Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Summary:
Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens and then she would have to speak the truth. 

My review:
This book is downright gritty, heart-wrenching, painful, funny, witty and dark. It tells the tale of being the new kid, the freshmen, in high school and trying to find your place, your group, and failing miserably.

However, this story is more that just another high school drama. It is about pain so awful, so deeply  rooted that the main character chooses not to speak and be lost in her own thought than deal with her reality. This is about a girl dealing with being raped.

As you read the book, you think there is not much hope for the main character, Melinda, as she deals with high school nuances, a dysfunctional family and the horrible memory she is blocking. However, as the pages unfold, Melinda finds strength in an art teacher, a secret getaway, and a couple of other teens who have their own issue albeit, smaller. This voice she finally gets helps her in such a way that it is truly unbelievable.

I suppose you are wondering how a book about a girl who has been raped can be humorous among the dark recesses of the pages. Well, I am here to tell you the author manages to share how the idiocy of high school hierarchy can be through the main characters thoughts. Yet she wraps all of this  into a storyline that is completely believable and relatable.

I read this book in just two hours. I could not put it down, I didn't want to. I was so immersed in this character as I read. I understood her and wanted to help her. I felt her pain and understood her moments of pure ridiculousness. I simply got her.

This book is aimed at 12-17 year olds. I recommend it for particularly girls of this age but boys of this age should read it too. We adult need to read it as well. I fear that some of us can relate all too well with the main character.

5 stars and then some!
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*****NOTE:If you are needing help: Call the National Rape Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE or simply call 911. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

~Naila Moon
Disclosure: I bought a copy of this book for my own collection. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

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Review: The Lens and the Looker by Lory S. Kaufman

Summary:
It's the 24th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences (A.I.s), have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History Camps, full sized recreations of cities from Earth's distant pasts.
 
Here teens live the way their ancestors did, doing the same dirty jobs and experiencing the same degradations. History Camps teach youths not to repeat the mistakes that almost caused the planet to die.  
In this first of a trilogy, we meet three spoiled teens in the year 2347. Hansum almost 17, is good looking and athletic. Shamira, 15, is sassy, independent and an artistic genius. Lincoln, 14, is the smart-aleck. 
 
These three "hard cases" refuse the valuable lessons History Camps teach. But when they are kidnapped and taken back in time to 1347 Verona, Italy, they only have two choices; adapt to the harsh medieval ways or die. The dangers are many, their enemies are powerful, and safety is a long way away. It's hardly the ideal environment to fall in love - but that's exactly what happens. 
 
In an attempt to survive, the trio risks introducing technology from the future. It could save them - or it could change history. 

My review:
When I originally was asked if I would read and review this trilogy I was excited because I like these science fiction, travel type books. I am also somewhat of a history buff so, this appealed to me.
However, to begin with, I have some issues with this first book.

The first several chapters is the set up in order to get to the meat of the book. Although I understand it was needed, it also was a slow beginning and if I wasn't truly interested in these characters, I problem would have stopped there.

The premise that these three hard cases would not at least attempt to take their well advanced technology with them to the camps seems ludicrous. However, for the story line, it does make sense somewhat.

It also seems so unlikely the kids were just kidnapped as the summary and book make you think. The fact is, in some ways, the children chose to go on their own. The book makes you believe that no one knows where they are but this is truly questionable throughout. Again, this can be written off as creativity and author privilege.

The book was divided into three "books" within the book with chapters in each. I found this to be quite confusing. Was the original intention of the author to have this first book as novellas? I really cannot be sure and felt it to be a drawback.

The last of my major issues with the book was the use of curse words. Usually I have no problem with curse words in a book if they are well placed and well meaning but in this book they seems haphazard and unnecessary.

Having said all that, let me get to the good parts.

The author does know how to spin a tale. His underlying message is that sometimes working together is the best thing to do to get things done or simply for survival. This message is loud and clear.

His character development was good and it was easy to understand the characters and what made them tick. I did find it kind of humorous that these kids were considered hard cases considering that they were highly intelligent and of privilege. However, it is their intelligence that helps them in their new situations and their sense of privilege that takes them down a notch or two.

The budding love story is cheesy as some teen love stories would be. It is sweet in nature and actually a nice twist and quite surprising considering the character it involves. It does leave some questions at the ends and the reader cannot help but wonder how this would translate into the future setting.

It will be interesting to see how these characters further develop into the next book.

Overall, I like the book but want to see much more. For that reason, I give it 3 stars.

