Wonder..Review 38

Wonder by R.J.Palacio

August has a face like nothing anyone has ever seen. Like a screaming and running away kind of face. He has accepted that this is the face he has. Now he has to figure out how to cope with a world that has never seen a face like his. He has been homeschooled his whole life and now for 5th grade, his parents want him to go to school. A regular school. With kids who don't know him. Kids who have never seen him. For fifth grade. I know I have always thought that 5th grade is the hardest school year of anyone's life, much less, someone like August.

As we watch him and his classmates grow it is gratifying that none of them are as cruel and heartless as we all know modern children can be. You will tear up and stand up and cheer as you follow along with the life of August, his friends, his sister, her friends and how everyone is affected by what happens in August's life. Yes, everyone deserves a standing ovation, at least once in their lives.

SBN#978-0-375-89988-1

The Whipping Club..review 37

The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry

A bleak and dismal tale of lost love, lost chances and lost lives. A young woman finds herself pregnant and in love. She sacrifices her child for the love of her man, who's Jewish mother can't accept her and who's Father dies the night he tells them of his love. Never knowing she was pregnant, she vanishes under a false story. She returns almost a year later. They marry, she never mentions their son, given up to be adopted in America. They have a daughter, and things are good. Until she hears from "Nurse" a woman who works at the "maternity home" where they took her child. Nurse tells her that her son is in an orphanage not far away. Guilt, and the need for her son, eat away at her. What follows is a dark depressing look into the orphanages, boys "schools" and the power of the church and police that will chill you to the bone. I found the type face changes (from one face to another and change in an out of boldface) very distracting. Sort of like a gruesome auto wreck I could not stop reading.

ISBN#978-0984553174

My Little Pet Dragon..Review 36

My Little Pet Dragon by Scott Gordon

Very cute little e-book who's story is told by single pictures of him on each page. The Illustrations by Julien Tromeur and Dimitar Marinov are rich in detail, with a plain white background that allows the dragon, named "Ness" to shine. The dedication at the end to a little girl in a neck brace is very sweet as well. My 3 year old granddaughter liked it even though "You know grandma, dragons can be mean! But this dragon is nice."

No isbn# found

Dragons in a Winter..Review 35

Dragons in a Winter Wonderland By P.A. Woodburn

A cute little children's e-book from Amazon. Sweet story about a brother and sister dragon who fall through a door between worlds, from their hot summer one, into our cold winter one! They are found by a father and daughter out to cut a Christmas tree. They take the very cold dragons home, warm them up, then put them on a sledge and take them back to the door. The father and daughter visit the dragon's world and invite the Dragon family to spend Christmas with them in our world. A good story about how very different creatures can still be friends and enjoy learning about each other. The illustrations are fanciful and look like an older child's drawings. My 3 year old granddaughter liked it very much.

I couldn't find an isbn#

Spider Bones..Review 34

Spider Bones By Kathy Reichs

One of my favorite authors, Reichs has again combined fascinating science with a suspense filled story of choices, consequences and loss. Many in this book die young and not until the very end do we discover who certain characters are, really. In the end many mysteries are solved, old questions answered, the dead vindicated. But not all can be made right. I love her use of obscure science even more when it is obscure science I already knew about as in this case! A little slow in the middle, but absolutely worth the read.

ISBN#978-14391-0239-8

If Walls Could Talk..review 33

If Walls Could Talk by Lucy Worsley

What a fascinating look at the history of what many would consider the mundane. I thoroughly enjoyed finding out about how bathrooms, kitchens, and homes have evolved into what we have today. Lots of fun minutiae! Did you know the King getting dressed was a social occasion? How about bedrooms being scary because you were afraid of being murdered there? Learning how to control your servants like an admiral was a task women had to learn if they were not to be embarrassed among their peers. Being afraid of cooking smells because they could kill you? It is wonderful to look back and see how much has changed and how much remains the same!

ISBN# 978-0-8027-7995-3

The Quakers of New Garden..review 32

The Quakers of New Garden, a Four-in-one collection by Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Ann E. Schrock, Claire Sanders & Susette Williams.

I very much enjoyed these three stories. Each was different, but all were compelling in their own way.

The First, New Garden's Hope by Jennifer Hudson Taylor, is the story of Ruth and Josiah, an engaged couple and the trials, tribulations, heartache that come from how we all can misunderstand the actions of another. Without asking for an explanation (or not being willing to listen to one) Ruth sets the stage for what is to come.

New Garden's Crossroads by Ann E. Schrock was next, with it's story of Deborah, a Quaker involved with the underground railroad, and Nathaniel, a slave hunter who has come a far piece from his own Quaker roots. Can he change? Can Deborah learn to trust him?

New Garden's Inspiration By Claire Sanders follows Leah Wall as her Uncle, who's family took her in after her parents died, arranges a marriage between Leah and a farmer, Caleb Whitaker, who was widowed, and now is joining the Civil war and needs a new wife to care for his family while he is gone. Leah wants a true marriage. What does Caleb expect from his new wife? Caleb is wounded in the war and Leah must care for him. Will this be enough for them to build a true marriage relationship?

New Gardens Conversion by Susette Williams Beginings with Catherine taking care of a young man who was shot. Through him she meets Jaidon Taylor, a young Lawyer who volunteers at a youth center in a bad part of the city. Catherine finds herself volunteering at the same center. As their relationship becomes closer, she confides to him her promise to her late father, that she would never marry a man who wasn't a Quaker. What will they do when her church refuses to let Jaidon join?

ISBN#978-1-60742-824-4