You've Got to Read This Book!!!!!!

Today I'm going to tell you about the book Small As an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson.  This book is amazing!  I'm not sure if I loved it more because the main character's name is Jack, or because the setting of the story is Maine, one of my all time favorite places!  In the book Jack, and his sometimes unpredictable mom, finally take a vacation to Acadia National Park.  Things are going well until Jack wakes up one morning and finds that his mom has left him!  Jack doesn't want his mom to get in trouble, so he tries to find his own way back to his home in Boston.  This book is full of adventure and if you read it you will be awed and inspired by Jack's courage and resilience.  Read Small as an Elephant, you won't be disappointed!

I Like Science Fiction? Who Knew It????

Over the weekend I finished reading Catching Fire the second book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.  One thing that I have to say about this series is that you should read them in order, so that the plot makes sense to you.  I read the first book over a year ago, and while I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either. When I reflect on my reading life, I am not sure why I never moved on to book two.  To be completely honest, it was the 40 Book Challenge that was my incentive for revisiting this series and I am sooooooooo glad that I did. 
In this book, the characters remain the same, but what happens to them this time around is almost unbelievable.  If you have read The Hunger Games, and like science fiction, this would be a great book for you.  One caution, this book does have violence in it.  If you are someone who scares easily you may want to read this book with an adult, or just skip it until you get a little older.  Happy reading :-)

Pushing Yourself is an Important Part of the Process!

Over the weekend I finished the book My Side of the Mountain by by Jean Craighead George.  Although this book is in my preferred genre, realistic fiction, the subject matter is not one that I would typically choose.  The picture on the cover was interesting to me and it is a Newberry Honor book, so I knew I had to try it.  The story is about a young boy named Sam who runs away from his family home in New York City to live, on his own, in the Catskill Mountains.  Sam learns to live off the land and has many adventures.  I can't imagine being able to survive on my own in the woods (especially in the winter).

  Many times throughout my reading of this book I wanted to abandon it, but I pushed myself to read strong, and I am glad I did! If you like reading about adventures, survival, and nature, then this might be a book for you.

     Another book I recently read is Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter.  This is a nonfiction book for young writers.  These authors give you lots of tips to help you through the writing process.  If you like to write, and you like reading about writing, then you would enjoy this book.  Give it a try!