POOF-- Freedom!

Gone by Michael Grant

Poof. Not, I wake up in the morning and everyone over the age of 15 has been kidnapped in the night, but POOF, in front of Sam’s very eyes, his teacher poofed. Not only his teacher, but other kids in his class and his mom have just literally vanished before his eyes. Not only his mom, but the only people left in a 10 mile radius are gone without a trace. Not only have people vanished, but the kids that are left are starting to experience changes, supernatural changes.

Gone was a thrilling count down. I had no idea what we were counting down to, but I was glad that I was a part. The intriguing story begins on the day that people disappear. There is confusion and no adults. Of course everyone is looking up to School Bus Sam to save the day to step up and be the leader he seemed to be born to be, but he just walks away. As bully’s rule the day and the troubled private school kids come to rein the city, Sam, Astrid and a few others try and figure out exactly what’s going on. As the story continues they realize that maybe they don’t want to know the truth.

This was my pick for book club. I picked for the month of August and I really wanted to read a book that I already owned, so I brought a list to see what people had read and what people hadn’t. I brought a list of 5 books, all of them had been read by at least one person, so sad. So, I mentioned Gone, I knew it was YA and not all adults are crazy about that genre of literature like I am, so I didn’t know if it would go over well. This book was recommended to me by my past mentor and now friend Melody Tryon. She has great taste in literature and we usually read and agree on most of the same books. She said to me, if I liked The Hunger Games, then I would definitely like Gone and the series.

One thing I enjoyed about the book was that the characters were unpredictable. I would assume that I knew what was going to happen next, but then it would change. Now, I’m not saying that everything was unpredictable, I knew that Lana was going to be a healer. But I have no idea what’s going on with the darkness character that’s controlling the coyote’s. I can’t even guess. I have no idea why some kids have developed powers and why some haven’t or why they started developing them before the FAYZE or why some kids powers are stronger than others. I have no idea where everyone disappeared to or if they are alive or dead.

I enjoyed Gone and I’m in great anticipation to continue the series with Hunger. Keep reading my friends!

Sisters United to Destroy Good Ole Dad!

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti

A karmic quest. This is what 3 half sisters set out to do, right wrongs and learn truth along the way. Quinn finds out that her father, who she consistently defends and tries to find the best in, while overlooking his eccentric and selfish tendencies, has stolen items from many women and kept them as trophies over the years. The sisters set out to return the items, behind their father’s back. All the women in Quinn’s life have been hurt and distrust men, and Quinn is starting to agree when her steady predictable boyfriend dumps her for another girl. The main idea that Quinn tries to uncover is the truth even if the truth hurts.

I picked this one up at Books A Million. We have a semi-new section in our local BAM that has isles of new books for clearance prices. I bought this book for $2.95. I was pumped, I had seen Caletti’s name in the YA section for quite a while and this was the opportunity to give her a chance. Of course this is not my natural go to genre of books to read, but I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy this pick.

I’m such a fantasy nut. I have enough of real life, I don’t need to read real life too, but I was glad that I made a switch for this book. This was a charming story about a quest for truth about love. I enjoyed the great character interaction and I was so glad to see some real life situations with real life consequences for decisions made by the characters. The book was not all happy endings and everything is wrapped up nicely in the end, almost nothing gets on my nerves more than that. There’s just not a whole lot to say about books like this. It is yet another book that I would add to the “beach reads.” Not a book that will rock your world, but if you are looking for something entertaining and fun to read, it’s a good one.

Keep reading my friends!

Fresh Air Does the Body Good

The Secret Garden by Fances Hodgson Burnett

An epidemic hits Mary Lennox’s home in India killing her parents and the servant who raised her. Bitter and contrary, Mary moves from house to house until a blood relative is found in Yorkshire England. During her first few months at Misselthwaite Manor she is lonely and bored. Martha, one of the servants teaches Mary to dress herself and tell Mary that she needs to go outside and get fresh air from the Moor. Since Mary was spoiled and a terror, she was not fun to be around, but the more she was around Martha, the more she liked her. During her stay at Misselthwaite, she hears mysterious noises at night. She knows that it’s crying and Martha swears that it’s nothing. During the nice days Mary starts to go outside and walk amongst the many gardens, this is where Mary meets Ben Weatherstaff and discovers a secret garden that is rumored to be where the master of the house’s wife died and in his mourning he locked the gate and buried the key. As she grows more curious she learns not only more about the secret garden, but also the crying she has heard several times. She finds that there is a boy her age lives in the house and he is a crippled weak boy named Colin Craven who has a bad temper and is not fun to be around, just like Mary was before the magic took over her. She also meets Dickon the animal charmer who is also Martha’s brother. Many adventures ensue and many things change during the course of the book, but you’ll have to read it to find out more!

The Secret Garden is the September book club pick. I have never read this classic and is yet another great stride to getting more classics under my belt. I enjoyed the language of The Secret Garden. It was fun reading the proper children learning to speak Yorkshire. They would try it and the townies would love hearing them try. One statement that was made that I loved was talking about Colin and Martha said, “He’s been spoiled till salt won’t save him.” I loved this and when I read it, I laughed out loud.

I enjoyed several aspects of the book, first I like how Mary had to transform from being a rotten child with bad manners and crazy notions to growing into a child that learns manners. Then there is a role reversal between Martha who teaches Mary some basic truths about being a good child and therefore, Mary was able to teach them to Colin. Another aspect that I liked was how openly the character spoke of each other. When Mary first started her journey after becoming an orphan, she was told that she was ugly and they would explain to her how she was ugly. Martha also told Mary that she wasn’t as ugly as she was before. It’s funny how I would never dream of telling a 10 year old that they are ugly. My question is, is it cultural between Europe and America or is it a different time and no one talks like that anymore no matter where the setting is.

A fun game that I came up with while reading the Secret Garden, is statements made in classical literature are funny when taken out of context. I leave you with a couple of my favorites, enjoy!
“Children that feels like young wolves an’ food’s flesh an’ blood to ‘em.” Susan Sowerby
“I don’t want to be queer!” Colin Craven
So, what are your thoughts, do you want to read The Secret Garden? Did you read it ever so long ago and need to be reminded of the beauty of a child’s mind? Keep Reading my friends, keep reading!