Category: Book Reviews

Check out these book reviews from Deena.  Deena was a member of the Library’s Patron Service Team and continues to generously share book reviews with us during her retirement.  Thank you, Deena!

Let us know if you would like any titles added to your booklist or head over to BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) to download the titles available.  Need more information about BARD?  See our BARD Page.

Unwilling by John Hart DB103829
John French is a policeman in North Carolina.  He has three sons. One son was killed in Vietnam.  Jason, also served in Vietnam, came back and went to prison. He is now out of prison and the younger son Gibson “Gibby” wants to reestablish a relationship with his brother.  Jason takes Gibby out with several women.  One of the women ends up murdered and Jason is arrested.  Gibby sets out to prove Jason had nothing to do with the murder.  Meanwhile, Jason is back in the prison where he was before and one of inmates runs the prison and is very brutal.  He has is out for Jason.

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris DB97024
Cilka was in Auschwitz for three years. When she is released, she is told she is going to another camp for fifteen years in Siberia because of her actions in Auschwitz.  In the new camp, near the Arctic Circle, there are only two months of summer, and the rest of the time is very cold and dark. The life is harsh. Cilka’s first job is collecting coal. She later works in the hospital and eventually becomes a nurse. At the beginning, she lives in a hut with other women and the women don’t always get along. Once Cilka starts working in the hospital she receives more food which she shares with the other women in her hut. While in camp, Cilka finds the love she was longing for at the most unexpected time.

Secret School by Avi DB53789
This is a great book for kids.
1925:  The teacher Miss Fletcher leaves for a family emergency in April.  The school board says they will not replace her this late in the term. The two oldest students Ida and Tom must take exams at the end of the school year in order to go on to high school. They put their heads together and decide that since Ida is the smartest student in the class, she should take over the teaching duties.  They swear the other students to secrecy and all students continue to come to school so they won’t have to repeat the work next year. The school board eventually gets wind of the “secret school” and the children’s plan is threatened.

Check out these book reviews from Deena.  Deena was a member of the Library’s Patron Service Team who recently retired.  She has generously continued to share book reviews with us.  Thank you, Deena! 

Let us know if you would like any titles added to your booklist or head over to BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) to download the titles now.  Need more information about BARD?  See our BARD Page. 

The Return by Rachel Harrison DB99780

Four college friends are spending the weekend at a hotel.  They are with their friend, Julie, who went missing for two years and has just returned with no memory of what happened to her during that time. Julie seems changed and strange things begin happening at the hotel like noises, shadows and unexplained coldness. The hotel seemed haunted. One of the friends becomes ill and doesn’t appear to be getting any better. This is a creepy, spooky and sometimes a gory page turner that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris DB93331

1931: Ellis is a reporter for a Philadelphia newspaper.  He takes a picture of several children with a sign that says “Children for Sale”. The editor is enthusiastic about the picture and thinks it maybe his big break.  The picture is ruined before it can be published and the editor demands Ellis get another picture. When Ellis returns to the home, the family is gone, so he poses two other children living nearby with the sign for his picture. Later, he learns these two children were sold and he feels he needs to make things right.  He locates the mother of the children, who thought she was dying, but has since recovered and wants her children back. Ellis and a woman, Lily, who works at the newspaper, set out to find the children. They suffer several setbacks and harrowing experiences. The story in this time period gives you a sense of the Great Depression, and how desperate people were to find work and hungry. A very touching story.

Orphan #8 by Kim van Alkemade  DBC02898

This is a well-written book and a lot is based on the author’s family history.
1919: Rachel and her brother, Sam are put in an orphanage. Rachel goes to an infant home where she is experimented on with X-rays and permanently loses all the hair on her body.  Once she is moved to the orphanage where Sam is, Rachel is bullied because she does not have hair.  As Rachel gets older, she works in the infirmary where nursing becomes her goal.  After an incident at the home, Sam runs away before graduation and Rachel soon follows. Rachel eventually returns to New York and works as a nurse in 1954. The woman doctor who subjected Rachel to all the X-rays becomes Rachel’s patient in the hospital where she is working.  Rachel is torn. Should she be compassionate, or should she seek revenge?