Review: Stone Field by Christy Lenzi

First, thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read an egalley of this book.  I was first intrigued by it because it was set in the state of Missouri, where I live.  Second it takes place during the Civil War, a time period that I always find fascinating to read about.  There was only one thing that made me a bit hesitant, the comparison to Wuthering Heights.  However I don't know why that would be a problem, just because I don't like that book, so many other more recent books seem to be kind of based on it that I do like.  I have to say it was a very original story, and I really got into it.

The main character is Catrina. She lives with her father and older brother on a farm.  Catrina is a tomboy basically, she prefers to wear boy's clothing, pants and such.  She wants to be out in the woods creating her wild things, basically art.  Her father is not quite the same since their mother's death.  And her older brother has become very religious and seems to want to be in charge of the family, including determining what Catrina should do with her life.  And he feels she needs to begin acting like a lady and find a husband.  One day when Catrina is out in one of her favorite spots, she notices a pattern has been made in their crops.  And then she sees the person that must have done it.  A boy about her age, who is naked.  She goes to help him and bring him back to her house with her father's help.  But there is something about the boy that draws her to him, like a very strong magnet.  The two of them even seem to be able to hear each other speak in their minds. 

The boy can't seem to remember anything about his life or who he is.  So Catrina names him Stonefield.  Now he was found while her brother was out of town.  And when he gets back, well he is vehement that it is inappropriate for Catrina to be alone with Stonefield.  Not only inappropriate, but the color of Stonefield's skin leads everyone to believe he is either a Native American, or  Mexican, neither of which will be accepted by the people in their town.  Along this same time, a new preacher has come to town.  And he takes a liking to Catrina, saying that he can help her family rid her of whatever has possessed her to become so wild and unladylike. 

And during all of this, the state of Missouri is dealing with whether they will be a slave state or not. The people are deciding whether they will be siding with the North or the South.  And Catrina's brother will have to make a decision whether he should join the army, and which side.

I really enjoyed the historical bits in the story.  While I knew a lot about Missouri's history in the Civil War, I still learned a few things from this story.  I like reading about history put on a personal level with a story like this.  And I really felt for Catrina and Stonefield, and it was a really good story.  While there wasn't much of a way for everything for everyone to work out, it was still something I had to know what would happen next and who, if anyone, would end up with a happy ending.

Definitely a book I'll recommend for historical fiction during the Civil War, a good read, more than just the history, a great story as well.

Review: The Curse of Jacob Tracy by Holly Messinger

I have to thank one of my fellow teachers for passing this ARC on to me a month or so ago.  The author is a friend of one of our art teachers, and I'm actually going to get to meet her when she comes to talk to the students at our school in December.  When the art teacher first told me about the book, I went and looked it up on Goodreads, and was immediately intrigued.  The story sounded really good. And I loved that part of it was going to be set in Missouri, even if it is on the other side of the state from where I live.  I've really started enjoying historical fiction these days I guess.  And while this is fantasy, it is definitely a bit of a scary story as well. And can I say that I could totally see this book as a really great TV series or movie? 

The main character is, as you would guess, Jacob Tracy.  The story takes place back in kind of the old west.  After the Civil War really.  Trace, as he goes by, can see ghosts and such things.  He tries not to give into the things he sees though, especially not to tell those around him about his ability, because in the past when he'd done that, his family - parents and wife - had all died.  He does kind of odd jobs around the town he lives in near St. Louis, Missouri, with his partner/best friend, Boz.  Sometimes the jobs are clearing out trees for farms, other times it may be acting as guides for those traveling out West. The story really gets going when a strange woman offers him a job, going to pick up something that a dead friend of her's left to her. But in the trip, it turns out that maybe her story isn't quite true.  And the place she sends him to is haunted, and he begins to see more ghosts.  He finds out that she actually knows about his powers, and she wants to help him learn to use them, and in some way, then he'll be able to help her with whatever it is that has been causing her illness. 

