The Missouri River Regional Library's Missouri Book Challenge Team
Not too many books out there on Locker Hooking. One of the instructors at Camp Shannondale in Southern Missouri teaches this craft, and I’ve been intrigued. I really love the modern look achieved with brighter colors, and fancy fabric, like recycled sari silk.
This book contained both excellent instructions for beginners, as well as “patterns” for cool projects. I’ve seen a lot of the photos/projects in her book on the Pinterest website.
Shore’s book was interesting but a little dry at times. She talks about historical figures that are little heard of so it really didn’t peak my interest a whole lot.
Zeke lives in a trailer on the crappy side of town. He plays guitar in a band, drinks, does drugs, parties and is constantly fighting. Patience goes to private school, plays soccer and is the Governors daughter. Though it seems the these two have nothing in common, they do. They both hide a secret from everyone they know. A dark secret that has both of them broken inside. So when Zeke and Patience meet for the first time, they can see right through eacother. They both know the other is hiding something serious. Eventually their one chance meeting turns into several and they begin a relationship and both find out the horror of their secrets that they’re living with.
Wow! This was a really difficult book to read. In the summary of the book you have no idea what exactly you’re getting yourself in to. In the second chapter I was completely shocked and wasn’t sure if I could even continue reading the book. It was an extremely emotional read, and really makes you think about what is going on in people’s lives, or makes you realize that these things really do happen. It was a very sad story, but one with a happy ending. One of my favorite books so far.
Sophie Black’s husband has just found out she’s been cheating on him with her new boss Lucien Knight. What he doesn’t know is that Sophie knows that her husband has been cheating on her for the past year and a half. So now Sophie has decided to cut ties with both men and try to get her life figured out. Eventually though she finds herself returning as Luciens PA, while trying to keep her personal life separate from him. But once Sophies husband returns to their house, she has to decide to stay with her husband, or try to make a relationship work with Lucien, who never wanted to settle down with one woman.
Well I couldn’t be happier that this series is over. This book was slightly better than the first, because it had more of a story to it. Though, it was the typical, bad boy who refuses to settle down, then meets the good girl who convinces him that he’s lovable. Just wish there was more drama, or action to it.
Sophie Black is a married woman who is bored with her home and work life. Sophies husband is always gone for business and although she suspects him of cheating she chooses to ignore her instinct and trust her husband. So she decides to do something out of character for herself, she applies for a PA position with Knight Inc. Knight Inc. is owned and operated by Lucien Knight. A native to Norway, who has moved to London and built a wealthy company that builds adult clubs and sells adult “toys”. Once Sophie has the job, Lucien takes it upon himself to help Sophie not only come out of her shell, but also to use him as a way to get back at her cheating husband. Though neither one of them expects to fall for eachother, and when Sophie’s husband finds out, it all falls apart.
For one, I wanted to read this book because the authors name is Kitty French, and that’s pretty amazing if you ask me. I figure, if you’ve got a name that amazing, surely your book is going to be just as great. Not so in this case. The book seemed mediocre and didn’t have much of a story line at all. The whole porn industry thing, totally threw me off the book too. Just wasn’t my scene I suppose. Not to mention this book leaves you in a crappy cliffhanger, where you have no choice but to buy the next book!
Sarah is the odd man out on a field trip to the Everglades. She is a scholarship student at her preppy school and doesn’t fit in with the other kids. So it is no surprise when she pretends to be sick to get out of an outing. Instead she accepts the invitation of Andy, camp owners son, to take an airboat ride. The ride is exhilarating and scary, but even more scary is finding the boat sunk after their picnic lunch. Seems Andy forgot to put the plug back in after washing the boat. Now he and Sarah are stuck 10 miles from camp and no one knows where they are. They have to trek through the Everglades and evade alligators, wild boars, snakes and tons of bugs all with no food or water.
This was a very good, realistic survival story. Andy and Sarah are world’s apart. He is a redneck hick and she is a city girl scared of everything in the wild. She starts off pretty whiny with a chip on her shoulder. We don’t realize until the end what the chip is and I wasn’t sure why it was saved that long; it didn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. However, throughout their days in the swamp both Andy and Sarah learn how to survive and how to trust each other. Very entertaining and engaging read.
