What I've Been Reading

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The back and forth between characters' voices is something I'm just not a fan of. I forget who's telling the story; it's too hard to keep track of to enjoy the story being told. It also seemed a stretch to me that this father could have led this double life for so long without consequence. I did like the ending although that seemed a little hard to believe too.

View all my reviews 1/15/21 Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

September 11, 2001 is, like in so many other Americans, emblazoned into my memory so clearly it could have been yesterday. When Déja talks about the video, I could see it just as I saw it that day on the news. I can't imagine living through it on site. This book deals with those events 15 years removed from them -- and how the day affected people and still affects them today. It's an excellent young person read.

View all my reviews 1/7/21 Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure I would recommend this book to children younger than high school age, but I do think there are important ideas that need to be shared and discussed in this book. Once again my eyes have been opened.

December 29, 2020 View all my reviews Beloved by Toni Morrison
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When Morrison delves into the psychology of recovering from slavery -- the trauma, the struggle to be truly liberated, both physically and mentally/emotionally -- I was totally drawn in. I did not understand the symbolism (?) or the metaphor (?) that was Beloved. Was she a ghost? Why did others also see her? What exactly did she represent? These questions are beyond me. I expect if I understood more of HER, I would have ranked the book higher. Another one that I need "spoon fed" I guess.

View all my reviews Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a case of having characters that I could not relate to nor be invested in. Although I could see there were internal conflicts among most of the characters, I couldn't relate to them nor did I particularly care about them. Fitzgerald is another author I don't understand what the hoopla is surrounding him. Maybe I need to take a class so I can have him "spoon fed" to me, as my daughter thinks I need.

View all my reviews No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me fully half of the book before I was fully invested in his story. It took me awhile to sort of "get" his humor and understand where he was really coming from, but ultimately, I felt again that I was sitting with a friend -- who wasn't asking for pity or anything really, but just making sense of his own life and his own circumstances and sharing the insights. You have to like MJF. And now I admire him, too.

View all my reviews Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love this book.

View all my reviews Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good book for 4th to 6th graders who are interested in Freedom Riders and Jim Crow South in 1964.

View all my reviews Dear Martin by Nic Stone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this one after I read Dear Justyce which is probably backwards, but I don't think it made any difference. I think I like this one better because it gets inside the head of Justyce more. The reader can see his struggle and how his thinking evolves. Nic Stone's books are important reads. I love these two books, and I'm looking forward to reading the others.

View all my reviews Front Desk by Kelly Yang
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There were good parts of the book, but mostly I felt it was way beyond believable that two 10 or 11-year-olds could pull off what these two girls did. Still, I like the girls, and I liked their perseverance.

View all my reviews A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best children's novels I've read in a very long time. Lisa Moore Ramée treated the race issues and the middle school trials with the expertise of someone who has lived through them and experienced them first hand but also with grace and honesty. I love this book.

View all my reviews The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1. I hated jumping back and forth between the past and the present. 2. I felt the connections between the two were a stretch. 3. I didn't like either of the two main characters. Neither one of them really deserved my attention. For a GMA book club pick, I was disappointed.

View all my reviews The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Having been a Jeopardy fan most of my adult life and having followed Alex Trebek's fight with pancreatic cancer, I read the book with the sole intent of learning about him, and I did. His book was like sitting with him in a comfortable chair and listening to him talk about his life. In his foreword, he disclaims his writing abilities. I've read better memoirs, certainly, but also much worse. The book didn't disappoint me. I came away from the book feeling like I spent the day with a good friend. One who will be sorely missed.

View all my reviews Dear Justyce by Nic Stone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nic Stone writes like she's lived these exact events -- and maybe she has. The stories she tells break my heart and make me want to help others to see why BLM is so important. So hard for someone like me to do -- living in a predominantly white community and having gone to schools with nearly zero diversity growing up. But books like this at least open my eyes to the problem and help me to understand the privilege I have enjoyed all my life for no other reason than that I was born with white skin. That's not enough. But maybe it's a start???

View all my reviews Into the Land of the Unicorns by Bruce Coville
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm not a huge fan of dragons and unicorns, but my grandson's teacher was reading the book to the class, and I got tired of not knowing how it would end so I picked it up at my library and read it. I'd recommend it to fantasy fans, but it really wasn't my cup of tea.

View all my reviews The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am not in any way trying to downplay the importance of this subject, and I want to learn as much as I can, but this particular book seemed pretty repetitive. It seemed like I was reading the same things over and over again in each chapter so I abandoned it. That said, I have since read other books on the topic, and I saw the documentary that I believe was based on this book. The documentary was enlightening, and maybe that's partly why I felt like I was reading what I'd already read before.

View all my reviews The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was not invested in these characters at all.

View all my reviews Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I thought the whole story was very unrealistic. I know it was based on true events, but seriously? Who keeps the death of someone's sister secret from her?

View all my reviews Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For Kaska-Boom!: This book made me think of Fish in a Tree, Out of Mind, and Finding Perfect in the way it took me inside the head of a child with a specific disability. Like the other books, it made me feel guilty for the lack of understanding I may have shown to students with the same disabilities, and also broke my heart for them for their struggles and the lack of understanding shown to them by many of the adults and children in their lives. Still, there was hope for Rose (Rows), and I was happy for her at the end.

Granddaughters, if you haven't read this one yet, you should add it to your to-read lists!

View all my reviews The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For Kaska-Boom!: I found the connections between the discrimination of the "Blues" in this book and the African-Americans today to be eerily familiar. The glimpse into the backwoods hills of Kentucky was fascinating. I guess the problem I had was that there really was no compelling conflict in the story other than Cussy Mary's blood disorder, and I didn't feel as though there was really anything resolved about it. I was frustrated by Doc. I couldn't tell if he was friend looking out for her or if he was simply using her for his own gain. One minute he was sticking up for her, and the next he was ignoring her except for his 'tests'. The information about the Pack Horse librarians was interesting, but it really didn't go anywhere or further Cussy's story.

View all my reviews Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom!: Multiple stories are all bound together by a single thread created by a harmonica. This book combines history and fantasy as well as a little bit of coming of age. Told beautifully.

View all my reviews The President's Devotional: The Daily Readings That Inspired President Obama by Joshua DuBois
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The main reason I abandoned the book is because it is a library book, and I wouldn't have been able to keep it long enough. The book is a daily devotional designed for daily reading with reflection or meditation on the readings. As such, it really doesn't lend itself to extended reading time which is what I need to do in order to return it on time to the library. Maybe it's a book that I would someday purchase in order to read on a day-to-day basis, but often I don't do well with that for very long.

View all my reviews Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom!: I like how conversational Anne Lamott's writing is, and how she brings you right along with her as she searches for and discovers herself. She is alternately funny, heartbreaking, inspiring, and someone I might be able to be a friend to. In this book, she taught me two things: 1. I cannot write because I have not endured enough struggle in my life. Not that my life has been easy or I've had everything handed to me, but compared to hers my life has been a piece of angel food cake with strawberries and lots of whipped cream. 2. I need to listen more and just be here. In part, she gave me this quote: I realized that "God isn't there to take away our suffering or our pain but to fill it with his or her presence..." Ummmmm..... I think my daughter has tried to tell me this very thing in hundreds of ways, usually when she is frustrated by my feeble attempts to fix whatever is wrong when all she really wanted from me was my presence. I just always felt like it was my job as a mom to make things better when they were going wrong. How stupid I see that is now. And what a relief that I no longer have the pressure of having to fix everything anymore! Thanks to Anne!

View all my reviews Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom!: Jacqueline Woodson is one of my favorite ya authors, and this book did not disappoint me, although Brown Girl Dreaming is still my all-time favorite. Nothing yet has come close to that one for me. This was a good companion book to the Coates and DeAngelo books I just read -- but from the perspective of the children. It was never clear to me why the teacher chose to put these six children together, but it was abundantly clear as the reader, watching from the outside, why the children needed each other. Several times as the children opened up to one another, I teared up. We need more books like this one to open the window into the lives of the children (and their parents) whose lives have been so impacted by the history written by others more powerful.

View all my reviews The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John R. Bolton
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I don't know what I was expecting from Bolton's account, but this wasn't it. The more I read, the more I understood that the two men (Bolton and T-Rump) are cut from the same cloth, and I was simply unable to stomach Bolton any better than I can stomach T-Rump.

View all my reviews Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book is a letter to the author's son about his inner journey and coming-to-terms with how he, as a black man in America can figure out how the history of black people affects his ability to be part of society as Black people today. The first half of the book was kind of rambling and difficult for me to follow, but the second half..... was powerful. I am speaking as someone who calls herself white, but who is trying to understand how everything going on in our country today racially impacts us all -- and why. I know that as someone who has grown up and lived her adult life very sheltered, not only from race but from many of the ills in our society, I will never fully understand the nuances and the emotion of race relations, but I want very much to try to learn as much as I can. Coates's book made me feel sad and sorry and guilty as well as gave me the desire to know and understand as much as I can and then do as much as I can to help improve the disparity between our people. I am sorry.

View all my reviews White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For Kaska-Boom!: I was nervous about reading this book. I didn't want to feel attacked for my whiteness or uncomfortable for things events that were beyond my control -- two examples, by the way, of the very White Fragility DiAngelo defines in the book. But because on some level, I already intuited the idea of White privilege and its impact on people of color, and because Robin DiAngelo does such an excellent job of defining and describing bias, prejudice, discrimination, and racism as well as White Supremacy and White privilege, I read the book with the idea that as a White person who grew up and lives in predominantly White, non-diverse settings I have much to learn, I was less uncomfortable than I would have thought. And I learned so much! Probably I need to reread the book and then re-reread it -- many times. But for now I am digesting what I've just read and trying to fully understand all the ramifications -- and moving on to Ta-Nehisi Coates. I feel this book is important enough that everyone needs to read it, and read it with the attitude that we ALL have much to learn regarding race and race relations.



View all my reviews Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: I was so frustrated by this book! I didn't really like Icy although I did feel for her and her struggle. The people who loved her but really did nothing to help her were part of my frustration. Icy's struggle with her disorder and inability or unwillingness to share what was going on inside her were a part of my frustration. The fact that no one really seemed to do anything to try to understand her was part of my frustration. The characters like Mamie Tillman and Miss Emily who I thought would figure in so importantly left me questioning why they were even in the story. And the ending!!! Oh my goodness, what a stupendous disappointment. This might be the worst Oprah book I've ever read. It's definitely the biggest disappointment.



View all my reviews Different Seasons by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom!: This is the fourth book I've read by Stephen King. His batting average with me is about .500. This book is four novellas, including the ones the led to The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. Those two stories I enjoyed immensely. The other two, "The Apt Pupil" and "The Breathing Method" were too bizarre for my taste. That said, even when I don't like the stories he tells, I admire the storytelling of Stephen King.



View all my reviews Dragonfly by Leila Meacham
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There were so many unbelievable aspects to this book. The silly mistakes people made. The unlikely alliances and meetings and overlapping of characters' situations. And there was absolutely no intrigue because the author let the reader in on every possible situation that could have been mystifying. Disappointment. It could have been a great book.




View all my reviews Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom!: There is something -- I can't quite put my finger on it -- that bothers me about this author's writing style. Her stories are good, but they are missing something. Maybe it's the ending? Still, I liked the book, but something about it just fell flat with me.




View all my reviews The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read this book several times before, but I've never read this edition. What struck me this time was how similar her feelings and her writing are to my feelings and writings at the same age. I swear that I wrote some of the exact same ideas when I was younger. Of course the saga told by the diarist is much more heartwrenching. The story told through Anne's diary is timeless and worth rereading from time to time.



View all my reviews The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: This was the most disappointing of Erik Larson's books that I've read. He could have improved the quality of the book vastly by concentrating on Churchill only -- and maybe still allowing the bits about his wife, Clementine, and the non-romantic bits about Mary, whose diary entries when talking of her father were enlightening and interesting. The parts about the upper echelon of Hitler's team were also revealing and helpful. What detracted the most from the novel were the vignettes of people who surrounded Churchill but whose addition failed miserably in a weak attempt to add suspense or interest to the story. I've loved Larson's other books. This one was a monumental disappointment.




View all my reviews Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom!: I put this as young adult, but I think it's an excellent choice for adults as well. I wouldn't go under eighth grade -- maybe some exceptional seventh graders -- for recommendations though. I have to say that it took me quite a while to really get into the book, but I'm not sure it was the book or just that I wasn't quite in the mood to begin any book at that point. Once I did get into it though, I couldn't put it down. What a story! What a shock at the end! Told from the perspective of two women fighting the Nazis in their own ways, the book is unique for its portrayal of the contributions of women in war. The author's debriefing at the end was enlightening. Really, really great book!



View all my reviews One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading this book and watching Ruby transform as she worked through her feelings of grief and anger. Although there were portions of the book I found to be predictable and places that were somewhat inexplicable, I was ultimately surprised by the ending and that's always a plus for me.





View all my reviews Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: 1.5 is really my score. Just not my cup of tea. AT. ALL. I saw no point whatsoever to the story. Nothing made sense. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for any of it. Bizarre.






View all my reviews Long Way Home by Cameron Douglas
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I just couldn't get into his story -- and I WANTED to. It is possible that I didn't stick with the book long enough, but I just couldn't get into it.






I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: I'd really like to give this about a 3.5. I liked the characters. I liked their stories. But the way it was told frustrated me. I got tired of feeling like a yo-yo -- I like Oscar. I don't like Oscar. He's good for me. He's bad for me. I like Brian. I don't like Brian. He likes me. He doesn't like me. Grrrrr!!! Come on already! Ultimately, I guess I would recommend the book. I did like it, and towards the end, I really couldn't put the book down. There were so many threads of the story that wove between all the different characters and didn't really come together until the end... It really was just the constant back and forth within the Noah and Jude that made me impatient.



View all my reviews t/5631971-cathy">View all my reviews The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Disappointing

For Kaska-boom: This book tells three stories--none of them well. The marital problems of Miriam and Axel had nothing to do with anything. The Ravensbruck thread through letters found after forty years was too hard to believe. The relationship between Henryk and Frieda was also not believable. What in the heck did the demise of the wall in Berlin have to do with the story? It was a stretch to expect any of these threads to create a cohesive whole. Terribly disappointing piece of fiction.



View all my reviews Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: This book is heartbreaking on so many levels. What happens when parents project their own unrealized dreams onto their children? The family dynamics in the story are incredibly sad -- yet, in the end there is a sense of hope. What kept me from a higher rating was, I think, the writing style. It seemed clipped at times, and it was sometimes difficult to follow. Still this book will offer opportunities for great discussion when my book club is able to meet.



View all my reviews Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: What I like about Olive is getting inside her head. She is brutally honest with herself and shoots straight from the hip. I'm not sure I'd get along with her if she was real, but I really like reading about her and watching her "from afar." Evidently the book has the same effect on many readers that Olive herself has on the other characters, because I don't know any other Olive fans. I thoroughly love the way Elizabeth Strout tries to figure out human nature through the voice and actions of Olive and the variety of townspeople who interact with her. I admit there are dark spaces in the book and some of it is more bizarre than I'd normally read, but read through the lens of divining what makes us all tick, I can tolerate the dark and bizarre because I don't think Ms. Strout is going for shock value. I think she's trying to illuminate us to our own humanity.




