolutely love when stories are based on real events.  When younger, Jerry and Tina were separated while he taught in a Mennonite school.  They wrote to each other almost daily.  This story is a set of letters that the two main characters Eugene Mast, an Amish school teacher, and Naomi Miller write to each other. They were engaged to be married.  Eugene finds himself separated from the woman he loves while he teaches at a Mennonite school.  The letters speak of all kind of things, such as the everyday mundane chores.  It doesn’t matter what your loved one is doing. You want to know everything that went on in their day.

If you like reading letters or diaries you will enjoy this book.  If you are looking for a straight up novel then this might not be for you.  I am one who loves diaries and memories written in a series of letters so I really enjoyed this book.  As a teacher I enjoyed reading about Eugene’s experiences teaching.  The book also has some wonderful poetry throughout. We also get a look at some of the differences between the Amish and the Mennonite.  I believe a final reason I enjoyed this book is the same reason I enjoy Amish Romance novels.  There is none of the mushy-gushy things most “romance” novels are made of.  I have never liked them.  They seem fake to me.  To me this simple life through letters shows true love.

My Amish Childhood – Jerry Eicher

I often wondered about Jerry’s life. He was raised Amish, yet he is so unlike so many I have come to know. He lived I an Amish community in Canada. His parents decided to move them to Central America, the country of Honduras.  One thing we learn is that the Amish community in Honduras wasn’t as rigid as a lot of Amish communities.  I have learned by living just a few blocks up the street from an Amish and Mennonite community in Sarasota, that they are nothing like those in Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. There were a lot of cultural differences for him to adjust to as well. When I read that his neighbors considered stealing from each other okay, I was reminded of countries like Brazil where cheating is often considered okay in the business world.

Jerry had an issue with stuttering and was bullied for it as well.  I found it quite humorous to find out he got even in many ways and never really got caught.  One thing I really enjoyed were the pictures sprinkled throughout.

Susanna’s Christmas Wish – Jerry Eicher

Life as a newlywed is tough for all newly married people. For Susanna and Herman it is tougher because she married Herman after the one man she truly loved, Matthew,  left the Amish Community.  To make life more difficult she tries to convince both herself and her new husband that they truly do love each other. Then there is the culture clash. Herman’s family doesn’t celebrate Christmas on the 25^th of December.  Her family had always celebrated on the date the English celebrated. In his culture they celebrate it on the 6^th of January. Since they are married he expects her to adapt to his culture since they are now one. She goes to her sister’s house to help with Thanksgiving and learns Matthew has returned. When they go for Thanksgiving he is still there and that creates more stress.  Matthew is stirring up trouble. Herman is so insecure in his marriage and then his mother gets involved.  What is Susanna to do except rely on her faith in God to get her through this touch time, and to save her marriage.  This is a wonderful novella.  It is great no matter what time of year.

deepFreak by Mars Dumont

Genre: Political Thriller, Science Fiction,  Adult

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This book took me longer than usual to read.  The author has done a fantastic job of creating a technological language that takes a while to get used to.  For this reason I would recommend anyone reading this book continue on when they start feeling frustrated with the language.  Your brain eventually picks it up. You can also go to their website where they have a glossary of the words used in the book.  You can check it out here. An example from the beginning is the title.  I kept wanting to capitalize the first letter, thinking there had been a mistake.  There was no mistake.  We find words like “eyeVids”, “SIMrooms”. I  will say that I have trouble reading science fiction because of the science/technology aspect.  I understood this one quite a bit. This one made me realize that this could actually be our future.  Teens today would probably have no problem getting used to this type of talk or world.

The worlds created by this author are fascinating and scary at the same time.  Teens don’t need to physically go to a party because they can show up virtually.  For me, being older, the idea of having implants in your brain so that you can be wired into the Web is scary. Another scary aspect was the fact that your identity could be completely wiped out as if you never existed.

The story takes another turn when Milan, whose mother is a politician, goes missing during a solar storm. Milan finds himself in “The Other Side”. In this world there isn’t any technology. Things are done the old fashioned way. Milan finds his grandparents in this world. They had disappeared five years earlier.  He will need to make a decision though. With his grandparents and all of his new friends in one world and his old friends an mother in the other world, he will have to decide where he really belongs.

