Two Book Reviews

First, I read Evolution, Me, & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande. It is the story of how one girl tried to reconcile her belief in both religion and science.

Life sucks for Mena Reece. She's been kicked out of her church group and everyone in it hates her, including her parents. Her first day of high school is filled with dirty glares and hard shoves. She doesn't think life will ever get better until she meets her lab partner, Casey. He's pretty funny--and cute--for the smartest guy ever. When the unit on evolution begins, Mena's life gets even wilder as she struggles to deal with her belief in God and science.

I loved this book! It was filled with twists and turns, and I never got bored of reading it. I'd recommend it to anybody interested in realistic fiction or the controversy between evolutionists and creationists.

This book was for the Spring Reading Thing 09 Challenge.


The second review is of When My Name was Keoko, by Linda Sue Park. It is the story of one Korean family during World War II. During the war, the Japanese occupied Korea. The native Koreans lost everything: their possessions, their food, even their own names. Ten-year-old Sun-Hee and her older brother, Tae-yul, are furious when they are forced to take Japanese names. But what can they do? If they disobey the Japanese, their family will be severely punished. When they discover that their beloved uncle, who is a part of the Korean resistance, has been forced into hiding, their lives are torn apart even more. And when Tae-yul, knowing that the families of soldiers are given special benefits, decides to join the Japanese army as a kamikaze, Sun-hee doesn't know what to think. Will her beloved brother ever return?

I loved this book!!! It was very moving and very emotional--happy at times, sad at others. I think this will be a story that stays with me forever, and I can't say that about many books.

This book was for the Spring Reading Thing 09 Challenge and the World War II Challenge.