by Jennifer Brown
Summary:
When Jersey hears the tornado alarm go off, she's not too worried. They go off all the time, and 99.99% of the time nothing happens. But she goes down into the cellar anyway, cause she doesn't want her mom to yell at her if she found out she hadn't. This time is not a false alarm. As the tornado recedes and leaves her town devastated, Jersey has lost everything and everyone she loves. Now, sent to live with relatives she's never met, Jersey will have to discover that there are some things you keep even when you thought you'd lost everything.
Review:
Author Jennifer Brown is known for her brilliantly written and poignant books, and this title definitely fits the bill. Jersey is a very empathetic character, and her struggles as she tries to move forward are heartbreaking. The relationships between the characters are believable. I thought the storyline with her stepfather to be extremely realistic and as such very difficult to read. The lack of sex or alcohol or drugs make this a safe bet for even younger teens.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 7th Grade
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Someone Else's Life
by Katie Dale
Summary:
Rosie watched her mother die of Huntington's disease. She was her caregiver in the months that preceded it, keeping it a secret from friends. When she decides to get tested for the disease herself, because there's a 50% chance she's inherited it, she finds out that her mother was not really her mother. When Rosie decides to track down her real birth parents she finds that the truth is not always the easiest thing to find. She must decide whether the truth is worth destroying another's life, even if it has the power to save it too.
Review:
Huntington's disease is an absolutely terrible disease. For those at risk, the decision to be tested is one of the most difficult ones of their lives. It dictates everything they do, deciding life choices, whether to have children, to go to school. Rosie's story is heartbreaking, but she's a strong character who does not just whine and complain about her problems. It's a marvelous book about family and the power of moving on.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Summary:
Rosie watched her mother die of Huntington's disease. She was her caregiver in the months that preceded it, keeping it a secret from friends. When she decides to get tested for the disease herself, because there's a 50% chance she's inherited it, she finds out that her mother was not really her mother. When Rosie decides to track down her real birth parents she finds that the truth is not always the easiest thing to find. She must decide whether the truth is worth destroying another's life, even if it has the power to save it too.
Review:
Huntington's disease is an absolutely terrible disease. For those at risk, the decision to be tested is one of the most difficult ones of their lives. It dictates everything they do, deciding life choices, whether to have children, to go to school. Rosie's story is heartbreaking, but she's a strong character who does not just whine and complain about her problems. It's a marvelous book about family and the power of moving on.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Monday, April 22, 2013
Me, Him, Them and It
by Caela Carter
Summary:
16 year old Evelyn wanted to be the bad girl. She was tired of being the perfect girl her parents wanted her to be, and why should she be when they barely acknowledged her and cheated on each other. But when she finds out she's pregnant, she's suddenly forced to make decisions that she's barely able to. And is forced to rely on a family that she thought had given her up.
Review:
Me, Him, Them and It does a really impressive job of realistically portraying how a smart teen, who gets good grades and does everything else right, ends up a teen mom. The book shows her as she goes through the decision making process, weighing abortion, adoption or raising the child. At times you really don't like Evelyn, she tends to curl into herself and let decisions be forced rather than make them herself, but in that way the book is very realistic. The book will appeal to older teens, but less so for younger teens since the situation is a little harder for them to place themselves in. Older teens will relate to how Evelyn, who does so much right, finds herself making one choice that will define the rest of her life.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Summary:
16 year old Evelyn wanted to be the bad girl. She was tired of being the perfect girl her parents wanted her to be, and why should she be when they barely acknowledged her and cheated on each other. But when she finds out she's pregnant, she's suddenly forced to make decisions that she's barely able to. And is forced to rely on a family that she thought had given her up.
Review:
Me, Him, Them and It does a really impressive job of realistically portraying how a smart teen, who gets good grades and does everything else right, ends up a teen mom. The book shows her as she goes through the decision making process, weighing abortion, adoption or raising the child. At times you really don't like Evelyn, she tends to curl into herself and let decisions be forced rather than make them herself, but in that way the book is very realistic. The book will appeal to older teens, but less so for younger teens since the situation is a little harder for them to place themselves in. Older teens will relate to how Evelyn, who does so much right, finds herself making one choice that will define the rest of her life.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Monday, March 11, 2013
Three Black Swans
by Caroline B Cooney
Summary:
It all started because Missy's science teacher gave them the assignment to create a hoax. Because Missy thought it would be a great idea to convince everyone that her cousin Claire was actually her identical twin. They'd been told forever how much they looked alike, so they'd be able to convince people easily. But when they do, and when even their closest friends can't tell them apart, they realize that maybe they've stumbled onto more than just a coincidence. Maybe they've stumbled onto a secret that their family has been trying to conceal for years.
