Book reviews for the young and the old. This site reviews children, teen, and adult books with a few interesting things thrown into the mix. Check out the labels on the right hand side for specific genres or topics.
Source:I received a
copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
As I started this book I wasn’t really sure what to
expect.The book is written in such a
way you must continue to read.You have
multiple story lines throughout that are all intwined. We find Cat, a young
scarred woman who has recently married.She has never told her husband of her past for fear he will find her
hideous.As a child she watched herparents constantly fight. It culminated in
her father killing her mother and then taking his own life.Her younger sister who was only two at the
time never spoke again.
Then we have the glimpses into her life after her parent’s
death.She and her sister are taken from
the orphanage to live with a couple.You
get from the short clips of memory that they were treated no better than
slaves.All these things she’s kept
hidden from her husband Gray.But hers
are not the only secrets. Things take a drastic turn whena man named Rance steps up on her porch.
There is so much I could tell you but don’t won’t to.I’ve left out so many things so that you the
reader will need toread the book.The book is written with such great emotion
that you are Cat as that young child, hiding while her parents fight.I felt Cat’s pain, fear, isolation, and
lonliness.This is one of those books
where you feel such emotion and want things to turn out well for her.Barbara has once again taken the reader,
thrown theminto the middle of a
situation letting them fend for themselves for a while before throwing them
life saver.Well done.
You can learn more about Barbara from her website here.
Genre: autobiography Source: I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.
The Zero Years were the years 1975 – 1979 in
Cambodia’s history. This is when the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh the
capital. The author lived those years. He was one of eleven children in his
family. Most of his siblings did not survive. His father was a professor. When
the Khmer Rouge came in, Seng’s father had already heard rumors of what was
happening to professionals and those considered the upper crust of society. The
first group of soldiers came into their village with white flags claiming to
bring peace. The next group came in bringing death.They were taken out of their homes and forced
to walk for days with little rest or food. They were loaded on trains where
they were packed so tight many died. Through all of this I kept thinking it
reminded me of the holocaust trains. Seng had seen so many dead bodies that he
eventually became numb to it. Seeing a body hung from a tree was just an everyday
occurrence. This was just the beginning of the horror he would live.
This was the first I had ever really heard
of the Khmer Rouge atrocities. It is sad to say this considering my age
now.However, at the time this was
starting I was 17 and really sheltered from all of this.We know of all of the people killed by
Hitler.How is it that we don’t teach
about the millions of Cambodians exterminated? How many more stories like this
will we need to read before we finally learn to value life?
The book was well written.I felt like I was on that walk with him.There is so much more to this story. Some of
it happy and some of it not.If you want
to find out what happened to him and his family you will need to read this
book. You definitely won’t regret it.You
might even learn quite a bit.
SENG
TY was born in the Kampong Speu province of Cambodia, the son of a respected
physician who taught him to value life, aspire to humility, and seek the good
in people. He was thirteen when he made his way alone to a refugee camp in
Thailand in 1981. His story was featured in TIME Magazine’s article “Children
of War”, and was read by an American family in Amherst, Massachusetts, who
adopted him a year later. Now he is a citizen of the United States, a husband,
a father and an educator in the Lowell, MA School System.
Seng will never rid himself of his
ghosts, nor will he forget the blood-chilling atrocities he has witnessed and
experienced. However, he doesn’t crave revenge against those who carried out
these atrocities. He desires to share his story of survival and courage only in
order to give hope to others. He was one of the children of war tour in the US cities
in early 1984, he shared his story through the Phil Donahue Show, many major newspapers, and CBS 60 Minutes
in 1999.
Seng’s wish is that The Years of
Zero will give him a platform to expand his message beyond the circle of his
students in Lowell, to people all over the world who are in need of a little
hope.
This review is written by Grant Fire Prophet by Jerel Law
This book was very interesting. It had a lot of detail and had a very modern setting. In thebook there were a few different settings; Johah's house, his school, and New York City.
There were three main characters in this book. the main character was Jonah. He is very strong and is a good leader. Jonah has a sister named Eliza. Eliza is very kind and faithful. Jonah's brother Jeremiah is very curious and is not afraid to tell the truth.
