This spiffy giant is also the kindest person in town! George, the giant, was once the scruffiest giant in town so he decides to change his image, by buying all new clothes. George can change who he is on the outside but George is still George, on the inside. I soon discover that clothes do not make who this giant is, George is one special giant who has a heart of gold.
As soon as George puts on his new spiffy clothes, his step is lighter as he looks happier and his mood improves. George looks fantastic! Just outside the clothing shop, George hears the cry of despair. A giraffe George finds a sad giraffe who explains to George his problem when he inquires. Although George doesn’t have exactly what the giraffe needs, he improvises and helps the giraffe as best as he can. Walking away, George sings a song about being a spiffy giant even though, he has given giraffe one of his newly acquired pieces of clothes. Continuing to walk home, George comes to the river and finds a goat in distress. Oh George! Without batting an eye, George helps goat out the best that he can too. Goat is grateful as George walks away singing his song, adding another line to it, mentioning goat. George has now given away 2 pieces of his newly acquired clothes and his song keeps getting longer. Georger continues to walk home and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen in the end.
I thought this book was entertaining and clever. I liked how George’s mood improved when he got his new clothes but as he helped individuals, his mood continued. So, what made him scruffy at the beginning of the book? I liked the character of George and I liked how the author put this book together. There are a few great messages/teachable moments in this book. The illustrations were colorful and I enjoyed just looking at them on their own. 5 stars
What just happened? I read everything, I was confused, I reread portions, I tried to piece it all together but after I closed the book, I felt I was missing something. I really felt that not much occurred in this book for how confused I felt and for how many pages I read. Reading this book, it felt sometimes like I was suddenly off course for some reason. The illustrations and text weren’t making sense and it felt that I had skipped some pages. I tried to reread a few pages, only this time I read out loud but that didn’t help in this situation. By the end of the book, I didn’t understand what had all occurred in the 192 pages. I guess this book could be a set-up for book 2 and I hope that is the case.
Dash begins our story in a huff. He’s upset because his friends have an exciting summer planned and he’s stuck revisiting Black Sand Beach. It’s actually been 6 years since he’s been to that beach and this year, he’s taking Lily with him so it could be a fun year but Dash isn’t considering these possibilities. When they arrive at Black Sand Beach, some of Dash’s relatives are there in the house they’re sharing and I wasn’t sure what to think about these individuals. Were they actually living people or not? The confusion started for me and the illustrations didn’t help to calm my inquiring mind. This summer would definitely be one to remember for Dash and Lily, if only for the individuals that they get to meet and be around.
Black Sand Beach is the home of the “spooky old lighthouse,” which Dash knows hasn’t been functioning for years but then, why does Dash think he saw something bright come from the lighthouse? Dash thinks he hears something next. It’s a voice calling out to him from the direction of the lighthouse, can this really be happening? They’re calling out his name……”Dash.” Why would they want him after all this time and who is it?
I think the book has potential and perhaps, I just wasn’t in the best frame of mind when I read it. I thought the storyline was intriguing and I enjoyed the illustrations. I think I’ll try reading this again when I read book 2, hoping this one makes more sense, then.
I was excited to see this series in graphic novel form. The story does move along quickly and being told through the eyes of Chet, a young boy who lives with his Uncle Jerry, I think young teens will be able to relate to Chet and his adventure. I thought the illustrations reflected the book’s time period without being overly done and they reminded me of some old comic books that I have seen. This story was easy to follow, contained a handful of characters, and the words on each page were kept at a minimum. I enjoyed this story and thought the illustrations went along with the story nicely. I’m glad that this series is being created into graphic novel format and I’m looking forward to reading more of them in the future.
We’re here again to sing praises to Locker #37. If you missed the first book in this series don’t worry, as this book will give you all the details you need but you’ll want to read the first book as it’s just as great as this one. I’ll admit that I’m not the target audience (I’m over 50 yrs. old) and I’m finding this series pretty entertaining. Each of the books that I’ve read have been funny, fast-paced and engaging with a wide variety of realistic characters which have been pondering dilemmas that they’re faced with. Locker #37 is supposed to help these fourth-graders but sometimes, that help isn’t well-defined for them.
