Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

When I heard that J.K Rowling was releasing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part One and Two on Saturday  July 30,2016, I was ecstatic. I told my boyfriend at the time, that we are going to Books-a-Million on July 30th to get Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He knew my obsession was real when it came to Harry Potter so he immediately agreed to come with me. We got there as soon as Books-A-Million opened, so it would be guaranteed to get a copy. I did get a copy of it and read it in two days. I decided to re-read this book because it is  just so good that you can for sure read it more than one time, just like you can with the Harry Potter books. Now enough about my obsession with Harry Potter, let's move onto the book review.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child leaves off where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows epilogue leaves off. It begins with Harry and Ginny saying goodbye to their son Albus at Platform 9 3/4. On the Hogwarts Express, Albus meets Scorpius, which is the son of his father's old foe Draco Malfoy. They immediately become friends. They formed a friendship because they both agreed on one thing, they wanted people to see them for who they were, not who their parents were. I don't want to go into too much detail, because I will just give away too much, but their is some time travel in this book where Albus and Scorpius go back in time to write some of Harry's wrongs. That is all I am telling you, if you want to find out more, I highly recommend reading this book.

I do want to say one more thing. If you are not familiar with the Harry Potter series at all, then reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child might be a little hard for you to understand. So, if you have not read any of the Harry Potter books, then I would recommend reading those before you pick up Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. You will not regret reading this book!

The Hate You Give Part 2

This is my second time reading The Hate U Give. I think it was better the second time reading it then the first. I think I really enjoyed this book because it relates to everything that is happening in our world today. There is so much hate towards one another! Different races are not being treated equal and it makes me sad to think that. This book just made me want to stand up even more for the different races. I loved this book, and the movie was just as good as the book. The actors put so much thought and feelings into their parts in the movie and it really tugs at your heart strings. Now let's get to the book summary shall we?



Starr Carter is a sixteen year old girl who lives two very different lives. She lives in Garden Heights, which is thug nation. People get shot, and drugs are sold on almost every street corner. But during the day she attends a mostly white private school that is an hour away from her gang ridden neighborhood. Starr attends a party, where shots are fired, and Khalil (her childhood best friend) and her escape unharmed and make it to his car where they drive off. Not long after Khalil is pulled over and instructed to step out of the car. He reaches for his hairbrush and is shot dead by a white police officer, right in front of Starr's eyes.

Khalil is shot by Officer One-Fifteen, who treated her and Khalil abusively before killing Khalil.
Starr usually stays quiet when it comes to her people being shot by white police officers, however, will her attitude change towards speaking out since it is her childhood best friend that was gunned down by a white police officer? You will  have to read the book to find out. Did you think I was just going to give it all away?

I highly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it. You will NOT regret it!

The Hate U Give

I have read The Hate U Give right when it came out in 2017.  I was excited to read it because it sounded like a book I would enjoy. I absolutely loved this book! I am currently reading it for the second time, and I am currently on page 100. It is just as good as the first time I read it! I would highly recommend the book to anyone who asked me for a book reference. Now let's get onto the book.

Starr Jackson is a sixteen year old girl that lives in two very different worlds. She lives in a gang ridden neighborhood named Garden Heights. However, she attends a mostly white private school that is an hour away from her home. Starr's two worlds never cross each other and she likes to keep it that way. It isn't until the fatal shooting of her childhood friend Khalil. Starr is at a lost for words due to the shooting of her childhood friend. She wants to speak out about what happened the night of the shooting, but she is scared about what the public might say.

This book goes along with everything that is happening in our world today! There is so much hate towards one another and it honestly makes me sick to think that we have all let it get this way. I have watched the movie and I feel like it is just as good as the book. Before I watched the movie, I heard good and bad reviews of the movie. I don't really listen to the bad reviews, I try to watch the movie and determine if the movie is good or not based on my own opinions. I think the movie is just as good as the book, and it does a great job at portraying what goes on between a gang infested neighborhood and a white neighborhood. If you haven't already I highly recommend reading the book and then watching the movie!

Crossed

 

Crossed is the second book of the Matched series by Ally Condie that I have reviewed previously. I had to wait an entire year for this book to come out, and let me tell you, it felt like forever! I couldn't drive yet when this book came out in 2011. So, I remember having my dad take me to Books-A-Million right after school so I could buy this book. I had money saved up from my allowance to be able to pay for it myself. Now that I think of it, I think almost all of my money I would earn from my allowance went to buying new books. I mean what can I say reading has and will always be my favorite thing to do!