2013-14 Missouri Truman Award nominee.
I am so glad narrative nonfiction is becoming the “in” thing because it is so much more interesting to read than boring old regular nonfiction! This book is as compelling as any novel I have read. Sheinkin did an amazing job researching the events and the people that led up to the creation of the bomb. I can’t imagine all the FBI files he had to read to get some of this stuff. In Bomb, he takes a look at how the Americans started the race to beat the Germans to the atomic bomb and how the Russians stole the plans. We get first-hand accounts of the events and what the people involved thought at the time. It was truly fascinating and hard to put down.
This is a 2013 Newbery Honor Book, the 2013 Sibert Medal Winner, and a 2012 National Book Award finalist.
There are many stories of people helping their Jewish neighbors during WWII, but this is one I had not heard of. The Grand Mosque in Paris was responsible for saving many Jews by hiding them and getting them Muslim identification papers. Of course this only worked on those Jews who could pass for Muslim. There are many individual stories in this book and it all paints a picture of heroism at a time of great risk. The illustrations are wonderful and beautiful. Definitely a book to recommend to those interested in WWII, history or heroism.
There is just something about WWII stories that really pulls at my heart. I find the people who worked for the underground movements and helped the Jewish people fascinating. There is something about their courage and heroism that really makes you look at your own life and wander what you would have done in a similar situation. Not everyone was strong enough to stand up for what was right, but Irena Sendler was definitely one of those heroes. Her story is similar to others who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, but it is definitely worth knowing. I thought this picture book biography did a good job of showing her courage and dedication to doing what is right. She is a hero from a very dark time in our history and her story deserves to be told.
Annemarie and her family live in Copenhagen; they have been living under German occupation for three years now. Annemarie is best friends with Ellen, who is Jewish. One day the synagogues in Copenhagen tell their people that all the Jews are going to be arrested. So Ellen and her family must hid and try to escape from Denmark. Annemarie’s family hides Ellen and then takes her to the coast so she and her parents can escape to Sweden. Annemarie’s uncle pilots the boat that takes them to Sweden. Annemarie and her family have to hide their Jewish friends and trick the German soldiers in order to get them to safety.
This is a great look at a story of the holocaust that is not often told. How many people realize that the Danish people saved almost the entire Jewish population? This is a more hopeful story of that time period than many other works about the Holocaust. It will make readers want to learn more about the Danish resistance and the rescue of the Danish Jews. I truly enjoyed Annemarie’s story and how she reacted to the danger her friend was in.
Tom-boy Caddie Woodlawn, is growing up on the fron
tier in Wisconsin.
I really empathized with Caddie, when her Mom punished her harshly, but Not her brothers, because “she was a girl and should have known better”. However, her father punishes the boys.
I liked the fact that when Caddie starts doing more domestic activities, that her brothers follow her, because they’re pals.
The author tells more and shows less, leading to a quaint, less accessible read. The story got better as it progressed.
Booklist: Starred Review!
This was a fun read! Unlike most romances where the relationship between the two protagonists is plagued by misunderstandings, and self-doubt. It is also an unusual romance novel in that the woman propositions the man. Martha, just widowed, needs to conceive an heir, within the next month, or the country estate falls to her rapist brother-in-law. Martha is a practical do-gooder. The rake that she hires to “give” her an heir, Theo, was exiled from London to the country by his father, for being a lay-about, money spender.
Both of them learn to be better people, Theo learns to take an interest in his estate, and start caring for people. Martha learns to let her hair down a bit, and get to know her neighbors as real human beings, Not charity cases.
There is humor and awkward sex. 3 out of 4 hot chilli peppers, as far as spiciness goes.
This book was recommended to me, by experts at the Reader’s Advisory Workshop I attended.
This is a great adventure story of a boy living in the English fourteenth-century countryside whose parents died and not only was he on his own, but accused of a crime and labeled a “wolf’s head” – making him open to death by anyone. The very large magician, Bear, adopted him and taught him to think for himself. As they travel through the countryside Bear also teaches Crispin how to defend himself, which will be very necessary when he has to save Bear’s life and his own.
