#16-17

#16 This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Last Survivors series Book 3)

Well, I'm an idiot. I just looked up this image to add to this blog posting and discovered it is book 3 in a series. I repeat: I am an idiot. I am the kind of person who likes to read books in order and will forgo a book further along in series until I get to it. It's almost like you haven't put in the time with the series and shouldn't peak at the ending. But, I did this unknowingly so I need to just get over it.

So, a meteor hits the moon and knocks it closer to the Earth making for some massive changes on the planet. Vegetation quits growing, the air is tainted and oh yea, lots of people die. This is the story of the Evans family, trying to survive in this new world. The main character Miranda keeps track of the daily events in her journal. Even though this is the third book in the series, I didn't have much trouble following it and didn't find myself feeling lost wondering, "What the -?" I thought the idea of the book was very cool and I did enjoy reading it. I encouraged my students to read it, but I'm hoping they forget the title and just happen upon the series so they can actually know the whole story.

#17 Bulu: African Wonder Dog by Dick Houston

I have a love/hate relationship with dog books. I love them and want to read them all, but I hate them just as much for all the obvious reasons fellow dog book readers well know. (Remember Old Yeller? Yeah, of course you do).

Anyway, this book was a bit different from my typical dog books choices, but in a good way. This is a non-fiction story about a husband and wife who left their home in England and moved to Africa. Zambia to be more accurate. They are working to open up a wildlife education center for the children living around them in local villages. Once there, they find some pups and fall in love with Bulu. Bulu is spirited, empathetic, and so sweet, readers instantly fall in love. (As is the curse with all dog books) While living in Zambia, Anna and Steve not only have Bulu in their home, they also end up adopting monkeys, a baboon, a bushbuck and warthogs. So maybe this book isn't so much a dog book as an animal book. It is of course filled with African adventure, wild animals, floods and many other exciting events, all of which seem to involve little Bulu.

#14-15

#14 Gone by Michael Grant (Gone series Book 1)

Finally, I've read this book! I see it all over my library at school and have wanted to read it for some time. In the story, everyone over the age of 15 disappears, leaving all the children in the town to fend for themselves and learn to survive. Not only do the kids have to deal with this craziness, but some of them begin showing signs of strange unexplainable powers and a mysterious barrier is found around the town too. A great read and I've got my name down to get the second in the series next.

#15 The Rapture of Caanan by Sheri Reynolds

This book was incredibly powerful. This is the kind of book you hope your friends read so that you can talk to them about it. A young girl named Ninah narrates the story and we follow her through her life living with followers of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind. Her grandpa is the leader of this church (think Pentecostal, but scarier and with ugly consequences) and whatever he says is taken as Gospel. Ninah and her family try hard to follow all the rules and stay true to God, but Ninah begins to question the religion and her own sense of right and wrong. She tries to keep herself from sinning, but she and her prayer partner James find themselves getting too close and she becomes pregnant. What happens to her community of believers and herself is compelling, intense and difficult to read all at the same time.