Katie

= Picture Books! =

Illustrator: Frank Remkiewicz
The book starts off with Froggy having a dream about almost missing the bus for school. He gets on the bus only to realize that he is in his underwear. He wakes up. His mother and father help him get ready for school, make him breakfast and walk to the bus. Froggy has a little bit of a problem focusing in school. In the afternoon, the children sit in a circle and talk about what they did that summer. Froggy says he learned how to swim. Then all of the students and the teacher get up and pretend to swim. The principle walks in and does the actions with them. I thought that this book was very cute. Every child gets a little nervous and excited for their first day of school so I think that they could relate to the story. Also, the books incorporates personification because all of the students are animals. So this makes the story even more fun.

Illustrator: Unknown
This is a very cute counting book. The character is a little owl who does not know how to count. She flies around one night and notices 1 prairie dog, 2 mice and so on. This is how she learns how to count. I thought that this was a very fun book for children to get help with counting. I also thought it was good because it was practical. The owl learns how to count by counting things outside that she observes. Children can do this too.

Illustrator: Tina Macnaughton
This story is great for children of all ages and has a great moral to it! Little Hedgehog was making his home of leaves and twigs, when a great storm came and it all blew away. He decided to head to Badger's house with his, scarf, hat and mittens. On the way he bumped into some mice who were very cold. He gave them his hat to keep them warm. Then he ran into Otter whose hands were cold. He gave Otter his mittens. Lastly, he ran into Deer and gave Deer his scarf. He was freezing by the time he made it to Badger's house. Badger welcomed him in and tucked him into bed. In the morning, Little Hedgehog was worried about how he would build a house of leaves and twigs when they blow away. Badger took him outside and Deer, Otter and the mice had built him a house of wood with his hat, scarf and mittens on it. This is an excellent story on giving and sharing. Little Hedgehog selflessly gave all he had to his friends. In the end, they gave back to him. I also think that this teaches a good lesson on perseverence. Through the cold storm Little Hedgehog never gave up but persevered through it and made it to Badger's hosue.

Author: Geoffry Wills
This is a very cute book about a girl name Frances. She starts a new school on the first day of third grade. She feels alone because she has no friends. The Care Bears remind her that she needs to think of others. The next day at school, Holly wins the race and Frances loses. She feels even more alone and like no one will want to be her friend now. But Holly comes in and tells her she ran very well in the race. The two become friends. I think this is an excellent story for elementary students to read. It shows what it is like for new students and helps students to see that they might feel alone. It also teaches that we need to think about others above ourselves. These are important lessons for young students to learn.

Author: Jan Brett
This book is about a little girl named Annie had a cat named Taffy. Taffy had been acting weird lately: eating more than usual, sleeping all the time and hiding in weird places. One morning Annie woke up and Taffy was gone. She was sad but she just thought she could find a new pet. She put corn cake outside to attract a new pet. But every morning she got one that she did not want. One morning a while later, Taffy showed up and following her were three little kittens. Annie was as happy as ever. This is a good story that children can relate to. Most have a pet at home that they adore just like Annie in this story.

Author: Jon J Muth
This is a very good children's book on lessons. Three children: Addy, Karl and Michael meet their friend Sillwater one day. Stillwater is a bear. All four of them quickly become friends. Each of the children take turns going over to Stillwater's house. He teaches each one a lesson. He tells Addy a story about his uncle giving a robber his only robe. He tell Michael a story of how things may be either good or bad depending on what happends next. You will never know what happens next. Lastly, he tells Karla story about letting things go. We should not hold onto grudges or things that bother us about people; it will do us no good. Stillwater had a lot of good advice to young readers. I think that this book would be good for young children to read because they can benefit from the lessons stated in here.

