Decision Making

This week I read If I Stay along with my roommate, Megan. We did this as a partner read to get a better perspective on the different aspects of the book. I really liked the book. It followed a girl in her decision to stay on earth or move on to the other side. She was involved in a horrific car accident with her family. Because she was so close with her family who died, this is a difficult decision; however, in her between worlds state she can follow the aftermath of the accident as it unfolds around her, and she begins to be conflicted about her decision. She sees her friends and extended family as they come and visit her in the intensive care unit. The story follows her in this decision-making process.


I really like the book's cover because it shows the multiple aspects of the book as she continues through her decision making process.


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Surviving Middle Class America

I read Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (With Kids) in America for my mystery/survival book. This is Michelle Kennedy's story of plummeting into homelessness and her struggle to escape it. After some seemingly rash decisions she made in her younger years, Kennedy ends up married with three children at 24 years old. Struggling to deal with the simplicity of her housewife lifestyle, Kennedy yearns for something more. A series of events leaves her alone with her three children. With only a high school education, Kennedy is forced to figure out a way to provide for her children. The book goes on to explain how she brings herself back up out of the lowest of her lows. Read this book to find out how she makes it with her three small children. 

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Poetry Week

This week for poetry I'm reading Serafina's Promise. So far it's really good! It's about a young Haitian girl and her struggles following the earthquake. Serafina has many goals, plans, and dreams for her life ahead but she faces many challenges along the way to making those dreams become a reality. This book really reminded me and showed me additional struggles that people in poverty face every day. Things that seem like simple every day tasks to middle-class people, are a daily fight for people in poverty.


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All That Space Jazz

For my governmental control book, I'm reading Ender's Game. Like much of the other more recently popular Young Adult Literature books, this book has tons of actions and takes place in a futuristic dystopia. Even though the book was written in 1985, the book gained real popularity in the past decade and was even made into a movie. I believe the book's recent popularity is because it fit the flavor that YAL readers and publishers were looking for. It has the necessary elements of space action and a controlling, futuristic government. I have really enjoyed Ender's Game so far and look forward to seeing how this action ends.




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YA Explosion!

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I did a brief search of how popular YA Literature has gotten in recent years just to kind of check out some of the things we've been talking about in class. And it's so true! Young Adult Literature has exploded recently! And not just in the young adult age range. People of many different age groups are buying these books. I thought this picture summarized the data fairly nicely. I wonder if this trend will continue or if it's near its peak. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

International Happy Day

This week we celebrated an international day of happiness. This seemed very fitting for the book I'm reading as my biography, autobiography, and memoir, Growing Up Duggar. I've seen their show a few times and thought it would be an interesting take on their lives growing up in a huge family. This book does tell how they grew up and the values that their parents raised them with, but it also reads sort of like a self-help book. This book explains the challenges they've faced in their lives and how people who are experiencing similar challenges could overcome them. The book is filled with personal stories from the four oldest Duggar girls, Jana, Jill, Jessa, and and Jinger. There are also pictures throughout to help get a sense for their lives before the cameras came. Overall the girls seem very happy and optimistic about different aspects of life. They reach out to others with their optimism and help pull people up with their own stories of triumph and support with Scripture. Because each girl is very religious, it shows through in the book. I actually found it in a "Christian Parenting" section. Overall the book so far seems very positive and uplifting to me.


These are the four oldest Duggar girls who wrote the book. (from left to right) Jill, Jana, Jinger, and Jessa.

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Book Review

This week I decided to write my book review. I wrote it on the book I read for my Product #2 because I liked it so much! I used Goodreads.com to do this and it was really easy. After making a free account, I was able to both rate the book and then write a review. This site would also be a great place to keep a "books to read" list because you can search thousands of books and add them to your list. Here's the link to my review.


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