View all my reviews The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: I loved the story of Eve and the girls but was less impressed with the parallel story of Charlie. The history of the Alice Network was great. The WWII tie in, not as much.






View all my reviews The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I saw this book promoted on a PBS news program that originates from Tokyo. The author's mom is the main character in this book. The story begins about ten months before the bombing of Hiroshima which is great because we get nearly a year to get to know her, her family, their customs, and get a feel for the Japanese culture of the time. I'd love to see this book used in classrooms. There's so much WWII based on the Holocaust -- which of course there should be -- but the Pacific theater, and especially the human and cultural aspect of the Pacific theater seem to be often overlooked.




View all my reviews The Girl with Seven Names: Escape From North Korea by Hyeonseo Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: This is maybe the fourth book about someone from North Korea, but this one might be my favorite. Hyeonseo Lee is amazing in her strength, determination, courage, intelligence, and fortitude. As intense as any holocaust novel I've ever read, I could not put this book down. Her story was as enlightening as it was compelling. A must-read.




View all my reviews The Thing About Leftovers by C.C. Payne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For Kaska-Boom: Another granddaughter-recommended book, and one that I loved. I think there are a whole lot of young people out there who could potentially relate to any of three of the characters in this book. They and their problems ring true to the problems faced by many of our youngsters today, and I felt they were dealt with in ways that could be humorous, heartbreaking, realistic, and ultimately affirming while giving children hope that maybe their situations can also improve if they just give them time and work a little at them. Fizzy had a great support system that included friends, teachers, parents, and other family members. The parents' struggles were also realistic and viewed through the eyes of Fizzy. Just an all-around good book.




View all my reviews Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For Kaska-boom: This book made me so angry on so many levels! Anger toward the men who used their power to intimidate and demean women. Anger at the men AND WOMEN who stood by and allowed it to happen. Anger for the executives who bought silence and protection at the expense of the women being exploited. Anger at the NEWS PEOPLE whose job is reporting the news and who chose to squelch it instead because of their own culpability. Anger at people who held on to the stories for the power it gave them over those people instead of reporting them for the greater good. Anger at people like our president who viciously and blatantly tries his best to discredit any reporting that threatens him by calling unfavorable news "fake". The list goes on and on. This book was eye-opening and heartbreaking. What kept me from giving it a 5-star rating was that I found it a tad difficult to follow at times, but I could not put it down. Grateful for reporters like Ronan Farrow who persevere and do not give up, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.




View all my reviews Finding Perfect by Elly Swartz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Written for Kaska-boom: This book wore me out. Walking in Molly's shoes was exhausting to me. I was grateful for her two friends and the grown-ups who came through for her in the end. OCD must be awful, especially for a child who really has no frame of reference for understanding what's wrong or how to get help. Recommended by my granddaughter, it was an interesting story.  3/27/2020




View all my reviews Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Written for Kaska-boom: I have to say: I almost abandoned this book. I'm happy to say that I did not. Jodi Picoult seldom disappoints me, and I'm glad I persevered through my discomfort with one character and finished the book. Race is a difficult issue to confront. I am someone who Kennedy McQuarrie could have been modeled from. I don't consider myself to be racist -- but it's incredibly easy to say so when you grew up white in predominantly white communities. What ultimately kept me reading was that I skipped to the back and read Picoult's author notes. When I read those, I knew I had to finish the book.  (3/26/2020)

This quote from the final chapters of the book slapped me in the face, "Prejudice goes both ways, you know. There are people who suffer from it, and there are people who profit from it." Being white gives us so many advantages that we take for granted -- and that people of color do not enjoy, for no other reason than their color. I am remembering two students I had in my last year of teaching, and others throughout the years, and I am realizing just how many cards are stacked against them -- and how little I did to try to even up the playing field because I had no idea the field needed leveling. I realize how our education system fails them -- how society fails them.

Ms. Picoult said in her notes that she expects "pushback" from this book. "I will have people of color challenging m for choosing a topic that doesn't belong to me. I will have white people challenging me for calling them out on their racism." Through her character, Kennedy, she discusses racism as more than hate. It is noticing the only Black history in textbooks being slavery and doing nothing about it. It's noticing there are more white people being hired, promoted, etc. and not asking why. It's a whole host of privileges that translate to power that we accept as our right and do nothing to change. Reading this book opened my eyes. I'm glad that she wrote it.



View all my reviews True by Katherine Hannigan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is so. much. good. in this book. I loved it. Read it. You will love it too.







View all my reviews A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book I've read by this author. If you want to read a feel-good, fun, happy, a little bit fantasy book, this is the one. Natalie Lloyd has such a beautiful way with words! I love the imagery and the way she plays with the reader's senses. I love her characters. They are sweet and incredibly likable. It's a great book for the young, or those of us who are getting older, but still young at heart. Read it. You will like it.



View all my reviews The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance – What Women Should Know by Katty Kay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was fascinating. There is so much to think about and try! There is so much insight to what makes women in general so hesitant and men so driven yet unphased by setbacks or failure. This book needs to be read for our daughters and for the girls in our schools. It is important information that could help turn the trend of women standing aside to a trend where women stand up and move ahead. A must-read for women of all ages.



View all my reviews Seriously... I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, what did I expect from a stand-up comedienne? She wrote like she talks. Parts were funny. Parts were not (Probably just b/c I don't always get her humor -- even when I can actually hear her speak). It was an easy read that was a nice diversion, but it didn't make me want to run out and read her other books. Once was enough.





View all my reviews Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose by Joe Biden
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I have a great deal of admiration for Joe Biden, but the book was a disappointment to me. The parts that detailed his son's battle and related the family relationships were interesting, but I felt like the majority of the book really centered on policy during his time in the White House with President Obama as his vice-president, and that was not what I was looking for in the book.

I still admire him, and now more than ever, I wish he'd have decided sooner to run for president, because I am certain he'd have won, a victory that would have spared us from the ego-maniacal T-Rump. Maybe 2020??




View all my reviews The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. I loved every single character and every single thing about the book. I loved the stories of all the "Wildflowers" and I loved the lesson learned. What a great, feel-good book for young people. Maybe older people too! Love, love, love!!




View all my reviews The Julian Chapter by R.J. Palacio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We dislike Julian so much in Wonder, that it is nice to read this companion story about him to see what drives his actions -- and to get a feeling of hope that the boy he was will not necessarily presage the man he'll become. Loved this story.





View all my reviews The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If I could give a half a star, I would. I loved the parts of surviving in Alaska. I loved the description of this wild place as it would have been less than two decades after becoming a state. I loved the people there. But this story made me mad. Cora angered me. Of course Ernt was despicable. But Cora drove me nuts. And it got to the point in the story where I thought, "You've GOT to be kidding me! How much more tragedy is one family supposed to overcome?" Still, there were bright spots in the book. I'd still maybe recommend it for the Alaska parts and because Leni was such a strong beautiful character.



View all my reviews The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I liked this book for its historical portrayal of India preceding, during, and after the Naxalbarri uprising of 1960's and early 1970; however, I was disappointed in the characters and in the plot surrounding them. The ending of the book was anticlimactic for me -- I kept expecting something pivotal to happen that would further explain the actions of the characters towards one another. Although the book held my interest, it was mainly to find out more about the country and its people. The book was a little disappointing to me.



View all my reviews The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I loved Atwood's writing. I did not love the book. It was too "out there" for me and there was too much left unanswered - unfinished.

View all my reviews




View all my reviews March by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved the voice Geraldine Brooks gave to Mr. March and the letters he wrote home to his family once he went off to war. I'm having a difficult time reconciling myself to the man he became after the horrors he experienced and to the wedge he somewhat unwittingly drove between himself and Marmee. The Marmee portrayed in Little Women does not really match the Marmee portrayed in this book. At least not in my imagination. I do think that the experiences of Mr. March as portrayed in the book are realistic, plausible, and imaginable, as are his reactions to them. He is a flawed human being in this book -- as are we all -- but I just could not imagine him being quite this flawed -- nor Marmee either. Still, it could have been as Ms. Brooks tells it, and she tells the story well. It was a good read, just not my favorite, and just not lined up with my own ideas of who Mr. March may have been.



View all my reviews I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like my niece told me a week ago: "Sometimes you just need brain candy." Yep. That's how I'd classify this book. It was a fun summertime read, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Twists, turns, and typical Fannie Flagg humor. Delicious. :-)






View all my reviews The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This has not been a stellar summer for me with book choices! I was really excited to read this book. As someone who grew up right along with the space program and followed every launch, I wanted to know about the families who backed up these men. The book disappointed me because it read like a summary of all the magazine articles that were probably written at the time and felt more gossipy to me than informational or even entertaining. Stunning disappointment.



View all my reviews Still Alice by Lisa Genova
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was unprepared for the emotions this book would evoke in me. I've never known anyone who has suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, but I feel like this book portrayed what it must be like very well. I had to put the book down a few times -- it broke my heart when she expressed her fears of forgetting her husband and when she had conflicting emotions of happiness that her daughter's children could be protected from the genes that caused her illness -- and guilt that she couldn't offer her own children that same protection. But mostly, I was awed by her and couldn't put the book down. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.



View all my reviews The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book b/c the author is local, but I just could not. I just did not. I didn't used to allow myself to abandon books -- and I still don't like to -- but with "So many books, so little time" as my new mantra, my new attitude is, why waste my time with a book I'm not enjoying when there are so many others out there that are waiting to be read that I WILL enjoy. So, I forced myself to read at least 100 pages to give the book (and local author) a fair shake, but it was a painful 100 pages for me to read, and I've given it up.



View all my reviews Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by Jon Meacham
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I had to give up on this book. I have been reading it for 2 1/2 weeks and haven't been able to navigate through 100 pages yet. I hate to give up, but there are too many other books out there that I know will hold my interest for me to waste any more time on this one.




View all my reviews Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was looking forward to a book about the demolition of the Berlin Wall, but this book was largely disappointing. I didn't like any of the characters. There really was nothing to them. The plot was as murky as East Berlin must have been at the time. There were lots of mysterious "things" happening, but none of them were very developed and none of them really seemed to tie together or give any sort of a sense of what was really going on. The entire book was a waiting game for something to happen. Unfortunately, nothing really ever did.



View all my reviews Bailey's Story by W. Bruce Cameron
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think young people in the age group identified by the author (3rd through 7th grade) will truly enjoy this book. For me, I recognized story threads in this book from his other dog's purpose novels so it was, again, a bit disappointing to me. Still, I'm going to set it back for my grandson when he gets just a little older. I think he might enjoy the story.




View all my reviews The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did like the book. I liked the characters, the friendships. I LOVED Wesley. I cried for Mark's plight. The haiku sprinkled throughout did my heart good. My imagination created stunning photography -- Edward Hopper-esque. There was so much that was good about the book -- but what kept me from ranking it higher was the ending which, although it was a happy ending, was simply too syrupy and predictable for me. It seemed hurried compared to all the time that was taken for the other pieces of the story. I wanted to know how Wesley dealt with his decision, when he found out how Mark was found -- that was a big hole as far as I was concerned. I wanted Wesley to be more in the end. Overall though, I think it was a good read -- even for the guys. I think they might like it too, which is a plus.



View all my reviews Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Books like this one are what my nightmares are made of. It hits just a bit too close to what could really be. Well, not exactly what happened in this book, but something LIKE what happened in the book. All through the story, I felt the same nervousness, fear, and anxiety that Tamaya felt because I feel that anxiety in the world when I hear about global warming or plastic in the ocean or any of a myriad of other stories of gloom and doom surrounding the future of the planet. It made me wonder, as stories like this nearly always do, how much of what we are doing to our planet in the name of convenience or progress is actually going to be our undoing in the end. The book made me wonder and think, but it wasn't pleasant.



View all my reviews Molly's Story by W. Bruce Cameron
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I loved the two other W. Bruce Cameron books I've read, A Dog's Life and A Dog's Purpose so I was excited to sit down and get to know the life of another one of his dogs. I guess I was expecting something more along the lines of the other two, and while this one would be a book I'd recommend for my nine-year-old granddaughter, it was a disappointment to me. I didn't realize it was written for smaller children. I read it in an afternoon. It was just way too predictable for my taste. It was sweet, but maybe too sweet. I think my grandkids will love it though.




View all my reviews Following Atticus by Tom Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is another testament to perseverance when a book starts off slowly. I had an incredibly difficult time getting into this book, but I love my dog, and I wanted to know what made little Atticus a dog worthy enough to write an entire book about. In the end, the book wasn't only about little Atticus, but about the healing that the love between a dog and its owner can attain. I ended up loving the book -- and I can see a journey to the White Mountains of New Hampshire in my future one day. Maybe even with my little Molly dog!




View all my reviews We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I cannot get this book out of my mind. The ending popped into my head last night as I was falling asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and read more to see if I could finish it. Got up before everyone else this morning and was stunned to find that the ending I imagined was the ending. Now I cannot get this book -- these characters out of my mind. Part poetry, part mystery, part romance, the book is beautifully written. I will not forget this book for a long time.




View all my reviews The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another recommendation from a student, I read this book in a day. There were aspects about the book I liked -- I was hooked in from the start and wanted to know what was going to happen all the way through -- but also parts that were just so, I don't know, fluffy??? Plus, I'm just really not a fan of most fantasy, so this one was going to be a hard sell for me right from the start. I didn't abandon it, so that's a pretty good rating from me right there. I'd recommend it to fantasy lovers, but I wouldn't read it again.




View all my reviews Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am glad someone wrote a book like this one for all the young adults (maybe even older adults) who ever felt that they couldn't share their innermost selves and also for people like me who don't try. My favorite quote from the book is this one: "...people really are like houses with vast rooms and tiny windows. And maybe it's a good thing, the way we never stop surprising each other." This book took me way far and away out of my comfort zone, but I'm very glad I read it.



View all my reviews The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. The events in this book are appalling, and the women inspiring. I simply cannot imagine the strength and courage it must have required for all of these women. I can't imagine being able to forgive. I can't imagine the generosity of Leonard Grossman in today's world. I can't imagine what our working world today would be like if they had not had the courage to fight. All of them. Amazing story!!



View all my reviews Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Pretty dated. I can't imagine a middle school girl today reading this and not making fun of it. Still, it took me back to a simpler, more innocent time. I can see where 50 years ago, this book would have been very well received.




The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Very unusual idea. I didn't like this book nearly as much as I thought I would. It was way too far-fetched. I did like the ending though. The ending may have saved it for me. Still, I wouldn't recommend it to my students, and it was them I had in mind when I began reading it. For that, it was a disappointment.





