library – Page 51 – One Chapter

Kitty and the Treetop Chase by Paula Harrison

This is a series but you don’t need to read the previously books in the series to enjoy this one. I hadn’t read the previously books and I really enjoyed this children’s chapter book. This is a quick-paced story as Kitty is faced with a few obstacles as she solves another mystery using her superpowers with her cat crew at her side.

In this adventure, Kitty’s father has just finished creating a tree house for her and she can’t wait for her first sleepout. Mother has just informed Kitty that tonight, some good friends are coming over for dinner with their son, Ozzy. Mother thinks that Kitty should invite Ozzy to her sleepover. What?!? Kitty thought the tree house would only be hers.

When the family arrives, Ozzy seems too quiet for Kitty but nevertheless, she invites him to her sleepover. During the night, big changes occur for these two.

This was a fun adventure. I liked how there was some emotional ties and the mystery had a few layers to it. The storyline was easy to read but not childish. It was a good story.

Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

When I read this synopsis at the library, I wondered why I hadn’t heard about this book before. I already had a mountain of books to read but what the heck, what’s one more. A fiddle that can summon ghosts from their grave, oh yeah! Imagine the significances of that but then again, what would be the repercussions?

Shady is the main character of this book and she’s been having nightmares since her father died in a tragic accident. Shady can’t make any sense of what these nightmares mean. If only she could talk to her father again, he could probably answer many of Shady’s questions

Shady has an interesting family. Her grandmother was a medium who helped individuals talk to their dead loved ones. Her father had a fiddle that could summon spirits. Only her father’s fiddle seemed to cause more trouble than good. Shady has not seen her father’s fiddle since the day of his accident, it was in the vehicle with him. If only Shady could find her father’s fiddle and play it, she could talk to her father once again.

I liked the depth of this story. The mystery surrounding the fiddle and the history of Shady’s family, I found these interesting. I have mixed feelings about Shady though, as I liked how she believed in her family but how she treated some other individuals, I thought it wasn’t right. Why these individuals would put up it, I didn’t understand. As the lies and the past came to light in the story, I started to wonder if anyone knew the whole account or if they all, just had their own little part. I think the book could have been shorter, as parts of the story felt drawn out to me. I’m glad that I found this book at the library and read it.

The Home for the Friendless: Finding Hope, Love, and Family by Betty Auchard

I read this book for bookclub otherwise I think I would have missed reading this gem. What a great memoir! I enjoyed many things about this book and although, I live in the area that the author talks about, that is not what makes this book so special. This book is about the stories, the memories, and how those made me feel.

I could go on forever about the stories that are included in this book but some of my favorites were the name confusion story, Spike the dog, how her family lived through WWII, and her relationships with her family. The pictures that she included in the book were great, as I like looking at old photographs and they helped with the stories.

Pearl, Elizabeth, Betty, Betty Bop, Lizzie, whatever name you want to call her and that also depends upon who you were and what age she was (name confusion story) shares some great personal stories that left me smiling, shaking my head, and some almost left me in tears. Each chapter is a separate story and boy, does she have the stories.

When Spike got stuck in the toilet, I couldn’t quit laughing. In my mind, I imagined exactly what that scene must have looked like, as I read the words that were printed on the page. What a sight that must have been! When she wrote about WWII, as the family condensed themselves into 2 rooms, how cozy and scared everyone must have felt living side-by-side. Each story felt as if she was telling it to me personally, the details and emotions she wrote about were vivid. The story about eating the sandwiches during this time period and the free liver. I just cannot imagine.

I’m so glad that I read this for bookclub. I told our librarian that I appreciated her picking out this book for us. I will be recommending this book to others as it’s definitely one that others need to read. 5 stars

Grenade by Alan Gratz

If you’ve never read an Alan Gratz novel before and you read middle school/YA historical fiction, you’re missing out. You seriously need to read one of his books because I guarantee you that, you’ll be checking out the rest of his books before you finish that first book. Grenade was more than I expected. As I followed two different young men, they both were fighting a war, only they were on different sides. Hideki had become a member of the Blood & Iron Student Corp to protect his island and Ray, just landed on foreign soil and he heard that the enemy is waiting for them.