Author: Rosemary Wells
This book goes through Emily, a young rabbit's, first 100 days of school. It is a great book for counting. In the introduction, the author says that she hated counting when she was younger and wanted children to view numbers as fun and occurring in everyday life. This book definitely does the trick. Emily rides bus number THREE home from school. In a book at school, Emily can read SEVENTEEN of the words all by herself. In the lunch line at school, she counts TWENTY EIGHT peas in her vegetable Jell-O. In a picture of the jungle, Emily counts FOURTY-FOUR beetles. And the book continues on like this all the way to number one hundred where it ends with students doing a hundred of something: writing a hundred word poem, running a hundred yards or standing on one foot for one hundred seconds. This was a very cute and colorful book to help get students counting.

Author: Mark Teague
This is a great story for kids who are convinced that there are monsters hidding in their room at night. This is just what happends to Ludlow Grebe. His parents decide he needs something to get his mind off of them. So they sign him up for baseball. The coaches put him way out in the outfield, so far in the outfield and Ludlow sees another game going on. This game has players that are green and have antennas. The monsters are playing a game themselves! Ludlow joins their game and has a great time. At the end of the day, his parents take him home and apologize for him not getting an action out in the outfield. Ludlow, on the other hand, had a great time.This is a great story for children with a great imagination and a creative mind.

Author: Mo Willems
This is a book for every kid. When children get an idea, they don't let it go until their get their way or they just go on and on about it. This is what the pigeon in this story does. He really wants to drive a bus. He keeps thinking of new ways they would let him drive the bus: giving the drive five bucks, being his best friend, or compaining that everyone has dreams. In the end, the bus driver returns to drive the bus and the pigeon does not get to. However, children can definitely relate to trying so hard to get something they want. Yet it also shows that we don't always get what we want.

Author: Tedd Arnold
This is a very cute little story. Walter is jumping on his bed one night and his father comes in and tells him to stop it and go to sleep. So Walter stops but then he heres Delbert jumping on his bed upstairs. So Walter starts jumping again.Then the floor and the bed break and he falls down to the floor below him where Miss Hattie is eating spaghetti. They both fall to the floor below that where Mr. Matty is watching tv and so on and so forth. This continues down all of the floors of the apartment until Walter finally wakes up from his dream. This was a fun story that had a lot of repetition for children. It is good for students who are learning new words because they keep reading the same words over and over.

Author: Boris Zakhoder
This book was about a pink named Oinky. He thought that he was the greatest thing ever and was very stuck up. He could stand on his hind legs and jump on one foot. He got so full of himself that he stopped talking to all of his friends. Then one day he got the bright idea that he would go to the "human's" Christmas party. He dresses up in people's clothes and heads over to the Christmas party. All he goes there is for the food and the people have a play and sing first. Oinky is very impatient during this. He is rude and hollars out. Finally, it is time to eat and he piles his food onto a plate and then begins eating from the mound like a horse. The people find out that he is a pig and kick him out. I think that this book says something about having manners and being nice to people. Oinky was very mean to people and rude and in the end he didn't have any friends.

Book 12: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
This is always a sweet little tale. Snow White is a young girl in a castle with an evil step-mother who is consumed with being the most beautiful woman ever. One day her mirror tells her that Snow White is more beautiful than her and the queen does not like this at all. She tries to have Snow White killed but the man says he cannot kill her. Snow White flees into the forest and hides in a house that turns out to be the home of some dwarfs. The dwarfs let her stay. One day they go out and tell her not to let anyone in. But Snow White lets an old woman in and eats an apple that poisons her. The dwards come home and think that she is dead. As they are taking her out to bury her, a young man comes by and falls in love with her and kisses her. His kiss breaks the spell and Snow White comes back to life. This story shows the depths to which vanity can take people. It also shows the importance of being kind and sweet on the inside like Snow White was. In the end she lived and got her happily ever after.