View all my reviews y">View all my reviews Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is so much to LOVE about this book! The main character who is transformed by her love of books. The list of books that have been banned or challenged from children's libraries, the stand that is taken by these students and librarian, the lesson learned -- I laughed out loud, cried, and felt as proud of these children as though they were my own (and real)! Must read this book!

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Gym Candy by Carl Deuker


I wanted to read this book because it was recommended to me by a student. I could have done without the football game play-by-plays (and I did eventually just skim over those), but the actual story of the young man and his struggle to live up to his dad's legacy was a good one. I'll be recommending this one to my sport-fanatic reluctant readers.





View all Blood Will Tell by April Henry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought April Henry's first book The Body in the Woods was excellent, so I was really anticipating another excellent read with this one. As in the first one, I really became engaged with the characters, but I just really felt let down by the ending this time. I didn't want anything predictable, but I expected to be able to make some connections -- even if I couldn't come up with the correct culprit. It was way too far-fetched, in my view at least -- to connect all the dots. Just a big disappointment.



Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not very often do I find WWII books that detail this war from the perspective of Italians. This story fascinated me, and I could not put it down. Pino's and his family's experiences were nearly beyond belief, and the horrors were equal to those I've read of Germany and Poland. Incredible that these things were allowed to happen -- and happen still! Really good read.




Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was less impressed with the story of Avery (and also found it difficult to buy into her interest in a woman from an elderly care facility who just by coincidence happens upon her at someone else's birthday party because she thinks there's a connection to her own family because the woman tried to take her bracelet) than I was the story of the Tennessee Children's Home. THAT was the story. I found myself skipping over Avery's chapters to read about the unbelievable stories of the children of that orphanage. If the whole book had been about them, that would have been a GREAT book. Still, in spite of myself, I couldn't put the book down.



View all my reviews athy">View all my reviews 31971-cathy">View all my reviews my reviews The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How do you describe a book such as this one? You can't say you "enjoy" it because there is too much horror in it to "enjoy". It was a powerful story and one that is important to be told even though it is difficult to read -- to see the horrors of our American history. Although fiction, I have to think that there is more than a grain of truth in the story that is being told. Although not a part of this history, I still feel shame when I read about it. It saddens me to think that this sort of hatred and bigotry still exists. A must-read.



View all my reviews All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. Just wow. This book is an important one for everyone to read. Recommended to me by a student, I'm so glad I read it, and so glad he recommended it. The book confronts racism from the perspective of a young black kid who is brutalized by a white police officer and from the perspective of a young white kid who witnesses the brutality. Excellent story and a good one for discussion.




 I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a wonderful, feel-good story with a fabulously happy ending. It brings back memories of my own childhood penpal experiences but with a much happier storyline. It also makes me want to find a way to help someone else myself. Great story!  View all my reviews





If You're Reading This by Trent Reedy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Really good coming of age story. I will be recommending this one to my students.








Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I guess I was somewhat disappointed in this book, but maybe I am being unfair. If I try to imagine my 9-year-old granddaughter reading the book (and it's her book I borrowed), I can see her liking the story very much. For me, it was just too far-fetched and the story moved a little too quickly for my taste. I also wonder if the true message would get buried underneath all the talking animals and tree. It was a fabulous idea for a story, but it just didn't work for me.


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VWithout You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What an interesting look into life in one of the most isolated and mysterious countries in the world. Frightening to glimpse the way these people are brainwashed and groomed to group mentality rather than as individuals. Amazing that in this day and age, an entire country can be shut off so totally from the rest of the world.




View all my reviews   Skink--No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions. It shocked me and amused me. I liked all the characters, but especially Skink. The only thing that kept me from 5 stars was the ending which I found to be a little bit too rushed and a little bit too predictable, but over all, a wonderful read.






Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an incredibly fascinating book to read while watching the #MeToo movement unfold. I think it made me much more sympathetic and open to the stories of all the women who stepped forward to tell their stories than I'd have been before I read the book. Our culture has really done a number on us women when the President of the United States can get away with his lewd comments about women by dismissing them as "lockerroom talk" and when women who have had to endure these comments and actions silently because of their FEAR of raising them. One of the most interesting comments I remember from Krakauer's book had to do with the fact that rape and sexual assault are the only crimes where the VICTIM's accusation is doubted. I believe it has to do with the fine line between sexual harassment and "just messing around" because two people can react in widely varying ways to the same comments or behavior which ends up sending a mixed message to the person who is exhibiting the behavior or speaking the offending words. All the way around, such a sticky issue. I'm glad I read the book b/c it opened my eyes, and ultimately, made me very angry at the way our society views this topic.




View all my reviews 46-kaska-boom">View all my reviews The Last Kids on Earth and the Nightmare King by Max Brallier
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Recommended by a student, I had to at least give this book a try. I just couldn't finish it. I'm not a fan of zombie apocalypses and monsters. There are humorous moments in the book, to be sure, but the humor simply can't overshadow the rest of the problems with the book for me. Sorry, Khai. I tried. I just couldn't get into this book.





View all my reviews A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had a hard time getting into this book, but once I did, I really just couldn't put it down. Christina Baker Kline did such a fabulous job of getting inside Christina Olson's head. The thoughts, the feelings given to her were perfect. I loved the ending. LOVED IT. The only thing that kept me from 4 or 5 stars was Walton. Just too predictable for me -- although it had to happen the way it did. (Trying not to spoil things here.) I didn't like who Christina became, but again, I suppose it was inevitable, and the ending more than makes up for. Good read. (No pun intended!)



View all my reviews Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has been 20 years since I last read this book. Chuck and I watched the movie over the weekend, and today I was between books and knew I'd need something to read while I waited on Chuck's CT scan, so I pulled it off the shelf and read it again today. The cover of the book says, "The runaway bestseller that changed millions of lives." I can easily believe this to be true. Personally, I think I should try to read this once each year. Maybe more often than that. I found myself wanting to mark passages. That's right, ME, who cannot stand to write in my books! I WANTED TO MARK ACTUAL PASSAGES IN THE BOOK. I didn't, but I had an overwhelming urge to. I love the Buddhist philosophy of the little bird on your shoulder asking, "Is this the day? How will you use it? Is this the day?" referring to a person's death day. I loved him equating the needs of a baby -- to be touched, held, comforted, loved -- to the needs of the aged, and in fact, everyone in between. I loved every single dhapter, sentence, and word in the book. I'm so grateful to Mitch Albom that he found his way back to his old professor and that he shared him with the rest of us. Truly an inspiring book of an inspirational man. Love, love, love it!


View all my reviews Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quick, easy read. Sweet characters. Great message. My granddaughter recommended the book to me. I've had it on my shelf for years and never read it. I promised her I would, and I'm glad I did. She was right. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. Despereaux will be next!




View all my reviews  Closing the Attitude Gap: How to Fire Up Your Students to Strive for Success by Baruti Kafele
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book reinforces my teaching instincts. It makes me want to throw scores and tests and data right out the window with both hands... or at least drop them to the very bottom of my list of priorities. If only the "powers that be" could understand. What a step forward for educating our children that would be!





View all my reviews Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There were so many loose ends in this story! So many different storylines and no real resolutions. I was prepared to LOVE this book, and it does have interesting views into life for Black people in Depression era South, but the book itself was a disappointment.




View all my reviews What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was interesting to think of how a life (or marriage) could get off track and interesting to see how an opportunity to forget all the bad and move forward from where everything was good could make a difference, but there was a lot that was very predictable and a little hard to believe. Still, it was an ok read.





View all my reviews Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency by Joshua Green
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Could not finish this book. I read half of it, but I don't know.... I'm not sure what I was expecting, but what I didn't want was a bunch of information about Bannon whom I already know that I dislike and don't trust.





View all my reviews Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Still way over my head. I appreciated some of his attempts at humor, but this topic just makes my head spin -- spiral -- like the Milky Way Galaxy!!!







View all my reviews A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely LOVED everything about this book. Everything. I loved the author's way with words, his humor and wit. I loved the characters -- every single one. Well, every one except the bishop. I loved Towles' writing style and the way he could make so many years in the same place flow without even a page of boredom. I loved the sprinkling of Russian history throughout. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Thoroughly did I enjoy this one!




View all my reviews Modern Lovers by Emma Straub
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

By the time I was nearing the end of this book, I was beginning to think that there was a lot of unnecessary information on the pages. I began to feel as though it was one of those books that could have been written in half the pages and saved a tree. I got tired of the whining, midlife crises of the adults, and wasn't terribly interested in the two teens, but there still was something that kept me reading, and I didn't hate the book by the time I finished. It was an ok book for a fast read, and I might try the author's other books over a summer or winter break sometime if I have nothing better to read.



View all my reviews The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides: Three Classic Novels in One Collection by Pat Conroy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My dad always encouraged me to watch this movie and I never have. Now I wonder if he wanted me to see the movie so I would understand him better. The Great Santini could have been my dad, and Ben was my brother. I have struggled with my feelings towards my dad for years, but I think I can accept him now after reading this book.



View all my reviews In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't realize when I bought this book that it was written for young adults. It is a terribly interesting account of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Jackson, four presidents who were also slaveholders, and one each of their slaves. An easy read, it also is full of facts and lays out the conflicting views of our founding fathers regarding liberty and slavery. Without trying to turn our founding fathers into villains, Davis shows the conflict between what these men said, and what they practiced. Interesting read.


View all my reviews The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis—and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance by Ben Sasse
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There were chapters in this book that resonated with me in an almost profound way, but there were chapters where I was bored to death. I didn't always agree with what Sen. Sasse had to say, but he did make me think about several issues surrounding education, government, and the crisis confronting our young people today. It was worth the read.




View all my reviews Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was not particularly liking this book - it just seemed very rushed and missing some details. Then I read the author's notes and discovered the characters and stories were true. That was a game-changer for me. I still felt like the stories were rushed -- and although I understand why the stories of the three women had to be kept separate the way they were, I didn't like that. These negative aspects aside, the stories of these women were stories I'd never heard before. I looked up the names on line and read more about the women and their situations. So, I'm glad I read the book, but I wish it could have been written in a way that was more appealing to me, then my rating might have been a four.


View all my reviews Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Seldom have a read a book that disturbed me as much as this one did. Although it is fiction, I suspect that there is way more truth in the book than I can comfortably acknowledge. There is so much despair and so little hope in these pages. Sadly, I know that Mumbai is not the only place where these events occur, and I also know the answers are not easily found. Too sad for words.....




View all my reviews One Armed Bandits: And Other Stories Of Iowa's Past And Present by George Mills
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Extremely dry. There were some high spots, like the information about Bonnie and Clyde, but it was a terribly difficult book to get through -- good to read at night if you want to sleep.






View all my reviews The Pigman by Paul Zindel
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I remember in middle school reading a book by this author, My Darling, My Hamburger, and that I liked that book a lot, so when I found this book as I was packing up my room to move to another classroom, I was flooded with memories and felt drawn to the book. I was a bit disappointed. I liked it ok...the main character, John, reminded me of Holden Caulfield, but John has a girl friend, Lorraine. They are both from dysfunctional families, and the Pigman befriends them at a time when he also is suffering from the loss of his wife to cancer. The premise is pretty great, but the story itself just fell a little flat for me. I get the lesson to be learned, but I was disappointed in the journey there.


View all my reviews Mother Teresa of Calcutta: A Personal Portrait: 50 Inspiring Stories Never Before Told by Leo Maasburg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What an inspiring and wise woman. Interesting read.







View all my reviews Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'd give this 3.5 if I could. I liked the characters and I LOVED what the dad did for his daughter. I loved her exploration into herself and her family's past. I loved her self-realizations. I cried through most of the second half of the book. It is a great read for middle schoolers. I saw myself at that age a lot in Elise. That need to be accepted, and the unkind things that we do to others in order to be accepted is a shared experience I have with Elise at that age and many middle schoolers now. She brought back uncomfortable memories. I couldn't go higher because I felt like -- I don't know -- everything moved too quickly. Still, a book I'd recommend to my students.



View all my reviews All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is beautifully written, the characters are lovely, and the topic is serious and realistically addressed.






View all my reviews Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book made me think of my students and also, sadly, in a lot of ways, my own childhood. In a lot of ways, the book just made me think.






View all my reviews Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Generally I am a huge fan of novels in verse. Paper Hearts is not my favorite one. Maybe Holocaust stories just aren't meant to be told in verse. Zlatka and Fania's stories deserved to be told in full. I loved the courage of these two girls and their friends, but I just felt there were missing pieces in the story that simply don't lend themselves to this genre. The book was HIGHLY recommended to me by several students, but having read it myself now, I am wondering if they really understood the full impact of what the story was. Maybe that is the benefit of putting this story in verse -- it softens the blow and makes the troubles easier to bear, easier to read about. I don't know. It disappointed me. I feel there is a story here that deserves much more than it was given in this book.

View all my reviews Auschwitz, Auschwitz: I Cannot Forget You as Long as I Remain Alive by Max Rodriguez Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book from the author himself when he visited our town to relate his experiences in person. For me, the most stunning part of his story was at the end, when his children and grandchildren related how Max's experiences and living with a holocaust survivor impacted THEIR lives. This is something that it is hard for present-day people to understand: That the impact of the holocaust is still stretching it's reach even three generations later. An incredible story. I'm honored to have seen Max and spoken to him in person, and I'm glad to have read his book and "met" his family through their words.



View all my reviews Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had heard about the role the Navajo played in WWII, setting up codes using their language to communicate orders and plans that stymied the Japanese, but I knew little else about their contributions. This book was informational and eye-opening to me. Although a bit dry and fact-driven, it was still a good read, delivering good information about a topic that has been continually overlooked.




View all my reviews The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I gave this book three stars because -- well, I find the story of the Donner Party fascinating. That is still true; however, I selected this particular book because I really, really liked The Boys in the Boat so when I saw this title about the Donner Party, by the same author, I thought, Whoa! Win, win! This book was not nearly as engaging as the Boys. It was INTERESTING, because of the topic, but the writing was nowhere near the caliber that I remember from the Boys. And it was, at least in part, the writing that so impressed me in Boys. The information was good in this book. The book was hard to read sometimes -- I had to walk away from it several times, but I am glad that I read it. I just don't think it is Brown's best work. If you're interested in the Donner Party, it's still a worthwhile read. I was just a little disappointed in the writing.



View all my reviews Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was disappointed that there wasn't more information about each woman's personal life. I think the book tried to cover too much in too few pages. I will watch the movie that I've heard such great things about, but for me, this book was disappointing. I just wanted more.





View all my reviews The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm sure I missed all sorts of symbolism and irony and other metaphorical references, and for that, I wish I'd have read the book along with others so we could have discussed the book. Still, I did like it. The characters all made me angry for the way they used Gatsby, but Gatsby made me angry too, for the way he lived in the past and wouldn't move on. Still, he seemed the most tragic of the characters, and the one who suffered the most.



