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Review Date: 2/7/2012
Anne Frank and Me does a good job of comparing the daily terror of living through Nazi rule and the Holocaust with the relatively short-lived terror of school shootings. The chaos, confusion and uncertainty are similar and a fitting context for contemporary students. While the falling-back-in-time situation is not new to literature or YA, it was well done. There must have been many persons with whom Anne Frank came into contact, from whom we have not heard, and all of their stories would shed light on the much beloved young diarist. Bennett and Gottesfeld remain true to history, as far as I can glean, and add another perspective to the time in history we must never forget.
Review Date: 2/10/2018
The Boy in the Suitcase is a compelling story, and is especially illuminating about the area of and challenges in northwestern Europe. Nina Borg is a many-layered character, about whom I'd like to know more. The boy (from the suitcase) and his mother Sigita reveal the many social obstacles some women and children from the area face. The narrator's voice is too strident for my comfort, but the story was intriguing enough that I listened to the entire book, regardless.
Review Date: 8/21/2011
The Choice is a good character study, where both of the main characters are thoroughly flushed. Sparks spends a considerable portion of the book on the set-up of their meeting and an odd red herring and far less on their time together or resolution, which is, of course, what we often long for. It is a good Sparks' creation, but not his best.
Review Date: 5/25/2012
Usually the books are better than the movies/tv show, but Michael Hall is SO good at becoming Dexter that he endears his audience. The tv shows are loyal to the book; however, the book is not as seductive at wrapping the reader into Dexter's personality, his killing "rooms," or the whole feel. I read this book and will read the others in order to get "more" of Dexter, but after the series, ink isn't as compelling.
Review Date: 6/21/2019
Brilliant writing with clever turns of phrase. The characters are fully realized, like real people. A joy to read.
Review Date: 10/19/2012
TGLandPPPS is a marvelous book. While The Christian Science Book Monitor reviewer stated thats/he had never wanted to join a society to so much in his/her life, I found myself with a desperate longing to travel to the Channel Islands. Perhaps they are similar now as they were after WWII...one can dream. Epistolary novels are a favorite of mine, combined with a penchant toward WWII fiction and non-, I adored the characters, who were just eccentric enough to be believable. WONDERFUL read.
Review Date: 3/19/2014
Well-written. Not sentimental as so books about this topic are, but a realistic look at several lives affected by a momentary lapse and accident.
Review Date: 4/1/2015
Wonderful perspective on a dog's life. This would explain some "erratic" behavior on the part of digs now and again: when humans are about to make considerable mistakes or miss something important that's happening.
The Labrador Pact is a clever romp through the lives of a family with several life-altering secrets that need to be handled delicately and with the devotion of a loyal, furry member of the family.
The Labrador Pact is a clever romp through the lives of a family with several life-altering secrets that need to be handled delicately and with the devotion of a loyal, furry member of the family.
Review Date: 7/8/2015
Karon's quick wit, clever turns of phrase and realistic characters make A Light in the Window the same pleasure to read and experience as her first novel in the series. Mitford truly is a caring town full of characters facing ordinary challenges and joys in life in an extraordinarily delightful way.
Review Date: 10/13/2011
Waters' The Little Stranger is far longer than necessary and too slow to get started and build up to climax. It is not the page-turner or suspenseful must-read the reviews promise. While the author's writing is excellent, it can't carry a slow story and I don't recommend the book. Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith, while far different subject matters are infinitely better reads.
Review Date: 9/24/2016
Simonson truly created a first-rate character in Major Pettigrew. He's so real, but upstanding. He's flawed, but all a person should hope to be. A lot like Louise Penny's character Gamache.
Review Date: 1/13/2014
Of Mice and Men is the THEE most rewarding book to teach. The students easily understand Setting, as each chapter begins with a couple paragraphs of it. Static and dynamic characters are clear and obvious. It's a fantastic example of truly sympathizing with the antagonist. It's a great way to personify the Great Depression and just how hard men had to work to scrape by. Most of my students don't like Curly's wife because Steinbeck did such an excellent job of making her a villain; when I begin to explain how it might feel to be her: nameless, powerless, unloved, bullied...they begin to appreciate how the "have nots" feel. Follow this book with the Gary Sinise/Jon Malkovich movie and your students will remember their lessons for ever.
Review Date: 7/8/2015
As well-written and enjoyable as the previous books in the series. Jan Karon is consistently able to allow us to experience the characters in Mitford going about their daily business like we're looking through a window or listening in on a phone conversation (without feeling voyeuristic!). Simply wonderful.
Review Date: 10/3/2015
Thoughtful writing. Wonderfully human characters. Clever plot. None of these assertions reveals how thoroughly enjoyable Penny's Still Life is.
Review Date: 1/10/2014
My students ADORE Tears of a Tiger. They enjoy the different writing formats, the pace, the "believableness" of the storyline, and that almost all of the characters are Black. We proceeded to read the entire trilogy. As an English teacher, I was delighted with the hunger with which my students consumed these books. Furthermore, we had real-life conversations about drinking, driving, looking for support from others, not being "shut down" by adults who don't hear us, and better, realistic options to being compelled to make irreversible life choices. This book changed how many students felt about "having" to read.
Review Date: 9/20/2017
This book is well-written and well-read (audio version). Informative, educational, insightful, entertaining, and compelling. As a reader of up to ten books a month, I rarely find one that I want to reread and almost never find one I need to keep. Thunder of Kandahar is one of those.
The narrator is 14-year-old Afghani, reared in England, whose well-educated parents returned to Afghanistan to help their society in its troubled culture. Yasmine's perspective allows the Western reader to gain understanding, despite bafflement, of the Afghani people, customs, and dealings with the Taliban.
The reader walks through the streets, classrooms, villages, and jungles with Jasmine and her best friend Tamanna, experiences the tradition of arranged marriages, the confinement of women in head-to-toe clothing, how young boys are taught to treat women and how the Taliban indoctrinates its youngest recruits.
The narrator is 14-year-old Afghani, reared in England, whose well-educated parents returned to Afghanistan to help their society in its troubled culture. Yasmine's perspective allows the Western reader to gain understanding, despite bafflement, of the Afghani people, customs, and dealings with the Taliban.
The reader walks through the streets, classrooms, villages, and jungles with Jasmine and her best friend Tamanna, experiences the tradition of arranged marriages, the confinement of women in head-to-toe clothing, how young boys are taught to treat women and how the Taliban indoctrinates its youngest recruits.
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