The Concealers by James Kauffman

Pages: 404

Genre:  Adult, Inspirational

Source:  Received a copy from the Author

From Goodreads:

Her mentor says she has the makings of a good reporter, but to be great, Katherine Kelly must learn to find the emotional core of a story and not hold back in its telling. Then he suggests one last grad school assignment find someone who has influenced her family and tell that story. Katherine pursues the only family story that has ever eluded her: the identity of the father she never knew. Her mother, knowing her daughter will not stop until she gets the truth, breaks her years of silence and makes the call she always swore she would never make.

The reality of her father stands in stark contrast to the one in her dreams, and Katherine must decide who her father truly is the guardian of a group of wounded souls called The Collectibles, the attentive father of a newly discovered daughter, the person of interest in a bank fraud investigation or a little of all three. Blood is deeper than principle, or so she is told. And a great journalist follows a story wherever it leads. It is her call, and only Katherine can make it.

My Thoughts:

It had been a while since I’d read the Collectibles, so I went back and reread it before I read The Concealers.  I was not disappointed in this second book. The author has done a great job in creating characters we can all relate to in one form or another. The characters and situations Kauffman creates cause the reader to pause and look inward at our own situations, choices and values.

For me as a reader, I look for books that not only entertain me, but helps me make connections. Without those connections a book seems flat.  This book is not flat. The suspense keeps you going all the way through. I highly recommend this book. If you’ve not read the first book then please, stop and read it first.  This is a series you will enjoy.  I am looking forward to reading the third book.

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

Pages: 272

Genre:  MG, YA, Historical Fiction

Source: Purchased

From Goodreads:

Survive. At any cost.

10 concentration camps.

10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly.

It's something no one could imagine surviving.

But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.

As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner -- his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087.

He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again seconds later.

Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will -- and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside?

My Thoughts:

I have read a lot of Holocaust books.  I enjoy learning the history.  It makes me grateful each day for what I have and the great country I live in. I am not sure I would have the courage and hope to survive the atrocities that Yanek had to survive.  When all he saw around him was death, he chose to survive.

This book was recommended to me by a student. I am so glad I listened to  him.  Our eighth grade team does a Holocaust unit each year.  I am recommending this to them as a book to add to their unit.  This is a definite must read for young and old alike. 

Ryan and the Dark Sword by R.K. Wayne

Pages: 375

Genre:  YA, Fantasy

Source: Review copy from author

From Goodreads:

Ryan Thayer is your typical high school outcast: mocked, bullied, and constantly in trouble. But when he sees a girl in a house that has been abandoned for years and follows her through a mysterious gateway, he finds himself in a strange world. It is a world fighting an age-old war which has powerful implications, not only for this new land, but for Ryan’s home as well.

Forced to choose between returning home and joining the battle, Ryan decides to fight, knowing that his world’s fate hangs in the balance. He is whisked off to join the Cadyii in their mountain stronghold of Avengarde. There, along with a few new friends, Ryan is taught to use a magical power known as spectra, trained in the art of battle, and even given a magical weapon. But all is not as it seems at Avengarde. The keep has the constant buzz of secrecy around it. And then there is the matter of Ryan’s sword, whose tainted, black blade may be hiding a dark past.

As Ryan struggles through grueling lessons and a teacher who wants to kill him, Ryan has to figure out just what sort of secrets this new world – and his sword – really hold.

My Thoughts:

When I found out that Ryan, a fifteen year old got picked on because of a white streak he has in his hair I felt an immediate connection.  From the time I was sixteen I had a “skunk stripe” in my hair. Back then I had my hair frosted in order to help it blend in.  It was a hereditary thing.  I had kids tease me about it, but not to the extreme that Ryan was picked on. Because of all of the picking and bullying he decides to get back at them.  Just like usually happens, the ones picking on him didn’t get caught, but he did.

His parents ground him.  He is not allowed to do anything.  You know how hard that is for a kid.  He ends up sneaking into an old abandoned house and enters another world.

In the new world Ryan joins forces with his new friends to save the world. He starts training with them and we see him grow into a young man who is more mature. He is a great role model for the way we want our children to grow up. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. I think a lot of my students, especially those who love fantasy will grab this book right up.