Literate Girl in an Illiterate World

Counting By 7s By: Holly Goldberg Sloan ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 100%  Middle Grade Book Blurb: Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now.   Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is  not  a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.    What I Liked: ☂ I really liked how touching this book was. I felt like I was Willow and everything that was happening in the book was happening to me....

Amy and Rodger's Epic Detour  By: Morgan Matson ★ ★ ★ ★1/2 90% out of 100 Teen Book 343 pages Blurb: Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised t o find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey t...

AKA MY FIRST EVER AUDIOBOOK AKA MY FIRST EVER ACROSTIC POEM BOOK REVIEW AKA I LISTENED TO THIS WHEN I WAS ON A HEALTH KICK Best Foot Forward  By: Joan Bauer ★ ★ ★ ★ B eautifully Written E asy To Read S ad T errific Narrator F unny O pen to Problems O riginal T ickling or a weird way I wanted to say it was funny to fit the title F ootwear O pal was a cute friend R igorous Character Development W ay Quick Read A mazing R eading a book D ecisive main character

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe By: Benjamin Alire Saenz  (Insert Picture of the Cover Here, because Blogger is being mean right now) ★ ★ ★ ★ 85% out of 100 Teen Book 359 Pages Blurb: Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. The Characters: Dante was: sweet, caring, and unique. I liked Dante more than Ari. Ari was: too full of teen angst, very honest (I liked that very  much), and his POV was the best to read from.  What I Liked: ☄ The plot: The plot was slow, t...

The Island of Dr. Libris By: Chris Grabenstein ★ ★ ★1/2 75% out of 100 Middle Grade Book 235 pages Blurb: What if your favorite characters came to life? Billy’s spending the summer in a lakeside cabin that belongs to the mysterious Dr. Libris. But something strange is going on. Besides the security cameras everywhere, there’s Dr. Libris’s private bookcase. Whenever Billy opens the books inside, he can hear sounds coming from the island in the middle of the lake. The clash of swords. The twang of arrows. Sometimes he can even feel the ground shaking. It’s almost as if the stories he’s reading are coming to life! But that’s impossible . . . isn’t it?  What I Liked: ☂This book was cute and I liked the story it told.  ☂ I was intereged by the concept of this book.  ☂ I liked the parts where this book kept me guessing.  ☂ I also liked the  characters. The Characters: Billy Was:  Redeemed for me be...

Dream Things True By: Marie Marquardt   ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 90% out of 100 Teen Book Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest-opinion review. This, however does not change my views in the book in any way, shape, or form.   Blurb: Evan and Alma have spent fifteen years living in the same town, connected in a dozen different ways but also living worlds apart -- until the day he jumps into her dad's truck and slams on the brakes.  The nephew of a senator, Evan seems to have it all - except a functional family. Alma has lived in Georgia since she was two, surrounded by a large (sometimes smothering) Mexican family. They both want out of this town. His one-way ticket is soccer; hers is academic success. When they fall in love, they fall hard, trying to ignore their differences. Then Immigration and Customs Enforcement begins raids in their town, and Alma knows that she needs to share her secret. But how will sh...

AKA A MONTH OF SLUMPY READING  AKA A MONTH OF NEW THINGS WHAT I READ THIS MONTH: WEEKLY GOAL: Get my blog to be more  organized, schedule more posts, and plan out my month is posts ahead of time.  MONTHLY GOAL: Incorporate more photography into my blog posts and take more of my own pictures  for this blog.  I am so excited to start this. I feel like my blog will be more different  and unique with my own photography.

This is What Happy Looks Like By: Jennifer E. Smith ★ ★ ★ 60% out of 100 Teen Book 404 pages Blurb: If fate sent you an email, would you answer? When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.  Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs? What I Thought: There wasn't a lot that I disliked about this book, but a lot of mediocre.  What I Actually Liked: Ellie- Her Unique Flair,  How Ellie was close to her mom, Her love f...

Henry the Turtle By: C.K. Sobey ★ ★ ★1/2 80% out of a 100 Small children's book Very few pages Discalimer: I revieved a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest-opinion review. However, this does not change my opinion in any, way, shape, or form.  Blurb: A delightful tale of a turtle being born to a family of ducks. When Henry the Turtle is abandoned as an egg in an all-duck community, it causes quite a stir! A caring mother duck quickly adopts the egg, keeping it warm and safe, and every duck in the community awaits its hatching with wonderment and awe. Henry the Turtle is a loving testament to the power of family, with a simple yet timeless message: There are no limits to what caring and nurturing can do for all living creatures. Follow Henry the Turtle as he finally meets his adopted duck family in this beautifully illustrated story that will appeal to young children everywhere! What I Thought: I finished this book about a month ago an...