Hostage Lands

Hi,
I've been wanting to read this book ever since i saw it at a conference this spring.
And finally it was in at the library. And it was worth the wait.

What the book's about...
As they translate the ancient script on recently unearthed Roman tablets, fifteen-year-old British farm boy Neil and his Latin teacher delve into the story of Rusticus, a centurion saved from massacre by Caedmon, a Celt who has witnessed Christians being martyred in Rome.
I know that that description of the book is kinda boring but it is a relay exciting book. The story mainly follows Rusticus and his story. And his story is an amazing one of bravery, kindness, and trust. I Loved this book. Here's my thoughts on it:

Age: 13 and up. It has a slow start so if you like fast paced books this one may take some patience.

Good or Bad? Amazing. I read it in two days i couldn't seem to put it down.

Scary?  The main character is fighting in a war so there are some Intense parts so id say 5.

Hard parts: There is betrayal in this story. Its set in ancient Rome and the roman culture at that time was kinda creepy.

Favorite part or Quote: When Ruticus's friend tells the story of Christ. It's very cool and powerful the way he tells it.

Thanks for reading
i hope you get a chance to read this book.

Lillie

Glory Be

Hi everyone it's Lillie.
I finished another book this one is called Glory Be by. Augusta Scattergood
Here's what its about:

For Gloriana June Hemphill, life in Hanging Moss,Mississippi, is filled with doodle bugs, iced tea, and fireworks on her birthday, the Fourth of July. But the summer of 1964 is different. Glory, as everyone knows her, is eager to turn twelve. There are times though when she wishes she could turn back the clock a year. Maybe it's the new girl from the North- With her black socks and clodhopper sandals- that's got everyone out of sorts. Or maybe it's the debate about whether or not the town should keep the segregated public pool open. It seems the answers to Glory's questions about the pool  keep changing. Now she's got to summon up the courage to to find out whats true and who's lying. 

Half of the reason I normally like or dislike a book is whether or not I like the characters. In Glory Be Augusta Scattergood, did an amazing job with how she built her characters. At the Beginning of the Book Glory's Father seems not to care much about anything. But because of that first impression of him when he does stand up for his daughters and what he thinks is right it leaves you cheering for him.
Well here is what i think of this book:

Age: I would say 12 and up.

Good or Bad? Very Good i really enjoyed it.

Scary?  4 Not really scary but it is pretty intense at some parts

Hard parts: There is quite a bit of hard stuff in this book. One of her friends gets beat up, If you have ever read To Kill a Mocking Bird  its that kind of hard.

I hope you give this book a try!

Lillie

P.S: if you want to know more about Augusta Scattergood click here!

Sad News

For the first time since Ive started this blog i found a book i didnt like.
Here's what its called
Behind the masks by Susan Patron
Here is what the back of the book says

My name is Angie this is my story...
Life in the wild west is never dull, especially not after Angeline Reddys father, the town of Bodies greatest criminal lawyer, is declared murdered. Angie, who knows deep in her heart that he isn't dead, decides its up to her to solve the mystery of what happened to him. But when her mother takes ill a mysterious ghost appears, putting together the puzzle pieces seems impossible. Not to mention a gang of vigilantes the 601, is raging out of control, running folks out of town, and nobody is safe.
 Will Angie, with the help of her friends Ellie and Lin Loi and the mysterious and tragical handsome Antonie, be able to uncover the secrets of her fathers disappearance?

I love mysteries especially Good ones. But this one went all wrong. Although this book is under the category of Historical Fiction it has a ghost in it. Now when i read the back of the book and it said a ghost appeared i though that like many other books the "Ghost" would end up being something else like noises in the attic that end up being someone hiding up there. Or Perhaps just a charters Imagination blowing something way out of proportion. But no this had a ghost in it. Not a noise thought to be one, not imagination a ghost. When i hit that part i thought perhaps the rest of the book would leave ghosts out. But as i flipped ahead i noticed that the Ghost  had a big part in the plot so i decided to stop reading.

