Winter Sky

Title: Winter Sky

 

Author: Patricia Reilly Giff

 

Summary: 11 year old, Siria, named after a star, lives in an apartment with her father, who is a firefighter. In the night, she secretly sneaks out of her apartment, along with her friend, Douglas, to the fires to make sure that her father is okay. However, she soon finds evidence of fires in different places and suspects that an arsonist is lurking around the city. Then, she finds evidence that it may be her best friend setting the fires. She confronts him and they get into an argument, just as Siria's father is injured. Siria uses her courage and strength to find the person behind the fires, help her injured father, care for an animal, and repair her broken friendship.

 

Comments: I really like Patricia Reilly Giff as an author in general, so I was expecting to like this book. However, it missed the mark a bit. I found it a little unrealistic that Siria could know where all the fires were and that she could really sneak out of her apartment building so flawlessly, without whoever was watching over her (such as Mimi) finding out. The book was very short, like some of her other books, but this one lacked in the usual amount of detail and character development that I had come to find from her writing. 

Siria was very likeable though, and I liked the extra information the book had; describing constellations and stars.

This book is a quick read, and while reading about fires could be scary for some young children, I think this book would be suitable for children ages 8+.

 

Complaints: I feel like the book lacked detail and character development. It was also rather short and it had a slow, yet fast-paced feel to it.

 

Rating: 3 stars    

 

 

Violet Raines Almost Got Struck By Lightning

Title: Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning

 

Author: Danette Haworth

 

Summary: Violet Raines, during the summer before the start of middle school/jr. high, feels threatened by a new girl, Melissa, who comes into her life and seems to be set in trying to change everyone and make everyone follow what she says. She even "takes" Violet's forever friend, Lottie and gets her into wearing makeup and growing up. Melissa is mean towards Violet, and even threatens her relationship with her other friends, like a boy in the neighborhood. But when something happens to Lottie's home and family, Violet learns that she needs to accept Lottie and Melissa for who they are.

 

Comments: I was really excited for this book when I found it in the library. It lived up to my expectations in a few ways, yet I felt let down in other ways. I wanted to like Violet, but I felt like she hated Melissa from the start of meeting her just because of where she was from and what her money status and clothes were. Violet was a bit judgmental and I felt like she was mean to Melissa before Melissa even did anything to her. Honestly, none of the girls were nice. Melissa seemed like she was just trying to fit in at first, but then she turned into a real rat. Violet was whiny and seemed to judge everyone and decide whether she liked them from the start. Lottie claimed not to be swayed by Melissa, but it was very obvious that she was.

The book wrapped up a little too nicely for me. There was no real apology for what Melissa did to Violet, yet they were suddenly okay with each other. I don't know about all friendships, but I can't imagine a friendship just wrapping up like that so nicely after having been at each other's throats for all the time of knowing the other person.

The book was good though, and it really did get across a really good message that will hit home with many tween/early teen girls. Violet didn't stop being friends with Lottie, Lottie didn't stop being friends with Melissa, and Lottie still changed too, yet Violet came to accept the new "Lottie" or "Char" for who she was, without having to be the same. So, Violet still stayed herself, yet didn't cut off connection with Lottie when Lottie did change.

 

Complaints: All the girls seemed really mean and unfair at times, which really does happen in real life, but it just took me back that Violet hated Melissa before she even got to know her. It almost made her come across as a bully at first before you got to know her through the book.

 

Rating: 5 stars. (I loved the underlying themes and message!)

Dream of Night

Title: Dream of Night

 

Author: Heather Henson

 

Summary: Jessalyn DiLima lives on a horse farm and fosters abused horses and children in foster care situations. She takes in a horse, Dream of Night or Night for short, and an 11-year old girl, Shiloh. Both were abused and in horrible situations before coming to Jessalyn and neither is ready to open up. Shiloh and Night are both angry and want to run away and get out, but overtime, they find out that they may be able to help each other heal and in the process help Jessalyn get the family she wishes she had.

 

Comments: I liked this book a lot! Shiloh was just so angry and upset, yet she was pretty likeable too. Night was a former racehorse and it was so sad to listen to his flashbacks of being abused by multiple owners after an injury causing the loss of his racehorse status. Jess has a tragic past, and it was interesting watching all of them go through events and heal together. The book had each chapter with the 3 of them giving their perspective on a particular event going on in the book. The book is good, and just because of Shiloh's previous situation and the horse abuse, this book would probably be okay for a mature 8+ but I'd give it the conservative rating of 9/10+.

 

Complaints: None!

Rating: 5 stars

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt

Title: The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt

 

Author: Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

 

Summary: 13 year old Moxie Roosevelt Kipper doesn't want to be ordinary and unnoticed anymore, and she finds that the perfect time to change herself is at the beginning of her new life at a boarding school. Things go okay at first, as Moxie tries out different personalities, with none of them truly being her. But things get complicated as she tries to act different towards different people and at different times. She even has to keep a notebook about what she says around different people because she is lying about herself so much. However, she soon learns she isn't the only pretending to be something she isn't.