For those people who just need a bit of romance to their stories, this book has that as well. Audrey and Milan’s mother both find romance. However, as you read this book the lines between reality and what is not real begin to blur.  The books begs you to ask yourself if all this technology is for the best.  Remember with technology, you have to have those who police it and we know that those people can take it too far.  We are always talking about “Big Brother”. In a world like this, I’m afraid “Big Brother” would really take over.  Then you must ask yourself the question. Is this really the best life?

Although this book is a science fiction book, the issues it brings up in each of the worlds are real world issues and something this book makes you think about. For me if a book can make me emotional or make me question things in society; mine, the future, or made-up, then the book has successfully done its job.  Well done, Mars Dumont.

Emma Raber's Daughter Series by Jerry Eicher

Katie Opens Her Heart 

This is one of those books that creates such a roller coast of emotions in the reader.  We meet Emma Raber a widow and her daughter Katie.  Emma has withdrawn since the death of her husband. The problem with this is that she is also forcing her daughter to withdraw from society. This causes Katie a lot of pain in so many ways.  She misses out on activities other girls her age participate in.  Her mother squashes all attention paid toward her by the boys.  Katie loves her mother and has always been obedient.  While working at Byler’s store she becomes friends with some of the Mennonite girls.  They invite her to some of their activities and she disobeys her mother and goes with them. Not only is she hanging out with the Mennonites she has a big time crush on Ben Stoll.  No one in her life thinks he is right for her.

Another story line running through this is that of Jesse Mast.  He is a widower with five children.  His oldest daughter Mabel has pretty much stepped into her mother’s shoes. Her dad decides he needs a wife and his kids need a mother.  He asks Emma to marry him and she turns him down.  Ruth Troyer is another widow and is trying to work her way into their lives. Jesse’s children don’t like Emma or Katie.  They’ve heard the talk about how strange they are.

Will Katie switch to the Mennonite faith? Will Jesse find a wife and mother for his kids? Will Emma ever allow herself to love again?  I suggest you read this book to find out.

Katie’s Journey to Love

In this second book in the series Jesse and Emma are married and a new issue has arisen.  While most of the children are beginning to accept Katie and her mom. Mabel, the oldest at age sixteen had taken care of things

including her father, after her mother’s death.  She feels like she is being pushed out.  She is mean and nasty to Katie and Emma.  I hated the things she said and did to Katie and Emma, but I could understand somewhat why she felt the way she did.  Even though Jesse and Emma are discouraging a relationship between Ben and Katie, she is sure they will get married one day.  She is also still going to group activities with her Mennonite friends.  They invite her to go to Europe to study her Amish roots.  She can’t afford it until someone mysteriously pays her way. Katie goes and not only does she learn so much about the Amish in Europe, we are taken on this historic trip.  Jerry has done an excellent job of sharing this historical information with the readers in a way that makes it interesting and not boring. While in Europe Katie learns that Ben has been arrested.  I recommend you read this book to see if this family can find peace in all areas of their lives.

Katie’s Forever Promise

In this final book we find Katie with two boys after her. The first is Ben. He is trying to win her back and seeks her forgiveness.  The other is a man named Norman. This is a problem since Mabel likes Norman as well.  The author showed a side of the Amish that most Amish fiction doesn’t deal with.  We see once again that the Amish face a lot of the same temptations and issues the rest of us face.  We who are not Amish have built this façade for the Amish.  I think we have built it based on the fact that they set themselves apart from the rest of the world, so that must mean they don’t have the same problems.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  

I felt sorry for Ben.  It didn’t matter that he had changed. There were so many in the community that refused to forgive him or believe he had changed.  This irritated me.  When I was a child some of my relatives had an issue with something my dad had done.  It didn’t involve any of them yet they chose to judge him.  Since I was living with my relatives at the time and my parents and sisters were coming for a visit, I was told they didn’t know if they could forgive him for what he had done.  My response to them was, since they weren’t involved in the situation it wasn’t their place to forgive him, that was God’s job.  I wanted to shout this to Ben’s community.  We often forget that God is the one who is in control of ultimate forgiveness.  I liked the way he relied on God to get him through his situation.  Will Katie and Ben get together?  What about Mabel and Norman?  You didn’t really think I was going to tell you everything did you?  You really must read this entire series.

