"Child Called It" by Dave Pelzer

This is a book that is not for little kids! The punishments that Dave suffers, and eventually survives, is impossible to even imagine...a young kid experiencing severe abuse. I couldn't get through reading the book without crying. Dave wrote this book for his anger mangement classes to deal with all the anger that he held for his mother. I love this story because it really grabded my attention with all the drama that happens in it. I couldn't put the book down! I rate this true story a five out of five stars.

"Converting Kate" by Beckie Weinheimer

Kate, newly relocated with her mom to Maine, was raised in Arizona within the strict guidelines of her mother's very conservative church. Now, though, a year after her father's unexpected death, Kate is in the process of questioning everything about her religious unbringing: the extremely modest clothing, the banning of all but church-approved reading material, and the constant proselytizing of church non-members. Instead, Kate joins the school cross-country team, makes a variety of friends, reads books that had been banned to her, and even starts attending the youth group run by the town's new liberal minister. Subsequently, Kate finds herself in an almost constant battle with her mother.

Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, Kate finds in each new relationship, book, and experience a way to reform her beliefs and her way of thinking. Contrasting the lush greenery of Maine with the arid desert of Arizona, Kate emerges into a whole new world, inside and out.

Kate's search for her own moral compass is one with which most young adults can identify. Teens are naturals at questioning the rules and guidelines that adults can sometimes take for granted. Personally, I've always been fascinated with the psychology of how people form their beliefs, so "Converting Kate" was an especially good read for me. I admired Kate's strength in her struggle to question beliefs that were not personally valid for her.

Author Beckie Weinheimer was forty when she broke away from the church community that, from the time of her childhood, "dictated what I thought, drank, wore, read, and saw." In writing about a teen going through the same process, Weinheimer was successfully able to capture the emotions she must have had as a grown woman going through the same process making Kate's story very believable. You can read more about the author at her website: www.beckieweinheimer.com.

I'd rate this novel FOUR and a HALF out of FIVE stars.

"Shakespeare's Secret," by Elise Broach

Hero and her family move to a city outside of Washington. Their house has an interesting story behind it. A robbery, without an explanation had occurred there, and a piece of jewelry is involved. Hero's neighbor had been a prime suspect into the case. She had been the first wife of the man that owned Hero's house. Unfortunately she wanted to solve the case, but had had only one clue, which was a quote for one of Shakespeare's plays. Hero, and a friend go on a perilous adventure to solve the mystery of the missing diamond. Will Hero and her friend find the diamond? Is there a connection to her friend and the neighbor? Read this adventure fiction book to find out if the diamond is found, and what relationship there is between the neighbor and friend.

Rated Five out of Five stars.

"Chenango County: A Look Back"

Within this non-fiction book, you can found out a little about the history of Chenango County, and the cities, towns, and villages within it. You can found out a little about towns that were renamed or have long since been forgotten. This book shout be on anyone's list if they want to learn about local history.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars.

"Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Did you ever wish you could go back in history just to see how people looked, and talked, and dressed, what they ate, etc? This book is the next best thing to a time machine; it provides the reader with a first-class ticket to observe the community of Buxton, Ontario in the 1850s. Buxton was (and is) a real town that was founded by and for newly-freed slaves, most of whom escaped from their American slave owners. (The photo to the left is of a replica of the Freedom Bell, which was rung each time a newly escaped slave experienced their first day of freedom by seeking refuge in Buxton.)

The people of the community come alive through the eyes and voice of Elijah, who has the honor of being the first child born into freedom. (He also holds a more dubious and disgusting honor of "anointing" famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass after he jiggled baby Elijah a little too emphatically after a feeding.) Elijah has been pegged as being a "fragile" boy - one whose tears and fears are always a little too close to the surface. As Elijah faces the challenges of adolescence, we get a fascinating, a very funny, glimpse into what it must have been like to grow up in a warm, supportive, rural community.

Curtis enhances Elijah's voice with plenty of humor (my favorite story involved Elijah's overwhelming fear of snakes), but the humor stops and real drama begins as Elijah travels to the American side of the river in order to attempt to retrieve stolen money that was to be used to buy a community member's still-enslaved family. Elijah's exploration of a seemingly-abandoned barn - and what he finds inside it - is both heart-stopping and heart-rending.

Read the novel "Elijah of Buxton" for the humor, the drama, and also for a fascinating glimpse into a group of people in the process of overcoming the physical and mental barriers to freedom.

Rated FIVE out of FIVE stars.

"Kissing Kate" by Lauren Myracle

Have you ever read a book that you just can't seem to put down? Well, "Kissing Kate' is one of those books. It is about 2 teenagers and as you can tell by the title they end up kissing... If you would like to read this book, pick one up at your local library. I loved this book because it grabbed me attention. The characters are really cool to get to know. I rate this book as a five out of five stars.

"The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs" by Jack Gantos

Did I hear you say that a "love curse" doesn't sound all that bad? Like something that might involve lots of chocolate and flowers? Think again! The "love curse" of the Rumbaugh family is obsessive ... no, Obsessive ... wait ... REALLY OBSESSIVE maternal love. And the Rumbaugh family hobby? Weeelllllll, that would be taxidermy (the preservation of dead animals).

YOU put the two together....

The gruesome sum is the basis for this quietly horrifying novel that follows the story of Ivy Spirco, a girl who grows up in a small town in Pennsylvania with nary a worry. After all, when a girl loves her mother the way Ivy does, whose got room for any worries? Well, except for the one nagging thought she has about the inevitable day her mother will die....

This novel starts out very quietly and unassumingly, until you realize you can't help developing goosebumps that get bigger with every chapter (or maybe it's that funny feeling you get in the back of your throat when you come across something very gruesome) . You can almost feel empathetic with Ivy and her solution to the Love Curse.

If you are the type that is disgusted by anything freaky, steer clear of this book.

If you are the type to like a lot of freakishness and bizareness with your horror, this is the book for you - FOUR and a HALF out of FIVE stars. And maybe get a blood test for any weird strain of love curses that may be flowing through your veins!

(Oh, I strongly suggest this for more mature readers.)