Sumiko’s family make their living growing stock or “weedflowers”. But when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, she finds out that they won’t ever return to their farm, and her life will never be the same. They are shipped off to an internment camp in the middle of the desert, where she will make unexpected friends, enemies, and unforgettable memories.
As you can probably tell from the previous paragraph, this book is about WWII. I’ve never read a book about the internment camps before, and I think this one was a good start. The plot wasn’t too intense, leaving room for you to focus on the history, while not letting the story grow boring. The characters were intriguing and lifelike.
A heavy theme in this book was looking forwards and never giving up hope. It was very interesting to see how different characters reacted to the camps. Some really believed it was for their protection (or at least were trying to convince themselves), some got angry, some were sad, some adjusted quickly, and some never adjusted at all.
So. Shakespeare. If I were to sum this up in one word it would be: confusing. Which, I suppose, could describe most of Shakespeare’s work. It didn’t really seem to have an ending, though I may have missed it. (Not sure how that’s possible though). The ending seemed to be: The boat is fixed, Prospero forgave Antonio, and Miranda is in love with Ferdinand. It seemed to be fractured and incomplete.
Miranda’s love with Ferdinand also seems to be screwed. It seemed that (maybe?) it was actually the result of one of Prospero’s spell. Even if it wasn’t they just met and seem completely and utterly in love with each other.
The characters also seem prone to monologuing and explaining just what is happening around them in a very non-discreet way.
I found it was easier to understand while reading aloud, but I didn’t do that the entire time, so quite a few things slipped passed me. If I were to read it more carefully, I may have had more positive things to say about it.
Hideki is part of the Blood and Iron student corps. Rey is an US marine. Hideki is told to kill as many American soldiers as he can. Rey is on an enemy island, with ambushes everywhere. Neither of them know what might happen.
This book was about the Battle of Okinawa. I though it was very interesting to have two very similar perspectives of young soldiers, but with the crucial difference of which side of the battle they were on. One thing I noticed was that both of them believed that the other side were essentially monsters.
There were a few things that seemed unnecessary and could have been left out of the book, as they served no real purpose. One example of this was one of the flashbacks in which Hideki’s sister visits a family with him.
Overall, this book was good if you like slightly rambling stories about terrible things.
Holling Hoodhood is the only kid in his class who doesn’t go to religious school on Wednesday afternoons. As a result, he is the only kid left in the classroom with his teacher, Ms. Baker, who Hates. His. Guts. On these Wednesday afternoons she makes him read Shakespeare.
This book was very good. I thought that it was very funny, though that was not the main point of the book. I also thought it did a good job of describing the relationships between classmates.
One thing I didn’t like abut this book was that at a few points in the story it felt like it was a little slow, and not much was happening.
This book takes place during the Cold War. We got to see what it was like during that time. An example of this is how stupid the “Atomic Bomb Drills” were. I mean, there’s not much you can do if an atomic bomb drops.
If you like books about strange middle schoolers, you should read this book.
September 11, 2001: Brandon is heading to the World Trade center with his dad. September 11, 2019: Reshmina’s village is caught in the middle of a war. They have no idea that their lives are about to be turned upside down.
This book did not earn the highest of praise. I felt like the timing was off and there were many coincidences and events that were not believable.
I also thought that some of the writing seemed like it was written for younger kids, but the content was for older audiences. It was a strange, uneven balance.
I really enjoyed all of Alan Gratz’s other books (or at least the ones I’ve read) but, I felt that this one just didn’t live up to standards. I’m not sure I would recommend it to anyone, but if you like this type of book, you should read it!!
Bud has lived in an orphanage for four years, ever since his mother died. However, when he decides to try and find his father, using fliers his mother left behind, he starts his own adventure.
I really liked this book. I thought that it gave an interesting perspective of the depression, the main character being a ten year old. I also really liked how many characters there were. A lot of them were only in it a little bit, but you got to see a lot of different people.
This book was also really funny. The way Bud thinks is really amusing, and the book had an overall humorous tone.
If you like historical fiction books about slightly ignorant ten year-olds, you should read this book.
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