I Have Lived a Thousand Years

This is the story of Elli, thirteen at the time that she and her family are deported to a concentration camp. She and her mother are moved from camp to camp, and at one point her long blond hair saves her. A man who she later learns was the notorious Dr. Mengele touches her braids and tells her that she is sixteen from now on. He sends her and her mother to a work camp. Much later, Ellie finds out that the group that she should have been in (under age 16 with their parents) was sent directly to the gas chambers. Although Elli was in captivity only a little over a year, she feels, in her words, like she has "lived a thousand years." Her year of captivity is heart-wrenching; separation, reuniting, and separation again of family members, starvation and sickness, constant moving from one camp to the next, continual living in death and destruction-all take their toll on Elli. After her release, one towns person guesses that fourteen-year-old Elli is about sixty. But as Elli says in the introduction to her book, she realizes that she much write down her experiences because the generations that remember the Holocaust are dying out rapidly and that it should never be forgotten in the annals of history. Instead the people who lived it must continue to tell their stories. Elli's story was as riveting as it was disturbing. This is a good book for anyone who wants to learn an inside view of the Holocaust.

The Last Exit to Normal

Last year I subscribed to a professional publication called School Librarian's Workshop. It is filled with lots of good things; I won't go into all of that now. What I really have found useful is the book reviews. The reviews are divided by age level, and I have found some really good books there. That is how I found The Last Exit to Normal. Before the story begins, we find out that Ben's father came home and announced that he was gay; Ben's mother flew the coop; Ben's father's friend Edward moved in, and Ben went wild and did terrible things in a three-year rebellion period. When the story opens, Ben's wild period has ended, albeit with a police record, and, desperate to help their son, Ben's dad and "momdad" have moved kit and caboodle back to Edward's hometown of Rough Butte, Montana, to live with Edward's ancient mother, Miss Mae.

While the story is filled with typical city-boy-moves-to-country gaffes and humor, it is also a poignant story of seventeen-year-old Ben's getting to know not only himself, but also his dad and Edward. Under Miss Mae's hawk-like eyes, Ben learns about hard work and the value of money. The humorous episodes, i.e., his first shopping trip to buy Wranglers and a Stetson, his first bird hunting outing, and his first experience of baling hay, are interspersed just enough to lighten the mood and keep the serious stuff from getting too heavy.

And there is some really heavy stuff going on in Rough Butte. Between the redneck neighbor who beats his son and locks him in the closet, the psycho who does not like Ben coming along and dating his former girlfriend and vows to stop it in any way possible, and an overturned tractor which lands on it driver, Ben finds plenty of drama in Rough Butte.

I read this book very quickly because I wanted to know what happened. I enjoyed it a lot, and I know that the kids will also. I highly recommend it not only for teenagers, but also for adults!

Survivors: True Stories of Children of the Holocaust

This book is a compilation of stories of eight different children who survived the Holocaust in different ways, whether it be in hiding, in orphanages, or in concentration camps. In my constant yearning to learn more about the Holocaust, I chose this book because it primarily dealt with children. It is always fascinating to me how the children often seem to be the strongest ones and often survived more than the adults did. I liked book and found the stories interesting. I did find the book a little simplistic to read, and I am not sure what grade level it is written for. However, I will still put it in the library and recommend it to students who want to read about the Holocaust.

Twisted

Since reading Speak a couple of years ago, I am trying to read all of Laurie Halse Anderson's books. She is a very good young adult author and a great addition to the library. Twisted is the story of Tyler, the kid who nobody notices, except to be picked on, until he decides to commit an act of vandalism at his high school.

The story opens toward the end of the summer as Tyler is finishing his community service with the school janitors. The summer of hard work has built up his body, and he now has a physique which gets him noticed. The vandalism has also earned him a new respect with the other kids at school. When school starts, he finds that he especially likes the attention of Bethany, who just happens to be the daughter of Tyler's dad's boss.

Twisted explores not only Tyler's feelings about school and Bethany, but also the complicated and dysfunctional family that Tyler belongs to. After a fateful night with Bethany, Tyler sinks to new despair both at school and at home. I think that kids will like this book and many will be able to relate to Tyler's feelings of inadequacy and yearning to fit in.

Breaking Dawn

I finished the final book in the Twilight series and am now anxiously awaiting the movie. The DVD should be arriving from my Netflix account any day now. I liked the book a lot; Edward and Bella get married and they have a little girl, Reneesme. This storyline takes up the first part of the book.

In the last part of the book, the vampire community is once again at odds with the Cullen clan. It seems that they think that a half human, half vampire being is unpredictable and should not be allowed to live. The Cullens get vampire help from covens all over the globe, as well as assistance from Jacob and the werewolves (real surprise waiting for you there!). Alice finds a surprise witness, and it remains to be seen whether Reneesme can be saved or not.

The tension in Breaking Dawn is enormous, and the reader is constantly surprised around every corner. This book was a great read, and a good conclusion to the series. But is it a conclusion? Meyer left it open to more possible books in the future.

Musings

I can't believe that it's been almost 2 months since I posted! Cursillo took up the whole month of February, and now the Passion Play is promising to take up the entire month of March. Diane showed up on our doorstep one night (a surprise--she usually just calls if she wants to talk). She said, "Well, I just came from a Fine Arts committee meeting."

Immediately I said, "You came to ask me to direct the Passion Play, didn't you?"

She was actually asking David and me to co-direct it with her and Joe, who will give it up in a year or two. The co-directors need to start before Joe "retires" from it. After much prayer and soul-searching, here we are. We're not really concerned about the acting, but the technical details are driving us nuts. We have a lot to learn, and a lot to get done before time. It is the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Easter outdoors on our church grounds. It begins at dark. Pray for all of us involved and that it will be successful.

Cursillo #155 was a big success! David did a great job as head cha cha, and the staff and pilgrims were wonderful. To top it off--a literal "icing on the cake," we had between 3-4 inches of snow that we woke up to Sunday morning, and everyone loved it.

I've not read hardly any in February. I am just starting to pick it back up, and will be posting about a couple of books soon.

So, I'm back, and glad to be here.