View all my reviews S.O.S. by Gordon Korman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved everything about the book except the ending -- and I'm not talking about the sinking. I felt like there was too much in the ending that was beyond unbelievable coincidence regarding the main characters. The Jack the Ripper connection was disappointing. The turnaround in the two Irish thugs who were after Paddy throughout the whole series was not believable. The rescues were just too unbelievable. Up to the part in the water, though, the book did not disappoint, and while the ending was disappointing to me, an adult, I think that it would be highly satisfying to the young adult audience it is aimed at. I would recommend the series highly to my students.



View all my reviews Collision Course by Gordon Korman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up b/c I had left my other book at home and needed something to read. I thought I'd be able to read it while in the library with my students and bring my other book the next day, but I got immediately sucked into this story. I couldn't put it down until it was finished. I didn't realize when I picked it up that it was part of a trilogy or that it was the SECOND book, but neither of these two "problems" kept me from enjoying the book. I love all the characters, and inserting Jack the Ripper as a passenger was an interesting twist in this book. I had never read anything by Gordon Korman before. I believe he is a master at dialogue. Like most historical fiction I read, one of the biggest draws is the sprinkling of facts throughout the story, and this book doesn't disappoint on that score. Of course, the fact that it ends after impact is the perfect cliffhanger to make you read the final book. I didn't read the first book and probably won't at this point, but if it's anything close to this one, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.



View all my reviews The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book sucked me in from the first page. Although it was somewhat predictable, it was also engaging. I felt Arthur was believable in his emotions and his actions. I felt for him almost immediately. About halfway through the book I read the author's note and discovered that St. James (Hampton) was a real person, and his throne is real and displayed in the Smithsonian. That was a shock! When I finished the book, I looked him up online and saw color pictures of the throne. It's incredible! Just a really good story. Loved it!



View all my reviews The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but there were places where it got bogged down with facts or the story just dragged. I'm glad I hung in there with it because I ultimately did like the book -- the friendship between the two girls, the actions they took together in spite of threats and punishment, their willingness to stand up for what was right, and the way the two opposite personalities helped each other out. It was a good read in the end, but one that I at times had to force myself to push through.

View all my reviews Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my new favorite books by one of my new favorite young adult authors. I connected immediately with the main character and her teacher. I loved everything about the book -- the hope it gave, the message of everyone having worth, talent, and that thinking differently does not mean stupid. I loved that I laughed out loud and cried throughout the book -- sometimes at the same time (causing my husband to shake his head). What a great book from a great author. Her other book, One for the Murpheys is equally fabulous.




View all my reviews How to Speak Dolphin by Ginny Rorby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There were parts in this book that were a tad bit difficult to swallow (regarding plot points, not issues), but I felt like the author tried (and maybe succeeded -- I don't know because I've never lived with an autistic child) to depict life with an autistic child, and also tried to relate accurately the treatment of captive dolphins and their need for freedom. Overall, it was a good book.




View all my reviews The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen


I rented the book from the library, and could have it only 2 weeks. By the end of the first week, I was only through the first chapter. I didn't have time to devote to it, and I wasn't getting hooked in as quickly as I'd have liked. I abandoned the book for now. I'd like to try it again sometime when I have more time to devote to reading it. I think it will be a good book, I just wasn't in the right mindset for it at this time.



View all my reviews This Is the Story of You by Beth Kephart
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There were about three different threads running through this story, and I didn't feel that any of them were developed enough. Why give the brother a rare disease? I couldn't really feel sorry for him because there wasn't anything about him (other than a rare disease which I didn't really know how it would affect him) to make me feel sorry. The "mystery" of Mira's family really didn't come into play until the story was nearly over, and then the "mystery" seemed so obvious to me it wasn't even worth putting it in. Old Carmen? What was her purpose in the story? Who knows? Not me. The storm was the only common thread running throughout the story, and it wasn't even terribly suspenseful since Mira slept through it. I feel like all the characters and the story itself had much more potential than was realized in the book. At the end I just felt like, "Meh...." Disappointed.



View all my reviews The Bridge from Me to You by Lisa Schroeder
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think my 8th-grade girls -- and maybe even some of the boys -- will really enjoy this book. Myself, I was tired of the two main characters by the end of the story. I started out liking them both -- they are both good kids; it's easy to like them and want good things for them, but the story was so incredibly predictable, so incredibly, over-the-top SWEET, that by the ending, I just almost couldn't stand it. It just wasn't for my grown-up self. I think in 8th grade I'd have loved it, though, and I'm sure many 8th graders will.



View all my reviews Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking by Erin Dionne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this story was historical fiction -- sort of. I loved that it was based on a real robbery in Boston and that the setting of the story was centered around places I've visited before. The relationship with Moxie and her grandparents, especially her Alzheimer's-stricken grandfather, was sweet. Other than that, I was a little disappointed in the predictability of the events and the characters. Still, it was a good story. I could see my 8th graders who enjoy mysteries enjoying the book. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the book to them.




View all my reviews The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good characters. Good story. Good ending. Good read.








View all my reviews The Body in the Woods by April Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It has been a LONG time since I've read a murder mystery, good or otherwise. Probably Kissed the Girls or Along Came a Spider or one of the Grisham books. I really liked this one though. Because it's a young adult book, it was tamer and didn't really freak me out like Patterson or Grisham can. Yet, it still was pretty realistic. I do have to say that I had figured it out within the first chapters after the first body. Still, there were moments of doubt over my choice, and there was plenty of interesting CSI-type of information to hold my interest. I might even read another one, even though I do not typically like to read series! Now that's a compliment of the highest degree coming from me!



View all my reviews Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was disappointed by this book. There were simply too many characters spanning too many years with not enough time to invest in any of them. Every time I felt myself becoming drawn in by the story of a character, the book switched to someone else in a different time period. I wanted to know more about their lives. Sometimes years would pass even when talking about the current character. The thread connecting them all was too fine and too weak. If it hadn't been a book for my book group discussion, I'd have abandoned it a long time ago.



View all my reviews Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love novels in verse, but I think this one is right up there in my mind with Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. The words, the emotions, the FEELING in the book sucked me in from the first line. I remember the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the feelings of fear and uncertainty of the future, the talk from teachers and other adults about communism, embargoes, Castro, and Cuba, but I wasn't old enough to understand what it all meant. I love reading the same feelings I remember in the beautiful free verse used by Margarita Engle, especially from her unique perspective as a Cuban living in America. A wonderful, lovely, inspiring novel.



View all my reviews Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love this Seeds of America Trilogy. I've been waiting for the final book for years! I love the story told from the perspective of two slaves -- Northern slaves -- who help the cause of the new American Colonies under the promise of freedom when the war is won. It is heartbreaking to follow along and live through their struggles, their persecution, their conquests and their setbacks. These books are an incredible, well-researched companion to our school's social studies unit on the American Revolution. My students begin the unit with complaints as they begin the book Chains and end it clamoring for the next book. I have six students waiting for my copy of the book and expect that as more finish Forge others will also join the line. I'm so thankful to Ms. Anderson for these books!




View all my reviews Greetings from Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood by Claire Hoffman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As someone who fills the part of "townie" in her story, I read with interest the "ru" perspective she offered. I expected to find support for the Maharishi's teaching. I expected to hear why the TM movement was so wonderful and how it was changing the world. I expected to hear support for what we "townies" have viewed as strange and unusual behavior, but I did not. What I found was a fairly honest assessment of what it felt like to be raised by a parent who totally embraced the teachings and practices of Maharishi and his "Age of Enlightenment" beliefs.

It was not a book I'd have read on my own (my book club selected it), but I found it to be an interesting and worthwhile read -- mostly because of my view from the outside looking in since the first day MIU moved into our community.



View all my reviews Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For me, I think the best part is the time period. I think Mimi is just slightly older than I would have been at the same time period so I could so fully relate to her in so many ways. Even though I didn't have the race issue to overcome, I was the "new girl" in a community in which I found it extremely difficult to be accepted. I love the drip, drip, drip analogy. So true in so many life situations. I loved Mimi and Timothy, and Mr. Dell reminded me of a member of our community who underwent similar feelings because of fighting in the Pacific theater, dropping bombs on Japan, and dogfighting in the air. Good, good book.




View all my reviews Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved every single character in this book. I love the way Carl Hiaasen sprinkles in information about Florida and her wildlife and nature into the story. I love that there were places that made me laugh out loud and jump when something surprising happened. GREAT read for just about any age!





View all my reviews Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I just could not get into this book. I wanted to very badly. I thought it sounded great, but it was disappointing. I couldn't care about Peter Lake (I can't even remember if that's the right name), and I couldn't figure out what the heck was the deal with the Short Tails. And then they started talking about catching light and I was totally lost. I just didn't feel like it was worth my time to stick with it and expend the effort it was taking to "get" it.




View all my reviews The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have known people like Paloma. There was part of me that felt like people were too willing in this story to be suckered in by her. (Couldn't they see what she was doing? Really???) But there was part of me that understood also how manipulative and sneaky she was. She preyed on people's weaknesses. I think this book would be good for anyone to read, but especially middle/early high school.




View all my reviews A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I laughed out loud. I cried. I laughed and cried at the same time. How can anyone read about Ove and not simply love him? It's been a long time since a book has touched me the way this one did-- a long time since I cared about a character as much as I cared about Ove. Love this book!!!




View all my reviews Countdown by Deborah Wiles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I do love the way Wiles weaves historic events in the form of actual headlines, quotes, song lyrics, photographs, memes, posters, and other memorabilia throughout the fictional lives of her characters. It's like sifting through a trunk in the attic.

A 5-year-old at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, I have no memory of the actual event, but 13 months later, the assassination of JFK, left me with such vivid impressions that I now wonder if they were so vivid, at least in part, because of the crisis. I distinctly remember thinking (and believing) with great distress that without Kennedy, our country had no leader, and without a leader, the Russians would be able to take over our country. I was terrified, but my fears were soon laid to rest by my parents who assured me that LBJ would not allow that to happen.

I have distinct memories of teachers (one in particular) who felt no qualms about letting us know that there was a munitions plant a mere 50 miles from our town, that it would be a perfect target for an enemy missile, and that if the plant ever were to be bombed, we would never have another worry because we would not survive to worry about anything. Between what I heard and read at school and what I heard at home (in much the same way as Franny in Countdown) it is no wonder that I suffered such anxiety that I often couldn't sleep at night. I remember fear over world events that I couldn't possibly fully understand, so the time period and the fears portrayed in this book really struck a chord with me.

As for the story itself, I like Revolution better, but I would still not hesitate to recommend this book to history buffs or anyone who likes a good, fast read.



View all my reviews The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I just felt sorry for these characters -- and I wondered how much of this book was autobiographical. I particularly like the parts that took place in Pamplona about the bullfighters and the bullfights. The characters and their plights just made me sad.





View all my reviews The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am so embarrassed and ashamed of the treatment of these men -- and anyone who has been the victim of racism. I simply cannot believe that the Navy will not release these men from their guilty verdict. Shameful! I think this is only the first of the books I'll be reading about this event.


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View all my reviews The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time by Maria Konnikova
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book wasn't riveting (obviously, since it took me ten days to read), but there were still aspects of the book that were fascinating, particularly the parts that explained the psychology of why we are so easily conned and the stories of some of the most famous con artists. I enjoyed the book for the most part. I feel enlightened and, maybe, just a little more prepared to protect myself from myself.



View all my reviews Immortal Guardians by Eliot Schrefer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I get really tired of one catastrophe after another -- seemingly for no other reason than there must always be a catastrophe. I did like some of the characters, and I was curious about the parasite that was invading people and plants alike, but not curious enough to want to read the rest of the series.





View all my reviews  Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book on the recommendation of a student who was special to me. I read it in an effort to get to know her better -- it's her favorite book of all time. I liked the story and the characters. I liked the feeling of hope it left me with, and I especially like that I have something to talk about with this student.




View all my reviews Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Welllllllllll........I'm not a big fan of script-reading, so that was a pretty big minus for me. I feel there are a lot of details missing; for example, I enjoy being inside the heads of the characters. I like the narration that explains what's going on in the background, and these things are missing in a script. The language is, I don't know, plainer here. Maybe more ordinary somehow? That said, I did very much like the story. I loved the concept (even though I know it's not original) of trying to manipulate time -- and how that manipulation can seriously screw things up. I liked being able to reconnect with the old favorites of the Harry Potter series and I enjoyed meeting the children. I loved that Draco's son and Harry's son were friends -- and that through that friendship, Draco and Harry could begin to see eye-to-eye. So even though I didn't particularly like the format, I did like the book. It was worth the read.


View all my reviews The Girls by Emma Cline
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The book was just not my cup of tea. I'm not sure what I expected, but I didn't expect this. The events and characters in the book just creeped me out--not in a OMG-I-won't-be-able-to-get-to-sleep-tonight way, but just creepy in a gives-me-the-creeps way. Still, if you're someone who likes that creeped out feeling, I suppose you would like this book.




View all my reviews Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me quite awhile to get into this book. Looking back now, I think it is because I had to get used to Russo's sense of humor. I wasn't expecting the book to be funny. I'm glad I stuck with it because along with the humor came insights into human nature -- foibles and self-doubts and coming to terms with yourself and with others, forgiveness, love, and the lasting impression and impact people can have on one another. I'll be missing these characters and looking for other of Russo's books soon.



View all my reviews Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I cannot believe 1. How badly the cases of these criminals were bungled -- not just once, but repeatedly. 2. How brazen the criminals were. 3. How long they roamed the country -- FREE. 4. How people seemed to romanticize them. 5. How corrupt some police officers were. 6. How many innocent people died because of these criminals. What a crazy time!

I admire how thoroughly this author must have researched these events. The book was fascinating, but not for the faint of heart. I spent some sleepless, nightmarish nights throughout the reading of the book -- yet I could not stop reading for long. Interesting read.




View all my reviews Game of Crowns: Elizabeth, Camilla, Kate, and the Throne by Christopher Andersen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not one who typically actively follows any of the Royals, and had my book club not selected this as their summer read, I probably never would have heard of the book, much less ever read it, but it was pretty interesting. It makes me know without a doubt that the Royal life is not for me, and helps me appreciate my own life, and acknowledge the right to privacy of others normally in the public eye.




View all my reviews Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs by Cathy Vatterott


Like many (most?) teachers these days, the problem of getting homework finished and handed in is one of my biggest headaches throughout the school year. Someone recommended this book to me, and it was full of interesting food for thought from taking away grades for homework to "decriminalize" it and using it for formative assessments only, to limiting the amount of time students spend on homework and scheduling homework nights specifically for each content area. There were two chapters full of strategies to use and programs to put in place to help with this problem. It leaves a lot of room for discussion and rethinking. Highly recommend this for all teachers and administrators, no matter what grade level.



View all my reviews Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have loved the other two books by Erik Larson that I've read, The Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts, but I almost abandoned this one. Dead Wake got off to a much slower beginning than the other two books I'd read. He spent an awful lot of time getting into the lives and backgrounds of an awful lot of the people on board. I understand why he did that, but it just didn't work for me. Once he started moving back and forth between the U-boat, Room 40, Wilson, Churchhill, and the passengers and captain, I really couldn't put the book down. I remember in history classes reading that it was the sinking of the Lusitania that brought the U.S. into WWI, but Larson, through his intensive research, brings more light to this ship and the events that actually came together to finally bring the U.S. out of our neutrality. Interesting!




