I hope you are enjoying and reading our guest reviews. It is exciting to see the enthusiasm for titles that some of these students would never have read.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Pictures of Hollis Woods. New York: Dell Yearling, 2002. Print.
Imagine being a twelve-year-old foster child who was left in the woods at two days old with no evidence of your identity, except for a tag pinned to your blanket that read, “Please name her Hollis Woods”. Patricia Reilly Giff, a Newberry Award winner, takes you into the unforgettable story of a young girl in Pictures of Hollis Woods. Pictures of Hollis Woods takes place in a modern-day time period at multiple different places including: a car, present foster homes, past foster homes, and more. The main character is a twelve-year-old girl, Hollis Woods, who has a great imagination, memory, and artistic skill. She has been placed in multiple foster homes and eventually runs away from these families as she gets tired of them.
In this story, Hollis has to help out her current foster parent, Josie, as Josie gradually gets older. Hollis never experienced something like this before, and she realizes that she can’t keep running away from her problems. This experience causes her to mature and become more responsible. If you think you’d like a realistic fiction story about a young girl and her relationships with past and present foster families, then you should read this book. Overall, it’s a good story about life and feelings; however, the book’s ending was to be expected and lacked interest. ~Karly
Weeks, Sarah. So B. It. New York: Scholastic, 2004. Print.
Some things in life a person just can’t know. Sarah Weeks creates a wonderful story, called So B. It, around this very sentence. This story takes place in a small apartment in the city of Reno. The most important characters in the book are Heidi and her Mama. Mama is mentally disabled and Heidi is trying to understand her even though she says the strangest things, like “soof”.
Heidi is at Hilltop Home when she realizes the true meaning of knowledge. She hears the word “soof” wherever she goes. It is the one word in Mama’s vocabulary that Heidi can’t figure out. In the end, Heidi realizes that some things in life a person just can’t know. Anyone between ages eleven and fourteen will love this book about a nice girl with the quest to know everything. I love this book because it combines a world a world falling apart around a little girl and a mystery almost impossible to solve. Happy reading. ~Spencer
Leslie Connor. Waiting for Normal. New York, NY: Harper Collins: 2008. Print
In this Schneider Family Award winning book, Leslie Connor creates a twelve-year-old girl that has to deal with family problems. Waiting for Normal is about a girl that lives with a crazy irresponsible mother that keeps leaving Addie home alone. Addie is a smart, responsible, and mature girl and not at all like her mother. This story takes place in present day Schenectady, New York.
Addie comes of ages by maturing and becoming a young woman. Addie learns how to take care of herself when her mom leaves her alone at home. However when Addie needs help she can always go to Dwight, her stepfather, or Soula and Elliot, her neighbors and close friends.
This book has many happy and sad moments. If you like reading books that have unexpected endings, fiction, or overcoming family problems, then I highly suggest this book for you. ~Annie
A place young people, parents and teachers can visit to learn about great books, curriculum tie-ins, the best DVDs and music CDs from knowledgeable staff of the Voorheesville Public Library of Voorheesville, NY.
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