I know there are people out there who enjoy ghost stories and if you enjoyed this book I'm glad but i have decided that i don't what that in my head.

I'm not going to do as i normally would with the Age Good or Bad etc because i didn't finish the book.

If you have read the book please leave me a comment!

Lillie

The Danceing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli

Hi,
I have to say that this book was a fun one to read,
It was all writen in pros
So fun

Here's what the back of the book says

The line into the danceing pancake

curls all the way around the block

Mom helps Ruby Frances wait tables

I fill endless syrup bottles,

napkin holders, shugar jars.

We are busy and wizzy

and spinning through the day.

The grand opening at The Danceing Pancake isntthe only new thing in Bindi's life: new friends, a new apartment, maby even a cute new crush? But there are other changes, like her dad's move to to a new city, that have left Bindi confused wondering: What will happen to my family? Will this new life ever feel normal? Among the unlikely bunch of of regulars who form a makeshift community at the diner, Bindi will try to figure out how to be a new version of herself, one pancake and silly elephant joke (her uncles specialty) at a time. 

Heres what i think:

Age: 9 and up. It was a preaty easy read

Good or Bad? Good i likes that it was in Pros

Scary? 0 not scary at all.

Hard parts: Her parents are thinking of getting a divorce, Grace (one of thire custamers) is homeless, Yes Bindi has a crush on a boy but they are 11 and never even have a conversation.

My favorite charicter: My favorite charicter in this book was Albert her bestfriend/honorary brother. i liked him becuse he was kind of odd. Most of the time all he talked about were bugs. But comeing up right behind him in favorites is Grace. An older homless lady who Bindi loves.

I hope you enjoy it!

Lillie

 

Pictuers by Lewis Hine

Here are some pictures by Lewis Hine:

  

Here the picture that's on the cover of Counting On Grace



 I wonder how Lewis took this picture?

Are they eating lunch?

I don't think i could eat if i was up that high.

 

I don't think I would want his job.

  

I wonder what she's thinking about?

 Yikes!!!!!

Well thanks for looking!

Lillie

Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop

Just me,
I went to the library and was slightly discouraged by the fact that there are not many good books. But as i looked i saw a sticker that said Historical fiction. I grabbed the book flipped it open to the inside page and this is what it said:
1910
North Pownal Vermont
Twelve year old Grace and her friend Arthur must leave school to work as doffers in a mill. But Grace is left handed. Replacing full bobbins with empty ones is a right-handed job, and every mistake Grace makes costs her family precious pennies...
   I almost set down the book, it sounds kind of boring. But still i keep reading...
Grace knows Arthur is hatching a desperate plan to get himself out of the mill...
   A desperate plan? Maybe this could be exciting...
She begs him to wait. something will come to change their lives.
that something turns out to be Lewis Hine, a reformer with a camera...
  I know who he is! I just read about him in A History of US! I think to myself...
Who finds hims way into the mill to so that he can take pictures of kids like grace and Arthur next to the enormous spinning frames that beat out the rhythm of their twelve hour days. Boldly Grace becomes his secret ally.
  I ended up checking out the book from the library. And here is what i think of it...

Age: 9 and up not that it was scary but the words might be kind of hard for someone any younger than 9

Good or Bad? Good it starts out slowly but if you hang in there the plot comes in and things get more exciting

Scary? 1 nothing was scary. But there was a lot of sad parts

Hard parts to look out for: Graces Grandfather Dies, There is one bad word but that's all, One boy gets hurt in the mill and it goes into some detail of what the wound looks like, She try's to run away and her mom hits her at one point.

Although i wasn't shure whether it would be good I'm glad i checked it out and if you like Historical fiction i suggest you should too.

Lillie


P.S If you read this book be shure to look at page 223-227 It's all about how Elizabeth Winthrop though to wirte this book about hao she saw this picture and wondered what life was like for this little girl.
Do you ever do that wonder what life was or is like for others?