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book for my open and honest opinion. The review here is 100% my own and may differ with yours. This review is also part of the ireadbook tours.

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Book Review: Almost Perfect by Diane Daniels Manning

Blurb:
An old woman who has given up hope and a boy who believes the impossible wonder if life would be perfect at the Westminster Dog Show. 

Seventy-year old Bess Rutledge has dreamed of winning the Westminster Dog Show all her life. Despite her decades-long career as one of America’s top Standard Poodle breeders, she has decided she’s too old to hold on to her foolish dream. She sells off all the dogs in her once famous kennel except for the aging champion McCreery and his mischievous, handsome son Breaker. Part of her senses they might have been the ones to take her to Westminster, if only she’d dared to try. 

Bess meets Benny, a teenager with mild autism who attends a therapeutic special school, and learns he has a dream of his own: to impress his self-absorbed mother. Benny is drawn into the world of dog shows and becomes convinced he has found the perfect way to win his mother’s attention. If he can win Westminster with either McCreery or Breaker, he just knows she will finally be proud of him. Getting Bess to go along with his plan, however, is not going to be so easy. 

My Review:
There is no doubt that this book tells the tale of how dog shows are really like. The author is quick to point out that the book is fictional in nature but as she has shown dogs too, she can write the book as if it was a true account.

The character Bess is self absorbed and has shown dogs for years. Throughout the book she is shown to love her champion dogs more than she loved her own son. Her son over the years tried to please his mother and only into adulthood does he finally succeed. This story coincides with the character Benny who tries his best to please his own mother but never quite seems to live up to her standards or for that matter the standards of his father who wishes him to be a lawyer.

Bess and Benny are an unlikely duo with a commonality. Bess sees something in Benny but cannot  quite put her finger on it, although, the reader knows. Benny, in his child-like wisdom sees through Bess's strong interior. Their working together and Bess's patience with Benny is truly amazing. However, his patience with her is even more amazing as he learns that he must be patient with himself in order to gain what he wants the most...acceptance.

Acceptance is what the truly underlying story is all about wrapped up in a very good dog tale. All the characters, even the old dog, McCreery, seek this one issue throughout the entire book. In the end, they all get what they want as the author twist the tale in this adorable book.
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I enjoyed reading this book although in truth, I thought it could have been shorter and still have told the same story. I did find that to be cumbersome at times.

What I loved most about this story was the character of Benny. It was no secret that Benny had problems and only later revealed that he was autistic. However, his autism did not hold him back or make him look foolish. In fact, I admired his tenacity to move forward and to learn how to cope even when it was most difficult for him.  

I loved that this book put children who are autistic in a different light as "can do" kids as opposed to difficult kids. It was proven with Bess's character and that of the character David, that with a little love and a bunch of patience, that if given the chance, children with special needs will thrive and surprise us all and we just might learn something about ourselves.

This book gets 4 stars from me.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my open and honest review. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Naila Moon

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Review: The Mist On Bronte Moor by Aviva Orr

Blurb:
When fifteen-year-old Heather Jane Bell is diagnosed with alopecia and her hair starts falling out in clumps, she wants nothing more than to escape her home in London and disappear off the face of the earth.

Heather gets her wish when her concerned parents send her to stay with a great-aunt in West Yorkshire. But shortly after she arrives, Heather becomes lost on the moors and is swept through the mist back to the year 1833. There she encounters fifteen-year-old Emily Bronte and is given refuge in the Bronte Parsonage.

Unaware of her host family's genius and future fame, Heather struggles to cope with alopecia amongst strangers in a world foreign to her. While Heather finds comfort and strength in her growing friendship with Emily and in the embrace of the close-knit Bronte family, her emotions are stretched to the limit when she falls for Emily's brilliant but troubled brother, Branwell.

Will Heather find her way back to the comforts and conveniences of the twenty-first century? Or will destiny keep her in the harsh world of nineteenth-century Haworth?

My review:

I really love a good time travel book, especially if it is written well. This book does that and a bit more. Heather arrives in the 19th century with her 21st century clothes and look. Her relationship with Emily is sweet but complicated too as Emily Bronte is portrayed as a free spirit preferring to live among nature than among human companionship. However, her self sacrificing to spare her family hardshipsd is surprising too.

Heather's struggle with her disease of alopecia and her torment of it is relatable for anyone who has medical issue. I like how the author was able to write this problem into the story line as it is different than what many book authors would have chosen. Her struggle to keep it secret from a time period that would not understand is fantastic. What is even more interesting is how the Bronte's just accepted her weirdness to wear her beanie all the time. Considering this was set in a time period when women were expected to where bonnets, this was remarkable and a nice liberty on the author's part.

