Book Review 19: Shifty by Lynn E. Hazen

After Gone I needed a "realistic" fiction type of book, plus, this book I couldn't renew, it had a hold on it, along with some others on my lists that I hadn't read yet. But since I knew this was next, I decided to go ahead and read it, and maybe I can return it before school tomorrow and not have a fine? We'll see.

Anyway, Shifty, or Solomon, prefers to be called Shifty or Soli. He's a foster child, or as his foster mom puts it, a child in a foster home. Marge is his foster mom, and she is also taking care of a little girl named Sissy and a crack baby named Thaddeus, or as they call him, Chance. Shifty is only 15, yet driving. And his driving tends to get him in trouble, parking in handicap spots, flat tires, almost getting towed. There are lots of issues with his family, as you would imagine in this type of situation. Overall this was a good book, and I think there are kids who will relate to this. However I wonder if they like to read this kind of book, or if it would be too hard for them. Not sure what I'll rate this. It was good, but kind of hard and sad to read. I basically read it in one day, and my next book is "The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail" by Michael P. Spradlin.

I also have a new "tentative" goal. I am now on book 20. I'm hoping to finish the Truman books before October if possible. Let's see, 6 more books, 8 more days this month? Well, maybe in the next two weeks I can do it, if not by October 1st. I'd love to get them as close to being done before November as possible, because then maybe I can do NanoWrimo again this year. I have an idea both for a new novel, as well as maybe going back and working on my first one I started, Digging Up Love, and maybe finally finishing that one.

Book Review 18: Gone by Michael Grant

This was a really long book, took me a few days to finish all over 500 pages. The book starts out with Sam sitting in class, and his teacher just all of a sudden disappearing. Just gone. Turns out all adults and teens over 14 have disappeared. The kids are left. Sam also has a secret, he's discovered he has a power. Some kind of flashing light/flame that can create a light or take off someone's hand. Turns out there are others with powers, and some of them are up at the Coates Academy, a private school for troubled rich kids, where Sam's mother works. Turns out that it is possible that Sam's twin brother may also be at that academy. Supposedly their mom gave him up, but kept Sam. Anyway, it's a pretty good story, there's some darkness behind all this, and not only are their kids with powers, the animals seem to have evolved in strange ways as well. Flying snakes, talking coyotes. And when kids turn 15 now, they also "poof". They find a wall all around the town that burns when they touch it. Sam's friend Astrid's younger brother Pete is autistic and may have something to do with the whole mess. There's a big confrontation between Sam and his "brother" at the end, but there isn't a set solution, and it is left for at least a sequel, which we have at the store and I'll have to read after I get done with all my book lists.

The next book I started yesterday was called Shifty, by Lynn E. Hazen, and it will be my next review.