Be Light Like a Bird by Monika Schroder

Genre: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

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

Wren is a twelve-year-old girl whose father dies in a plane crash. This is a realistic look at the grief process and how it affects everyone. This is a very heavy topic for middle school children. However, a recent discussion in my sixth grade classroom brought forward that often times middle school is when grandparents and sometimes parents die. This is their biggest fear, the loss of family and friends. This is the perfect book for my school shelves. The relationship between Wren and Theo reminded me of two kindergarten students I had. Curtis lost him mom to cancer. He grew up watching her in constant pain, even though she tried hard to protect him from it. He took her death hard. Then Sarah’s dad suddenly died of pneumonia. It was Curtis who helped her through the grieving process.  He had no idea he had helped me as well. Theo and Wren reminded me so much of them.  I love when books can help me make a personal connection. This is an emotional read so get out your box of tissues. This is one you won’t want to put down.

Fire in the Ashes – Jonathan Kozo

Genre: Adult, Nonfiction

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

Jonathan Kozol has written another book that looks at those who are less fortunate than many. He has followed the lives of many inner city children. He has shown us that society has in many ways hindered them, yet many of them have survived to go to college and find their way out of this hell that was created for them. As he exposed some of the areas and conditions that these children have had to live through, society moved them to areas that really were not much better and often put them in harm’s way even more. Kozol’s stories are heart-wrenching and often hopeful as we follow these lives and wonder how they managed to survive. A man like this does this from the goodness of his heart. He truly cares. You can feel this as you read the book. He doesn’t judge people. He just tells their stories.

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

Genre: Adult, Memoir

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

Imagine you are a successful reporter in New York City and that you are only 24 when suddenly you know something is wrong. You are having several physical issues and mental issues and no one seems to be able to correctly tell you what is happening.  This is what happened to Susannah Cahalan.  She had an inflammation of her brain, yet was misdiagnosed many times. People start to believe with her symptoms that she has an alcohol problem, or is schizophrenic.  Her dad is the one person who stands behind her and believes there is something physically, not mentally wrong with her.  She finally finds a doctor who does one simple test and proves her condition is physical.  It is confirmed by another doctor and true treatment begins.  It is scary to find out there are so many auto-immune diseases out there that go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. How many people are institutionalized because of this type of situation?  Susannah was one of the lucky ones because she had such a strong support system and they were determined to find the cause.  This was both a scary and uplifting book as we find hope in doctors like hers.