Sorry!

Hi,
Sorry about the weird highlighting on my blog about the help. I cant get it to change :-(

Lillie

The Help

Hi,
I Just finished  reading The Help,By Kathryn Stockett
It was a good book.
Here is what the back says,
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step...
Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson Mississippi, raising her seventeenth white child. She's always taken orders quietly, but lately it leaves her with a bitterness she can no longer bite back. Her friend Minny has certainly never held her tongue, or held on to a job for long, but now she's working for newcomer with secrets that leave her speechless. And white socialite Skeeter has just returned from college with ambition and a degree but, to her mother's lament no husband. Normally Skeeter would find solace in Constantine, the beloved maid who raised her , but Constantine has inexplicably disappeared



Together these seemingly different women join to work on a project that could forever alter their destinies; and the life of a small town- to write in secret a tell all book about what it's relay like to work as a black maid in the wight homes in the South. Despite the terrible risks they will have to take, and the some times humorous boundaries they will cross, these three women unite with one intention: hope for a better day.  



This book is pretty good, But if you are not an adult please ask your parents to read this book first to see if it's OK for you to read.



Age: 15 and up and as i already said if you are not an adult have someone you trust read it first



Good or Bad? I enjoyed this book it was good and funny and i liked the main characters.



Scary: 5 it's not scary in the same way The Hobbit is but it's a realistic scary. Which in a way makes it scarier.



Hard parts to look out for: This book is full of hard parts. There is a lot of bad words in this book as well. This book has hard Friendship parts, hard relationship parts, hard parts about what it was like to be a maid, And some parts that i don't even know what to say about them. This is definitely a Older teen/adult book.





So, young readers read with caution and advice from adults. Put your "Antenna" up as you read and if you hit a part of the book and you need to stop reading, put the book down, no one will judge you because of it. Listen to God listen to adults and, Read With Caution.



Lillie Laugter

Maniac Magee

 

Hi this is Lillie, I just Finished reading a book called Maniac Magee By Jerry Spinelli It's one of my dads favorite books and now its one of my favorites two.Here is what the back of the book Say'sHe wasn't born with the name Maniac Magee.He came into this world named Jeffery Lionel Magee, but when his parents died and his life changed, so did his Name. And Maniac Magee became a legend. Even today kids talk about how fast he could run; about how he hit an inside- the-park "Frog" homer; how no knot, no matter how snarled, wouldn't stay that way, once he began to untie it. Little girl's jumping rope chant:

"Ma-niac, Ma-niac

He's so cool

Ma-niac Ma-niac

Don't go to school

Runs all night

Runs all right 

Ma-niac, Ma-niac

Kissed a bull

But the thing that maniac Magee is best known for is what he did for the kids from the east side and those on the west side.

He was special all right, and this is his story, and its a story that is very careful not to let facts get mixed up with the truth.

I loved this book and want to own it now.

Part of the reason i like this book is because as i read the book i grew to like the characters from, Amanda who takes books with her every where (much like me:-) ) to Mars Bars the "Bad" kid in town. The book reminded me a lot of one of my favorite movies, The Sandlot.

Here is what I'd rate Maniac Magee

Age: 10 and up. My Dad read it to his Fifth grade class.

Good or Bad? Good it's a fast paced book and very funny. But it is also a hard book. Maniac Magee is homeless, so while its making you laugh it also shows you how hard life homeless can be.

Scary:1 nothing very scary. there are a few bullies and someone gets stuck on a train bridge but that's all.

Hard parts to look out for: Maniac Magee is homeless. His aunt and uncle fight, Someone he meets dies (I wont tell you who), He lives in a town where half the town is African American and the other half is Wight and they don't like each other.

It's a great book about a kid finding a home.

I hope you enjoy!

Lillie

P.S. To all the baseball fan's out there there is some baseball in the book!

