Lost by S.A. Bodeen

 From Goodreads, 

"The mystery of the island deepens as members of the Robinson family disappear and strange animals are discovered.

Sarah Robinson and her family are shipwrecked on a remote and mysterious island. Their food is running out, and their fear is escalating–there is no sign of rescue. The mysterious girl they found unconscious at the beach is healing, and what she tells them about the strange island and especially about someone called the Keeper has the family on edge. When Sarah’s dad and Marco’s younger brother go missing, the mystery becomes dangerous. Now, it’s a matter of life and death. Now, the family is truly lost."

Goodreads - Lost

After I read Shipwreck Island I knew I had to find the second book.  I was luckily able to check it out from the school library.  I tore through the book that night in one sitting.  It was such a fast-paced read that it felt like it was over before I had even started it. 

Lost picks up where the first book left off.  The Robinson family is trying to figure out who the girl is that was on the beach.  Soon they learn that her name is Cash and she was dropped off by her grandfather and two people that were on their boat.  The people on the boat were looking for a specific island and treasure that the man left on the island.  The family decides to set up a camp and make sleeping platforms in the trees on the beach.  As they are working Sarah's dad goes to collect more bamboo and Nacho takes off too.  But they don't return.  Marco's mom is sick and won't stop throwing up.  Marco and Sarah are worried and decide to go look for Nacho and Sarah's dad.  But they soon run into a valley of trouble and meet the person who is behind the chaos on the island. 

This book was the one that took a wild turn in my opinion.  I thought this entire series would be survival focused, but things start to take more of a sci-fi twist in this book.  I felt like this book didn't pack the same punch as the first book.  It felt like this was just a stepping stone to the next book in the series.  I found some of the mash up of animals super cool and some were super terrifying.  We finally get confirmation that Marco and Sarah have both seen crazy looking animals.  At that point I realized that something strange was definitely happening on this island and that someone has basically been experimenting with animals to make new creatures.  It was an exciting twist in the book to prove that this was not in fact just another survival series.  

This book had the same problem as the last that it felt more like a chapter of a book than an actual book.  Everything is so fast paced in this series that the books are over before you really get started.  I really enjoy this series, but I think it would have been better fit as one big book than being split into four really short and quick reads.  I also wish that the books would have had a map of the island in them.  It would have been awesome to have a map in the first book that showed the outline of the island, but only shown the things that they had discovered.  The second book could have had more details on the map as they progressed and discovered more on the island.  It would have been an excellent visual to have that would honestly add to this entire series. 

This was a quick read that was just a stepping stone to the next book in the series.  The first book was really interesting and pulled me into this series.  This one was okay.  The ending left me excited for the next book of course.  I give this book 4 stars.  

Shipwreck Island by S.A. Bodeen

 From Goodreads, 

"Sarah Robinson is deeply troubled in the wake of her dad's second marriage. She now has to deal with a new stepmom and two stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Nacho, who's younger. Even though they've all moved from Texas to California to start life as a new, blended family, none of the kids seem remotely happy about it.

Sarah's dad and stepmom then decide to take the whole family on a special vacation in order to break the ice and have everyone get to know one another. They'll fly to Tahiti, charter a boat, and go sailing for a few days. It'll be an adventure, right?

Wrong. Dead wrong.
Shipwreck Island is the first installment in a series from S.A. Bodeen."

Goodreads - Shipwreck Island

Some big things have been happening in my life recently.  A few weeks ago I broke up with my boyfriend of three and a half years.  He will be moving out soon and I will eventually be moving into my own place.  A year ago I said we should have a yard sale to get rid of things we didn't want.  The idea was quickly shot down.  Now that I'm doing my own thing I have decided to have a yard sale when it gets a little warmer.  That being said I have been going through things that I no longer need or want.  I have also been working through the books that I have had stored in boxes or on shelves.  I'm trying to get as many read as possible to either put them in my classroom library or put them in the yard sale.  This one was absolutely amazing and quickly went into the pile to go to my classroom library. 

Shipwreck Island is told by Sarah and Marco.  Each chapter rotates to a different point of view of the two kids who have been thrown together into a family dynamic after their parents got married.  Sarah's mom died some years back and it has been Sarah and her dad for a while.  Marco, his brother Nacho, and their mom have been happily living their life in Texas.  But when Sarah's dad marries Marco's mom they are soon step siblings.  The family decides to take a luxury honeymoon family vacation.  But shortly after they leave they run into a bad storm that leaves the captain dead and their family shipwrecked on an island.  They must work together to figure out how to survive the twisted island they are on. 