View all my reviews The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Although I finished the book in one day, the book, overall, was a disappointment to me. I didn't care for any of the characters particularly. The events, I felt, were not believable. At. All. For a book labeled as a thriller, I was less than thrilled.






View all my reviews Capone: The Man and the Era by Laurence Bergreen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fascinating. Comprehensive. At times maddening and unbelievable. Worth lumbering through the 619 pages.







View all my reviews Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book when it first came out and reread it this week when one of my students was raving about it. I'm wondering if I can do a similar activity in my classroom next year... Start by reading this book to them and maybe inspire them to share some of their writing, art work, or other creations on Fridays. We'll have to see what happens. . . and if I remember!





View all my reviews Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book made me sad. I really like the way Walter Dean Myers lets the reader inside the head of a Harlem boy, struggling to make his way in a tough world. It made me think about the students I have in my classroom and made me wonder how much of the things they say and the way they behave is due to situations in their lives that are out of their control and make them feel vulnerable and frightened and hopeless. Good book.



View all my reviews Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere by Will Richardson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this book is an important one for any parent, grandparent, educator, administrator, businessperson -- human. If nothing else, it will serve to get a conversation started, and we need to be talking about this. Our education system must change to better reflect the advances we've made in technology and to better prepare our children to live in a world where technology has put so much information at our fingertips, 24/7.



View all my reviews The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the book. It was entertaining. I think middle school students -- maybe even some upper elementary kids would enjoy the humor and the mystery in the book. I enjoyed both. Written in the style of Lemony Snicket. Although the book is one of a series, I personally think one was enough for me. Like the Lemony Snicket books, I think I would tire of them, but I'm glad I read this one.




View all my reviews The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was fun to try to follow the clues. I thought I had it figured out in the first 50 pages, but I was so wrong. Still, it was a fun read.







View all my reviews Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book alternately made me laugh, made me angry, and made me cry. Ultimately, it made me see how unique and wonderful is the bond between girlfriends.






Revolution by Deborah Wiles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I really love about this book is the way it sprinkles in actual photographs, documents, and articles from actual events from the time period in between chapters and incorporates them into the story as well. The book tells about the civil rights movement as it happened in Freedom Summer 1964 in Mississippi. It is shocking and hopeful at the same time. Just an excellent story about an important topic.

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A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is about a family divided by the building of the Berlin wall. I was too young to understand what was going on when this historical event was going on, but I remember "Cold War" and Communism and, in my five-year-old mind, the sense that the world was in danger. News of the wall and events in East and West Germany were always in the news, but as a small child, I didn't really have a sense of what it was all about. Going to school, it was too soon to read of this in our history books -- it wasn't quite history yet because it was ongoing. I vividly remember when the wall came down because by then I was an adult with small children of my own, but until I read this book, I didn't really have a true sense of what was happening over there! So for the historical context of the book, I liked it. I felt drawn to the characters and their difficulties, but I felt the fictional story was a little too predictable. Still, there were times when I had to put the book down because I couldn't wait for what would happen next. It was fun to read a book about a period in my own lifetime (although also scary to think that history has now officially occurred in my lifetime!). It is a good book, and I'd recommend it to my 8th graders who are interested in historical fiction books.



View all my reviews An Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler's Army by Georg Rauch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just when I think there's nothing more about WWII that can surprise me, here comes a book like this one. Fascinating true account of a quarter-Jew, fighting a horrible war for a cause he does not believe in. From infantryman on the Russian front, to Russian POW camp, and everything in between, this book was like no other WWII book I've ever read.




View all my reviews Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Creative. It could be a fun book for young readers.







View all my reviews Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I simply LOVE Clare Vanderpool's writing. I love her way with words. She reminds me of Gary Paulsen, but on a different plane. I feel the same way when I read her books as I do with Paulsen: as though I am IN the story, feeling, seeing, sensing the same as the characters. I AM one with them, and I loved them both. The only thing that kept me from a five for the book was the ending. It was just a little too neat, tidy, and happy (which to me made it a little less believable) for me. Still, reading her words and falling into her stories was enough. It's a great little read.




View all my reviews Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a fascinating, interesting person. I have to say that I didn't always agree with her decisions, but I very much admire her for her integrity and intelligence and level head. It's too bad there aren't more like her in high places!





View all my reviews Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the writing style and humor of Jordan Sonnenblick, and I liked that the story, although about a child with cancer, didn't make me feel like my emotions were being manipulated and played with. The story, the characters, the feelings they went through -- everything seemed genuine. I can see that the book would be cathartic for children -- or even parents -- who are going through or have been through similar situations.





View all my reviews Heidi by Johanna Spyri
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Given to me by my grandmother when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, Heidi and Klara became favorite friends. I hadn't read this book since I read it myself as a child, I don't think. My opinion has not changed in the least. I love the book.







View all my reviews The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The more I reflect on the book the more I realize that there was more to the story than first met the eye; however, the narrative rambled nearly as badly as Faulkner, and for that I gave it only two stars.






View all my reviews Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age by Kitty Porterfield
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Interesting take on how social media can (and ought to be) used in the school setting to reach stakeholders both inside and outside of the school walls. I'm not sure I buy into everything the authors claim, but they do make some interesting points. I'm certainly not violently opposed to their suggestions. Interesting.





View all my reviews Lost & Found by Jacqueline Sheehan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book was pretty predictable, but I still found the story and the characters likeable. I'm a sucker for a dog -- especially a Labrador. It was an enjoyable, quick read.








View all my reviews Touch Wood: A Girlhood in Occupied France by Hano Renee Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one of the few books I've read about Nazi-occupied France. It is maybe the only one that showed the way the French people also treated the Jews badly. The book was full of suspense and real emotion. I had a hard time putting the book down.







View all my reviews Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nazi Germany from the perspective of a family who tries to hide a Jewish mother and daughter and whose own daughter is a member of one of Hitler's youth groups and sees her parents as traitors. A quick and easy read that reminds us that not all Germans were Nazis and not everyone was afraid to take a stand against them.






View all my reviews The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There were parts of the book where I was entertained by the word play, and parts of the book where the word play became tedious. I read Sendak's comparison to Alice in Wonderland, and I think it's an apt comparison. I didn't really ever find Alice in Wonderland terribly entertaining either. On the positive side, it does attempt to relay an important and positive message. I just don't think that the audience for whom it's intended will 1. be able to wade through the book for long enough to find the message -- I think they'll give up on the book long before the end, or 2. be able to figure it out in between all the metaphors and word play even if they do manage to stay with the book till the end. I'm glad I stuck it out, I just don't believe many others will.





View all my reviews The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wish I could have known Mr. Leyson. He must have been an incredible person. His book is not only a tribute to Oskar Schindler, but it's a tribute to Leyson's family and their perseverance against incredible odds in Nazi-occupied Poland. If that's not enough, he personifies the fulfillment of the American Dream. It's a heartwarming book about overcoming incredible obstacles. I recommend it to middle school students.





View all my reviews Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I'm sorry, students who highly recommended the book to me. I just can't do it. I just can't read one more book that has to do with dystopian societies where characters rebel against their societal factions and whose governments are at war with each other. I'm dystopian-ed out. I'm series-ed out. I just want to read a good book, and this one was not pulling me in. There are too many books out there to read to justify wasting my time on yet another dystopian series. I tried. I just can't.





View all my reviews Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although I'm not fond of O'Reilly's writing, I still found the book interesting to read. Only six years old at the time of Kennedy's assassination, I still vividly remember the announcement over our school's intercom that President Kennedy had been shot then listening to a radio with my first grade classmates and realizing that our president was dead. I have also read the book by Robert Dallek, Camelot's Court. Both books contain much of the same information. Although Dallek includes more depth to his information, there was some information in O'Reilly's book that I don't remember in Camelot. I think anyone alive when Kennedy was assassinated is fascinated by the story and all its controversy. Killing Kennedy did not disappoint.



View all my reviews War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the book even if it had no surprises to it. It was still a sweet story. Horse lovers -- animal lovers in general -- will enjoy the book.






View all my reviews Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've always been fascinated by the story of Lincoln's life. It was interesting to read the events leading up to the fateful day. I still am not a fan of Bill O'Reilly's writing, but the information in the book was good, and I'm glad I read it.





View all my reviews Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O'Reilly
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I guess I was a bit disappointed by the book. I thought it would read like historical fiction. I expected there to be a story based on researched facts, but instead the book read more like facts strung together in paragraph form. Disappointing.






View all my reviews Under the Same Sky by Cynthia C. DeFelice
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really really liked this book. I liked the characters and the lessons they learned. I liked the subject -- immigrants, particularly the illegal kind. This book took a controversial subject and put it into terms that middle school or upper elementary children would understand. It doesn't preach, and it doesn't even give a clear "side" to take, but it gives the reader enough information to make their own decision. I'd recommend this book to youngsters and oldsters alike.




View all my reviews Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the author's style of writing so much! I was sucked into this book by his writing and by the characters themselves immediately. I loved the references to the Grimm fairytales. My students talked of plot twists -- I was not fooled by those twists, but I enjoyed the book anyway.




View all my reviews The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in the a World of Screens by Stephen Apkon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found the information and ideas in the book fascinating. I never really considered literacy from a visual standpoint, but I see that it is important, and also something that is not being addressed adequately in our classrooms today. Like so much in education these days, visual literacy is another area where we are behind.




View all my reviews The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been years since I'd read this book, but someone left it behind in my room recently, and I needed a book to read for an SSR period, so I picked it up. It became the book I read during SSR times when I forgot the other book I was reading. I finished today. I love Mark Twain's storytelling style. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion as I read. He puts a bit of everything in this book: adventure, romance, antics, humor, and even a moral here and there. Rereading this book was a nice trip down memory lane. Many of the chapters can stand alone as stories themselves which was why I could put it down and pick it up again after several days or even weeks. I love the book.





View all my reviews The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read another review of this book complaining that it was all wrapped up too conveniently in the end -- and I do agree with that. Stilllllll...... I liked this book, and the ending, a lot. Yes, it had problems. Besides being pretty predictable, I think the characters were also ordinary -- or at least not unique for a WWII era book. In spite of it all, there were moments where I thought Kristin Hannah's words perfectly captured an image or a feeling, and for me, those moments made up for the rest.

I found the setting of occupied France to be interesting. Other WWII novels I've read seem to concentrate on Germany or Poland or even Russia, so to me, it was interesting to read about German-occupied France. The book just left me feeling satisfied, and that hasn't happened to me with the books I've been reading lately. I would recommend it to others who enjoy historical fiction novels.






The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Just ok. I lost interest once Ciro and Enza married. There was no conflict after that. There was nothing to move the story forward. I usually like description but I got tired of all the author's similes. Disappointing.

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View all my reviews In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have no words. Yeonmi's courage and perseverance are inspiring. The horrible things she had to endure are appalling and disturbing. Her strength of character is astonishing. Hers is not the first story of escape from North Korea that I've ever read, but it is the most compelling.





View all my reviews Rooville: A Novel by Julie Long
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this book because I live in the town it is written about, and I grew up with one of the author's sisters. As someone who attended the local schools, graduated from the local high school, raised my own family here, and witnessed the demise of the college and the arrival of the "roos", I wasn't sure what I thought of the book. There were parts that hit a little too close to home and others that were so far off the mark, it wasn't funny. Finally, I started reminding myself, "It's fiction, a figment of her imagination. Relax. It's not supposed to be a memoir. It isn't recounting life in our town. It's embellished to make it more interesting." Once I came to grips with that, I enjoyed reading the book. I'm not sure people outside our community or without community ties would find it as interesting, but it was fun to read about familiar landmarks, and some references brought back happy memories. I'm glad I read it, and I wish Julie Long well in her writing endeavors. (Also, if you read this, say hello to Cindi and ask her to get in touch with me. I'm still in Martinville. :-) )





View all my reviews The Night the White Deer Died by Gary Paulsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not really sure I fully understand the book. As always I love reading the words Gary Paulsen puts on the pages and the images and feelings the words evoke, but this time I'm just not sure I got the message. Still, I'm glad I read it. I liked Billy Honcho, and I liked Janet and her mother. I at first felt sorry for Billy, but by the end of the story, I admired him. I don't think I'd recommend it to my 8th graders to read -- I found myself wondering if it wasn't really an adult story rather than young adult -- but to people who are interested in Native American culture, I might recommend it.





View all my reviews The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It has taken me nearly two months to read this book. For the first 500+ pages, I could stand no more than 5 or 6 pages at a time. I HATED the parts in Vegas. I disliked Boris with intensity I seldom have towards a character in a book. More than anything else, I could NOT figure out where the book was going. I was so stinking frustrated! And then somewhere well into the second half of the book, I couldn't put it down, and when the whole story is finally resolved, I loved it. Seldom am I so completely satisfied with the ending of a book. If it weren't for the first 500+ pages, I'd have given this book 5 stars.





View all my reviews A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read some of the Goodreads reviews before I read the book myself. I understand people's frustration with the slowness of the book. At first I was frustrated by this as well, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I liked Francie and her family. I liked the view into what life in Brooklyn was like in the 1910's. I liked being privy to the events in these characters' lives during a time and place when life was difficult, but you didn't whine about it because it didn't do any good. Instead, you worked hard, you didn't give up, and the work paid off. As a teacher, I also like the message that education and literature are the way to better our circumstances. I tell my students this all the time, but in this age of entitlement, there are few who listen or believe that hard work and education are their keys to a better life. The sad thing is that most of them would never stick with this book long enough to see it through Francie's eyes either. But I digress. I liked the book. It wasn't my favorite by a long shot, but I am glad I read it.




View all my reviews Surviving Michael by Joseph Birchall
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This book was one I got from a Book Bub offer, and I just couldn't get into it. I thought the idea behind the story was a good one, but the characters left me cold. I wasn't invested in them enough to care what happened. Too many other books out there to waste my time on this one.





Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is condensed and adapted from the original book. I read it in a couple of hours, but it made me want to read the original version (which is always my hope when I buy a book like this one for my 8th graders who struggle with reading). I've never read the book, but the Disney movie starring Haley Mills is one of my all-time favorites. I'm going to be sure to get the original version to read soon! (and maybe watch the movie again, too!)





View all my reviews View all my reviews Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Two things: 1. I was really afraid to read this book because I didn't think it could possibly begin to live up to To Kill a Mockingbird. 2. I nearly abandoned it.

I am so glad I persevered. I think it was around part 3 that I finally started getting into the book. I don't know if I can adequately express why the book touched me so, but I am simply amazed that all those years ago she could articulate so eloquently and clearly what was happening in the South -- what is still sometimes happening there -- from all sides. This book is on my top shelf -- destined to join its sibling among the literary greats.