Working for this woman, Miss Fairweather, will lead him into all kinds of sticky situations.  Ghosts, strange bearlike creatures, demons, and even werewolves, will all be things he has to deal with.  All the while he will fight her influence, try not to give into what she wants, while at the same time he will feel that she is helping him, and he is learning to control his powers the more he works with her.  It won't be just one bad guy he deals with, although there does seem to be one "boss" or "master" that is sending them all to find about him, and possibly get him to join and give over his powers.  This master is also someone that Miss Fairweather had dealt with in the past, and she will do her best to help Trace as much as she can, even while still keeping her own secrets about what she actually needs.

Like I said, this is one that as I read it I could totally picture watching it.  The characters were really well done.  The historical time period was very detailed and seemed just like what you would imagine.  One of the characters in the last section of the book, named Remy, was a Cajun man, and as I read his dialogue, I totally heard the accent and voice in my head.  I look forward to reading more by this author, especially since I think this definitely left off for a sequel.  There is more that I need to know! 

Also, I love the publisher's little symbol.  I'm pretty sure it is a dachshund!

Promo and Author Interview: Molly Lee by Andrew Joyce

Book Information:
Title: MOLLY LEE
Genre: Adventure/Historical Fiction

Synopsis:
Molly is about to set off on the adventure of a lifetime . . . of two lifetimes.
It’s 1861 and the Civil War has just started. Molly is an eighteen-year-old girl living on her family’s farm in Virginia when two deserters from the Southern Cause enter her life. One of them—a twenty-four-year-old Huck Finn—ends up saving her virtue, if not her life.
Molly is so enamored with Huck, she wants to run away with him. But Huck has other plans and is gone the next morning before she awakens. Thus starts a sequence of events that leads Molly into adventure after adventure; most of them not so nice.
We follow the travails of Molly Lee, starting when she is eighteen and ending when she is fifty-six. Even then Life has one more surprise in store for her.
Excerpts:
I first saw him in the light of the setting sun. He sat straight and proud astride a chestnut mare, handsome in his grey lieutenant’s uniform. He rode into the yard following my pa who was driving the family wagon. In the back of the wagon lay the “Captain.”
 
AND

We womenfolk have it tougher than men when it comes to affairs of the heart. What you are about to read is my story. It is not a pretty story, and I am not proud of it. I think the only proud moment of my life was the day I met and fell in love with Huck Finn.

 Author Interview:

1. What does your writing process look like? Do you know the whole story when you start? Or do you just start writing and go with it (seat of the pants writing)? If you plan it out, how do you do that? Outline, note cards, post-it notes, etc.?

I prefer to write in the early morning hours when things are quiet. I usually get up around 2:00 a.m. and go to work. The commute is not long . . . only a few steps to my computer.

I sit down to write a book with no idea where my characters will take me. I start out with (I hope) a killer first sentence and the last paragraph of the book. Then I set out to fill the in-between space with 100,000 words. I find that the easy part. Sometimes I will bring my characters to a certain place, only to have them rebel when we get there. They’ll tell me they want to go somewhere else and take off on their own. I have no choice but to follow.

2. How do you come up with your ideas for your stories?

For my short stories it can be a line from a song or anything inconsequential I may come across during the day. Sometimes memories of people I had known in my distant past will get me thinking and that will lead to a story. I have published forty short stories about my dog. They are told from his perspective and the continuing narrative is what an idiot I am. For anyone who may be interested in what my dog has to say can check him out at: Danny the Dog.

However, for my novels it’s a bit different. It’s the urge to tell a story. I don’t really know what it will be about, but I know it’s in me. So I sit down at the computer and go to town. I never suffer from writer’s block because that story is just roaring to get out.

3. How long have you been writing?

One morning, about five years ago, I went crazy. I got out of bed, went downstairs, and threw my TV out the window. Then I sat down at the computer and wrote my first short story. It was soon published in a print magazine—remember them? I’ve been writing ever since.

4. What tips do you have for aspiring writers?

Read, read . . . and then read some more. Read everything you can get your hands on! Reading to a writer is as medical school is to a doctor, as training is to an athlete, as breathing is to life. When one reads stuff like what is below, one cannot help but become a better writer.

