Thursday, February 27, 2014

Mini Review: One Today

Title:  One Today: A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration January 21, 2013
Author:  Richard Blanco
Rating: 5/5

Summary:
One Today is a commemorative chapbook of Richard Blanco’s inaugural poem, presented January 21, 2013 during President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony.

Review:

A mini review for a mini book (I think it's a total of 30 pages, maybe).  I picked it up while at work on the library and read it during my break (in 15 minutes).  I love poetry and I am getting more involved with history so I enjoyed the series of poems.

I saw it as both many poems and one poem that tie us, as a nation, together for a day.  Nothing extraordinary, just a day in or lives.

I recommend for a poetry lover who doesn't want a big read or heavy interpretation.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday [9]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme by The Broke and the Bookish

REWIND!

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

I didn't read much during my "childhood" so I have very few favorites, but enough to make a list of ten.

     1.  A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza



Choco, a little bird living alone, sets out to find a mother, but he has no luck until he meets the warm-hearted, generous Mrs. Bear and her other children--Piggy, Ally, and Hippy.





     2.   Stellaluna by Janell Cannon




Stellaluna is the tender story of a lost young bat who finally finds her way safely home to her mother and friends. This award-winning book by Janell Cannon has sold over 500,000 copies and was on the bestseller list for more than two years.



     3.  Sand Cake by Frank Asch



Papa Bear uses his culinary skills and a little imagination to concoct a sand cake.





      4.  Scribbler of Dreams by Mary E. Peterson

Kaitlin Malone has been raised to hate the Crutchfields, relatives the Malones have feuded with for as long as Kaitlin can remember. This legacy of hatred has never been questioned until Kaitlin meets a boy and begins to fall in love with him before she discovers that he is a Crutchfield . . . and the son of the man her father has gone to prison for killing. 
To give the relationship a chance, Kaitlin lies about her identity. But what was supposed to be one temporary untruth leads to yet another, and soon she finds herself tangled in a complicated web of deceit. In the course of her deception, she discovers an even bigger lie: The Crutchfields are not the monsters her family has always portrayed them to be. When Maggie Crutchfield, the matriarch who started the feud, reaches out from the past to right a wrong, she offers Kaitlin a legacy worth holding on to-if she can.

      5.  Till Death Do Us Part by Lurlene McDaniel



The doctor's diagnosis for April Lancaster is not good. April has a brain tumor which cannot be operated on. She's only 18, and her future is uncertain. But when she meets Mark Gianni, a 21-year-old with a passion for car racing, things change.
Mark is handsome and charming--and has cystic fibrosis. Despite herself, April falls completely in love with him. April  says yes when Mark asks her to marry him. But a racing accident aggravates Mark's CF, and April must make a decision that will change the course of her life forever.

     6. Everworld Series by K.A. Appelgate

David's life was pretty normal. School. Friends. Girlfriend. Actually, Senna was probably the oddest aspect of his life. She was beautiful. Smart. But there was something very different about her. Something strange.
And on the day it began, everything happened so quickly. One moment, Senna was with him. The next, she was swallowed up by the earth, her screams echoing from far, far away. David couldn't just let her go. Neither could the others. His friends and hers. So, they followed. And found themselves in a world they could have never imagined. 
Now they have to find Senna and get home without losing their lives. Or their minds. Or both...

     7.   I Love You Forever by Robert Munsch


An extraordinarily different story by Robert Munsch is a gentle affirmation of the love a parent feels for their child--forever. Sheila McGraw's soft and colorful pastels perfectly complement the sentiment of the book--one that will be read repeatedly for years.



     8.  Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer


Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius—and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories—they're dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.



     9.  Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein



Come in … for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins. You'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings is at once outrageously funny and profound.

     10.  Amelia Bedelia and the Baby by Peggy Parish



Taking care of babyAmelia Bedelia has her hands full when she takes care of Mrs. Lane's baby. As usual, the literal-minded housekeeper mixes things up, but she also wins the heart of her newest and youngest fan.