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YA Reads

The Impossible Knife of Memory

Written by Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Fever 1793, which won a Margaret A. Edwards award, The Impossible Knife of Memory takes a turn to examine the reality of war for the children of today’s soldiers. Hayley Kincain and her father have arrived back to the town where her father grew up. The main purpose of the move was so Hayley could attend a proper school, but it isn’t that easy for her.

Hayley has to deal with her supposed ‘step-mother’, Trish. Trish isn’t the best parental figure out there.  She raised Hayley while her father was serving the military but walked out on them years ago. Now she manipulates and attempts to control Hayley’s life, once again, by providing  the principal with information that her father was hiding.  Who does she think she is to interfere, now?

She’s not my stepmother. (…) She’s a cheating, alcoholic a**hole who can’t open her mouth without lying. She… You can’t talk to her about me. Can I go?” 

-Hayley Kincain to the principal, about Trish, page 27. 

The Impossible Knife of Memory

Due to her father returning from the war in Iraq, he isn’t in the most stable condition. Having no job and unable to escape from the evil spirits that haunt him, he isn’t the best father, either. He has PTSD and chooses to depend on drugs to escape from his terrible memories.

“PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, is a mental disorder that is characterized by failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event” (Mayo Clinic).  PTSD often affects soldiers, due to the fact that they’re in the battlefield witnessing many gruesome things that not many people can handle.

PTSD can cause anxiety and flashbacks, nightmares, and the inability to participate in something that can bring back the trauma. They may have behavior changes, emotional detachment and much more. Due to Hayley’s dad experiencing that, he isn’t the same father she had before he went to the army.

Picture this; Your father entered the army years ago and finally returned, but he’s not the same person anymore. He’s different. You could say he’s broken or being haunted, the past lurks, waiting to take its chance and pounce. What do you think would happen if that happened to your own father? Would he be able to handle it?

Hayley Kincain is honestly the most relatable character out of all the characters I’ve met when reading different books. Unlike many protagonists who have a life changing moment where they gain powers, meet their soulmate, etc, Hayley struggles to get over regular things. For example, she wants to help her father cope with PTSD and wants to think about the future. She has hope for the future.

Hayley is in conflict with her own self. If anything, we’re able to do a character analysis on Hayley Kincain, analyzing her entire persona, personality and choices. I believe that‘s the most interesting thing about it, the reason why I decided to keep reading. I recommend this book to anyone seeking to find a protagonist that doesn’t have powers or their lover to save them from their problems, to deal with the true reality of the world and it’s dark side. Find out what happens next in the library.

Categories
Picture Books

I Am Jazz

Jazz, a normal little girl talks about her story. Or is she a boy? Ever since he was born, Jazz knew that he was a girl in a boys body. He loved the color pink, he loved to dress up and watch princess movies with other girls. At first, his family was confused, they thought he was funny or just plain weird. When they went outside, his parents forced him to dress in his usual boy clothes. Though, at home, he was free to wear girl clothes whenever he wanted to. Concerned, his parents went to the doctor and the doctor asked Jazz questions. The doctor later reveals that Jazz, is in fact, transgender.

What does transgender mean? Transgender means when you don’t feel like the gender you are. For example, there are boys and girls that think they are meant to be the opposite geBook Review- I am Jazznder. It often leads to misunderstanding for the parents or other people. Fortunately, Jazz’s parents approve of him and support him to completely change his gender. This is where he gets his name, Jazz. He later completely dresses up as a girl and does whatever a girl does. At first, everyone besides Jazz’s family were confused, the school still considered Jazz a boy so they made him join the boys soccer team and such. However, they have finally concluded to think of him as a girl. What will happen next? Will there be any consequences for Jazz? Find out the ending in the library.

Reading I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel was very heartwarming. It’s a perfect book to demonstrate children how to understand the word ‘transgender’. Especially since it’s based on a true story, it’s very interesting to find out what would happen next. It kept me going and kept wanting to know what would happen next. Also,it exposes it so they can be able to know that being transgender is ok and that they shouldn’t feel bad about it or make fun of people because of it. This book is indeed, a excellent book that is for sure, a must read for all ages.

Categories
Picture Books

Keisha’s Doors

Keisha’s older sisteKeisha's Doors.r, Monica was at first excited about playing with Keisha. She gave her attention for example, giving her toy blocks to play with and dolls so she and Monica can play together. However, Keisha walks away from Monica and refuses to play with her. This isn’t the only time where Keisha refuses to communicate. Her parents have tried talking to her but Keisha ignores them. It concerns them very much, which leads them to taking Keisha to a doctor. When the doctors are done with examining Keisha, they reveal that Keisha has autism. Keisha’s family were confused, what did autism mean? The doctor states that autism means that the person will need a lot of extra help learning to do basic things that are easy for us. It was tragic for Keisha’s family, especially the fact that they didn’t understand what autism meant and how it would affect her.