View all my reviews The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There were parts of this book I couldn't read; they were too graphic and awful for my taste, but I did like the premise behind the story. The characters were pretty shallow -- I'd like to have seen them have more depth, especially Manet, Alain, Bette, Adele, and Lucien. I'd like to have seen some retribution for Pierre, but maybe in war times that's too much to expect. Over all, it was a good story if you like WWII novels.



View all my reviews The Spanish Farm by R.H. Mottram
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I was thoroughly uninterested in this character, in her activities, and in the events happening around her. When I saw it was set during WW1, I thought I'd get more of a flavor for life during this time period, but I was let down on all counts.






View all my reviews Give Me Liberty by L.M. Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the mix of historical fact and fiction in this book. I think it will be a fabulous addition to our American Revolution unit!







View all my reviews Bossypants by Tina Fey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book did not disappoint me. As celebrity memoirs go, this will go down as a favorite. I love that Tina Fey doesn't take herself too seriously. I expected humor, and I got humor. I wanted to get to know her without gory details and that is what I got . A thoroughly enjoyable read.



View all my reviews Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I did not like myself very much as I read this book. I could see myself in too many of the characters I didn't like. I have worked with children like the main character in this book, and I have to say to that (unintentionally, and without meaning any harm or to patronize) while I was never mean or cruel, I also didn't treat them in the same way I would treat other children. I didn't acknowledge they might be able to fully understand what was going on their world or that they might have more than an infantile reaction to humor or 100 other things. The book opened my eyes. It wasn't easy for me to read, but I'm glad that I did.




View all my reviews All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For the first 300 pages, I really enjoyed this read. I loved the descriptions that made me feel as though I could understand Marie-Laure's blindness, and I liked the characters. But sometime after 300 pages, I got tired of it. I couldn't really see any real point to the events, and the events seemed to just repeat themselves over and over and over again. The time sequence was confusing, and I couldn't find any real reason why the book jumped back and forth between time periods. Ultimately, I was also dissatisfied with the book and the ending. It all seemed pretty pointless. Disappointing.



View all my reviews The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was one of those books where I found myself thinking, "Really? How many catastrophes does this character really need to overcome?" And then, in spite of all the tragedies, still able to come up with a predictable ending....

I still have to say I liked the book -- simply for its depiction of life in China during the early 20th century and especially the depiction of the life of a courtesan. I also have to say that I like Amy Tan's style of writing. I probably would have given up on the book if not for that.


View all my reviews Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I could read Jacqueline Woodson 24 hours a day. I just love the way she writes, and I love the stories she tells. In this one, I like the message she sends. I just love her books.





View all my reviews Hush by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Once again Woodson has taken me into a world that I could never otherwise have entered. I love her characters and the way she brings them to life. She has opened my eyes and my mind and forced me to think about issues that because I am white, and white in a place that is predominantly white, I have not really considered before. Her characters are human, and I feel as though I could know them. And although her ending isn't exactly happy, it does leave the reader with hope. On second thought, I guess maybe there's not much that can be happier than that, after all.


View all my reviews After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before I'd read Brown Girl Dreaming, I never would have picked this book up. As a new fan of Jacqueline Woodson, I picked this one off the shelf at our middle school media center. The title intrigued me. I had a student my first year at my current teaching position, probably 15 years ago, who was a huge Tupac fan. All I knew at the time was that he rapped (strike one), he'd been to prison (strike two), and he had been murdered (he's out!). I feigned interest so I could try to connect with this student, and I did find some of the lyrics my student shared with me to be compelling, but after my student moved on, I forgot all about the rapper until I saw the title of this book. It brought back memories of this student whom I've seen only once since 8th grade all those years ago, and it made me curious as to how he'd fit into the book, so on a sick day, I read it.

Being a white woman who was born and raised in the rural, middle class Midwest, in a vastly predominantly White society, I found this book to be both fascinating and enlightening. It made me think of the events in Ferguson, Missouri and all the other places that have been in the news in recent months and years because of racial profiling and violence between police and Blacks. And it gave me a glimpse of what it might mean to be Black in today's urban areas, a glimpse of what it might take to move up and out of a bad situation, and most importantly, a realization that some people, no matter what race, are victims of circumstances that may be dauntingly difficult to rise above.

I think this book could give a glimmer of hope to young people who need to be encouraged to persevere, and I think it could offer others an opportunity to understand a way of life that many of us are unfamiliar with.



View all my reviews Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book depressed me. I felt incredibly sorry for all that Lucy endured during her battle with cancer and the ensuing struggle to find her face. I wondered at how little support she seemed to get throughout her trials, and I found myself wondering if she'd have been diagnosed with her cancer 15 or 20 years later if she'd have had better luck -- and if she'd still be alive today. It seemed to me like she was failed on many levels -- by family, by friends, and by the professionals who professed the ability to help her. Sad, sad book with a sad outcome.



View all my reviews Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I positively LOVE this book! Written in poetry, the words flow. The book is full of life. Jacqueline Woodson's life, but also life beginning in the 1960's. I smiled at the memories it evoked of my own childhood and reveled in her magical use of language. Words. Images. Sounds. Smells. I LOVE this book.






View all my reviews UnDivided by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, everything was tied up in a nice, neat little package in the end. I'm not sure why I still feel dissatisfied, but I do. Maybe it's because I got tired of it all, and I think maybe it felt like Shusterman was too. It was an ok ending but the first two books deserved two better books than this one and Unsouled to finish them off.





View all my reviews Our Town by Thornton Wilder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Our high school performed the play last fall. I wanted to read it to catch some of the lines I missed. Our students did a wonderful job capturing the characters and the longing. I'm glad I read it after I saw it.







View all my reviews American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

When I saw trailers for this movie, I thought, "I'd better just read the book. I'll bet the movie will be too intense." Well, the book was also too intense. I couldn't read it. I just couldn't do it.





View all my reviews I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust by Livia Bitton-Jackson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Comparable to Elie Wiesel's Night, a compelling read.








View all my reviews Nightfather: A Novel by Carl Friedman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my all-time favorite books about the Holocaust. I love the way it is written -- almost like poetry. Don't make a mistake though, it is not happy -- and I wouldn't even say it necessarily has a happy ending. I think the book underscores again for me that many of the casualties of the war were among the living, and many of the victims were of the next generation. Powerful book.




View all my reviews Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've read a lot of WWII books but never one set in Norway. I liked the new setting for a war story and the role the children played. Recommended by a student, it was a quick and exciting read from a new perspective.






View all my reviews Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

There was not a single character that I cared about in this book. Every one of them was so messed up it was beyond belief. I stuck with it because my friends told me the end was worth it. I wonder if I read a different version of the book than they did. Seldom have I been so disappointed in a book that was so highly recommended.







View all my reviews The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the best story I've read in a LONG time. I loved the story of Joe Rantz. I loved the story of the 9 boys and their quest for gold. I loved the way history was woven into all the stories. Most of all, I loved the story of rowing. Through the voice of Daniel James Brown, it felt as though I was right there with those boys in that shell. I could see, hear, and feel every sight, sound, and pull. GREAT BOOK!




View all my reviews Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I liked the main character and I liked his friend Alicia. I was drawn in to Bobby's predicament, but I felt the ending was rushed and unsatisfying. I expected more. Maybe it's because I'm not a young adult any more. I could see my students liking the book. For me it was a bit of a disappointment.




View all my reviews Tea Cups & Tiger Claws by Timothy Patrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a free "deal" for my kindle. I wasn't sure what to expect because I've never heard of the author before, and the book was free. I liked the author's writing style. He was at times humorous in a dry, sarcastic way. He was at times dark and serious. All the characters were interesting to me from Dorthea, whom I loved to hate, to Sarah Evans, Mack, and Veronica. Prospect Park and her residents were interesting, if not always entirely believable, but the book was a great escape for a while, and I did enjoy the read.




View all my reviews Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the story here. I really liked the ending. It needs to be reread.








View all my reviews Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success by Carol S. Dweck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I feel like this was one of those books that could have been written in half the pages -- maybe less. BUT I did learn a lot about this idea of mindset and could see a lot of myself and of my students in these pages. It was still a worthwhile read, but I skimmed a LOT.






View all my reviews THE SPRING -- A Legal Thriller by Clifford Irving
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the first chapter I was ready to give up on this book. It was touted as a legal thriller so I expected some realism -- maybe along the lines of John Grisham. I was reading it for a book club discussion though, so I stayed with it, and I'm glad I did. It ended up being worthwhile. It was more than a little predictable, and the murder part of the story had lots of holes, but I liked the characters and I liked the premise.



View all my reviews The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't want to put the book down -- I had to from time to time because, well, it IS about the Titanic, and we all know what's going to happen. I didn't want to be too attached to the characters, and when I found it happening, I just had to walk away from it for a while. I loved the voice Allan Wolf gives to the passengers and crew. The undertaker was a bit gruesome for me, but also an aspect of the tragedy that we just don't consider. All in all, I recommend the book to anyone who is interested in the Titanic's story.


View all my reviews Twerp by Mark Goldblatt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I think I've found my new read-aloud for my 8th graders. Lsugh-out-loud funny, but also such a good lesson and in such a likable character in such a believable voice. I LOVED THIS BOOK!

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Legend by Marie Lu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I see why my students like this book so much. I had a hard time putting it down myself. They only thing I dislike about it is that it's part of a series. I HATE getting to the end of a book only it's not really the end. On the positive side though, it does keep my middle school students reading! I like the two main characters, and I am a little curious as to what has happened to make their world as it is, but I will not be reading on. I think I'll find an 8th grader who won't mind giving it all up for me.



A Dog's Journey by W. Bruce Cameron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the book for the dog. The dog's story was just SWEET. The humans' stories were predictable and sappy, but I LOVED the dog's story.





View all my reviews 5631971-cathy">View all my reviews The Raft by S.A. Bodeen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was sucked into the book right away. I liked the character, and I wanted to know right away how she got stranded on the raft and how (or if) she and any others would survive. About half way through the book I started to get really ticked off at her b/c of the way she was treating the other character on the raft. Then I started getting pretty disgusted with the other character b/c he seemed so WORTHLESS. He didn't do anything other than to tell her what to do. Never made an effort to help at all. There were parts where I thought, "Oh, come ON!! This is SO not possible! How could this have happened?"

And then..... suddenly I knew. And then I was ticked at MYSELF for not realizing what had finally become so obvious to me! I ended up liking the book just fine. It's not my favorite, but it is certainly far from the worst book I've ever read, and I think for the young adult audience it's aimed at, it's a good read.


View all my reviews A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you love dogs, you just have to read this book. I think Bruce Cameron has captured the mind of a dog perfectly. I loved his dogs and it made me love mine more. Sweet little book.





View all my reviews Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

What I liked about the book were the historical references, but the truth is that I think taking on a trilogy of books that deals with a century of world history was way too ambitious for a trilogy. Ultimately the characters suffered (there wasn't a single character in this book that I cared one iota about -- there were so many that there simply wasn't a way to develop them fully), and the events themselves suffered -- there were so many important events that none of them got the treatment they deserved. The love interests were pathetically unbelievable and much of what happened that was fiction was terribly predictable. Pillars of the Earth remains my favorite Follett work. This trilogy was a disappointment.


View all my reviews Schooled by Gordon Korman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the book, and I liked the premise behind it. It was a little cheesy, but it had such a good message that I could overlook the cheesiness.





View all my reviews Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers by Steven L. Layne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars







View all my reviews The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was klunk.






View all my reviews The Roar by Emma Clayton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to me by one of my students, I read this with dread because #1, I am not a fan of series, and #2, I'm really not a fan of sci-fi either. I have to say I did like the book though. I like the characters, and I like the "hidden message" the author has. I see why middle school students like the book, and I would recommend it to my middle school students.




View all my reviews Peony by Pearl S. Buck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me a long time to finish this book, relatively speaking. I'm not sure why. I liked the characters. I liked the story of the Jewish people and how they were able to "fit in" with the Chinese. I liked the concern over the possibility of a people "disappearing" because of the mingling of two races. It just took me a long time to finish. I guess the writing, although interesting to me, wasn't terribly compelling most of the time. It was most definitely a book I could easily put down -- and I often did. I AM glad I finished it though.



View all my reviews Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but I'm not sure whether or not it is something my 8th graders would like. Maybe some of them... I love that it is set on Alcatraz in the 1930s. I love that it doesn't romanticize the criminals who were there. I love that every book seems to have a lesson without preaching. I like Moose and his sister, but I would like more development in the other characters -- especially considering they are all appearing in book after book in this collection. Over all, I think this was just about as good a read as the first one, Al Capone Does My Shirts.

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Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't know what to expect with a title like that, but I didn't expect a character with autism and a brother with a large amount of responsibility where she was concerned. There were times when I laughed out loud, times when I teared up, and times when I was surprised. In the end I liked the book very much and would not hesitate to recommend it to my 8th grade students.



View all my reviews Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was not at all what I expected. I was ready for something light and a little humorous after just finishing Camelot's Court by Robert Dallek which has taken me the majority of the summer to work through. I finished this book in two days between other chores, but there really was nothing funny in the book. It was just a good story about a young girl figuring herself out. I really think it might be able to find a way onto my shelves at school for my 8th grade students. The ending fourth of the book stunned me -- I truly did not see the final events coming. It's been a long time since I've read a book that surprised me as this one did.




View all my reviews Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House by Robert Dallek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, I finally finished this book. When JFK was assassinated, I was 6 years old in first grade. When I returned to school after lunch, my first grade teacher told my class the horrible news and turned on a radio in our classroom to stay on top of the information. When I came home, my mom was sitting on the couch, folding my baby brother's diapers, in front of the TV set, crying her eyes out. I was absolutely certain at that time that with our president dead, the Russians and/or communists were going to invade our country and take over. My 6-year-old mind had taken in just enough of the current events leading up to JFKs demise to "understand" that communists and Russians were the bad guys, and without our might leader, we were surely done for.

What Dallek has done with this book is helped me to see just exactly how turbulent this time truly was. No wonder I was frightened! And the thing that frightens me now is that politics are so much more corrupt now than they were even back then, it makes me wonder just exactly what is REALLY going on. This book was not the greatest page-turner I've ever read, but for the history surrounding those 1000 days, it was enlightening.



View all my reviews Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now by Jan Wong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I read, I found myself looking up further information about China, its leaders (Mao, The Great Architect, Li Peng,Chiang Kai-Shek), The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The more I read, the more I wanted to know. The more I found out, the more I sought to know. The book was sometimes funny, sometimes heart wrenchingly sad, sometimes nearly unbelievable, and always interesting. I'll be looking for more to read by Jan Wong.



View all my reviews Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas by Maya Angelou
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the first half of this book better than the last half. I got tired of following her all over Europe, but I still enjoyed hearing about her experiences. Her story inspires.






Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis by Robert M. Edsel
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I just could not stick with this book. I found it so terribly, terribly dry and hard to keep up with in terms of the people who were involved. I WANTED to like the book and learn about how the art and other relics were helped to survive the war, but I just could not do it.

