Reading Abounds

Title:  Beholding Bee Author:  Kimberly Newton Fusco Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 107760 Description:    In 1942, when life turns sour at the carnival that has always been her home, eleven-year-old Bee takes her dog, Peabody, and piglet, Cordelia, and sets out to find a real home, aided by two women only Bee and her pets can see. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Interesting title and write up Notes:   This book was a very slow start for me.  Bee, short for Beatrice, has been an orphan since the age of four.  Since the death of her parents in a car accident she has been living and working with Pauline in Ellis’ traveling circus.  Bee is now eleven years old and while she only works in the hotdog stand Ellis wants to put her in the show because of her “diamond”.  The port wine stain birthmark that is on her face. Her diamond draws the attention of everyone who see her so Bee uses her hair as a sh...

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:  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: Blood in the Water Series: Tides of War - Volume 1 Author: C. Alexander London Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 87271 Description:   Cory McNab is a member of the Navy's Marine Mammal Program where he is partnered with a search-and-recovery dolphin named Kaj, and their new mission is to help locate a spy submersible lost in North Korean waters, but first they have to win the trust of the Navy SEALs who are assigned to deal with the problem. Rubric Rating: Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It: Chosen for a Read Aloud. Notes:    After Cory drops out of the Navy Seals he’s unsure whether or not he wants to even return to the military but after his brother is attacked by a great white shark and he is rescued by a wild dolphin Cory knows what he’s meant to do.  He joins the Navy’s Marine Mammal program and is partnered with a dolphin named Kaj. When a spy submersible goes missing in North Korean waters Cory and Kaj are called upon by the Navy Seals for a sea...

Title:  Hollow City Series: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Book #2 Author: Ransom Riggs Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 95713 Description: Jacob and friends have escaped Miss Peregrine's island and flee to London, the peculiar capital of the world, where they are chased by Miss Peregrine's brother. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Continuing with the series and enjoyed the first novel. Notes: Hollow City was a much faster and more engaging read for me than Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  Jacob and the peculiar children are on a quest to find another ymbryne so that they can return Miss Peregrine to her human state.  Using the only items they have available to them - their peculiarities and the book of tales, Jacob, Emma, and the others set out on a quest to find other loops and peculiars.  Their quest leads them not only from place to place but from time to time. In this book we learn more about the differen...

Title:  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children  (Book 1 in the series) Author: Ransom Riggs Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 72163 Description: A horrific tragedy sends sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island, where he discovers the ruins of an old orphanage that was home to children who were more than just peculiar, but possibly dangerous -- and they may still be alive. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It! Why I Read It: Interesting cover and title, and it's being made into a movie. Notes:   Jacob Portman was always close with his grandfather, loved the stories he used to tell, liked looking at his strange collection of photographs.   But as Jacob got older he stopped believing.   When Jacob receives a frantic phone call from his grandfather, and finds him on death’s doorstep, all of his stories begin to feel real.   Could his grandfather have been telling the truth?   Jacob is struggling in the aftermath of his grandfather’s dea...

Title: Stones in Water Author: Donna Jo Napoli Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 284760 Description: After being taken by German soldiers from a local movie theatre along with boys including his Jewish friend, Roberto is forced to work in Germany, escapes into the Ukrainian winter, before desperately trying to make his way back home. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: I'm a fan of WWII fiction and stories from around the world. Lori's Notes: Roberto, along with several friends including his Jewish friend Samuele, is kidnapped from a movie theatre in Venice to work in hard labour camps in Germany.  Subjected to the horror of war, Roberto wants desperately to return home but knows he must also help protect Samuele (now called Enzo) who will be killed if discovered.  The first half of the story is really a story about friendship and keeping each other alive.  The second half of the story is Roberto's long trek to find his way home and his coming-of-age in t...

Title:  All the Light We Cannot See Author: Anthony Doerr Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 98669 Description:  A blind French girl on the run from the German occupation and a German orphan-turned-Resistance tracker struggle with their respective beliefs after a fortuitous meeting on the Brittany coast. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read it: This book has been on my reading list for awhile and it was recommended to me by several people. Lori's Notes: This was a fantastic novel.  It may seem overwhelming in terms of size but the individual chapters are very short and read almost like mini short stories within the book.  The characters alternate between Marie-Laure a blind Parisian girl, and Werner an orphan German boy. Marie-Laure's father, Daniel LeBlanc, works in a Paris Museum as a key master and designs intricate puzzle boxes for his daughter.  Werner lives in a children's home with his sister Jutta and because of his interest in radios is qui...

Title: Annexed Author: Sharon Dogar Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 45764 Description: The incredible story of Anne Frank told through the eyes of Peter, the teenage boy who was locked in the Annex with her. Rubric Rating:  Level 1 - Leave It Why I Read It: I like reading literature based around the WWII time period.  I've read Anne Frank's diary and I've visited the annex so this title really appealed to me. Lori's Notes:  I did not like this book.  I had such a hard time slogging through this novel.  I loved the concept - the story of being annexed with Anne Frank by Peter Van Pels but I hated that the author was attributing thoughts and feelings to a real person.  I felt that this denies who that person really was.  I would have liked the book a lot better if written by the table (many conversations and actions happen in the kitchen) or by the cat (it can follow characters room to room) and we can't ascribe any feelings/values to them. ...

