megamoodles's reviews
561 reviews

Well, Wright is definitely the potser-child for the stereotypical "misunderstood, arrogant, brilliant artist." I've never heard this story about him, so that was interesting to learn something new; however, Mamah drove me insane. How can such a well-educated, reflective woman make such a mess of her life? I was not expecting what happened at the end. I guess I should also label the book as "haunting."

I've never read this genre before, but I really enjoyed it. I like Westerfeld's work and I was greatly intrigued with this book. I hope the other books in the trilogy are as good.

My students really liked this book, and I can see the appeal from an 11 year old's perspective. Brandon Mull is no J.K. Rowling, and it's probably unfair to compare YA fantasy to all of her books, but alas, I do.
The first several chapters and the last several chapters kept me hooked, but I found the plot development and character development annoying. Seth constantly breaking the rules and not thinking twice about it at all bothered me, but the way Grandpa S. handled it also bother me...the idea of "following the rules because they're rules" doesn't work with mischievous kids.
I would like to give the 2nd boom a chance and really hope that Seth has matured a bit more after leaving Fablehaven.

Gary Paulsen is always my go-to for high-interest low-readability for boys. I should read this as a read aloud when I teach the Revolutionary War. It's definitely one-sided, but war is never fair, so it's difficult to portray without bias.

I don't give out 5 starts very often, but I really couldn't put this book down. This was a sad and real account of what happens when you're sexually assaulted. My heart broke as we watched this young girl mentally, physically and emotionally break down and it seemed as if nobody noticed. The majority of the adults in her life contributed her behavior to typical teenage rebellion....and don't even get me started on her parents. I was appalled when her mom noticed carvings on her wrist that she gives her a book to read and tells her suicide is for cowards. UGH! I'm putting Catalyst on my list to read next. I guess there's a movie for this book, too, starring Kristen Stewart, too.

This was a hard book to rate. I liked it a lot, but it was difficult to get used to a 5-year old as the narrator. However, somehow Donoghue made it work, and there was a whole host of emotions the reader is taken through. I would recommend this read because of it's uniqueness.

**may be a spoiler**
This was a tough read on two levels. One, I struggle with reading a book written in letter form. The plot itself really didn't pick up until the last 100 or so pages, so I wouldn't call it a page turner; however, I was completely fascinated by the story and the family, more specifically. Secondly, I couldn't imagine this being a reality of mine. I don't know what kind of mother I would have been in this situation. By no means would I consider Eva or Franklin as emotionally stable even before having kids, but I was deeply saddened as I watched Eva continually be manipulated and even abused by her son and her husband just not getting it. I know this plot is loosely based off another school shooting, but Shriver went to the heart of the matter-a mother who thinks (and is partly) she could be to blame for her son's psychosis that ends up leaving him no other option than to kill 11 people (in an awful way may I add). Also what saddened me is how this kid played the system so well that not one other adult could really see this kid was troubled (and the sole teacher that recognizes his rage becomes one of his victims).
The account of the killings is gruesome to me. I sympathized with Eva in that she just didn't know what to do, but take the abuse and hope he turned out okay.