June 2021 in Books

Hi all!  It was a pretty good reading month!  Normally I try and balance the number of kids/adult books I read, but the pile of books the girls have set aside for me is GINORMOUS, so this month's reading was a little skewed towards the kid's side. Here's the full rundown:

The Rebel Nun - Marj Charlier - historical fiction - five stars - I can't tell you how exciting it is that some of our county's libraries are now open for browsing.  This is one of the books I picked up while checking out the new books shelf, and I'm so glad I found it.  It's a dramatization of the life of Sister Clotild, a nun in sixth century France.  This was such a an interesting read because I don't know much at all about the time period, and it was fascinating to learn about the makeup of cloisters in that time.  A large number of nuns were royalty that were avoiding marriage, or death (there was a lot of killing of royal heirs/siblings as part of the power struggles at the time).  This is also a time period where the church was starting to suppress/take away the rights of women in the church.  Really enjoyed learning about this time period and the culture of the time.

Hush - Jacqueline Woodson - juvenile fiction - four stars - This was one of Ellie's books, she, and I, are big Woodson fans.  This is the story of Toswiah whose life is upended when her family has to go into witness protection after her father, a policeman, testifies against two co-workers following the shooting of a black boy.  The family is adrift, her father suffering from depression, her mother totally absorbed by her new church, and her sister rebelling and just looking to get out.  As always Woodson does an amazing job creating characters and putting you in their heads.  I was surprised to realize that the book was written in 2006 because it's so relevant to what we are still dealing with now.

Justice (Lawless, #2) - Jeffrey Salane - juvenile fiction - five stars - This book picks up from where the first Lawless book left off.  M has been captured by the Fulbright Academy.  They need her help to capture a weapon that Lawless is after.  M is put into training at Fulbright with several of her Lawless friends who are now working with her.  I thought the concept of Fulbright and the different technologies were interesting.  This was another really clever and interesting part of M's story, I enjoy how she thinks and deals with her obstacles. 

Mayhem (Lawless #3) - Jeffrey Salane - juvenile fiction - four stars - The final book in the Lawless series.  This one starts with M living a normal life, but it's not for real.  M has to figure out what is going on, and in doing so needs to battle both Lawless and the Fulbrights.  This one was good, although the ending just got a little weird for me, which is why I only gave it four stars, but it's still a really great series and I definitely recommend it.

The Good Doctor of Warsaw - Elizabeth Gifford - historical fiction - five stars - This book is about Janusz Korczak, who I first heard about in a book I read a few months ago called 28 Days.  He was a well-known educator/pediatrician who championed the rights of children.  Prior to the war he had a vey popular radio program and ran a couple of orphanages.  Once the ghetto was created, he ran the orphanage in the ghetto.  He had multiple opportunities to leave the ghetto as his many friends offered to get him out of the country, but her refused to leave his children and ended up going with them to Treblinka.  This story focuses on Korczak as well as Misha, a young man who worked with him, and his girlfriend Sophia.  The book is based on the true story of Misha and Sophia and their survival.  An excellent read. 

The Mothers - Genevieve Gannon - fiction - four stars - This one was OK, probably closer to 3.5 stars.  It's about two couples undergoing IVF.  For one, it's their last shot, for the other, their relationship is in flux.  Once couple gets pregnant, but later discovers that they received the wrong egg.  A great deal of conflict, and legal issues ensue.  I thought the author did a good job portraying the difficulty and conflicting emotions of the scenario.  I also thought the ending was pretty contrived, but overall it was a good book.

The Next Great Paulie Fink - Ali Benjamin - juvenile fiction - four stars - Another one of Ellie's books.  Seventh grader Caitlyn moves to Mitchell, VT for her mom's new job.  The Mitchell School is a tiny school, held in an old mansion.  She's on of just 11 kids, most of whom have been together since kindergarten.  Normally Caitlyn would be the big news of the school year, but the fact that Paulie Fink is missing trumps her arrival.  Paulie was the class clown, the guy who made things interesting, he's a legend in the mind of the seventh grade.  They decide that they need a new Paulie, and so devise a reality contest which Caitlyn runs, to find the new Paulie.  It's a cute story, I liked the characters and the lessons about friendship, loyalty, and preconceptions and misconceptions contained in this book.

