A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

From Goodreads,

"Mary Alice remembers childhood summers packed with drama. At fifteen, she faces a whole long year with Grandma Dowdel, well known for shaking up her neighbors-and everyone else. All Mary Alice can know for certain is this: when trying to predict how life with Grandma might turn out . . . better not."

Goodreads - A Year Down Yonder

Awards and Nominations:

• Newbery Medal (2001)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2002)
• Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award Nominee (2003)

I read A Long Way From Chicago quite some time ago.  It started off slow, but the characters were always up to something with Grandma Dowdel leading the way.  I was excited to jump into this book to see what adventures and trouble Grandma Dowdel stirred up.  

Mary Alice spent multiple summers with her brother Joey at their grandmothers house.  Every summer was filled with some kind of trouble their Grandma Dowdel stirred up.  Joey is grown up and off working, and Mary Alice and her family is moving.  It was quickly decided that Mary Alice would live with Grandma Dowdel while her parents got settled.  Mary Alice dreaded the move to the middle of nowhere, but quickly found herself in all kinds of drama with her Grandma.

I liked this book more than I liked A Long Way From Chicago, which is saying a lot because I really liked the first book.  I loved that this book was told from the perspective of Mary Alice and that we got to see her grow and change over the course of a book.  I think that Mary Alice's transformation from hating being with her crazy Grandma to worrying about her was my favorite part.  At the beginning of the book she was just a normal teenager who cared only about herself.  As the book progressed I noticed she was worrying about her Grandma more and more until she didn't even want to leave her to go back home to her parents.  I think that young kids need to learn that their grandparents and even parents are older and that they should look out for them.  We need to take care of and look out for our elders.  We also need to spend as much time with them as possible because they won't be here forever.

I still love the short story format in which this book is written.  This book had a deeper connection between Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel in my opinion.  I give this 5 stars and recommend it to everyone.  It's a great book with a great lesson about family.  

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Goodreads,

"High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background—average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn’t believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy—and Tyler’s secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world.

In Twisted, the acclaimed Laurie Halse Anderson tackles a very controversial subject: what it means to be a man today. Fans and new readers alike will be captured by Tyler’s pitch perfect, funny voice, the surprising narrative arc, and the thoughtful moral dilemmas that are at the heart of all of the author’s award-winning, widely read work."

Goodreads - Twisted

Awards and Nominations:

• Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award Nominee (2008)
• South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book Award (2010)
• Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2010)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2011)

In today's world we hear of young girls being raped at parties because they were intoxicated and were unable to say no.  In almost every case it is the woman's fault.  The men who did the heinous crime are never faulted.  It is always the woman who should say no, who should take care of yourself, etc.  This book should be a requirement for all boys and men so that maybe they can learn right from wrong.  

Twisted follows the story of a troubled boy named Tyler.  He is on probation after doing graffiti on the school, but he has spent his summer working to make amends and correct his behavior.  Tyler however is secretly in love with the girl down the street named Bethany, who also happens to be his Dad's bosses daughter.  Things progress until Bethany invites Tyler to a party.  They both attend and Bethany is soon intoxicated and tries to sleep with Tyler.  Soon it is clear that someone took photographs of Bethany and all fingers point to Tyler.  The book comes to a climax when it all becomes too much and Tyler take things into his own hands. 

As I said before, this book should be a requirement for all boys and men to read.  This book focuses a lot on the right and wrong of situations and about consent.  The entire book Tyler liked Bethany, but he always played by her rules and went at her pace.  He never once forced himself on her or tried to get her to do something she didn't want to do.  Bethany was drunk at a party and tried to force herself on Tyler, but Tyler was responsible and told her no.  He continued to keep an eye on her as best as he could for the rest of the party.  Boys and men alike need to learn that when a woman is drunk it doesn't mean she is giving consent.  Even if she is saying yes, she is intoxicated and is not thinking clearly.  Men need to be the ones to step up and say no.  That being said, I will also say that women need to protect themselves too.  They don't need to hope and trust that a guy will say no if she forces herself on them or that someone won't take advantage of her.  I believe that girls need to watch out for themselves and men need to be responsible with their actions.  We hear so cases of rape where a girl was intoxicated and that if a guy would have taken her home or watched out for her, she wouldn't have been raped.  Rape can be prevented, but it takes active action by all parties to prevent it.