A Year Down Yonder

Hi,
I'm back.
I started A Year Down Yonder By. Richard Peck. becuse i had to read it for School. But as soon as i finised the first chapter i couldant seem to put it down. It was so Funny! Here is what the back of the book says:
Mary Alice's Childhood summers in Grandma Dowdel's aleepy Illinois town were packed with enough surprises and drama to fill the double bill of any picture show. But now she is fifteen and faces a whole long year with Grandma, a woman well known for shaking up her neighbors-and everyone else! All Mary Alice can know for certian is this: When trying to predict how life with Grandma might turn out... better not.

This book is full of unusual adventure. Everything from stealing pumpkins to chirstmas pagents.
Here is what I'd rate it:

Age: 9 and up

Good or Bad? Good. It was realy funny and exciteing. The book moves do fast, at least three funny things happen in each chapter.

Scary? 1. Other than a Tornado,which is actualy quite funny, there arnt any scary parts

Hard Parts to look out for: One lady runs naked trough the town. There might be a bad word in the book but Im not shure.

I hope you enjoy this funny book as much as i did.

Lillie

An Elephant in the Garden

Hi this Is Lillie,
After my Older sister recommended it to me I read,
An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo
The Back of the book reads,
The bombing of Dresden looms ahead and Lizzie's mother, a zookeeper, persuades the zoo director to allow Marlene, a young elephant that has bonded with Lizzie and her younger brother,Karl, to be kept safe in their garden.
Their home is destroyed when bombs are dropped, so the family and Marlene have no choice but to flee with thousands of others in the dead of winter. though how can they walk the same route and keep themselves safe from the approaching Russian soldiers ... with an elephant in tow?

An elephant in the garden, is a great book! I could hardly put it down. It takes place during World War Two (My favorite time period to study) in Germany. To say the least as their family and Marlene cross Germany they encounter many fun people and many danger as well.
Here is what Id rate it:

Age: 10 and up.

Good Or Bad? Good, the book was interesting and exciting. Also I liked that it was the main character telling the story to a little boy with the same name as her brother. Altogether it was a good book.

Scary: 4,again. There is bombing and it is during war time. They have a few intense moments like During the bombing is intense, and someone falls through the ice at one point.

Hard parts to look out for: There is one bad word but it is only said once. It is a bit of a love story not that that's bad but i just wanted to let you know.


Its a good book, and i would suggest it.

I hope you enjoy!

Lillie

The Hobbit

Hi this is Lillie

I just finished reading The Hobbit  By JRR Tolkien
This what the back of the Book said.

Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quite comfort, But the wizard Gandalf  came along with a band of dwarfs. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders,  and worse. Finally, it was up to Bilbo-alone and unaided- who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside....

The Hobbit, is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings. (In all of my blog posts on books i will list the following: Age id recommend, Good or bad and why i thought it was good or bad, Scary 1-10 1 being not at all 10 being so scary you almost cant read it, hard parts to look out for, Other.)

Age: 12 and up

Good or Bad? Good, I enjoyed this Book. Yes it was fantasy but that doesn't make it Bad. I liked that there was a clear Good and a clear Evil. I also enjoyed the way it was written, in a way almost seemed to bounce along. It would be a fun read aloud.

Scary? 4, its an adventure story, There are battles and some creepy characters. But because of the way it is written even the darkest moments have a bit of humor in them.

Hard parts to look out for: Well, There isn't any.But you may be asking what do i mean by hard?
Hard parts are parts that are emotionally hard, have Bad words, or are not appropriate. this book Did not have any that i saw but PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoy the Book!

Lillie 

Welcome

Welcome!

My name is Lillie Laughter

i am a beliver in christ

and i love to read

but some times its hard to find a good clean book.

This blog is all about books.

Good books

Bad books

Fictional books

Nonfictional books

Historical fiction (My Favorite!)

biographys

And more.

So i hope you will enjoy reading my blog

and will enjoy

jumping into the difrent worlds through books with me!

Lillie Laughter.

C.S lewis Quote:

"Read and Re-Read--"Re-reading, we always find a new book."