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Rosie's Reviews

Surface Tension by Brent Runyon

For Luke, his family’s annual trip to their house on the lake each summer is something to look forward to. He swims in the lake, hikes to the waterfall, goes canoeing with his dad, and looks on the beach for luckystones, a special type of stone with a hole through the middle. During four summers when he is ages thirteen to sixteen, many different things occur. For instance, a pastor moves into a cottage by Luke’s family. He is incredibly rude and flies a confederate flag on his dock. The family on the other side of Luke’s families cottage hates the minister and forms a friendship with Luke’s family. On a later visit, the minister’s house catches on fire, and Luke, having seen a girl in the house, saves her while the minister is not there. At another point, Luke cuts his leg on some shale and has to get stitches. In addition, Luke brings a friend on a visit, breaks up with his girlfriend, exchanges fruit with a girl in a nearby cottage, and patches up his relationship with the daughter of a family friend.

This book was a bit interesting to read just because of the sheer number of different things going on- the minister hatred, friendships, relationships, lake-related activities, and heaps of other stuff. It did, however, contain a lot of frank dialogue and included teenage drunkenness, so I would question this book’s overall influence. It’s a good book if you get past the not-so-appropriate parts. Throughout the book, Luke gets a better understanding of who he is during his visits to the lake. Because of these factors, this book receives a score of ‘cool’ on the Teen Reading Scale. It is a good read for boys who like realistic fiction.

Rosie's Reviews

The Goodbye Season by Marian Hale

Mercy’s family is very poor, so her father goes to the city to work and she is sent to the Bonner farm to stay and help out. However, when an influenza epidemic kills one of the hired hands and Mr. Bonner falls ill, Mercy is sent back home for her health. When she gets there, she finds that her family has died from the flu as well, and she goes to the city to look for her father. She meets Emma Sayers, who lets her stay in the back room of her café. Eventually, she gets a job helping Cora Wilder take care of her children. She notices that Cora seems disturbed, and Cora’s stepson Daniel tells her that it most likely has to do with the fact that her mother and brother were both trampled by horses. Around Christmas, Cora learns that her father is coming, which seriously puts her on edge. When Mercy leaves on Christmas, she visits Emma and she pieces together that Cora’s father killed her mother and brother because he wanted land. She and Daniel go after Cora and her father, who went for a horse and buggy ride. They get there and try to stop Cora’s father, but he shoots Cora before being run over by the buggy himself. Cora dies, and Mercy leaves because there are no adults staying there, which would cause rumors if she stayed. Daniel proposes to her, but she says no because she doesn’t want to end up like her mother. She gets a job at an inn, but after one night she realizes what she wants, and it has been right in front of her.

This book was really interesting- there was a mixture of different emotions throughout the story: sadness, concern, love, anger, and confusion. I liked the romance between Daniel and Mercy because it helped Mercy see that sometimes, the very thing that you don’t want in life is actually the thing you want the most. Daniel is a good character, because he really cares about his stepbrother and stepsister, and even though he has a bad leg, he still puts himself to use fixing cars and buggies. On the Teen Reading Scale, I give this book a score of ‘mega-awesome’ and recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction.

Rosie's Reviews

Itch by Michelle D. Kwasney
Itch is living a normal life with her grandparents when her grandfather suddenly dies and her grandmother decides to move to Ohio. At first, Itch hates the idea, but eventually she gets used to Ohio and makes friends with a girl named Gwendolyn who is a baton twirler with a mother who is overly serious about winning. Eventually, she notices that Gwendolyn has a number of welts and bruises, and she and her new sort-of friend Billy think that her mom beats her. Their suspicions are confirmed when Itch sees Gwendolyn’s mother beat her while she is hiding. When Gwendolyn runs away, Itch and her grandmother go get her and bring her to their trailer to spend the night. Itch’s grandmother notices Gwendolyn’s bruises and they go to her house. Gwendolyn’s mother denies everything, but Itch tells them what she saw. Gwendolyn’s father is shocked and asks Gwendolyn’s mother to leave. With just the two of them in the house, Gwendolyn’s father makes it his mission to give Gwendolyn a normal childhood without the baton twirling.

I thought this was a great book with a powerful message: it is not okay to abuse children. I also admired Itch’s courage, because she stands up for Gwendolyn. I think it was noble of Gwendolyn’s father to try to give her a normal life and I liked when her mother realized that she needed to change and sought help. Overall, this is a very well-written novel that I enjoyed. On the Teen Reading Scale, I would give this book a score of “rockin.’” I would recommend it to readers who enjoy historical fiction.

On Tuesday evening (June 22) a small but talkative group met at Tribeca to discuss the books they've been reading this summer...some of the books we discussed included
      The Mysterious Benedict Society (a 3 book series) by Trenton Lee Stewart
      My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald
      Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Shadow Children series)
      The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
      Meg Cabot's Allie Finkel's series
      Nancy Drew mysteries
     The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
We have another get together scheduled in July...check the teen calendar for the specific time and day.
    

Historical Fiction

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