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
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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.