Author: Audrey Wood & Mark Teague
This book reminded me a little bit of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Ma and Pa Bindle spend 13 hours baking sweet dream pie. It is so large that it takes up their entire backyard. All of the neighbors come over to have a share. Ma reminds them to only have one pie or they'll be sorry. They all eat multiple pieces anyway. That night the dreams go crazy and run through the streets of the town. Ma spends most of the night cleaning them up. Finally, they stop and the town sleeps. This is a very cute story for younger kids. It has great illustrations and is good for children's imagination.

Author: Arnold Lobel
This story is about a giant named John. He loved to dance as the fairies sang and played their music. One day he came home and his mother told him that they did not have any money. John said that he would go work. He went and found a castle and began to work for them. They were people much smaller than him. He would keep them dry when it rained and let their laundry hang on him to dry. One day John had worked long enough to make money to take home. As he was about to leave, the fairies came and began to sing and play music. John could not help but dance and he knocked down the castle and stepped on the dog. This made the king, queen and princess cry. John put everything back together and made everything right again. He left and went him to his mother and bought food for them to eat. This book shows that sometimes families go through hardships and have times where money and food is scarce. It also shows that hard work pays off and that it will help provide for your family.

Author: Eugene Trivizas
This book is about three little wolves who are sent out to build themselves a house. First, they make a house of bricks but the pig uses a sledgehammer and knocks the house down. Next, they make a house of concrete but the pig uses a drill and knocks it out. Finally, the pigs make a house of barbed wire, iron bars, armor plates, and heavy metal padlocks. But the pig simply uses a dynamite and blows it up. Running out of ideas, the pigs build a house of flowers. The flowers cause the pig's heart to grow tender and realize how horrible he had been. He decided to become a good pig. They all lived happily ever after. This book shows that people can change even after they have been so bad and mean for so long. It is a cute little parody to The Three Little Pigs.

Author: Peggy Rathmann
This is a very cute and enjoyable story. Officer Buckle gives safety speeches at the school he works at and no one ever listened. One day Officer Buckle gets a dog, Gloria. He takes Gloria on the safety speeches with him and she twirls and does flips and all the kids have a great time and obey the safety tips. Officer Buckle thinks that this is because of him and does not know about Gloria. The next day, Officer Buckle gets tons of thank yous from the students and calls from other schools to do safety speeches. Each one the office does is successful. One day the news tapes the officer and Gloria and Officer Buckle watches it on tv. He sees Gloria and is very disappointed. He thinks that the students do not like him. The next day Gloria goes to a safety speech on her own and does nothing. The students do not like her and request Officer Buckle. The next day, they both go back to do the speech and they make a great team. This is a cute story about how it is sometimes helpful to have someone by your side. There are some things you cannot do on your own.

Author: Dr. Seuss
This is a Dr. Seuss book about different things you can think. They are very imaginative. Some of them are not real and are just made up words. Others are things that would be impossible, like a woman swimming in a balloon pool over her house. This book is good because it encourages students to be creative while giving them a good laugh at the same time.

Author: Karma WIlson & Jane Chapman
This is a good Christmas story for children. The night before Christmas, bears friends wake him up. The first half of the night is spent trying to keep him awake. They make him carry a Christmas tree and help decorate it. But then his friends fall asleep. Bear stays up all night making Christmas presents. His friends wake up in the morning and are very excited about the presents. They open them all and then give bear his gift: a big, warm blanket. He snuggles up and goes to sleep for the rest of the winter. This is a very good story for children around Christmas. It will get them in the spirit for Christmas and will also help them to understand how bears hibernate every winter.

Author: James Marshall
This book is compiled of five short stories that will have you laughing because of how silly they are. In one story George likes looking in windows and looks in on Martha while she is in the bathtub. Martha is not very happy. In another story, George slips while he is skating and chips his favorite tooth. He goes to the dentist and they give him a new, gold tooth. Martha tells George how much she likes it and George agrees. These are cute little stories that describe life between friends. Elementary students would enjoy these stories.

