Elvira lives in an upsidedown family. He dad is an Elvis impersonator, her mom is pregnant again and her 8 year old sister is just simply, annoying. And when her dad takes off to follow his dream and enters yet another Elvis impersonation competition, everything seems to be falling apart. Elvira basically is the mother (she has to cook clean, and take care of her sister), while her mom sits infornt of the television and sobbs all day long. All of a sudden a family memeber, whom they havent spoken to in years calls because she urgently needs their help, so they pack up and head on the road for a long drive. "Love Me Tender" by Audrey Couloumbis is an amazing and touching book that will bring you to remember and connect to your own childhood memories. This novel pushes us to remember the importance of family, communication and most all forgiving.
Could it be that commucating really is key? What we have no family or friends to rely on?And forgiving, If we never move on and forgive people for their mistakes, then the world would be a very uninviting place to live. These were some of the ideas that were discussed.
When Elvira, her mom and her sister reach her grandma's home, nothing serious had happened, but that just shows that they do care about eachother, why else would they drive so far. And from then on their relationship began to bulid with their grandma and their aunt through communication, but mostly forgiveness. Both sides of the family put aside the past as much as it show more had caused pain and disappointment. If they didn't forgive and forget, thier relationship wouldn't have been anywhere, not even to this day.
This book has a very homely feel to it. Couloumbis' descriptive language gives you a vivid picture of what is happening and it takes your mind anywhere it pleases. While reading this book, I was reminded of my own grandmother's home and when I went to visit her. I remember and can still feel the breeze flowing in from the back door, where it lead to her garden which was laiden with papaya trees and all sorts of plants and flowers. How it makes me wish I was there right now.
I loved this book because of how well I connected to it. Although the end was happy and sweet, I wished the book had continued and talked more about what would happen next. The ending just didn't have enough reality for me, but the book was definately satisfying.
I would recomend this book to anyone who has gone through some tough and awkard times with their family or if they just can't get enought of their family members.
Excellent! show less
Could it be that commucating really is key? What we have no family or friends to rely on?And forgiving, If we never move on and forgive people for their mistakes, then the world would be a very uninviting place to live. These were some of the ideas that were discussed.
When Elvira, her mom and her sister reach her grandma's home, nothing serious had happened, but that just shows that they do care about eachother, why else would they drive so far. And from then on their relationship began to bulid with their grandma and their aunt through communication, but mostly forgiveness. Both sides of the family put aside the past as much as it show more had caused pain and disappointment. If they didn't forgive and forget, thier relationship wouldn't have been anywhere, not even to this day.
This book has a very homely feel to it. Couloumbis' descriptive language gives you a vivid picture of what is happening and it takes your mind anywhere it pleases. While reading this book, I was reminded of my own grandmother's home and when I went to visit her. I remember and can still feel the breeze flowing in from the back door, where it lead to her garden which was laiden with papaya trees and all sorts of plants and flowers. How it makes me wish I was there right now.
I loved this book because of how well I connected to it. Although the end was happy and sweet, I wished the book had continued and talked more about what would happen next. The ending just didn't have enough reality for me, but the book was definately satisfying.
I would recomend this book to anyone who has gone through some tough and awkard times with their family or if they just can't get enought of their family members.
Excellent! show less
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to survive on your own? Would it be easy because you know what to do, would anyone get hurt or sick, or would you hope for the best? Cal and Missi face the challenges of survival, when their plane crashes on their way to a boot camp. As the only 2 on in the forest, with the pilot out cold, Cal and Missi are forced to work together inorder to survive. Doug Paton's novel, our Plane is Down, explores all these ideas, while demanding us to look at life in a different perspective.
This novel is set in Northern Canada. The small forest setting, continually impacts our perspectives on life and what we have. With much talent, Paton brings us into the mind and life of Cal as he deals with the crash and we are lead into his emotional, mental, and physical condition. Cal, being the main person helping the others and himself to survive, finds this as another challenge, which he is ready to tackle, although it does put pressure on him, being uncertain asto if is method is the right one. Within this environment Cal, feels as if he is incharge and it is something that empowers him, because back home he was always the follower, trying to fit in.
Cal's world is a little different form ours, situation wise. When reading this book we are forced to rethink our actions and thoughts. Do we always count our blessings? How many times have we been on the other end, where we were put in a situation without vital ressources for survival?
