Review: Kafira

Title: Kafira
Author: John O'Neill
Grade: A-

Synopsis from book cover
Kafira determines her life ambition will be to find a cure form the Ebola Virus. Her life becomes one of continuous frustration, as the cure eludes her. Kim il Sung, of North Korea, wants the moon to belong to North Korea and it's people. He forces a North Korean Biomedical Scientist- Min Shu- to construct a virus that is just as deadly as the Ebola virus, but can be cured. A demand is placed on the United Nations to agree to give exclusive ownership of the moon to Kim il Sung, or he will release the deadly virus. Kafira holds the key to the safety of the world. Will she be in time?

Review
When I initially read the synopsis for this book, I was very intrigued by the involvement of North Korea in this book. I have recently become very interested in the power North Korea holds over its people and the why it cuts itself off from the rest of the world. This book definitely fulfilled my expectations on that aspect. It was very interesting to read how different Kafira and Min Shu work and how different their reasoning was behind developing a cure for the Ebola Virus. My favorite parts were the jumping between the North Korean scene and the American scene. The North Korean government was very meticulous in planning their domination over the rest of the world and had everything planned to a T. It is unbelieveable how much they planned and how precise everything was. For example, all North Korean agents in the United States always carried cyanide tablets so that if they were caught, they stuck them in their mouths and basically commited suicide so that they were not questioned. Unbelievavable!

The only downside of the book was the length. At 539 pages, it was quite long. As I was initially reading I was trying to see if their was anything that the author could cut out to make it shorter, but I couldn't find anything at first. Around the last 100 pages I struggled to be as interested as I was during the first 400 pages.  The end did catch me back though, with a huge twist. Be ready to be thrown for a loop!

I would suggest this to readers who enjoy science fiction and also for those interested in modern Asian history. You won't be disappointed!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholic

Captain No Beard Series

I recently received 3 children's books, all written by Carole P. Roman, to review. As a preschool teacher, I love reading children's books and am eager to find quality ones. I am very excited to say that all three books are ones that I am super excited to add to my classroom library!  Two of the books were part of a series, so I am going to review them together. Without further ado, my reviews...

Title: Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life
Grade: A

Review
Carole Roman wrote this book as the start of the Captain No Beard series. The series Alexander (Captain No Beard), his cousin Hallie, and their stuffed friends on imaginary adventures on the seven seas. Once Alexander and Hallie board Alexander's bed, they become pirates and their stuffed friends become their crew! In this particular book, they end up in the middle of a storm. This must work together to save their selves and their ship.

The first thing that caught my eye as I was reading was the use of interesting vocabulay. The book is filled with wonderful words, that may be new to children, but can be learned during the reading of the book. Roman describes the shipmates as "hearty", calls the ship a "frigate" and describes the waves as "rumbling". By reading this book, children are being exposed to rich vocabulary. She also includes pirate "lingo", that adds to the fun of the book. I also enjoyed the beautiful illustrations that are sure to catch any reader's eye.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was that some pages did not have any illustration. Instead of having a picture on one page and words on the other, there would be words on both sides. Roman actually changes that in her second book.

Title: Strangers on the High Seas: A Captain no Beard
Grade: A+

Review
This book continues the saga of Captain No Beard and his shipmates. In this book, Alexander is put in charge of his little sister Cayla and must take her on their new adventure. Cayla causes all kinds of trouble until they see a dark ship in the distance. Through their adventure they learn stranger etiquette, and that every person is valuable in his her own way.

I once again loved the use of rich vocabulary throughout the book. and the beautiful illustrations. Another thing I loved about this addition to the series was how it taught several life lessons through the story. Children learn to not talk to stranger or to approach unknown animals. Children can also relate to the relationship between Alexander and Cayla. Like most siblings, Alexander is not happy about playing with his sister and thinks she will be a bother during their adventure. By the end of the story, children will learn that everyone is important. not matter how big or small they may be. This is an important lesson that would be very beneficial to preschoolers because they are often looked down upon because they are young.