Book 20: The Mitten
Author: Jan Brett This is a very cute book about a boy who wants his grandmother to make him mittens as white as snow. At first she refuses because she thinks that he is going to lose them in the snow. But he says that he will not and so she agrees to make them for him. She does and the first day he comes home missing one of the mittens. A mole finds it and scurries in for warmth. A rabbit finds the mitten and hides in there to keep warm too. An owl soon follows and so on til finally the bear sneezes and the animals fly out. The mitten shoots up in the sky and the boy sees it. He brings it home that day. This is an awesome book with excellent illustrations. There are so many things to look at on each page; it definitely keeps the reader busy reading the words as well as the pictures.

Author: Dr. Seuss
This is another classic Dr. Seuss book. It starts out talking about different kinds of fish: blue and red, good and bad, fast and slow, high and low. It talks about different places they come from, different names they have and other various attributes they have. It rhymes the entire way through and keeps a child's attention throughout. I am always a fan of Dr. Suess books because they are crazy and so creative. They definitely inspire children to be creative likewise.

= Intermediate Books! =

Author: C.S. Lewis
I have never read any of these books before so I was really excited to read this one. It starts off talking about Digory and Polly, two next door neighbors who become friends. Digory lives with his aunt and uncle and is always told not to go upstairs. Well one day Digory and Polly get curious about what is upstairs. They go up there and find what appears to be a tunnel connecting all of the houses. They come back out at Digory's house and his uncle is there. He tells the children that he is a magician. He tricks Polly into putting a ring on which transports her to a different world. Digory has no choice but to follow. The come up in an inbetween world. They take different ponds to jump to different worlds. They end up in a deserted world but end up awakening and evil queen. She follows them back to their country and chaos follows. The three along with Digory's uncle, end up in a new land: Narnia. They witness the beginning of Narnia. A lion is there named Asland. When he sings, things come to life. He confronts Digory about bringing the witch into the new land. He confesses and feels truly sorry. Asland sends him on a mission to retrieve an apple from a tree. When he arrives at the place, he finds the witch there. The witch tells him to take the apple for his mother because it will make her well. Digory contemplates this idea but ultimately trusts what Asland says, that he needs to bring the apple back to him. He takes the apple back to Asland and Asland plants a tree, which is the tree of life. He gives Digory an apple from it to take back to his mother. Digory does so and his mother begins to get better.

I thought this book was very interesting. The beginning was a little boring to me. However, I really enjoyed the ending when it began talking about Narnia. Obviously there is symbolism of Asland being God. It really caught me how Asland teared up and really felt what Digory was feeling when he was so sad and hopeless about his mother. Asland really understood how he felt and sympathized with him. Sometimes I think I forget that that is how God is with us. He cares about every little thing going on in our lives. Also, I thought that it was neat how even when the witch was tempting Digory to take the apple for his mother, Digory really trusted Asland. He trusted the mission Asland had sent him on and that Asland knew what was best. I think that I need to do more of this in my walk with God.

