Book Review – Turtle in Paradise

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm is about a girl named Turtle.  She and her mother live during the Great Depression, and her mother has to work as a housekeeper.  Turtle is sent to live with her aunt and cousins in Key West, and she must learn to get along with them until she can go home to be with her mother.

When Turtle moves with her cat Smokey to Key West, she meets her Aunt Minnie, and many others such as Beans, Buddy, Kermit, Mr. Edgit, Pork Chop and Ira. Turtle finds out that her cousins have a diaper gang.  They babysit, change diapers and treat diaper rashes.  Turtle needs a job, so she works on a boat going out to get sponges.  This job does not work out very well, since she has to be rescued from the water.

Eventually, Turtle meets Nana Philly, who is her grandmother.  Everyone thinks Nana Philly is a scary old lady, but Turtle thinks they can become friends.  They eat lunch together and actually talk.  One day when Turtle is visiting at Aunt Philly’s house, she finds a map in the piano.  The map shows the hiding place of Black Caesar’s treasure.  So Turtle, Ira, Kermit, Pork Chop and Beans decide to look for the treasure.  They get off their boat at an island to search, and when they come back the boat is gone.  Can they find the treasure and get home to their family?  Read Turtle in Paradise to find out!

Book Review – Gone by Michael Grant

Gone by Michael Grant is a mysterious and intriguing book that kept me interested the entire time I was reading it. I couldn’t put it down! The story is set in modern times in the small town of Perdido Beach, California. It started out as a normal day for 14-year-old Sam. Then suddenly, in the middle of his math class, his teacher disappears without a trace. Sam and his schoolmates leave the school and discover that everyone in the town who is 15 years or older has disappeared or “poofed,” and to add to the mystery, a giant wall now surrounds the town, the cliffs, and the power plant. There is no leaving the town. Sam, his best friend Quinn, his girlfriend Astrid, and her brother Little Pete, who somehow holds the key to the disappearance, must find out what happened to the people who “poofed.” But problems soon arise.

In the absence of adults and older teens, a group of bullies had begun taking over the town of Perdido Beach, but soon other bullies from a small private school known as Coates Academy, located on the outskirts of town, come in and begin to dominate. A boy named Caine leads these kids, and tension begins to build, leading to an epic showdown between Sam and Caine. Other strange things are happening. Sam, Caine, and other kids from both Perdido Beach and Coates begin to develop some unusual skills, some powerful, some not. War seems imminent. And to top it off, animals mutate and follow a strange creature known as The Darkness. Sam and his friends must protect the kids of Perdido Beach, fight Caine and The Darkness, and find a way to keep Sam from poofing on his upcoming birthday.

Gone was a tremendous, thrilling book. It reminded me of Lord of the Flies, with a contemporary, science-fiction twist. I would recommend this book to sixth grade and older. Michael Grant did an outstanding job of telling a story of a world without adults, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Book Review – Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Elsewhere is a fictional book about where humans go after they die.  The story starts when a girl named Liz is killed in a bike accident.  Mysteriously, she wakes up on a boat that is going somewhere.  This “somewhere” is called Elsewhere.  People stay on Elsewhere, where they age backwards until they are seven days old and are sent back to Earth to start new lives.

Elsewhere is so much like Earth, yet very different.  The weather is always perfect in Elsewhere.  Elsewhere is safer, cleaner and more orderly than Earth.  Everyone picks a job, which is done for pleasure, not pay.  In Elsewhere, a person can visit many places like a personal therapist or an amazing art museum.  Residents in Elsewhere can also go to the O.D. (observation deck) to see their old lives, families and friends.  The O.D. is very popular with newcomers like Liz, but it can also be dangerous.  People can get addicted to watching their old lives, a habit that is very hard to break.  In Elsewhere, there is no need for doctors because there is a healing center.  Contact with humans is not permitted, but few people break the law.  Most are fairly content with their new lives.  However, in this case the adjustment was not easy for Liz.

Liz is faced with many difficult challenges.  How can she live in a world without her family, friends and pet dog?  How will she be able to start a new life, when her old life was just beginning to go well?  How can she live with her grandmother, a person she just met?  She will never get her driver’s license, be sixteen, fall in love, go to college, be a parent or live a life like she wanted.  She is greatly burdened by these facts.  She has to learn to let go of her old life and focus on her new one.  She has to realize that she is not alive anymore, but how can she?

As the story develops, so do the characters.  Liz transmits real emotion.  The reader feels her sadness, despair and helplessness.  The book contains great descriptions which make the reader feel like she is there.  It was very hard to put down this book.  I highly recommend it to anyone in 5th grade or above.  Although the concept of dying may be disturbing to some people, this is a great book.  If you’re looking for a wonderful story, read Elsewhere.  It is one of the best books I have ever read!

Book Review – Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

Have you ever been shocked by static electricity by walking on carpet and then touching a doorknob? Imagine 1000 watts of electricity! In Richard Paul Evans’s new book, Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25, that amount of power is small talk. The story centers on Michael Vey, a high school student who can control electricity with his body. He and his best friend Ostin, a chubby geek who knows his secret, are the two main characters of the book.

In the first scene of the book, two men are seen talking about finding the “last two,” and also mentioning “Cell 25”. The last two what? What is Cell 25? As the story progresses, this cryptic conversation becomes more significant. Evans’s descriptive writing style and ability to create an ominous or suspenseful mood is riveting, and one that leaves the reader wanting to continue, even if it is 3:00 AM and there is a major test the next day.

Although there are many similar books in the teen fiction genre, such as the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson series that feature a teen with supernatural powers who is on a quest to save the world, Michael Vey stands out among a sea of look-alikes. In my opinion, Michael Vey has a chance of edging out Rick Riordan’s books for the crown.

Pro:

Richly developed universe
Plot moves naturally with a brisk pace
Great backstory

Con:

Similar to other books
Cliffhanger parts can produce anxiety

So, if I were to give a more precise percentage rating based on recommendation, I would give Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 a 92% Approval!

Donna graduated from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education.  After marrying her high school sweetheart, David, and moving to Lubbock, she earned her elementary teaching certification from Texas Tech. The couple returned to their hometown of San Antonio where Donna taught for 27 years in the public school system. She trained as a Reading Recovery teacher and taught children with reading difficulties for many years. In 2004, Donna came to St. Luke’s and taught third grade. After four years in the classroom, she created the Bookroom which is a collection of leveled readers used for small group instruction by the teachers. Donna continues to maintain this resource and works with students individually or in small groups in the area of reading. She has two children Troy and Tracy and a son-in-law Emmanuel who reside in Austin. Helping children become literate is one of Donna’s greatest joys.