5 stars
The mesmerizing story of two close brothers who become torn apart by the civil rights tumult in 1968 Chicago. Roland Childs is a civil rights leader and father to Sam and Stick. For as long as they can remember, they have been involved in their father's demonstrations. Sam is the "good son" who always does the expected and Stick has the fiery temper and tests his father's oath of nonviolence. And it is this conflict between father and son that comes between the two brothers. Sam learns that Stick is a member of the Black Panthers Party and thinks he may want to join as well. But Sam is conflicted about many things and is not always definite about what kind of person he wants to be. He cares for Maxie, but she lives in a bad neighborhood and at one point, Sam lies and insults Maxie, and loses her caring and admiration. As Sam continues to question what kind of person he is, who he should give his allegiance to (his father or his brother), events conspire to make Sam question the mythological tale Stick would read to him over and over as a child. What kind of person would he be? Was he the rock or was he the river? A piercing coming of age story of a boy who struggles mightily to become the kind of person both his father and brother envision.
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The final book in the Wake Trilogy, does not disappoint. Janie and Cabel are still in love with one another but Janie knows her future holds a life of blindess and losing the use of her hands as a result of her ability to enter people’s dreams and she sees what Cabel is dreaming and not sharing with her. Janie is coming undone by the pressures of this curse, her alcoholic mother, and having to testify at a hearing and being known as a narc. She needs to make a decision, how can she live a normal life with Cabel, if her life is never going to be normal? As she wrestles with this ever constant pressure, Janie finds out her father is alive and about to die because of a brain tumor. What will Janie do, what are her choices? Lisa McMann’s suspense-filled novel, the continued romance of Cabel and Janie through very tough times and the issue of Janie’s alcoholic mother are images I won’t soon forget . Kudos to a realistic portrayal of a gutsy, totally conflicted heroine who yearns for a quiet life but always steps up to handle whatever life deals to her.
James Morgan and his best friend, Deidre(Dee) have awesome musical abilities. James plays the bagpipes, is annoyingly egotistical, funny and brash to all his friends, and sarcastic towards almost everyone else. He is desperately in love with Dee, but something happened the summer before between them and now things have drastically changed for both of them. Dee composes text messages and never sends them to James. James never really says what he is thinking to Dee, he just cracks jokes and makes her laugh. Both are new to the prestigious Thornking-Ash School, which only accepts those musicians with a very special gift. Unbeknownst to them, there is a reason both James and Dee are at this school and it involves Faeries. Nuala is a faerie who singles James out and promises James she will make him the best bagpiper but James continually turns her down, knowing she will eventually kill him. But things are changing for James, Dee and Nuala. There are evil forces at work, and Nuala finds herself caring more for James than killing him, James and his friend Paul keep hearing a hauntingly beautiful song that beckons them to the fields to watch an antlered faery king play his song of the dead and Dee seems to be keeping her text messages in her cell phone and not sent to James. The author of Shiver has done it again with complex characters, breathtaking scenes and heartbreaking life or death decisions. I can't wait to read, Lament!
According to the website:
Whichbook gives readers an enjoyable and intuitive way to find books to match their mood.
Instead of starting from the overwhelming choice of books available, whichbook starts from the reader and enables each individual to build theelements of that elusive 'good read' we are all looking for but don't quiteknow how to define.
The standard way of organizing books for choice, on shelves in a library or a bookshop, or on the web, starts from the products available - the authors,titles, publishers or genres. Whichbook enables, for the first time, the choiceof book to start from the individual reader and what they are looking for.
This site looks like fun. I am going to try it with my students.
