Reviews and Musings From A Reading Life.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Product Details

The German Girl

 by Armando Lucas Correa   

World War II has been a popular subject in fiction over the past couple of years. I have read many of these books but The German Girl covered a topic that I wasn't familiar with despite all of the books about Nazi Germany that I have read.

It is 1939 Berlin and twelve- year- old  Hannah Rosenthal and her family are wealthy upper class Germans who have always been admired by everyone. But things are changing now that the Nazi Party is in charge.  Suddenly Hannah and her family are now "unclean" because they are Jewish. Even the residents of the apartment building that the Rosenthals own will not speak to them. Hannah and her best friend, Leo Martin, spend their days sneaking around the city trying to avoid the "ogres" who are everywhere. Blond, blue- eyed Hannah could pass for a non Jewish girl and one day, while she and Leo are out in the city, a photographer takes her picture and posts it on the cover of a magazine. They call her The German Girl. Hannah's parents are upset about this because it brings unwanted attention to them. As the situation worsens, Hannah and Leo begin to realize that their life, as they knew it in Berlin, is over.  Soon their parents are making plans to escape the city.

The German ship, the SS Saint Louis, will take passengers, who can afford the passage and can acquire visas, to Cube. From there, many Jewish people wait to get permission to go to the United States and other countries. Hannah and Leo,  their families and over 900 other Jewish people board the Saint Louis to travel to Cuba. Aboard ship, the German captain, Gustav Schroder, demands that his German staff treat the Jewish passengers with respect.  On the ship, Leo and Hannah can at least be children as they play and explore the ship. They vow that they will always be together. When the ship arrives in Cuba, the Cuban government decides that only a few passengers can disembark and the rest are turned away.The captain of the Saint Louis leaves the port and tries to find a place for the passengers who were refused entry.

Decades later on her eleventh birthday, Anna Rosen, who lives in New York City, receives a package from Cuba and her Great Aunt Hannah. Great Aunt Hannah raised the father that she never knew.  Anna and her mother travel to Cuba to meet eighty-seven year old Hannah and the reader will discover what happened in 1939 to the other passengers on the Saint Louis.

This book is a debut effort by the author and it is a good one. It is told from the perspective of two young girls. My only criticism of this book is that I felt like the voices of  Hannah and Anna were too adult for their ages. I didn't know anything about the SS Saint Louis and the part that it and Cuba played during this time period and this made the book different from the others that I have read about this time in history. At the end of the book, the author fills us in on what happened to the captain and the real passengers on the SS. Saint Louis.  He also lists the people who were on the ship. It is a nice tribute to this heartbreaking time in history.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book to review.






Product Details

The German Girl

 by Armando Lucas Correa   

World War II has been a popular subject in fiction over the past couple of years. I have read many of these books but The German Girl covered a topic that I wasn't familiar with despite all of the books about Nazi Germany that I have read.

It is 1939 Berlin and twelve- year- old  Hannah Rosenthal and her family are wealthy upper class Germans who have always been admired by everyone. But things are changing now that the Nazi Party is in charge.  Suddenly Hannah and her family are now "unclean" because they are Jewish. Even the residents of the apartment building that the Rosenthals own will not speak to them. Hannah and her best friend, Leo Martin, spend their days sneaking around the city trying to avoid the "ogres" who are everywhere. Blond, blue- eyed Hannah could pass for a non Jewish girl and one day, while she and Leo are out in the city, a photographer takes her picture and posts it on the cover of a magazine. They call her The German Girl. Hannah's parents are upset about this because it brings unwanted attention to them. As the situation worsens, Hannah and Leo begin to realize that their life, as they knew it in Berlin, is over.  Soon their parents are making plans to escape the city.

The German ship, the SS Saint Louis, will take passengers, who can afford the passage and can acquire visas, to Cube. From there, many Jewish people wait to get permission to go to the United States and other countries. Hannah and Leo,  their families and over 900 other Jewish people board the Saint Louis to travel to Cuba. Aboard ship, the German captain, Gustav Schroder, demands that his German staff treat the Jewish passengers with respect.  On the ship, Leo and Hannah can at least be children as they play and explore the ship. They vow that they will always be together. When the ship arrives in Cuba, the Cuban government decides that only a few passengers can disembark and the rest are turned away.The captain of the Saint Louis leaves the port and tries to find a place for the passengers who were refused entry.

Decades later on her eleventh birthday, Anna Rosen, who lives in New York City, receives a package from Cuba and her Great Aunt Hannah. Great Aunt Hannah raised the father that she never knew.  Anna and her mother travel to Cuba to meet eighty-seven year old Hannah and the reader will discover what happened in 1939 to the other passengers on the Saint Louis.

