"Black and White" by Paul Volponi is a Super Read! (UPDATED)

Black and White by Paul Volponi is a teen novel about how a few bad decisions can wreck a friendship and a promising future. Marcus and Eddie were close friends on the high school basketball team with hopes of getting college scholarships. They started robbing people to get some fast cash until things got out of hand one day and Eddie shot a man who could ID Marcus. Marcus was black and Eddie was white. The part I liked best was how the parents were affected. It is an interesting quick read that deals with friendship, consequences and the unfairness of the justice system. I would recommend this to teens.  (Karen's review 5/9/11)

(Gerard's review 5/4/11)
What a super book to start the month of May with! Black and White by Paul Volponi tells the story of two young teen boys who play on the same high school basketball team—one black, one white. They are best friends and turn to crime to get some money. What I enjoyed about this book is that it is told from the black side and the white side. It is a young adult novel but I think any age would like it. I know I did! I highly recommend you read this one—it's good!!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"Endgame" by Frank Brady

Biography of Bobby Fischer

Endgame by Frank Brady is the kind of book I love that catches me up to speed on a person or subject that I really didn't know that much about. Don't worry, you do not have to be into Chess to enjoy this book. It deals more with the life of Bobby Fisher than his Chess games although Chess, of course, is a big part of the book as you would think. He was a child prodigy who at age 14 was beating Chess masters. I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend that you read it too.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"Live to Tell" by Lisa Gardner (Updated)

Live To Tell certainly kept my interest.  It focused on Danielle who was the lone survivor when the rest of her family was murdered.  She went to work as a nurse in a Children's Psych ward to help kids who had mental illnesses.  That gave me insight into something I knew absolutely nothing about so found very interesting.  On the other hand, the "spiritual healer" that was into New Age thinking was too goofy for me.  That part of the book made no sense to me but was a core part of the book.  I liked it because it was interesting, but also found it very sad and depressing.  I did liked the ending though but wow, what a journey!  
(Karen's review 5/6/11)

Gerard's review:
Live To Tell by Lisa Gardner is one of her best books yet!  Two families are brutally murdered, one girl hangs herself, a boy has a fixation to kill his mother, and another girl thinks she's a cat!  Is that enough action for you?  I loved that this book was action-packed and moved along quickly.  It had me turning page after page!  I highly recommend you read this one!

Have your read this?  For the month of May, we will donate 50 cents for each legitimate comment to The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

"56--Joe DiMaggio And The Last Magic Number In Sports" by Kostya Kennedy

As a rule, I do not read a lot of sports books because I find most of them to be boring. However, Joe DiMaggio by Kostya Kennedy covers the 56-game hitting streak of Joe DiMaggio but it's more than just a game-by-game recap. The author really sets the scene of life in 1941. I enjoyed this book a lot! It took me just two days to read it. Even though I hate the Yankees, I loved 56—Joe DiMaggio And The Last Magic Number In Sports. If you are a baseball fan, I think you will love this one too!
(Gerard's review)
Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

"The Caregiver" by Shelley Shepard Gray

The Caregiver by Shelley Shepard Gray is the first book of Shelley’s “Families of Honor” series. It is about Lucy, an Amish abused widow who goes to take care of her cousin who is going through chemo treatments. On the train there, she meets Calvin Weaver who is going to the same place and learns that he his her cousin’s neighbor. They hit it off on the train until she witnesses his temper which reminds her of her dead husband and that she can’t trust men. Over time, she opens up and finds love with Calvin, big surprise--NOT! There are discussion questions at the end of this book so this could be a book club read.

Here's a little teaser from page 25:

She would concentrate only on Mattie's needs. That would enable her to keep her mind off her own pain and start to move on.

I didn’t care too much for this book because I really didn’t like Lucy, the main character or her cousin, Mattie, although I think she was the most believable of the characters with her faith waning as the chemo treatments progressed, making her feel worse instead of better. My favorite character was Calvin’s little sister, Katie, but she was only in the beginning of the book.  This seemed to move slow and I like books that I really look forward to seeing what happens next.  This just didn't grab my interest although I like the cover!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.