This book was a pretty quick read for me.  It isn't very long, but it packed a solid punch.  The alternating views were exciting because we were able to see Sarah and Marco's thoughts and opinions concerning the marriage, honeymoon vacation, and being stranded on an island.  I love the concept of this newly blended family going on a quality vacation together to get to know each other.  They hadn't spent much time together and the kids knew pretty much nothing about each other.  They were then quickly thrown into this awful situation of being shipwrecked on a deserted island.  This really forced Sarah and Marco to be their true selves and not put on a front because they were unhappy about the marriage and new family.  Emergencies and unplanned events often bring out people's true colors. 

I sort of hated that the time frame in this book was just a few days.  The entire book felt short and similar to read a few chapters of a book.  The book was over before it even really started.  Which of course had pros and cons.  It made me frustrated because I wanted more of the story, but excited to read the next book in the series.  I also questioned what kind of parents would get married in such a short amount of time without ever having introduced the kids to each other.  The first time they met was when Marco, Nacho, and their mom was moving in with Sarah and her dad.  I feel like the parents only cared about themselves in the entire situation. 

I really enjoyed this book and was extremely excited to read the next one in the series.  I was unfortunately unable to get it at Books A Million and it wasn't available on Scholastic.  Of course I could have purchased it on Amazon, but there was no way that I could wait that long.  I ended up checking the second book out of the library at school.  I give this 5 stars.  If you like adventure and survival books this is definitely a series for you.  

The Button War by Avi

From Goodreads, 

"Renowned, award-winning author Avi pens a stark, unflinching tale of ordinary boys living in wartime as tensions — and desperations — mount among them.

Twelve-year-old Patryk knows little of the world beyond his tiny Polish village; the Russians have occupied the land for as long as anyone can remember, but otherwise life is unremarkable. Patryk and his friends entertain themselves by coming up with dares — some more harmful than others — until the Germans drop a bomb on the schoolhouse and the Great War comes crashing in. As control of the village falls from one nation to another, Jurek, the ringleader of these friends, devises the best dare yet: whichever boy steals the finest military button will be king. But as sneaking buttons from uniforms hanging to dry progresses to looting the bodies of dead soldiers — and as Jurek’s obsession with being king escalates — Patryk begins to wonder whether their “button war” is still just a game. When devastation reaches their doorstep, the lines between the button war and the real war blur, especially for the increasingly callous Jurek. Master of historical fiction Avi delivers a fierce account of the boys of one war-torn village who are determined to prove themselves with a simple dare that spins disastrously out of control."

Goodreads - The Button War

As a child my mom always had a button box.  Inside were various buttons, but none were super fancy.  They were usually from old outfits or from my dad's Army fatigues.  But I always enjoyed playing in the button box.  I would look through the buttons and let them run through my fingers.  My mom still has a button box and more buttons have been added.  There are three buttons that are of fruit.  I remember them because they came off of a shirt I had as a toddler that had fruit buttons down the front.  One was in the shape of cherries, one bananas, and one was grapes.  It is so strange how something as simple as a button can bring back so many memories.  

The Button War is told by a young boy named Patryk who finds a lone button in the forest one day.  He showed the button to his friend Jurek who told him that he "owned" the forest and that the button belonged to him.  His aggressive and controlling demeanor soon led Patryk, Jurek, and their friends to start collecting buttons.  Jurek decided that they would all collect a button and had to return that night to see who had the best and who would be crowned the button king.  The boys were soon searching for buttons as Russian and German troops traveled back and forth across their land and started a battle right in the middle of their town.  Patryk has to decide if being the button king is worth dying for. 

This book was phenomenal.  I just recently read Lord of the Flies and this had the same vibe to it.  As with Lord of the Flies, there's this strong desire among a group of children to be the king.  And as with the above-mentioned book, things go all wrong and people end up dying.  I absolutely despised Jurek in the book.  He was a huge jerk to all of his friends.  (Maybe his name is close to jerk for a reason.)  He had this undying desire to be the button king.  He was didn't care about his friends who were beaten up and died or who were murdered.  He even went as far as murdering a friend to hopefully be the button king.  The behavior that Jurek exhibited in the book I have seen before.  I've seen this type of behavior before from students who are living in poverty.  They don't have the best or newest clothes, toys, or games.  They overcompensate by being mean to kids and telling big lies to hopefully gain friends and popularity.  Jurek exhibited the same patterns and behaviors and was "competitive" against people that would have normally accepted him.  I just wish that Jurek had made a character arc at the end of the book where he had realized that his friends were all gone or dead because of him and his silly button war.  I think it would have been a full wrap around and a lesson learned. 

