Death at Willow Creek Mine - J.D. Savid

Publisher:  Outskirts Press
Pages:  126
Source:  Review copy from author
Genre:  Adult, Literary Fiction


From Publisher:
 After the death of their parents, three brothers arrive in northwest Nevada to live with their widowed aunt. In time, Aaron, the oldest brother, fulfills his dream of reopening their aunt’s historic old gold mine, where he runs the mill that processes the ore. The youngest brother, Hector, works underground, extracting gold ore. Nathan is the middle brother. Mentally handicapped but physically strong, he undertakes menial jobs with joy and gusto. He especially enjoys walking to the small community of Rabbit Brush for the mail, and to the community’s garbage dump. Hector is easily irritated by Nathan’s foolish and sometimes dangerous antics, and Aaron worries that this could escalate into violence. He works to keep both brothers in check, but eventually, tragedy strikes—resulting in the ultimate cover-up.



My Thoughts:

I would like to say I really enjoyed the book but I didn’t.  I can’t say it was a bad book because it wasn’t.  It was just slow. It was well written.  The story line  seemed to progress slowly.  There was definitely a lot to think about after you finished the book. The summary on the back of the book talks about the three brothers who have inherited the mine.  Aaron the oldest sees everything through the lens of the Bible.  Nathan the middle brother is mentally challenged and Hector the youngest works in the mine extracting the ore.   The summary talks about a tragedy and an ultimate cover-up.  You don’t find out what happens until the last couple of pages.  By then it was kind of a let down.  As I read I kept thinking about a slow lazy summer day that sapped all of your strength.  That is how slow the reading went for me.  I am sure that there are people out there who would love this book but it just wasn’t a right fit for me.  If I gave stars I would have given this three and a half stars.  It was middle of the road for me.

About the Author:

J.D. Savid has published several articles and written short stories in his writing career, and was an award-winning correspondent for the Humboldt Sun in Winnemucca, Nevada. Death at Willow Creek Mine is based on an actual historic gold mine that Savid inherited from his adopted father. Over a period of 28 years, he explored nearly all of the 2,000 feet of underground workings. Although it’s been inactive for 70 years, the mine is estimated to have produced millions of dollars in gold.

Laugh With the Moon - Shana Burg

Publisher:  Delacorte Press
Pages:  256
Source:  Review copy from publisher for tour
Genre:  Middle Grade, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

From Publisher:
Thirteen-year-old Clare Silver is stuck. Stuck in denial about her mother’s recent death. Stuck in the African jungle for sixty-four days without phone reception. Stuck with her father, a doctor who seems able to heal everyone but Clare. Clare feels like a fish out of water at Mzanga Full Primary School in Malawi, where she must learn a new language. Soon, though, she becomes immersed in her new surroundings and impressed with her fellow students, who are crowded into a tiny space, working on the floor among roosters and centipedes.  When Clare’s new friends take her on an outing to see the country, the trip goes horribly wrong, and Clare must face another heartbreak head-on. Only an orphan named Memory, who knows about love and loss, can teach Clare how to laugh with the moon.   Told from an American girl’s perspective, this story about how death teaches us to live and how love endures through our memories will capture the hearts of readers everywhere.

My Thoughts:  
I can't imagine being thirteen and losing my mother.  I have had many students who have had to go through this heart-rending situation.  What made this story even more emotional was knowing that Clare's father pulled her from everything and everyone she knew and loved and moved her to Malawi for six months.  Her father was excited to go back to a country he had worked in before.  Clare had decided to give her dad the silent treatment for the entire six months.  It's funny how meeting someone who has lost more than you have, and learning that there is always a silver lining if you look for it hard enough can help you heal and grow.  

Clare is stubborn, intelligent, artistic and very loving.  She has let the pain of losing her mother guide her for too long.  In Malawai she learns she has much to offer others as well as watching as others who have lost so much more give everything.  This was not an easy book to read.  It is a book I will put at the front of my class on the first day of school and recommend to all of my students.  I am trying to create global minded students.  My students may not be able to travel to Malawi or any other country less fortunate than we are here in the USA.  Through books like this one they will learn so much about what it takes to truly give of yourself.  They can learn that the simplest gesture can make a difference.  The fact that the book is full of information and facts because the author has been to Malawi holds great weight with me.  I loved the vocabulary throughout the book.  It is something else my students will love.

The book was so wonderfully written I could envision Clare's first encounter with a hippo and her shock at the school compared to her school back home.  The author did a wonderful job of bringing the reader along with her to Malawi.  I felt like I was a character walking beside  Clare, Memory and Agnes.    I will definitely read more by this author.  I look for great books to recommend to my students and my parents for their children.  This book is not just for middle schoolers or young adults.  This is a book that even adults will enjoy.  If you read no other book this year, this is the one you must read.

Want to find out more about this book?  Check out these other stops on Shana's Book Tour:

7/17: Mr. Schu Reads

7/17: Sharp Read

7/20: Journey of a Bookseller

7/22: Nerdy Book Club

7/24: From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors

7/25: Read, Write, Reflect

7/26: The Musings of a Book Addict

7/30: The Pirate Tree

7/31: The Pirate Tree

Find out more about Shana:

Check out her Bio here

Watch her book trailer here

Resources for Educators here

Follow her blog here

Student Saturday: Holes - Louis Sachar

Publisher:  Scholastic
Pages:  233
Genre:  Middle Grade Mystery
Student Reviewer:  Chandler


This book was about a kid named Stanley Yelnats and he goes to a camp, but not the camp he had thought.  Stanley got accused of stealing a pair of shoes from a famous baseball player.  So he gets sent off to a boys' camp in their Texas desert.  The camp counselors make all the boys their dig a hole 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep everyday for the rest of the time they're there.  stanley had to spend 6 months in the camp for stealing.

I always knew that Stanley was innocent because at the beginning of the story he gets picked on by all the other students.  In the middle of the book he learns to stick up for himself.  This one boy takes Stanley's notebook and flushes it down the toilet.  Stanley and the other boys there only get about a gallon of water for the whole day.  Most of the teachers there would  make fun of Stanley and compare him to the kids kid's even though they said his name on it.  At the end of the story, Stanley was proven not guilty and got to return home to his family and friends.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys comedy.  I would love to read this book again because it suits me.  This is definitely a book that I would give a five thumbs up.