Biggest Reader: Stephanie

Just Jane by William Lavender
Jane Prentice comes to America from England to live in Charlestown, South Carolina just as the American Revolution gets really heated. The war is not just between England and the American colonies, but between members of her family. Jane struggles with this war, but in the end discovers who she really is and gains strength and courage to be just Jane. This was a great book especially if you enjoy historical fiction. It portrayed how a war could not only tear up a country, but families as well. Jane was caught in the middle of it and through it she learned how to be herself, make decisions for herself, developed courage, and became a strong young lady
emotionally and mentally. Just as America gained its independence so did Jane.

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bone has started another year at Bloor’s Academy. He discovers one of his long lost relatives, Henry Yewbeam has come through time from 1916 at Bloor’s Academy and has to keep him hidden from those who want nothing good for him. With the help of his friends, he saves him and discovers that now he can speak to people in paintings. This series has been really good so far, each book definitely spurs you onto the next one so you know what happens with Charlie Bone. Each one is packed with mystery, adventure, and excitement. If you enjoyed Harry Potter then you would enjoy this series.

Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall
Kara Foster has just moved to Japan with her Dad from America. Her dad is a teacher at the school she now attends. The both speak very good Japanese, but Kara has trouble fitting in because she is from America, but then two girls befriend her. One of them, Sakura has just lost her sister who was mysteriously murdered. Kara and a lot of students at the school start having horrible nightmares that include Sakura’s sister, then some of the students start dying. Something supernatural is going on and it is not pretty. Kara and her friends discover what it is and do something about it, which ends the killing spree. This book definitely deals with the supernatural of the Japanese culture which is interesting to someone who doesn’t know a lot about it. I like how it shows that and some other aspects of their culture. I sympathize with Kara being the outsider, but she doesn’t let it bother her, which is great. It has mystery and horror all mixed into one, but everything is comes together well. I look forward to reading the next one in the series.

Spirited by Nancy Holder
Isabella Stevens is on her way to Fort William Henry with her father, Dr. Stevens during the French and Indian War with some soldiers for protection. They get attacked by Indians and Isabella and her father are captured. Wusamequin is the shaman and warrior for his tribe, he protects Isabella from being killed by his tribe members and from a life threatening wound. They fall in love, but he lets her go back to her father, but in the end she comes back to him and they end up happily ever after. This book is part of the Once Upon a Time series. This one is based upon Beauty and the Beast, one of my favorites. I like how the author wrote it using the Indians and the French and Indian war. You learned about the culture of the Indians and what happened when you were captured. Of course my favorite is when they end up together and it is happily ever after. It was a very good book, well written.

First Test by Tamora Pierce
Keladry of Mindelan (Kel for short) is a girl who wants to become a knight. The king now allows girls to be trained if they want to. Kel goes to be trained, but it is not easy, she is not treated like a girl, but as one the boys. Some of the other boys do not like that she is there and thinks that she needs to go home, so they mess up her room, add weights to her lance, and more just to make it miserable for her so that she will go home. Kel does not back down, she works even harder because she is determined to become a knight. In the process she makes friends with some of the other boys & animals, gets into fights, and becomes stronger physically, emotionally, and mentally. I like how she is determined to become a knight and works extra hard at it. I also like how there is some fantasy combined in it with the different creatures who live alongside the humans, some good and some bad. This is the first one in the series, Protector of the Small Quartet. I am now in the process of reading the second one, they are really good, makes you want to find out what happens with Kel and if she becomes a knight.

Twilight by Meg Cabot
Suze is a mediator, she can talk to ghosts and helps them cross over. She also has a boyfriend, but he is a ghost. Paul is another mediator who does things a little differently sometimes not the right way. Suze’s principal at her school is another mediator, but all of them keep it quiet because they don’t want anyone else to know. Suze and Paul go back in time to help Suze’s boyfriend, Jesse from being killed, but that means he would never meet Suze. She goes back to not let Paul save him so that she can still be with Jesse, but in the end she realizes that because she loves him, she will save him. Now a confession that I have to make is that this is the last book in the The Mediator series and didn’t realize that so I accidentally started with the last one instead of the first one, but I am still going to read the first one and the rest of them in order. I really enjoy Meg Cabot’s books and I like stories about ghosts so it was a good combination. I like how Suze realizes that she needs to the right thing and in the end it is happily ever after. A very good book.

