Story Description:
Doubleday Canada|February 11, 2014|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-385-67902-2
The black dog is not scratching. He goes back to his sniffing and huffing and then he starts cracking his bone. Stick and I are huddled tight...It is dark and no Daddy or Mommy and after a while I watch the lids of my eyes close down like jaws.
Told from the point of view of a five-year-old child, THE BEAR is the story of Anna and her little brother, Stick --two young children forced to fend for themselves in Algonquin Park after a black bear attacks their parents. A gripping and mesmerizing exploration of the child atwilderness and what happens when predation comes from within.
My Review:
THE BEAR was a sad story and a tear-jerker where I shredded kleenex after kleenex. Cameron's ability to write in the voice of five-year-old, Anna was amazing. Kids start off thinking about or talking about one specific topic which then go off track into another whole thought process altogether and Cameron captures this perfectly. She truly gets into the psyche of a five-year-old.
Little Anna did her very best at taking control of their dire situation and looking after two-year-old, Alex, affectionately known as 'Stick' or 'Sticky'. She tried very hard to be Momma, Daddy and babysitter at all the appropriate times.
She was ingenious in some of the ideas she came up with to get them through the sad and frightening situation they found themselves in. Her ability to talk herself out of her "worries" were quite mature for a five-year-old.
My heart bled for these two children who had to see the "messy, mess, mess," as Anna described it after the bear had attacked and eaten her Mommy and Daddy. Seeing what she thought was a piece of messy meat, like a leg of lamb with her Daddy's shoe on the end upset her because she thought her Daddy would be mad when he returned from wherever he went to find his sneaker attached to the end of this "messy, mess, mess."
The utter bewilderment and fear shone through in little Anna but she was able to talk herself into a story that balanced everything out.
Using a rock to work a point on a stick to attack the "big black dog" when it returned showed her ability to understand that she and Sticky were in trouble. She was going to be the Princess of the land and slay the dragon so to speak.
The novel was heartbreaking, heartpounding and I white-knuckled every page from beginning to end. At times I actually found myself holding my breath.
Claire Cameron is a phenomenal author with the capacity to crawl into the mind of a five-year-old and tell a heartbreaking story as if you were sitting across the table from the child listening to her tell you the story herself. Just absolutely remarkable and a highly, highly recommended read. I read the entire book in one evening. My hands were so tightly clutched to the book, that I couldn't have put it down even if I'd wanted too. This is a novel everyone should read, both young adult and adults. The voice of Anna is going to stay with you long after the last page has been turned.
I can see why now some other reviewers are calling this The Room of 2014.
Story Description:
Baker Publishing Group|January 21, 2014|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-0-7642-1263-5
True Story of Courage and Compassion in a School Under Seige
As 870 children waited in fear, their elementary school rushed into lockdown mode. As the nation faced yet another Sandy Hook story of tragedy, one woman rewrote the ending.
Yet the story doesn't start with those first steps Michael Hill took into that Atlanta elementary school. It starts with Antoinette Tuff, a woman who faced her own pain, hurt, and rejection, yet held onto grace, faith, and hope. A hope that anchored her in the most high stakes of moments, a grace that allowed her to empathize with a hurting young man, and a faith that gave her the courage to love him back from the brink.
This is more than just the amazing account of tragedy averted. It's the evidence of what we can do when we allow ourselves to be used by God. And it's a story of how God uses all of our life experiences - the good and the bad - to prepare us for our own moment of divine purpose.
My Review:
PREPARED FOR A PURPOSE is an inspiring story that shows us what we can do when we live with purpose and listen to God's commands for our life. "What are we going to do now?" Antoinette asked God as the shooter entered the school that day. Using Antoinette as a vessel, she was able to both sympathize and empathize with Michael Hill and how he was feeling that day. So sure that he was going to die on that very day but God had other plans and through Antoinette and her calm, loving, and compassionate demeanor, she was able to talk him back from the brink and avert a tragedy.
Anyone else sitting in the office that day, I'm sure would not have been as successful as Antoinette was. She, in her own life, had felt the hopelessness, the pain, and the hurt that Michael Hill was feeling that day and knew instinctively what to say. Not only did she say the right words, but she "meant" them with a conviction that came from her heart and that clearly came across to Michael Hill.
PREPARED FOR A PURPOSE is a beautiful true story for everyone to read who wants to be reminded that we ARE here for a purpose and that is to serve God and ask Him daily "What is it that I can do for you today?"