In the beginning of the book, fallen angels attack Joh=nah, Eliza and Jeremiah at school and they go to New York to hide in a convent with other quarterlings Johah has visions and starts training at night school at the convent. Soon they get atacked and Jonah sneaks out of the convent tohelp save the quarterlings.
This book has a lot of connections to the real world. One of them is to the Bible. This connects to the Bible because a small character int his book is God. The three main characters pray to him for help and guidance. Another connection is that I have a brother just like Jonah and I am in middle school.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy with a taste of the modern world in it.
Well another Spring Reading Thing Challenge has come and gone. I hope you read a lot of good books.
I seemed to get multiple requests for picture books over the last few months. This is great because I have a lot of grandchildren. I had 27 books on my original list. They are denoted below with an *. I read 54 picture books, 11 Middle Grade/YA Books, and 15 Adult/Misc. books for a total of 80 books. Books on my original list that I did not get two are highlighted. As always I enjoyed this challenge. However as I said in my last post, I will not be able to host this or the Fall Into Reading Challenge next year. I am looking for someone willing to take it over. I will still participate. However, extra duties, changes in school and the school district has made it difficult to do this justice as a host. Please let me know if you would be willing to carry the torch for these two wonderful challenges. Please write a wrap up post and put your link to your blog in Mr. Linky. You will have until midnight on the 24th to do so. I will pull and post the names of the two winners the next morning. I will also send out an email. You will have 48 hours to reply or I will pull a new name. Picture Books
6 Activities for Children –
Eitan Hana
A Journey Into Imagination - Anat Umansky
*All
Sheep Love to Sing – Paula McBride
All the Baby animals in the Wild
– Emily Thompson
All the Baby Animals in the
Woods – Emily Thompson
All the Baby Animals on the Farm
– Emily Thomson
Bear and Bunny Go To Dreamland - Emily Thomson
Ben's Day - Mark C. Collins
Blue Baboon in the Big Balloon –
Sarah & Steven Mostyn
*Bob and
Larry in the Case of the Missing Patience – Karen Poth
*Casey and
Bella Face Their First Bully – Anna Stover
Cat Cabby – Christina Tran
*Chickens
In Birthday Suits – Nancy Mauerman
Counting From Creation - Tracy Wainwright
Dirty Bumble and clean Bumble - Anat Umansky
Don't Think You Can't - Anat Umansky
Easy as 1-2-3 Come Learn About
Bugs A-Z-Kathry L. Novak Exodus From Egypt - Anat Umansky
Foxy the Fox and the Vineyard –
Eitan Hana
Foxy’s Birthday – Eitan Hana Go Away Scary Thoughts - Anat Umansky
Goat and the Terror Birds – P. J.Gilbers
*Goodnight
Farm Animals – Sharlene Alexander
Grandma Stinks Mark C. Collins *Hero Cat
– Eileen Spinelli How Babies Are Born - Anat Umansky
*It
Stinks to be Pink – Kathryn L. Novak
Joey and the Net – Amos Ordan
Magical Toys – Uncle Amos
Maya & Filippo Look For
Happiness in Tauranga – Alinka Rutkowsks
Maya & Filippo Look For
Whales – Alinka Rutkowska
Maya & Filippo Play Chef at
Sea – Alinka Rutkowska
Meet the Bugs! - Mark C. Collins
*Mia’s
Tooth Fairy – Yosifia Porat
Momma Bird and Her Chicks - Anat Umansky
Mommy – Sergey Nikolov – Sergey
Nikolov
My Brother is My Best Friend –
Nicole Weaver
Not Another Boring ABC Book –
Sharon Cohen
One Bear – Emily Thomson
Princess Rose and the Golden
Bird – Sergey Nikolov Rainboy Full of Joy - Eli
*Queen-a-Bella
Finds a Best Friend – Lisl Fair & Nina De Polonia
Queen Vernita Visits Gator Country - Dawn Menge
Stinky Fumes King of the Wild –
Mahamad Ali Elfakir
Tani's Search For the Heart - Keith Egawa
Ten Busy Brownies – Talia Haven
The Ancient Secret of the
Leprechauns – Mahamad Ali Elfakir
The Legend of the Black Sea –
Sergey Nikolov
The Secret Kingdom - Michele & Richard Bledsoe
The Ten Commandments - Anat Umansky The Very Best You - Kathryn L. Novak
*Truthy
Ruthy – Sari Barel
Why Blue? – Josh Tuininga Why Did the Leaf Fall - Anat Umansky
Why the Giraffe is Crying - Anat Umansky
Wizard Bill's Secret - Anat Umansky
Middle Grade/Young Adult 84 Ribbons – Paddy Eger
*Across
the Tumen – Moon Young-Sook
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Julie C.