Now onto the book review. Crossed picks up exactly where Matched left off. Which I loved because Matched left off with a really big cliffhanger that left me real upset since I had to wait an entire year for Crossed to come out. I don't want to give too much away, because I want you to be able to read it for yourself. But, Cassia is at a work camp that is far away from her home. She is trying to find Ky, who is the boy she has fallen for. Ky was send to the Outer Provinces as a decoy in the war with the Society's. Throughout this book Cassia meets new friends, and together they discover some hidden secrets about the Rising, which is a rebel group that is led by a Pilot. Cassia and her friends discover many secrets that the Society has been keeping from them, and they also learn some secrets that they have been keeping from each other. I am going to stop there because like I said above, I want you to be able to read it for yourself.

Something that I really like about Crossed is that the chapters are alternately narrated by Cassia and Ky. Cassia is on a journey to find Ky, so I like how the book is showing what Cassia is doing and what Ky is doing throughout their journey to find each other. It really keeps you interested in the book and I highly recommend this series to anyone who is asking for book references. Plus, you won't have to wait an entire year for all of the books to come out because they are all out already.

Hearts Unbroken

I have had a hard time getting into Hearts Unbroken. However, from page 95 to page 165, I have been reading "like a writer" and learning a lot about Cynthia Leitich Smith's writing craft. I love how the author is tying in world problems that are going on around the world into her book. The main character, Louise Wolfe, works for her school's newspaper, so she connects a lot with the world's issues. Louise has aspirations, talents, a loving family, and a mind of her own. Louise is Native American, and all the prejudice around her, awaken's her activist side. Louise uses her own emotions and opinions to help awaken the world's activist side.

If I were using this text as a read aloud with upper elementary students (6th grade), I would pull in the impact of emotions and opinions in narrative writing.


The passages I would use are:

I happened to glance up at the nearest muted flat-screen TV. The news ticker reported that a bombing in Egypt had been linked to a terrorist group. I counted four screens in my line of vision. Bombing, bombing, bombing, bombing. I felt the tinge of sadness, the shudder of horror. Watching made me feel helpless, but it seemed selfish to look away. 

Suddenly, on four screens, a white girl with jutting collarbones strutted onto the runway in a shimmery, sleeveless turquoise mini, clear platform shoes, and an enormous Plains-Indian-inspired headdress decked out in glittery white-and-blue feathers. Headdress, headdress, headdress, headdress. Our conversation faltered. Our laughter faded. We turned our attention back to each other, where it belonged. Our jovial mood rebounded. When Phoebe, our waitress, returned with pecan pie, Mama said thank you and asked her to turn off all the TV's. 

So, in the example, Louise is feeling two different ways about two different topics that flashed across the four flat-screen TV's that were in the restaurant her and her family were eating at. I would pull this example, and possibly other examples from this book, and talk about how she weaves her emotions and opinions about certain topics that are going around the world.

More than likely, students in 6th grade have probably had a certain situation that they saw on the news or in real life that made them feel some type of way. I would have the students write about a certain topic that they saw on the news or in real life and have them talk about how that made them feel. I would then have them discuss their opinion about the topic they wrote about. I think this lesson would be challenging, but would also be very motivating for the 6th graders.

I Am Number Four

Like all my other books, I found this book at the book fair when I was in middle school. I was always at every single book fair. My love for books started when I first learned how to read and it is still going on strong. I read book after book. My husband doesn't like to read and always asks me why I love to read so much. I don't really know the answer to that question. I tell him I just love to read and I don't know why. Maybe it is because a book pulls you into a different world and it feels like you get to escape your own world.

Now that I told you about where I found this book and went on about why I love to read, let's get onto the book review. Number four he is a Garde from the planet Lorien. Lorien was destroyed by the Mogdorians, who destroyed their own planet through their lack of care for their planet. Nine children and nine guardians were able to escape Lorien before it was destroyed. Number four was one of those nine that was able to escape Lorien before it was destroyed.

The nine Garde's that escaped Lorien before it was destroyed flew to Earth. Earth was supposed to be their safe haven. They were here on Earth to train so they were able to fight. However, the Mogdorians managed to escape with them when they flew off Lorien and now they are killing the Garde's one by one. Will four be able to survive the attack of the Mogdorians? Read this book to find out!

I must be honest with you, in middle school, Alien books were really not my type of books. However, this book had me hooked from the very beginning. I remember reading this book past the time my mom would tell me lights out. I would sit on my bed with my reading light hooked to this book and I would read until I fell asleep. This book keeps you interested and keeps you guessing until the very end. It is defiantly worth the read and you will love it!

Radiance

Many of you have probably heard of the Immortal series by Alyson Noel. This book, Radiance, is a sequel to that series. I have read the entire Immortals series by Alyson Noel, and was ecstatic when I found out that there was a sequel to those books. 
 I was at a book fair with my little sister and parents, when
I saw Radiance by Alyson Noel. I knew that Noel's immortal series was amazing, so I figured that this book would be amazing as well. I was right. This book, just like the immortal series, hooks you from the very beginning.

