Extraordinary Birds

A young girl believes that she is really a bird and one day she will be able to fly when she (and her) body are ready. The reasons for this belief are heartbreaking and will make you cry. She's in the foster system - the reason will make you cry. After many "houses", she may have finally found a "home". All in all, I say: READ IT. If you let your child read it - read it with them to talk through some of the heavier stuff. Amazon writes, "December believes she is a bird. The scar on her back is where her wings will sprout, and one day soon, she will soar away. It will not matter that she has no permanent home. Her destiny is in the sky. But then she's placed with foster mom Eleanor, a kind woman who volunteers at an animal rescue and has secrets of her own. December begins to see that her story could end a different way – but could she ever be happy down on the ground? In her arresting debut, Sandy Stark-McGinnis offers an inspiring story about family, friendship, and finding where you belong."

The Midnight Gang

All in all, I say: SKIP IT. The author is trying too hard to be like Roald Dahl and doesn't really make it. It's very British, too. It's very much for elementary, young, kids. Amazon writes, "David Walliams burst on to the American scene with his New York Times bestseller Demon Dentist, and now he’s bringing his signature humor to the sick ward in The Midnight Gang.

Tom lands in the hospital with a nasty bump on the head after a gym class accident. And things only get worse when he meets the hospital staff, including the wicked matron of the children’s ward.. But luckily, Tom’s time in the hospital will be anything but boring when he discovers that his fellow patients turn the awful ward into the most wondrous world after lights out. Join the Midnight Gang as they make their wildest dreams come true!"

The Knock Out Queen

All in all, I say: SKIP IT. A young gay high schooler while living with his aunt meets and becomes friends with a young lesbian high schooler. She is strong and athletic and he is not. I skipped the middle. In the end, she has brain damage from boxing, her loser (alcoholic) father is managing her. I couldn't connect with the characters and I was bored after 5 chapters. Reading the ending I'm glad I didn't waste my time. Amazon writes, "Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore⁠—beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael⁠⁠—with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing⁠—lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him. When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures⁠⁠—and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection."

All Roads Lead to Austin

All in all, I say: READ IT. It is not only a nonfiction, travel book; it is also a book that analyzes Jane Austin's novels. Why are they read so widely, why do they connect to people today, why are they made into movies, and spin offs? I like how she describes the country she is in with some history. She also includes the book discussions. I love Austin and I liked reading about South America. Amazon writes, "With a suitcase full of Jane Austen novels en español, Amy Elizabeth Smith set off on a yearlong Latin American adventure: a traveling book club with Jane. In six unique, unforgettable countries, she gathered book-loving new friends— taxi drivers and teachers, poets and politicians— to read Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice. Whether sharing rooster beer with Guatemalans, joining the crowd at a Mexican boxing match, feeding a horde of tame iguanas with Ecuadorean children, or tangling with argumentative booksellers in Argentina, Amy came to learn what Austen knew all along: that we're not always speaking the same language— even when we're speaking the same language. But with true Austen instinct, she could recognize when, unexpectedly, she'd found her own Señor Darcy All Roads Lead to Austen celebrates the best of what we love about books and revels in the pleasure of sharing a good book— with good friends."

Transcription

All in all, I say: SKIP IT. The writing style is not my cup of tea. I really didn't like it after 5 chapters. I read the ending and disliked it even more. Amazon writes, "In 1940, eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever. Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence."

Typhoon

All in all, I say: READ IT. I like TWD and I like zombies. This is in the same time period as TWD the show and graphic novel. This is what it would be like in the countryside of China. I like the mix of zombies with the Asian culture. It's really well done. Amazon writes, "In this white-knuckled and high-stakes thriller, set in the expansive world of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead series, three different people in China—a rural farmer, an urban military veteran, and an American student—are caught in the typhoon of undead as chaos sweeps over the most populous country in Asia. In the aftermath of a horrifying outbreak, the last remnants of the Chinese government have estimated that one billion walkers (called jiangshi) are currently roaming the country. Across this desolate landscape, large groups of survivors have clustered together for safety in settlements that have been built to protect against the unceasing wave of jiangshi. In one of these settlements, Beacon of Light, scavengers of vastly different backgrounds struggle to provide supplies for the survival of thousands. Before this devastation, Zhu was one of the millions of poor farmers who left their rural roots for the promise of consistent employment in one of China’s booming factory towns. Elena was an American teaching English in China while on a gap year before beginning law school. Hengyen was a grizzled military officer of some renown, and a passionate believer in his nation’s ability to surmount any obstacle. But with the settlement’s 3,000 mouths to feed and the scavengers having to travel further and further in search of food, Zhu ends up at his home village, where he is shocked to find survivors. Does he force them to join the settlement or keep their existence a secret? Meanwhile, a veritable typhoon of walkers is headed towards the Beacon of Light. When the conniving leader of the Beacon, Secretary Guo, tasks Hengyen with rounding up all survivors in the area for a desperate last stand, the military man sees it for the foolish, futile directive that it is. Ever the patriot, though, he will stand with his compatriots to the very last. But Zhu finds himself caught between his love for Elena, his duty to the Beacon, and his desire to flee with the villagers. With time running out and the stakes higher than ever, these three survivors must figure out how to live with the overwhelming odds against them."

The Walking Dead Official Cookbook and Survival Guide

All in all, I say: READ IT. Rather buy it and put it in your "go" bag. I liked all the survival stuff - tips and so on. The cooking stuff - I imagine would be hard to do in an apocalypse. I don't like cooking, but I like TWD. Amazon writes, "The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide details the skills and recipes you need to survive (while avoiding being eaten) during a walker apocalypse. Inspired by the hit AMC television series, the book features recipes for meals featured on the show, plus food and drinks inspired by key characters and locations, along with expert information on foraging, hunting wild game, and outdoor cooking. Featuring familiar treats like Carl’s pudding, Carol Peletier’s baked goods, and Hershel’s spaghetti, this is the ultimate gift for fans and walker-wary survivalists alike."