Gilbert
Championship Expectations – Jim
Pransky
*Eye on
the Iditarod Aisleys Quest – Hope Irwin Marston
*I Don’t
Wanna Be an Orange Anymore – Hank Kellner
*The Take
Back of Lincoln Junior High – Roseanne Cheng
*This
Star Won’t Go Out – Esther Earl
*Time Square: The Shift – S.W. Lothian
*Touch
Down Tony Crowne and the Mystery of the Missing Cheerleader – Peter Guy George
Adult
A Bridge Unbroken – Cathy Bryant
Call Me Clumsy – Matt Weinrich
*Dancing
in Rhythm with the Universe – Barbara Miller
Fantasyland – D.J. Starling
*First
Light – Alec Frost
Keeping Score – Marc bracket
Life Lived Twice – Sherrie
Wouters
Mommy’s a Mole – Eve Carson
Morgan Kane Without Mercy –
Louis Masterson
Orenda – Ruth Silva
*Pilgrimage
of Promise – Cathy Bryant
Retarded Girl Raised in Dog Pen
– Lauren Leigh
The Hitler Dilemma – Carolyn
Twede Frank The Last Confession of the Vampire Judas Iscariot - David B. Vermont *The Savage
Murder of Skylar Neese *The Way
of Grace – Cathy Bryant
Miscellaneous
How to Promote Your Children’s
Book – Katie Davis
Simply Delicious Amish Cooking –
Sherry Gore
Please Link your wrap up post with Mr. Linky Below.
Genre:
Fantasy Source:I received a copy in exchange for my honest
review.
From
Goodreads:
Of all the people who ever
lived, surely Judas Iscariot, history’s most notorious betrayer, must be in
hell. Or maybe not.
After watching the crucifixion of Jesus, Judas despairs over what he has done
and fumes that the Messiah he put his trust in has turned out to be just
another pretender like all the rest. The toxic mix of emotions is too much for
him to bear and Judas commits suicide by hanging himself.
He is restored to life by the Devil and made into a vampire apostle. The Devil
teaches Judas to manipulate men and history. He becomes a king, a general, a
teacher and a blacksmith, whatever is needed to effect the outcome of history
and move it towards the goal of his new master.
Each time he is ready to move on to his next incarnation he must drink the
blood of an innocent victim to be restored to his youthful vigor. But despite
his many powers and abilities Judas knows there is one thing he desires and
cannot have. Finally Judas meets a laicized priest, Raymond Breviary, and tries
to steal from him what he was denied two thousand years before.
My
Thoughts:
This
was definitely different from what I am used to reading. After Judas hangs himself,
the devil brings him back to life. To stop the burning and torment from hell he
is told he must drink the blood of a human.This gives him power. Satan takes him from that time period and through
many more to present day. He uses Judas to bring down those loyal to Christ.
Judas is fueled on because he believes Jesus betrayed him by allowing himself
to be crucified. However, you must read this book to see if Judas gets what he
actively seeks for years. This is one of those books that as you read it you
can’t stop. It has a great twisted ending.
About the Author:
David B. Vermont began writing when he was asked to author a series of articles explaining the Catholic faith on the popular blog 52 Prayers. He now writes regularly about his faith as the leader of an online Bible study group. The Last Confession of Judas Iscariot is his first foray into fiction.
He is also an attorney and accomplished litigator. He has a wife and four children and lives in Fairfax, VA.
Another challenge is coming to an end. This year's Spring Reading Thing ends at Midnight Friday, June 20th. Remember You will need to write a wrap up post. Let us know how you did. On Saturday the 21st I will have a Mr. Linky list up for you to link to your wrap up post. You will have until Midnight June 24th to post your link. I will draw a name shortly after that and post the winners on the 25th of June. Remember I will be giving away two $20 Amazon Gift Cards.
