I Kill the Mockingbird, by Paul Acampora

I Kill the Mockingbird
Paul Acampora
2014 by Roaring Brook Press
ISBN – 9781596437425
Genre – Realistic Fiction
Age – Middle School
3 Stars

Best friends Lucy, Elena, and Michael begin the summer with a lofty reading list for their next year. Included on this list is To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Lucy becomes upset when she realizes that lots of people don’t want to read it, even though it is her favorite book. So the three thirteen year olds take matters into their own hands. They begin a plot to make the book high demand again! Somehow their plot succeeds beyond their wildest imaginations. People are enacting it across the country, celebrities are spreading the word through social media, and now that it is bigger than them, will they ever be able to stop it?

This book was a slight bit of a let down for me. I think it had received too much hype. While I enjoyed the characters, I thought that the plot was lacking. It was made out to be this super exciting narrative including “literary terrorism,” and call me a nerd all you want but that sounded cool to me. It just seemed to fall a bit flat. I also want to mention that just about all of the adults in the book were more interesting and more likable than any of the kids. My ideas upon this book may have a lot to do with the fact that I really don’t like coming of age tales. Even though To Kill a Mockingbird is far from my favorite classic, this book just wasn’t up to par.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game
Orson Scott Card
1977 TOR
ISBN – 9780765317384
Genre – Science Fiction
Age – Middle School, High School, Adult
4 Stars

 

In a world where each family can only have two children, Ender is a “Third.” Each child is tested to see if they qualify to attend battle school. Here they train to join the army that must kill an alien army that attacked humans many years before. At six years old, Ender is the most promising candidate that the military leaders have identified to lead the human army to a victory. He trains by playing war games and simulated battles. As his training goes on, Ender is thrown into more harsh and desperate situations in battle as well as his personal life. Is Ender really the savior that humans have been waiting for? Can he help protect humans from an alien invasion and impending war?

This is definitely a classic for a reason. I really appreciate that it has such wide appeal. I have seen an eleven year old enjoy it as much as a fifty year old. Honestly, I can’t believe I waited so long to read it. This book has it all, adventure, conflict, heartbreak, friendship, action, and surprise. The entire time I was reading it, I had to remind myself of how old Ender and his friends are. They live in a world and are thrust into a situation in which they are forced to mature unbelievably early, yet they take it in stride. Card has created scenarios in such detail that I became so immersed that I forgot I was reading a work of fiction. I laughed, I teared up, and my jaw dropped all within a few pages. If you haven’t read it yet, you should probably add it to the list.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

Dodger
Terry Pratchett
2012 Harper
ISBN – 9780062009494
Genre – Historical Fiction
Age – High School
2.5 Stars

 

Dodger is a seventeen year old tosher in London. A tosher is someone who searches the sewers underground to find lost treasures. One night he sees a young woman jump from a coach attempting to escape. He decides that he must help her elude her captors, and finds her a safe place to stay. His exposure to this situation sets a quirky and exciting adventure into motion. He meets the likes of Charles Dickens, Sweeny Todd, and even the Queen of England. What will be the fate of Dodger and his new friend?

I had a really hard time with this book. Although I can say that it was very well written, as most of Pratchett’s writing is, I found it really slow and boring at times. The descriptions of the settings and situations were very colorful and complete, at times to long and drawn out though. It was just very hard for me to get into. I did like that Dodger’s character was a brave and stand up human being. I also like that his character is rewarded by amazing luck! Throughout the book, and all the extraordinary adventures he stumbles upon, he still manages to stay humble. As I said earlier, it just wasn’t very exciting to me, and never managed to fully capture my attention.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity
Elizabeth Wein
2012 Hyperion Books
ISBN – 9781423152194
Genre – Historical Fiction
Age – High School, Adult
2.5 Stars

 

During WWII a British plane crashes in France, and its passenger, Verity, is captured by the Gestapo. She faces a tough decision, reveal the secrets of her mission or face execution. Throughout the book she reveals the circumstances that led her to her current situation. She talks about learning to fly, about her best friend, who was also the pilot of the crashed plane, and much more. Has her best friend survived? Will she be able to live long enough to be rescued? How does the story end?

 

So all of this sounds really suspenseful, however, I found the book completely tedious. It has gotten amazing reviews, and very few people have had anything negative to say about the book. I apologize ahead of time. While the words were written eloquently, the only thing that kept me reading were the reviews. I kept waiting, and saying to myself, it just starts slowly, yet it never picked up. There were a lot of technical references to flying and airplanes, which was not what deterred me. It just felt like the beginning of a fairly boring story for most of the book. So after all that, I will add this…The end was good. It read in a way that I would have loved the first 300 pages to read. I guess it just wasn’t my style.

The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef

The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne
Catherine Reef
2012 Clarion Books
ISBN – 9780547579665
Age – Young Adult
Genre – Nonfiction
4 Stars

 

 

 

World famous writer Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte all had very short lives, and very difficult childhoods. The book starts by telling us that their mother passed away shortly after Anne’s birth, then the two oldest Bronte sisters died at ages eleven and ten of tuberculosis. After the death of their mother, their aunt came to take of of the children as well as their widowed father. As the girls get older they are sent to boarding school, they take on many jobs as teachers and governesses, and attempt to make writing their profession. Writing as a female was frowned upon in the 1800’s as women should have their place as wives and mothers in the home. These three sister, however, would not give up.

Very interesting read that feels like the stories of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights coming to life. It becomes obvious while reading this book that these stories and others written by the Bronte sisters were probably semi-autobiographical. It is a tragic story of a family full of lives cut short.