"The afternoon came down as imperceptibly as age comes to a happy man. A little gold entered into the sunlight. The bay became bluer and dimpled with shore-wind ripples. Those lonely fishermen who believe that the fish bite at high tide left their rocks and their places were taken by others, who were convinced that the fish bite at low tide." — John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat

5. How important are names in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds, or the meaning? Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend?

There is a lot of history in my novels and that takes a lot of research. I have to get things right. In my first book, I made two mistakes. One was the date an event occurred (I was off by one year) and with the other, I had my hero loading the wrong caliber bullet into the gun he was using. Believe me; I heard about those errors in a few of the reviews for the book. But that was a good thing. It taught me to do my homework.

Anyway, while doing my research, I come across the names of people who actually had a hand in what I’m writing about. So I’ll sprinkle their names throughout the story. Because of the history factor in my books, people’s names have to fit the time and the place I’m writing about. Also, when reading for pleasure (history, non-fiction), if I come across a great name, I’ll jot it down for future reference.

Favorites:

Books/authors/genres:  The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. He is also my favorite author. Lee Child and David Baldacci ain’t bad either.

Movies/TV Shows:  I like movies from the 1930s & ’40s.

Music:  John Stewart. If you’d like, you can listen to one of his songs here.

Food/writing snack:  Food: Chicken sandwich.   Writing snack: Vodka and cranberry juice.

Social Media Site:  None

Thank you for having me over, Lisa. It’s been a real pleasure.  

Author Andrew Joyce:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Smashwords

Andrew's Web Site

Facebook

Andrew's Blog

GoodReads

Review: Persuasion (The Heirs of Watson Island #2) by Martina Boone

First I have to say thanks to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  I am still on the lookout, however, for a physical ARC of this title to match the physical ARC I have of the first book in the series, Compulsion.  So if you know of where I might be able to find one, let me know!  Anyway, can I say that once again I loved the book!  I was sucked right back into the story as soon as I picked it up.  If you haven't read the first one yet though, I can't promise there won't be spoilers here.  So then you should stop reading here and click the link above for the review of the first first book to see if it sounds like what you'd like to read.  Now, on with the review.

When we join back into the story, Barrie is on her way home to Watson's Landing from picking up her godfather's ashes.  Eight and his father went with her.  When they get back they can see that it has kind of turned into a circus as people are just waiting in boats to see the ghosts that they've heard about.  It's become so bad that Barrie's aunt has had to close down the little tea room on the plantation to keep people out.  And when they first get out of the car, Cassie sees this guy standing there.  No one else seems to see him, and he just disappears before she can find anyone to show him to.  But there are footprints left where he was standing, so it seems proof that he isn't just a ghost.  The yunwi are scared of him, and throw things at him whenever he is around.  His name is Obadiah, and he does come back and offers Barrie a chance to be rid of the curse, her connection to the plantation.  But only if she doesn't tell anyone about it. 

Cassie is probably going to jail, but after seeing how Cassie acts at her father's funeral, Barrie decides that maybe she should get some leniency. And so in front of the judge, Barrie speaks up for Cassie.  It turns out that Cassie had told some archaeologists that they could come and dig at Colesworth Place.  Even though Barrie knows that what is buried there probably isn't gold, what she feels tells her it is more something sentimental than riches would be.  It seems there is a lodestone there that Obadiah actually wants to help get rid of the curse.  And he needs Barrie to use her power to find it.  But when they go to do the search, something happens during the spell that he seems to be doing, and all of a sudden Cassie and Barrie are seeing what looks to be the past at the Colesworth Place, at the end of the Civil War.  What they see is the ancestors being pulled out of the house by the soldiers from the North.  From this vision, or time travel, whatever it is, Barrie learns something more about what might be buried on the property. 