One thing that I didn't like about this book was that it seemed to drag on.  There were a few exciting points throughout the book, but it wasn't very captivating.  After things were figured out about the party incident it seemed to plateau really quickly.  It felt like there needed to be a resolution between Bethany and Tyler that resulted in them dating or being good friends at the very least.  But instead, the book concluded with his family pulling their act together.  I just needed more fire and excitement throughout the book and definitely a stronger ending.

Overall, I felt okay at the end of this book.  It wasn't one that I would read again for the third time, but it was one that I would suggest to teenage boys.  I give this two and a half stars.  It was good, but it just wasn't there for me.  It lacked something, but was also a strong book at the same time.

You Are The Everything by Karen Rivers

From Goodreads,

"Can you want something—or someone—so badly that you change your destiny? Elyse Schmidt never would have believed it, until it happened to her. When Elyse and her not-so-secret crush, Josh Harris, are the sole survivors of a plane crash, tragedy binds them together. It’s as if their love story is meant to be. Everything is perfect, or as perfect as it can be when you’ve literally fallen out of the sky and landed hard on the side of a mountain—until suddenly it isn’t. And when the pieces of Elyse’s life stop fitting together, what is left?"

Goodreads - You Are The Everything

I am a huge fan of love stories.  The moment when two people realize they love each other is something that cannot be described... well unless it is in a book.  Then it is usually described quite well.  I was very excited to read this book because it had not only a love storyline, but a survivor storyline.  I do have to inform you that I cannot properly review this book without disclosing that there will be spoilers.  If you plan on reading this book I highly advise you to not read any further.

You Are The Everything is told by teenage band student Elyse.  She, along with the rest of their band are returning home from Paris where they performed.  Elyse is in a huge fight with her best friend, and she is luckily sitting next to her crush Josh on the flight home.  Everything is normal until it isn't.  The plane suddenly nosedives and they crash into a mountain in France.  Elyse somehow rolls out of the explosion and ends up with Josh.  They end up dating and trying to find a new normal until the end of the book comes spiraling at the reader.

This book was what I expected, but also not what I expected.  This book is told in a second person perspective and it was very unsettling for me.  I felt like I was so inside of Elyse and her emotions.  I felt like Rivers did an excellent job at writing Elyse in this book.  The character was strongly written and her thoughts were put into such a way that seemed familiar.  I love that this book portrays two survivors who are just trying to find a new normal.  It shows the PTSD and the anxiety that is present after a traumatic incident.  The book is raw and it shows the coping that Elyse does while experiencing a panic attack.  I think this book would be really relatable for people who are in the same situation as Elyse.  Someone who has experienced trauma might find this book to be comforting to know they are not alone.

I stated at the beginning of this review that there would be spoilers... so here they come.  This book starts with Elyse being on the plane and it crashing.  The middle section and large part of this book is Elyse and Josh Harris being in love on a football field and managing anxiety attacks.  The last part of this book is the twist.  The last chapter retells what ACTUALLY happened when the plane crashed.  The book ends with us finding out that Elyse and Josh DIDN'T live.  THEY DID NOT LIVE!  Now this was very unsettling for me because I had spent many late nights reading this book and wanting to finish it because it was so good.  The whole thing was a completely made up account of what MIGHT have happened if Elyse and Josh had lived.  It tells of what would have happened if Elyse had gotten all her hopes and dreams.  I was furious at this ending.  I feel like the book was this big dramatic build up about how they were so lucky and fortunate that they survived, only to find out they all died.  The entire book felt like a sham, especially the love story that was promised.  I read this book excited for the love that would blossom between two survivors.  What blossomed was nothing at all.  Their "love" was a lie, as was the entire middle section of the book.  While I'm furious at this ending and the fact that it was all this big elaborate build up to nothing, it was also a plot twist.  It was the ending that I didn't see coming.  The fact that I didn't see it coming makes the book a little more manageable, but it still upsets me that this didn't end the way I thought it should have.

