Panama, book review

Panama by Shelby Hiatt

Let me start by saying I’m not a prude; I’m an open-minded librarian. However, there were parts of this book that made me cringe. This book reads more like a cheap romance paperback than a young adult title. It starts slow and is hard to read even before the ‘romance’ part of the book. The background stories were more interesting than the main story line.

I liked the author’s portrayal of the main character’s excitement and disappointment when she arrived in Panama. The author did not scrimp on details of the conditions of the workers and their living quarters, which was one of Panama’s best parts. The turmoil that takes place in that setting is shown realistically through the eyes of a teen. Having the Wright brothers as neighbors was a nice twist. However, the flood and earthquake seemed thrown in to lengthen the book, unless the author was trying to include actual events that occurred in those areas at that time.

The plot jumped around quite a bit, especially toward the end. The book mentioned that one of the Wright brothers was dead while the main character is home, but doesn’t mention how or why he died. As close as the main character was to the Wright brothers, there should have been some mention of the incident. The author did a good job of capturing the excitement of the people as the Canal was finally completed. I liked that natives were the first to use the canal. I also liked how she ended the book, with the entry in the Diary. I believe this is a 2 star book, at best. If it was marketed toward an older audience, I would probably give it a little better rating, but as is, I didn’t care for this book very much at all. The author should write for some other audience instead of teens.

Warning, Vent Inc!

So as I've said I'm a librarian in Chattanooga Tennessee and I know all of us librarians deal with the same things but it never fails to amaze me. I create book lists to help people find what they want. I just went through a book list that I've created and at least half the books have been stolen. We can't reorder them. We don't have enough money to waste more on books that people are going to come and steal again anyway. We can not help people create their own libraries from books they have stolen from our library. Yes it is Our library, yours and mine, if you live in Hamilton County. What these thieves don't get is they are stealing from themselves. They pay taxes, the taxes help us get the books. These people are so selfish, that they steal the books so no one else can read them. /rant off.

Another book review!

Boys, Girls, and other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman

This one comes out in January, so this review is a little early. One of the things I love about being a librarian, Advance Reading Copies or ARC's as we call them :)

I really enjoyed this book, although it brought back some of my own memories about school I'd have rather not remembered. Ms. Wiseman weaves a familiar and believable tale of a high school freshman as she attends a new school. The reader always knows what Charlie, the main character, is thinking and the secondary characters are also well developed. The relationships Charlie has with the others in the book are easy to follow. At times, it is hard to pick out the "good guy," but this is not unusual in a real setting. Ms. Wiseman does not shy away from the issues surrounding our schools today, such as hazing, drinking, bullying, racism, and adults who are focused on things other than the well being of their students.

There are parts of the book that seemed predictable, but the author does a good job of throwing the reader curve balls just when the plot is starting to slow. This book doesn't make the mistake of focusing too much on the adults in the story, but only mentions them when the main characters are in direct contact with them. It is written in the first person and that makes it easy to follow and get wrapped up in; this is one of those books that once you start reading it, you get pulled in and don't want to stop until you see how it is going to end. This is an excellent book for girls who are reluctant readers, or for those who want a quick and enjoyable read. Charlie's voice is fresh and strong, and her character grows throughout the book as she deals with problem after problem. By the end of the book, Charlie doesn't know who to trust, but everything gets resolved, and everyone is happy, except for the bad guys.

Scary book review, Just in time for Halloween!

The Well is a great Halloween book, very creepy! It was a fast read and would be great for reluctant readers, especially boys, but girls will like it as well. The story was well written, and the language was easy to read and follow. I liked the foreshadowing, but I think the authors could have done more with Amelia’s house in the story; however, the authors do a really good job developing the character of Cooper and Cooper’s family. I felt sorry for the creature in the well, and hoped that somehow he would be able to get out. I know he was pretty mean, but hey, two hundred years alone in a well will do that to you, right?

As much as I enjoyed the book, there were a couple of flaws. First, there were too many current culture references; when a book has a lot of current culture references, the shelf life for it is pretty short. We librarians like books to have staying power. Second there was a hole in the plot toward the end. Whipple seemed to appear out of nowhere. He went from being dead to showing up in Cooper’s lap while Cooper was in his Dad’s car. Meghan was also a little too forgiving and seemed to believe everything a little too easily. She was also pretty wimpy, but then this does seem like a guy book and wimpy girls go along with the territory. In all I’ll give this one 4 stars, I was surprised I liked it so well.