Heather's relationship with Branwell made for interesting fodder too. It was beautiful that he accepted and loved Heather the way he did but in the same sense, disappointing that they ultimately could not be together. As a reader, I felt sorry for Heather's loss of him but more so, what historically actually became of him.

One of the best things about this book was the author's use of Emily Bronte's actual words to begin each chapter. I loved the historical references and tie to those pieces.

Overall, a short novel but well written piece. A book well worth the read again and again. This book is a 5 star for sure!

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Review of Children of the Knight by Michael J. Bowler

Blurb:

According to legend, King Arthur is supposed to return when Britain needs him most. So why does a man claiming to be the once and future king suddenly appear in Los Angeles?

This charismatic young Arthur creates a new Camelot within the City of Angels to lead a crusade of unwanted kids against an adult society that discards and ignores them. Under his banner of equality, every needy child is welcome, regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or gang affiliation.

With the help of his amazing First Knight, homeless fourteen-year-old Lance, Arthur transforms this ragtag band of rejected children and teens into a well-trained army—the Children of the Knight. Through his intervention, they win the hearts and minds of the populace at large, and gain a truer understanding of themselves and their worth to society. But seeking more rights for kids pits Arthur and the children squarely against the rich, the influential, and the self-satisfied politicians who want nothing more than to maintain the status quo.

Can right truly overcome might? Arthur’s hopeful young knights are about to find out, and the City of Angels will never be the same.

 

My Review:

When I first heard about this book I thought it had to be absolutely cool because it was about King Arthur coming back to modern times and having his knights of the round table.

In actuality, I was right and oh so wrong! The book is about King Arthur coming back to modern times but that is pretty much where it begins and ends. Having the round table as we know it from history is nothing like I had ever read.
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The story opens with a gang war about to happen in one of the barrios of Los Angeles due to a  large A with a cross in the middle that has been posted over the top of other gang tagging. Each gang thinking the other had done it.

The story moves along to find King Arthur fully awake in this new place with a mission he must do. He is seen coming to the rescue of a 14 year old street kid named, Lance, who will eventually become his First Knight and significant throughout the entire book.

With Lance's help and guidance through this strange new era, King Arthur recruits other children of the streets from the drug dealers, to the homosexuals, to the abused and neglected. All come to stay with Arthur and Lance and are trained to be honorable and forthright. All are accepted for who they are, girls and boys alike, one thousand strong, will all come to be known as King Arthur's Knights.

Led by the King they will begin to clean up the areas and streets they once formerly ran. The children will fight for the right to be heard as children. For their right to be protected by the very adults who should have protected them. They will learn to live and respect each other as 'brothers' and 'sisters' not as enemies who have claimed an area of the city. The children will set an example for other adults but will also struggle with the demons that have lived with for so long.

King Arthur stands up for these disenfranchised children but will also learn from mistakes of his past and his present. Oh yes, there is the story of love and love lost in here too. There is the story of hurt, betrayal and denial all wrapped in these pages. There is also loss so deep that the reader wants to cry along with the characters.

To find out what happens to Sir Lance, King Arthur and the other Knights of the Round Table, you must read this book. It is worth it!
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Author Michael Bowler did an excellent job of twisting a real historical character in to a modern day twist. He brought to light an age old problem of child neglect in many forms and also the way we humans treat each other.

It would serve us well, to read this book not once but maybe even several times until we learn that our future counts on us and that we need to stand up for them and treat them with the respect they deserve. We need to be the King Arthurs for our children because the cause is not finished. It has only begun.

This book deserves the 5 stars and then some.
~Naila Moon

Disclosure: I was given a free Kindle version of this book for my open and honest opinion. The views expressed here are 100% my own.
This review is also part of the Innovative Online blog tour.

About the author:

Michael J Bowler is an award-winning author of two novels with a third soon to be published. His second book, "A Matter of Time," is a 2012 Silver Medal Winner from Reader's Favorite. He grew up in San Rafael, California. He majored in English and Theatre in college and got a master's in film production. He was producer, writer, and/or director on several films, most notably "Fatal Images," "Dead Girls," "Club Dead," "Things" and "Things II."
He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys for 29 years with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles for 28 years. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California.
His newest novel, "Children of the Knight," reflects his many years of experience working with marginalized and disenfranchised youth in California and promotes the premise that reform in all areas that serve our young people is desperately needed, but not desired by the powers-that-be.

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