Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The Zookeepers Wife by Diane Ackerman | Book Review


Reading Group: High School+ 

Personal Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: A true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.

After their zoo was bombed, Polish zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski managed to save over three hundred people from the Nazis by hiding refugees in the empty animal cages. With animal names for these "guests," and human names for the animals, it's no wonder that the zoo's code name became "The House Under a Crazy Star." Best-selling naturalist and acclaimed storyteller Diane Ackerman combines extensive research and an exuberant writing style to re-create this fascinating, true-life story―sharing Antonina's life as "the zookeeper's wife," while examining the disturbing obsessions at the core of Nazism. Winner of the 2008 Orion Award. 8 pages of illustrations

Cover: I like the simplicity of this cover.  It's the gates to the zoo, and I'm sure if you wanted to you could write an entire paper about the symbolism this gate shows; the secrets, the fear, the hope.  

My Review: I need to preface this by saying that Nonfiction is not my favorite genre.  I appreciate nonfiction, but I would rather read a historical fiction story than a straight nonfiction one.  I just find nonfiction includes a lot of facts and figures and often goes on tangents to explain different people.  I understand it's because it has to, but it often slows down the story for me.
I don't think this novel is an exception to that rule, but I do believe that it's an extraordinary story.  The fact that the Zabinski's were able to hide Jewish people on their property, which was often visited by Nazi's at the same time.  And only two people out of over 300 were discovered and killed after leaving the zoo.  In high school, I took a course called Sociology through the Holocaust, and we talked about the Warsaw Ghetto, but we didn't spend a whole lot of time talking about the Polish people.  During the time, Poland was stuck between Germany and Russia, which is a big reason why it was fought for by and eventually fell to the Nazi's.  It's easy to forget that a lot of Polish people probably didn't want to be invaded by Germany and so many of them were willing to fight against them and help Jews escape.  But the risk it was to help Jews was so high.  It wasn't only putting your life in danger, but the lives of your entire family and the Zabinski's were willing to put it all on the line.
When I finished reading this book, I bought the movie.  It is Hollywood's take on the story, so some things are dramatized and incorrect, but I loved it.  I think it's important to read the book before watching the movie, so you know what parts aren't 100% accurate, but the movie is a great visual to compliment the book.  For anyone who's seen it, I found an article that shows what was real and what was Hollywood.  If you want to read it, you can click here
To me, the Holocaust and World War II are so interesting simply because I don't understand how the world let it happen, but at the same time the more I learn about it, the more I see how it was allowed to happen for so long.  It's just so crazy to me, and so I like reading stories about it.  Do any of you have a time period or world event you can't seem to get enough of?

Smile! I'll talk to you later!


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Tuesday, September 19, 2017

After The Game by Abbi Glines | Book Review


Reading Group: Anyone who has read Under the Lights

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Three years ago Riley Young fled from Lawton, Alabama. After accusing the oldest Lawton son, Rhett, of rape the town turned against her and she had no option but to leave. Now, she's back but she's not at Lawton High finishing up her senior year. She's at home raising the two year old little girl that no one believed was Rhett Lawton's. Rhett is off at college living the life he was afraid he'd lose with Riley's accusation and Riley agrees to move back to Lawton so her parents can be near her grandmother who is suffering from Alzheimer's. The town hasn't forgot their hate for her and she hasn't forgot the way they turned on her. When Brady Higgens finds Riley and her daughter Bryony stranded on the side of the road in a rain storm he pulls over and gives them ride. Not because he cares about Riley but because of the kid. But after that simple car ride he begins to question everything he thought he knew. Could he believe Riley and risk losing everything?

Cover: This cover is very similar to the other two in the Field Party series that it has a group of kids hanging out with a football field in the background.  I think the bonfire may represent the last field party they all attend at the end of the novel.

My Review: You guys all know I loved Until Friday Night and Under the Lights, but I think this one comes in second place (The original book in this series will always be my favorite I think) and is definitely the saddest of the three.  First, there's Riley who was run out of town when she was fifteen because everyone called her a liar.  As much as that stinks, her story isn't sad because by the time it starts shes overcome all of that stuff and is just living as her best self.  Then there's Brady, who has a great life and even admits he's never really had to work too hard for anything besides football, but even then he's still a nice guy.  Until he discovers his father is cheating on his mom.  That broke my heart because his parents were the type that everyone else around him wanted.  His life got flipped upside down right when his team was counting on him to bring them through the playoffs.  He drinks, he's angry, and the only person he can turn to is someone everyone around him hates because they all think she's a liar.  Brady goes from having no cares in the world to someone who has to change the minds of an entire town, wrap his head around the fact that the man he has always looked up to is a liar, and try to win a title for his team.  I loved this book because it seems the most relatable than the other three in the series.  I also thought it was interesting that at the end of it all, all three senior boys on the football team ended up losing their dads in some way, all within their senior year football season.     


