Reading Abounds

Title: Out of the Easy Author: Ruta Sepetys Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 79289 Description: Josie, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a French Quarter prostitute, is striving to escape 1950 New Orleans and enrol at prestigious Smith College when she becomes entangled in a murder investigation. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: I read Ruta Sepetys other novel, Between Shades of Gray , and I really liked her style of writing.  I also really liked the cover.  (This cover is not the same as the book I read, the cover I have has a girl looking through an ornate bird cage.  I prefer the other cover as I felt it portrayed more about the story than the one pictured above.  It drew to mind Maya Angelou's poem "Caged Bird"). Lori's Notes: Josie "Jo" Moraine, is 17 and lives in New Orleans but wants nothing more than to escape the city and her life.  Jo's mother is a prostitute in the Quarter and she has no idea who her father is.  At 7-yea...

Title: Mr. Popper's Penguins Authors: Richard and Florence Atwater Illustrator: Robert Lawson Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 203669 Description:   Mr. Popper trains his band of penguins to star in a vaudeville tour. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud it. Why I read it: I watched the movie with my kids and picked up the book to read as a read aloud as they enjoyed it so much. Lori's Notes: The book is radically different than the movie.  But that is to be expected considering the movie was filmed in 2011 and the book was published in 1938.  That being said the book was still quite enjoyable.  Mr. Popper, a house painter who dreams of world travel, receives a Penguin from Antarctica.  After receiving another penguin from the Boston zoo the Popper family is soon living with 12 penguins and travel the country with Popper's Performing Penguins.  This was a funny story and a great read aloud. Recommended Readers: Grade 3 and Up Themes: Families, Relatio...

Series:  The Midnighters Trilogy Author: Scott Westerfeld Perma-Bound Catalogue Series #: 792968 Titles:  Book 1 - The Secret Hour Description:   Upon moving to Bixby, Oklahoma, fifteen-year-old Jessica Day learns that she is one of a group of people who have special abilities that help them fight ancient creatures living in an hour hidden at midnight; creatures that seem determined to destroy Jess. Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 263910 Book 2 - Touching Darkness Description:  As they continue to battle evil creatures living in an hour hidden at midnight, Jessica and her new friends learn about Bixby, Oklahoma's shadowy past and uncover a deadly conspiracy that reaches beyond the secret hour. Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 1796 Book 3 - Blue Noon Description:   The five midnighters from Bixby discover that the secret hour is starting to invade the daylight world, and if they cannot stop it, the darklings will soon be free to hu...

Title: Shelter Series: Mickey Bolitar Author: Harlan Coben Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 52714 Description:  Mickey Bolitar is forced to live with his estranged Uncle Myron and switch high schools, and when his new girlfriend, Ashley, vanishes, he follows her trail into a seedy underworld that reveals she is not what she seems to be. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It. Why I Read It: The cover looked really interesting and I quite like mystery novels. Lori's Notes: Mickey Bolitar has moved around all his life.  However, after his father is killed in a car accident and his mother is sent to rehab, he comes to live with his uncle Myron.  Meeting Ashley at a new student orientation he is surprised when she stops showing up for school.  With the help of his "outcast" friends, Ema and Spoon, and the "popular" Rachel, they set out to discover what has happened to Ashley.  They also learn about the Abeona Shelter.  This was a fantastic story with good twi...