Author: Deborah Lytton
This book begins with Jane, the author, who speaks in first person. It is her 13th birthday and she has high hopes for the day. Finally, her mother is supposed to be taking her to get her ears peirced. She has been waiting years for this day. Then, that night, her mother, her, and her best friend (Zoe) were supposed to go out to dinner and a movie. However, none of this happens. Her sister, Lizzie, won't eat anything that day. Lizzie is the perfect child. She gets perfects grades, does sports and is the best at everything she does. This isn't the first time that Lizzie won't eat. It puts Jane's mother in a bad mood the entire day and she doesn't take Jane out to do anything that day. Despite the fact that Jane is very sad about this, she still tries to comfort her sister. She goes upstairs and tries to talk to Lizzie but Lizzie won't talk to her. She just keeps writing vigorously in one of her notebooks. Things go down hill from here. A couple nights later, Lizzie passes out and they have to take her to the hospital. Jane's mom won't leave the hospital. Jane and her father visit quite frequently. Finally, Lizzie is able to come home. Only about a weeke later, Jane comes home from Yoga to find an ambulence outside of her house. Lizzie has died from taking too many laxatives. Words can't explain what this does to the family. Jane's mom won't come out of her room. Ever. Jane's dad works all day. Summer has just begun and Jane does nothing but sit at home, eat and watch TV. She misses Lizzie horribly. One day, her mother decides to go live in Arizona for a while with Jane's grandparents. This makes Jane feel as if her mother needs to get away from her. Her father has done a complete 180 through all of this. He goes from being a father who is simply there, to one who truely cares about his daughters life and every day occurences. Jane realizes that she never opened up her birthday presents through all of the chaos. She opens them. One of them is a camara that she had wanted to badly. She begins taking pictures, many of the new puppy her father got her. One day her father tells Jane that he has to go out of town for a couple of days but is leaving, Ethel, a former secretary to watch her. Jane is not looking forward to this at all. Ethel is happy and upbeat. Jane is surprised to find that she really enjoys having Ethel at her house with her. Ethel talks to her and listens to her at all the right times. She enjoys Janes pictures and even offers to pay her to take pictures of her flowers at home. Jane eagerly says yes. She spends two whole days there taking pictures. She also begins a new friendship and somewhat of a romance with a boy, Hunter who lives next door to Ethel. He happens to be a very popular boy at her school who moved there recently. She finds out that he lost both of his parents in a car crash and that this is why he has moved there.They begin to really connect. Then, Jane's father gets back from his business trip and they go on a vacation together. They have a great time and bond a lot. At the end of the summer, Jane's mother returns. She apologizes for being gone so long and undestands that Jane is upset with her. She said that she just had a hard time with everything and needed to clear her head. The family begins to restore their relationships with each other and the book ends with a cookout with family and friends.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a bit sad at times. However, it really showed how Jane grew as a person throughout the book. Her friendship with Hunter helped heal her because they both understood what each other was going through and could talk openly about it. Her relationship with her father helped her because of the way that he showed her that he was there and cared about her. Ethel really helped her a lot because she was the first person that Jane really felt comfortable around. I think this book shows that painful things do happen in life and that it takes time to heal. However, I thought that it left out a critical person in the healing process: God, who is the ultimate healer and comforter.

Author: Gail Carson Levine
This book is about a girl named Ella who was cursed with the gift of obedience. When she is six years old, her mother dies. Before she dies, she commands Ella never to tell anyone about her curse of obedience. The only one who knows about the curse is Mandy, their cook. At the funeral, Ella meets Char. After her mother's death, her father remarries to Dame Olga. She brings to her two daughters to live with them. Before too long, Ella and the two daughters are sent off to finishing school. One of the girls, Hattie, soon finds out about Ella's curse. She commands her to do all sorts of things. Ella hears about a giant's wedding and escapes school to go to it, hoping her fairy godmother, Lucinda, will be there. She is attacked by ogres and saved by the knights. Char has to leave for a year but writes Ella and tells her he love her. She writes a note from Hattie telling Char that Ella has eloped with someone. Char returns and holds three royal balls to find his bride at. Ella masks herself as Lela and Char falls in love with her again. Char tells Ella to marry him and Hattie contradicts with another order. Ella breaks the curse by telling Char about her curse. Ella and Char get married and live happily ever after.

This book was a very good fairy tale. It talked about the struggle of two lovers to marry and live ever after and in the end they do. However, it talked about obedience being a negative thing. In her case, where her stepmother and sisters were ordering her to do unfair things, I think that it might be negative. However, in most cases, obedience is a good thing and I don't think that it should be portrayed as a bad thing.

