Reviews!

I will be adding book reviews through the year on this page. I encourage students to submit reviews to me if they would like to share a good book with the school.

Soul of an Octopus

by Sid Montgomery

2015

In the Soul of an Octopus, Sid Montgomery brings the reader into the mysterious, intelligent and humorous world of the octopus. Within the first few chapters she had me laughing out loud while reading how curious and mischievous these eight armed cephalopods are. If I had read this book when I was in school I may have chosen a different career path. ( Mrs. Johnsen 4/17)

I found this review on GoodReads by Will Wheaton (star of Star Trek: The Next Generation and nemisis to Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory). ~

It's such a beautiful book, such an incredible story. I already loved octopuses, but this book deepened and strengthened my love for them, and all cephalopods. It's an easy read, and by the time you're finished, you'll be asking yourself questions about consciousness, inter-species communication, and maybe even feeling a little more of a bond with the fishes who live in your aquarium ... I know that I did. (Wheaton, Will, Book Review, GoodReads, 28 March 2017)

All The Light We Cannot See

By, Anthony Doerr

2014

This beautifully written YA book takes place during World War Two. Set in France and Germany the two main characters lives are intertwined, as they struggle to survive the devastation of World War Two. Marie-Laure is a young, blind, French girl whose world is turned upside down when she and her father are driven from war torn Paris. Werner is an orphaned boy from Germany, sent away from his sister to work for the German government during the war.

The author does a wonderful job taking the readers into the atrocities of 1940's Europe, and how horrible the Nazi's treated people. All the while he was able to tenderly showing how caring our two main characters are the people around them and people who were not on their side of the war.

Hour of the Bees

By: Lindsay Eagar

Written in the first person, this family oriented story takes place in the deserted desert of New Mexico. 12 yr old Carol must spend a horrible summer at her grandfather's rundown sheep ranch, getting him ready to move into a facility for people with dementia. Although she has never spent time with her grandfather (and she expects him to be a miserable old man) she finds she has beautiful bond with him and is enthralled with his magical stories. Her horrible summer turns out to be life altering.

I am not sure if I would say this is Realistic Fiction or Fantasy....you read the book and let me know.