The Dead and The Gone

Hello,

I just finished reading The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

This was a book about the same time as Life As We Knew It, With the only difference being that it was told from a religious boy woho lived in a city' s point of veiw, and not a practically atheist girl who lived in a small town.

Another major difference was that there was a lot more heartfelt death - first the boy's parents, then (THIS IS A SPOILER) his sister.

Certainly more sad, and Pfeffer show again her natural knack at immersing the reader in the book. Certainly a better job done on the sequel, after getting used to the idea, and Pfeffer did throw more surprises at the reader along the way...

Another thriller, and I know that I will be expectantly waiting for her next book - that is if it exists...

I gave the first book a 4.8, so I feel inclined to give this a 4.9, not that it was better than teh other 4.8 books - it just was so good that it would beat the first book any day

4.9/5
Probably the next "BOOK OF THE MONTH"

Ages 9 and up... If the first was a horror story, This one is scarier...

The Graveyard Book

Hello,

Welcome back to the world of books. Ah... there are so many to choose from. That is why this blog exists... To help you decide which book to choose...

Today, my recommendation is on The Graveyard Book, a wonderful thriller written by Neil Gaiman, and the winner of this year's Newbery Award. If any of you don't know, (you should be ashamed of calling yourself a book lover if you have never heard of it) the Newbery (one R) Award is a prestigious award that is given yearly by the ALA to a children's book.

The novel was quite good - a bit slow at the beginning - but a good choice overall. In it, Gaiman describes an orphaned boy (his parents were murdered) and how he grows up in a graveyard. Bod (short for Nobody) Owens is a giving boy, working hard to rid his school of bullies, yet he is lonely. In a graveyard, there are only dead people, so Bod gets bored... The novel illustrated his excursions and explorations - speaking if illustrations, Dave McKean did a great job on them...

4.5/5

Better that most

Ages 6 and up... A great book, to read or to be read to - does contain mild violence

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

Ha Ha Ha...

I finished reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, by Jeff Kinney, and it gave me the usual Diary of a Wimpy Kid laugh. In this book, Greg is set by his dad to do some "manly" endeavors, and to reduce his wimpyness. Greg, of course, sidesteps every one of his dad's needs, from continuing to wear his mother's bathrobe, to volunteering for substitute goalie in order to sidestep soccer time.

Kinney weaves a thriller again with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw.

4.9/5
"Worth Every Cent"

Ages 7 and up

Savvy

I just finished reading Savvy, a novel by Ingrid Law! Oh, let me slow down - I even forgot my greeting! Still, it was a very good book, and if I was deciding the Newbery, I would have voted this over The Graveyard Book. Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell you about that review that is coming up soon.

Anyway, Savvy was about a family that has special powers. The family calls their powers their "savvy." In the book, Mibs, the main character, chances stowing away on a rickety bus to try to save her father, who had been in an accident.

That day, she was going to find out what her savvy was, and she convinced herself that it would save here father.

She finds love, sadness, and almost every other emotion after the bus ends up going in the wrong direction.

Law wrote a wonderful tale of happiness and sadness, love and affection, cruelty and loneliness.

4.8/5
Very Good

Ages 8 and up

The Big Game of Everything

Hello!

I just finished reading The Big Game of Everything, a fantastic novel by Chris Lynch. It is about a boy named Union Jack, pronounced "Onion Jock," and his family. Over summer vacation, he takes a journey through the truth of the following rule: You have to love your family. It is a rule, and the main character claims that if you don't follow the rule, you must be some kind of animal. Of course, he goes on to say that his brother is that kind of animal, but still, he seems to snincerely believe it.

That thought gets him through the summer, when he goes to help out his grandfather at his golf course. He lives with bankruptcy, family craziness, and more. And he gets though it, loving his family affectionately the whole time.

A wonderful read, especially for young readers - it is classified as YOUNG ADULT, but I thinnk that a 6 year old would get a bigger kick out of it.

4.2/5
Very good read...

Ages 5 and up - that is maintaining that the 5 year old will understand the vocab - a parent might want to read it to a young child