Sunday, May 17, 2009

Rain and a book to read! In heaven!

Yes, it rained and was overcast yesterday, what a day to spend indoors curled up with a book I really wanted to finish! Uprising by Margaret Peteson Haddix! Wow! The book is about the Triangle Shirtwaist factory and the girls who worked there. All from the view of a few girls whose path crosses a few times and who end up becoming friends in dire circumstances. I knew a little about the factory, but this brought the plight of the workers, and their ages, to a different understanding. It is a fictional account, but neverless you can get into the story and start understanding what these girls had to live for - nothing! I would recommend this book as a Texas Lone Star book over some of the books that have been nominated and shouldn't have been. Hmmmm, maybe I will do just that!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Yes, two more finished :-)

I am Scout: the biography of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the most widely read novel in American literature. Two-thirds of American public high schools include it in their curricula. Yet the author — who never published another novel— remains a mysterious figure, refusing since 1965 to give interviews or talk about her Pulitzer prize-winning novel.  I Am Scout is the first-ever comprehensive biography written for a young audience that tells the story of how Miss Lee struggled to become an author and created one of the most popular novels of the 20th century. It fills what has been an empty place on school and library shelves for almost 50 years.
"The text does an excellent job of conveying the facets of Lee's personality that made her a writing success, including her honesty, tenacity, sense of justice and adaptability of interpersonal style... Shields demonstrates Lee's critical role in the creation of longtime friend Truman's Capote's In Cold Blood. Prior knowledge of both works is not absolutely necessary, thanks to an absorbing and easy narrative style...." -Kirkus Reviews
 Description and Review from http://www.charlesjshields.com/ 
This was an interesting book to read, hard to follow at some points, but very interesting to find out why and how she wrote only this one book. Yes, I recomend this for reading. It was also a Junior Literary Guild selection. BTW,To kill a Mockingbird has it's 50th anniversary!
The second book I just finished is The Possibilities of Sainthood  by Donna Freitas and here are the official Reviews from http://www.thepossibilitiesofsainthood.blogspot.com/ 
"Fresh and funny...[Antonia's] emails to the Vatican add flair to a coming-of-age novel already vivid for its warm portrayal of urban Italian-American family life...While getting at serious issues, Freitas wins readers over with a beautifully sustained light tough." -- StarredPublishers Weekly

"First-time novelist Freitas hops into the romance genre and brightens and heightens it by providing characters who are anything but run-of-the-mill...Yes, it's kind of silly that Antonia thinks she has a shot at being the Patron Saint of the Kiss, but her first-person narrative is so smile-inducing, it's easy to go along with the premise. As Antonia sorts out her feelings for longtime crush Andy, as well as Michael, the boy who makes her blush, readers will be hard-pressed to decide what interests them most--make out sessions or marters." -- StarredBooklist

It was a pretty funny book about a 15 year old girl who is not allowed to date. She goes to a catholic girl's school in NY, is from Italien descent and has a love of Saints. For more you just have to read the book for yourself, and remember, it's a teenager!