This book is a debut effort by the author and it is a good one. It is told from the perspective of two young girls. My only criticism of this book is that I felt like the voices of  Hannah and Anna were too adult for their ages. I didn't know anything about the SS Saint Louis and the part that it and Cuba played during this time period and this made the book different from the others that I have read about this time in history. At the end of the book, the author fills us in on what happened to the captain and the real passengers on the SS. Saint Louis.  He also lists the people who were on the ship. It is a nice tribute to this heartbreaking time in history.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book to review.






Product Details

My Sister Rosa

   by Justine Larbalestier


         Che Taylor has just moved to New York City with his parents and younger sister, Rosa. They have moved around a lot and he wants to be home in Australia and not living in New York City. He especially doesn’t want to celebrate his seventeenth birthday in New York without his friends. His sister, Rosa, is a ten- year old charmer with golden ringlets and dimples. Everyone who meets Rosa is beguiled by her. Che is close to his sister because he was in the room when the midwife delivered her and he has always tried to protect her. But Che knows something about Rosa that no one else will admit: she is a psychopath. Because their parents are always working, Che has been responsible for Rosa since she was a baby. He isn’t fooled by her and loves her fiercely, but he is also a little afraid of her. Rosa is callous, charming, cunning, manipulative and has no empathy. She is also a liar and likes to kill things. When she was little, their parents realized that Rosa had some problems and they carted her off to various doctors who were charmed by Rosa, too. She can turn the charm on and off at will. Now their parents think that she is fine but on Che’s list of things to do, “Keeping Rosa Under Control” is number one on his list. Che has tried to talk to his parents about Rosa but they don’t believe him and won’t talk about it.

        Che is a boxer and at a local gym he meets Sid, a beautiful girl, who is also a boxer. He falls for her in a big way. Rosa realizes this and soon she has charmed her way into his circle of friends. As Rosa continues with her sadistic, complex and disturbing games, the reader knows that something is going to happen and it won’t be good.

        This suspenseful and chilling read has something for everyone. It has diverse characters, plot twists, a teenage boy experiencing his first love and a psychopathic ten-year-old who makes us wonder when she will strike next. The author does a fantastic job of giving the reader clues without telling us what is going to happen. The ending will shock you. I couldn’t stop reading this book and if you like compelling, psychological thrillers, you will love My Sister Rosa, too!
Recommended for Grades 9-up because of sexuality and mature themes.

Similar Titles: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

                        With Malice by Eileen Cook
Product Details

My Sister Rosa

   by Justine Larbalestier


         Che Taylor has just moved to New York City with his parents and younger sister, Rosa. They have moved around a lot and he wants to be home in Australia and not living in New York City. He especially doesn’t want to celebrate his seventeenth birthday in New York without his friends. His sister, Rosa, is a ten- year old charmer with golden ringlets and dimples. Everyone who meets Rosa is beguiled by her. Che is close to his sister because he was in the room when the midwife delivered her and he has always tried to protect her. But Che knows something about Rosa that no one else will admit: she is a psychopath. Because their parents are always working, Che has been responsible for Rosa since she was a baby. He isn’t fooled by her and loves her fiercely, but he is also a little afraid of her. Rosa is callous, charming, cunning, manipulative and has no empathy. She is also a liar and likes to kill things. When she was little, their parents realized that Rosa had some problems and they carted her off to various doctors who were charmed by Rosa, too. She can turn the charm on and off at will. Now their parents think that she is fine but on Che’s list of things to do, “Keeping Rosa Under Control” is number one on his list. Che has tried to talk to his parents about Rosa but they don’t believe him and won’t talk about it.

        Che is a boxer and at a local gym he meets Sid, a beautiful girl, who is also a boxer. He falls for her in a big way. Rosa realizes this and soon she has charmed her way into his circle of friends. As Rosa continues with her sadistic, complex and disturbing games, the reader knows that something is going to happen and it won’t be good.

        This suspenseful and chilling read has something for everyone. It has diverse characters, plot twists, a teenage boy experiencing his first love and a psychopathic ten-year-old who makes us wonder when she will strike next. The author does a fantastic job of giving the reader clues without telling us what is going to happen. The ending will shock you. I couldn’t stop reading this book and if you like compelling, psychological thrillers, you will love My Sister Rosa, too!
Recommended for Grades 9-up because of sexuality and mature themes.

Similar Titles: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

                        With Malice by Eileen Cook

Monday, November 7, 2016

With MaliceWith Malice    

by Eileen Cook  

Jill and Simone have been best friends since fourth grade but Jill might have killed her. Or maybe she didn’t. She isn’t sure because she can’t remember anything about the last six weeks. She woke up in the hospital with equipment beeping, her leg in a cast and searing pain in her head. She is told that she was driving a car in Italy when it crashed, killing Simone. Jill was planning a senior year trip to Italy but now her parents are saying that she has already been there. She also learns that she was involved with an Italian man while she was there and was planning to move to Italy to go to college instead of going to Yale. Jill has never really had a boyfriend and she has wanted to go to Yale, since she was little, so why can’t she remember these things?

