Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

It is a rare book indeed that ever gets a perfect score from me, but The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden deserves nothing less than top marks. It’s heart wrenching, believable, thought provoking and brutally honest. I absolutely love Zoey and at multiple points in the story wanted to applaud her courage and resilience and how she absolutely became her own hero. I could not put this book down and you won’t be able to either. Get yourself a copy asap; you can thank me later.

Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

12/29/2015

0 Comments

This is a surprisingly scary tale featuring two orphans who come to work at a house in the middle of nowhere. The family they work for is acting strangely and eventually the children figure out that the family's very essence is being sapped by the night gardener who is using the sweat of their bad dreams to nourish a tree that grows near the house. The children, Molly and Kip, initially escape, but then realize they have to go back and save the family from the night gardener and the tree.

0 Comments

Author

Middle School former Teacher Librarian - now 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.

Janice's bookshelf: read

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

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

by Liz Lawler

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

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.

book reviewsbook club

The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden