Tag: 5 star

A Review By My Students: Number the Stars

Posted April 15, 2015 in Reading, Review / 2 Comments

A Review By My Students: Number the StarsNumber the Stars by Lois Lowry
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell (1989)
Paperback (137 pages)
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2015 Alphabet Soup, 2015 Re-Reading, Read 2015

Synopsis

Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It’s now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are “relocated”. Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen’s life.

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Review: Shadow and Bone – Good vs Evil… and Russian!

Posted April 13, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Review: Shadow and Bone – Good vs Evil… and Russian!Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha Trilogy #1
Publisher: Square Fish (2012)
Paperback (372 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising, Six of Crows
Also in this series: Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

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Review: Seven Revolutions – Changing the World

Posted April 4, 2015 in Faith, Reading, Review / 0 Comments

I just finished this book and did not want to wait to share it. I really loved it. I also think that it fits nicely with the Triduum and the Easter season.

I pray that every one of you has a wonderful Easter weekend!


Review: Seven Revolutions – Changing the WorldSeven Revolutions by Mike Aquilina, James L Papandrea
Publisher: Image (2015)
Hardcover (256 pages)
Via: Blogging for Books
Rating:
Also by this author: History's Queen
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

Combining history, politics, and religion, Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea provide practical lessons to be learned from the struggles of the Early Church, lessons that can be applied to the day-to-day lives of Christian readers.
Prolonged, multiple wars in the Middle East. Waves of immigrants crossing the borders. Ongoing economic recession. Increasing political polarization, often with religious overtones. Conflicts over ideologies that pit the progressive against the traditional. Sound familiar? These conditions not only describe the United States, but the situation of the Roman Empire in the third century. That situation led to religious persecution and the eventual collapse of the empire. In the middle of the third century, the Roman Empire was roughly the same age as the United States is now.
In this book, authors Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea examine the practices of the Early Church—a body of Christians living in Rome—and show how the lessons learned from these ancient Christians can apply to Christians living in the United States today. The book moves from the Christian individual, to the family, the church and the world, explaining how the situation of the Early Church is not only familiar to modern Christian readers, but that its values are still relevant.

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Review: Cress – Planning to Save the World by Crashing a Wedding

Posted March 23, 2015 in Reading, Review / 2 Comments

Review: Cress – Planning to Save the World by Crashing a WeddingCress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Publisher: Square Fish (2014)
Paperback (592 pages)
Rating:
Also by this author: Cinder, Scarlet, Fairest
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Fairest
Reading Challenges: 2015 Fairytale Retelling, Read 2015

Synopsis

Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker; unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

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Review: The Scorpio Races – What Are You Racing For?

Posted March 18, 2015 in Reading, Review / 4 Comments

Review: The Scorpio Races – What Are You Racing For?The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic (2011)
Hardcover (404 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: Shiver, The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

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