Reading Abounds

Title:  365 Days of Wonder {Mr. Browne's Precepts} Series: Wonder Author:  R. J. Palacio Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 127343 Description:    A book of precepts, with one saying for each day, from Auggie's teacher Mr. Browne. Rubric Rating:  Level 4 - Love It  Why I Read It:   I’m a bit of a fan of precepts and it looked like a very quick read. Notes:   I really enjoyed reading this book.  Interestingly, I had this book and Wonder delivered at the same time.  Usually I would have read wonder first but I ended up sticking my nose in this one instead and couldn’t put it down.  While it did give away some of the plot points of Wonder I find I’m more interested in reading the book now than I had originally planned.  If the book is written with the same tone and care as this book I think I will find it delightful. While I had heard/seen/read many of the precepts before I did find ones that were new to me....

Title:   Every Day Series:  Book 1 of The 'A' Series (Every Day, Another Day, Someday) Author:  David Levithan Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 71586 Description:    Every morning A wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Definitely the write up was what interested me with this book, the cover not at all. Notes:    Everyday A wakes up in a different body.  Sometimes, he’s male, sometimes she’s female.  A might be gay, straight, or transgendered, diabetic, blind, or a drug addict.  Everyday is new. A doesn’t mind waking up in a different body everyday until he wakes up in Justin’s body and falls in love with Justin’s girlfriend Rhiannon.  Rhiannon is the only person who seems to see A ...

Title:  Ripper Author:   Stephan Petrucha Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 69858 Description:   Adopted by Pinkerton Agency Detective Hawking in 1895 New York, fourteen-year-old Carver hopes to find his birth father, but he becomes involved in the pursuit of Jack the ripper, and discovers finding the truth may be worse than ignorance. Rubric Rating:   Level 2 - Like It.  Why I Read It:   A morbid fascination with Jack the Ripper and related crime writing.  Notes:    I wanted to give this book a better rating.  I really liked the writing and found that the plot moved very quickly, probably because of the short chapters.  But there were aspects of the characters that I found too unbelievable or convenient. The main character Carver Young, is an orphan in New York’s Ellis orphanage.  Desperate to discover who he is, he breaks into the file room and steals a letter apparently written by his father. His counte...

Title: How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids Author: Thomas C. Foster Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 70445 Description:   Demonstrates how to make everyday reading more rewarding by helping readers understand the symbols, themes, narrative devices and forms, and contexts of literary works, in an edition geared toward young readers. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:   I quite like literary analysis and looking for deeper  meaning while reading. Notes:   Wow, I really liked this  book. As someone who already has an English degree I  kept thinking how much this book would have helped me  if I’d read it before starting University. The book looks at  various themes that are used in literature from weather,  myth, fairy tales, food, seasons, symbolism, illness and  many others. The chapters each focus on their own  theme and use various examples from different books  and poetry. I found the writing b...

Title:  I'm Not Dying with You Tonight Co-Authora:  Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 200829 Description:    Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot. Rubric Rating:  Level 1 - Leave it Why I Read It:  Listened to the Audiobook as it was recommended by my local library Notes:  Lena and Campbell are different, very different but for now they're stuck together.  Lena is a popular girl in school with amazing fashion sense and what you would think is a very good head on her shoulders... except when it comes to her boyfriend Black in whom she can see no wrong.  Campbell is the new girl in school.  Her mother has moved away and she's been forced to move in with her father, who other than dropping her off at school doesn't make much of appearance.  Campbell ha...

Title:  Burning Blue Author:   Paul Griffin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 75470 Description:    When beautiful, smart Nicole, disfigured by acid thrown in her face, and computer hacker Jay meet in the school psychologist's office, they become friends and Jay resolves to find her attacker. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   I had read Adrift by Paul Griffin and this novel sounded good as well. Notes:    I liked this book and read it over the course of two days.  Jay and Nicole go to the same school, they know of each other but don’t know each other.  Nicole is the school beauty queen and Jay is a loner with epilepsy. At an assembly in Freshman year Jay had an epileptic attack in front of the whole school.  He hasn’t been back since with the exception of meeting with Mrs. Schmidt the school Psychologist. Nicole’s life was great until someone squirted battery acid onto her face.  When Jay a...

Title:  After Eli Author:  Rebecca Rupp Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 5668967 Description:    After the death of his older brother, Daniel Anderson became engrossed in recording details about dead people, how they died, and whether their deaths mattered but he is eventually drawn back into interaction with the living. Rubric Rating:   Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:   Read as an ebook on my Perma-Bound eHub account. Notes:   Daniel loves his older brother Eli, he looks up to him, admires him, goes to him for advice.  So when Eli is killed during a military mission, Dan is heartbroken and a little lost. His mother retreats into herself, and his father can’t help but criticize his academic and decisions.  Rather than go to summer school Dan gets a job on a farm and finds he likes it. He also takes a look at his life, his family and his friends. When he runs into Walter, the school geek, in the cemetery and begins to u...

Title: Doctor Sleep Author: Stephen King Series: Sequel to The Shining Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 94803 Description:   After decades as an itinerant alcoholic, middle-aged Dan Torrance uses his remnant powers to assist the dying before coming to the aid of a twelve-year-old girl being tortured by a tribe of murderous paranormals. Contains Mature Material Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: I loved the Shining and I'm a fan of Stephen King. Notes:    Danny Torrance has all grown up and he’s more like his father than he would like to admit.   Alcohol has a good way of dimming the shine but it leads him down paths he can’t ever return from, along with the ghosts from the overlook hotel he’s now haunted by memories.   Events from his past that he cannot change but somehow needs to learn to live with.   But w ith the help of some new friends, one in particular that has a hint of the shine as well, he gets himself straightened up ...