As much as I enjoy participating in this and the Fall Into Reading Challenge I am not going to be able to continue to host them. My duties at school and with writing curriculum for our county has made it difficult to stay up with the challenges. If someone would like to take over these challenges please feel free. I would appreciate letting me know so that I can continue to participate. I almost forgot this year as I was dealing with my mother's fall where she broke both feet and her right ankle. This was followed by the death of her sister who fell two days after my mother fell and died a week later. Between that and school I don't feel like I did justice to all of you. For that I apologize. I look forward to seeing what you have read. If you have questions for me after the challenge ends please feel free to contact me with them. Please be advised I probably won't answer you until the evening as next week is my last week for the summer of curriculum writing. Thank you for participating. I have enjoyed reading your list and for some of you reading reviews you have written. Thank you for joining me in this wonderful challenge.
Genre: Folklore,
Upper Elementary, Middle Grades Source:I received a copy from the author in exchange
for my honest review.
My Thoughts:
Tani is a young girl who who lives near the shores of the
Salish Sea inthe Pacific Northwest.
Tani lived with her grandmother who spent her time teaching her the legends and
ways of her people. She was preparing Tani for the day when she would no longer
be there with Tani. She taught her of the Stick Indian. He was scary enough to
keep children following the rules yet was a protector.
Tani learns about protecting the world she lives in from her
grandmother. Her grandmother tells her that they will be coming to cut down
more trees and that one day Tani will need to be the voice to stand up to them.
She also tells her that Tani will need to go on a quest to find the heart of
the world.She will be helped by
manyin the forest.Her grandmother dies and Tani goes to live
with her uncle’s family. Soon she hears a voice telling her she must leave for
her journey.She is helped along the way
by many animals.They in turn teacher
her much.How will Tani find the heart
of the world?Where is it?I would recommend you read this book to find
out.The great thing about this book is
that I got it as I was doing my unit on Fables, and Folklore.My students compared it to “The Lorax” by Dr.
Seuss and to “The Talking Earth” by Jean Craighead George.The sory is not only wonderfully told, buthte
pictures are absolutely beautiful.I
recommend this story for all families.
Queen Vernita Visits
Gator Country by Dawn Menge
Genre: Children’s
Picture Book Source: I received a
copy in exchange for my honest review
Queen Vernita is off to visit her friends in Gator Country,
In January she meets her friend Neomi. Where she learns all about the roots of
Jazz music and its connection to slaves. In February she visits Sidney where
she will spend her time on a paddle boat learning about it’s history.
Throughout the rest of the book she spends a month with different friends
learning about Mardi Gras, alligators, the French Quarter. She visits zoos,
aquariums, a plantation.She learns
about slavery and the underground railroad. She sees the wonderful world of the
bayou. The reason I have enjoyed the books so much is because they
are full of history and so many things for children and adultsto learn. It is done in such a fun manner
that children don’t realize that they are getting history lessons.The illustrations by Pamela Snyder are
wonderful and capture the feeling of the story.As always I look forward to reading the Queen Vernita series. They are a
refreshing change of pace from the usual picture book.
The Secret Kingdom by Michele & Richard Bledsoe Genre: Fantasy Source: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my
honest review
This book is wonderful, but at the same time hard to
classify.We have the beautiful
illustrations and then we have the beautiful poetry.Not everyone will get this book.I happen to be one of those quirky people
that love things like this. We are welcomed into the world of dreams.The first page tells you that you can wear
your monster suit and shows the other character as a masked face with leaves
for hair and a wooden body with a wooden hand holding a heart.Then it tells you that it is good to share
dreams with a friend.This is not a
young kids picture book even though is says it is juvenile fiction.This is for the older child.Many of the pictures are so abstract they
might not get them. One of my favorite is of the green alien. The message is
one of being friendly to strangers from a faraway land. It also talks about the
universality of pictures.You don’t have
to speak the same language to understand art.A lot of the art is symbolic in meaning as is the wordage.I would definitely recommend this book to the
older child.My copy is being passed to
a fellow teacher as he fell in love with the book and wanted to share it with
his daughter.