This is a book that show more young people and adults need to read. Especially young people, because most often they forget what they already have, and instead, think about what they don't have. This book will totally change your perspective on life and on our habits and actions. Paton makes it into a suspenseful story, without forgetting the morals we are bound to one day follow. show less
This novel is set in Northern Canada. The small forest setting, continually impacts our perspectives on life and what we have. With much talent, Paton brings us into the mind and life of Cal as he deals with the crash and we are lead into his emotional, mental, and physical condition. Cal, being the main person helping the others and himself to survive, finds this as another challenge, which he is ready to tackle, although it does put pressure on him, being uncertain asto if is method is the right one. Within this environment Cal, feels as if he is incharge and it is something that empowers him, because back home he was always the follower, trying to fit in.
Cal's world is a little different form ours, situation wise. When reading this book we are forced to rethink our actions and thoughts. Do we always count our blessings? How many times have we been on the other end, where we were put in a situation without vital ressources for survival?
This is a book that show more young people and adults need to read. Especially young people, because most often they forget what they already have, and instead, think about what they don't have. This book will totally change your perspective on life and on our habits and actions. Paton makes it into a suspenseful story, without forgetting the morals we are bound to one day follow. show less
"Are You There God? It's Me Margaret" by Judy Blume, is a very interesting book that has raised a debate as to wheter it would be suitable for pre-teens to read. Experts are saying that it explores religion and sexuality, which shouldn't be read by kids at this age.
This book is about a girl named Margaret Simmons, who has just moved to the suburbs during the summer of grade 5, away from her home, her grandma, and her friends. When school starts, Margaret is now pulled into a new world wind of frustrations, now that she has become a member of the PTS (Pre-Teen Sensations) with her new friends, she starts to worry about wearing her first bra, liking boys and getting her period. And to top it all off, Margaret is worried about what religon she is supposed to be. Her mom was a Catholic and her dad was a Jew, and now they are Athiests and they don't celebrate any religious holidays. Her parents also say that she can decide the religion she preffers to be and apparently in her new community having a religion is a big deal from a social standpoint. Although Margaret's friends think that it is cool not to have a religion, she'd rather have a religion. The most ironic part of the situation is that everytime Margaret is in a pickle, she talks to God, beginning with the sentence "Are you there God? It's me Margaret" and she asks him for advice, when she has no idea who she is actually talking to.
When Margaret is given a class project, she decides to explore the topic of religion show more and belief and is determined to find and answer to her ongoing questions. She constantly visits her grandma, who is Catholic and they spend time together. Once, she asks her grandma if she can go to Church with her. The next time they meet at her grandma's Church and it is something new for Margaret. Margaret also asks her friend from the PTS if she can come to their synagogue, and the answer is also yes. That also is new for Margaret, although some of her questions are answered, she is still confused.
Her frustration with puberty isn't helping either, she has her first crush, and she is about to buy her first bra, although she can barely fint into a double A, as a requirement to the PTS and Margaret wonders when it will be her time to get her period, as the other girls in the group start to get theirs. Overall, this book deals with relatable subjects for girls who are ready to be a teenager. Five Stars. show less
This book is about a girl named Margaret Simmons, who has just moved to the suburbs during the summer of grade 5, away from her home, her grandma, and her friends. When school starts, Margaret is now pulled into a new world wind of frustrations, now that she has become a member of the PTS (Pre-Teen Sensations) with her new friends, she starts to worry about wearing her first bra, liking boys and getting her period. And to top it all off, Margaret is worried about what religon she is supposed to be. Her mom was a Catholic and her dad was a Jew, and now they are Athiests and they don't celebrate any religious holidays. Her parents also say that she can decide the religion she preffers to be and apparently in her new community having a religion is a big deal from a social standpoint. Although Margaret's friends think that it is cool not to have a religion, she'd rather have a religion. The most ironic part of the situation is that everytime Margaret is in a pickle, she talks to God, beginning with the sentence "Are you there God? It's me Margaret" and she asks him for advice, when she has no idea who she is actually talking to.
When Margaret is given a class project, she decides to explore the topic of religion show more and belief and is determined to find and answer to her ongoing questions. She constantly visits her grandma, who is Catholic and they spend time together. Once, she asks her grandma if she can go to Church with her. The next time they meet at her grandma's Church and it is something new for Margaret. Margaret also asks her friend from the PTS if she can come to their synagogue, and the answer is also yes. That also is new for Margaret, although some of her questions are answered, she is still confused.
