A Christmas Wish by Engy Neville

 

Genre: Adult, Romance

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

Romance novels are not usually my go to genre. I have certain requirements. I don’t want a mushy, gushy romance.  There has to be other conflicts that must be solved for me to truly enjoy it. This is my first book by this author and will not be my last. As a teacher of teens,  I have been reading middle grade and young adult books for so long that I had put a lot of adult books on the back burner.

Amy is a young woman who moved from California to take another job, her dream job in New York. She left behind a cheating boyfriend and a job where her boss was out to get her. On a vacation to the Hamptons with  her best friend from California and her new best friend from New York, she meets Richie, a gorgeous looking man. He seems to have fallen head over heals in love with her. She meets his family at Thanksgiving and loves them.  Then things begin to fall apart. Her former boss is back in her life in New York. They have the same position. She is getting ready to spend Christmas with her boyfriend and his family. It seems that things are going downhill fast.

Things aren’t always what they seem to be.  There are many things we learn as we read the book that adds quite a bit of tension to this story. That is what made me really enjoy this book.  I will stop at this point because I don’t want to give anything away. I will say, if you love a feel good romance or you are like me, sitting on the fence when it comes to romance novels, then you most definitely need to read this one.

Student Saturday: The Do Over by Lynn Painter

 

 

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Student Reviewer: Livi G.

The Do-Over was an overall enthralling rom-com that had many comical elements involved in the plotline yet serious topics that were artistically and beautifully executed throughout the book. This novel follows the talented, smart, goal-oriented, people-pleasing Emilie and her everyday life as the girlfriend of Josh (who is also very smart and talented), and what happens when she is stuck in a time loop of the day when he cheats on her on Valentine’s Day. With the repeating tragedy, Emilie tries with all her might to prevent this conflict from occurring throughout the days. While doing so, she always runs into her chemistry lab partner, Nick, in the mornings when they keep getting into car accidents with each other or just randomly seeing each other. Nick and Emilie don’t really hit it off and Nick always seems to have a hatred towards Valentine’s Day, which Emilie doesn’t really know why. She later finds the answer to her question when she decides to rebel for a day. She thinks she has unlimited days to waste with being whoever she wants to be for 24 hours at a time. She calls this the DONC (Day of No Consequences). On the DONC, Emilie drags Nick out of class, and they travel the many miles of Downtown, doing whatever they please. An unbreakable bond between the two of them forms and they both end up catching feelings for each other, not wanting the day to end. Sadly, when the day does end and February 15th rolls into play, Emilie must pay the consequences of all the trouble she created the day before, while realizing that everything she did mattered, and the time-loop will never exist again.

This book really shows readers that conforming to everyone else’s standards, expectations and “bending over backwards” for everyone will not make you happy or be the person you truly want to be. If I were Emilie, I would tell myself that it’s okay if someone disagrees with what I do or what I say- I'm my own person with my own opinions, and that’s how it will always be. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves YA romance books and who just needs a quick read. In conclusion, Lynn Painter continues to impress me with her writing abilities and how she so beautifully puts stories together that will have the reader hooked on the book, not being able to put it down. This book reminded me a lot of another one of Lynn’s books, Better Than the Movies, with how the two characters grow as people and in loving each other, and I look forward to reading more of her novels.  

Make a Little Wave by Kerry O'Malley Cerra

 

Genre:  Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

Source: I won a copy from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Middle school is a tough time for any kid to move.  When Savannah, also known as Sav, and her family move from the central part of Florida to a beach town she is not overly thrilled.  You can love marine life, but not like the water so very much.  Sav has a hearing problem and has had cochlear implants.  She fears the water and I was able to relate that to my grandmother. We came to Florida on vacation. We could only get her in water almost to her knees. She had a fear of falling in, the darkness of the water, ruining her hearing aid. She was always afraid of water. She was fine watching it from a distance.  This kind of remined me of Sav. Another thing that is difficult for most kids moving during middle school is having to leave old friends and meet new ones.  Sav is lucky that she meets Tanner. This is also where her problems begin. She’s invited to their new restaurant and learns the soup she is eating is Shark Fin soup.  She conducts research and learns how horrible it is for the sharks to have their fins removed then thrown back into the ocean to die.

She along with two other new friends decide to do something. Unfortunately Sav has chosen several methods that are illegal to get her message across.  The upside to this book is that it shows teens that no matter what their age they can make a difference. It teaches them that they do have a voice and should use it to make a difference in the world.  I think many of my middle school students could relate to this book. I have found that they are different from my generation when we were teens. We were not really made to feel we had a voice until we were much older.  Kids today can and do make a difference simply by using their voice.  Awesome book with an awesome message.