Queen-a-Bella Finds a Best Friend – Lisa Fair & Nina De Polonia
Genre: Children’s Picture Book Source: I purchased it When Queen-a-Bella’s sister sends
her away to find her own friend, Queen-a-Bella makes it her mission to find
one. She asks a butterfly and a fish. She asks a fox who wants her for dinner.
She meets Liam the lizard and asks him to be her new best friend. Everytime he
has an excuse she finds an answer until he agrees to be her new best friend.
Great book about how friends don’t have to be, or do things exactly the same to
be friends. A lesson in diversity.
Truthy Ruthy – Sari Barel
Genre:Children’s Picture Book Source: I purchased it. Ruthy had picked up a bad habit of
lying to her parents and not following the rules. Her dad decided to teach
Ruthy the importance of telling the truth. Her dad told her that from that
point on it was okay to not follow the rules or tell the truth. Ruthy was very
happy. He promises to buy her treats and play with her then does neither. Ruthy
learns how important it is to always tell the truth.
Meet the Bugs! Poems and Pictures by Mark C. Collins
Genre: Children’s Picture Books Source:I received a copy from
the author in exchange for my honest review. Author Mark C.
Collins has created a book that allows parents to share the knowledge of bugs
with their youngest child. The author/illustrator has created a set of
wonderful pictures that make learning about the bugs fun and not scary. His
poetry about each bug gives the reader some information about each one. It may
be what they eat, where they live, or how they protect themselves. This is a
wonderful book that takes the fear of bugs out of learning about them. The
charming pictures give a fairly accurate depiction of the bug in a cute and
friendly way. The thing that made me love this book was the actual information
that is in each poem about the bug. This is a must read book.
Counting From Creation – Tracy Wainwright
Genre: Children’s Picture Book Source: I purchased it This is a smart book of twelve
poems of events that we can read about in the Bible. It is a great way to teach
a child to count, and an even better way to teach Bible truths to a child.
Genre: Children’s Picture Book Source: I purchased it When Bunny announces he is tired he
asks Bear how they get to Dreamland and what he needs to take. Bear’s answer is
quite simple and satisfying for Bunny.This is a cute bedtime story that is sure to relax your child and
prepare them for their own trip to dreamland.
Not Another Boring ABC Book – Sharon Cohen
Genre: Children’s Picture Book Source: I purchased it In this alphabet book Princess Nina takes
readers on a trip through her adventures with the alphabet. She begins her
journey by shooting apples off the head of alligators. This would be a great
book to use in any classroom to teach
Genre: Children's Picture Books Source: I purchased them.
Every now and then you come across an author who writes quality books with quality messages. When Anat Umansky asked me to check out one of her books I immediately looked it up online. The price was great so I purchased it. Then I began to check out the other books. Although I did not review every one of her books, I review the majority of them. These were the ones I thought I would really enjoy. I hope you will read about them and then go quickly to purchase them. They are well worth it.
Exodus From Egypt
The Biblical story of Moses leading the Hebrews from slavery
in Egypt is told in great detail and beautiful pictures in this book.The author explains the reason the Jewish
people celebrate Passover. This is a simple yet great retelling of a most
important story.
The Ten Commandments
This was an excellent retelling
of the Biblical story of Moses and the Ten Commandments. It stayed true to the
word of God. Told in simplest of terms any young child would understand.
Excellent job and well worth the read.
Why Did the Leaf Fall
When a young boy observes a leaf
fall from a branch he questions why. Each answer he receives leads him to
another question. The questions eventually lead back to God who shows the boy
how he takes care of the smallest of his creatures. Great story, great lesson.
Dirty Bumble and Clean Bean
This is the story of two very
different dwarfs. Bumble loved to play all day. He and his house were dirty,
but he didn’t care because he was busy having fun. Bean was the opposite of
Bumble. He was constantly scrubbing and cleaning. He did this all day long and
didn’t take time to play. Bumble slept late, didn’t brush his teeth and often
had trouble finding his clothes. Bean was always up early. He organized and
cleaned everything starting with himself. One day they meet in the woods. They
wonder which is right, to be dirty or neat. Bumble introduces himself and talks
about how much fun he has getting dirty and playing. Bean introduces himself
and explains how important it is he stay clean to be happy and healthy. Both
realize they need a balance in their lives, and that there is a time for
everything.
