Wolf Hollow

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Toby was quiet and kept to himself. He walked all over the land in a long coat carrying rifles on his back. Toby served in World War I and came back a different man. Annabelle’s mom won a camera and a lifetime supply of film and developing. Toby asked to borrow the camera and it more-or-less became his and accompanied him in all of his travels. Toby lived in an old smokehouse just beyond the borders of Annabelle’s family’s farm. One fateful day, a new girl came to Wolf Hollow. Her name was Betty Glengarry and from the start, she was trouble. After bullying Annabelle out of a penny and catching her brother on the forehead with a wire strung across a trail, Betty threw a rock at Mr. Ansel and hit Ruth in the face. Ruth lost her eye and never returned to school and Betty blamed it all on Toby. Annabelle fiercely believed that Toby was not responsible and she was determined to prove his innocence.

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk was an amazing book of friendship and faith. I loved that Annabelle was so trusting of Toby. She had an instinct saying that he was innocent and desperately tried to convince the adults in her life the same. I also loved how trusting in Annabelle her parents were. They believed their daughter and supported her when Betty was being mean to her and when she told them Toby was innocent. Betty was a perfect example of how some children can cause so much misery and manipulate the adults around them. She was also a good example of how bad things can happen to people when they are mean and dishonest. Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk was a good book that I would definitely recommend.

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Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Received as an ARC.

Otto found himself lost in the woods alone in a circle and surrounded by three sisters. He became their messenger to free their bondage to the circle by saving a soul on the brink of death. Friedrich hears music in his head and composes with a baton that only he can see. He sways his hands to the melody as passerbys look at him oddly. Friedrich has a harmonica whose tones are so perfect and so beautiful that the music lifts him up from his world and sets his soul free. Friedrich was born with a large birthmark on his face which was imperfect to the Nazi regime of Germany. Friedrich’s father had been taken and he and his uncle made plans to leave Germany. Mike and Frankie loved to play piano with their Grandmother. She took care of them after their mother died, but she was aging and could no longer care for them. Mike and Frankie were taken to the Bishop’s Home for Friendless and Destitute Children because it had a beautiful piano that the boys’ grandmother hoped that they would play. The keys remained silent though, but music was made through a harmonica and led them away from the group home and let them soar in the melody. One day the boys left the group home, but trouble stirred and they planned to leave. As Mike was climbing down a tree and reached for the harmonica that had fallen from his pocket, he slipped and fell. Ivy just moved to California and her new home is settled in an orange grove on the property of a Japanese family who were forced to an internment camp. Ivy learns about prejudices against her Hispanic heritage as well as against the Japanese. She sees the war come between friendships. She sees people who are cruel and manipulative. Ivy worries about her own brother and wears his jacket as protection until he comes back home. Kenny takes leave from the war to settle his father’s affairs and Ivy plays him a song from her harmonica. She gives him the harmonica to take with him to shed a little bright light in the midst of war. Her harmonica sheds more than just a bright light onto Kenny’s life. As the prophecy is fulfilled and the curse lifts, the three sisters rejoice at finally returning home while the music of the harmonica swirls the destinies of it’s players and crescendos into the tears of the sisters’ happiness.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan was, in one inadequate word, amazing! Echo surpassed a novel and went straight into a journey. It was a journey from the dark woods and through three people’s lives and then twisted everyone together to make a prophecy come true. The storyline was just incredible and I just can’t believe the way everything came together so beautifully. The story was like the songs from the harmonica itself. Echo is truly unique. I don’t remember ever reading a book like this before and strongly recommend this book to everyone. I think that the older the reader is, the more they will truly understand what is happening in the book. I really can’t say enough good things about this book except you must read it - Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan.

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For Review - Update

The Night Gardener

By Jonathan Auxier

I had to read this last month. It was my book club's book and since I had some work I had to do, I didn't finish it. Trying to kill two birds with one stone...it's also a Advanced Reader Copy SO I can catch up with my book club AND review at the same time. 

This book is CREEPY!!! Great spooky book for this time of year. The target audience is 10+ which I think is pretty good. A young 10 may be a little too freaked out. Nothing "bad" happens (well, so far). It's just creepy with shadows and I strange guy and stuff like that. So far, a book mom or dad would have to browse through and make up their own minds. I can see it giving kids nightmares or at the very least, making sleep a little hard to come by on a school night. 

I think the storyline is extremely creative and written exceptionally well. Not too much given out and details slowly drawn out to give that feeling of suspense. I'm digging it!!