While the book was good, you need to understand there really isn't a love story and there really isn't a story about survival.  This is a tale of trauma and the aftermath that can come with it if you survive said trauma.  The ending upset me and it took me a full week to digest before writing this review.  I actually ended up emailing Karen Rivers about the ending to hopefully get answers.  I wasn't disappointed.  She said,

"Well, I do think that once I've finished writing a book, what "happens" (or doesn't happen) becomes up to the reader and how they interpret the story as it is on the page, but I will say that in my mind, yes, they died in the plane crash."

I was originally going to give this book 3.5 stars, but author response makes plays a big part in my rating if I have reached out to the author.  So I have to give this 4.5 stars thanks to Karen Rivers having a timely and nice response.  I think this would be a great book for young adults.  Some adults might find it enjoyable, as long as they don't get too attached to the characters and their stories.

Punished! by David Lubar

From Goodreads,

"Logan and his friend Benedict run into the wrong guy at the library--literally. When Logan slams into the reference guy in the basement and gives him a little lip, Logan gets punished, really and truly punished. He has three days to complete three tasks before Professor Wordsworth will lift the magical punishment that keeps getting Logan in even more trouble."

Goodreads - Punished!

Awards and Nominations:

• Keystone to Reading Book Award for Intermediate (2009)
• Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (2010)

This past school year I took the time to make multiple projects through Donors Choose which is a website that allows teachers to post projects and ask for supplies all while people around the world can donate money to help.  I posted a project to receive the book Punished! for my students because it would allow us to learn about figurative language.  I was very fortunate that a donor fully funded our project so that we could receive a class set of books.  My students were extremely excited to get the books and even more excited to read them. 

Punished! is told by a young boy named Logan who can be a little unruly at times.  One day Logan and his friend Benedict are playing tag in the library when Logan runs into a man.  The man ends up punishing Logan by making him say puns every time he speaks.  Logan must quickly complete three quests set by the man in order to get his punishment lifted. 

This book is absolutely perfect for teaching figurative language.  This book has a lot of puns, oxymorons, redundancies, anagrams, and palindromes.  The book is split so that a quest takes a chapter or two to complete, but the reader also learns what each of these things are.  While I was teaching using this book I used a unit study I purchased.  It had pages where students had to find the different types of figurative language in the chapter or they had to come up with their own oxymorons.  I think the favorite activity my students did was when we searched for palindromes.  Students were given a sheet of paper and tried to come up with as many as possible.  They sat for probably 15 minutes just working to find different ones.  Our phonics curriculum has letter cards that are located on my board.  My students utilized those and kept referring back to them.  They also applied rules that they have been taught through the phonics such as vowels that are typically doubled in a word such as "ee" or "oo".  The whole activity was a great pull of skills from the book we were reading, from our phonics program, and from basic spelling rules.  The book definitely made my students more aware of things that are used in conversation and I noticed they started identifying the figurative language people were using.  My class even pulled a pun in math using the word isosceles.  From a teacher standpoint this book is a great way to teach figurative language in a fun and engaging way instead of droning on and using worksheets. 

My students liked the book for the most part, but they had two complaints.  One was that the book had a terrible ending.  My students felt like the book ended abruptly with no exciting end.  I have to agree that the book did have a shabby ending.  Once the final quest was complete the book ended swiftly with no exciting twist to it.  The other complaint was that there wasn't a lot of action.  My students said they wanted a book that had more ups and downs with exciting points that left us hanging.  Unfortunately, this book was literally just Logan working straight through to get the punishment lifted with very few issues or problems that caused any sense of excitement. 

All in all, the book was an excellent work to use to teach figurative language.  I plan on using it as long as I stay teaching in my current grade.  The book could use more excitement and adventure, but it does the job on covering figurative language.  I think this book is perfect for use in a classroom.  I give this book 3 stars.  

