We Are All Welcome Here

We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg is the story of Paige and Diana Dunn. It is the summer of 1954 in Tupelo, Mississippi, the town of Elvis Presley's birth, the civil rights tensions are mounting and demonstrations are increasing. Paige is trying to give Diana a normal life, which is difficult because Paige is inflected with polio and spends a great deal of her time in an iron lung. Diana is a typical teenager interested in making money for clothes and magazines, ignoring authority figures, trying to figure out boys, and to escape the small town life. Peacie is Paige's rough-talking black caregiver and the primary disciplinarian of the home.

As the summer passes, hate and more adversity will be showered on this struggling household. How each woman finds their way to independence , understanding and peace concludes our story.

This would be a great book to discuss in history or science class. The setting of the story in the 1950s during the polio outbreak in our country touches on the fears and phobias of a counrty that was scared. I vividly remember taking the vaccine for polio and how my family was so scared when my little sister, Linda, contracted polio. We didn't know if she would live or not. Interesting book and I recommend it.

Heaven

I have read several books by Angela Johnson and really enjoyed them. However, for some strange reason, Heaven, didn't do it for me. Maybe it wasn't the book, but the location where I began reading it, I was getting a pedicure and it was very loud.

Heaven is the story of Marley and her family that live in Heaven, Ohio. Marley has a great life, she lives with her parents and little brother, has a wonderful Uncle Jack that writes Marley letters about his travels around the country, and a great best friend, Shoogy. Everything changes when Marley's family receives a mysterious letter addressed to: Monna Floyd. Who is Monna Floyd and does she have anything to do with Marley tells the remaining of the story.

In the past I have liked the author past work, but for some reason this just didn't work for me. Who knows ?

Janette Rallison

I sure am glad that I am not in high school anymore. Some great person said," It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.", that describes my high school experiences. Two books by Janette Rallison, All's Fair in Love, War and High School and Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws looks at the best of times and the worst of times.

Samantha Taylor is the head cheerleader who just receives her SAT scores, her very low SAT scores. Samantha knows that she must do something to make her self attractive to " good universities". She decides to run for Senior Class President and then her troubles really begin. All's Fair in Love, War, and High School looks at the ups and downs of Samantha as she runs for Senior Class President.



Life, Love and the Pursuit of Free Throws tells the story of best friends, Josie and Cami. Josie loves Ethan and Cami loves basketball. But Cami has a secret, she too like Ethan. It looks like he may like her, too. What is she going to tell Josie?

I really enjoyed both books and think both high school and junior high girls would enjoy them.

Beach House

In my younger days, I hated scary books. I never wanted to read anything that made me shiver in my shoes and look out the window for that escaped killer, who was hunting me down. But as I matured, I really did change. I now enjoy reading about the serial killer who mutilates all his victims and then send messages to the police department for them to come and find him.. Love that kind of stuff.

Beach House by R.L.Stine is that type of book. It is summer and all of the students are on the beach. A killer is stalking them one by one. A killer who never leaves a clue and has found a very special place to hide. This book has some very unique text features and teachers should consider using this book to teach them.

Young adults will love the book. It is bloody, gory and intriguing with some romance. Just right for middle and high school students.

Richard Peck

I love reading books in a series, but I hate reading them out of order. Richard Peck's A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder tells the stories of Grandma Dowdel and her two granchildren, Joey and Mary Alice. The first book A Long Way from Chicago is the story of a grown-up Joey looking back at his childhood when he and his sister went to visit their grandmother every summer for one week. The story is told by using short stories which represent the yearly trips to grandma's house. Grandma Dowdel is a larger than life character who teaches her grandchildren the important things of life.

A Year Down Yonder is Mary Alice's story. During the depression, Mary Alice must leave her parents in Chicago and she goes to live with her Grandmother in the country Mary Alice is continually amazed and delighted with her grandmother's antics and how much she is like her grandmother.

Both books are great fun and you will fall in love with Grandma and all the trouble she gets into.