Amelia Earhart and Poetry

The Biggest Reader Challenge continues! It has been a week or so since I have read much for the challenge. I took a small break to read a couple of adult books. So last week I started back on the challenge and found myself reading poetry anthologies. I love poetry! It's one of my favorite things to read and occasionally I write poetry too- well I use to. I wrote one for my husband and used it for our wedding 9 years ago. That is probably the last time I really worked on personal poetry. Now I just enjoy reading it and looking through a full aisle of children's poetry books. Every April I try to focus on a specific poet and I make sure I do a National Poetry Month display in Youth Services. The first book I choose from the shelf was, Opps! By: Alan Katz, which are was pretty funny. I have read his other poetry books like, Take Me Out of the Bathtub, and loved them but I had never picked up one of his larger books. It was wonderful of course! If the Shoe Fits: Voices from Cinderella by Laura Whipple was another selection. This books is poetry written from different characters perspectives in the Cinderella story. There is a poem from the wicked stepmother, the fairy godmother, the mice, and even the glass slipper! It is a neat collection of poetry that most girls would love! Heroes and She-Roes: Poems of Amazing and Everyday Heroes by J. Patrick Lewis was the next poetry book I selected. A couple of years ago we had J. Pat come to our Library and he was wonderful. I had not actually read this book yet, so I thought now was a great time. It was wonderfully written - of course! And my favorite poem from this particular book was called "The Riveter" which was all about Rosie the Riveter. The Young Oxford Book of Christmas Poems was the next book that caught my eye. I love Christmas, it's my favorite holiday and anytime I can read Christmas poetry I do. It is a collection of old and new poetry. Some things were classics and then there were some funny ones thrown in there too. One that I really enjoyed was called "Carol" and was all about that famous Christmas nativity play that a lot of churches still do! It was very funny and if you work with your church for the nativity play or if you ever have you should read this poem. Brings back memories of reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Last but not least was Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by 20th Century American Art, edited by Jan Greenburg. This poetry selection was a nice surprising find! When I come across a neat book like this, that has been sitting on a book shelf for a couple of years unnoticed to many, it makes me appreciate the Biggest Reader Challenge even more. I love art and so to read another person's perspective about a painting and what they saw when they looked at it was very cool.

I decided to read a biography about Amelia Earhart. I love to go to the movies at the big theatre. So when I saw a preview for an upcoming movie titled Amelia with Hilary Swank and Richard Gere I was immediately intrigued. Before reading the bio about her I really didn't know much about her. I choose the DK Illustrated Biography series for my source of information. I came to realize that there was a lot more to Amelia Earhart then just flying. She was a social worker for a long time and loved doing that job. The book held great photographs and did well to aide in explaining her life and the people that were most important to her. The biography did well to explain her last trip in an airplane. In 1937 when she was on the last leg of her long trip around the world, she was suddenly missing somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. It was a little bit mysterious, which made the book that much more intriguing. And the fact that historians have still not determined for sure what happened to her and the other pilot she was with is fascinating to me. I cannot wait to go and see the movie when it comes to the big screen.

Hello friends! I was hoping to have some of the other Biggest Reader "contestants" blog on here about their reading, but I haven't received anything from them so I guess I will keep on posting my books.

I recently finished two books for the challenge. I decided to do a Margaret Peterson Haddix book since she is coming to speak and sign books at our Library on November 4. Dexter the Tough was one of her books that I had not read yet. I used this for my realistic fiction pick. This books is not like most of her other books that contain some mystery and suspense. This book is more for younger readers, those kids who are just beginning to read on their own. Or if you have a 1st grader like I do, he likes me to read him a chapter a night now. So it would be a perfect read-aloud. The book is about a boy named Dexter who has moved to a new school. But he is not very happy about it. At first the author doesn't tell you why he has moved there, the reader just knows that he is in a new school and living with his grandma. Dexter is asked to start writing a story for English. The story can be real or made up. On his paper he begins his story by writing that he beat up a kid in the bathroom this morning. Dexter seems to be very angry about his life and reading the story reveals why Dexter is so tough acting. It was an easy book to read and it had a nice lesson within the story. But not overly exciting like I am use to reading with her other books. I recommend if you are going to try one of her books you try reading Among the Hidden, Turnabout, Running Out of Time, Just Ella or Found. Those are excellent and will have you reading all night long!

The other book I choose was for my biography selection, although it was fairly short, so I will probably do another one like it to equal it out. It was called Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells: The Daring Life of a Crusading Journalist by Philip Dray. This picture book biography is about the famous Ida B. Wells who was born into slavery in 1862. When Ida was three years old, the Civil War ended, and slavery was now illegal. So Ida and her parents were no longer slaves and this began the journey of Ida's notable life of freedom. Ida B. Wells, who later became a famous “crusader for justice” was also a famous journalist. This books was interesting and I learned a lot about her.