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!