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Genre: Young Adult Realistic Ficiton

Student Reviewer – Elizabeth

I don’t know why, but I really could connect to this book. The whole time I felt bad for Hannah Baker, the girl who killed herself. Suicide. She swallowed pills. Deadly pills. She could take life no more because of school and friends and home. But, before she died she recorded seven cassettes, thirteen tapes (each side approximately) to tell each person (thirteen of them) why they were involved in making her commit suicide. I wouldn’t recommend this to people who like light stories because this is not one.

Surprise Finds After Purging My Office

Most people do Spring Cleaning in the Spring.  I have to wait until I'm out for the summer. I've been working on cleaning up my office.

My office consists of a 4 foot fold out table with various necessities on it (light, portable shelf, writing utensils, basket with paperclips, etc). To the left of my table/desk is a 3 foot space. Against that wall is a bookcase that is approximately 2 feet wide and  6 feet tall.  To the right of my table there is a 4 foot space. Against that wall is another book case that is approximately 4 feet wide by 4 feet tall.  I collect books, notebooks, etc.  I decided when school was out that I would go through my book cases and get rid of what I didn't need.  For books that meant those that everyone in the house had read and couldn't go on my shelves at school.  That process took me two days as I made sure I had also posted reviews for them on my blog.  We took three boxes of books to Goodwill.  One box was from the bookcase in my mother's bedroom.  She also purged her books.

The next item would take me almost a week.  Since I have a massive amount of notebooks of all varieties I had to go through and purge them.  I started with my composition notebooks and then moved on to my spiral notebooks.  I bring home tons of composition notebooks every year.  If students leave them in my room then I cut out the pages they wrote on and bring the rest of them home.  If there are only a few pages (which is what I hope for, because that means they actually used it the way they were supposed to in my class), then I cut the remaining pages out and put them in an envelope style folder.  These make great pages for grand kids or for note taking.

Next comes the spiral notebooks. This will eventually be followed by my binders. Yes I have a collection of them as well, thirteen to be exact.  Some of them have writing courses in them (3). Some of them have arts and craft ideas and patterns. Some have other types of writing, bits and pieces I have collected.  I purge them every year.  If I haven't used the idea or I have the same idea in multiple places I get rid of them.

While going through my spiral notebooks I started finding little gems.  I am really bad about skipping multiple pages to write a book review.  Unfortunately life gets in the way and I forget I wrote it and it goes unpublished.  I found nine unpublished reviews of books by Jerry Eicher.  So I am going to post the first three here today.  I will post three more tomorrow, and the last three on Sunday.    They weren't the only ones I found.  I will be sprinkling them through the next month along with books I continue to read.  I am continuing my reading challenge through the month of July to try to catch up on the books that authors have sent me and I got behind on.  There are other's that are not on the list.  See I also have to purge my email list.  I go through my "Books to Review" Folder and delete books I've reviewed and forgot to delete the email, and then mark down the ones I still need to review. I know my list will grow longer. If you want to see my 'Summer Reading Plans" list just go here.  Without further ado here are my review for today, his Fields of Home Series.