Title:  Salt to the Sea Author:   Ruta Supetys Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 143529 Description:    In this novel based on real-life events, Prussian World War II refugees find their hopeful exodus turning into a desperate fight for survival when the ship on which they are escaping sinks in the Atlantic. Rubric Rating:   Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:    I have read all of Ruta Sepetys’ other books and knew I wanted to read this one as well. Notes:    This novel had a bit of a slow start for me but I loved the opening lines of each characters’ chapters – For Joana guilt is a hunter, for Florian, Fate is a hunter, and for Emilia, shame is a hunter, and for Alfred fear is a hunter.  The book alternates perspectives between these four characters and I either loved or hated them all. Joana is a Lithuanian fleeing from the invading Russian forces. She is trained nurse traveling with a group of fellow refugees. Flor...

Title: A Map of Days Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Book 4 Author: Ransom Riggs Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 147358 Description:   Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida. Except now Miss Peregrine, Emma, and their peculiar friends are with him, and doing their best to blend in. But carefree days of beach visits and normalling lessons are soon interrupted by a discovery—a subterranean bunker that belonged to Jacob’s grandfather, Abe. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud it Why I Read It: Continuing on with the series.  Notes: Jacob's peculiar friends have returned.   And not only have they returned they're here to stay.  With the collapse of their time loop they have somehow also managed to escape time itself.  Now able to live in the present they leave Devil's acre and visit Jacob in Florida.  It's hard to believe that it's only bee...

Title: Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror Author: Christ Priestley Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 22147 Description:  Uncle Montague lives alone in a big house and his regular visits from his nephew give him the opportunity to relive some of the most frightening stories he knows. But as the stories unfold, a newer and more surprising narrative emerges, one that is perhaps the most frightening of all. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: I like ghost stories and this one sounded interesting. Notes:  While visiting his eccentric Uncle Montague in a strange house through the woods, Edgar is regaled with ghostly stories about many of the objects in his Uncle’s parlour.  These objects include an old broken watch, a demon bench end, a pair of garden shears, and a gilt frame. I really enjoyed this book. The stories felt new and while some of the chapters were verbose and long, it made you feel like you were reading an old Victorian ghost story. The end of each c...

Title: Fiendish Author: Brenna Yovanoff Perma-Bound Catalogue #:  600259586 Description:   Clementine DeVore, seventeen, is determined to learn what happened ten years ago that led to her magical imprisonment and problems in her town, but a dangerous attraction to Fisher, the boy who freed her, town politics, and the terrifying Hollow get in the way. Rubric Rating: Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It:   Read another title by Brenna Yovanoff and picked up this one because I liked the cover. Notes: Clementine is just a child when she find something strange growing in her mother’s garden. It is the beginning of the reckoning, and she’s surrounded by destruction, but she’s locked in the cellar and told to wait for someone to find her.  So she waits, and sleeps, and she is found 10 years later by Eric Fisher. While Clementine dreamt of Eric, he could hear her breathing, he knew something was hidden in the burnt out basement.  While, her home and mother ...

Title:  I Am the Weapon     (Alternative Title: Boy Nobody) Series: Unknown Assassin Vol. 1 Author: Allen Zadoff Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 85099 Description:  Sixteen-year-old Boy Nobody, an assassin controlled by a shadowy government organization, The Program, considers sabotaging his latest mission because his target reminds him of the normal life he craves. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: Recommended by several teachers and I had read Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have which is also by this author Notes: It's been quite a while since a book has grabbed me to the point that I couldn't put it down and this happens to be one of those books.    Nobody knows who he really is, he gains the trust of his mark and acquires his target.  In and out with no ties and no connections.   It wasn't the life he expected, but it is the one he has been trained for, the one he was offered after the death of h...

Title: The Accident Season Author: Moira Fowley-Doyle Perma-Bound Catalogue#: 128557 Description:    Every October Cara and her family become mysteriously and dangerously accident-prone, but this year, the year Cara, her ex-stepbrother, and her best friend are 17, is when Cara will begin to unravel the accident season's dark origins. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: Great Title and Tag Line Notes:    It is October.  It is the accident season.  Every October Alice, Cara, and their ex-stepbrother, Sam, batten down the hatches and prepare for the accident season.  Sometimes it’s not bad, just a few cuts and bruises, but sometimes it’s horrible, with broken bones or worse. Cara’s friend Bea predicts a bad one, but not just a bad one, one of the worst.  While Cara struggles to find understanding about the accident season, is it supernatural or fate, or just made up, she decides that in order to find out for sure,...

  Title:  Thirteen Chairs Author: Dave Shelton Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 128181 Description:  When Jack enters a deserted house on a cold night, he finds a dozen people, sitting at a table, who invite him to take the thirteenth chair and share a ghost story--with unexpected ramifications. Rubric Rating: Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It: It's a book of short ghost stories.   Notes: I'm not sure it's ever taken me longer to finish a book.  I loved the cover, title, and premise of this book.  I picked it up last summer to read at the cottage figuring a book of short ghost stories would be great to read at night in front of the fire.  The premise of the story is good.  Jack enters a haunted house to find himself invited into a room with 12 other people each holding a candle.  Each relates their story and blows out their candle.  As each story is told Jack is filled with more and more trepidation as he comes to realize thes...