This is the second book in the series and it begins with Keisha being late for the school bus, by 1 minute. Not only did that mean a hump seat over the back wheels but because it was a full bus, she’s going to be sharing that seat with Hunter. Hunter, the bully! Hunter uses words to attack his victims and Keisha is ready for him. This isn’t a good start to her day but it only gets worse when she realizes that she doesn’t have her science homework done. Keisha knows the only answer to this, is inside Locker #37.
Locker #37 was the 4th graders of Hopewell’s Elementary secret weapon. Any fourth-grader had the power to use the miracles that awaited them inside this locker when they had a question and they needed a solution. “Secret”, as in, access to this mystery locker to any other student besides a fourth grader who went to this school was denied. It was the greatest locker ever or supposedly so. Sometimes the answer that was provided wasn’t what the student had expected or wanted but the locker always provided an answer.
When Keisha visits the locker, I think she was expecting some finished homework to be sitting there for her but Locker #37 had another solution for her. This solution proves to be quite entertaining! What a fun book – I’m looking forward to more books in this series!!
He couldn’t miss this opportunity so he dove. Rex, a marine archaeologist, felt that he had finally located the boat that he’d been searching for. Rex knew that he shouldn’t dive alone but he couldn’t just walk away from this without knowing for sure. At the end of the day, Rex would be lucky if he could even walk. What a find for Rex but what price would he have to pay for this great discovery?
With matching PhDs in wildlife biology, Sonia and Alex are good friends who continued their education after college by tracking and tagging polar bears in Norway together. When Sonia’s much-awaited study finally gets approved, she asks Alex if she’d be interested in it. A different research project has Sonia wrapped-up at the moment. Alex takes this new job and she immediately gets to work. With her aide and pilot, Alex goes out on the ice to gather her data. At the end of the day, it’s time for dinner and I enjoyed that she runs into Sasha and now, the two stories are coming together. Sasha was Rex’s dive partner who wasn’t with him on the day that he made his wonderful discovery. The story starts to get exciting as we learn more about what actually occurred that day when Rex dove to see the wreckage in the water. As Sasha talks to Alex about her relationship with Rex, this is just the beginning of their friendship and I’m just dying to know the whole story of what happened that day when Rex decided to dive alone.
Arriving to work the next morning, Alex discovers that the lab has been broken into. The only area that the intruder has ransacked was Alex’s and now, she has items missing. As the police investigate this invasion, Alex continues to gather data on the polar bears but in the back of her mind, there’s a lot going on. Out in the field gathering date, Alex doesn’t get a break. As Alex makes discoveries, she realizes that she’s not alone on the ice. Her job is the bears but her mind is somewhere else. Who are these individuals who are keep showing up in her life? What do they want from her?
There was a lot of action in this book as Alex tries to continue doing her study while these individuals invade her life. Alex becomes acquainted with a variety of different individuals quickly as she dives into her job and she becomes familiar with the town. As she made these connections, I learned more about Alex and these individuals. I liked Alex’s attitude and her resourcefulness. There was so much happening in this book, I thought at times that it might never end, yet Alex would still try to piece all the different aspects together so it’d make sense. I see that this is part of a series and now, I’m curious about the first book in this series. I’ll be looking for Alex in future books. #ABlizzardofPolarBears #NetGalley
One of my favorite parts: Casey confronting the Warlord – I thought it was a clever and sneaky idea and I could totally see this being played out in my head as I read it. I laughed after I read it and I wondered how that all played out in the end.
Thanks to Scene of the Crime Early Read, Alice Henderson, and NetGalley for proving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.
Synopsis:
Wildlife biologist Alex Carter is back, fighting for endangered species in the Canadian Arctic and battling for her life in this action-packed follow-up to A Solitude of Wolverines, “a true stunner of a thriller debut” (James Rollins) and “a great read” (Nevada Barr).
Fresh off her wolverine study in Montana, wildlife biologist Alex Carter lands a job studying a threatened population of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. Embedded with a small team of Arctic researchers, she tracks the majestic bears by air, following them over vast, snowy terrain, spending days leaning precariously out of a helicopter with a tranquilizer gun, until she can get down on the ice to examine them up close.
But as her study progresses, and she gathers data on the health of individual bears, things start to go awry. Her helicopter pilot quits unexpectedly, equipment goes missing, and a late-night intruder breaks into her lab and steals the samples she’s collected. She realizes that someone doesn’t want her to complete her study, but Alex is not easily deterred.
