Amy Plays the Violin

Amy Plays the Violin

By Julie Labossiere

Amy has been preparing for her first violin recital. Even though she has practiced, she is still feeling nervous about it so she goes to her family to see if they can help her prepare better for the recital. Asking her brother Aaron, he offers her to play his drums, but the sound is just too loud and not quite right for Amy. Maybe her sister Stephanie has a good idea. Stephanie plays the piano so well, but when Amy sits down she discovers that she plays the violin better than she could play the keyboards. Realizing that she just needed the confidence that might come with practice, Amy gets back to it. Finally the night of the recital comes around and with her mom in the wings, the rest of the family in the audience, Amy takes the stage and finds her nerves go away after she starts to play the violin piece that she had been practicing.

An inspirational story about being able to overcome nerves and follow through with a task that might scare you. Spending the time to learn the violin then to explore other instruments only to realize that she was better off with the violin. To follow through with the whole process of learning it and then being part of the recital really showed her courage. Even as scary as that thought was, she knew she had prepared for this night. The since of pride in herself in the end seemed to be worth all the practice time and even the nerves helped her to push through the practices. Practice and patience are really great lessons for anyone, this story is geared for young readers or for reading aloud, with it’s plain wording, large print and great pictures. This would be a great addition to any youth library.

Book - Sophie & Carter

Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine

Having seen the worst of each others deep dark secrets, it was no wonder that Sophie Hartman and Carter Jax had become the best of friends. Living next door to each other for so long, they each had a perspective on the others lives that most never saw. After being beaten for so many years by his own father, watching his mother take the abuse also, Carter had finally become strong enough to stand up for them both but only after the scars had been left and his mother had paid a high price - her sanity. Raising her siblings while at young age herself, Sophie found the strength to confront her own mother in the uncomfortable atmosphere of a strip club but with the support of Carter she could find a way to ask for the money her and the kids needed. Through out high school, Sophie and Carter kept their acquaintance and their close friendship a secret, only talking to each other in the privacy of their homes and yards. With each acting the adult of the households, it was only a matter of time before they realized the feelings they held for the other was more than just plain admiration.

Short and sweet, this one took me by surprise how much I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this one far exceeded anything I was looking for. The book is set up with 2 different type fonts, one for Sophie and another for Carter, the format is set up somewhere between a journal entry and a “he said, she said”. I have read others that have been set up like this before and found that this one is really well done. The flow between the two points of view is good and you don’t seem to lose continuity like can sometimes happen in this format. What a wonderfully encouraging and inspirational story about young adults that have been able to take on so much and still came out of it as really good people, it is sad that this is probably not far from truth for some kids. I have never read Chelsea Fine before, but I will be sure to look for other books by her. I am giving this book a 4, but it does lean toward the 5 star category. Great book, I am so grateful that I was given the chance to receive this book as a free reviewers copy.

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A Reel Cool Summer by Martha Rodriguez

A Reel Cool Summer by Martha Rodriguez

Bored on a hot summer day, Joey, his brother Danny and sister Jacqui want something to do. They want a pool, but mom says it cost a lot of money. Finding a flyer on the mail box for a movie competition with the reward of money is what gives Joey a great idea. Getting right to works on props, costumes and filming because they have only a few hours till the deadline. After a couple false starts, things seem to come together till the kids are happy with what they have done. Seeing some of the other entries at the library was fun too, but they really wanted to win. Placing third might be alright after all though.

Just the creation of the movie was something fun for the kids to do. A Reel Cool Summer is full of imagination as well as inspiration of things to do. Play acting is entertaining for the kids and so time consuming that they didn’t even realize how quickly the day went by. A great idea for a short or even a long summer project. Quick and easy to read for it’s intended age group (6-9 year olds) although the lines of words would have been easier to follow if they would have been in a more traditional block arrangement instead of being staggered like it sometimes was. Fun ’paper cut-out dolls’ style of illustrations with muted colors that just seemed to pop out the right way with a story telling power of their own. ( )

flagSep 13, 2011

What Do You Use to Help Your Body? by Jewel Kats

What Do You Use To Help Your Body?: Maggie Explores the World of Disabilities… by Jewel Kats

Exploring what makes some people different than others is a good way for kids to learn about disabilities and the way to adapt a lifestyle to accommodate those disabilities. Noticing a difference and learning how they deal with it is not the same thing. Lucky for Maggie that her momma has an idea about how to help her understand more. Walking down the street they encounter several individuals that have had something that makes them different. Something they have had to deal with, overcome or work around. Realizing that a hearing loss doesn’t mean they can’t hear anything, the loss of a leg, or the use of both legs does not keep them inside. Even finding ways to be understood if they can’t talk make Maggie understand that her own eye patch was helpful to her.

The concept of this book is one that needs to be explored more (in my opinion) with kids today. While the main point of “What do you use to help your body?” is to understand how things can help, it does briefly touch on the sensitivities of the disabled. Even for such a young age group as this one is targeted for, there could have been more. I have had to explain disabilities of a relative to my kids several times in past. The best part of books like this is that it opens up the topic to discussion and hopefully reduces discrimination while promoting acceptance. This was a good introduction to special needs of people around us. ( )

September 10, 2011

Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel

Review to come, hopefully before to much longer.

September 8, 2011

Fairy-Tale Detectives

Review to come - I hope I get the time to do this one soon.

August 25, 2011

Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe

Lord of Rage (Harlequin Nocturne) by Jill Monroe

Far from home and the strongest memory she has is of a warrior she had met in her dreams. Needing to find out what had happened in her home of Elden, Breena stumbled through the woods till she found a cottage. Hungary and tired she entered and found food and a bed. Waking up to a bear of a man standing over her with his two younger brothers, Breena was amazed to find that he was real. The girl in his bed was the same girl that he had been dreaming about, Osborn just didn’t know how to treat her in real life. The berserker in him seemed to want to keep her but he refused to stray from his own path of protecting his brothers, Bernt and Torben. A berserker was just the type of warrior Breena needed, somehow her parents had instilled in her the desire to avenge and survive, with the help of her dream sharing warrior Osborn, she might be able to do both. Teaching her to protect herself and then leaving her to fulfill her own destiny was the plan. As she learned to fence, gained more of her magical powers and the control over them, Osborn and his ber spirit were becoming less sure of his place in her life. If only Breena could convince him to help and find someone to trust.

Book 2 ….. Lord of Rage has just the right mix of Goldilocks and the three bears fairytale and supernatural romance. Osborn is so much gentler than expected as a berserker which gave the heroine Breena a shining spotlight to be the student and teacher of their relationship. The interaction with the brothers is great and the additional information about what had happened in the attack on Elden was really interesting. Totally enjoying this idea of 4 authors getting together to write a paranormal romance version of fairytales. Really eager to see what the fairytale is and how the next author (Jessica Anderson) handles the next sibling (Dayn) in the next book (Lord of Wolfyn) of the series.
I was extremely luck to have received this book as a reviews copy, Lord of Rage is due out September 20, 2011. ( )

September 7, 2011