Book Review: Leave This Song Behind

 

Leave This Song Behind

Teen Poetry at Its Best
by John Meyer, Stephanie Meyer, Adam Halwitz, Cindy Spertner

HCI Books

HCI
Poetry, Teens & YA

Pub Date 26 Apr 2016 

I was given a copy  Of Leave This Song Behind by the publisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

This collection of poetry by some very talented teens deals with everything from the everyday things in life to love and loss.  They take the simple things in life and turn them into something spectacular with the use of freeverse, Metaphor and Rhyme.  Some of the poems in this collection deal with the loss of loved one’s and break up’s.

I would recommend Leave This Song Behind to anyone who appreciates good poetry, and it would make a good edition to a study on poetry for the Junior High and Highschool age group.

I give Leave This Song Behind five out of five stars

Happy Reading.

Book Review:Watching Traffic

 

Watching Traffic

by Jane Ozkowski

House of Anansi

Groundwood Books
Children’s Fiction

Pub Date 09 Aug 2016 

I was given a copy of Watching Traffic through the publisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

Everyone in town called Emily Robinson the Suicide Baby because when she was three she was found wandering the street covered in blood.  

Her Grandmother who raised her after her Mother’s death is eccentric.

Emily Robinson’s Mother committed suicide when Emily was a little girl.

Emily has finished highschool in the town she grew up in.  Her friend Melissa is going away to college on the East Coast and Lincoln is going to be going backpacking in Australia and Emily fears she will be stuck in this town forever working at Pamela’s County Catering.  

Will Emily figure out what she wants to do with her life?

I give Watching Traffic Four out of five stars

Happy Reading

Book Review: You Can’t Hide

 

You Can’t Hide

by Wendy Davy

Pelican Book Group

 White Rose Publishing
Christian, Romance

Pub Date 12 Jul 2013 | Archive Date 31 Jul 2016

I was given a copy of You Can’t Hide through the publisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

Cara’s twin brother is putting his Sister’s protection in Gage’s hand.  If Mercado finds her she will be killed.  Neither Gage or Cara are thrilled with the fact that she is stuck their alone on an Island with this man but he is going to protect her because he owes his life to her brother.

Cara believes her brother and Gage are both spies.  Cara is none too pleased with the way Gage treats her.

Mercado is a ruthless drug smuggler who has no problem killing anyone who gets in his way.

Soon Cara finds herself falling for Gage he is quickly feeling like more than her protector.

Will Cara an Gage survive long enough to build a life together.

I give this book five out of five stars

Happy Reading.

Book Review: Saving the Marquise’s Daughter

 

Saving The Marquise’s Granddaughter

by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Pelican Book Group

 

Harbourlight Books
Christian, Romance

Pub Date 01 Jul 2016 

I was given a copy of Saving the Marquise’s Grandaughter through the publisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for an honest review which is as follows:

Set in Eastern France in the 1740’s Suzzane and her family will be in trouble if their secret Hugeonots beliefs are discovered.  

Suzzane is in love with Etienne she wants him to ask her to marry her but he barely acknowledges her.

Suzzane has more than Etienne’s unrequited love to worry about if they are found out to be Hugeonots they can be executed and her Mother is dying of the Cancer that has invaded her body.

Soon Suzanne finds that God had carried her a Hugeonots girl to safety in the palinate.  Soon Suzanne finds herself on a boat headed to the Colonies sicker than she ever had been so sick that a preacher offers to give her her last rites.  Instead on the boat the preacher marries the German man who has been carrying for her while she was sick on the ship.

Will Suzanne learn to see the marriage to Johan was part of God’s plan for her life, or will she become bitter over the way things turned out?  Will Johan and Suzanne get their happily ever after.

Five out of five stars

Happy Reading

Book Review: Beyond Me My Selfie & I

Beyond Me, My Selfie, and I

Finding Real Happiness in a Self-Absorbed World
by Teresa Tomeo

Franciscan Media

Servant
Christian

Pub Date 09 Sep 2016 

I was given a copy of Beyond Me My Selfie &I through the publisher and their parnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

Beyond Me My Selfie and I reminds us that we live in a self obsessed world.  A world where Selfies are a way of life and according to a Baylor University Study in 2014 sixty percent of  College Students are addicted to their phones.  Teresa Tomeo reminds her readers f the importance of putting our devices down and spending time away from our smart phones, tablets and computers and spend time appreciating the real world around us.

The author uses the term the Selfish Syndrome to describe how selfish self absorbed much of society has become.  We are reminded too that shows that are my thing but wholesome have become what young girls watch, they look too Kim Kardishian as a role model but the way her life and exploits are portrayed are anything but wholesome.

The Sucess of the Low Budget Christian film War Room shows us that people are looking for a change though.  