There were a couple things that I didn't really like about this book.  One was that I'm not a history buff and had no idea what time period this book was taking place.  I wish that there had been a clear cut statement that had clarified what the year was or what war was going on.  I think there was a big opportunity to pull in more historical information, and it just wasn't there.  The other thing was that there were quite a few boys who were involved in the button war, but I didn't feel like we ever got close enough to any of them to truly learn about them.  They were characters that were there.  We know they were part of the button war.  But there I felt like they were really shallow characters that were just there to fill a spot in the book.  I wanted and needed more from some of those characters.  I think that the different personalities would have allowed readers to find a character to really connect to.  

Even though there were some character details that could have been filled in, this book was really good.  I think it will be fairly popular once I'm able to reopen my classroom library.  I give this 4 stars.  I think that this book will be enjoyed by boys, especially those who enjoy war books since there are some strong military themes throughout the book. 

Rules by Cynthia Lord

From Goodreads, 

"Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules-from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public"-in order to stop his embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a paraplegic boy, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?"

Goodreads - Rules

Awards and Nominations:

•  Newbery Medal Nominee (2007)
• Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School Book (2007)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (2008)
• California Young Readers Medal Nominee for Middle School/Junior High (2009)
• Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Nominee (2009)

This book has been hanging out on my shelf collecting dust for a while now.  I've gotten to this point where I have so many books that I will scan my shelves (and boxes) to find my next read, but won't settle on anything and I'll give up for the night.  This has pushed me to take the top book off the stack.  No digging through boxes.  No shifting books around to see which one I want to read.  It is simply picking a stack, grabbing a book, and starting it.  This definitely isn't normal reading behavior, but who determines what normal is?

Rules is told by Catherine who makes rules for her autistic brother David.  She wishes that David were normal like everyone else, which is why she makes rules.  There are rules about having conversations or about everyday life tasks like not putting toys in the fish tank.  Catherine has a longing for normalcy in her family, but she soon meets Jason who is a paraplegic and is in a wheelchair.  She soon finds that while he doesn't look normal he is like her in more ways than she can imagine. 

This entire book is really focused on the concept of what is normal.  Catherine is frustrated that her brother can't just act normal.  He is autistic and relies heavily on consistency and the rules that Catherine makes for him.  To an extent, Catherine is embarrassed by her brother and his antics.  But her attitude starts to change when she meets Jason who doesn't look normal.  Jason is a paraplegic and cannot speak.  She is almost mesmerized by him, but as time goes on she realizes that Jason is a lot like her.  She never classifies herself as being normal, but having Jason be similar to her really opens her eyes that David is unique and that's okay.  She really pulls a full circle in learning to embrace yourself and embracing others.  I think that most students in middle school (and maybe even high school) go through an acceptance phase.  They have to figure out what is normal, what they are, and where they fit in the grand scheme of things.  There's a lot of self-searching during that time and I think this book addresses these topics.  I personally know that middle school was a very awkward time.  Everyone was hormonal, our bodies were changing, and we started having "real" feelings for classmates.  But we had to figure out who we were and who we felt "normal" with.  There were a lot of changes through middle school and high school.  I think that this book pushes acceptance really hard.  I know I would have missed out on some amazing friendships had I stuck with a concept of what is normal.  Sometimes the people who don't fit in are the ones who are the best to be around.  

I despised how Catherine's parents treated her throughout this book.  I totally understand that David is autistic and is classified as being special needs.  He obviously needs consistent routines and supervision at all times.  But Catherine was desperate for attention and her parents were only worried about David.  I felt like this happens so often.  Siblings get swept under the rug because one child requires more help and supervision.  It was frustrating that even when Catherine called her dad at the end of the book he was still somewhat irritated because he had to take off work to be there for her.  This was probably the most realistic part of the entire book, but also the most frustrating.  It was also very frustrating how Catherine was constantly stuck with the responsibility of her brother.  Her parents were always working and it left Catherine to babysit, which was a very tiring and trying situation.  I sympathized with Catherine a lot.  I felt like she was purposefully shoved into the shadows the entire time.  

This was a good book.  There wasn't a lot of plot action that happens in the book, but it has a good and important storyline on finding yourself and embracing that.  I give this 4 stars.  This is a great book for anyone who has a sibling who is autistic and is struggling with acceptance of their sibling.  This is also a great coming of age book to figure out who you and learning to accept others.