The True History of Lyndie B. Hawkins - Gail Shepherd - juvenile fiction - five stars - Ellie finished this one walked out of her room with it, handed it to me, and said 'it's good.'  I loved how this book tackled some really challenging issues and circumstances.  Lyndie Hawkins has had to move in with her grandmother and grandfather.  Her father lost his job, and has been struggling, in fact, he's been struggling since he came back from Vietnam.  Meanwhile, her mother is struggling as well trying to hold things together and deal with her father.  Lyndia hastes living under her grandmother's thumb, hates her school, and just wishes things would go back to normal.  Meanwhile her best friend Dawn's family has a kid who was in juvie living with them as kind of a probation.  Their stories all intertwine and there are some great lessons about family and friendship here.  Highly recommend.

Bruchko: The Astonishing True Story of a 19-Year-Old American, His Capture by the Motilone Indians and His Adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age Tribe - Bruce Olson - memoir - five stars - This is another of the books on my old pastor's must read list for high school kids.  This one is an easy read and very approachable and I've already handed it off to Ellie.  It's a pretty amazing story about a boy who had a calling to go work with the Motilone Indians in South America.  He ha no real missionary or seminary training, he just knew he needed to go, so he did, and doors/opportunities were opened to him.  The book tackles the hard lessons he learned about living with others and letting go of expectations.  Highly recommend.

The Nazi's Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather was a War Criminal - Silvia Foti - non-fiction - five stars - I thought this book was really interesting, although a bit dry.  Foti's grandfather is Jonas Noreika, a martyr for Lithuanian independence.  She grew up in a Lithuanian ex-pat community, speaking Lithuanian, attending Lithuanian school on Saturdays, and revering, with everyone else around her, her grandfather.  When her mother dies, she asks her to complete the biography of her grandfather that she was never able to finish.  As Foti researches her grandfather she begins to learn things about him that contradict the glowing image that she grew up with.  Foti's struggle with learning the truth and finding the evidence she needs to truly believe that truth were evident.  I also thought it was really interesting to look at the goodreads reviews.  They are pretty low, but it seems that many of the lower ratings are from detractors that accuse her of slandering her grandfather and being a communist puppet. 

The Amazing Beef Squad: Never Say Die! - Jason Ross - juvenile fiction - five stars - One of Carina's books.  She definitely has a couple of favorite book types and a gang of somewhat unruly kids, united in a quest for justice is definitely one of them.  That's a pretty apt summary for the Beef Squad who pull some pretty funny pranks, but are also out to save their favorite teacher from getting fired.  This brings them into conflict with their towns powers that be.  Cute and funny.  I really liked the characters and some of the pranks were very clever.

The Girl from the Channel Islands - Jenny Lecoat - historical fiction - four stars - Based on a true story, this was kind of an uneven book for me, probably closer to 3.5 stars.  I enjoyed learning about the Channel Islands, the only part of Great Britain occupied by Germany during WWII, but I was often annoyed by the main character, Hedy Bercu, a Jewish girl, fled Vienna a couple years before Germany invaded.  Despite her background, because she's unable to find work elsewhere, she ends up becoming a translator for the Germans at their base.  Because the Germans are desperate for translators, they take her, despite her background.  She is lucky enough to be befriended by a German soldier on base, and a relationship develops.  While I had a hard time with her character,  I really enjoyed her friend Dorothea.  This book did make me want to learn more about the channel islands.

Capture the Flag (Silver Jaguar Society Mysteries #1) - Kate Messner - juvenile fiction - four stars - Both of the girls read this series and loved it.  It's about a group of kids who discover that they are each connected, through a relative, to the Silver Jaguar Society, individuals devoted to saving art/treasures.  They are thrown together when they are snowed into the airport in DC, and realize that the original Star Spangled Banner has been stolen, and is likely in the airport.  While the plot itself is rather unbelievable, I really liked the characters, and it was quick and easy read.

Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery, #1) - Mia P. Manansala - detective - three stars - I don't read a ton of mysteries.  It's not that I don't like them, but I feel like there is such a range of types of mysteries that it's hard to tell exactly what you're getting.  Love Mwa Ramostwe, don't like super scary/gory books.  This one looked like it might be OK, it was just kind of meh.  It's about Lila whose relationship imploded and who has gone back to her hometown to help her Aunt Rosie whose restaurant is failing.  When her high school boyfriend, not restaurant critic, comes in to eat, he dies of poisoning and Lila is the prime suspect.  Honestly this just felt kind of scattered to me, like it needed a lot more editing.  I wasn't a huge fan of Lila to begin with and they mystery itself seemed secondary to Lila's friendship/family/relationship struggles.  Filled with a whole host of underdeveloped characters.  Just meh.

Treasures of the Twelve - Cindy Lin - juvenile fiction - four stars - This is one of Carina's books, the sequel to The Twelve which I read a couple months ago.  The Heirs of the Twelve are now on a mission to obtain the twelve Treasures that together helped safeguard their land.  They go on several missions to retrieve them, the ultimate mission taking them back to reckon with the Dragon Lord.  Usagi continues to struggle with her desire to save her sister Uma, and to take on more than her share of responsibility.  It was a good book, and I liked it although the ending felt kind of weak.  There are some loose ends, so not sure if there will be a third book, but a good read.

The Woman with the Blue Star - Pam Jenoff - historical fiction - four stars - I really enjoy Pam Jenoff, although this wasn't my favorite book from her, this one is another 3.5 star one that got rounded up.  It's the story of two unlikely friends, Sadie, whose family escapes the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto by hiding in the sewers, and Ella, a well-to-do Polish girl who is miserable because her father has died and her step-mother, who has never liked her, is now entertaining Nazis in her home.  Ella discovers Sadie when looking down into a sewer grate one day.  They become friends, and Ella tries to help her as best she can.  I had a hard time with this one just because it seemed so unbelievable to me that Ella could have helped/established a friendship with Sadie via a grate in an open square, in view of so many people.  There were other instances where the circumstances just did not make sense, but besides that I did enjoy their friendship as well as the characters.  Not the best, but worth reading.

Pee Wees: Confessions of a Hockey Parent - Rich Cohen - non-fiction - five stars - I love hockey books, and this was a good one.  It's a look at a year in the life of the author's son's team.  His kid is the same age as Carina is now, and as we've also gone through this process with Ellie, this was a fun read because there are just so many things you read and are nodding at.  Between his description of tryouts, types of parents, other teams parents, etc.  If you are a hockey parent, you should definitely give this a read.

Hide and Seek (Silver Jaguar Society Mysteries #2) - Kate Messner - juvenile fiction - four stars - The second book in the Silver Jaguar series, the kids are reunited, and another mystery occurs.  The Jaguar Cup has been stolen, and the kids and their parents head to Costa Rica to try and recover it.  Again, I really enjoyed the kids themselves and their distinct personalities.  The situations/scenarios tend to be a little over the top, but fast paced and fun to read.

Swindle (Swindle, #1) - Gordon Korman - juvenile fiction - four stars - Another Korman book that both girls read and enjoyed.  Griffin finds and extremely rare baseball card.  He takes it to a dealer who says it's really not worth much and pays him $120 for it.  Later on the news they see the dealer talking about his great find and stating that he's putting it up for auction with a starting bid of $200,000, and expecting it to sell for over $1M.  Griffin is outraged, especially since his family is struggling financially and having to sell their home.  He's determined to get his card back and he enlists his best friend Ben and several carefully chosen classmates to assist.  Korman is so good at creating characters that you love and root for, and his books are fun and funny.

I'm currently reading Free Food for Millionaires, and enjoying it, although the main character annoys me a ton.  Next up, I think will be Libertie and Winter Counts.  What have you been reading?