Author: Lois Lowry
Normally I don't like books about war or about history. However, I absolutely loved this book. Annemarie Johansen is the main character in this book and it is told from her point of view. The story takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1943. Live is hard at this time with the Nazis invading. Annemarie's best friend Ellen and her family are Jewish. They decide it is time for them to flee because the Nazis are getting closer and closer. They leave Ellen with the Johansens. One night some German soldiers come and search the Johansen's apartment. They demand the Mr. Johansen tell them where his neighbors left to. He refuses and they get suspicious of Ellen and her dark hair. Mr. Johansen takes out a baby picture of Lise, his older daughter who passed away. She had dark hair in the picture and this calms the German soldiers. They believe him. The next day Mrs. Johansen takes the girls to her brother Henrik's home. He says that their great aunt has died and that there will be a funeral for her that night. Annemarie knows that no aunt exists and demands to know the truth. Henrik says that this is not necessary at the time. Many people come to the funeral, including the Rosen family. The German soldiers are drawn to the house because of the bright lights. They demand that the coffin be opened, which obviously couldn't be because there was no one in there. Mrs. Johansen thinks quickly and says that her aunt died of a very contagious typhis. This makes the soldiers leave. After this, Henrik takes some of the people down to a boat. Mrs. Johansen follows with the Rosens. Annemarie waits for her mother to return. She finds out that her mother broke her ankle. Annemarie has to take a package down to the boat. On the way there, the soldiers stop her. They open her package; it only contains a handkerchief so they let her proceed. At the end of the day, the girls, Mrs. Johansen and Henrik have dinner together. Afterwords, Henrik explains that those people had to escape to go to Sweden and that the handkerchief was essential to keep the Germans' dogs from smelling human cargo. The war ends in May and Annemarie knows that Ellen's family will return soon. Her parents finally tell her that her older sister, Lise, died fighting the German soldiers. Annemarie goes upstairs and takes out her sister's star of David pendant. She says she'll wear it until Ellen returns and then give it to her.

I really enjoyed this book. I could not put it down. It has many uses in the classroom as well. It teaches students to fight for what is right and to not give up no matter how hard the opposition is. It also shows that you should fight for others and stand up for them. Annemarie's family took great risks in the book to help their friends. They stood behind them even when they were unsure what would happen in the end. It is a great book of courage and bravery.

Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
This book centers around a boy named Luke. He is the third child in his family and is not supposed to exist. His existance is forbidden by the population police. The law says that each family can only have two children. Luke is called a "shadow child." He must hide in the house all day. Now, a housing development is being built next to his family's house and he is not even allowed to look out the windows anymore. One day he sees a girl next door through a window. He knows that there are already two children that live in this house and that this girl would make three. One day, after everyone has left, Luke sneaks over to the girl's house. The girl's name is Jen and she is indeed a shadow child. Luke also finds out that Jen's father is part of the population police. Furthermore, Jen has the internet and is in contact with many other shadow children. She wants to rebel at the capitol but Luke is afraid and stays behind. Jen thinks that there are many children going but there end up only being forty. The population police shoot every one of them. Luke goes over to Jen's house and her father tells Luke that Jen was shot too. He gives Luke a fake ID and Luke begins a new life at a boarding school as Lee Grant.

I thought that this book was very good. It is definitely futuristic but something that could possibly happen in the future as some parts of the world are already taking steps to control the number of each sex in a family. This book shows bravery as Luke makes the effort to visit Jen to make a friend and find out who she is. It also demonstrates bravery on Jen's part as she fights for her rights.

Author: Louis Sachar
Stanely Yelnats is a boy who has bad luck based on a curse put on his great-great grandfather. He is sent to Camp Green Lake, which is a detention camp, for a crime he didn't commit. At the came, the boys have to dig holes all day. Apparently, long ago there used to be a couple who were in love on the land of Camp Green Lake. However, it was in long ago times when blacks and white were not allowed to intermarry and this couple was racially different. They tried to escape the town and the black man was killed in the boat. The woman, Kate, goes mad and begins robbing men. She robs Stanely's grandfather and dies before anyone can find where she put his things. The people leave and the land dries up and soon after becomes Camp Green Lake. It is hard for Stanely to dig holes there because of the heat. She tries to make friends with some of the boys and avoid the mean ones. One of his friends, a boy named Zero, runs away. Stanely follows him soon after in an attempt to save him. He finds Zero and the two boys survive for more than a week off of an onion. Stanely finds a lipstick with the initials KB on it and thinks that it belongs to Kate Barlow, the white woman from long ago. The two boys return to the camp but keep an eye on the whole where they found the lipstick. One day they find a suitcase with the name Stanely Yates on it. Stanely's lawyer arrives to say that he is innocent and that it is his suitcase to keep. The suitcase turns out to be the suitcase that Kate stole long, long ago and contains Stanely's great-great grandfather's valuables. The curse appears to be lifted and Stanely returns home.