All of this is going on at the same time that Seven tells Barrie she must convince Eight to go away to college. That he needs his time away, because once Seven dies, Eight will be stuck there the way Seven is.  And while Barrie knows it is best, it is hard to convince Eight that she wants something, that really deep down, she doesn't want. 

Meanwhile back at Watson's Landing they are preparing to open a restaurant where people will eat there by invitation only, to try to cut down on all the people coming in and causing problems.  Her aunt decides they need horses again, and follows through on that.  Barrie learns to love her home, where she cannot be too far from without being in pain, headaches really, until she gets back.

So much happened in this book!  I know I can't possibly give a really good overview without giving too much away.  And the ending, I just about cried, and I can't believe that is where it ended!  I don't know that I can wait another year for the next book, and oh how I hope it's not any longer than that!  Another great read, definitely give it a try if you get the chance!

A to Z April: N Reviews - The Next Big Thing by Johanna Edwards/North and South by John Jakes

Okay, I haven't had a chick lit review in a few days, not since last week actually!  So thought I'd share one today.  The other book has romance in it, but is a great saga kind of book.

First is The Next Big Thing by Johanna Edwards.  As a single woman who has had several points in my life where I've been overweight (like the present) this book about a single woman wanting to lose weight as part of a reality tv show really was fun for me.  Here's the blurb from Goodreads.com:
In this funny, poignant debut, a plus-size heroine becomes a reality TV show contestant and discovers she's already beautiful enough to be the next big thing.

Kat Larson figured she had nothing to lose by becoming a contestant on the new reality show From Fat to Fabulous-except maybe a few dozen pounds. Then she'd finally be able to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Nick, the British hunk she met online, who still thinks she's a size four. She'd finally be confident and graceful and thin-and there's that big cash prize, too, to pay for all those slinky new clothes she'd need. She'd finally have the perfect life.

Second is North and South by John Jakes.  I first was made aware of this book when the tv series was on in the 1980s.  The one that starred Patrick Swayze.  From the show I came up with a name that at one time I wanted to use for a girl if I ever had kids. But now, I can't have kids, but if I could, thanks to Ashton Kutcher, I wouldn't be able to use it because people might think I chose it because of him.  (Ashton is the name, I wanted to do an Ashton Leigh, and call her Ashleigh for short).   The Civil War is also a time period that is always fascinating to read about, at least for me.  If you haven't heard of the book or tv mini-series, here is the blurb from Goodreads:
When their two sons meet as West Point cadets, the southern, plantation-owning Main family and the industrialist Hazards of Pennsylvania find their lives interlocked, as the nation moves toward Civil War.
Wow, that didn't tell much, but it does give you the main idea.



Have you read either of these?  Have you seen the North and South mini-series from the 80s? 

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Review: The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith (COYER Challenge #5)

First of course I have to thank Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  I'd actually hoped to get an ARC last summer at BEA.  I did get to meet the author, but he was just signing the first book, Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter.  I'll admit I didn't read the first book, even though it was sitting on my shelf since before the movie came out.  I did see the movie though, and loved it.  So of course I know there were things left out from the book in the movie.  But it was still enough to help me read this book.  I did enjoy the book. There were some predictable things, but it was still a fun read.  With all the different historical figure cameos, it reminded me a bit of Forrest Gump.  The main character, Henry, just happened to be at all these big events, and somehow have a hand in them.  Again, I'm not complaining, just pointing out what it reminded me of.

Henry Sturges is the man, scratch that, vampire, that helped turn Abraham Lincoln into a vampire hunter.  He is the main character, or "The Last American Vampire," although he's not really the last one, at least not where the story ends.  But the book is pretty much about his life.  It starts off with memories of Lincoln's last days.  And how hard it was for Henry to let go of Abe.  And then we pretty much jump back to a quick bit about his life before he became a vampire.  Henry was one of the people in the Roanoke Colony.  He only survived because the vampire who slaughtered all the other settlers saw something that he thought was unique and worthy in Henry, and so turned him instead.  There are many flashes back to the times right after that throughout the more modern stories.  There are visits back to London during the times of Jack the Ripper.  Guess what, he was a vampire.  Then we get the story of Anastasia, again vampires involved.  For the most part we jump over the Civil War since that was the main part of the first book.  But Henry helps out the government of the United States, working for several of the presidents of the United States.  It's fun to get a look at him with both Roosevelts, JFK, and with others like J. Edgar Hoover.  There's an attempt on Hitler's life.  Henry gets to be friends with other famous people like Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain.  Of course there are some famous people that are vampires, Howard Hughes for instance.  All of it is woven into a very fun story.