Story Synopsis:
"My name is Jasmine Bath and the memoir "No One's Daughter" is about my childhood during the 1960's and 70's. I did not write this book for sympathy or notoriety; I wrote it in an attempt to shed light on the ghosts that have haunted me for a lifetime, hoping that by putting them down on paper that I could look at them more objectively from a mature point of view and eventually free myself from them.
I began writing about specific incidents that happened, attempting to write them in the voice of the little girl I used to be, hoping to understand how these incidents had managed to still affect me as an adult. In giving the little girl I used to be her voice, I found peace."
My Review:
Jasmine suffered unspeakable abuse at the hands of her mother and her string of boyfriends. One in particular, Earl, was especially cruel laying a beating on Jasmine that almost killed her. From a very young age, Jasmine was responsible for taking care of her siblings and the house, a job much too difficult for someone her age. She became the parent.
Jasmine handled the subject matter with integrity and sensitivity. She is a survivor who deserves all the best that this world can give her.
I experienced so many emotions while reading this touching memoir. I ran the gamut from smiles to tears to horror to anger. Jasmine's mother was such a cruel woman and how she could treat this beautiful child the way she did is beyond me. How dare she abuse her role as a loving, caring mother and turn it into an absolute horror show.
Jasmine, you are a strong woman, a survivor and an example to many people around the world who have suffered some of the same abuse that you have that you can overcome the horrors of your past and move on into a brighter future.
I thank you for having the strength and the courage to share your story with the world and wish you all the best in the future.
HarperCollins Publishers|January 20, 2014|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-06-232528-0
My Review:
Twelve-year-old, Easter and her six-year-old sister, Ruby found their young mother dead in her bed early one morning. What a terrible thing for girls so young to discover. Easter, always responsible, took Ruby by the hand and walked her to the corner pool hall to use the pay phone to call 911.
Ruby and Easter were placed into foster care but after only a short period of time there, the father they hadn't seen in years showed up and kidnapped them. He had signed away all of his parental rights to his two daughters years before.
As they're driving along the roadway, they realize they are being followed by two different men but for very different reasons. One of the men is a former Dectective and the other one is Ruby and Easter's court-appointed guardian, who has linked their father, Wade, to a multimillion dollar robbery. The other man is angry and bitter and is dtermined to collect his due.
The story is narrated in alternating voices that are at "once captivating and heartbreaking."
THIS DARK ROAD TO MERCY brings to life the power of the story and at the same time challenges us to discover all there is to know about the "emotional pull of family and the primal desire to outrun a past that refuses to let go."
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the story, I felt it was a bit too short and that the author could have added a few more details to give it more substance. I would still recommend it to anyone.
Story Description:
Amazon Publishing|2012|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978 161 218 4463
Many believe that those who are destined to be together are connected by an invisible red thread. If that is so, the fates of Chai and Josi are weaved together and tied with a knot that cannot be broken. Chai has been the self-appointed protector of her best friend, Josi, since their toddler days. Their lives are as far from extravagant as can be imagined but they don't need material things to be content. Their carefree childhood comes to a screeching halt when they are snatched together and sold as house help, and possible future brides, to a family far away. This novel chronicles the girls struggle to adjust to their harsh new realities once the comforts and security of their old lives are stripped away. While Josi and others around them in the same situation have reluctantly accepted their new roles, Chai's warrior spirit cannot be broken. She remains strong and refuses to give up hope of finding a way home. Due to the infamous gender imbalance in China, thousands of females are trafficked every year to be sold as brides in remote villages and cities. Because of the lack of family recources and the minimal efforts of the government to break up these criminal rings, many of the girls are never heard from again. Folow this story to find out what happens when despite one father's lack of alies or money, he refuses to allow anyone to disrupt his quest to find his daughter.
My Review:
Chai and Josi have been best friends since they were toddlers. Growing up in China both their families were poor. Chai's father worked as a labourer moving and piling bricks all day to make ends meet.
When Chai and Josi were thirteen-years-old they were kidnapped and sold as house help and possible future brides to a family living in a floating fishing village far away.
Chai and Josi were terrified and did the best they could to cope with their new reality. The father was a mean, over-powering bully of a man who often threatened them with physical harm. Their eldest son, Bo was a carbon copy of his father and looked down his nose at the two girls. He made terrible comments to them every chance he got. Their youngest son, Tao was a polite young man who, behind his father's back, befriended Chai and Josi.