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View all my reviews The Fire Within by Chris d'Lacey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Once again a book recommended to me by a student. I am not a fantasy fan, usually, but I told her I would read it -- fully prepared NOT to like it and ready to abandon it at the first opportunity. Surprise! I enjoyed it! It was a fun little story. I don't think I'd read any more of them -- I am fundamentally against series b/c there are too many books out there to get suckered into one set -- but I would recommend the book (and maybe the series) to some of my students who aren't as eager to read as I'd like. It was a quick read -- humorous and fun. I'm glad I read it.



View all my reviews The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom


I went back and forth with this book. First it was hard for me to get into the story. When I finally did, I liked it. After about the fourth catastrophe in less than 100 pages, I started thinking, Oh, come on! How many tragedies can you really put on this family?

I found Marshall to be entirely unbelievable. I found Lavinia to be incredibly and unbelievably naive. I couldn't figure out why so many of the characters would have a part in important events and then disappear only to conveniently reappear whenever the plot required them to appear (Rankin, Marshall, Will, etc.).

The book spanned too many years and too many events in too few pages. I thought the storyline had great potential, but I was extremely dissatisfied when I finished.



View all my reviews Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was ok. It's not written as well as Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust, but it still tells a good story.






View all my reviews The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two or three people recommended the book, but I had no idea what it was about. I don't think I can ever look at zoo animals in quite the same way ever again. I liked hearing the story through Ivan's words. And I like that Ivan is real. I'll be recommending the book to my 8th graders. Quick read and good story.




View all my reviews Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book. I didn't like it as well as Hugo Cabret, but I liked it. I liked the two separate stories -- one told in pictures. I felt it was appropriate for Rose's story to be told in pictures -- sort of silently, like the silent films she so enjoyed as a girl -- since her world was silent. Although the stories were separate, I also liked the parallels and how they converged. It was an interesting read.



View all my reviews Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How can anyone not like Hollis Woods? And how can anyone not love Josie or Steven or Izzy or Old Man? I liked the way the story switched back and forth from her recent past with the Regans to the present with Josie. It was incredibly tempting to skip and read only the parts about the Regans so I could find out what happened, but I stayed strong. The ending was a little too sugar-coated for my taste, but I still really liked the book.



View all my reviews The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of the books that's written in free verse a la Out of the Dust. I love that format, and I really really loved this book. I've never read anything by this author, but I would certainly read her again. The story is of a young Polish girl and her mom who are abandoned by the father. When they discover he has moved to Coventry in England, they leave Poland to find him. Through the lines of free verse we read about "Cassie's" struggles to fit in and find her place in a foreign land while at the same time trying to come to terms with the new life, including a new family, her father has created in Coventry. Fast read. Good characters. I loved it.



View all my reviews Empty by Suzanne Weyn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am not a fan of dystopian novels, but our 8th grade science teacher is thinking of using this book as part of the unit on energy so I had to read it. The writing itself left me cold, but the story wasn't bad. I was worried that reading this book would make me feel like our planet was truly doomed, but it didn't. It left me with a feeling of hope. I think it will be a good partner read for our science/reading classes.



View all my reviews One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Given to me by one of my students who told me I "HAD to read it", I guess she was right! A touching book that made me - once again - not only look at my students in a different way, but also to think about how I react to them in a different way. "Be somebody's hero." Hmmmmmm...... CAN I? Well, I can try. I loved this story, and I don't recommend anyone read it without a box of kleenex handy.



View all my reviews Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stalin's Russia is something I know very little about. Reading this book makes me think that the reason why is that it has been hidden. What a tragic story. I'm not sure I can stand to read more. I'm not sure I can afford not to.





View all my reviews The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. When I first started reading, I didn't really like the letters, and I almost quit reading because I was having somewhat of a hard time keeping track of who was writing to whom. I'm SO glad I stuck with it. I just had to pay closer attention to return addresses, and once I did, Oh, how I loved this book and all the characters. I want to visit Guernsey. I want these characters to be there, and I want to spend time with them. Not often do I get this invested in a book's characters. It's a fast, worthwhile read -- and the fact it was set during WWII and dealt with aspects of the war that I had never known was a plus.

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Moo by Jane Smiley
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I actually abandoned the book. I've been trying to read it since early March or late February, and I'm barely past page 100. I just can't get interested. The first 50 or more pages seem to do little more than introduce character after character after character. By the time all the characters have been brought in, I can't remember who the first ones are, and at page 100, I still can't figure out if there's plot. I considered the possibility that the book is more of a collection of vignettes than an actual story with a plot, but I can't figure out the point of any of the individual little chapters either so (sigh), I'm giving up -- something I don't do often, by the way. I loved A Thousand Acres , by Smiley, by the way, but I just can't seem to bring myself to open this one back up.




View all my reviews Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was disappointed in this book. I really liked Loving Frank. This one just fell flat. I didn't particularly care for Fanny. RLS was just ok. Neither one of them seemed to LIVE for me. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but even where there was a potential for excitement or something unexpected, it fizzled. I guess I expected more from this author about one of my favorite authors.





View all my reviews Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved the way the two characters' lives sort of paralleled each other even though they were generations apart. I was appalled by the trains and the treatment of those children! I loved that they overcame their disadvantages eventually and that they were each able to help each other through difficulties in very different ways at very different points in their lives. The book makes me want to know more about this topic. It was a good read.



View all my reviews UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was a total disappointment to me on a whole lot of levels. I expected closure. What I got was unfinished, hanging in the air, dissatisfaction because absolutely nothing was really answered. The student whose book I borrowed to read it told me that there had better be another book. I guess I agree with him, but I am not entirely sure that I'll read it even if it comes into existence. I'm tired of this story. I wanted an end and got nothing. Boo!



View all my reviews Looking for Alaska by John Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the book. Liked the characters. I'm afraid I had built the book up so much in my mind from other people's comments that it ended up a little disappointing, but John Green is excellent, and the topics he writes are handled just right for adolescent readers. I'm glad I read it. I can recommend it to my students, knowing what I'm recommending, but I liked The Fault in Our Stars better.




View all my reviews UnWholly by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Unwind last year, in spite of the fact that I am fundamentally anti-series books. The idea of unwinding and all its implications intrigued me. Seldom has a book I've read force me to look at so many questions that have so many different answers with so many possible implications. In spite of that, and because as I said, I'm fundamentally biased against series, I put off reading Unwholly--really had no intention of reading it. But I'm a teacher, and my students were all reading it, and it was sparking discussions among them that really made me have to pick the book up. Once I did, I really couldn't put it down until I finished it. There is something compelling about all the characters. I like them a lot. I root for them and want the best for them. Even "minor" characters drew me in and made me root for them and cry for them if they didn't make it. So now, here I am, needing the next book. I suppose I'll have to read it too. If all trilogies and series were like this one, I might just change my stance about them.




View all my reviews I'll Cross the River by C. Hope Flinchbaugh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

What I liked about this book was the peek inside N. Korea that it offered. Keeping in mind that the book is fiction and the fact that it is difficult to get information about DPNK, it still offered a glimpse of what could possibly be life in rural, impoverished areas of the country. The writing was pretty simplistic and I tired of reading the book sometimes because of that, but for the cultural and social aspects and the topic itself, it was worth a read.



View all my reviews The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book has made me want to understand more about Charles Lindbergh, and I did end up liking Anne Morrow Lindbergh better by the end of the book, but the book itself was somewhere between "it was ok" and "I liked it". The parts about the kidnapping were the best -- and I actually looked up more information on line. Anne goes through a transformation as she comes into her own. I didn't like who she was with Charles. (or at least the way she was portrayed by this author.) She was way too subservient. -- and maybe part of that was the time period, I don't know, but it took her a long while even after Charles was long gone from her life before she really took her life up for herself. That part bothered me. I would read other books about these two people, and I guess I'm glad I read this one because the information was interesting. It just wasn't as gripping a book as I would have liked it to be.



View all my reviews Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked reading the background stories of each individual character in this book -- the skeletons they had hidden and the theme of the white snow in the Denver Rockies. It was snow that killed but also snow that symbolized purity in spite of the "sins" of each character. I like how it was the snow that brought all these souls together and covered them all with acceptance. This book was not one I probably would have selected myself. It was given to me by a friend. Although I probably would never reread it, I'm glad that I read it once. It was a nice story.



View all my reviews A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I reread this book because of When You Reach Me by Rebecca STead. It had been many years since I read the book, and I just remember being terribly confused by it. Whether it's because I'm older now, or whether it's because the concept of time and tessering was explained differently in a way I understood When You Reach Me, I loved the book this time. And now I can't wait to reread When You Reach Me.




View all my reviews Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All I can say is "WOW!" I had seen a documentary on some of this information (the Vemork heavy water plant in Norway in particular), but I had not really been "inside" the Los Alamos labs and didn't know even a few of the key players besides Oppenheimer. This book put into plain language the key people and events that led to the creation of the first atomic bomb and ultimately, the arms race. Parts of the book are chilling. All of it is amazing. Well worth the read!




View all my reviews The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved following Santiago on his journey. I liked trying to relate the lessons he learned to my own life and pondering my own dreams. I liked the ending, and I enjoyed the book.






View all my reviews 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I saw this book on This Week With Charlie Rose about a month ago. They have (or are) evidently made a movie of it. Solomon Northup was born a free man in New York state early in the 19th century. He had a wife and three children and owned a home and a business when he was lured to Washington, D.C., for a temporary job. In D.C. he was drugged and kidnapped and shipped to Louisiana where he spent the next twelve years as a slave to three different owners. Twelve Years a Slave is his first person account of his life in bondage. I've never read anything like it. I'm not sure I'd be able to watch the movie, but I'm glad I read the book.



View all my reviews My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book because our book club selected it. I probably never would have picked it up otherwise, but I'm so glad I did! I liked Ariel Sabar's style of writing, and I'm so happy he brought us along on his journey to find his roots. I loved the history. I loved learning right along with him about the people that before I read his book were just strange names (Sunni, Kurd, etc.) from strange and primitive-seeming lands. I loved reading the history of this area that has been in the news since I have been old enough to follow news and finding out a little more (a small drop in a very large bucket, but still, more than I knew before) about why the tensions exist. I sighed for the loss of the old Zakho. It reminds me of how I felt each time my grandma moved to a different place and the sense of loss I felt over the places left behind. And I especially loved reading about the establishment of a new relationship with his father and how his journey would shape his relationship with his own son. I will probably never travel to the places in this book, but I can feel as though I have through the pages of Sabar's book.



View all my reviews Crow by Barbara Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Historical fiction is my favorite genre with WWII, Civil War, and China being my favorite settings. This book takes place in Wilmington, SC, and narrates the events that lead to the Wilmington race riots of that year. Moses Thomas is a young African-American whose father is a college-educated man, Alderman on their city council and a reporter for the Black newspaper, the Record. Moses's maternal grandmother, Boo Nanny, was born into slavery and freed after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Moses's parents keep him protected from the events in their city, until he can't be protected any more. Events unfold terrifyingly and quickly. I liked this book because it was about a time and events I hadn't known about before.

Appalling and frightening, this book gives a glimpse into Jim Crow's South. An excellent and enlightening read.

View all my reviews Allegiant by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I normally am not a fan of series books, and I was pushed into these books entirely against my will. I put off reading the last one because although I thought the first two were ok, my experiences with trilogies left me hesitant to read. I'm almost always disappointed and the same people who pushed me into Divergent and Insurgent were telling me how they disliked the third book, so I really was not looking forward to the read.

Surprise! I really, really liked it. I thought it was a fitting end and explanation to the struggles outlined in the first books. I liked the way the characters came to terms with their problems, and I felt that Tris, especially, did all the right things for all the right reasons. I felt satisfied at the end (although, yes, also very sad), but the book has kept me thinking and wondering, and I love it when that happens. I'm not sure this has changed my mind about series books, but I am glad that I read this one start to finish.



View all my reviews Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits by Donalyn Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am glad I read this book. Donalyn Miller has wonderful ideas, strategies, activities that can be implemented within seconds of reading about them. My classroom has already been changed again by her insightfulness and her creative ideas. I did find myself skipping over some parts -- something that I do not remember doing when I read Book Whisperer, but I think parts I skipped were repeating things I either already knew or had already read in her previous book. Other sections though, invigorated me and made me remember why I am also a "wild reader" and why I truly want my students to become wild readers as well. All in all, the read was a valuable one, and it is a book I will keep handy to be reread when my teaching battery needs to be recharged.

View all my reviews Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is exactly the historical fiction book I need for our American Revolution unit at school. There's a compelling story, an interesting character, some adventure for the boys, and plenty of history sprinkled throughout -- all written in Gary Paulsen's wonderful style.




View all my reviews Sophia's War: A Tale of the Revolution by Avi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was hoping for an interesting selection for my students for our historical fiction: American Revolutionary War unit. I am disappointed. The book moves slowly, and I just wasn't emotionally invested with the character. It does give a lot of history mixed in with her story, and it will tie in nicely with their studies of the Revolution that is going on at the same time in social studies class. I was expecting the same quality that I read in Fighting Ground. It just wasn't to be.




View all my reviews Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't like the use of violence in the book. The characters are interesting to me still -- and there's a lot of curiosity about Peter, Marcus, even Tobias, and what their true motives are in whatever it is that is going on. Many questions running through my mind: What IS beyond the fence? Why was the fence put up in the first place? Who put it up? Why aren't more of them more curious about the other side? Why don't they try to go beyond? What happened to Chicago? Did Roth intend for her society to be a reflection on today's society? I'm taking a break from this series. I need some time away from the characters and the violence. I'm going to read some historical fiction: Sophia's War by Avi, and Woodsrunner by Gary Paulsen. Then I'll read Allegiant which is already on my Kindle.



View all my reviews Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found the book interesting. I liked the characters and especially the way the main character, Tris, struggled with analyzing and trying to make sense of her personality and traits. I liked the questions she asked herself and and the observations Roth makes about human nature through her Tris's self-exploration. It's a bit more violent than I like to read, but the other parts made up for it.




View all my reviews Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was sort of a snob about the Wimpy Kid books. I figured they were well below the reading that my 8th graders should aspire to. One day in the library, I saw several of my boys sitting together, Wimpy Kids in all their hands, and I asked them what they found so interesting about these books. "They're funny," they all said. And one added, "Have you read any of them?" Of course not, I wanted to say. They're probably stupid. I said, "No." One of the boys found this one on the shelf and told me I should read it. They didn't think I would so I had to. Before the bell rang, I was laughing out loud at the antics of this kid. (My boys were surprised, but also, I think, impressed.) I finished the book before my last period finished that day, and while I doubt I'll read any more of them, I am glad that read this one -- and I won't hesitate to recommend them in the future to any of my boys who haven't yet discovered the joys of reading because I think the humor in them will appeal to most, and they might, surprisingly, learn a lesson as well -- another surprise for me!




View all my reviews Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book took me by surprise. I heard myself gasp out loud at various twists in the plot and crying at others. Red Kayak deals with doing the right thing even when the right thing is the hardest thing you've ever had to do-- even when the right thing is going to irrevocably change lives. I've read some really good books lately, Wonder, The Fault in our Stars, and I have to say that the Red Kayak deserves a place on the shelf right next to them. Wonderfully crafted story, and a wonderful book.




