It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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Genre: Realistic

AR level: 4.1

Grade appropriate: middle or high school

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- I really did like this story, but I definitely feel like it’s more appropriate for middle or high school. The bullying is very intense and there is a very scary scene at the end. See my comments below on violence.

Creativity: 5/5-- I love the idea that Raine can collect memories and watch them. That specific part reminds me of Snicker of Magic. One of my favs from last year.

Characters: 5/5-- Loved Raine. Wanted to go running with her. She would have trounced me.

Engrossing: 5/5-- It was absolutely engrossing. I couldn’t put it down.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- It needs to be YA, but the cover is too young looking. Will have to do some reconciling on that.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence:medium-- the bullying in the books is seriously disturbing. In the end the main character is tied up and put in a burning building. Sometimes in adventure stories the violence is much less disturbing because it's so far fetched. This feels all too real.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

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On our Mock Newbery list.

I decided to move to Moonpenny Island in the first chapter. It’s a sweet little island that seems perfect. And then reality sets in.

This book is all about how hard life can be. It’s a good book, but not one that you want to rush back into.

Genre: Realistic

AR level: 4.2

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 2/5

Creativity: 2/5-- Life on the island made this story different from others like it. But it’s very much like other stories about tough life events.

Characters: 4/5-- very real, not always perfect, not always likeable, but very real.

Engrossing: 2/5-- This was not an easy book for me to finish. I loved it at first, but after a while there are just too many things going wrong. It was not a place I wanted to go if I had the choice of what to read.

Writing: 4/5

Appeal to kids: 2/5-- I think it’ll be a hard sell…

Appropriate length to tell the story: 4/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Sylvie accidentally gets pushed down the stairs when her dad and brother are fighting.

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Sylvie’s mother has a drinking problem.