This was a very good book. I think that it definitely keeps its reader's attention. From Zero and Stanely's adventure, it shows that you can survive even under the harshest of circumstances. It also shows that Stanely stuck it out to the end until he was proven innocent.

= Young Adult Books! =

Author:
This book begins with Abby going for a run on a Saturday. Her dog, Cody, runs down a ravine and Abby follows. She finds Jefferson Andrews dead near a stream. Jefferson Andrews is the most popular boy at her high school and her sister, Maya's, tutor. Abby decides right away that she has to find her sister. All growing up, Abby has been Maya's protector and gotten her out of everything. She doesn't plan on stopping now. Also, Maya has been had been having relations with Jefferson. Abby assumes Maya has something to do with his death. She finds Maya at a guy named Keith's house. She decides to needs to get Maya away from the public eye.She takes her to their "grandma's" house. She leaves her there to keep her safe. She goes back home and word gets out about Jefferson's murder. They start to suspect his brother for his death. When this happens, Abby tells Maya that she can come home now. However, just as soon as she does, things take a twist and the cops realize that Jefferson's brother didn't kill him. The cops interrogate Maya. She is terrified. Abby and Maya flee the house and Abby attempts to hide Maya again. They go to Keith's. Abby leaves Maya there and goes to their grandma's. The cops catch her there and Abby basically turns Maya in, attempting to look helpless. It turns out that Abby is the one who really killed Jefferson. She was framing her sister the whole time. A year later, Abby finally visits Maya in jail. Maya tells her she knows everything and all she wants Abby to do is acknowledge it. But Abby acts like she doesn't know what Maya is talking about. She leaves the jail. Her best friend picks her up. She tells Abby that she knows the truth, also. She promises not to tell anyone, but she won't ever let Abby talk about it to her either. It is sort of a punishment for her.

I thought this book was very good. However, it made me very sad and upset that Abby did that to her sister, Maya. I have a sister that I am very close with. It just made me so sad to think that someone could really do that to their sister. I cannot even begin to fathom that. This book also shows just how much the truth can be twisted. Abby knew the truth but she used all of the facts, events and evidence to make it look like Maya did it.