View all my reviews New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery by Allan Wolf
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Through the words of several of the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, including Sacagawea, the author takes us across the lands of the Louisiana Purchase from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the information is directly quoted from actual journals, but the author imagines much of the story too. It was a great lesson in this historical journey.



View all my reviews Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I bought this book in a class I took about four or five years ago and read it this fall (reread?) for our PLN group. I had reservations about reading it now, figuring all the information would be outdated, but it was still as relevant now -- maybe more relevant -- as it was then. It gave me food for thought on how much more I could be doing with blogs and wikis, particularly, in my English 8 classroom. I am intrigued by the idea of an online portfolio and am appalled that our students don't have them yet. Our district has a long way to go to catch up to 21st Century opportunities.




View all my reviews The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When I think of books about women's relationships, I guess I expect more than what Ms. King dished up in this book. There really wasn't enough background to establish a strong relationship, and I just didn't feel a connection to any of the characters. There were parts that were sweet, and I did like Corinne, but the book just sort of left me flat.





View all my reviews The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think this is easily one of the best books I've ever read -- adult or young adult. I laughed, I cried, I loved the characters and their families, and I loved the way it made me stop and think about life, about death, and about the universe. GREAT book!





View all my reviews Wonder by R.J. Palacio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this book should be a must-read for all middle school students. This book should be a must-read for everybody. I hated that I could see myself in some of these children, but at the same time, I was glad that I did because it helped me to understand myself -- and now maybe I can be better. It's a young adult book, but it's a good read for anyone.




View all my reviews Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The girls in my 8th grade classroom clamor for Sarah Dessen's books. Many of them have recommended that I read them, so finally, this year, I did. This one. Just Listen. I have to say I see now what my girls love in these books. Dessen is able to take current teen issues (in this one eating disorders and date rape), combine them with likable, believable characters, a good plot, and a satisfying ending with a good message, and produce a book that is a good read. Teens relate to the characters Dessen creates and the issues she addresses. I was totally engrossed in the book and even cried at parts. I recommend this book not only to teens, but to their parents because I really believe it will help them understand what some teens face in their worlds today. I really liked this book.

View all my reviews September 13, 2013 Silent Tears: A Journey Of Hope In A Chinese Orphanage by Kay Bratt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The only thing that kept me reading this book was the fact that, like the author, my daughter and her family are currently living in China because of my son-in-law's job. While I felt sadness and dismay at the treatment of those poor abandoned children, I also got very tired of reading basically the same experiences over and over and over again ad nauseum. I understood much of her frustrations with the Chinese bureaucracy and red tape because of my own experience and through the experiences of my own daughter, and those were the parts that kept me reading. I found myself wishing she'd have written the book instead of writing in her journal. I think it would have made a much more interesting read.

View all my reviews September 8, 2013 The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked the way this book told the story from the point of view of both the two main characters and also how it slipped back and forth from past to present. I teach about the holocaust in my 8th grade English class, and I knew about Terezin (I Never Saw Another Butterfly and an article in "Reader's Digest" (forgive the quotes, but I couldn't get italics or underline to work for that title -- it changed the entire text instead of just the title) a few years back) but I'd never read fiction about it that showed what living there may have been like.

I found the characters likable and engaging, and the story, while maybe a little predictable, was still interesting enough to keep me reading. I liked Richman's writing style, and even though I wasn't really kept guessing, I still enjoyed the read.

View all my reviews July 2013 And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think Kite Runner is still my favorite book by this author, but I did like this one very much. I love the way Hosseini writes, and I love the characters and stories, and I love the glimpse into the Afghan culture and history that his books provide.





View all my reviews Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book because it was true and told from an entirely different perspective than I expected. I also enjoyed it because of the way it allows us to view Afghan life through the eyes of an average person. Sometimes the writing was an obstacle to enjoying the story, but overall, it was still worth reading.




View all my reviews The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even when I don't like Barbara Kingsolver's books (a rarity) I LOVE reading her writing. I liked the Lacuna for the time period and the historical side of the story. I had heard of these artists and leaders before, but I didn't know the stories behind them. Combine these people and their place in history with Kingsolver's ability to tell the story and you have a great read.




View all my reviews River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I believe that of the three books by Peter Hessler that I've read, this one was my favorite. I think it might be the first one he wrote, but it was the last one I read. I liked his candor about his experience. He didn't really seem to sugar coat any of his experience. If he was ticked off about something, the reader knows it, but if he was happy about something, we knew that too.

His acceptance, tolerance, and patience for the people of China, their circumstances, their views, and the situations he found himself in were, I think, incredible. Having visited China myself and experienced some of the same situations, I don't know if I would be as patient.

What I like about his books is that it feels as though I'm experiencing China right along with him. I feel as though I know the people and can see the places. He was a good introduction to the country before I was able to visit there myself.

View all my reviews Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present by Peter Hessler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did like this book because it is about China, and I have a vested interest in China and its history and culture because it is where my daughter currently resides with her family -- my three grandchildren. I have read two of Hessler's other books as well: Country Driving and River Town, and I've enjoyed all of them for the glimpses they provide of the world where my daughter lives and for the information it provided before I visited the country myself.

What I particularly liked about this book was the history that was interwoven into this book. The oracle bones themselves fascinated me. Hessler also opened my eyes to the fact that artifacts often do not stay in the country where they were found. It seems incredibly stupid to me that I never thought about this before since I've been to museums that showcase these very sorts of artifacts, but I now wonder about if these articles might not belong in the country where they were found -- that is where their history lies.

Regardless, I enjoy Hessler's honest comments about the Chinese people and his attempts to understand them without judging them. My two brief visits there hardly make me anything close to an expert, but I have noticed in the Chinese people I've encountered many of the same traits and quirks described by Hessler in his books. They are easy books to read, put down, and pick up again days or even a week later without losing continuity. I think Oracle Bones is a great place to begin a study of the people of China and a brief overview of some of its history.



View all my reviews Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I did not know who Steve Jobs even was until he died, then my book club selected this book. It was fascinating. Although on one hand, he seemed to be kind of the guy you wanted to hate, on the other hand, he really was some sort of a genius. Lacking any sort of social skills, he was not someone to model your own life after, but his business sense and his foresight were amazing. It's another book I'm glad I read.




View all my reviews September 3, 2012:  The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
 I loved the look into Hemingway's life through the eyes of his first and most-loved wife, Hadley.  Even though it was fiction, it seemed as real as if Hadley might have written it herself.  It makes me want to read more of HEmingway's work, and it makes me want to read more about Hadley herself.  Terribly, terribly interesting book.  

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July, 2012: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I could only read this book in short spurts because I couldn't stand to read all that was happening to Mr. Zamperini. At the same time, I couldn't walk away from it for long because I couldn't stand not knowing what was going to happen next and how he would survive. It's a GREAT read!




View all my reviews 11/22/63 by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was fascinating to travel back to the time of my childhood and remember the gadgets, foods, and times and also fascinating to imagine how going back and changing something -- even something seemingly inconsequential -- could ultimately make such a huge difference in the entire outcome. Amazing read! 





View all my reviews Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My daughter lives there so I was curious. Hessler takes you with him to explore the people and culture. Fascinating!

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  April 14, 2012:

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am tired of series.  I want to read a book and have it end.  This book does not end.  It is so much in the middle of the story it's as though the last half of the book was torn away and lost.  It exhausts me to read it because there is non-stop horror happening to the main character.  Everyone who matters dies.  It is bleak and depressing and it isn't over.  I want it to be over.


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December 29, 2011:  



Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think Gary D. Schmidt is my new favorite young adult author.  I LOVED this book!  I love the characters -- even the ones I hate!  I love the way he weaves Audubons plates into the story.  I love the way he talks to the reader and acts like he's not telling something and then lets it "slip" a little later on.  I could not put the book down.  I read it in one day.  I can not wait to recommend it to my students after break.  GREAT book!


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Unwind by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Our new middle school book club selected this as its first read.  I think it's going to make for some interesting discussion.  I liked it.  Shusterman created believable characters and situations.  I am interested to see what our 8th graders thought of this and if they made the connections I did.  I am wondering what they will think of the unwinding idea and the characters' actions.  Interesting book.


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November 27, 2011:  For our professional development group this quarter I am reading a book by Differentiation "guru", Bertie Kingore.  So far, it's pretty dry -- I'm having a hard time getting into it.  


My Rough Rider Readers Book Club is reading the Faulkner classic The Sound and the Fury.  I have seldom had a more difficult time reading a book or getting involved.  It is such a challenge for me that I searched it on the Internet to sort out the characters and try to get a handle on the story line.  Come to find out, I am certainly not the only person to read Faulkner and walk away totally dizzy!  In fact, one piece of advice I read was that Faulkner sometimes needs to be reread four or more times -- and there was still no guarantee he'd be understood yet.  


I have a problem with writing like that.  Why write if it isn't to be understood?  There is part of me that doesn't want to waste my time with this book when there are so many others waiting to be read; but there is also a big part of me that keeps whispering, "Keep going.  It might get better.  It's a classic, after all.  It might be worth the struggle."  Keep going is what I will do....I hope it doesn't let me down.




November 13, 2011: The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I laughed out loud. I cried. I loved the main character and the way the author sprinkled Shakespeare into the lessons learned in the book. GREAT read!

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November 7, 2011:  The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary Pearson.  The book made me think. There are plenty of issues in the book, which takes place well in the future, but imagines what might happen as a result of our treatment of certain scientific or technological practices we use today. For example: What if we continue to use antibiotics irresponsibly? Is it possible that viruses or bacteria could mutate into organisms that we have no control over? What do we REALLY know about GMO (genetically modified organisms)? Can we say with absolute certainty that we KNOW that they are safe and will not have any future ramifications on our plant or animal life? What about organ transplants and DNA and genetic and cloning research? CAn we say with absolute certainty that there aren't wackos out there somewhere with the brains and the lack of moral fiber to act with responsibility where these technological procedures are concerned? 

As I said, the book made me think -- and raised more questions than it gave answers. Interesting read.

September 25, 2011:  Since my last post (oh, my! How could that have been so long ago!!), I have finished reading the Harry Potter series and in the meantime read at least a couple of other titles.  One is In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larsen.  Larsen writes non-fiction in a fiction-style voice.  My book club read this one as well as an earlier book of his The Devil in the White City.  Beasts is the tale of the Dodd family, headed by William E. Dodd, who took on the position of American ambassador to Germany during Hitler's rise to power.  Dodd moved his family to Berlin from Chicago, and Larsen tells of Dodd's frustration at his helplessness to alter the course he saw the German government (most notably, Hitler) taking and his inability to make a difference, at the same time relating the antics of his daughter, Martha, who moved in social circles that included many of the most infamous Nazi leaders, including Hitler himself.  Because we study this time period in our reading class in 8th grade, I found this book to be full of interesting facts and information about the time period.  As a reader, I liked Larsen's Devil in the White City more, but I recommend anything by Larsen because he writes fact in such a way that it seems like a story.


Currently, as part of our Professional Development plan for this year, I am reading The Reading Zone, by Nancie Atwell and Readicide, by Kelly Gallagher.  Our theme for the first quarter is literacy, and both of these authors are renowned for their insights on the topic.  Both books discuss strategies to create lifelong and avid readers as well as the strategies to kill a student's love of reading.  Last year, on my own, I read a book by Donnalynn Miller called The Book Whisperer.  I liked it so well, I read it again.  Some of the things I do in my own reading classroom today are a result of what I read in her book.  I believe strongly that reading is one of the most (if not THE MOST) important skills a person can have in their bag of tricks to ensure success.  Study after study after study bears out that the most educated and most successful people are also avid and good readers.  I want my students to fall into this category.  That's why a group of us chose literacy as one of the themes of our PD for this year.  I can't wait for the discussion that will take place or to see what changes I can make in my reading classroom to ensure that my students become lovers of reading!


August 10, 2011:  Believe it or not, a few weeks ago I began the Harry Potter journey -- again.  This is the third or fourth time I've read the first three books, but I've never made it from 1 through 7 consecutively, one right after the other.  This is the summer it's finally happening.  As I type this, I'm down to my last hundred pages, or so, of the Order of the Phoenix.  I hope to finish today and begin Half-Blood Prince by tonight or tomorrow at the latest.  If you've never read them like this, I encourage you to give it a go.  It's a lot of FUN, and much easier to keep track of the flow of what's happening ad why.  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading every single book.  When I'm done with them all, I'm looking forward to seeing all the movies.  I've never seen any of them because I wanted to read them all like this first.  Wish me luck.  I have only 9 days left to finish them all before I get back to school!


June 25, 2011:  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford and Heavien is for Real, by Todd Burpo


I read "Hotel" recently for the book club I belong to. It is set in Seattle, Washington and moves back and forth from WWII era to 1986. The main character, Henry Lee, is Chinese and lives in Seattle's Chinatown. His parents do not speak English well and maintain their Chinese heritage while their son is struggling between his Chinese roots and being born American. His father especially maintains loyalty to China and harbors a dislike of all things and people Japanese since Japan has been waging war against China. His enmity of the Japanese escalates with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Henry's parents send him to an exclusive, all-white prep-school on a scholarship where he is bullied and ostracized for being different. It is there he meets Keiko, a Japanese girl who also attends the school on a scholarship. Henry and Keiko form a friendship that grows into love, but the obstacles they face are the prejudice of Henry's family and the United States towards the Japanese and the Japanese evacuations to internment camps. The story weaves back and forth between Henry's childhood during the war years and his adulthood just after his wife, Ethyl, has passed away.

I liked this book -- as I like most books that center around WWII. This one was different because of the Chinese spin. The characters were likable and believable, and as I read I kept thinking what a great addition this book would be to our WWII unit. I think there are many 8th graders who would also enjoy the book. Henry has to overcome behaviors that are ingrained in his character through his Chinese heritage and struggles to do so because of a desire also to please his parents who are so 100% Chinese. His struggle affects many aspects of his life, and mirrors the struggles faced by most adolescents as they try to find themselves. I hope my students will pick up this book and enjoy it as I did.

Heaven is for Real is the true story of little Colton Burpo and his near-death experience that allowed him a glimpse of heaven.  When he was not yet 4 years old, Colton had a ruptured appendix that nearly cost him his life.  Over the next several months and years, Colton shared bits and pieces of that experience that allowed him to meet the sister his mom miscarried before he was born, the great-grandfather he never knew, and many other events that there really was not an explanation for how Colton --at the age of three -- would have known.  

Todd Burpo has a good story-telling voice and explains Colton's and their family's experience in a matter-of-fact way without sensationalizing.  It's a comforting book that allows the reader some proof of the existence of heaven and a higher power. Fast read.  Good book.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quick, easy read. Sweet characters. Great message. My granddaughter recommended the book to me. I've had it on my shelf for years and never read it. I promised her I would, and I'm glad I did. She was right. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. Despereaux will be next!

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