Armed with 2 live grenades, Hideki is sent into battle with other young teens like himself. His energy and enthusiasm are high until the reality of the war starts to sink in and the truth comes out. As Ray and his troops make their way into the new territory, he begins to wonder if this is what his parents and grandparents experienced in war. This is not what Ray had pictured. Hideki and Ray are moving towards each other, each of them battling a war their heart is not into.

I couldn’t tear myself away from this battle, I feared for the lives of these young individuals as they tried to fight for their country yet they weren’t prepared for what they were facing. I felt the dirt fall away as the bombs exploded and I saw the fear and anxiety on the faces of the young soldiers as they crept up the road, wondering what laid ahead for them.

The story is full is adventure, action and historical information. The characters stories were rich and I immediately became attached to them. I really enjoyed this story and I highly recommend it. Make sure you also read the author’s comments in the back of the book, as they enhance the book’s experience. I have read a few of Alan’s book and they don’t disappoint. My goal this winter is to read all of his books as I enjoy them so much.

Dear Justyce by Nic Stone

Do you need to read Dear Martin first to read this sequel? No, but I highly recommend you read both of these two books because they will get your blood pumping. It had been a while since I read Dear Martin but that didn’t matter, as the events quickly fell into place and my real world fell away.

My emotions were all over the place when I read this book. When the boys sat inside the rocketship at their local playground, I was glad that they had each other, even though the reason they found comfort there was not a happy one. With his dad back from the war, Justyce is now facing different challenges, ones that might be harder to face and predict.

As for Quan, he was trying to make life work, when he should have been just trying to live life. He needed a shoulder to lean on, a helping hand, just someone to encourage him along but he didn’t get that, so his reaction was based on what he knew.

I spoke to Quan many times while reading this book. I questioned his activities, praised his actions and I also raised my voice a few times. I enjoy these books that provoke me and draw me inside their pages.

Found by Joseph Bruchac

This was a fast read that I enjoyed except I thought the ending came on rather quickly. If you’re into survival stories, this one is for you.

Traveling on a train, Nick is headed to summer camp, when he witnesses a tragic event en route to his destination. With only his small bag with him, Nick has a change of plans, when he’s suddenly thrown off the train. Relying on his skills as a survival instructor, Nick moves through the Canada wilderness with great precision and consideration. These skills are put to the test when Nick realizes that the individuals from the train are pursuing him and they’re wasting no time.

This was a fast, engaging read. Nick was a character I liked and enjoyed reading about. He respected the land and he planned out his next move. This wasn’t one of those far-fetched books where the character does outlandish things or the character acts stupid, Nick behaves and thinks intelligentially. I liked how individuals from Nick’s family would pop into his head as he was thinking or doing something, as that provided some information about him and how he felt or knew about an idea. I liked the idea of the rabbit stick too. As I said before, I think the ending was a bit abrupt for my liking. It’s a good, quick story, though. 4 stars.

Speak Up, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

Molly Lou Melon does it again! She’s loud, lively, and energetic, but she uses those in a positive way. That’s what I like about Molly Lou Melon. In this picture book, Molly takes the lessons that she has learned about honesty, friendship, and responsibility to her classroom when Bettina Bonklehead turns into a bully.

It started when Molly Lou Melon sat in the front row of the classroom with two of her friends on the first day of school. Perhaps it was because Molly Lou smiled her huge toothy grin at all of her friends, perhaps it was because she carried her big yellow backpack to school, perhaps it was because she had big black hair, perhaps it was because she had on a striped shirt, or perhaps it was because Bettina was having a bad morning, the thing is…..we don’t know why Bettina decided to start picking on the kids in her class that day. Nevertheless, Bettina snickered out a commented to the three friends which wasn’t very nice. But I did like Molly Lou’s response and the look on Bettina’s face.

