Student Saturdays: Cabin Fever - Jeff Kinney

Publisher:  Amulet Books
Pages:  218
Genre:  Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction
Student Reviewers:  Today we have two review of this book.  The first review is from Casey and the second is from Maddy.  Enjoy them.


Casey's Review:
Yes, this series probably looks familiar to you, but I need to tell everybody how great this REALLY is.  Greg Heffley is a middle school boy, as am I, and having a hard time with a lot of things, so am I...yet not as much.  See how much I can relate to this book?  I bet a lot more can even relate to other characters such as his parents, Rodrick, Rowley, or even his baby brother, Manny.

In this story, as like many other Diary of a Wimpy Kid book there really is no conflict for Greg (the main character) other than just trying to survive his family, best friend Rowley, and basically the rest of the world.  cabin Fever is just really more of the Heffley's at Greg's point of view, yet at the time of Christmas.  Even the most wonderful time of the year isn't so "wonderful" for Greg.  There is even more laugh than the other five in the series.  I would only have one thing negative to say, it's the lack of conflict like I mentioned before, but the laughs sure do make up for all of that!  Like most of these books, any age, but probably most kids ages 6 through about 18 could relate and fully enjoy this book.

I have heard bad things about this book but honestly it is a great book for many kids like me.  Many are hoping for another masterpiece of Jeff Kinney the author, as am I.  This is another book that it is kind of like watching t.v., that you just can't put down!  This is an enjoyable book, Hope you like it!

Maddy's Review:
Are you looking for a great book to read at Christmas?  Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever, the 6th book of the wonderful, hilarious series by Jeff Kinney is an excellent read for the holiday season or any season for that matter.  I say Christmas because the book starts at the start of the holiday season, Thanksgiving and ends on Christmas day.

The book remains in the same format as the other ones in the series.  It is a diary of Greg Heffley's life.  It is filled with words and pictures.  The pictures are in a comic book form and they are great to look at and read.  The pictures help bring the story to life.  The same characters are present but this time the story takes place mostly at the Heffley home during the holiday season and the surrounding neighborhood.

The book begins with Greg, the main character in all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, worried that Santa isn't going to bring him anything.  Greg's family has a doll called the Santa Scout that keeps an eye on Greg, Roderick, and Manny.  These are Greg's brothers.  Roderick is up to his old tricks again and he teases Greg by feeding the Santa Scout wrong information about Greg.  Poor Greg, he never seems to get a break.  Greg finds himself in search of money for the holidays and the way he goes about getting it will keep you laughing.  Not to mention, how he tries to get more Christmas presents.  You won't believe what he does to get a present.  The plot of the story leads to a huge snow blizzard.  The whole Heffley family finds themselves stuck in the house.  This is Greg's worst nightmare and where the title Cabin Fever comes from.  Being stuck together in the house drives Greg crazy and you will have to read to figure out how he survives.  I will tell you that the book is the funniest out of all the series so far, and worth you finding out how Greg deals with his family in very close quarters.

Anybody who has spent time with their family during the holidays will love reading about how Greg deals with his family.  I remember being in the house with my family during a thunderstorm.  We lost power for the entire day.  At first, I was mad because I couldn't watch a show I was looking forward to.  Then, my brothers were getting on my nerves.  After about an hour we started to play a board game that we haven't played in a while.  Before you knew it, we were laughing telling stories and having fun.  My mom said "we should have a blackout once a month".  Cabin Fever brought back that memory.

In my opinion, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever is the best of the series.  The jokes and newspaper articles kept me laughing throughout the entire book.  I am glad Jeff Kinney is able to keep up the laughs and the story.  I think anybody could read this book and laugh their heads off.  So I recommend this book to ages 8 to 108.  Happy reading.

Created by: Online PhD

After the Snow Falls - Carey Jane Clark

Publisher:  Trestle Press

Pages:  236

Source:  Review copy from author

Genre:  Adult, Contemporary Fiction

From Goodreads:

In the middle of a soccer drill, in an awful, awkward moment, Celia Bennett's eight-year-old son Caleb lands on his face and chest in the grass. The diagnosis blindsides her, bringing her face-to-face with every parent's worst nightmare.

Desperate to save her son’s life, Celia pursues a cure through alternative medicine, but her quest ends in frustration and disappointment. Facing despair, hope walks in on the most unlikely set of legs, when her father returns after a 30-year absence. Can she release pain to embrace hope? Will it make a difference, or is it too late?

My thoughts:

When the author first wrote to me asking for a review I knew I was backlogged in my reviews.  I went to her site and read the first chapter and knew I had to read the book. So, I wrote her back and requested it.   I am so glad I did.  This is a story of hope and forgiveness.  It is a story that you will need to start, with a box of tissues.  The emotional ride is so intense. 

Like any mother, Celia Bennett would do anything for her child.  When her child is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor she seeks help from many sources.  Through all of this her father who has been absent for many years re-marries her mom and now she has to deal with those old  feelings.  There are so many emotional things to relate to in this story.

My father and I had a few  serious issues we had to deal with.  When I decided as an adult I was going to take matters into my own hand to deal with the situation,  he understood my feelings and waited and prayed, as did I.  I am happy to say our relationship was restored and great up to the day he passed away.  God is so good about helping us learn to forgive, and healing broken  relationships. 

I loved Caleb’s faith.  He believed Jesus would heal him.  I lost my first love to a rare form of blood cancer just a few months before we were to be married.  I can remember my father’s quartet laying hands on him and anointing him with oil.  I remember him claiming he would be healed.  I also remember his death and how angry I was until a great friend pointed out that my fiancé had been right.  He had the ultimate healing.  Sometimes all we have left is our faith.  There are so many lessons to be learned in this book.  It is one I will re-read because I know each time I do, there will be something else to see.  This is a book that you will need to sit and dedicate time to.  You won’t want to put it down.  I look forward to reading more by this wonderful author. I thank her publicly for taking a chance on me and asking me to review this book.

About the author:

Carey Jane Clark writes to instill courage, hope and conviction in her readers.  She is a homeschool mother by day, writer by night.  The writing bug afflicted her early in life.  She has been writing in one form or another for more than twenty years.  After the Snow Falls is her first novel.  

Carey shares the adventure of her life with her husband Brian and three children, whom she homeschools.  

She blogs about their experiences homeschooling at www.carejaneclark.com/enCouragement  and in China as expats at www.holdthemsq.com

You can check out her book at www.afterthesnowfalls.com