This month's Kindred Connections book club book

Ghost Huntress: The Guidance by Marly Gibson

The Guidance was a fun read. This one is great for reluctant readers, but it is aimed more for girls than boys. It could be read as a stand alone book, however I feel the reader would enjoy the series more if it was read in order. Ms. Gibson put enough background information in the second book so that it would still be a good read. As a southerner, I can say the language Ms. Gibson used was right on for the south. The dynamics of the relationships between the friends and the adults were very good, and were presented in a true to life manner. I really liked all the characters; the main character was sassy, smart, and a good heroine.

The books are somewhat predictable, but there are still enough twists to keep the attention of the reader. There were some plot elements that did not get finished, such as who is Emily and where did she come from? I'm pretty sure I've guessed the answer but there's always a chance I'm wrong. I'm sure Ms. Gibson will answer that one and the other questions left hanging in her third book. I give this one 4 stars.

Another one from Sarah! Thanks again.

I just read Restoring Harmony by Joëlle Anthony (due for release in May), and I must say I really liked reading this book. I hate to also say that I have some complaints about it, but I do. I think Anthony is a promising writer. She paces her writing well and she has gotten the art of creating suspense down. At the end of each chapter is a hook to pull the reader on, and she plants plot elements throughout her story that surprise the reader later.

I liked her protagonist, Molly, instantly, and if it weren’t for that I probably would have found the futuristic world Anthony creates a bit too derivative; her world seems like any other dystopia I’ve ever read – perhaps more boring though. Molly is forced to navigate this futuristic America, a hostile place, and I liked that as a Canadian traveling to the states to find her grandparents, she is as new to the corrupt order as the reader is.

I was disappointed in Anthony’s treatment of Molly at times. Molly ultimately reaches her goal in the story by selling alcohol on the black market, and this fifteen-year-old girl – who seems completely inexperienced with men – ends up in a relationship with the twenty-one-year-old man she meets. Without giving too much away, I’ll just tell you that Anthony doesn’t reach hard for emotions when Molly has to part with her most precious possession. The moment calls for more and she just doesn’t deliver. Molly is very family-oriented, though. Her heart is with her pregnant mother who needs a doctor to deliver the baby, and she is devoted to the task of bringing her grandparents (her grandfather, a doctor) to live in Canada with them.

I’ll tell you that overall I liked this story. For all the problems I found with Molly’s character, I like a heroine who puts her family first, and this story is all about sacrificing for the people you love. It’s fast-paced and an interesting read that I think teens will get lost in. I know when I had to put it down I looked forward to getting back to the story. I’ll give it three out of five; a heartfelt dilemma and a strong protagonist on a sometimes mediocre background.

January book club book review

The Secret of the Yellow Death by Suzanne Jurmain
I don’t normally read non-fiction, but received this one in a shipment of advance copies.It held my attention and was very informative.I learned a lot about Yellow Fever, and the medical practices of the past.The pictures were great, and I would like to see the color ones instead of the black and white pictures in the advance copy.This is a great book for middle school grades. The Appendix was very useful, especially the volunteer list and the glossary of scientific terms.I have to give this one 5 stars.Excellent work Ms. Jurmain!

This one is from the library writing intern, Thanks Sarah!

So, Della has given me, a writing intern at the library, a chance to offer a few book reviews here on the blog this semester. It’s pretty exciting for me! I’ve gotta say, though, I never read YA books (with the exception of Harry Potter), so I’m really new to the different age groups that these books are aimed toward. I wanted to jump in and give my opinion, however, so here’s the first book I read.

Kathryn Erskine’s second novel, Mockingbird, which is due for release in April, follows a ten-year-old girl named Caitlin who is dealing with her brother’s recent death. On top of that, she has Asperger’s Syndrome, and she is constantly misunderstood by the people around her. As the narrator of the story, Caitlin gives the reader insight into the thought processes of someone with this form of high-functioning autism. This is similar to Mark Haddon’s protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, although Haddon’s book was aimed toward adult readers while this one was intended for a younger audience.

I wasn’t sure when I began reading just who the intended audience was, but eventually I decided this was written with children and preteens in mind. I think Caitlin’s character is odd, true, but she seems inconsistent. She’s somewhat sarcastic in the beginning, but becomes more childlike towards the end, like she is withdrawing in maturity level as she acquires social skills. It’s a slight change in her character that I detected based on her earlier stubbornness and self-awareness. I found Caitlin likeable and a strong character throughout. Her moments of epiphany are funny and serve well as milestones in the story.

Erskine references To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorite books, but there is no similarity between the two, and while I like Mockingbird, it just doesn’t match up with Harper Lee’s beautiful novel. I found her decision to italicize dialogue to be distracting, and her use of CAPs for emphasis a lot like yelling. I’m not one for innovation sometimes (don’t get me started on sentence fragments and stream-of-consciousness!), so some people may like her decision here. There were places where this book made me misty-eyed – which is not that easy to do to me. Overall, I thought this was a sweet story and a quick read. And I always enjoy an unusual narrator. I’m not sure how to rate it since I’m new here, so I’ll just say I liked it but I didn’t love it.

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.