Review:
As a big fan of Cooney's other works, I was excited to try one of her newer books. Unfortunately this did not live up to my expectations. The story itself is good, if a bit predictable, but the writing itself seemed like it was trying to hard. The characters were not well developed, or not well developed as modern teens. The book read too much like something that was written years ago but someone tried to modernize but didn't know what was really happening at the time. Probably best for younger teens, since older ones will find the sanitized characters too bland.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 6th Grade
Summary:
It all started because Missy's science teacher gave them the assignment to create a hoax. Because Missy thought it would be a great idea to convince everyone that her cousin Claire was actually her identical twin. They'd been told forever how much they looked alike, so they'd be able to convince people easily. But when they do, and when even their closest friends can't tell them apart, they realize that maybe they've stumbled onto more than just a coincidence. Maybe they've stumbled onto a secret that their family has been trying to conceal for years.
Review:
As a big fan of Cooney's other works, I was excited to try one of her newer books. Unfortunately this did not live up to my expectations. The story itself is good, if a bit predictable, but the writing itself seemed like it was trying to hard. The characters were not well developed, or not well developed as modern teens. The book read too much like something that was written years ago but someone tried to modernize but didn't know what was really happening at the time. Probably best for younger teens, since older ones will find the sanitized characters too bland.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 6th Grade
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Breathe My Name
by R. A. Nelson
Summary:
Frances has worked hard to forget her past. Her parents, her friends, her life now are what matters. But when she receives a letter telling her her birth mother has been released from jail, she is forced to remember the past. The past where she had 3 little sisters. The past where her mother murdered them, and tried to murder her too. It was only luck that someone heard her yelling, luck that she survived where her sisters didn't. But when her mother writes to her, telling Frances she needs to finish what was started, Frances realizes the only way she is going to be able to move on from her past is to confront it face to face.
Review:
A fast paced psychological thriller, Breathe My Name is a hard hitting book about one girls struggle to move on from a horrific event. The book does an excellent job of discussing mental illness in relation to the mother and the crimes she commits. The reader is left guessing her motives for contacting Frances until the very end, where a plot twist upends most of the readers assumptions. It's a great book for teens who like thrillers, but best for slightly more mature teens since the subject is pretty dark.
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Age Level: 9th Grade
Summary:
Frances has worked hard to forget her past. Her parents, her friends, her life now are what matters. But when she receives a letter telling her her birth mother has been released from jail, she is forced to remember the past. The past where she had 3 little sisters. The past where her mother murdered them, and tried to murder her too. It was only luck that someone heard her yelling, luck that she survived where her sisters didn't. But when her mother writes to her, telling Frances she needs to finish what was started, Frances realizes the only way she is going to be able to move on from her past is to confront it face to face.
Review:
A fast paced psychological thriller, Breathe My Name is a hard hitting book about one girls struggle to move on from a horrific event. The book does an excellent job of discussing mental illness in relation to the mother and the crimes she commits. The reader is left guessing her motives for contacting Frances until the very end, where a plot twist upends most of the readers assumptions. It's a great book for teens who like thrillers, but best for slightly more mature teens since the subject is pretty dark.
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Age Level: 9th Grade
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
How to Save a Life
by Sara Zarr
Summary:
Over the last year, Jill's life has been turned upside down. She is still coping with the unexpected death of her father last year, when her mother decides that the best way to cope with her grief is to adopt a child. But not just any child.
Mandy might be almost 19, but she is not ready to cope with the child she is carrying. In Jill's mother she sees her salvation, a person who can get her away from her hometown in the midwest, away from her mother and terrible home life.
When Mandy arrives at Jill's, both are faced with decisions they didn't want to make. With a situation neither expected. With time, and patience, maybe they can come to understand each other, perhaps things will finally work out for both of them.
Reviews:
Zarr's book is a poignant look at a teenage mother who is faced with the decision of whether or not to give up her baby. Mandy is a character who doesn't know any better. She was raised with a set of morals that Jill, the product of an upper middle class family, can't understand. Mandy comes to live with Jill in the type of house she has only seen in magazines. Both have to learn to understand the other in order to find a situation they can both live with. It's a book with a happy ending, not a perfect one, but one that is definitely the best for all involved. Really good read overall.
Summary:
Over the last year, Jill's life has been turned upside down. She is still coping with the unexpected death of her father last year, when her mother decides that the best way to cope with her grief is to adopt a child. But not just any child.
Mandy might be almost 19, but she is not ready to cope with the child she is carrying. In Jill's mother she sees her salvation, a person who can get her away from her hometown in the midwest, away from her mother and terrible home life.
When Mandy arrives at Jill's, both are faced with decisions they didn't want to make. With a situation neither expected. With time, and patience, maybe they can come to understand each other, perhaps things will finally work out for both of them.
Reviews:
Zarr's book is a poignant look at a teenage mother who is faced with the decision of whether or not to give up her baby. Mandy is a character who doesn't know any better. She was raised with a set of morals that Jill, the product of an upper middle class family, can't understand. Mandy comes to live with Jill in the type of house she has only seen in magazines. Both have to learn to understand the other in order to find a situation they can both live with. It's a book with a happy ending, not a perfect one, but one that is definitely the best for all involved. Really good read overall.
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