Listening for Lions

Listening for Lions is a out a girl named Rachel who lives in Africa. There is a bad sickness going around, and Rachel's parents both die. She goes to live with a family named the Pritchards, who end up sending her to England while she pretends to be a girl named Valerie. Listening for Lions had a pretty good plot, but a lot of the things that happened were described in ways that seemed unreal, which made the book less good. This book is a quick read, with no mature topics. My favorite character was the grandfather, and the part with him in it was in my opinion the best part of the book. Overall, Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan was okay but not very good.
To Be Read:
1. Eleanor and Park
2. The Summer of Letting Go
3. Looking for Alaska (multiple classmates recommended this book)

Slice of Life

When I was only a few years old my great grandmother passed away. I don't think I knew her, but my family definitely has many fond memories of her. We have one picture of me, no older than 1 year, shelling peas on a porch swing with her. My family sees this picture often, and it is always quite an ordeal, remembering her. But it doesn't bother me. I like hearing the stories of my Mom's childhood summers, spent at her comfortable yellow house.
I don't remember much about her death. I remember my parents crying, something impossible for me to understand at such a young age. I remember flying to Maine late at night. We drove for hours, the bright lights of other cars shining at me until I fell asleep. I barely remember her funeral. It was the only funeral I ever went to. I either remember it, or made up a story in my mind over the years, a story of a short little girl waiting, confused, and scared.

She may be dead, but stories and memories keep her alive. Her recipes and traditions and household items have been treasured and kept, and will never be forgotten. She doesn't seem similar to anyone else. She seems like a strong, unique, strict, loving woman, with personality and flair. I never knew her well, but I almost do because of the stories my family tells.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys: A Great Book!

I really enjoyed Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys. This book is about a girl named Josie who meets many rich people and becomes friends with them, yet feels as if she doesn't fit in, because she is the daughter of a prostitute named Louise in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Louise and Josie don't get along, Louise is insensitive and has plans for her daughter to be like her, but Josie is smart and sophisticated and wants to get away from New Orleans. With the help of many of her friends, Josie tries to escape her mother's upsetting plans. This book is almost a mystery, and it has many interesting pieces that fit together well. It is a little bit long, at 350 pages, but the length makes sense. Even though Out of the Easy has a few immature topics, I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

Books To Be Read

Every Soul a Star-- recommended by Julia

We Were Liars-- recommended by Max

Eleanor and Park-- recommended by Haley

Listening for Lions

Kindred-- for my book group

"When Did You See Her Last?" by Lemony Snicket

This week I read the second book in the All the Wrong Questions series; "When Did You See Her Last?" This book is about a boy (who is Lemony at age 13) who is doing work in a town called Stain'd by the Sea. This town used to be famous for producing ink, but not anymore, and it is barely inhabited now. A rich teenage girl named Cleo Knight goes missing in the beginning of the book, and Lemony and his journalist friend Moxie are hired to save them. But Lemony's chaperone S. Theodora Markson jumps to conclusions, and makes it all the more difficult for Lemony and Moxie to solve the case. They visit the library to do research on a man named Colonel Colophon, and Lemony runs off, following the villain Hangfire. He finds a character from the last book who had stolen a statue, and they become friends. The three, along with other young teenagers in the town have to solve the case of Cleo Knight. This book was very good. It is about 275 pages long. The other book is called "Who Could that be At This Hour?" and I would recommend reading that, and then "When Did You See Her Last?"

To Be Read

1. The Riverman-- Recommended by Julia

2. Shouldn't You Be in School (the 3rd book)

3. Where'd you Go Bernadette

4. Sparrow Road-- Recommended by Grace

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

The Green Glass Sea is a Historical Fiction book about a girl named Dewey who moves to Los Alamos because her father is helping create the secret Atomic Bomb. Dewey does not have friends in the beginning, but she is happy just to be with her father. But when her father has to go on a business trip to D.C,, Dewey moves in with a girl named Suze and her parents. From the start, Dewey is friends with Suze's Mom Terry, but Suze and Dewey don't get along. But when coincedences on the hill bring Suze and Dewey together, they start to realize just how much they have in common. This book has a lot to do with science. It was very well written, but the author switched from past to present tense constantly which was not poetic, but confusing. The book also did not seem to have a very good plot until the end. I would recommend this book if you are interested in science, but otherwise I woul not recommend the Green Glass Sea.

To Be Read
Thirteen Reasons Why- Reccomended by Sloan
Everlost- Reccomended by Sofie
Where'd you go Bernadette

Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse Five goes into the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man in the war, who early in the book gets captured. The book says that Billy is "unstuck in time", so large portions of the book are written while Billy is time traveling, mainly while he is on the planet Tralfamadore, which he is abducted to after the war. Slaughterhouse Five is a very strange book, but it is also very good. There are multiple inappropriate parts, so if you read it be aware that it is not a very appropriate book. Also, the ending doesn't wrap the book up, or leave questions, like a reader would want it to. Otherwise, Slaughterhouse Five was a very good book!

To Be Read:
- Beholding Bee
- Outliers
- Hungry- Sofie Recommended this book

My Mother the Cheerleader, By Robert Sharenow, Historical Fiction
My Mother the Cheerleader is a short and appropriate book about a girl named Louise, who is at the same school as Ruby Holler, and African American girl who integrated an elementary school. My Mother the Cheerleader has a very good plot, but in my opinion the plot would be better without the integration going on, because it is not a large part of the story. I also think my Mother the Cheerleader would be better if it were much more descriptive, and in more detail. I don't reccomend this book, but people with different taste could like it.


To Be Read
1. House of Ivy and Sorrow (Hailey Recommended this)
2. Forgive Me Leonard Peacock
3. The Circle (Gavin Recommended This)