Fresh Ink

  Thirteen amazing authors. One editor. And a publisher. That's all you need too get a perfect anthology.
  Edited by Lamar Giles, Fresh Ink is a stunning anthology filled with inspiring stories and life lessons to tell. It was a good read. It was confusing, I do have to say, but it was technically a teen read. This book has a lot of lessons, such as be who you are, don't be afraid, and saying goodbye is one of the hardest things in the world. I can apply these lessons to my life with everyday things, like "be who you are" could tell me not to fit in and to be different if I have to (unique). And "saying goodbye" like when your friend is moving away and you may not ever see them again. These lessons were realistic because of the examples I just gave.
  I recommend this book if you like anthologies and friendships. My favorite story was the script called "TAGS" about the dead guys. It was weird, yes, but sooooooo good still. This book made me think about my writing career. I am a creative writer (at LaVilla Middle School of the Arts), so I should be thinking about what I want to do later on (IN MY LIIIIIIFE). I think that this book is either a 12+ or a 13+.

The Midwife's Apprentice

The Midwife's Apprentice is an award winning book written by Karen Cushman. The book is set in the Middle Ages and begins with a girl sleeping on a dung pile with no home. A midwife in need of an apprentice ends up taking her in, but it isn't that easy. The midwife is constantly abusing her verbally and shows no love whatsoever towards the girl or her job. When the girl makes a terrible mistake trying to help a woman birth a baby, that is the last straw.

 No one was a really huge fan of the book. There were some good parts here and there, but it was pretty dreary over all. It was our last book club of the year so we also had our annual throw down. We selected 10 books out of 14. We have a good selection for the coming year and we are all looking forward to our 4th year of book club.

Brown Girl Dreaming

    Do you have a thing for peoms? Well, I do and that is why Brown Girl Dreaming was the perfect book for me. Jaqualine Woodson is the author of Brown Girl Dreaming, an autobiography written in verse that tells about the childhood of an African American girl growing up in the 1960s. The book tells all about Woodson's hardships and acomplishments as a child and as a young teen and makes you really feel the mood of the book. 

    Jacqueline, named after her father Jack, was born in Ohio, in 1963 as the youngest of three children. She was born during the Civil Rights Movement and soon after to Jacqueline’s birth and the birth of her sister Odella, her Mama lost her brother, Odell.  Mama and Jack fight often, eventually causing Mama to move to the home of her parents, bringing her three kids with her. Jaqueline grows up in Greenville, North Carolina and learns the importance of family and of her education. Writing poems along the way, Jaqueline decides that she wants to be a writer and soon even her teacher notices her writing! Can you guess where that got her? Exactly! The author of this book, and a well known author altogether!

    I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars because I think that Jaqueline Woodson did a fantastic job writing a book in verse which I can assume would be pretty hard. Everyone really liked this book and I loved the parts that left me wondering. I hope you like and enjoy the book too!

Kira-Kira

  Katie is 10 years old, and still doesn't know much about the world around her. But Lynn, her sister, does. Or seems to. Lynn is 14, and she is the best sister ever. Since they were small, Lynn and Katie have had a bond different from other sisters. Perfect as an angel, Lynn guides Katie through her path and they all have fun adventures together. Until Lynn gets sick. Really, really sick. Her parents are doing everything they can for their poor little Lynn, who isn't so fortunate. Katie is forced to see the world without Lynn, and learn truths and misconceptions she didn't know of before.
  Full of twists and a good taste of reality, Kira-Kira really is a glittering book.
This book was good, but sad. I liked it because it really shows how much you really cherish something until that thing is gone, or, like Lynn, very sick. This book made me think about  my sister and if I should be helping more around my house. My favorite part of the book was when Katie tells Lynn and Amber about her dream husband, Joe John Abondondalarama.  I would reccomend this book to anyone 11 and up, because it is a lot to handle and take in. You can also read this book if you just like reading emotional books. I think that the lesson in this book is, "Family is what matters most."

Lions of Little Rock

This month we read The Lions of Little Rock.

The Lions of Little Rock takes place during the time of segregation in the South during the 1950s. The Little Rock Nine were trying to be integrated into the school system, but not everyone was convinced that this was the best choice. The main character, Marlee is a bright, but quiet girl who makes friends with a loud fun-loving girl named Liz. The friendship clicks until Liz disappears from school one day. Marlee is shocked to find out that Liz was "passing" for white. The girls work to try to maintain their friendship while getting threats and backlash from others, and facing challenges of having different skin colors. 

The Lions of Little Rock is a very good book because it has very good messages and a good plot. It really captures what it might have been like to live in that time. I would definitely recommend this for middle grade up to teenager (and obviously adult.) For book club we had a bagel bar, cheesecake, cobbler and crackers. It was a fun discussion and it's safe to say that this was my favorite book that we've read this year.

Jumping into Literature

      Owen is a boy who is always up for adventure but passes on the rules. Bethany is a girl who goes on adventures but always sticks to the rules. Perfect pair right? Wrong. When Owen sees his classmate Bethany emmerge from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory one day, he discovers a whole new life beneath the pages of a book. Owen discovers that Bethany's dad ia a non-fiction character which allows her to jump into any book of her choice. With the new Kiel Knomenfoot book coming out Owen decides to make history. Except he decided not to look before he leapt.

      Owen now realizing him trying to save the teacher of an amazingly talented, but full of himself wizard was a huge mistake, him and Bethany decide that he will go under cover as a wizard while Bethany works to defeat the teacher, who at this point has plans to realease every fictional character into the human world. Who will win?

      I think this book was inetended for kids 9 years and older. I think this because I think it would be confusing for kids any younger. I think that when the author wrote this book he was trying to ask us : "why do people tell me the sky is the limit when people have walked on the moon?" I think this beacause anyone would have though that it is impossible to jump out of books but Bethany did it! I really enjoyed this book and I hope you like it as much as I did!

Daughters Interview the Dads: Year Two

Zoe: Hello! We are sorry the post couldn't of come sooner. We had lots of fun at this interview with our dads, and we hope you enjoy this post!
 Kaia and I attended this interview. We had lunch with our dads and talked about some things, including:

*School
*Book Club 
*Friendships
*Our dad's jobs
*Other

We also asked our dads a number of questions, including:

*What are your jobs? 
*What do you do in your job?
*What was school like for you?
*Did you like middle school?
*Other

If you must know (which you really don't need to know but I can't help myself), what we had for lunch was:

*Zoe-Meditrainian lunch: falafel, grape leaves, hummus, pita, tabouli + an additional cookie and water drink

*Kaia-Potatoes, tofu, garlic, veggie meatballs and grape leaves + water drink

Kaia: 

As Zoe was saying, we had a lot of fun interviewing our dads. We never really do book club with our dads so it's a nice to mix it up once and a while. Zoe honestly covered everything so there isn't much else to say except that we had lots of fun.