"Recovering Charles" by Jason F. Wright

By Jaylene Scott

I recently finished reading "Recovering Charles" by Jason F. Wright, the author of "The Wednesday Letters" and "Christmas Jars." I have to say that I really enjoyed it. It is a story of a young man named Luke who distanced himself from his drunken father after tragedy struck his earlier life. He goes on to live life, not really thinking about his father, until he gets a phone call shortly after Hurricane Katrina. His father had moved to New Orleans and was among the people missing shortly after the disaster. Luke has to decide whether it's time to go searching after his father and unearth some pain and sorrow he'd had hidden for so many years, or to ignore pleas for help from his father's friends.

Wright uses a series of flashbacks to help the reader understand the trials that Luke and his family faced. Luke has to sort through his feelings, but decides that the right thing to do is to go to New Orleans to look for his father. The book continues by telling of Luke's journey to and through New Orleans in search of the man that he used to know.

Glenn Beck said about this book:"Recovering Charles is a riveting story of hope, healing, and, above all, faith. I was profoundly touched by seeing my own struggles reflected in its pages and inspired by its message that life can always have a second verse."

This book was a quick and pleasant read, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good story that helps you reflect on the truly important things in life.

The Alchemist

By Lisa Hymas

I just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I really enjoyed it. The book was first published in 1988 in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history.
 
After the first few pages, I knew I would enjoy the simple writing style. This book in not about religion, but about spirituality and the main character's, Santiago, journey to fulfull his peronal legend.
 
I think it would be a good first book for someone wanting to read something soul searching, intriguing, and yet very easy to read and makes you smile at the end. The content was clean and took me only a few days to finish (and I'm not a fast reader).
 
from Amazon.com:
 
"The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams."

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

By Lonica Rowley

Before recently, I've only read Orson Scott Card's religious fiction, Sarah. I enjoyed this novel and thought it was well-researched and uplifiting. Well, I should mention that I also read Ender's Game at the behest of my mother back as a teenager (that's a story for another day). I will say though, that I hated Ender's Game the first time around. As part of my young adult literature class I was compelled to read it again. I've been dreading it for weeks now. Pleasantly, I was rather surprised when I began reading it again and was immediately drawn in an intrigued by the story. I don't remember any of the plot from when I was younger, so I'd like to think that this was my initial attempt at the novel. I remained interested and motivated by the story right up until the end.

Essentially, the novel opens with a six-year-old boy, Ender, who has had his "monitor" removed. The reader, while entirely unsure of what a "monitor" is exactly, fully understands the significance and danger in which this places Ender. Luckily, Ender doesn't have survive without his monitor for long. He is summoned to Battle School where he is going to learn how to commande future armies in the world's ward against the Buggers. Over the course of the next five years Ender begins to slowly realize what exactly is instore for him.

I know, I know, it all sounds a little implausible, but Card does a wonderful job narrating his story and creating a great deal of sympathy for the Ender. While the novel is science fiction, the issues invovled really make the reader start to think. How should people best handle power? Is it right to put so much pressure on one so young, even if that is the only option? Is it better to be agressive or should we wait patiently for what will come?

While I might not have recognized it as a teen, I can truly see now why Ender's Game won both the Hugo and Nebula award, making Card the only recipient to recieve both of science fiction's most prestigious awards consecutively. If you are a fan of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Giver, or The Host, Ender's Game could be right up your alley. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Stolen Lives Book Review

Review Written by Kristen Smith

Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail

By Malika Oufkir

So this is my first attempt at ever reviewing or reccomending a book to anyone. So, I am including the book review from Oprah's book club website. My mother-in-law read this book for her book and club and reccomended I read it as well.

The details of the book are included below so I will just share my brief thoughts. First off, this book opens your eyes to a world more foreign than I could wrap my mind around. The idea first that princesses and actual royalty that still exists. Second, the courage people have to stand up for what is right in countries where human rights don't carry a whole lot of weight. Third is the fight that exists in every human soul if allowed to persist and fourth the power of family.

