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Running with Sherman
by Christopher McDougall

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Running with Sherman was about SO much more than teaching a rescue donkey to run in a challenging race. It covers everything from the animal human bond to the health benefits of living off the grid. It is weirdly inspiring and positive and made me feel refreshed and energized just reading it. Perhaps I enjoyed it because of my own love of all things furry, perhaps because burro racing was a topic about which I knew nothing but for whatever reason I loved every page. Highly recommended.

The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy

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I am intrigued by the idea of a person (rather than a disease) being able to steal memories. That’s what made me pick up this book and I’m so glad that I did. I loved it. I know that the background a person brings to a book impacts how they read it so perhaps events in my life made this book sing especially sweetly to me... I know it hasn’t received great reviews on Library thing but I thought it had a little bit of everything; adventure, romance, heartbreak, twists.... Granted, I do think the romance developed pretty quickly but who am I to say it couldn’t happens that fast?
There were lots of passages that stuck out for me but these two were my favourites:

“If I dwelled on my regrets, I wouldn’t have the strength to get out of bed every morning. We can’t forget what we’ve done, but it’s what we do with those regrets that mould us. We’re given a past to learn from and grow, but sometimes the greatest mistake can change your future for the better.”
and
“Hardly a minute goes by when I don't think of him, but in a way isn't that a lovely thing Julietta? To be so loved that you're always near one's thoughts? I see him every day through the memories we made together,...

Everything Sad is Untrue
by Daniel Nayeri

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The voice of middle school student Khosrou is beautiful and heartbreaking. The story jumps from his present day Oklahoma classroom to his past life in Isfahan and occasionally takes a detour into myths of demons and palaces and magic carpets. It took me a while to get invested in the story but it was well worth persisting. I only hope that the students who read this will also read enough to get themselves hooked. This is a memorable refugee story, one that will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

6/12/2013

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Sometimes it's the simplest things that are life-changing.
Mila and her best friend end up both liking the same new boy at school, so when Kaylee picks up Hunter on the side of the road, she forces Mila into the back of the pickup. Some intentional rough driving throws Mila from the truck, and rips her arm, exposing not tissues and tendons, but wires and white fluid. Mila finds out from her "mom" that she is really a Mobile Intel LIfelike Android. The problem is... she doesn't feel like a machine. Shortly after the truck incident, Mila and her mom are attacked by agents they mistakenly believe are military men, and then they realize more than one group is after them.
Mila 2.0 is well written, fast -paced and very engaging. Even as I was admiring her machine-like efficiency, my heart was breaking for her circumstance. Thoroughly enj

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The Last Academy by Anne Applegate

6/2/2013

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Wanted to like it, but just couldn't. To be fair, what Applegate was trying to do was pretty tough, and I know she didn't want to give things away too early, but what she couldn't reveal and the hints she dropped is what I didn't like because I figured it out right away. I have no idea how I'd have written it differently. All I know is I didn't enjoy it, the characters didn't grab my interest in the slightest, and I had to struggle to finish it. I'll still donate it to my school library, because there will be students who will enjoy it, but I'm glad it's a stand alone because I wouldn't want to be buying book two.

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Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

6/1/2013

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If I can get past how much I disliked the helplessness of Cleo, I could say that I enjoyed this book. I did not, however, like Cleo's acquiescent nature. She's a princess for goodness sake, but acted more like a peasant girl accustomed to being ordered around. I like my female characters to have a little more spunk. The rivalries between the kingdoms reminded me of a very watered down Game of Thrones plot, but without the rich writing or the complexity... 
I have put it on our shelves, and I will be buying the next book, but I think the fact that the book shifts between three kingdoms every couple chapters might make it inaccessible for any except decent readers.

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Taken by Erin Bowman

6/1/2013

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In the town of Claysoot, boys are "Heisted" when they are 18. Gray, who has to deal with the disappearance of his just turned 18 brother, decides that he's going to take his fate into his own hands and go "over the wall" before he turns 18. However, he finds out that he and his brother are twins and Gray doesn't understand why he didn't suffer the same fate as all the other 18 year olds. 
What follows left me surprised, hopeful, angry, puzzled, and interested enough to want book 2. Don't want to giveanything else away. I did feel that some of the circumstances surrounding Gray and Emma were a bit too convenient, but overall I enjoyed it.

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Slated by Teri Terry

6/1/2013

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I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. I found it confusing in many places because I didn't understand what Lorders are doing or who pays their salaries. Most people seem to be afraid of them, and that makes me wonder who wants them there. I'm confused as to how or why so many teens would become terrorists that they'd need a system to deal with them, and even though I read the explanation quite carefully, I'm still confused. I do wonder whether Kyla's difference is accidental or engineered. I'm not in a huge hurry to read the second book because by the time it comes out, I'll have forgotten the plot (don't you HATE that?), but if someone puts a free copy into my hands, I'd read it. I like the possibility of missing children being slated but I still don't really understand who decides to wipe someone's memory and I still don't know who is behind it footing the bill. No one does medical procedures for free. The essential question that I haven't yet answer is, who benefits from these slatings?

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    Janice’s quotes


    "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."— J.K. Rowling

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    Middle School former Teacher Librarian - then MYP math and science. Update... VERY recently retired! Still adjusting that I'm not just on summer vacation!!! 
    I believe there is no such thing as a non-reader; just people who haven't discovered what they want to read.
    If you read my reviews, please leave me a comment - I'd love to know that you're out there.

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    Janice's bookshelf: read

    Siege and Storm
    liked it
    Siege and Storm
    by Leigh Bardugo
    Just didn't enjoy it as much as Shadow and Bone. I just felt like the author was really trying a bit too hard to draw this story out. I was able to put it down several times and I couldn't put Shadow and Bone down so there's the differen...
    Ruin and Rising
    really liked it
    Ruin and Rising
    by Leigh Bardugo
    The Grisha triology is a fantasy series that I really enjoyed. I reread the last book because I thought I wasn't remembering something. I'm a bit confused because I've started King of Scars and Nikolai isn't as I remembered. Don't want...
    Don't Wake Up
    it was ok
    Don't Wake Up
    by Liz Lawler
    A Very Large Expanse of Sea
    it was amazing
    A Very Large Expanse of Sea
    by Tahereh Mafi
    I’m not usually someone who enjoys a story that is predominantly about the attraction between two people BUT I did like this one. The setting is one year after 9/11 and 16 year old Shirin, an American born Muslim whose family moves freq...
    Two Can Keep a Secret
    really liked it
    Two Can Keep a Secret
    by Karen M. McManus
    I love a good mystery, and although I correctly guessed the murderer in the first chapter, I still thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns.

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