Between the Pages

My family and I are in Washington DC for Spring Break. I was very excited when we got the chance to tour the Library of Congress, the most famous library in the nation. The first thing we saw was the main lobby/entrance room. This rectangular shaped room is a work of art. On either side of you are marble staircases lined with putti. (Cherubs) These putti are all engaged in some sort of niche. Above you are a beautiful stain glass windows. We walked upstairs to the square that goes around the main entrance. One can look down and see what is below and one can also look up and see the beautiful stain glass windows. The second level is focused on knowledge. The art on the walls are paintings, mosaics, and drawings of science, literature, the four senses, and the arts. When I saw the main reading room, I was in love. I loved the lit desks and the quiet spaces and nooks. What I loved the most was the amazin...

Murder, Magic, and What We Wore Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones is a fast-paced novel about a young Annis Whitworth who tries desperately to make her own way in a difficult situation in which she, for the first time, must work very hard. Plot Summary: Annis Whitworth is young women living in London just after its war with France. Annis lives alone with her aunt Cassia Whitworth, her father’s sister because her father has always traveled for “business”, shall we say, a lot and her mother died when Annis was about two years old. Annis knows about her father’s job no matter how clueless her aunt and her father think she is. Her father is a spy for England. England still wants spies on France just in case Napoleon gets any ideas or escapes his captivity/prison cell. One morning, early in the novel, Annis and Aunt Cassia find out her father has died in a carriage accident. (Annis classifies this as suspicious.) She decides she should become a spy as well so that...

The Old Man and the Sea The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a story about an old man and his quest to kill a big fish and change his bad luck in fishing forever. Plot Summary: Santiago is an ancient fisherman living in Havana, Cuba. He is not terribly rich to put it nicely. (He is very poor.) Santiago is a grandfather figure and teacher to Manolin, a young man in the village that has fished with Santiago for quite some time. Manolin must stop fishing with the old man because he parents deem Santiago bad luck because he cannot catch even one fish. Santiago must change his luck or he will be in this never-ending cycle of bad luck and no fish. Santiago hooks a fish one day; it is a big fish. Once this fish is hooked, he is not dead. The fish barely even notices the hook; therefore, the fish keeps swimming. Being the stubborn man that he is, Santiago decides not to let go of the line and keep the boat going with the fish. Read The Old Man and the Sea to find out wh...

A Long Way Down Written in verse, A Long Way Down by J ason Reynolds is a novel about making a moment’s decision. *DISCLAIMER: The story deals with grief, mild cussing, and gun violence. Plot Summary: Will doesn’t live in a so great part of town. This African-American teen’s brother, Shawn, is shot and killed by a member of gang member in a near-by part of town. Will decides to follow ‘The Rules’. (‘The Rules’ are passed on through generations of members of this community and they are: 1. DON’T CRY 2. NO SNITCHING 3. ALWAYS GET REVENGE.) Will decides to kill the gang member who killed Shawn. He HAS to follow ‘The Rules’. He gets on the elevator to go down to the Lobby and the elevator stops at every floor. People that have been shot in the past and were in his life get on the elevator at every floor. This thriller is written over one minute and nine seconds. Author Praise/Critique: Jason Reynolds is a very talented poet. The book is very visually pleasing because ...

Flunked Flunked by Jen Calonita is a spin on all of your favorite fairy-tales, while incorporating some new details as well. Plot Summary: Gilly is a thief. Let me rephrase that, a “minor” thief. But she steals for a good reason, right? She steals for her family, a poor, rag-tag, group of people who live in a very cramped boot. Her father, is a shoemaker who was the actual inventor of the glass slipper. Now Princess Ella’s fairy godmother can make them with a flick of her wand, but her family must put in a lot of work for just a standard boot, much less a glass slipper they created . But she does not just steal from anybody. She steals items from people who can live without them. Taking back what is rightfully her’s and her family’s. She steals from royals. She steals anything from dragon tooth clips to day old bread. One day, this has never happened before and she swears it will never happen again, she gets caught by the Enchantasia Police. (An initiative headed up by ...

Maile Meloy's Instagram Profile About a week ago, I emailed Maile Meloy’s literary agent. (Maile Meloy wrote The Apothecary Series —a review will be coming soon.) I was not expecting a response, but I got one. A detailed one at that! Here’s the scoop. 1.     What was your inspiration for the series and the characters? I started the first book because my friends who are filmmakers wanted to make a family movie about a magical apothecary, set during the Cold War in the 1950s, and they asked me to write a novel they could base it on.  I’d only written books for adults before that, and I loved writing for kids right away—I loved that the plot had to go really fast, and that magical things could happen. I also really remember what it felt like to be 14, and what it’s like to have adults make decisions that hugely affect your life, and how it was both scary and exciting to go to a new school.   I wasn’t sure it would be a series ...

Sleepaway Girls Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita is the perfect spin on a classic summer camp filled with friendship, hilarious situations, and sweet romance. Plot Summary: Samantha Montgomery, or Sam, is fed up with Malomark. (Malomark is her ship name for her best friend, Mal, and her new bad boy boyfriend, Mark.) She couldn’t stand another “No, baby you’re cuter” or another instance where she ended up the third wheel. Sam decides she will be a CIT, counselor in training, at Whispering Pines sleepaway camp in the Catskills. (2 hours away from her home in New York City Suburbia.) To camp, she brings a small palm recorder that she plans to record message to send back home to Mal. At camp, Sam meets Courtney, a beautiful, boy-crazy girl, who likes to be called Court, Grace, a super athletic, outgoing young lady who reaches out to Sam and holds the group together, and Emily, a girl who loves romance novels and wishes she has a boyfriend like most of those characters. Thes...

Between the Lines Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer is a captivating story about an adolescent girl, Delilah, and a boy the same age, Oliver, who both want to be somewhere else and live someone else’s life. Plot Summary: Delilah is a 14 year old girl who is miserable. She and her father split after he decided she and her mother just were not good enough to live with. She is completely depressed until she finds a beautiful, hand illustrated, children’s fairy tale hidden between an assortment of books on the shelf. She had never seen this book before. She becomes obsessed with the book because she can connect very well to the main character of the fairy tale, Oliver. Oliver’s father died in the beginning of the story. Oliver is a 16 year old boy who, much like Delilah, is miserable. He acts the same part every time a Reader opens the book. He hates being stuck in the same boring world day after day after day. When Delilah starts reading the b...

My Lady Jane My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows is a story focusing around a page-turning plot, well developed characters, and a love story (or stories) that will make your heart melt. Plot Summary: Edward is the King. Keep in mind, he is only sixteen. Sadly, he is dying from an infectious disease called The Affliction. His cousin, sixteen also, is named Jane. He and she have been best friends well, always. When he becomes ill however the Grand Duke, Dudley, decides he needs to pick who will be King, or Queen *squeal*, when he dies. No one is suitable for the job in his family but Jane, the redhead, spunky girl with a book permanently glued to her face. Dudley suggests that she wed his son, Gifford. (He likes to be called ‘G’.) He also suggests that she bear a child, a son, to rule the kingdom. This leads into  complex, but understandable story, that keeps you on your toes. Author Praise: This story combines romance and a dash of ...