You would think it was a fictional story by human rights activist trying to blow the whistle on how people are treated in some countries, if the women the story was about did not actually live today in Europe. Live being the key word. It opened my eyes to what is going on in the world that I have no idea about.

It is an incredible true story about one women's will to save her life and her families.

As far as ease of read goes, you won't want to put it down.. However, you can read it in spurts and it is suitable for most mature audiences. There are some things you would not want teenagers reading about. But you could read it first and help navigate them through those brutally honest and uncomfortable areas.

Announced May 16, 2001

An Introduction to Stolen Lives
The eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco's closest aide, Malika Oufkir was adopted by the king at age of five as a companion for his daughter. She spent most of her childhood and adolescence within the gilded walls of the palace, living an extraordinarily privileged yet secluded life.

Her world was shattered on August 16, 1972, when her father was executed for his part in an attempt to assassinate the King. Along with her mother and five siblings, Malika, then nineteen, was imprisoned in a penal colony. The Oufkir family spent the next fifteen years in prison, the last ten in solitary confinement, until they managed to dig a tunnel and escape. Their freedom ended five days later, however, when they were captured and returned to prison. In 1996, after twenty-four years of incarceration, the Oufkir family was finally granted permission to leave Morocco.

In Stolen Lives, Malika recounts her family's story with unflinching and heartrending honesty. She recalls their day-to-day struggle for survival in harsh conditions, being watched around the clock by prison guards, and communicating with her family solely through prison walls for more than a decade. She tells of raising her brothers and sisters, teaching them good manners and attempting to provide them with some semblance of a normal life. They celebrated Christmas and birthdays, saving up rations to make cakes and fashioning toys out of cardboard. Through it all, Malika managed to draw upon her sense of humor, which, she says, "allowed us to survive even-and most of all-at the worst moments."

In the Preface to Stolen Lives, co-author Michˆle Fitoussi recalls that, upon first meeting Malika, she asked herself, "How can anyone appear normal after such suffering? How can they live, laugh, love, how can they go on when they lost the best years of their life as a result of injustice?" The answers are found in this poignant and inspiring account of a family who endured with courage, determination, and dignity the cruel and unjust circumstances fate had in store for them.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Brian Selznick created waves with his “picture book” The Invention of Hugo Cabret. At 530 pages long, this is definitely not your typical picture book (most picture books have a standard 32 pages). It is, however, a wonderful story—so wonderful in fact that it was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2008, marking it as the most distinguished American picture book for children of the year.

Told with beautifully illustrated images, this story follows the adventures of Hugo as he strives to survive alone, lonely, and destitute in a Paris train station. With a talent for working on clocks and fiddling with machines, Hugo hopes to keep himself alive long enough to reconnect with his father by rebuilding an automaton he hopes will pass on a message from his father who died years earlier in a fire.

Along his quest to reconnect with his father, Hugo manages to get himself into a few scrapes, meet some new friends, discover some new truths, and find himself and loving and caring family. A tear jerker and heartwarming at the same time, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is not only a landmark literary creation, it is also an emotional story readers of all ages can enjoy.

Have you read a good book lately? Tell us about it! E-mail your review to Lonica2.blogforliteracy@blogger.com and it will be posted to blog.

The Hunger Games by Suzzane Collins

I recently read and devoured The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was a great and quick read! Although, it’s a young adult novel, this work of fantasy/science fiction could easily be consumed by teens and adults alike. The story begins years into the future after the destruction of North America. In an effort to keep the newly-formed “districts” under control the Capital hosts a yearly “Hunger Games” event. Two teenagers from each district are selected to travel to the Capital and fight to the death in this Gladiator-like experience. When her younger sister is selected for the competition, Katniss volunteers to take her place, thus saving her sister’s life. But can Katniss save her own life? You’ll have to read to find out! I highly recommend this book to anyone. Although not much of a fan of science fiction, I found I could hardly put this book down. As a growing popular novel, you’ll want to find out for yourself what all the excitement is about.

Have you read a good book lately? Tell us about it! E-mail your review to Lonica2.blogforliteracy@blogger.com and it will be posted to blog.