Her frustration with puberty isn't helping either, she has her first crush, and she is about to buy her first bra, although she can barely fint into a double A, as a requirement to the PTS and Margaret wonders when it will be her time to get her period, as the other girls in the group start to get theirs. Overall, this book deals with relatable subjects for girls who are ready to be a teenager. Five Stars. show less
The book "Greener Grass: the famine year" takes place in Ireland, during the late 1840's and focuses on Katherine Bryne's family. Kit's(for short) family rents their land (like many other famillies), from Lord Fraiser, the wealthy owner. When the potato blight strikes things surely get harder for the Brynes, especially the second year. Their dad goes looking for work, which can take quite some time, whereas the rest of the family stays put to survive the consiquences of the potato blight such as low income, or none, starvation and eviction. The landlords raise rents, burn down cottages, fire workers, leaving many famillies homeless or forced to go to the deathly workhouse. When Kit's family is next for eviction, she does everything she can to save her family, before they become seperated, homeless and everything else unpleasant.
In my opinion, I think that this is a very empowering novel, no wonder it was selected to be part of Red Maple 2010. This novel is empowering because it tells the typical story of a family in Ireland, during the potato blight. Eventhough this book is fiction, it is based on true events that happened to thoudands of Irish during "The Great Hunger" of 1845-1850. By reading this book I have learned about something very important that has happened to Ireland. The author, Caroline Pignat has written this story with very much detail, consedering this is her second novel, after "Egghead". "Greener Grass" is now going to be a series, the second book, "Wild show more Geese" is coming out in September 2010. I especially liked the way the characters in the story spoke. When you read the book, you instantly get the vibe that the characters are from Ireland during the 1800's because of their dialect. The book is also written from the main character's (Kit) point of view. The language in this book is understandable, but there may be a few words here and there that will take some time to process.
This book very much reminds me of the "Laura Ingalls Wilder" series, which also took place in the 1800's. The part that was most simillar between both stories was the way their pa or da would tell them stories before they would go to sleep. I can also connect to this book because Kit's mom would send her to buy some flour of ingredients, and when I used to live in Guyana, my mom would also ask me to do the same.
I think that this book is about hope, hope that tere will be tomorrow. Kit and her family fight to survive the potato blight and they try their best to move onwards. Hope is portrayed in many way in the book. When Kit had to take care of her very ill mom, when Kit and her brother have to find food, when they have to look for a job and even when she awaits her love, Tom. I also think that this book is about giving gratitude and respect to those who try to make ends meet. Although they maybe struggling, the respect and gratitude is shown because the Bryne's havent given up just yet, they are determined to move forward. I think that this is an excellent read and I highly recomend this book. I think that this book is directed at kids between the ages of 11-14 because of it's plot. The plot of the story would be too difficult for a child under 11yrs to read and maybe a little too easy for a 15 year old. Overall, I think anyone should pick up this book and read it. show less
In my opinion, I think that this is a very empowering novel, no wonder it was selected to be part of Red Maple 2010. This novel is empowering because it tells the typical story of a family in Ireland, during the potato blight. Eventhough this book is fiction, it is based on true events that happened to thoudands of Irish during "The Great Hunger" of 1845-1850. By reading this book I have learned about something very important that has happened to Ireland. The author, Caroline Pignat has written this story with very much detail, consedering this is her second novel, after "Egghead". "Greener Grass" is now going to be a series, the second book, "Wild show more Geese" is coming out in September 2010. I especially liked the way the characters in the story spoke. When you read the book, you instantly get the vibe that the characters are from Ireland during the 1800's because of their dialect. The book is also written from the main character's (Kit) point of view. The language in this book is understandable, but there may be a few words here and there that will take some time to process.
This book very much reminds me of the "Laura Ingalls Wilder" series, which also took place in the 1800's. The part that was most simillar between both stories was the way their pa or da would tell them stories before they would go to sleep. I can also connect to this book because Kit's mom would send her to buy some flour of ingredients, and when I used to live in Guyana, my mom would also ask me to do the same.
I think that this book is about hope, hope that tere will be tomorrow. Kit and her family fight to survive the potato blight and they try their best to move onwards. Hope is portrayed in many way in the book. When Kit had to take care of her very ill mom, when Kit and her brother have to find food, when they have to look for a job and even when she awaits her love, Tom. I also think that this book is about giving gratitude and respect to those who try to make ends meet. Although they maybe struggling, the respect and gratitude is shown because the Bryne's havent given up just yet, they are determined to move forward. I think that this is an excellent read and I highly recomend this book. I think that this book is directed at kids between the ages of 11-14 because of it's plot. The plot of the story would be too difficult for a child under 11yrs to read and maybe a little too easy for a 15 year old. Overall, I think anyone should pick up this book and read it. show less
This Book was AWESOME! It is about a girl named Clarice that has the concentration of a fly. Her favourite books, "The Ruby Redfort" series,her best friend Betty Moody and her awating english project keep you long enough on your chair?
Read this Book in order to find out.
Read this Book in order to find out.