Author: Ally Carter
This book starts off with Kat, who is currently at a private school, attemping to be finished with her life of theft. She is called in for questioning when the principle of the school's car is found on top of the fountain in the courtyard. She (or what appears to be her) is found caught redhanded on tape and her student badge was the one that got the accussed into the building. She is kicked out of the school. A car picks her up outside. An old friend, Hale, happens to be in the car. He takes her to his house. He tells her that someone has stolen Arturo Taccone's paintings. The only one on the list is her father: Bobby Bishop. Taccone is a very dangerous man and if he does not get his paintings back, he plans on having her father killed. Kat makes a trip to Paris to see her father. He insists that he did not do it because he was doing a different job that day. This, however, is not the problem. The problem is that Taccone will not change his mind, he believes Bobby stole his paintings and he wants them back. Out of nowhere, in a street in Paris, Taccone's men come and take Kat into a car. Taccone is there. He does nothing less than threaten Kat and her family, despite the fact that Kat tells him her father did not steal his paintings. However, Taccone likes Kat and her confident, bold personality. Kat goes back to Hale's house. The two decide that there is nothing left that they can do but steal the paintings back from whoever has them. They go to Uncle Eddie for help. Uncle Eddie happens to be Kat's great uncle. He tells them that they are to leave this matter alone; Taccone is a very dangerous guy. Instead, they continue on with their mission. They go to see a friend of Kat's mother. He tells the two that the five paintings are actually individual paintings that belong to five separate families from the Holocaust. They are not really Taccone's at all. Kat and Hale move forward with their plan to find the paintings. Hale tracks down one person that Kat detests: her cousin, Gabrielle, to help them. The three of them sneek into Taccone's backyard where they want to get a good look at his house and possibly see inside for the set up. Kat surprises them both when she gets up from the ground and heads straight towards the door, knocks and then goes in. She tells Taccone that they need more time and that, once again, her father did not take his paintings. He says no and that he believes that her father did steal his paintings. He gives her the disk that has the recordings of the thief stealing the paintings on them. Kat goes back to Hale's house. Soon after, there is a new rise all over the news. Someone has broken into the Henley: the most famous and best museum in the world. It appears that he did not take anything but instead left a card with the name: Visiley Romani on it. From Uncle Eddie, the kids find out that this is a very old, respected alias name. If you do something in the name of Visiley Romani, no one is to undo it. Kat figures out that Visiley Romani didn't take something, but instead left something. He left the five paintings that belong to Arturo Taccone behind five other paintings. Kat, Hale, Gabrielle and four others boys begin making plans to rob the Henley and steal Taccone's paintings. They succeed. They leave his paintings next door. When he walks in to get them, the cops show up and he is aressted.

I thought that this book was a very good mystery and suspense book. It definitely keeps the reader going. It also demonstrates the moral issue of right and wrong. Kat struggles with living the lifestyle of a thief. It is something she has always known and that her family is deeply involved with. She tries to find the line between still loving and being involved in her family and yet not this type of living. She also struggles with what to do with the paintings throughout the book. She knows she has to steal them. In order for her father to be safe, she has to give them back to Taccone. However, they do not rightfully belong to him and she does not want to give them to him. I think that she finds the answer to this question. However, as far as the first moral dilemma, I think the book ends with Kat still searching for answers.

Author: Alan Paton
In South Africa, a reverend named Kumalo is sent a letter to go to Johannesburg to help his sister, Gertrude, who is ill. He goes there and convinces her and her son to come back to Ndotsheni with him. Following this, Kumalo and Msimangu, who sent him the letter about his sister, go on a search for Kumalo's son who is also supposed to be somewhere in Johannesburg. They travel from place to place searching for Absalom, Kumalo's son. As they travel, Kumalo sees the division that is growing in his country due to the racial and economic differences. They find out that Absalom has gotten a girl pregnant and is in a reformatory. They also get word that an important white man, Arthur Jarvis, who advocated racial equality has been killed. To Kumalo's dismay, he finds out that his son is one of the murderers. Kumalo gets a lawyer for his son and talks to his son's girlfriend. He tells her what has happened and asks if she would like to marry his son and return to Ndotsheni with them. She agrees. Meanwhile, Arthur Jarvis's father gets word of his son's death. He begins to read his son's material in an attempt to understand his son's views of injustices that are going on. Then, on accident, Kumalo and James Jarvis meet. Kumalo expresses his sorrow for James's son's death. Both fathers attend Absalom's trial, which ends with the death penalty. Kumalo and his family return to Ndotsheni. Kumalo is even more aware now of the tribal division that is going on in these parts and how the tribe is struggling. Kumalo begins to donate things to the people. James offers to build the church a new building. The day of the execution comes and Kumalo goes off by himself and weeps for his son's death.

This is a powerful story. It tells of forgiveness and the mending of broken families. It tell how terrible things can bring people together and create change. I think that this would be a very good book for high schoolers to read. I think that often times students at that age are far too caught up in their culture and friends to think about anything but themselves and their tiny world. It would get them to think about the harsh realities of things going in other parts of the world.