Title: The Bite of the Mango Author: Mariatu Kamara ***Canadian*** Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 34938 Description: A courageous biography by a woman from Sierra Leone who at 12 was tortured and lost her hands to child soldiers, her subsequent life in refugee camps, begging in Freetown and her eventual arrival in Toronto where she began to pull her life back together. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: This book was recommended to me by several teachers as a novel suitable for curriculum study. Lori's Notes: This is a difficult read in terms of subject matter, but a compelling story written in easy language.  Mariatu's journey from a tortured 12-year-old girl in Sierra Leone who has her hands chopped off by child soldiers, through her recovery, and eventual move to Canada borders on the unbelievable.  I am amazed at the strength Mariatu shows both in surviving her physical attacks but also with the mental fortitude to survive these atrocities.  I ...

Title: Between Shades of Gray Author: Ruta Sepetys Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 49070 Description: In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina and her family are sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp, and she vows to honor her family and others by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It: A debut novel by this author. Lori's Notes: This is Ruta Sepetys' debut novel and it is amazing.  The story is based on the Russian occupation and Stalin's deportation of groups of Lithuanians, Estonians, and Latvians to Siberia during WWII.  Lina's life in Lithuania is suddenly thrown into chaos when the Russian NKVD (the precursor to the KGB) arrives at their home telling them they have 20 minutes to pack.  Lina's 10-year-old brother Jonas and their mother Elena hastily pack up some of their belongings and are immediately taken to the train station and loaded into cattle cars.  Their journey take...

Title: T4 Author: Ann Clare LeZotte Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 31755 Description: When the Nazi party takes control of Germany, thirteen-year-old Paula, who is deaf, finds her world-as-she-knows-it turned upside down, as she is taken into hiding to protect her from the new law nicknamed T4. Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It Why I Read It:  I'm interested in reading war stories and I'd not heard of the T4 laws.  I was also intrigued by the sign language on the cover. Lori's Notes:   A story written through poetry and a very fast read.  Anyone who is interested in WWII novels should take a look at this book.  13-year old Paula is deaf.  It is this fact, and this fact alone, that puts her in danger.  Once the Nazi party institutes the T4 laws, and rumours begin to circulate of people disappearing, Paula's family decides that she must go into hiding.   And many others must do the same.  I love that the title of the book is spelled i...

Title: The Book Thief Author: Markus Zusak Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 23256 Description:  Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel -- A young German girl who's book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbours. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It Why I Read It:  An interest in WWII fiction and a fellow reader's recommendation. Lori's Notes: Told from Death's perspective, he relates the tale of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl whose love of books and stories help her to survive during WWII.  Death first meets Liesel when her brother dies, and Liesel steals her first book - The Grave Digger's Handbook.  It is this small act of theft that draws Death's interest.  Liesel is fostered by Rosa and Hans Hubermann.  Liesel feels an immediate kinship with Hans and he supports her love of words by teaching her to read and write. ...

Title: Climbing the Stairs Author: Padma Venkatraman Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 27440 Description:  In India, in 1941, when her father becomes brain-damaged in a non-violent protest march, fifteen-year-old Vidya and her family are forced to move in with her father's etended family and become accustomed to a totally different way of life. Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It Why I Read It: This book was given to me by an associate as a recommended read. Lori's Notes:   Vidya wants to be independent.  She wants personal freedom - to make choices for herself and her future.  Vidya wants an education and to choose who and when to marry, customs not traditionally followed in her culture.  After her father is injured and suffers brain damage, something Vidya feels guilty for, she must live with her extended family.  While tradition suggests that you treat others with kindness and respect, her family is seen as a burden, they call her Appa an idiot, and tre...

Title: Robopocalypse Author: Daniel H. Wilson Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 60920 Description: Two decades into the future, humans battle for their survival after a powerful AI computer goes rogue, leading all the machines on Earth to rebel against their human controllers. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It Why I Read It: My husband scooped this book up first and highly recommended it. Lori's Notes: This was a fantastic read.  The book begins at the end and through the "Hero Archive" we see how Cormac Wallace and the "bright boy squad" have ended up in remote Alaska battling the AI - Archos.  The story is very well put together.  By using the Hero Archive, Cormac is able to piece together the stories of the various "heroes" Mathilda Perez, Takeo Namuro, Lonnie Wayne and Paul Blanton, Nine one Two, and the many others who were indispensable to human survival.  The events take place all over the world and by telling the story in retrospect we are a...

Title: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 137945 Description: Gives voice to the youth of Europe who were faced with choosing between indoctrination into the Nazi party or being targeted as undesirables and how they dealt with the consequences at the end of WWII. ***Newberry Honor Book*** Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It Why I Read It: I like books about history and this seemed like a good nonfiction book about this time period.  On quick scan it didn't seem to dense or overwhelming. Lori's Notes: Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow is an amazing non-fiction account of 12 children and teens living in Germany during the indoctrination of the Hitler Youth and the rise of Adolf Hitler.  As a student one learns about the causes of war, dates of significant battles, and the horrible tragedy that is the aftermath.  One is often left to wonder how such tyrants gain power in a civilize...