A Summer of Sundays

A cute book that is a must read for middle children. Sunday hates being the "third of six" children, she always gets lost in the shuffle. This summer her family moves to a small town so that their father can finish renovating a library and Sunday is determined to make her mark. She plans to do something so that she finally gets noticed. The only problem is she has no idea what to do. While looking for light bulbs in the library basement she stumbles across an old manuscript and some letters, it's good, really good. She thinks if she can discover who wrote it she'll get some credit. she and her new friend Jude, start spying around town to see who could have written it. Was it the crepe lady? Jude's mom? The mean, old, scary neighbor? While trying to make her mark she makes some new great friends in the process and discovers a lot about herself and her siblings. A cute, touching, middle grade read.

Odette's Secrets

A beautiful book, written in poetry-like prose; this tale of a young Jewish girl living in France during the Nazi occupation will be sure to thrill readers. Loosely based off a true story, this fictionalized young adult novel is essential for those interested in historical fiction, World War II, and the Holocaust. Told through the eyes of a child, it is heartrendingly innocent and tells of fear and hope and what it means to be a Jew. Once Paris is overrun with Nazis and Jews start getting deported, Odette's mother sends her to a small village in rural France to pretend she is a Christian cousin of some friends. Although Odette was scared at first she finds she likes the peasant life and even better, she actually likes Church. Things change though when her mother rejoins her and some people suspect them of being Jewish. A great introduction to the Holocaust for young readers.

Some Girls Are

This is essentially, "Mean Girls" on steroids. No exaggeration. One of the girls is even named Regina and they wear matching clothes on certain days, plus... they're evil. Regina is almost raped by her best friend's boyfriend, and no one believes her. She goes from being the best friend of the most popular girl to the most hated girl in high school. She is a social pariah. She seeks solace in Michael, one of the boys she used to mercilessly bully and torment but that doesn't seem to be enough. She's angry and she wants revenge. Now that she knows how awful it feels to be bullies, beat up, and laughed at she suddenly has sympathy for all those she used to torture. Rather than lying low and dealing with the bullies (like she deserves!) she keeps trying to get even. Michael tries to get her to stop but she's convinced that it's not fair and she needs to take down others with her. Ugh. Soo much ugh! Thank goodness high school was nothing like this. Super violent, bullying is the norm, and no one seems to learn their lesson. I couldn't stop reading it though, it was a train wreck and I wanted Regina to grow up. I would have even taken a cheesy ending but instead... ugh!!

Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer

Absurd, over the top, and probably good fun for younger audiences. This short graphic novel picks up where the classic tale of Pinocchio left off and liberally fills in the blanks. Geppetto and many townspeople have been murdered by something mysterious. The townsfolk don't believe when Pinocchio tells them that something is underfoot. They just believe that people are missing because there are no bodies and no visible bad guys. Whenever Pinocchio kills one of them the body disappears and he has no proof. What's a poor puppet to do? Campy, ridiculous and good fun. Pinocchio lies and then rips off his nose to use as a stake, I couldn't make that up if I tried, just look on the cover. He is gripping two bloody wooden noses. Apparently there are more graphic novels in the series but I am content with just reading this one. Kids will get the most kick out of this.

The Thirteenth Tale

This novel is a book lover's dream; it's lush, gorgeously written, and the way the author lovingly talks about reading and the power of books makes you want to curl up with this unique novel even more. Margaret Lea, a book lover of the highest order and part time antiquarian book dealer and amateur biographer, finds a mysterious note. It turns out to be from the world's most famous living author, Vida Winter. Margaret is stunned, she has never even read one of Vida's 50+ novels, and how on earth does Vida even know who she is? Vida knows she is reaching the end of her life and she wants to set the record straight. For years, she has spun tales about her life, fearful for people to peer too closely in at her. However, now she is ready to get it off her chest, so she asks Margaret to be her biographer and thus begins a complex tale of deceit, mental health issues, and overall a most peculiar childhood where nothing is as it seems. Once you get started reading this there is no stopping, you have to barrel along to the end where even more surprises wait. A complex, beautiful, and haunting read. I can't wait to discuss this with my book club!

The Walking Dead: Book Twelve

Holy cow, just when I think I can't be shocked anymore, Walking Dead punches me right in the guts and laughs in my face. Damn, this one was brutal. It started off a little slow, Carl has some anger issues, finds a lady friend and... "becomes a man." Maggie has some crap to deal with at her camp and Rick wrestles with his humanity. Why is he really keeping Neegan alive? Underlying this whole book is a new threat, the whisperers, and they are even creepier then you could imagine. Seriously, this is the stuff that nightmares are made of. The ending... sigh. Awful. I don't want to have to wait to see what happens in the next installment!

The Revenant

There's something to be said about reading a good wilderness survival book. That something is I wouldn't last two minutes. However, just because I wouldn't survive, doesn't mean I don't thoroughly enjoy reading all about someone else who would. Even from an early age reading Gary Paulsen, I was always captivated by those much stronger than me. To survive in the wilderness you need to be not only physically strong, but mentally strong, something that the main character in The Revenant certainly is.

Loosely based off of historical events; Hugh Glass, a fur trapper travelling up the Missouri river in 1823, finds himself in a perilous situation. Having been brutally mauled by a bear, the captain of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company leaves two fur trappers behind to look over Hugh while he slowly dies and then give him a proper burial. Unwilling to wait for Hugh to succumb to death, the two trappers not only leave him on his own, but take his weapon and tools, ensuring that he will never survive. The betrayal spurs Hugh Glass into action, slowly he heals with only one thought on his mind, revenge. He will hunt down those who abandoned him and deal out his brand of wilderness revenge. Dodging wild animals, Native Americans, and the perilous winter, revenge is what he heals Hugh and keeps him going. An astoundingly fast paced read. Filled with death, despair, and survival, this will make you glad to live in modern times.