Managing to find a replacement pilot, she returns to the icy expanses of Hudson Bay. But the helicopter catches fire in midflight, forcing the team to land on a vast sheet of white far from civilization. Surviving on the frozen landscape is difficult enough, but as armed assailants close in on snowmobiles, Alex must rely on her skills and tenacity to survive this onslaught and carry out her mission.
“That day there was only enough prayer & blood for one of us to walk out.”
Moth was the lone survivor that day and the causalities included her brother and both of her parents. Since that traumatic day, Moth has lived with her Aunt Jack, pondering whether she should change her name, since there’s no one left who cares. Why was she left behind? I hated to hear that Moth gave up her love of dancing since the accident. Struggling to achieve her success, she was now just throwing it all away. Moth had no friends at school either. Attending a mostly white school, Moth found that the few black students that do attend, don’t include her in their conversations; they’re just like her previous school. It’s not like she’s trying either. She’s just existing, living on the memories that she can recall.
Sani took the seat beside her on the school bus, this seat that no one has ever sat in. Who would have thought it all began on a school bus? Sani is having family issues and he’s popping these mysterious pills, that he’s reluctant to discuss. Being of Navajo descent, Moth feels a connection to Sani through her Hoodoo. With their relaxed conversations, they come to realize that they’re both just surviving. They’re both just there. Sani offers a solution, a way out. A place where they can breathe. Sani asks Moth to run away with him.
I felt at first, when Sani asked Moth to run away with him, that he wasn’t serious. I thought he was just throwing something out there for them to dream about as they were both frustrated but when she responded, he jumped on it. This was an opportunity! This was going to happen! He obviously had been thinking about this.
What a trip this turns out to be for both of them. I enjoyed their journey and the places that they went. I liked that the trip was about connecting and discovery and not a love connection between the two of them. I loved the way the story was written in verse as the words weren’t forced nor did they feel cheesy. I enjoyed how the characters and story came together and the ending was impressive as I didn’t see that one coming. I can’t wait to see what else this author writes.
The sky & the rain baptize our bodies- sinless & free.”
“Sani (looking sad): Do the ancestors ever answer?
I’ll be honest and say that, a few sections of this book were WAY over my head. I’m not a doctor or a nurse, nor do I have any medical field experience. I’m a mother and a Nana which gives me some medical experience but my badges of an accountant, substitute teacher, volunteer, and a devoted book reader don’t give me the background to handle some of the terms and procedures that Sanjay was mentioning in this book. I did my best trying to decipher these sections of the book which included DNA, RNA, and chemical reactions, but some of it was just tumbling around in my head. He talked about the origins of infectious diseases which I thought was interesting. Finding the origins of these illnesses and when they began is important as it can say a lot about the disease. Previously many infectious diseases began from domestic animals and I remembered that they were linking Covid to bats. The common cold originally began in a camel and pigs and birds are the sources of the many strains of the flu. Makes me wonder, if they can give us these diseases, do humans give them any diseases?
Sanjay talks about a Global Health Security Risk which I thought was interesting. This Security Risk was assembled by “the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the John Hopkins Center for Health Security (JHU) and was developed with The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).” The purpose of this index was “these organizations believe that, over time, the GHS Index will spur measurable changes in national health security and improve international capability to address one of the world’s most omnipresent risks: infectious disease outbreaks that can lead to international epidemics and pandemics.” This index was created in Oct 2019, this was before the pandemic. How was the U.S. ranked out the of 195 countries? Number 1, they scored 83.5 out of 100, the best prepared county to handle a pandemic/epidemic. The United Kingdom received a 77.9 and New Zealand a 54. YET, and I say yet, we all know what happened in the U.S. The U.S., according to the graphs that I saw on the news, they didn’t look like they were the best prepared. Sanjay makes a point by saying that the United States has 4% of the world’s population but they had 22% of the world’s total infections of this disease by the end of 2020. That’s like taking “Ten (10) Airbus 320 Jetliners with 150 individuals on board and having them all fall from the sky, every day! We haven’t even considered the number of lives that were lost in 2021.
“Had we taken action and carried out control measures, like physical distancing and masking up just one or two weeks earlier, a report created at Columbia University states that more than half of the deaths and illnesses could have been avoided.” Sanjay gives more details about this topic and like many, he has his data to back it up.