I LOVED both books and would definitively be interested to read the other books in the series. I think that kids will be drawn to both the characters and the plot. and  I also love the vocabulary introduced in both book. I recommend this to anyone working with young children!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholic 

Summer TBR Challenge

I am a teacher and  this time of year means summer break! Over the pat few months I have been slacking on reading, which means my TBR shelf has grown immensely from where it was in September. This summer I want to challenge myself to read at least 10 books from my TBR shelf. I have challenged myself to read 50 books this summer, so I think 10 from my shelf is a good start. I am going to post my list of books below and add a tab above and cross them off as I go. After reading my list please let me know if you have an suggestions I should add to the top of my list to read first. Without further ado... my TBR shelf:

• Sacrifice- S.J. Bolton
• The Pact-Jodi Pictoult
• Distant Waves- Suzanne Weyn
• Girl, Missing- Sophie McKenzie
• Secrets of my Hollywood Life on Location- Jen Calonita
• The Shack- Wm. Paul Young
• Everfree- Nick Sagan
• H.I.V.E.- Mark Walden
• Secrets of my Hollywood Life- Jen Calonita
• Night Runner-Max Turner
• The Secret to Lying- Todd Mitchell
• What are you Afraid of? 
• The Not-so-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen- Mitali Perkins
• Fire from the Rock- Sharon M. Draper
• And then there were None- Agatha Christie
• Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes- Chris Crutcher
• Three Cups of Tea- Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
• Wicked- Gregory MaGuire
• The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks
• Love Sick- Jake Coburn
• The DUFF- Kody Keplinger
• My Worst Best Friend- Dyan Sheldon
• Shimmer- Dallas Reed
• Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen
• Nobody Don't Love Nobody- Stacey Bess
• Pure- Julianna Baggott
• The Devil Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger
• Wrapped in Rain- Charles Martin
• Son of a Witch- Gregory Maguire
• Annexed- Sharon Dogar
• The Kids from Nowhere- George Guthridge
• L.A. Candy- Lauren Conrad
• Uncle Otto- Winifred Cook
• Chosen- Paula Bradley
• Candor- Pam Bachorz
• Breath my Name-  R. A. Nelson
• Pledged- Alexandra Robbins
• Carpe Diem- Autumn Cornwell
• Sweet Little Lies- Lauren Conrad
• What was Lost- Catherine O'Flynn
• Castaway Kid- r.b. Mitchell
• Extra Credit- Andrew Clements
• New Kids- Brooke Hauser
• The Princess Plot - Kirsten Boie
• Every Crooked Nanny-  Mary Kay Andrews
• Into the Wild Nerd Yonder- Julie Halpern
• Snatched- Pete Hautman and Mary Logue
• Awkward- Marni Bates
• I am Number Four- Pittacus Lore
• A Dance of Sisters- Tracey Porter
• The Smugglers Treasure- Sarah Masters Buckey
• Under the Sun- Arthur Dorros
• Broadway Lights- Jen Calonita

Review: Tortured Memory

Title: Tortured Memory
Author: Dr. Lawrence W. Gold
Grade: A-

Review: Tortured Memory is the newest installment in the Brier Hospital Series. (You can find the review for 2 of the other books on my blog.) Dr. Gold takes on the world of psychiatry is this book. Dr. Abbie Adler is a psychiatrist who specializes in child and adolescent sexual abuse. The book starts out by profiling several of Dr. Adler's patients. Two of Dr. Adler's young patients are found murdered and one is missing. A few months later Dr. Adler is found catatonic in a parking lot. She is taken to the local psych hospital where she is awakened. She has no memory of what has happened before she was found. As she recovers, she starts to have flash backs of what happened to her and it leads her to believe that there is a possibility that one of her patients may have been the murderer. It is a race against time, and her lost memories,  for Dr. Adler to find the killer and save her kidnapped patient.

