Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Two families, neighbors, one Jewish the other not. The Nazi are in Denmark and after a relatively calm time of occupation the Jews begin to be rounded up. The resistance movement is going to try and help. The story of how is told here through the eyes and life of a brave young girl and her family. They hide the daughter of their Jewish friends in plain sight by pretending she is their third child. Then the plan changes.

This was a really powerful read. It's recommended age range is 10-14 but I am well beyond that and I was fully into the story, cheering for Annemarie one moment and wanting to hug her the next. Don't let the young age on this book stop you from reading it.




(finished April 19, 2013)

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

I read this for Children's Literature class. I am shocked I've never read this before since I LOVE the movie.

I feel like reviewing this is not really needed since from book or movie most people know the story. So instead of telling you what it was about I am going to tell you what I think about it.

Even though the descriptions don't match exactly in my head I still saw Patrick Swayze yelling at C.Thomas Howell. I still saw Ralph Macchio lying in the hospital bed. I still saw Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise and Emilio Estevez palling around. But it didn't take away from what is a moving, and even though slightly dated, relatable story on what it feels like to be on the wrong side of things,to not feel like you fit in your own skin, to be an outsider.  

(finished on March 26, 2013)

The Giver by Lois Lowery

The Giver by Lois Lowery


This was another one I read for my Children's Literature class.

The Giver started out feeling like it belonged to the same category of books as The Hunger Games trilogy and the Uglies series. By the end I was thinking it still may be but it seems there are more books to this story so I am not 100% sure.


A perfect community devoid of any differentness is where this story takes place. Everything is planned, right down to when a child learns to sleep through the night. It is even decided what the exact right age for having a bicycle is, 9 by the way.

What unfolds is that to achieve this there is no color, emotion, music or love. Is this better? Are people better off not remembering these things? This community decides yes since it also means no hate, pain, war, anger, hunger, or discontent. 

There is one person who holds all the memories of these things to spare the people them but keeps them himself in order to have the needed memories and the wisdom they provide in order to provide guidance to the community when asked.

Then comes Jonas. And everything begins to change.

I liked this book, a lot. I don't know if I loved it but it was very, very good and very thought provoking. But now I feel I need to read the rest of the books in this series, The Quartet series which follows The Giver with Gathering Blue, Messenger and concludes with Son.

(finished March 23, 2013)

Anna Is Still Here by Ida Vos

Anna Is Still Here by Ida Vos Translated by Terese Edelstein and Inez Smidt

I read this as part of my final project I am doing for Children's Literature, the topic is the Holocaust as presented in Children's Lit. This book falls in the early chapter book area, no pictures, all text but no overly hard words. However, if you let the simple reading level stop you from reading this I think you will be missing out on a powerful story.

Anna lives in Holland. She was in hiding for 3 years during the Nazi occupation. She was alone, except for Kiki, her imaginary friend. She had visits from the kind music teacher hiding her, but she was mostly alone. Now she is free and reunited with her parents and back in school. Anna is learning to live outside the attic she hid in, she is learning to trust and feel safe and with the help of her loving father she is finding her voice.

At one point her father shouts out "Rotten Nazis! Look what you've done to my child!" This is the heart of the story, what was done not only to Anna but to an entire group of people. Anna Is Still Here is told in a child's voice and in a very matter of fact and simple way that belies its power and beauty.

(finished March 13, 2013)

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Requiem (Delirium book 3) by Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver's best work still continues to be Before I Fall.
Requiem is book 3 in the trilogy, Delirium was book 1 and Pandemonium was book 2.

In book 3 the story is told in a back and forth between where Lena is and what she is going through and where Hana is and what she is going through. The voices are distinct enough that this easily botched story telling method works here.

The story of the invalids, those not cured of emotions, of the disease of love, and the fight they face to be free and not have to live outside society works as well.

The love triangle between Lena, Julian and Alex works too. You feel like there is no easy solution but no bad guy so it is an emotional gut punch to follow their story.

What doesn't work for me is the ending. It is the last book in a trilogy and when I read a trilogy I expect things to be wrapped up. I don't expect a clean, perfect or happy ending, but I have come to expect and ending. What happened here felt like there were pages missing. A major story isn't closed, there isn't a resolution on a couple of issues. The story jumps to a little speech about tearing down walls, which would have felt like a wonderful note to end on had it not felt like an abrupt jerk away from wrapping up the story of characters followed for three books. This doesn't negate the fact that I found it a good, not great but definitely good, addition the sub-genre of YA books that includes Hunger Games and Uglies, about the balance of freedoms and government control of people "for their own good".

(finished March 10, 2013)

Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography by Rob Lowe

Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography by Rob Lowe

I had a HUGE crush on Rob Lowe when I was much younger. I loved him as Sodapop in The Outsiders and as Billy in St. Elmo's Fire. That crush continued and became more cerebral when he was Sam Seaborn on The West Wing. He is handsome and smart and a talented actor. What's not to have a celebrity crush on?

But now, after reading his autobiography, I have a whole new love and respect for him. He is also a very talented writer, politically aware and active, and a loving husband and father.

In Stories I Only Tell My Friends, he is very open about his short comings, the sex tape, cheating on Melissa Gilbert, alcoholism, and the bumpy start to the relationship with his now wife Sheryl. This isn't the case of a celebrity trying to make themselves out to be perfect and blaming all their screw-ups on others. He learned the hard way the price that comes with fame, how it can mess with your head and make you feel like you are more important that you are. He took the lessons learned and started his career over and makes better choices now. He is first and foremost a father and husband, the rest, the fame, is the icing on the cake and he talks about how lucky he is and you really get the feeling he means it.

Of course since he is a celebrity there is a some back story on life growing up with Emilio Estevez as his friend, his run-ins with celebrity legends such as Liza Minnelli, Cary Grant and Lucille Ball, his dating life, his drinking problem and his recovery, you know, the dish people read celebrity biographies for. But the take away here is about more than gossip, as a matter of fact the gossip feels peripheral to his life from boy to man and who he wants to be and the dreams he has for his own sons in light of the life he lead and still leads.    

I loved this book!!!

(finished March 9, 2013)

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

I read this for Children's Lit.

It was a touching look at a boy's love for his dog and his journey into learning about poetry, the poetry of others and the poetry that is him.




(finished March 5, 2013)