The doctor later recommends them a doctor so they would help support Keisha. When they do, the therapist examines Keisha and plays with her for a while. Then, when she talks to the parents, she says you have to do certain things in order for Keisha to listen to them. For example, she made Keisha’s hands touch the therapists cheeks. She said it would help her be able to listen to the speaker and to understand. She tells them to try practicing this technique at home with Keisha. Will this new technique work? Will Keisha be able to learn and such? Find out what happens next in the library.

Reading this book made me feel very curious about what would happen with Keisha. The truth about Keisha was a bit shocking for me and I thought it was sweet at the end. I really recommend this book to anyone seeking to read about children with mental disabilities and such. In conclusion, Keisha’s Doors by Marvie Ellis is a excellent book and should be read by all.

Categories
Picture Books

The Steel Pan Man of Harlem

Good old Harlem had many memories for me, some of them were good and some of them were bad. Though in the past, Harlem was home for rats and it wasn’t good. It was like a zombie apocalypse except the residents didn’t turn to zombies. The residents of Harlem weren’t enjoying the rathe-steel-pan-man-of-harlemt’s presence and it wasn’t good. They complained to the mayor, who was obviously frustrated at the the rat situation. However, one day there was a rat infestation at the subway. People were upset over this, suddenly, there was a man with a pan. He played it and then everyone was dancing. How did this happen? Due to his music. Everyone’s worries disappeared and even the rats were dancing. Soon, he ended the music which resulted in people stop dancing. They questioned him, and found out that the steel pan was the answer to the peace of Harlem.

The government found out what happened at the train. He told the Steel Pan Man if he could play his instrument to lead the rats out of Harlem. He agreed but asked for a price. The government agreed and as the Steel Pan Man played, the rats all followed him. He completed his mission, he came back to the government but the government refused to pay him, making the steel pan man angry. What do you think the Steel Pan Man will do? Will he do anything at all? Find out what happens next in the library!

 

Categories
Picture Books

It’s a Book

I suppose there was this moment when we were little when we discover the existence of books. Of course, for me, it was the greatest day of my life. However, there are some people who might take it as a curse, and that is Jackass, a donkey. He finds his friend, a Monkey reading its-literally-a-booka book. He was curious enough to go find out why he is reading a book. As he questions it, he thinks it’s related to his electronics. Sadly, he is obsessed with electronics but on the other hand, Monkey isn’t. Let’s just say Monkey is a bookworm. Fascinating, isn’t it? Anyway, he asks Monkey if you can charge a book, zoom in or text with a book. Monkey keeps denying and simply says,”It’s a book“.

When I read it, it was obviously very adorable the way the illustration was done. The ending was also adorable but of course, I can’t spoil it. It’s up for you to find out what happens next. Want to learn what happens? Come check it out in the library to read the ending.

Categories
Picture Books

Library Mouse

In a library, there was this little hole in the wall behind the children’s reference books. Inside the hole was a little mouse named Sam, he lived in the library and he calls himself a library mouseDoesn’t that sound interesting? When the library was full of people, Sam would curl up and be sleeping.

library-mouseWhen it turned to night, Sam was the leader of the library. He would go to the bookshelves and read picture books, chapter books and more. There were so many books that he could read, it was endless. Information filled his mind, he was probably the most smartest mouse of them all. His imagination was incredible, one day, Sam decided it was time to write a book of his own.  He folded over some little squares of paper and found a pencil. He started writing, he wrote about what’s it’s like being a mouse and he drew some little pictures to illustrate it.

When he was done with it, he put it into the auto/biography section and waited for someone to go and read it. After I read this, I admit it, it was a little adorable. So what happens next? Will someone read Sam’s book? Will they even like it? Find out what happens next in the library!

 

Categories
Picture Books

The Raft

Everyone loves summer vacation, right? Well, Nicky is not excited about this one, he receives news that he will be staying at his grandmothers house for the rest of the summer vacation. Nicky and his father both come to an agreement that this grandma isn’t their regular old fashioned grandma, she calls herself a river rat. What does that mean? Who knows. One thing we know for sure is that she isn’t those types of grandmas who would bake you delicious cookies and spoil you. You’re probably wondering why Nicky can’t stay with his own father. Well, his dad has to work at the plant the whole summer vacation. The good news is: There are gonna be no kids there. In my opinion, I think that’s a great things for starters. Socializing just isn’t my thing, all I need to survive is my handy dandy thick book. the-raft

Anyway, as the time finally came, Nicky was dropped off at grandmothers house. When they were gonna eat supper, Nicky was offered corn bread and instantly turned it down. When he passed through the living room, or in his description what would have been the living room in anyone else’s house, he saw paintings and sketches and a half-finished carving of a bear. When the grandma spots that he has been staring at the bear carving, she simply says,”Been carving that old fellow for years (…) The real one hangs out at the dump”. I think it’s pretty cool that she has the ability to carve wood to make it look like a real animal but that’s only my opinion.