I loved this book for its content and historical value. It gives a fresh new look at the three most infamous dictators of Europe and the havoc wreaked upon the world during their lives and the after effects once they were dead.
This Newbery Award winning children’s story follows the life of an orphan girl, who can’t even remember having a real name, let alone a real home. She is taken in by a medieval village midwife but not out of kindness. The midwife wants an assistant who will do all the chores and be thankful for a roof over her head and a few scraps of bread. But by the end of the story our young woman has found a name and made a place for herself in the world. An interesting look at a part of history
rarely covered in children’s literature.
When Roland’s teacher gives him an unusual assignment instead of punishment for shoplifting, he thinks he is home free. All he has to do is find out what he can about a classmate, Jess Ferret, and report back to his teacher. But there is something less than straightforward about this request, especially because the more Roland learns about Jess, the more confused he becomes. Her house is sinisterly tidy, her parents are never home, mysterious books line the bookshelves, and, most intriguing of all, Jess is apparently a student of alchemy. Why is Roland’s teacher so interested in Jess? Why has a shady magician from Roland’s past suddenly come back into his life? What exactly are the voices in Roland’s head cautioning him against? And what is the reason for Jess Ferret’s knowledge about alchemy? In searching for answers Roland finds himself trapped in a mysterious web of magic, power, and greed. This is the story of a terrifying war of magic versus willpower, told only as award-winning author Margaret Mahy can.
Six-year-old Annie’s world is shattered when she is forced to carry a horrible secret: Under the pretense of reading to her, an older boy molests her, threatening her if she ever tells. Only when her mother pries out the secret is Annie released from her horror and isolation. Slowly she begins to heal, and before the summer is over, she even learns to swim.
This year, as in other years, Lily has planned a spectacular summer in Rockaway, in her family’s cozy house on stilts over the Atlantic Ocean. But by the summer of 1944, World War II has changed almost everyone’s life. Lily’s best friend, Margaret, and her family have moved to a wartime factory town, and worse, much worse, Lily’s father is on his way overseas to the war.
There’s no one else Lily’s age in Rockaway until Albert comes, a refugee from Hungary, a boy with a secret sewn into his coat. Albert has lost most of his family in the war; he’s been through things Lily can’t imagine. But when they join together to rescue and care for a kitten, they begin a special friendship. For Lily and Albert have their own secrets to share: they both have told lies, and Lily has told a lie that may cost Albert his life.
Just before summer begins, 13-year-old Ali finds an odd photograph in the attic. She knows the two children in it are her mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie. But who’s the third person, the one who’s been torn out of the picture?
Ali figures she’ll find out while she’s vacationing in Maine with Dulcie and her four-year-old daughter, Emma, in the house where Ali’s mother’s family used to spend summers. All hopes for relaxation are quashed shortly after their arrival, though, when the girls meet Sissy, a kid who’s mean and spiteful and a bad influence on Emma.
Strangest of all, Sissy keeps talking about a girl named Teresa who drowned under mysterious circumstances back when Claire and Dulcie were kids, and whose body was never found. At first Ali thinks Sissy’s just trying to scare her with a ghost story, but soon she discovers the real reason why Sissy is so angry. . . . Mary Downing Hahn is at her chilling best in this new supernatural tale that’s certain to send shivers down her readers’ spines.
Lost in a River of Grass is in the tradition of survival stories like Hatchet or On My Side of the Mountain, where the young protagonist finds herself as she struggles to survive in an unforgiving wilderness. In this case, the setting is the Everglades, and Sarah, the 13-year-old narrator, sneaks away from an overnight school field trip for what was supposed to be a quick airboat ride with Andy, a boy who lives in the preserve. Naturally, disaster strikes and they’re forced to walk out of the Everglades (they’ve got a knife, a small amount of Gatorade and some suspicious Spam). The author also skillfully layers in a story about overcoming prejudice. Sarah is black and Andy is the son of a Confederate-flag waving self-described redneck.