In the end it is kind of left open.  Not sure how they could go much further into the future, as it ends shortly after September 11th, 2001 I think.  But I'm sure there could be other stories from the past to share.  Another fun read from this author, who I have read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which is by him as well.  And to finish the review off, here is a picture of me with the author last June at BEA in NYC.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

I've been wanting to read these books for so long.  The covers, the title, the premise, it all just sounded so good.  But as always, I have such a huge stack of TBR books, that I just never got around to it.  At the end of the school year, I decided to check a bunch of books out of the school library, and this was one of them.  It's also the first book I decided to read from that pile from school this summer.  And it was a great choice!  The book was long, and it took me awhile to get through, but not because it didn't suck me in, because even though I only worked at my part time job one day this week, it seemed I was busy.  Cleaning house, visiting family, seeing movies, etc.  But this book, when I picked it up, it was so hard to put it down.  I was about 170 pages from the end when I went up to my room to read before bed last night.  I planned to read until I was done, but did get sleepy after reading all but the last 30 pages.  And I didn't want to fall asleep, so I put it aside and finished it first thing this morning.
The story is told from a male point of view, and sometimes this isn't my favorite way, but it was good this time.  The main character is Ethan Wate.  He lives in a small southern town, a town where everyone knows everyone, and they still barely think they lost the civil war.  He's had these dreams for awhile now, where he must save this girl.  He lost his mother not too long ago, and his father has kind of gone off the deep end, only spending his time in the library/office, writing.  So Ethan is basically being raised, well he is a teenager, by Amma, the housekeeper, a superstitious woman.  A new girl moves into town, Lena Duchannes.  She may be new to town, but her uncle is the town hermit/recluse, and lives in the house all the kids have always imagined being haunted.  As soon as Ethan sees her, he knows, or figures out that Lena is the girl from his dream.  And they have a connection, they can talk to each other in their minds.  Everyone is against their relationship from the start.  The townspeople who shut out anyone new.  Amma, who just says she feels there is only trouble with her.  And even Lena's uncle, Macon Ravenwood, says they will only have trouble if they stay together.  It turns out Lena is a Caster, kind of like a witch, but not exactly.  And when she turns 16, her family has a curse she must deal with.  Ethan is still drawn to her, and soon seems that he is her best protection when other methods fail.
I loved the story.  I loved all the background, all of what you'd call the "mythology" of this type of supernatural being, the Caster.  I like how Ethan has a good friend, Link, who will stick by him, even as the others in town, who used to be "friends" step away the closer he gets to Lena.  A great book, a good ending, and I'm so ready to read on to the next one, Beautiful Darkness, although that may have to wait till later, with all the other books I need to read. *EDIT* I forgot to mention when I first posted this review, that the story somewhat reminds me of Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan.  Not in a bad way, because I love both books.  Just the new to town, the magic, etc.  My review of Unspoken will be posted in August, a month before the book is published.  So you'll have to check that out and see! *EDIT*
Have you read this book or series?  What did you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore Vol. 1.9 Part 1

I have so many books from working this past Wednesday, and then last night, I am going to split this blog into two parts to save myself some time. So check back, hopefully later tonight for the rest.

First is going to be Eliza's Freedom Road by Jerdine Nolen. Now this is really a young readers book, not teen level. But I am a sucker for any Civil War story. And this one really hits close to my childhood. Why? Because at the private school I went to from 1st-8th grade, for handwriting, at one point we had to just copy from books. And the book I copied from most of the time was a book about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. And this story is about a young slave named Eliza who has her mother sent away, and soon the owner is talking of selling the slaves, especially a young girl like Eliza who will be a very big moneymaker. Eliza decides to run away using the stories her mother taught her about the Freedom Road.