The Barn by Avi

From Goodreads,

"The schoolmaster says nine-year-old Benjamin is the finest student he's ever seen-fit for more than farming; destined for great things someday. But his father's grave illness brings Ben home from school and compels him to strive for something great right now -- to do the one thing that will please Father so much he'll want to live. But first Ben must convince his older sister and brother to work with him. And together, they succeed in ways they never dreamed possible."

Goodreads - The Barn

I bought this book based on the summary, which is how I purchase 95% of my books.  The summary really led it that this book had very important ties to the education of Ben and the great things he was destined to do.  I however, feel that the summary was misleading and that this story was something else completely.

This book is told from the aspect of Ben who is just a young boy living in the 1800s.  Ben was sent to a school for a few months, until the day his sister comes to bring him home.  Ben finds out that his father has suffered an accident and is in terrible condition.  Ben, his sister Nettie, and his brother Harrison try to work together to take care of the farm and to take care of father.  Ben soon gets it in his head that building a barn will save father.  The others reluctantly agree with hopes father will improve.

This book was not what I was expecting at all.  As I mentioned before, I feel that the summary was misleading.  The summary really made it out that education would be a big piece of this book, but it wasn't.  It was mentioned a few times about Ben being smart and returning to school, but I ultimately feel that the story of family and working together had a bigger role.  Nettie was the oldest at only 15 when the book begins.  The children were literally children.  They weren't adults or almost adults.  They were young children who were having to take care of a farm and take care of their father.  I think it is amazing that these three children were able to develop plans and follow them through in order to keep everyone alive and the farm running.  This book takes place in the 1800s so things were definitely different then than they are now.  In today's world, I don't think that three children at that age would be able to keep a farm going and take care of their ill father.  That being said, I think this book really shows the work ethic that the kids had.  I think that many young adults (and adults) need to read this book and realize how easy their life is.  I know that I was definitely feeling grateful for the life I live by the time I finished this book.

While I was reading the plot of this book seemed very familiar.  It dawned on me about halfway through that the book sounded very similar to the plot of Stone Fox.  To an extent I felt like I was reading a version of Stone Fox without the snow or sled dogs.  There was the same aspect of "saving the farm" and the adult (grandfather or father) being sick.  Interestingly, The Barn was written 16 years after Stone Fox was published.  It definitely leaves me questioning if Avi took ideas from Stone Fox.

Overall, this book was just okay.  It lacked excitement and there was a constant hope of father getting better that just never happened.  I feel like the ending was quick and done, with nothing to tell us what happened after the barn was built.  It has a good story, but it is so similar to Stone Fox that it was honestly a let down for me.  I give this 2 stars.

Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

From Goodreads,

"When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.

Until the taps run dry.

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive."

Goodreads - Dry

I am guilty of not drinking nearly enough water.  My boyfriend is constantly telling me that I'm not drinking enough water and that I need to stop drinking Pepsi or apple juice or milk.  And I have to admit he's right.  I need to drink more water.  While reading this book I had a constant longing for a cold glass of water. 

This book takes place at the exact moment that the taps go dry in California.  Everything is fine until people start to panic and fight for every precious drop of water.  Over the course of the book we meet Alyssa and her brother Garrett, their next door neighbor Kelton, Jacqui the street smart girl, and the rich boy Henry.  The five stories intertwine quickly as they try to survive the great tap out.  The biggest question is if they will find water or if they will die trying.

This book was not what I was expecting, but it was honestly everything that I needed.  I live in Arkansas where running out of water is a foreign concept.  There has never been a time in my life where I have worried where my next sip of water would come from.  We don't have to conserve water by limiting showers, not filling swimming pools, or not watering our plants and yard.  This isn't a life I'm familiar with.  So naturally, this book was quite the eye opener.  I can't even imagine having to live like the residents of California during a drought or even worse, during a time where there is absolutely no water running through the tap.  I feel like this book definitely educated me on water crises.  You never imagine that a resource like water would disappear, but it clearly happened in this book.  Not only did this book paint a picture of drinkable water becoming scarce, but it showed the true human nature of people.  When it came down to it people were only worried about themselves and their immediate family.  People were not worried about their neighbors or their friends.  They were only worried about themselves.  I think this book gives a pretty accurate picture as to what would happen in a water crisis like this. 

