I wasn't sure about this book at first. Yes, sadly I am a reader who selects books by the cover and honestly the cover was not grabbing me. Then I noticed that Rebecca Stead wrote a review that said this was a great book and well, that kind of made me check it out from the library. So, life for Elodee is kind of tough. She feels like the town of Juniper that she lives in is upset with her and her family, but you as the reader don't know why. Elodee has a twin sister, Naomi, and 2 parents. The story begins with the family struggling and deciding to move to a new town, Eventown, to start a new life. Everyone seems really excited for this move, like they are waiting for some good luck of some sort. While living in Eventown Elodee notices that life is perfect; food tastes perfectly, ice cream tastes perfectly, the lawns look perfectly, and the people all act perfectly. No one is ever upset, dealing with something and it never rains! It is always sunny and perfect weather. No, they are not robots. So, the question is, would you give up all your memories- good and bad- to live a life perfectly. Or do the tough and challenging moments of our lives help guide us to be the best we can be?
Someone recommended this book to me, and I am glad that they did! Mason is the type of person you want to be- selfless, kind, caring, and forgiving. The weird part is that no one likes him. At school, he can find no solace except in one room where kids are different and accepting like him. School is hard for Mason, I mean challenging beyond anything you can imagine but he never gives up. His school counselor finds a special computer program to help him tell his story. See, the town thinks that Mason has something to do with his best friend dying. Everyone treats him so cruelly until Mason makes a friend. This friend sees the good in Mason and believes in him. One afternoon the neighborhood boys are out physically terrorizing Mason and his friends, a daily occurrence when something terrible happens. Will the town blame Mason for this? Is it possible to forgive someone who has hurt you? LOVED this book!
This was a fun book to read. It was a slow but pleasing mystery to unveil. I know I say this a lot, but this would make an AWESOME movie! I totally have made so many scenes in my head---especially the ending! I would wear a blue dot, would you? OK- I know that doesn't make sense right now since you haven't read the book, but it will if you read it.
Georges is moving from his home he has lived in his whole life to an apartment. Unfortunately, for Georges, he is not switching schools. Socially, school is a challenging place for Georges. When he moves into his new apartment his mom isn't home much ( you will find out late in the book why- and let me say, I did not guess it) and Georges has befriended a strange family. Mostly him and Safer are working on a friendship and they are part of a spy club- with some rather close calls of being caught while spying. READ THIS BOOK!
This book is the book I want everyone to read this summer! Last summer I read Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate and was obsessed, this summer it is Shouting at the Rain.
Here are some quotes from the book that I LOVED!
"I guess some friends are just glitter, and some friends are glue."
"Granny's always saying that when people throw rocks, you can either build walls or bridges. Granny has always been a bridge builder."
"Isn't it strange how she can be so sharp and yet so soft, too?"
"I think I've decided that it's not what you look at that counts, but what you see."
"Thing is, the sun is always in the sky-it just gets hidden sometimes."
Oh this is a great book to talk about with someone. Delsie lives on the Cape. She is at the age that she is starting to see how she is different and how people change. She is faced with friendship issues and family issues this summer. Oh I don't know what to say about this book, except to read it. I loved every word, every page, every minute I read this book.
Here is the next book I am reading. Have I ever been disappointed in a Carl Hiaasen book? Nope. I'll let you know how this one goes! It stuck out to me for another reason at the library. It's about a snake! Recently, Charlie and I found a HUGE snake on our driveway. We think it was a rat snake.
Carl Hiaasen did not let me down! This was an action packed book that prevented me from putting it down! Billy lives in Florida and has a natural ability to interact with snakes- no matter the kind. He is a bit of a loner and independent thinker. He lives with his mom and sister, Belinda. He hasn't seen his father since he was like 3 or 4 years old. Every month his mom receives a check from his dad to help cover the costs of him and his sister. Whenever she gets a check she always cuts up the envelope and doesn't let Billy see the return address. Also, she is rather vague when Billy asks her questions about him. So, Billy sneaks the address and books a ticket to go visit his dad in Montana, with his new family. Surprisingly, his mom is nervous but OK with this move. Also surprisingly, Billy gets along really well with his new step sister and step mother. However, his dad is not there. He is on a secret, "classified" mission for the government. What?! The book continues with Billy mending his relationship with his dad and learning about his secret missions. The missions include: drones, grizzly bears, panthers and getting away from a bad guy! A fun read for sure!
What can I say about a Sarah Weeks novel? I mean, really, she knows how to write from the heart. This quote from pg. 143, to me, speaks to how she can capture the true emotions of a young adult: "I can't do this anymore," I whispered. "It hurts too much to be me."
Wow. I think that kids and adults can relate to this sentence. But, weird Aurora does persevere and honestly things work out OK for her. This is a feel good book, sure with some sad moments, but true sad moments. We have all felt that we didn't belong at some point or another. The thing that is special about Aurora is that she is OK with it. She is OK with being weird and not like everyone else. I can honestly say it took me a LLOOOONNNNNGGGG time to be OK with myself being weird.
This is the sequel to So B. It but it is OK to have not read it first, in my opinion. For those who did read it, yes, we meet back up again with Heidi. And when she enters the story, things get good.