Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur BOOK REVIEW

Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up at the Book Fair thinking it would be good for my daughter, and of course that means that I need to read it first. I like to know what they are reading so that if they ask me something I can talk with them about it.

This is a coming of age story about a girl, Elsie, who is entering middle school and turning 12, and all the horrors that come with that. My daughter entered the junior high school last year, and this book captures some of that girl drama perfectly, although there is so much more in real life.

It is also about her finding herself, and who she is in a unique way since her parents are not around and she lives with her aunt and uncle. It is a really well written story. I enjoyed it even as an adult. I have passed it on to my daughter and I look forward to discussing it with her. I am hoping that the story will help her to deal with some of the girl drama at school that she has had to deal with this year.

I would recommend it to any girl to read the summer before they move up to the middle school or junior high school. Not to scare them, but to let them know, if this happens, it's ok. This is what you do, not this. I think it is the perfect book to help get parents and girls talking about the troubles and bullying at school and issues of who am I and what is my purpose that this age brings.

Well done!

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The Roar (The Roar #1) by Emma Clayton BOOK REVIEW

The Roar by Emma Clayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up at the Bookfair thinking it would be something my kids would like, and of course that means that I am going to read it before I pass it on to them. I like to know what they are reading and to be able to discuss it with them.

The Roar takes place on Earth in a future time when all the people on Earth live on 1/3rd of the planet behind a huge wall because of something called the Animal Plague. The world is all concrete and buildings and depressing really, and this is just the way it has to be, or so they think.

Ellie, Mika's twin sister disappears one night, and the family is told she died, while being her twin Mika refuses to believe that. We follow Mika as he tries to carry on, and we learn that he is right, Ellie is alive, but life isn't any more fun for her.

It's a young adult, teen book in that the main characters are 12 to 13 year olds. They are dealing with issues of life that are probably older than they should be dealing with, but they have grown up in a strange world. It is well written for that age group, and I definitely think anywhere from the 8 to 15 age range can read this and enjoy it.

As a parent reading it, I was able to understand it, I also was able to remember my childhood and the distrust of adults that lead to some of the issues that we see in the book, but I think everyone has done that at some point in life, and I think it makes the book real and believable. I got the story and understood it.

It has a message beyond the story about life and character and what we do with what we have, morals and values and friendships. And I thought it was kind of a bummer of an ending until I got on to do the review and found there is a second book. I think it is well worth letting your child read.

I have already passed it on to my kids.

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Divergent by Veronica Roth BOOK REVIEW

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Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was walking through the store looking for a book to read while I was waiting on my daughters to get out of theater practice, and I had a book in mind, but of course they didn't have it, when I spotted this book. It sounded interesting, so I picked it up, and I am ever so glad I did.

In Divergent, the world is basically the city of Chicago with a huge fence around it. Everyone, for the most part except the farmer, or the faction called Amity, live inside the fence. Society is broken into factions, and based on how you perceive and process information you are placed in one of the factions to live. The placement happens at age sixteen, and this is where the book begins, as Beatrice Prior is about to go through the testing to determine what faction she is best suited to live in.

The book follows her journey as she changes factions, from the faction of her birth to the faction she feels is most like her. As she undergoes the initiation process and learns startling information. There is unease among the factions, or at least among two of the five factions, and it seems to be building, but why and what does it have to do with her and her life and future.

Beatrice makes friends and enemies in her new faction, starts a life and then has to deal with the changing world they live in. It is part coming of age novel, part alternative society novel, and altogether exciting and enjoyable to read. It was well written and I could hardly put the book down until I finished it.

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City of Bones Giveaway

So I bought this book on a whim, read it and loved it, and now am working on the rest of the series. When I like a book, I tend to go "whole-hog" and read the entire series of it and everything else that author has written. Which is what I am doing, and since they are making this book into a movie, which I highly doubt that i will see, because the movie is just never as good as the book, I thought I would give away a copy of the book to get someone else interested in the series. I love to read, it is my favorite thing in the world. As much as I love to read, I love to review the books I have read and share them with people. which you can clearly see from my blog, so what better thing to do, than give away a copy of a book on my blog, especially one I liked! Look for my full review of the book coming soon, here and on Goodreads.com!