So, what’s the future hold? I thought what Sanjay said made sense and he used PROOF to organize his points. Sanjay believes that Covid is here to stay, just like many other professionals. Learning how to live together, each of us will need to adapt, change and respond to one another. Using PROOF, Sanjay makes some valuable points about risks, the internet, keeping vigil, and planning.
Overall, I thought it was a great book for me. I liked his mindset and the book didn’t feel overloaded with emotions and turmoil. I thought Sanjay was honest and he shared a variety of different topics in the book. There were some parts of the book that were difficult for me to read terminology, but I managed. 4.5 stars
I actually am in awe with this book. I liked how the author made me think about different stories and how they’re all kinda the same, yet somewhat different. I believe it was in the middle of the book, that Jacob talks about how some plots are all the same but it depends on how the author tries to make them unique. I realize this but what would happen if authors can’t piggyback on one another’s plots? Would we lose great authors or pieces of great fiction?
As I listened to this novel on audio, Jacob claimed he wasn’t stealing Evan’s story because he hadn’t read the whole book, but had he? I contemplated this thought as I read further into the novel. There were lots of little facts that kept popping up that I enjoyed but were scaring Jacob. I loved how Jacob stated he was enjoying the stardom of being a successful writer yet he actually wasn’t, as it seemed that he was constantly looking over his shoulder. His investigation into Evan Parker sure was extensive and I was impressed at how far Jacob’s pursuit went. He could become an investigator if being a writer doesn’t work out for him.
I thought there was a big lull in the middle of the book. Jacob’s investigation was getting boring for me. His love life was getting interesting, almost too cozy but he doesn’t seem to give her too much attention, as all his thoughts are focused on Jacob. I’m glad that I stuck it out to the end of the book as it was really good. The audio was good on this book and I highly recommend it. 4 stars (middle is so-so)
I loved, loved this book!! What a great story. It was the way that these two fathers bounded and how they came to terms with who they really were. It was the way they decided that they’d had enough and that they want to settle the score, no matter the cost. The way that these fathers came to realize that they’d made mistakes and that there was no do-overs and that they could now only, move forward in life. These fathers became a team yet they were working alone, working for each of their sons and for themselves.
Each of these fathers had some history in the system, history that left an impression on them. They didn’t want a return visit so they tried not to leave a trail as they do their investigation. Their sons had met in college although they grew up not far from one another. They died together, both murdered and the case is now, inactive.
The fathers have some issues that they must come to terms with before they can move forward, big issues that will impact themselves and the feelings that they have towards their children. It was the marriage between their sons, this gay marriage, the unity between a white man, Derek to Isiah, a black man that left the two fathers seeking answers and justice.
Wow, these two fathers were pulling out everything they had to find the answers. I liked how they took charge although, it scared me a few times how gusty they were. I was worried that one of them would be killed but then, it felt like someone/something would save them and they would live for another day. I enjoyed how the two of them talked to one another, it felt realistic and sometimes, the heat between them was smoking. I really enjoyed this book and there was some book hangover with this one. 5 stars!!!
What exactly was going on? She left him lying there, as she hurried down to the proper floor where her own workspace was waiting for her. There was so much blood, she knew that Michael was dead. Ellice had to pretend like nothing had happened. They’d been meeting up for a while and no one knew of their relationship. Michael paid her well and they both were happy. They were both lawyers, except Ellice was the only black lawyer in the firm and Michael was married.
Ellice was good at pretending that she knew nothing about what happened that morning. As the police and emergency personal arrive at the office building, Ellice tries to stay calm yet inside she’s a nervous wreck. When invited into the CEO office, she feels her days are over and yet, she can’t believe her ears when they offer her Michael’s job. What?! Instantly, I think this is a set-up. I’m cautious of everyone, why would they do that and who would do it? Then, Ellice hears that it’s a racially motivated move to place her in Michael’s position, which makes sense since there’s some tension on their doorstep. Yet, this doesn’t make sense to me and why kill him?
I liked how Ellice didn’t accept what individual were telling her and she downed her private detective tools and she started her own investigation. She actually made a great detective as she explored every lead and she pursued every little trail she found. I found that in the middle of the book, it got a bit slow for a while but then, it picked back up in speed and the book’s conclusion was brilliant. In the end, what she uncovered was some twisted account with a lot of different pieces attached to it. It was quite the discovery. This book was an entertaining mystery that I enjoyed. 4.5 stars
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Scene of the Crime Facebook website.
One Chapter 