One thing that I found interesting was the way the story was written.  The book was broken into parts, and in each part the story was told by alternating points of view from Alyssa, Kelton, Jacqui, or Henry.  There were also snapshots that showed what was happening elsewhere that would eventually come into play with the main characters.  I still don't know how to feel about this story structure.  I typically frown on books that have varying points of view because I feel the story is just incomplete and scattered.  This book didn't leave me with that feeling.  This book was written so that when one character concluded their part of the story the next person picked up where it was left off.  I didn't feel like I missed information or events because each character continued the story, just from their point of view.  I feel like the snapshots in the story were not needed.  They gave minor points of view from characters that would never have a large part in the story.  I felt like it was wasted information and that it could have easily been omitted.

Overall, this book was extremely well written and informative.  I got a different perspective of life in California and the challenges they can and do face.  This book is perfect for young adults.  After reading the acknowledgements I realized this book is to be turned into a movie.  I couldn't find much information about the movie, but I am definitely excited to see it.  I give this book a solid 5 stars. 

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

From Goodreads,

"Hunter. Autumn. Summer.
Different homes. Different guardians. Different last names.
Different lives.
But there is one person who binds them together.
Kristina.

Nineteen years after Kristina Snow met the monster---crank---her children are reeling from the consequences of her decisions. Instead of one big, happy family, they are a desperate tangle of scattered lives united by anger, doubt, and fear.

A predisposition to addiction and a sense of emptiness where a mother's love should be leads all three down the road of their mother's notorious legacy. Sex, drugs, alcohol, abuse---there is more of Kristina in her children than they would ever like to believe. But when the thread that ties them together brings them face-to-face, they'll discover something powerful in each other and in themselves---the trust, the hope, the courage to begin to break the cycle.

Fallout is bestselling author Ellen Hopkin's riveting conclusion to her trilogy begun by Crank and Glass. It is a revelation and a testament to the harsh reality that addiction is never just one person's problem."

Goodreads - Fallout

Awards and Nominations:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2010)

I am so glad that I have finally finished the Crank series.  I think I expected Fallout to follow the storyline of Kristina, but that wasn't the case in this book.  Fallout tells the aftermath of Kristina's addiction through the eyes of three of her children.  The story alternates between Hunter, Summer, and Autumn and their struggle to find love and avoid the cycle of addiction. 

I struggled with this book at the beginning.  I found the alternating story lines difficult to keep up with and the connections weren't clear.  I was well into the middle of the book before I discovered Autumn and Summer's connections to Kristina.  I wish that that information had been shared at the beginning of their storyline.  I struggled to keep Summer and Autumn's stories separate because I felt that there were some similarities between the two.  Hunter was easy to keep separated due to his being a male and being raised by Kristina's parents.  The concept of having the three stories of the kids was a great idea, but it was not executed well.

I do however love that the final book was the story of Kristina's kids.  The reader was able to see the impacts of her doing drugs and how it has impacted their lives.  All of the kids at some point in the book faced the issue of addiction or of teenage troubles.  Hunter cheated and smoked weed, Autumn had sex and was possibly pregnant and was quickly gaining a drinking problem, and Summer had a boyfriend doing meth and ran away to be with him.  All of these kids had problems and I think it was directly connected to Kristina's addiction.  I think this book is a wonderful example of how your choices can affect others later down the road.  Many people don't see drugs and alcohol as being part of a cycle.  This book is a prime example of how you get sucked into the cycle and you have to fight to get out and stay out of it.  Unfortunately, these kids were having to constantly fight to avoid turning out like their mother. 

This book was large, and by large I mean over 600 pages.  It made it difficult to hold because it was so thick, but that's just a personal complaint.  The book was an interesting conclusion to the Crank series.  I would love to know what happened to the actual children and how their life has been changed forever by the monster.  I give this 3 stars.  The mixed story lines were complicated and the book was too long and dragged on forever.  If you've read the first or second book, then I recommend reading Fallout.