During the summer vacation, Nicky quickly realized that his father was right, Grandma found plenty of stuff for Nicky to do like in the morning, she made him stack firewood, help her clean out the rain gutters and more. When Nicky went fishing, he wasn’t able to catch a fish and that frustrated him. His grandmother told him to try again and he decided to listen to her. He eventually fell asleep and when he woke up, he was surprised by a raft. It also had a picture of a rabbit. If I saw a raft in real life, I would’ve ran away screaming with my arms in the air but not Nicky. Nicky is brave!

Nicky finally cleaned the raft and he got an idea. He ran to the cottage and asked his grandmother if she had any rope and she said yes. He grabbed the rope and pushed the raft into the reeds along the rivers edge and tied the raft to the dock so it wouldn’t drift away. Why didn’t he tell her? Who knows?  Now, what is he going to do with the raft? Will he use it or will he just stare at it until he becomes bored of it? You can find out what happens next in the library.

Categories
Picture Books

Diary of a Spider

In my opinion, I fear spiders. They aren’t even a insect since they have eight legs. Also, no matter where you are, a spider is near you. You cannot escape them. It’s just a never ending nightmare.ew-ew-ew Did you know that in Greek myths, Athena created spiders because someone tried to challenge her to a weaving contest. Now they are cursed to weave webs and look terrifying.

Anyway, Diary of a Spider is about a spider that is living just like us. He goes to school, he has grandparents day and he has a best friend that is a fly. He goes to gym class to practice how to fly, though his friend can fly, which makes his grandpa not like his friend. He had a safety class and learned that the vacuum was the spiders enemy, it would vacuum their web and it could most likely kill them. They had a vacuum drill and he stopped what he was doing and he forgot where he was going, Due to that, he ran screaming from the room and they are having another drill tomorrow. Soon after that, his father made fun of his friend. Fly didn’t try to get out of her treehouse again after that. Will they be able to be friends again? What will happen to spider’s life? You can find out what will happen next in the library.

 

 

 

Categories
Picture Books

The Day The Crayons Quit

It was a regular day for Duncan, he went to school like any other day, But went to get his box of crayons in order to compleate his project, though he was in for a surprise. Duncan found a stack of letters. He read them carefully and was in shock for what was written. The crayons have wrote him a letter saying that they quit. Duncan was in shock. He needed his crayons for his school project. The gray crayon said that he quit because Duncan has used him a lot for huge and massive creatures like rhinos, elephantscrayons and others.

The black crayon has written to Duncan that he has only been used to outline stuff like rainbows, clouds and beach balls but he wants to be used as a crayon to fill in stuff. He had stated that he wanted to color a black beachball or a black rainbow. The next crayon was red and he/she had a lot to say. It said that it wanted to be used less because of the times it had to color. It had to color firetrucks, strawberries, apples, hearts and even Santa Clause. The rest complained that they were being used a lot too, not being used a lot, and being confused for another color. What will happen next? Will Duncan be able to get his crayons back? Find out what happens next in the library.

Check out Drew Daywalt “The day the crayons quit ” to find out

Categories
Picture Books

The Pink Refrigerator

Everyone has their own schedule but Dodsworth’s schedule is a little… boring. He owns a thrift shop but not a lot of people come in the shop. So he sits down on his couch, watches his shows then gets up, eats his cheese then watches his show, closes the shop and then sleeps while watching his show. This is it. This is Dodsworth’s schedule. Until now, Dodsworth’s schedule will change after an encounter with…a refrigerator.

pink

The refrigerator is a one of a kind. It is pink and has a globe magnet and when Dodsworth tries to take the magnet, it won’t come off. He gets a crowbar and it doesn’t work.  When at last he gives up, he opens the fridge and finds art supplies. A sketch pad, paint and brushes. He thinks these will be perfect to sell in his thrift shop. However, when someone tries to buy the sketch pad, he refuses out of nowhere and decides to try the sketch pad himself!

His head is spinning. Who would’ve though a sketch pad could be so interesting. The next day, he goes back to the refrigerator and when he peeks inside and is amazed to find new items.  Dodsworth hurries back to the refrigerator each day for more surprises, until one day.. the fridge is empty! Find out what happens next in the library.