Genre: Adult, Amish Fiction
Source: I received copies from Harvest House to facilitate my reviews. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Missing Your Smile by Jerry Eicher
I've read several books by this author and think he is one of the best Amish Fiction Authors out there. That might be because he was raised Amish. This is why his books ring true.
In this story we have a young Amish girl, Susan Hostetler, who has decided to become English. Her reasons are simple. She was to marry Thomas Stoll, until she caught him kissing her best friend. She runs off to New Jersey where she gets a job working in a bakery and living above it.  She is trying hard to blend both of her worlds.  She is trying to stay true to her faith and the values she has learned growing up Amish, yet blend in with her new English world. She loves working for Laura and her son Robby.  Robby is good at listening to her and she is good for trying to straighten him out.  When a young unmarried pregnant girl named Teresa comes into the bakery, Susan's new life runs into her old life.  Teresa has not had the best home life and she wants her baby to have a chance in life.  To her that means she having her baby adopted by an Amish couple.  Since the only Amish person she knows it Susan, she asks for her help. Susan agrees to help her.  One of the things that irritate me was that Teresa's boyfriend wants nothing to do with her until she gets rid of the baby. I wanted to smack Teresa upside the head and scream at her, do you realize that he is a piece of garbage if he feels this way?  Susan takes Teresa back to Indiana with her.  Even though her parents are kind and caring to Teresa, that doesn't mean the rest of the community will be.  This is a well thought out book.  The conflict is real. You don't have to be Amish to have similar conflicts. The ending makes you pine for the next one in the series.

Following Your Heart

This is the second book in the series. In this book Susan takes Teresa and her son Samuel back home with her where Susan's parents welcome her.  Unfortunately not does.  The Deacon has forbid her to attend the church.  I think this more than anything else ticked me off. You want to bring people to God but you aren't part of our church so find God somewhere else.  That is how I felt about the Deacon.  I found it aggravating that Thomas would be so petty when he can't get Susan to come back to him that he would try to hook Teresa up with an older man who is willing to marry her for cleaning and cooking, not for love.  I did love the fact that the Deacon's son is attracted to Teresa, even though it goes against his dad.  Who and what will win out?  You must read this book and find out.

Where Love Grows
This is the final book in this series. What an excellent way to end the story.  Teresa has found true love and someone to be a Godly father to her son Samuel.  This fulfilled her wish to raise her son Amish.  Susan on the other hand has given Thomas another chance.  Once again he blows it. We learn he was more interested in Susan's father's farm than in Susan.  This turns out okay because Susan is being pursued by another man. The question is will Susan allow herself the luxury of letting someone else into her heart.  This book had another conflict that involved a secret that Susan's father had kept for a long time. No I'm not going to tell you what the secret is or how it is resolved.  I suggest you read this entire series from beginning to end.  Jerry writes realistic characters with realistic problems.  We see that the Amish have some of the same kinds of problems we have.  Often times we set them p on a pedestal and don't really see them as having the same faith based struggles that we do.  However, this is not true.  They struggle just like you and I do. So I highly recommend you read this series and I also recommend you come back tomorrow for another group of books by Jerry Eicher.

The Read and Write Series by Darcy Pattison

Genre: Both books are Picture books.
Source:  I received copies to facilitate my reviews. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I Want a Dog: My Opinion Essay 
This is the first book in this series.  In this book the main characters are Dennis and Mellie. They are cousins. This story and finally essay is written by Dennis.  He wants a dog.  His teacher has told him he must have "criteria" for his essay.  As Dennis researches and compares each type of dog he explains which of those characteristics would be best for not only himself, but for his cousin Mellie as well.  When he has finished the research he puts it all together into a formal essay.  The essay is so good that he and his cousin both get a dog that is best suited to each of them.  Dennis gives them each their name.  This book takes you step by step through the process.  I loved the way that they showed a specific breed, a drawing of it and it's characteristics.  Definitely a book I plan to use with my sixth graders.  I prefer to make sure they have the basics and this is a great way to do it.



I Want a Cat: My Opinion Essay

This  is the second book in this series. It follows the same pattern as the first book. In this book Mellie is the narrator and she wants a cat.  She takes us through the same process as her cousin did in the first book.  She researches and then with the criteria she has about the different types of cats and  what parts of their personalities make the the best cat for both her and her cousin Dennis, she is able to narrow it down.  She then writes an opinion essay that identifies the best cat for each of them.  Because she does such an excellent job writing the essay, their parents buy them each a cat.  In this book Mellie gets to name both of them.  Once again this is an excellent example of how to write an opinion essay.   We definitely need more books like this to use in our classroom.