Between the Pages

Summer is winding down for the school that I attend. Since summer reading is a great source of stress when the summer quickly (seemingly) closes, I thought I would make this blog one of resources for summer reading. This will be organized by MS grade. These books are specific to the required reads at my school. If you have read these books or happen to have these books assigned to you now or in the future, feel absolutely free to use these at your disposal. Please use the tips from my previous posts about summer reading linked here.  RISING 5TH GRADERS Hello fifth graders! I am so glad you are beginning your journey in middle school. As I understand it, your summer read is Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Use these resources to prepare and review for your class beginning in only one and a half short weeks.  Synopsis and review . Book Summary given very in-depth and by chapter. Again, fabulous summaries with an included study guide . Kid-friendly Review video that may be ...

Hello everyone and welcome back. I'm sorry I have not posted in a while (and by "in a while" I mean 4 days). I have been on a very safe, masked (wear your mask!), and socially distanced vacation in a destination to which we drove. I read this book on vacation in the presence of the river and trees with ominous, mossy overhangs. Please enjoy. While The Man in the Brown Suit is a Christie, it is painfully obvious that it is one of her earlier published. Summary Anne Beddingfield is standing waiting for her train at the tube station when she sees a man who smells overwhelmingly of mothballs. Suddenly, the man looks at the her and then just behind her and goes stark white. He stumbles backwards, from fear, and trips over the side of the platform. He lands on the tracks. A couple passersby help Anne get the man back on to the platform. A man in a brown suit rushes past Anne and claims to be a doctor. The brown suited man pronounces dead, but Anne notices he does not handle the...

Because of quarantine, I have been fortunate to have a lot of time to write blog posts and read books in preparation for those posts. But, what will happen when the school year starts? My schoolwork can be quite rigorous when the year settles to its rhythm. Will I continue to have time to read and write as much as I have during quarantine? As much as I would like? I do not have the answers to all of these questions, as all school years are different in terms of workload and schedule. I do hope to continue writing and reading the best I can for all of you if you are there at all, and, mostly and honestly, for myself. This blog is a kind of self-care and time with books and myself for me. This is a space where I can put my thoughts on books without being influenced by others. I appreciate you all giving me that opportunity.  My plan, starting in late August/early September, is to continue being VERY active on my Instagram (@betweenthepgs) but also to make sure I post frequently on he...

Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder  is the summer thriller you NEED! Summary Pippa, or Pip, Fitz-Amobi is good at school. She has always been, but she doesn't know who she truly is when she isn't working on a project, doing homework, or studying for a test. For her senior capstone project, Pip decides she will solve a murder. Drastic, I know, but she has to find out what really happened five years ago. She has to find out what happened to her friend Sal. When Sal Singh was a senior in highschool, his girlfriend, Andie Bell, disappeared. Sal Singh was found a couple days later, after texting his father that he kidnapped and killed Andie, dead - suicide with sleeping pills. Pippa knows that's not the whole story.  The only condition on her capstone project is that she does not interview any members of the Bell or Singh families. This is the first rule Pippa breaks, a concept that she is not used to. Pip enlists the help of Ravi Singh (Sal's younger brot...

I have been waiting for so long to do this. Here, dear readers, I give you my official review of Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Even though this book has been a star of this blog and been in numerous posts over the years, I have never done an official review; until now. Without further adieu, here we go! Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a tale of romance, cynicism, satire, and human vanity. It will continue to be read over and over throughout history by high school English classes, book clubs, and thesis writing graduate students. Why? Because of its relevance in any time period and obvious message that can be applied to each and every reader's life.  Summary  Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have their Longbourn House full in Georgian, England. With five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia, Mrs. Bennet has her hands full getting them all suitable husbands (but if you ask me, she just wants to get them all married off so that she can look superior to Lady Lucas, their ...