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.

Story of a Girl (book review)

Story of a Girl, by Sara Zarr, is the tale of sixteen-year-old Deanna Lambert, who, three years ago, made a huge mistake that she's never been able to forget. Her father caught her in the back of Tommy Webber's Buick. Tommy was seventeen, her older brother Darren's supposed friend, and Deanna wasn't even sure she liked him. Even now, she is still struggling to overcome the role of "school slut" and get people to see her for who she really is. She is not who the rumors portray her as, but how can she get everyone else to realize that? So much drama is going on in her life right now, and Deanna soon finds that everything can change in one summer...

I loved this book! It was the second book I read by this author, and I enjoyed it just as much as (maybe even better than) Sweethearts! The language was beautiful, and it flowed very smoothly. The characters were very realistic; I felt like they could walk out of the book and tap me on the shoulder at any time.

This book is for the Spring Reading Thing Challenge '09.

Spring Reading Thing!!!!

I am so excited for the Spring Reading Thing!









Here is my list:

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Paper Towns by John Green

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial by Robert Kidd

The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith

The Last Full Measure by Jeff Shaara

Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park