North Beat Christmas by Jenna Zark

Genre: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is Jenna Zark's third book in the "Beat Street" Series, we find Ruby and her brother in California. This year they have convinced their mother to let them spend Christmas with their dad in San Francisco.  Things get off to a rocky start. Their father fails to pick them up from the train station, Ruby's satchel with her money, and most importantly her notebook is stolen. Once they get to their dad's house they find him face down on the floor of his apartment.  For money for food Ray plays the saxophone, his dad plays the bongos dnd Ruby dances in a park. They are part of a community known as the "beats". As Ruby and Ray get off the bus in front of a book store called Inner Pages, Ruby's one desire is to go inside and be immersed in the pages of the greats. She sets that as her goal for the next morning. When she gets there she finds herself with a job and a new friend. Ruth is an older lady who works there.  After lunch they return to the bookstore and find her brother Ray. He has come to get Ruby because he can't get into his dad's bedroom and his dad isn't answering.  This is when Ruby realizes her father has a problem with alcohol.  Ruby meets another young man in the bookstore. His name is Marty. Marty has some issues of his own, but Ruby is the kind of friend who sticks by them no matter what.

This is an awesome book.  Ruby learns a lot of lessons in this book. She grows up quite a bit. we see her mature in ways we hope our young people will eventually mature. We get a glimpse into a time period most of us know nothing about. We see Ruby and her brother deal with issues our young people today must deal with. Most importantly we see what love can accomplish.  What a wonderful book to start off my Christmas break from school.

Student Saturday: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Student Reviewer:  Lexie L.

-300 years in the future, what we call the U.S.A today is now Panem. This story follows a 16-year-old girl named Katness Everdeen in district 12 of 13. However, district 13 was destroyed. Katness faces the struggles of Panem’s oppressive government and extreme poverty that came with it. Her hair is a deep brown, almost always in her signature braids, she has a narrow figure, and piercing gray eyes. She has a sister named Prim and she would protect her with her life, and she has. Katness learned from a young age how to use a bow, though against the law, to hunt food for her family beyond the fence of where the district was divided. This would come in handy later in her life. In this time period the capital of Panem would take one girl and one boy from each district and put them in an arena where they would fight to the death leaving one soul winner. This would happen once a year, every year. When Prim, Katness’s little sister, was old enough to participate in this “game” she was unlucky picked to compete. As soon as this happened Katness raised her hand and shouted at the top of her lungs “I volunteer. I VOLUNTEER AS A TRIBUTE!” She was then taken to the capital with a boy who was picked named Peta Melark. They were interviewed and asked question their entire stay at the capital. When in came to be the day of the games they all were released into the dome with the cornucopia in the center of the arena. Read the book to find out what happens once the games begin.

-I really loved the way the author portrayed the thoughts and feeling of the character using body language as a key factor to understand what a player’s demeanor was. All the intense detail and world building had me on the edge on my seat while reading this incredible story. It truly holds a deeper meaning and comments on our society today. I cried a lot while reading this book. Overall, this is a remarkable story for anyone who likes futuristic timelines, fear, drama, overthrowing oppressive governments, justice, etc.

-I highly recommend this book,

Movie Review: Red One

 

I am not sure I have ever recommended a movie on my blog.  This is one that I most definitely want to recommend to everyone.

I am sure this is going to became a yearly classic, right up there with "The Polar Express".  Santa, called Red One and played by J.K. Simmons is and is not your classic Santa.  To me it took the classic Santa story and explained so many things. It tells us how the naughty list came about. It explains to us why Santa needs so many milk and cookies.  If you've heard stories of Krampus, he is explained.  

Dwayne Johnson plays Callum Drift, Santa's bodyguard who is set to resign because he can no longer see all of the good in the adults.  Things change when Santa is kidnapped and Callum must find and rescue Santa. Enter Jack O'Malley played by Chris Evans. We are first introduced to him as a child who doesn't believe Santa delivers presents.  Fast forward to him as an adult. He is leading not the most wholesome life. He has a kid h has little to do with.  He is partly responsible for Santa's kidnapping, as he provided information that led to Santa.

The characters are well developed. The storyline is well paced.  This is an action film, not your typical feel good Christmas movie. However, it is a story of hope and redemption and belief. It is so good that my husband and I watched it twice.  I highly recommend this movie.