I have loved the other two books in this series so I was very excited to read this one. I was warned ahead of time that this book is a bit more complicated than the other ones and that was correct. The chapter's in the book are divided into months. Sometimes the chapters would be flash backs, which you wouldn't know if you skipped over the chapter heading. Sometimes I would be confused when the events took place until I went back and read the month the chapter took place. Something that I find very distinctive in Dr. Gold's books is introducing several different story lines in the beginning of the book, that don't seem related at all, but come together in the end. Tortured Memory has this and some of the story lines don't come together until the very end.

This was a quick, edge or your seat read that would be perfect for any thriller-loving reader. It will keep you awake until the very end and will definitely keep you awake. I hope Dr. Gold continues his series, because I for one absolutely love them!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholic

Review: Alphabet Anatomy

Title: Alphabet Anatomy
Author: Linda Ann and Branson Jones
Grade: A +

Review
As a preschool teacher I am always looking for ways for my students to develop pre-writing and writing skills. Because of the newer demands of kindergarten, children are pretty much required to know how to already write by the time they step foot into their kindergarten classroom. Alphabet Anatomy shows children how to write each letter. On each letter page, the authors give a fun rhyme that describes how to write each letter. For example the page for D says, "D climbs a ladder circles right in a dive, swims back to the ladder and comes out alive. D-Dive." These instructions give children a way to visually remember how to write each letter and states what sound each letter states.

I am very much looking forward to using this book in my classroom. The pictures and the fun descriptions of each letter will even cause the not so eager writer to want to try to make each letter.  I think that this is a necessary addition to all preschool books shelves! Even lower elementary classrooms will benefit from this book!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholc

Review: The Sixth Sense

Title: The Sixth Sense
Author: Dr. Lawrence W. Gold
Grade A+

Synopsis from the Back of the Book
Arnie Roth, a family practitioner, develops viral encephalitis. He awakens from the near-death experience with a new appreciation for life and an unexpected talent, his sensitivity to smell has increased a thousandfold. The Sixth Sense is highly entertaining, thought provoking, and touching journey through a world that influences us every day, but one that we know too little about


Review
The Sixth Sense is the third book in the Brier Hospital series. Read my review of the first book here. What is nice about this series in that each book as a stand alone book. It has the same underlying theme but you could read each book on it's own and not have to worry about missing part of the story line.

Like the first book, I was completely blown away by this book. Dr. Gold does an amazing job of weaving medical terminology together so that the common person can understand what is going on.  During the first 50 or so pages, there seems to be several stories going on that seem completely unrelated. But, as you get closer to the end, you see how they all weave together. It was fascinating how Arnie's extreme sense of smell is both a blessing and curse. He uses it to help save several patients, but it also is his downfall.I also love the way that Dr. Gold gives each character in his story a complete background, no matter how small a part the character plays. By the end of the book, you feel as if you know each character in real life and are happy for their joys and sad for their losses. Even though the book is long, at over 400 pages, it really was a very quick read and I finished it easily in 2 days. It drew me in and I literally could not put it down. I would suggest this book to anyone who is looking for a suspenseful read that will definitely keep you guessing!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholic

Review: A Rose in the Destert

Title: A Rose in the Desert
Author: Chi Emerole
Grade: B


Review
The first thing that struck me about this book was the absolutely gorgeous illustrations. Ryan Durney creates beautiful pictures of the landscape of Sudan, which are almost lifelike,. The story is about Rose's 7th birthday is a refugee camp in Sudan. It goes through her entire day and talks about the special parts of her birthday. It also provides a view of a child growing up as a refugee, which I believe is a very  hard topic to portray in a positive light. Emerole was very successful in doing that.

I actually had a bit of a hard time following the contentedness of the plot. Although there was an underlying back story to the entire book, I didn't feel as if all of the events were connected  The book seemed to jump from Rose's home, to school, to band practice with her friends, etc... I think children may have a hard time understanding the purpose of the book. Is it to talk about a child's birthday, or is it to talk about life as a refugee?  Overall I gave this book a B because although it was a little hard to follow, the illustrations were absolutely gorgeous. You can read more about A Rose in the Desert and Chi Emerole on her website.

Happy reading!

Bookaholic