Another Book Review: Donut Days

Let me start by saying I'm probably not the intended audience, but I kept an open mind and tried not to let my own views influence the way I felt about this book. It was an easy read, and would make a great Quick read for reluctant readers. For a first novel Ms. Zielin did well. The plot was simple and easy to follow, except for the abbreviated names, which made reading the story more difficult. I had to reread a few pages in the beginning until I could reliably figure out who the book was talking about. There was not enough character development for supporting characters; really, the only character you knew anything about was the main character herself. For many of the supporting characters, the only things you really learn about them are their names. There were a few details thrown in, but it would have been better if there were more, especially for those characters that appeared more often, such as Jake and Natalie. For example, why and when did Jake change his looks?

Emma, the main character is going through typical teenage anxiety about family and school life, but Ms. Zielin successfully adds in an extra little twist, by having Emma question her faith. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the life of someone growing up in an evangelical church. I liked Emma because she didn't accept things at face value, unlike some of her friends. Emma's friends however, were made out to be selfish, simple people; even her best friend, Natalie, was portrayed this way and I don't think that was the author's intention. The climax toward the end when the money was stolen seemed out of place and rushed. The ending wrapped most things up, and it was nice that her family became stronger. In all, I would give the book a 3 out of 5 rating.

Busy Summer!

Well it's been a while since I posted! It has been a good summer though. We had record turn outs for our teen summer reading program and hopefully it'll be even better next year. I'm also happy with a new program I came up with, it's called Kindred Connections. It's a book club for parents and teens. This year we read Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and I.Q. by Roland Smith. All excellent books.

I got to meet and entertain Mitali Perkins this summer which was one of the highlights. If anyone ever gets the chance to meet her or be in one of her talks at a conference, take the chance! I'm trying to keep my book club going but I don't know if the library will be able to. I'm begging publishers to give me advance copies of their books and promising them write ups on them if they will give me enough to give to my book club members. If anyone can pull any strings I'd appreciate it! I also have more reviews to post but have to get time to write them! I'll try to put up a review for I.Q. and for the last couple of books I've read when I can. Time for sleeping now just thought I'd update this thing since I haven't done it in a while. Take care all!

Book Reviews!

Well, I've been busy busy! I have read a couple of books planned lots of programs for my library, played Mommy made lots of goodies, enjoyed Easter with my family, and now I'm cheating while I'm at work and updating my blog. I figure that since it's talking about work and books that it will be alright.

The first book I would like to tell you about is called The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins. Wow, just wow this one makes you think, and be appreciative for what we have here in the United States. The language is beautiful and the story is heartbreaking. The Secret Keeper is about a family in India around 1970. The father of the family loses his job and goes to America to try to find another one and leaves behind his wife and two daughters. The younger of the two, Asha is a very strong willed girl. While their father is in America, Asha her sister Reet, and their mother go to live with their paternal grandmother, uncle and their family.

Immediately when they get to the house Asha is told she is too skinny, unattractive, boy-like, too dark skinned, and so on. Great for self-esteem right? This family is very traditional, the sisters can not leave the house without an escort, they may never be seen talking to boys, they may not play sports, they have to keep themselves covered at all times, and the worst thing is that they are no longer allowed to go to school because they can't afford it. Asha has a very hard time coping. She has always written in a journal and now it seems like her only respite from her overbearing family. She calls her journal her secret keeper, and secrets it does keep!

Reet receives a proposal and Asha is shocked to hear her that her Uncle is considering marrying her off! She comes up with a scheme to fix the problem but I'll make you read the book to find out what it is. Just when Asha thinks things can't get worse a telegram comes and unfortunately it's bad news. Asha's father has died in an accident. Now the three of them are alone with no way to make their own money and dependent on people who seem backwards and overbearing to Asha. Lots more goes on in this great book, including a forbidden romance, sneaking out of the house and an arranged marriage. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in women's studies, a great story, a historical novel, a coming of age book, well Anyone!