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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Kiss of Death by Lauren Henderson | Book Review


Reading Group: Anyone who read Kiss in the Dark

Personal Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: Scarlett thought Dan McAndrew's murder was long behind her, but when she and her classmates arrive in Edinburgh for a weeklong field trip, she's startled to be joined by her old St. Tabby's cohorts--and enemies--who are visiting the area on a field trip as well. Even more startling, Callum, Dan's surviving twin, is in the area--and his cold treatment leaves Scarlett wondering what's changed, especially when a series of attacks makes her believe that someone's out to get her for her past mistakes. Would Callum ever hurt her, though? And what's Scarlett to make of her conflicting feelings for Callum, now that Jase isn't around? Even more upsetting, why is her most trusted confidante, Taylor, acting distant and dismissive?

Cover: I think that by now we all know that Lauren Henderson doesn't really make her covers relate a whole lot to her books as a whole.  Mostly they have to do with the title of the book, but they do all look very pretty.  I like the title of this book though because it was the title given to Scarlett in the first one and even though she isn't called "Kiss of Death Girl" once in the book, it kind of wraps everything up.

My Review: I think this book is my favorite one in the series because it's the most personal to Scarlett.  Someone is trying to kill her throughout the whole thing, and she's trying to figure out what to do with her relationship with Jase and why Taylor is acting weird.  And yet somehow all three of things are related.  The person trying to kill her is her aunt because she wants to be the heir of Wakefield Hall and she was the one who worked with Jase's dad to kill Scarlett's parents.  Jase is gone because he feels guilty for the actions his family has taken against Scarlett's.  While he's gone, Callum shows up, and Scarlett becomes confused for a little bit as to which boy she wants.  However, after kissing Callum and feeling nothing but regret, Scarlett knows that it's Jase she intends to be with if they can figure everything out, which they do when it becomes clear they both have awful people in their families.  Taylor is acting in a way that Scarlett finds distrustful because she secretly called her brother and had him come to Edenburg to spy on Scarlett and make sure no one hurts her.  He does save her from Aunt Gwen's final try at murder, but it results in Gwen's own death.  Now, Scarlett is the only Wakefield left aside from her grandmother and although it took a lot of tragedy, she is finally able to have the chance to become something close to a normal teenager.          


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Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Kiss in the Dark by Lauren Henderson | Book Review


Reading Group: Anyone who enjoyed Kisses and Lies 

Personal Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: With Dan McAndrews's murder finally behind her, Scarlett has high hopes for a fresh start at Wakefield Hall Collegiate, the elite English boarding school her grandmother runs. Unfortunately, those hopes are dashed when her nemesis, the infamous Plum Saybourne, is transferred to the school. Plum wastes no time turning Scarlett’s impressionable classmates against her.

Scarlett has dealt with Plum’s nasty schemes before, and she can handle her archenemy very nicely, thank you—until Plum sets her sights on Scarlett’s best friend, Taylor, and new boyfriend, Jase. Then Scarlett is more than willing to fight for what’s rightfully hers.

Things only get worse after Scarlett becomes entangled in a mysterious death on campus. Scarlett is compelled to investigate because she wants to protect someone close to her. She never imagines that she’ll uncover secrets related to her parents’ fatal accident so many years ago. . . .


Cover: Scarlett and Taylor find Jase's dad laying in the lake similarly to how the girl on the cover of this book is.  I think the cover of this book is representative of how Scarlett gets herself involved in mysteries that have to do more with her than she originally thinks.  

My Review:  The third novel in The Scarlett Wakefield Series begins with Scarlett thinking she can move on from her past and only worry about getting caught with her boyfriend.  However, when Jase's dad turns up dead in the lake and he's the one arrested for the murder, Scarlett finds herself once again trying to solve the case.  At the same time, Plum is now attending the same school as Scarlett and turning the knowledge focused students into fashion obsessed Plum bots.  Plum also learns a secret about Taylor that puts her whole family at risk.  

The theme of this book could probably be summed up as discovery.  Scarlett discovers that Taylor's family works undercover for the FBI and Plum is holding it over her head, Jase took the fall for his grandmother killing his father until Scarlett figured it out, and Jase's dad was the one who killed Scarlett's parents all those years ago.  She does all she can to fix the problems surrounding the people she cares about, but doing all that and being only 17-years-old is a lot for one girl.  

The book ends and it appears that everything is all wrapped up, but there's one more book in the series which means there are still more secrets for Scarlett to learn...       


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