Later, when Molly Lou Melon is partnered with Bettina in winter, Molly didn’t let Bettina’s previous actions affect their relationship. They had a good time even when things didn’t go quite as planned. Molly kept her positive attitude and she inspired her peers to be better individuals.

This was a good feel book. A great book to promote positive action and how to change a situation. I liked how the book started out showing positive statements and then, the story followed. The illustrations are wonderful, very animated and dramatic. If you haven’t read one of Molly Lou Melon books yet, you should.

The Barnabus Project by The Fan Brothers

Located deep under the ground, beneath the store Perfect Pets, there’s a lab. In this laboratory, Green Rubber Suits create Perfect Pets. The lab is also home to the not-so-Perfect Pets. These not-so- Perfect Pets are called Failed Projects and they’re all stuck living under individual bell jars on one of the lab’s shelves.

Barnabus has wondered about the world outside the laboratory but it wasn’t until after, the Green Rubber Suits marked the Failed Projects did he decide to do something. Barnabus is a clever one as he gathers all the Failed Projects together so they can escape the lab. With fantastic, bright illustrations, you will love the journey that this team undergoes to find their way to freedom.

I adored these illustrations. The Failed Projects looked very adorable and unique. I enjoyed how they worked together and stayed together as they planned their trip. I loved the heavy pages of this book too. This is a fun book to read.

The Giver: Graphic Novel by P. Craig Russell

I have to warn you that The Giver is one of my favorite books of all times. Ever since reading it in one of my Elementary Education classes in college, I have loved it. I was apprehensive about reading this version of the book, as I was worried that everything that I had felt and imagined, would be destroyed as I turned these pages. This was a graphic novel afterall, there would be illustrations and the text would be modified, would it all fall into place?

Jonas lived in a world full of structure. They had strict rules that everyone had to follow including age-specific guidelines which started at birth. It didn’t seem that anyone questioned these rulings. The whole community seemed to be moving on automatic pilot. When I read this novel years ago, I remember there were tons of questions floating around in my head. Their behavior and their acceptance of following in someone else’s footsteps in their nice, neat community seemed too robotic and bizarre to be normal to me.

This graphic novel was really good. I enjoyed the way the characters were shown and the way that special features were handled. Although this graphic novel didn’t give an in-depth account of the story based on the novel, it did provide an incredible account of the story. With plenty of text boxes, filled with text and illustrations, I felt that by seeing the storyline come alive, I wasn’t missing a thing.

I was surprised at how emotional I was still was, at certain places in this graphic novel. I feel that this is a powerful book that unleashes some strong emotions and that it’s not a book for everyone due to its content. I really enjoyed this graphic novel and I highly recommend it.

Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

This is the story of Daniel; he’s not sitting beside you as you read this book but it’ll seem like he is. Daniel is telling his classmates about Iran, exactly how he remembers it and what it was like when he left that country, because that’s important.

Twelve-year-old Daniel currently lives in Oklahoma with his family. Residing in Mrs. Miller’s classroom, Daniel knows about inequity and how individuals feel about Persians. Giving his own personal story, Daniel wants his classmates to know him, to know who he is, as a person. So, sit back and enjoy his story. For these are his own memories, his whole personal life (his twelve years) you will be holding securely in your own two hands.

I adored this book, I really did. I loved how he wrote the book; the way that I felt a part of it and how the style of writing he used, personalized the book. The stories he wrote were interesting and they felt genuine and vivid. When the family fled Iran with their hard, gray suitcase and his memories of his extended family, even the smallest of details, felt so important. What a great treasure!

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” ….. “It’ll be alright in the end, folks. If it’s not alright, then it’s not the end.”

(Wow, I really enjoyed this and it made me stop and think, it’s so true. If you want a happy ending to whatever is happening, keep going till you get one. If you feel you’re getting an unhappy ending, keep going, perhaps you’re not at the end and you can change things.)