Chai's father, Jun decided he would never give up looking for his daughter. The novel goes back and forth between the daily living of Chai and Josi and Jun's quest to search for his daughter.
Although this story is fiction, child trafficking occurs all the time in China. According to the author, 8,660 abducted children and 15,458 women in 2011 were rescued after 3,200 human trafficking gangs were broken up.
A THREAD UNBROKEN was a mesmerizing story that I just couldn't put down until I was finished. This is a book that everyone should read. The more awareness there is about human trafficking, the more that will be done about it.
Story Description:
Scholastic Inc|January 1, 2014|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-0-545-46100-9
Fatal attraction, primal fear, survival in the forest: From the author of the Printz Honour Book Stolen, the highly anticipated thriller about deadly games played in the dark.
Ashlee Parker is dead, and Emily Sherpherd's dad is accused of the crime. An ex-soldier suffering from PTSD, he emerges from the woods carrying the girl's body. "Gone," he says, then retreats into silence. What really happened that night? Before he's convicted, Emily must find out the truth.
Mina and Joe, the only friends she has left, warn Emily against it, but she feels herself strongly drawn to Damon, Ashlee's charismatic boyfriend. Together they explore the dark woods. Soon Damon brings Emily into the Game: an extreme version of childhood games like hide-and-seek that he and his crowd play at night as a way to break boundaries, to lose themselves.
A strange, sexually charged relationship develops between Emily and Damon. And when she realizes he may know more than he'll reveal, she plays the most dangerous game of all, risking her own life for a confession. To expose the lies that will exonerate her dad, she's got to survive one last desperate night in THE KILLING WOODS.
MY REVIEW:
Emily saw her Dad carrying something in his arms through her bedroom window. Looks like he caught another deer she thought to herself. However, as he approached the house out of the dark forrest, Emily soon realized this was no ordinary deer because it wasn't. It was the dead body of a Ashlee Parker!
Emi,y's Dad suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was convinced he was having a flashback and killed the girl. It had been pouring rain, and thunder and lightning, which me mistook for an active firefight and hunkered down in his bunker he'd built in the woods.
He carried the limp, dead body into the house and layed her on the kitchen table. He sat on the floor sobbing - "it was me, me, me," he kept repeating. Emily's mother called 911 and Emily just stared at the soaking wet, dead body of her mutual friend.
Needless to say, he was promptly arrested and charged with murder. Emily didn't know what to think. At school her supposed friends began dropping off like flies and she endured regular taunts about her father "the murderer."
But did he really murder, Ashlee that night in the woods or was there something more powerful and sinister going on? Emily planned on finding out and began her own investigation once the police had cleared out of the Darkwood Forest. What she encounters there will surprise and shock you.
I was not expecting this particular outcome at all. THE KILLING WOODS is an alarming read that will keep you turning the pages late into the night. I was so engrossed that I read all 559 pages in one sitting.
THE KILLING WOODS was uniquely original and the outcome will be a much talked about topic of conversation for all.
I had not read any of Lucy Christopher's prior work but will now back-track and look into other novels she has written.
Story Description:
HarperCollines|November 4, 2013|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-1-44342-953-5
Sophie Whelan is the epitome of the modern superwoman. When she operates at peak performance, she can cajole balky employees, soothe her cranky children, troubleshoot career disasters, throw a dinner party for ten and draft an upbeat Christmas letter - all in the same day.
But as Sophie's fortieth birthday looms, her seamless life reveals disturbing web-like fractures. Conflict with her boss, blosdsoming jealousy of her husband's femme fatale business partner and her feelings of hopeless inadequacy as a mother and daughter are cracking the edifice of her life.
Rescue may be at hand when Lillian Parker, a wealthy widow who befriended Sophie during her university days makes Sophie an irresistible offer. Why then does Sophie hesitate? The answer is the reappearance of Lillian's nephew, Will Shannon, the great unresolved love of Sophie's life. As she remembers the vivid dreams of their college romance, Sophie confronts the choices she has made in life and in love and looks for the one answer that has always eluded her: what does she really want?
THE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE is a heartbreaking love story, a laugh-outloud portrayal of the twin demands of work and family and a fresh take on the hot debate about having it all. It is not to be missed.
My Review:
I don't think there is much I can add to the above synopsis. It does a great job of describing the story which was extremely enjoyable.