Teresa Tomeo goes on to report that image based platforms like Instagram, SnapChat and Selfie.im has become a leading force in the rise of plastic Surgery in those under the age of thirty.

I give Beyond Me, My Selfie and I five out of five stars.

Happy Reading

Book Review: Standing With the Vulnerable

 Standing with the Vulnerable

A Curriculum for Transforming Lives and Communities
by Gil Odendaal

InterVarsity Press

IVP Connect
Christian, Religion & Spirituality

Pub Date 02 Oct 2016 

I was given a copy of Standing with the Vulnerable through thempublisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

Standing With the Vulnerable introduces us to then”tree curriculum” based in Africa and Asia.  

The author points out we all have our strengths even if we have trouble seeing them sometimes.  

This book would make a great addition to a churches study on Mission work and helping those less fortunate.  The questions at the end of each chapter leave ample room for discussion. 

I give Standing with the Vulnerable five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

Book Review: And Then the Sky Exploded

And Then the Sky Exploded

by David A. Poulsen

Dundurn

Children’s Fiction, Teens & YA

Pub Date 15 Oct 2016

I was given a copy of And Then the Sky Exploded through the publisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

And then The Sky Exploded is the story of a generation old family secret coming to light.  It’s a story that spans time and place.  

August.06.1945

Yuko’s eleventh birthday and her entire world will never be the same.

On October 06,2015 Christian finds himself attending his first funeral that of his Great Grandfather.  The funeral brings out protesters and people screaming out Mass Murderers, and the date August.06.1945 he waits a few days to ask what it was all about.

Soon he hears words like The Manhattan project, which he ends up googling.

Christian’s best friend is Carson, a deaf kid in his class whose a couple of years older and has a driver’s license.

Christian also becomes friends with a girl named Zania .

Yuko’s life would forever be changed when those bombs fell, her hai would never grow break completely so she’d wear a scarf for the rest of her life, and she would always walk with a limp.

When Christian goes to Tokyo with some of his classmates he is given the Oppurtunity to meet Yuko, and learn how the atomic bomb affected her. 

And Then The Sky Exploded is a story of family secrets, unimaginable pain and ultimately of forgiveness.

I give this book five out of five stars

Happy Reading.

Book Review: Ice-Out

 

Ice-Out

by Mary Casanova

University of Minnesota Press

Univ Of Minnesota Press
Children’s Fiction

Pub Date 01 Sep 2016 

I was given a copy of Ice-Out through the publisher and their parnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

February 1922 in the Northern reaches of Minnesota, Owen Jensen carries a check in his pocket, not believing the loan had come through.  Owen is going to open a car dealership, after all automobiles are the future.

Owen is determined to give him and the girl he loves opportunities, opportunities outside of Ranier.

Owen’s Father was a drunk until Owen stopped him from hurting his Mother, after his Father realized the marks on his wife’s neck were caused by him he stopped drinking.

When Owen’s Father dies Owen finds himself getting wrapped up with the wrong people, bootleggers and other Criminals and when his friend dies while handcuffed crossing the ice, he cannot help but feel guilty.

Ice-Out is a story that would be great for Middle School to highschool aged Children.

Five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

Book Review: Beloved Mess

 Give Feedback

Beloved Mess

God’s Perfect Love for Your Imperfect Life
by Crandall, Kimm

Baker Books

Christian

Pub Date 21 Jun 2016 

I was given a copy of Beloved Mess through the publisher with their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

Beloved Mess reminds us that though life often can be a mess we can find good in it too.  

Bad thoughts, Depression and guilt often enter our hearts but we can overcome those when we let Jesus in.   

Beloved Mess is great for either personal or group study with the questions to be answered at the end of each chapter.

Five out of five stars

Happy Reading.

Book Review: Deep Shadows

Deep Shadows

by Chapman, Vannetta

Harvest House Publishers

Christian, General Fiction (Adult)

Pub Date 01 Jul 2016 

I was given a copy of Deep Shadows through the publisher and their parnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

Shelby Sparks finds herself in danger, an explosion the sound of a home collapsing Max pushes her out of the way.  The only thought in her mind is that her Son Carter was out there somewhere.

A week later Shelby finds herself hiking.  Shelby can’t reach her Son without reception on her Cell Phone.

The hikers see something that looks like the Northern lights but that can’t be because they are in Texas.

Solar flares are causing power outages and grocery stores are running out of supplies.  Medicine is hard to come by.  Carjackings turn to murder, people willing to shoot store owners for diapers.

What happens when Solar flares cause all technology become obsolete, when people take justice into their own hands, when even landlines stop working? Deep Shadows provides a fictional account of such a possibility.

I give Deep Shadows five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.