Next is Balefire by Cate Tiernan. I guess this is actually an omnibus of a whole series all in one book. There are two girls who look almost identical, one of them has just moved to New Orleans where the other one already lives. And it isn't just a separated at birth kind of thing, it's much darker. Don't know much more than that, but it sounds great.

Third is Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter. The main character is Kylie whose life seems to be going downhill, parents getting a divorce, boyfriend dumping her, grandmother dies, and now she has a stalker. Her counselor decides to send her to a school supposedly for troubled teens. Turns out the school is actually home to vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches, and shapeshifters, and supposedly Kylie is one of them.

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes is about a girl named Theia who lives a pretty sheltered life, but she dreams about a boy with haunting eyes all the time. Then one day he shows up at her school, and of course she's pulled to him, even though he seems hot and cold to her. She soon learns what he really is, and still thinks she wants to be with him.

And the last one I'll talk about now, and then I'll just do a part two with the other books, is Subject Seven by James A. Moore. Another teen book. In a way the storyline of this somewhat reminds me of I Am Number Four. There were several children genetically modified and raised in the Janus Project. These children are sent away after the original Alpha kills the the head scientist and his guards and escapes. In the future, they begin to feel a call, and feel like their bodies are being taken over by something that they can't control. It is compared somewhat to a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story. They are gathered back together by Subject Seven and find out they were supposed to be killed instead of adopted out, and must band together to save themselves.

Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig

I can pinpoint the teachers who led me to some of my quirky favorites in movies. First, my grandpa. No, he wasn't ever a "teacher" per se, but I do feel that he taught me in many different ways, and shaped a lot of who I am. He was an engineer, and I know it is from him that I developed my interest in astronomy, and probably other science. But whever we visited my Grandpa and Grandma Moritz's house, there was a big yellow book called Why a Duck with a cartoon picture of Groucho Marx's head. It is from my Grandpa that I got my love of all things Marx Brothers. I can even remember him laughing at certain parts of the movies when we'd watch them at his house when we went into the air conditioning during the annual family garage sales.

Second is my 8th grade science teacher/principal. I went to a private school, and so the principal was also a teacher, Mr. Riedl. In fact, he was a science teacher, my current occupation. But I remember watching Court Jester, with Danny Kaye one day at school when I was in 7th or 8th grade. Again, I can remember him laughing loudly at the "Flaggon with the Dragon" part of the movie. From this I became a Danny Kaye fan.

Third was my freshman year, my Citizenship class teacher, Mr. Jarvis. In class he showed us the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy. I remember watching the beginning and thinking, wow, another boring school movie, but still being glad we were watching a movie instead of doing work. But if you've seen this movie, you know it is not a boring movie at all. It is a hilarious look at modern day technology, a coke bottle, and how it can corrupt very simple cultures in ways we can't even imagine.

And the last teacher, leads into this book, my junior year American History teacher, Coach Durham. He showed us Gone With the Wind. I fell in love with it. I wanted to be Scarlett and have all the beaus after me. In a way, I have always felt like Scarlett, in that I never quite wanted what was right for me, and often didn't realize the good thing until it was gone. Of course, the reader that I am had to go out and read the book. And then in the early 90's a sequel called Scarlett was published. And I loved that too, even though the critics weren't huge fans. It made me cry, and I felt so much for Scarlett and all the bad choices she made, again, relating to her in that way at least.

When Rhett Butler's People came out in 2007, I ordered it from the book club I belonged to at the time. It has sat in my bookshelf of books to be read since that time. I couldn't quite bring myself to pick it up. Not sure why, just couldn't. But now, once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I fell right back in love the with the story. And I loved all the way we got to see into everyone's thoughts in this story. I worried as it started that it would only go up to the time when Rhett got married to Scarlett. Needless to say it followed right on through the end of Gone With the Wind and past. Totally didn't go with Scarlett, and while yes, I do love that story, I do like how this one ended a bit better. I cried, I smiled, I just loved this book. I can't gush enough about how much I liked it. Again, not sure the critics were big fans of this one either, but I loved it. I think I need to get the movie out again and watch it. I loved seeing Rhett's side of the story and his family, and Melanie Wilkes's side, etc.

