2 good books...

I recently finished reading Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen and The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Both were great books that I really enjoyed.


Word Nerd
from Amazon:
Twelve-year-old Ambrose Bukowski and his widowed, overprotective mother, an adjunct professor, move frequently. When he almost dies after he bites into a peanut that bullies put in his sandwich, just to see if he is really allergic, Irene has had enough, and she decides to homeschool him. While she teaches at night, Ambrose gets to know 25-year-old-Cosmo, recently released from jail and the son of the Bukowskis' warmhearted Greek landlords who live upstairs. Ambrose discovers that he and his neighbor both love Scrabble, so, without his mother's knowledge, he talks Cosmo into taking him to a Scrabble Club. For the first time, Ambrose has a friend, but when his mother finds out, she starts packing up to move again to get him away from the ex-con. This prompts Ambrose to run away, determined to get his mother to listen to him. Ambrose is a neat kid who is comfortable in his own skin, despite always being an outsider. Cosmo knows he made some wrong choices, but he is regretful, as well as caring and thoughtful, and a great morale booster for Ambrose. This is a tender, often funny story with some really interesting characters.

The Boy Who Dared
from Amazon:
In the newly formed Third Reich, Hitler's initial political doctrine is filled with hopeful solutions for a country plagued with unemployment, poverty, and a post-World War I feeling of defeat. Propaganda and promises quickly turn to oppressive new laws including the required participation in the Hitler Youth. Helmuth Hübener enters the program and is at once impressed with the bravado, shiny uniforms, boots, and patriotic fever sweeping the country. But his Mormon-based teachings trigger questions in his mind about the reality behind the regime's invasions of neighboring countries, mistreatment of Jewish citizens, and closely controlled media. He creates an underground newsletter with information gathered from BBC reports using an illegal shortwave radio. As he secretly distributes the flyers throughout the town, his boldness encourages him to gather several accomplices resulting in his arrest, trial, and execution. The novel opens as he is on death row, and the story is told as a series of flashbacks. Helmuth is portrayed as a brave, outspoken voice amid a family of acquiescing brothers, mother, and new SS stepfather. Based on a real person, the novel includes black-and-white photos of Hübener and his family.


Happy Reading! If you read Word Nerd or The Boy Who Dared, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)

Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson

This was good! It was a detailed and suspenseful account of Abraham Lincoln's assassination and the 12 day manhunt for his killers. I also liked the photographs and documents that were included throughout the book.

Happy Reading! If you read Chasing Lincoln's Killer, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

I loved this little gem of a book. You always hear me talk about how I am drawn to a book's cover .. and this cover didn't impress me, SO I am glad I didn't judge a book by the cover and gave this book a chance!

From Amazon:

In her small Alaskan town, 12-year-old Diamond Willow, named for the tree, prefers to be just "Willow" but muses that if her parents had called her "Diamond," "…would I have been one of those sparkly kinds of girls?" Instead she describes herself as an average, part-Athabascan girl with one good friend, who finds herself more comfortable around her family's sled dogs than with people. Her story takes a heartrending turn on a solo dogsled trip to visit her grandparents, and Willow is soon caught up in an intense adventure that leads to the discovery of a family secret. As she unravels the truth, Willow comes to understand the diamonds and scars that bind her family together. She also gains awareness of her own strength and place in her community. Willow relates her story in one-page poems, each of which contains a hidden message printed in darker type. At key intervals, the narrative is continued in the voices of her ancestors, who take the form of animal spirits—Red Fox, Spruce Hen, Mouse, Chickadee, Lynx—and her sled dogs. Frost casts a subtle spell through innovative storytelling. Her poems offer pensive imagery and glimpses of character, and strong emotion.

Happy Reading! If you read Diamond Willow, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty

I had a hard time settling into this book - it wasn't bad, it just didn't grab me like some books do. I DO think this book has a little something for everyone - mystery, drama, and pulls at your heartstrings too. I loved that the main character, Lily, is a big reader :)

From Amazon:
Lily, who hasn’t spoken since the accident that killed her brother two years ago, does nothing to contradict the general notion that she is now brain damaged. She finds comfort in the openhearted affection of an elderly neighbor and in reading Nancy Drew mysteries on the sly. After Tinny, a troubled new girl in their small Illinois town, discovers that Lily is hiding the fact that she can still read, Lily finds it increasingly difficult to maintain the facade that has been her emotional shield. A present-tense account of scenes leading up to her brother’s death, inserted in italics at intervals within the primary first-person narrative, heightens the level of intensity as the main story progresses and the parallel narrative approaches that shrouded but clearly traumatic event.

Happy Reading! If you read Cicada Summer, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)

new books

New books in the LMC - please stop by to take a look :)

A few that I thought looked interesting:
* A Taste For Red by Lewis Harris
* Flygirl by Sherri Smith

I have also received some more copies of the Short and Shivery short stories collections. Fun reads with Halloween around the corner.

Notes from a Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

Many students have been encouraging me to read this ... and I am glad I finally did. This author does not disappoint - he does a terrific job of capturing characters personality and emotions. I was sad to see this story end.

From Amazon:

After drinking some vodka and taking his mom's car for a spin to his father's girlfriend's house, who just happens to be his former third-grade teacher, 16-year-old Alex Gregory finds himself on his neighbors' lawn with police yelling at him and a broken gnome under his car. It is hard to believe that Alex would do anything like this; most of the time he hangs out with his friend Laurie, a sassy petite karate expert, and plays guitar in the school jazz band. He is also trying to get over his parents' recent split. For drinking and driving, Alex is sentenced to 100 hours of community service at a nursing home with Solomon Lewis. Sol is a difficult, crotchety, eccentric old man with emphysema who lashes out at Alex in strange Yiddish phrases. Soon Alex grows found of Sol, who teaches him something about the guitar, respecting the elderly, and taking responsibility for his actions.

Happy Reading! If you read Notes from a Midnight Driver, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)

Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes

I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job of giving the characters a believable voice. I found this story to be sad and heartwarming at the same time.

from Amazon:

Mitch Sinclair, 12, is at Bird Moon Lake because his parents are divorcing. But there are tense moments with his grandparents, so Mitch fantasizes about moving into the empty house next door. Then Spencer Stone and his family, who own the cottage, arrive. Spencer and younger sister love the lake, but it’s also the place where their barely remembered brother, Matty, drowned at age four. Told in overlapping chapters, the story is spare. Mitch tricks Spencer into thinking Matty is haunting them; then he does something worse. After the boys become friends, the truth becomes both barrier and bridge.

Happy Reading! If you read Bird Lake Moon, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)