Behind the Gates, by Eva Gray

Behind the Gates, by Eva Gray, is the first in a new series for children, called Tomorrow Girls.  It looked interesting as it's a dystopian novel for kids, which as far as I know is fairly unique.  The young adult shelves are full of them but for ages eight - twelve, I don't see as many.

The story starts with Louisa and Maddie heading toward a special boarding school.  They anticipate freedom and activities, but they find that the school is very different than expected.  They are taught survival skills and have all of their electronics taken away.  Louisa loves it but Maddie wants to go home. 

The girls, along with some new friends, discover that things aren't quite what they seem and they begin to wonder about the school's intentions.  With the world at war, are they being taught survival for a reason?

The story ends just as the story gets going.  It will be interesting to continue the series eventually.  I enjoyed the book but was not blown away by it.  It will probably appeal more to its intended age group but I can see where kids might not be patient enough to wait for the second book.  It might be an idea to get the entire series!

Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon

Don’t Breathe a Word, by Jennifer McMahon,  is a story that grips from the start.   The introduction of a missing child is one that strikes fear into anyone who has loved a child.  Lisa is missing and her brother, Sam, is just as much a victim.  He grew up always wondering what happened to Lisa, never knowing that the truth was very close.  

Phoebe, a broken woman herself, is in love with the now adult Sam.  They are planning a future together when Sam gets a call from someone who claims to be Lisa.  The story really gets going as deception and memories of literal fairy tales are brought to the forefront.

The novel is cleverly written.  We get to know Lisa and her story before she disappears.  She believes in fairies and her fairy king who will make her his queen.  Sam never does believe but when things start spiraling out of his control, he has to question the truth.   The twists and turns the story takes, kept me very interested and although the ending was disturbing, it made sense.  It’s definitely worth a read.

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

I have mixed feelings about The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.  It’s the story of Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump Stratton, known to most as Vinnie or Mrs. Tom Thumb.  She was only thirty-two inches tall as an adult, having the condition known as proportionate dwarfism.  While Vinnie was in fact a real person, the story is a novel told from her perspective.

Vinnie’s small size does not mean she had a small personality.  Vinnie had plans to see the world and have everyone know her name.  When a “cousin” invites her to join his traveling show, she anticipates that she would be performing.  She had no idea her size was to be the show.  The story follows Vinnie’s life in show business, both at the beginning and later under contract with P.T. Barnum.  

I enjoyed the first part of the story a great deal.  I enjoyed Vinnie as a child and a young adult learning her way in a big world.  The story takes place in a fascinating time in history, so interesting that I found myself doing research into some of the people and places mentioned.   
 
I had trouble with the story when I started disliking Vinnie just a little bit.  Her marriage to Charles Stratton (General Tom Thumb) was never real to her and I felt that Vinnie became hard and cold after that.   Ms. Benjamin does an excellent job of story telling but I have to wonder if the real Vinnie was that hard or not.  I liked the innocent Vinnie a little bit more.   This is worth a read but I can't recommend it like I want to.

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book by Kristin Hannah.  I remember being a fan back in the 90’s so I’m not sure why I stopped reading her books.  The interesting thing is that I’ve collected several of her books over the last couple of years and just haven’t read them.  I’ll have to remedy that because I’m still a fan.

Night Road has two narrators.  The first narrator is Jude, the mother of twins Mia and Zach.  She’s a very involved mother who defines herself by her children.  When senior year begins, she knows that she has to take control of her kids, making sure they apply to the right colleges and get good grades.  She hates that they want to go to parties and cautions them about driving drunk.  She reluctantly loosens the reigns but she hates every minute of it.  

The second narrator is Lexi.  She’s a teenager who moves in with her aunt after a string of foster homes.  Lexi meets Mia the first day of high school and the two become best friends.  She becomes a part of Mia’s family even though things change when she starts dating Zach.  One night, after a party, things change for everyone.  

While the novel was sad and tragic, there was always a bit of hope.  Ms. Hannah created three dimensional characters with lovely hopes and dreams.  The story read like a saga.  I knew something bad would happen but I was shocked at the ramifications from one event.  It’s a story that will suck you right in and leave you a little worn out at the end.  I highly recommend it.

The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser

The Sweetest Thing, by Elizabeth Musser, is a story of friendship despite differences. It’s a story about how a life of faith can be tested and how a tragic loss can change a life, sometimes for the better.

Perri is a daughter of privilege. She grew up in Atlanta, in a community more or less immune to the depression plaguing the nation. At least that’s what Perri thought. Mary Dobbs is a teenager who has watched her family struggle her entire life. As the daughter of a pastor, she fully believes that God provides, because she’s experienced it in her daily life.

When Dobbs moves in with her aunt in Atlanta it is to give her the chance for a different kind of life. She meets Perri and after a family tragedy, becomes the one friend that Perri can really count on. The two girls experience highs and lows with Perri slowly growing in her relationship with Christ at the same time Dobbs begins to lose her faith, when old family secrets are revealed.

One lesson to take away from this book is that even in the darkest times, one little bit of God’s love, no matter what form it takes, can pull you out. I recommend this story to anyone who needs a reminder of that.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarity

I thoroughly enjoyed What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarity. It is an extremely well written novel about getting second chances and a fresh perspective. The novel flowed easily, even with three different stories being told. The focus was on Alice but I was just as moved by Alice’s sister, Elisabeth, and her story.

The story is fairly simple. Alice hits her head during a spin class and when she comes to, she can’t remember the last ten years of her life. She believes she is pregnant with her first child while in fact she is a mother of three and is in the process of a messy divorce. The Alice who wakes up is very different from the Alice who went to the spin class that morning. She doesn’t remember her children and doesn’t know why she and her husband are separated.

What the author does so well, is make us, the readers, care for the “new” version of Alice. She’s naive and sweet. She is encouraging and not bitter. The “old” version was frazzled and angry. While she may have had her reasons, I couldn’t help but hope that she would never get her memory back. I’ll remember this story for many years and have already passed the book along to another friend. I’m sure she’ll love it too.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

I almost gave up on The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton.  It was moving slowly, I just wasn’t in the mood, and the book was too long.  That’s what I thought anyway.  I’ll tell you upfront that I am totally happy that I kept with the book.  It is long, and it does move at a slow pace, but everything fits and the story is satisfyingly wrapped up in the end, with most of the mysteries being resolved.  

The story begins with Edie discovering a part of her mother’s life that she had never known.  As a young girl, Meridith was evacuated to the countryside during World War II.  During this time frame, she lived at Milderhurst Castle with the odd trio of Blythe sisters.  The novel jumps time frames, with the modern focusing on Edie discovering the secrets of the house, the sisters, and the mystery revolving around Mr. Blythe’s famous novel, “The True History of the Mud Man”.  The flashbacks to the past are narrated by Saffy Blythe, her twin sister Percy, and the young Juniper Blythe.  

The author does a wonderful job of making Milderhurst come alive, both during the war and in more modern days.  Each sister has their own dreams and secrets and yet you can feel the fierce protectiveness they have for each other and as a reader you know they would stick together, through anything.  When all is finally resolved, it all clicks and makes so much sense.  While parts are disturbing, and I may have a few nightmares about the Mud Man, I really feel that the story was completely satisfying.  I definitely recommend it, even if it takes you a while to read!