Book Review 36: The Totally Made-up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish by Claudia Mills

I really enjoyed this one. The main character is Amanda MacLeish, and her school does thematic units where all the classes are doing something about the theme, in this case it is the Civil War. There was a time when middle school teams were supposed to do this, and lately, we've gotten so far away from this that it saddens me that our students don't get to experience this as much any more. I think some elementary schools may still do this, but with all the emphasis on testing and meeting No Child Left Behind standards, it is sad that kids don't get as many of these kinds of experiences. Anyway, for Amanda's favorite class, English, each student is given a person from that time period and they must write diary entries for what that person sees and goes through during this time. Amanda loves this assignment as she loves to write, and from her diary entries, you can tell she loves it and is good at it. Her math class is more normal, fractions, and all that stuff, and Amanda is not good at math. The music class however is learning songs that have to do with the Civil War time period, so it is fun to hear what songs they're learning, along with what those songs have to do with history. I also love the 2 "trouble-maker" students in the book, Ricky and Lance. It especially amuses me because their behavior, reminds me of a similar behaving student I have this year, also named Ricky. The things these 2 boys did are so like what my more immature students do sometimes that it made the book realistic for me, and I'm sure would be for kids for the same reasons.

Now, the meaty part of the book is that Amanda's parents are fighting all the time, and her father moves out after a really tense Monopoly game. Amanda seems to be losing her best friend Beth to a girl that she does Irish dancing with. There is a black boy named James that Amanda looks to throughout all the Civil War and racism talk to see how he is reacting to everything, and what he thinks. James is also good in math, so Amanda ends up getting his help as well. Soon, Amanda learns what really happened with her parents, and learns that even the way she looked to James about the Civil War talk could be considered a little bit of racism in a way. While there isn't a "happy" ending for the parents, Amanda gets her friend and a couple new ones with James and Meghan, Beth's Irish dancing friend. So it is one I hope makes the list. I enjoyed it even just for Amanda's diary entries.

I'm now reading the Sherlock Holmes Files: The 100-year-old Secret by Tracy Barrett.

Book Review 33: Hard Gold by Avi

This is in a series of children's books called I Witness. I looked on the Internet, and other than the book I read last year by Avi called Iron Thunder, I haven't seen what other books are part of this series, or if there are any other authors. But like Iron Thunder, this had lots of diagrams and maps showing scenes from those times. While Iron Thunder was during the Civil War, Hard Gold takes place during the gold rush as you might guess. The Pike's Peak gold rush in particular. The main character is named Early, his family is close to losing their farm due to mortgages being called in, and the fact that the railroad wants to run their track right through Early's family's farm. Early's uncle, who is actually only a few years older than him is named Jesse. He wants to go out west to get the money they need in the big gold rush, but Early's father says they can't go, they're needed to stay and help at the farm, and it costs money to go that they don't have. Well, one night, the bank is robbed, and the next day, Jesse is gone. Early decides to go out and look for Jesse without telling his parents. So, he sees a sign and signs up to help a family go. This family is a man who is a barber, his sickly wife, and his daughter Lizzy, who her father wants her to be more ladylike. Early and Lizzy hit it off, and we get to follow their trip through the Nebraska and Kansas territory to get to Pike's Peak. There are good times and sad times, as well as dangerous times as a Mr. Mawr is following along, trying to find Jesse and get the money from the bank robbery back as well.

I did like this story quite a bit. But I liked Iron Thunder really well as well, and it was not a finalist on the Mark Twain for this year, so who knows if my vote on this will go far either.

Next book I started last night is The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy by Diane Stanley, it is starting out pretty good.