Ever is the main character from the immortal series. Radiance is about Ever's little sister, Riley, crossing the bridge to the afterlife and is trying to get used to her life after death. This is very difficult for Riley, because she misses her life and sister, Ever, very much. Riley puts on a brave face, even though she is looking for a chance to escape this after life. Riley's plan of escaping is put to a stop, as she is assigned to a new job, as a Soul Catcher. A Soul Catcher's job is to convince any souls that are lingering at a certain place, to cross over the bridge to the afterlife. I am going to stop there, because I don't want to give the entire book away!

Reading this again now that I am older, helped me see things a lot differently. I didn't realize that Riley's job as a Soul Catcher was actually really fitting for her. In the Immortal series, Riley is good at figuring people out. This job is perfect for her, because she needs to find out what is making the souls linger in a certain place.

After reading Radiance again, I am going to read the entire Immortals series again!

Long Way Down

This is the book my book group got for Grubb's class. When I first looked at the cover of this book I was thinking, why are there elevator buttons with a face being reflected. The cover really got me intrigued in the book before I even opened to the first page. I also noticed all the awards on the cover, so I knew it was probably going to be a good book.

I read this book in a day. I began reading it Tuesday night and I finished it Wednesday after my field placement. I could not stop reading this book. It hooked me in from the very beginning and I just couldn't stop reading it. I had to force myself to put it down so I could be well rested for my field placement the next day.

I will tell you, the grammar in this book is a little rough to read at first. The work "ain't" is used a lot throughout this book, and the way the narrator is talking is a little rough to read. I found myself correcting the grammatical errors a lot throughout this book. But after awhile I got used to the grammar and the way the narrator is speaking.

Now let's get to the summary of this book. Will, who is a young black male, just witnessed his brother, Shawn, being shot. The bullets came from everywhere, and he wasn't sure who the shooter was. However, Will gets an idea of who the shooter is and wants revenge. In the society Will lives in there are three rules to follow. Rule  #1: Crying. Don't. No matter what. Rule #2: Snitching. Don't. No matter what. And rule #3: Revenge. Do. No matter what. Will has an idea of who shot his brother, and wants revenge. He gets his brothers gun and heads out on a mission to shoot who killed his brother. However, while on the elevator, he gets visited by six different people from his past, who have all passed on. Will William follow through with getting revenge on the person who shot his brother? Well you just have to read this book to find out.

After reading this book, I will for sure be reading some more of Jason Reynolds books. I highly recommend this book for older teens, to young adults. It is defiantly a very fast read, and it will hook you in from the very beginning. I hope you enjoy it!

Matched

The Matched series has been my favorite book series since seventh grade. I own the entire series, and this is probably my fourth or fifth time reading this series. This book just pulls you in and all you want to do is read the next one. However, when I first read Matched in 2010, I had to wait until November 2011 to read the second one. So lucky for you guys, if you want to read the series you wont have to wait an entire year to read the next one.

Cassia Reyes is the main character in the book Matched. She is a seventeen year old girl that is living in a future society. In this future society, the culture has been completely uncluttered. There are only 100 songs, 100 books, and 100 poems available to the population of this future society. The officials controls everyone's lives. They decide what they wear, who they fall in love with, where they word, and they even decide when you die! In this book Cassia is about to be matched. She is about to undergo a ceremony where seventeen year old girls meet the one they are going to marry. At first Cassia is matched with her best friend Xander Carrow. However, her microcard glitches, and her match is changed to someone she has never seen before, Ky Markham. It says that he isn't eligible to be matched and that makes Cassia curious. She begins to fall in love with him, ad her who world begins to get flipped upside down!

I absolutely love this book and I highly recommend it. It will really pull you in because it keeps you guessing the entire time. Ally Condie did an amazing job on this series. I am glad that I was able to share this book with you guys! 

Hoot

Roy Eberhardt moves around a lot due to his father's job. In the book, they just moved to Florida. He hates being the new kid. On the bus, a bully smashes Roy's face against the window. While his face is smashed against the window, he notices a boy running along the streets with no shoes on. Roy is very curious and follows the boy.

Roy does not like his new home in Florida. He misses the outdoors and mountains in Montana. Roy meets a strange boy who is later called Mullet Fingers. Mullet Fingers helps Roy have a brand new understanding of wildlife. He later learns that there is a property that is about to be bulldozed that is the land for burrowing owls. Roy immediately realizes that he needs to protect the land that is home to the burrowing owls, as it is about to be bulldozed and turned into a breakfast joint.

 The reason I love this book so much is because I am a HUGE animal person. I felt like I am like Roy in a lot of ways. Just like Roy, I would have went to any extreme to save an entire species of owls from the bulldozers. This book is quick and wonderful read. Carl Hiaasen uses cliffhangers at the end of every chapter to keep you interested.