"When She Woke" by Hillary Jordan

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan is about Hannah, who had an abortion.  She refused to name the father or the doctor who performed it.  As a consequence of her crime of murder, she had to live her life as a red chrome (She turned red!).  A chrome is a criminal whose skin color is genetically altered to match the color of their crime and released back into society.  How Hannah deals with this, the people she meets and the decisions she makes is the basis for this book.

I really enjoyed When She Woke a lot!  It's a real page turner to say the least.  I cared about Hannah and looked forward to reading more.  I also thought the ending was really good!
(Gerard's Review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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"We the Animals" by Justin Torres

We The Animals by Justin Torres is a short story about a mom, a dad and three brothers.  It was interesting but I wanted more.  As it was, I thought it was okay, nothing great.  A coming of age story about family bonds.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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"The Death Cure" by James Dashner

The Death Cure by James Dashner is a real page turner that I couldn't wait to get back to reading. This is the third book of The Maze Runner trilogy that I enjoyed as much as I did The Hunger Games trilogy. The Death Cure picks up where The Scorch Trials left off and is a suspenseful read that is loaded with adventure but doesn't quite finish as I expected. All through is a fight for survival.

I liked most of the characters, especially Thomas and Minho. It is about saving the human race from a virus that makes people lose their sanity. Some are immune to it and so hated by those who have it. I liked how the "subjects" all worked together to prevent what happened to them from happening to others. The question is does the ends justify the means. At one point, Thomas says he doesn't believe there is a right and wrong anymore, just horrible and less horrible. It has a strange ending but then, the whole series was strange since it is science fiction.

You must read the first two books in this series though before reading this one or you would be pretty lost. I highly recommend this trilogy to anyone looking for something different and adventurous.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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Teaser Tuesday: "A Difficult Boy" and "Small Town Sinners"; "The Death Cure"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:

He wanted to run, but his legs seemed to be melting beneath him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Mr. Lyman drawing his fist back to punch Daniel.

From page 40 of A Difficult Boy by M. P. Barker. See my review of this book I posted yesterday.

He couldn't get her out of his head, even though he hated her a little more with every passing moment.  Her last words to him had been WICKED is good, and right or wrong, to Thomas she'd come to represent all the terrible things that had happened.

From page 3 of The Death Cure by James Dashner.

Gerard's:

Is my worry about a boy watching me getting in the way of my personal prayer?  Isn't my love for God and my desire to feel His presence bigger than my fear of embarrassing myself in front of Ty?

Taken from page 89 of Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker.

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"A Difficult Boy" by M. P. Barker

A Difficult Boy by M. P. Barker is a good story about two young boys working for a shopkeeper. This book kept my interest from page 1. It's funny at times and heartbreaking too! Give it a chance, you will be glad you did!

(Gerard's Review 11/10/11)


I loved reading A Difficult Boy by M. P. Barker even though it is a teen historical fiction book set in Massachusetts in 1839.  It is the story of two indentured servants, Ethan (9 yrs. old) and an orphan named Daniel aka Paddy, a few years older (who become friends and worked together to get their freedom.  This book kept my interest all the way through and I felt sorry for the boys and anger towards their abusive master, Mr. Lyman, the town's well respected storekeeper.  What a creep he was!  My favorite part of the book though was when Daniel taught Ethan how to ride Ivy, Mr. Lyman's horse.  I also liked the ending!

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or stories about friendship.  I think this would make a very good movie!  It is interesting that the author worked as a costumed historical guide in Massachusetts for nearly ten years and this is her first novel!  It won the 2003 PEN New England Children's Book Caucus Discovery Award.  To learn more and view the book trailer, visit her website:  www.mpbarker.net. 
(Karen'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 top of our blog.