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Review Date: 12/23/2018
A magical novel that will have you enraptured with the memorable characters and their stories of life in Europe during WWII.
Review Date: 8/22/2015
Ech...This book was OKAY. I was looking for a light summer read, which this was. I liked the setting on the Jersey Shore, but for me the story just wasn't there. I kept waiting for a little bit more than the predictable.
Review Date: 4/27/2011
I had no idea this book was "loosely" based on the life of Laura Bush when I first chose it on Paperback Swap. I originally chose it because I loved "Prep" and the characters that Curtis Sittenfeld creates, and this book lived up to those same expectations. Though I have to admit, I enjoyed the early years of Alice Blackwell much more so than the 1600 Pennsylvania part of the book. Sittenfeld was spot on with the character "Charlie" (i.e. G.W. Bush). Like the other reviewers, I would love to know how much of the story is true and what Laura Bush thought of it.
Review Date: 6/12/2010
A heartwarming and bittersweet story told from the brilliant mind of a Lab.
Review Date: 10/5/2019
Wow. I read this book by listening to the audio version. I wanted to hear the words straight from Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz, but what I got was so much more. Diamond and Horovitz had a litany of celebrity guest readers narrate the chapters with them. Though I didn't like some of the readers (like Kim Gordon...ugh), the stories produced by the band's climb to success are intoxicating and fascinating. I have and will always be a Beastie Boys fan, but now I have a totally new appreciation for their amazing creativity, their friendship, and the risks they were willing to take to break stereotypes in the rap world during the 1980's.
Diamond and Horovitz chose not to talk much about the sadness of losing Adam Yauch to cancer in 2012. Instead, they eulogized what he did, most particularly with his innovative and crazy intelligence, that helped the band break barriers and push their music to new heights.
Diamond and Horovitz chose not to talk much about the sadness of losing Adam Yauch to cancer in 2012. Instead, they eulogized what he did, most particularly with his innovative and crazy intelligence, that helped the band break barriers and push their music to new heights.
Review Date: 6/16/2021
Extraordinary! You won't want to put this book down. I read a lot of WWII fiction, but I had never read a book from the Italian point of view. Though this is a work of fiction, it is based on the true story. Don't forget to read the aftermath section at the end. It really puts the story into perspective when the author, Mark Sullivan, discusses the interviews he had with Pino Lella, the main character, and the investigation and research he did about what happened to the characters after the war ended. This book will stick with you. It reminded me to help others in the face of peril and to live life con smania (with passion).
Review Date: 8/7/2007
I found it hard to get into this book, but I liked the ending. It is inconceivable to me that there are girls who actually live like these girls do.
Review Date: 6/10/2007
Fantastic book...a must read.
Review Date: 12/31/2011
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the fantasy aspect and the message that the story conveyed about fear, relationships and living life to its fullest. Very well written.
Review Date: 5/28/2019
I love Trevor Noah even more after reading this book. He uses his wittiness to recount the days of his childhood in South Africa, but he educates us all on what it was like to live under the horrors of apartheid. Just as it is important to read about the Holocaust, this book will enlighten readers about the oppression of the black and colored people of the pre Nelson Mandela era. As a middle school teacher, I would recommend this book to reader over the age of 14.
Review Date: 6/25/2023
This is a heartbreaking and profoundly sad story of how power and the longing for attention impacted the life of a young orphan boy. The plot was a bit farfetched, given that Hitler hardly spent any time at Berghof, but it is an interesting for young people to read about how impressionable so many people were to Hitler's rhetoric and promises.
Review Date: 2/25/2024
An incredible story of resilience in the face of adversity. Perfect for middle grades or high school. It will help readers understand the incredible sacrifices Jewish families had to make to save those that they could, even if it meant sending their children away knowing they may never see them again.
Review Date: 7/18/2013
Helpful Score: 2
I have wanted to read this book for years, so I made a point to put it on my summer reading list. It was not exactly what I thought it was going to be. While I didn't exactly love the story, it does provide an interesting yet mature story for YA readers with an important message about bullying and the social order that forms in many high schools. I would not recommend it for readers under age 14/8th grade because of some of the mature themes and language. I think that A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a comparative book (also about an all boys school, bullying, social dilemmas) but with a much better plot and more well established characters.
Review Date: 2/20/2020
I read this for a book club with my sixth grade students, and I found it to be boring. Perhaps the end was meant to leave the reader hanging a bit, but there were a loose ends with the resolutions of the conflicts at the end of the novel, which I won't explain in case you want to read the book.
Review Date: 6/26/2012
I know that I am about 10 years late to the party on this book, but it will go down as one of the best I have ever read. True or not, I was so intrigued by the historical aspect of the plot. I remember there being a lot of controvercy surrounding the book when it came out, but I thought that it was so interesting how Brown opened the door to a different perspective on the doctrine of modern religion. Dan Brown is truly an exceptional writer.
Review Date: 9/9/2013
YA lit. seems to have its trends, and the shift has gone from vampires to dystopian societies with female heroines. I didn't think that I would be a huge fan on this theme, but I devoured the Hunger Games series, Match and now Divergent. There was a bit of buzz this summer as talk began about the movie coming out in the spring of 2014. I knew that my students would be talking about it, so I wanted to get a jump start on this soon-to-be trilogy (the third book in the series is due to be released on Oct. 22). I have to say that I loved this book. It was well written, action-packed, suspenseful, and contained developed and complex characters. Tris, the main character, is reminiscent of Katniss Everdeen, as she must use her inner strength to defend herself, her family, and a dangerous secret that she must protect in order to save her life and those that love her. Like the Hunger Games, Divergent can be a bit violent, so I recommend this book for audiences 13 years and up, but many of my sixth graders have already read it.
Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea
Author:
Book Type: Audio CD
1
Author:
Book Type: Audio CD
1
Review Date: 7/12/2020
This is an incredible story of what life is like for the persecuted citizens of North Korea. Rarely do outsiders get an inside look into the heavily guarded dictatorial society which this author illustrates for us in painstaking details. This is a great read to help young adults begin to understand the struggle many humans face around the world in their search for freedom and equality.
Review Date: 3/11/2023
Helpful Score: 1
I highly recommend this book for grades six and up. Rhodes gives an interesting perspective about the span of racial inequality over time. To do this, she incorporates the ghost of Emmitt Till as a figure who helps other young victims of violence navigate their existence beyond their tragic deaths and bring purpose and understanding to the living world. It's a sad but beautiful book, and may help many young people today think differently about current events as Jerome, the main character, examines the imprint his death had on his family, community, and the police officer's family via an omniscient point of view.
Review Date: 7/26/2009
This book was a good, quick beach read on my recent vacation, but it was not great. The plot and characters were a bit underdeveloped and it lacked the story that makes you want to keep turning the pages. If you like reading about the exciting, high-pressured world of Hollywood, I recommend "The Second Assistant" and "The First Assistant" both by Clare Naylor.
Review Date: 7/19/2011
I saw this book on my friend's bookshelf, so I decided to give it a try. It was a fast read and I enjoyed how each chapter was based around a different point in the main character Jane's life. I have to say the middle chapter about a neighbor on the floor below was confusing and broke the flow of the novel for me. Otherwise, I liked and cared about Jane and her struggle to "fish" for love and "hunt" for happiness within herself.
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