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Last fall I picked this book up at the school book fair, at a discounted price, but I thought it sounded interesting. This weekend, I picked the book off the shelf and sat down for a few minutes and read the book. Just a quick read.

I loved the story. I loved how it was based on actual events that really occurred, although the dialogue and story are fiction, the camp out, the earthquake and the original people are all real.  maybe it was the fact that the author was related to one of the original people in the event, but he was able to wind a story around this event, but he was able to build up the story, give us a glimpse into the lives of some boys and the Boy Scout Troop on the Island, some history and beliefs of the original island people, and wind all that around to the event. It was not the center stage moment, it just was something that occurred and changed everything they thought and how they acted, but without the front story you wouldn't get how much it changed the lives of the people involved. It was just a well-told story that made you want to know what happened, made you want to root for the underdog, and to hold your breathe till the end!

I loved the book. I am so glad I picked it up. I originally got it for my son, but I am going to have my daughter's read it also. I think the story is well worth all kids reading and realizing that life is bigger than you or me, and that petty differences have to be put aside sometimes and we have to work together for the good of the team at times.


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Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My daughter picked this book up at the school book fair last year, and I was sitting in the house this past weekend, and I just didn't feel like starting a new book, just wanted something small to read at that moment, and I picked this book up.


It is a collection of old stories to scare you, some are better than others, but then again, some have been around for centuries. What I liked the most was the Notes and Sources sections of the book at the end, that told where the author found these stories and some of the history and variations on them. That was more fun than the stories, then again had I been eight to ten years old again at a sleep-over, I am sure the stories all would have had me screaming with my friends.


It's a great kids book, great stories, and some information. Works on so many levels for me as a parent, it entertains the younger one, gives information for the research minded one, and stories for my son to try to tease his sisters with! As a reader, it works as well. Even as an adult, I still found the book to be enjoyable and fun. It was a quick read for me, and just what I wanted Sunday afternoon.



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Reading

As you might have noticed from the last couple of blog posts, I love to read! And I am not a snob about what I read either, I will even pick up a kids book and read it, especially since I have three kids. I have tried to instill a love of reading in my children by example, and I have to admit that at this point, the oldest two now love to read, although that was not always the case.

My oldest struggled to read in school. He is still behind his grade level in reading, but I could really care less about that, I don't care how fast he can read, only that he reads and understands what he is reading, and I know that he is doing that, so I am happy. The school taught phoncis, and he struggled to understand it and still sounds words out in a "strange" way, or at least to me is seems that way. Once he got older and learned other techniques to read he did better, and in the last year, he has went from a child who refused to read when asked to a child who can't but a book down!

My middle child has always been a reader, and she is ahead of her grade level, but I sometimes have to caution her to slow down and listen to what she is reading a little more. She loves to read and picks some really nice books to read, and sometimes some off the wall things, but we have fun and I love watching her read and hearing her or my son want to talk about the books they have read.

My youngest is in first grade and is way above her grade level in reading, but she is at this rebellion point where every book we present her with is "boring" and she refuses to read! The school year started with her picking books to read that were so below her reading level, and us encouraging her to pick beginning chapter books, only to have her respond that no one in her class could read chapter books so she couldn't read them. After a talk with the teacher and more encouragement, she started picking chapter books and found she could read them and enjoyed them. Now we are at this "boring" thing, and not sure what to do about it. We still read to all the kids at bedtime, and they love that, so I know she is hearing the written word and soaking it in, so I can only hope that the books are boring phase is short lived!

The other thing about reading that I love to do, is tied to my love of writing, and that is to tell others about what I read! Yep! I love to write about the books I have read and share them with everyone. I used to write reviews of the books on this blog, or my other business blog, but then I found www.goodreads.com and I write my reviews there, then they can be diretcly posted to my blog from there, so I only have to write them once, but two different crowds of people get to read them!

So far my writing of my reviews have been very basic and mostly I try to tell what I thought and felt without devulging too much of the story or plot. I am working on my writing of them and making them sound better to other people, but also giving you enough information to want to read the book without giving away the book itself. I find it fun to challenge myself to give more details in my writing, while maintaining the idea of not revealling the ending. It is fun and I enjoy it. More than anything, I love being able to combine two of my favorite things in the world together, reading and writing!