Summer vacation is right around the corner. Yeah!!!! I love reading in the summertime out on my deck in the backyard. I hope everyone finds time to read at least one book over summer vacation! Check back here in August to share what you have been reading! Have a happy and safe summer! Here are some books Ms. Zentz would like to recommend:
Heist Society by Ally Carter: This is a fun book to start off your summer vacation. Kat and her friend Hale have differing opinions about leaving the “family business.” This isn’t your ordinary family business, they scam, steal, and con as a family! The story is clever and there is lots of adventure. If you have read Finding Lubchenko, you will also enjoy Heist Society!
Spackled and Spooked is the second book in the Do-It-Yourself Mystery series by Jennie Bentley. WCHS media center has the first book titled Fatal Fixer-Upper. If you like mystery and watching HGTV or home remodeling programs, check out this series. Avery Baker inherits a cottage in Maine and discovers a dead body during renovation. Who did it???
Jumpstart the World is by the bestselling author, Catherine Ryan Hyde, who wrote Pay It Forward. I’ll be honest, while people always say “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, sometimes I do. I picked up Jumpstart the World because it has a cute picture on the cover:
The title also piqued my curiosity too and I wondered what might need to happen to jumpstart our world presently. So many times I watch the evening news and I wonder what can get everything and everyone to a happier place. Any ideas out there?
The back of the book offered amazing reviews of the book:
“Tender, amazingly hopeful…vibrant and heartbreaking”-Kirkus Reviews
“Deeply affecting…eloquent storytelling about how two troubled teens find redemption.” – Publishers Weekly
“Reminiscent of the evocative style of S. E. Hinton…Very close to perfect.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
"All in all, this is an excellent portrayal of love, overcoming odds, and finding acceptance. An exceptional and inspiring read with a message for us all." Corrine, author of Lost for Words blog
With reviews like this, how could I not want to read Jumpstart the World? I was drawn into the story right from the beginning. On page 4, the main character says, “This next thing that happened is important. It was one of those moments. I’m fascinated by moments like this. Always have been. The kind where you think something really ordinary is happening, so ordinary that you’re barely even paying attention. But then, looking back, you see it wasn’t ordinary at all. It was maybe the most important thing that ever happened to you. But at the moment you lived it out, it barely even blipped onto your radar screen.”
Have you ever had one of those moments?
There are many surprises in this book, including the idea that the main character is living in an apartment by herself at age 16. It’s a story about friendships and one that I hope you will pick up to read, even if you pick it based on the cover, like I did.
I was excited to read Anxious Hearts when we received it for the media center because it was written by Tucker Shaw who also wrote one of my all-time favorite books, Flavor of the Week. Anxious Hearts did not disappoint! It is really two stories in one as it is written as a tale from 200 years ago intertwined into the present day. The book is inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic love poem “Evangeline”. Here is a website that might be of interest about the author’s writing of the poem. http://www.hwlongfellow.org/works_evangeline.shtml .
Happy Reading everyone! Hey, and feel free to share what you read this summer. I’m always looking for student input on great books! Ms. Zentz
No comments:
Post a Comment