 

Comments: I really liked this book. While it could give some kids "ideas" about how to balance different personalities, I think that it would be a good book that could even teach a lesson to girls who feel ordinary and want to be something they're not. Moxie learns a lesson about being herself that everyone who has ever pretended to be something she is not could benefit from. Moxie meets a lot of friends, and her roommate, Spinky seemed like a "tough bad girl" but she ended up being really nice and not into conflict at all. So, this book went against several stereotypes, which is always a plus!

 

Complaints: I found it surprising that her roommate, Spinky, had a tattoo. Some families may not find this appropriate and frankly, I was beyond surprised she had a tattoo, considering it is illegal and wrong to tattoo a 13 year old girl. Maybe they were temporary tattoos that Spinky just pretended were real? I have no idea. XD

 

Rating: 5 stars! Great book!   

The Red Pencil

Title: The Red Pencil

 

Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney

 

Summary: 12 year old Amira is living a peaceful life, with a wonderful father, mother, and adorable younger sister in Sudan. She enjoys drawing pictures in the sand and takes on new responsibilities around the farm as she grows up. However, her whole life changes when a terrorist group called the Janjaweed come and bring tragedy into her life. Family members and loved ones die, and Amira and her mother and sister are forced to flee with others nearby to a special camp for people who have been displaced from their homes. Amira doesn't like the camp and misses life how it was, but she then realizes that the camp and a person in it may be the key to her lifelong dream; to be educated. Things aren't easy, but the book ends hopeful for Amira and her family's future.

 

Comments: I liked this book. It was written in a poem format, which seems to be a trend these days, from what I've observed. It would've been a suitable book for introducing world problems to curious younger children, but I feel that it probably wouldn't be, because there is just too much graphic content in the scene where the Janjaweed come. That scene happened towards the beginning of the book and to be honest, it stuck with me in the back of my mind until the end of the book. I like how it shows that not all people over there who are of a different religion are "bad". It doesn't use stereotypes, which is such a relief. I really liked Amira and I felt that she was very, very brave. She had been through so much and while the book didn't really tell at the end, I hope she ended up with the education she wanted and deserved.

As a side note, I also loved the illustrations. They had a childlike playfulness to them and looked like they could've really been drawn by Amira, which is impressive.

 

Complaints: I wish the scene with the Janjaweed wouldn't have been so graphic. Maybe it wasn't graphic to some people, but I guess I'm a little sensitive when it comes to graphic books. I guess the author just wanted to really get across how terrible the attack was, which is definitely understandable.

 

Rating: 5 stars  

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

Title: Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

 

Author: Jennifer L. Holm

 

Summary: Ginny Davis is starting 7th grade with her list of things to accomplish. This book takes us through her 7th grade year in the form of pictures. Her mother gets remarried, her brother gets in a lot of trouble and is punished, and she goes on a lot of adventures.

 

Comments: I loved this book! It was basically a picture book for older kids, which is so fun! I love picture books and it was nice to have one that my older self could relate to right at the moment (I am 7th grade, too, actually! :) ). Anyone could really read it, but late elementary school to 7th grade children would probably relate to it and get the most out of reading it. Ginny is funny and I liked how it was told through things like receipts from stores, notebook files, computer instant messages, and little forms, comics, lists, and tiny tidbits of writing!  

 

Complaints: I loved the book, but it took me about 15 minutes to look through/read and then, I felt like I didn't know Ginny personally. I had read about her and gotten a small glimpse into her life, but I didn't feel as though I knew her as well as a character from nearly any other book I had read. Her character and other characters were not quite developed enough, and while she made for a humorous story, I may have enjoyed it more if there had been just a little more details and if it had been a little longer.

 

Rating: 5 stars! (There is nothing wrong with the book, I just had a few nitpicks) XD

Remember As You Pass Me By

Title: Remember As You Pass Me By

 

Author: L. King Perez

 

Summary: Silvy and Mabelee have been friends since they were young. But, things are different now. Mabelee is black and Silvy is white and they are no longer allowed to play together. Besides, Mabelee is busy with other friends and Silvy is also busy meeting the new girl, Allie Rae. Allie Rae becomes Silvy's friend, but Silvy isn't sure she likes her because she talks bad about the people like Mabelee. Then, they decide to desegregate the schools and everyone around the town is upset. Silvy, in the end, helps Mabelee when she needs it most.

Comments: I liked this book. Silvy was likeable and so was Mabelee. There was some language in it and some more mature sequences, maybe. It was a good premise and a good story and I enjoyed it. I would probably recommend this for an older 10 year old+ who understands the history of that particular time.  

 

Complaints: None.

 

Rating: 5 stars.