How Babies Are Born
Two children, Orly and Lior are
talking about where babies come from. They discuss the usual stories they have
hear about the stork bringing them or finding the in the cabbage patch. They
discuss the possibility of babies growing from plants. Then they begin to
question where other animals come from. They decide to ask their parents but
they are at work. They can’t ask their grandparents because they are off on a
trip. An open book states he will answer their questions. He explains how fish,
dogs and kittens are born. Finally he explains in a way children will
understand without telling too much how children are made and born.This is an excellent book for those times
when children begin to ask the questions. It is a great way to start that conversation
with them.
Don’t Think You Can’t
A crow sees a beautiful tomato
and wants to eat it, but is afraid of the wolf. A rabbit comes along and sees
the tomato bigger than himself. He too wants to eat it. The crow warns of the
wolf. He gives the rabbit advice about how to hide from the wolf while eating
the tomato.The rabbit tries to convince
the crow to join him. The crow is too afraid. Soon the tomato is gone and the
crow realizes his fear, realistic or not kept him from attempting something he
really wanted.
Why the Giraffe is Crying
Geraldine the Giraffe cries over
everything. She reminded me of a two year old throwing tantrums when someone
says something she doesn’t like, or when she doesn’t get her way.Usually she looks into her puddle of tears
and sees Croakette the toad who tells her such funny things that she can’t help
but laugh. This is a book you must read to find out if Geraldine will ever stop
crying.
Go Away Scary Thoughts
A cute story of Dylan who is
afraid at night. He fears aliens, monsters and witches. When he is visited by
an angel and a fairy he learns what he has to do to keep the scary things away.
He learns he must control his own thoughts for this to happen. This would make
a great bed-time story to alleviate any fears the child might have.
Wizard Bill’s Secret
What if crocodiles had elephant
ears and zebras had pink stripes? In this cute story Bill the wizard visits the
zoo after all the people have left, and
grants the wishes of the animals. When daylight returns, the animals return to
their normal selves.The first thing I
thought about after reading this book was that this would make a great read to
use for creative writing.Having
students write about other things the wizard could do to the animals.Another writing idea that popped into my head
was, what if the sun rose before the wizard could turn them back.Great mentor text for creative writing
possibilities for children.
Mama Bird and Her Chicks
This is a counting book with a wonderful story attached to it. It has some simple rhyme to it. The story is of one mother bird sitting on her two eggs. Each time something happens to the birds to move it along then we have another number added to help with the counting. The storyline is wonderful. It teaches children a little about birds, what they eat and their predators and also teaches them to count to ten. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and kid friendly. These will stay on my Kindle so that I can share them with grandchildren.
A Journey Into Imagination
This is another one of my favorites. I love figurative language and I love to teach it. I teach sixth grade. That is an age that can be difficult as children try to transition from the younger child to the almost teenager. Finding books that are simple and fun to teach something they might not want to learn is always a challenge. I've had many books over the years I used to teach figurative language. However, this one with its beautiful and imaginative pictures is by far my favorite and one I will definitely use in my classroom when I return this year. It is a way for the child to use their imagination, something many don't know how to use, to learn about figurative language. Thank you Anat for such a wonderful imagination.
Student Reviewer: Rim
I just finished reading the second book in the series of Divergent. It is called Insurgent. The book has the same main characters as Divergent did. Even some secondary characters in the first book became main characters in this one. Some new people were Marcus, Christina, and Evelyn. Marcus and Evelyn are Tobias's parents. Tobias thought his mother was dead, but met her a year ago. Marcus bullied Tobias a lot, hitting him with a belt. Yet, Marcus is a sly person. Christina is Tris's best friend and she met Tris during Dauntless. Christina was still Tris's friend even after what Tris did. My connection in this book is where no matter what the problem i, always keep going. They did that throughout the whole book. This book was action filled in my eyes. The basic setting was in all of the factions! Amity, Candor, Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, even the Factionless! I recommend this to all people and especially people who love some twists in books that make you go What!?!?!" and that's all.