  Because of the head injuries she suffered in the crash, Jill has lapses in her memory.  Her doctor calls it aphasia and tells her that she should regain most of her memory but she might not remember everything. She also cautions Jill that it will be difficult to tell what is a true memory from a dream or something that she has been told. As Jill continues her therapy in the hospital, and struggles to remember, the accident makes national headlines and she becomes part of a murder investigation. Her wealthy father brought her back to the US, immediately after the accident, for treatment but the Italian authorities want her returned to Italy for a trial.  Soon social media is involved and everyone is portraying Jill as a cold blooded killer who was jealous of her more popular friend. One thing she knows is that she would never intentionally hurt Simone. But as the evidence against her begins to mount, Jill isn’t sure what really happened in Italy. As bits and pieces of her memory begin to return, she is even more confused about what is real and what is not. Is she a heartless killer or was it just a terrible accident?

With Maliceis a fast paced mystery with twists and turns that will keep you reading.  The story unfolds from Jill’s point of view, police interviews, emails, newspaper articles and social media posts. This plot device works well to pull the reader into the story. You won’t believe the chilling ending!  
  
Grades 9-up
Recommended Read-a-Likes: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

                                                The Darkest Cornersby Kara Thomas

With Malice With Malice    

by Eileen Cook  

Jill and Simone have been best friends since fourth grade but Jill might have killed her. Or maybe she didn’t. She isn’t sure because she can’t remember anything about the last six weeks. She woke up in the hospital with equipment beeping, her leg in a cast and searing pain in her head. She is told that she was driving a car in Italy when it crashed, killing Simone. Jill was planning a senior year trip to Italy but now her parents are saying that she has already been there. She also learns that she was involved with an Italian man while she was there and was planning to move to Italy to go to college instead of going to Yale. Jill has never really had a boyfriend and she has wanted to go to Yale, since she was little, so why can’t she remember these things?

  Because of the head injuries she suffered in the crash, Jill has lapses in her memory.  Her doctor calls it aphasia and tells her that she should regain most of her memory but she might not remember everything. She also cautions Jill that it will be difficult to tell what is a true memory from a dream or something that she has been told. As Jill continues her therapy in the hospital, and struggles to remember, the accident makes national headlines and she becomes part of a murder investigation. Her wealthy father brought her back to the US, immediately after the accident, for treatment but the Italian authorities want her returned to Italy for a trial.  Soon social media is involved and everyone is portraying Jill as a cold blooded killer who was jealous of her more popular friend. One thing she knows is that she would never intentionally hurt Simone. But as the evidence against her begins to mount, Jill isn’t sure what really happened in Italy. As bits and pieces of her memory begin to return, she is even more confused about what is real and what is not. Is she a heartless killer or was it just a terrible accident?

With Malice is a fast paced mystery with twists and turns that will keep you reading.  The story unfolds from Jill’s point of view, police interviews, emails, newspaper articles and social media posts. This plot device works well to pull the reader into the story. You won’t believe the chilling ending!  
  
Grades 9-up
Recommended Read-a-Likes: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

                                                The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Watching Edie

   Watching Edie

              by Camilla Way        


Edie is  pregnant and alone when suddenly Heather is back in her life. And for Edie, this is not a good thing. Sixteen years earlier,  Edie escaped from the small town of Frenton to get away from Heather and the memory of one terrible night.

Heather meets Edie in high school when she moves to Frenton, the town where Heather lives with her parents.  Edie, the wild child, is nice to overweight, studious, socially awkward Heather and soon Heather is obsessed with her. In the beginning, the reader learns that Heather's parents moved to Frenton to escape gossip in their former town.. Something happened to Heather's little sister and somehow Heather was involved. Edie lives with her mother who doesn't seem to care what Edie does. Heather is thrilled to have beautiful Edie as her only friend and fantasizes that they will always be together.  But as Edie starts making new friends and becomes involved with Connor, she begins to ignore Heather.  Connor is bad news. He is abusive to Edie and soon Edie is involved with sex, drinking and drugs. Heather  will do anything to save Edie from Connor and soon the story takes a dark turn.

The story alternates viewpoints from "Before", when they were teenagers, to "After", the present time. As it slowly unfolds, we begin to see how obsessed Heather really is with Edie.  When she suddenly contacts Edie after sixteen years, Edie is distraught and ignores her phone calls and letters. However, Heather seems to have the knack of showing up when Edie needs help. After the birth of her baby, Edie is sick and Heather is only too happy to help. It is easier for Edie to let her help because she is too sick to cope. Suddenly Heather is taking care of her baby and taking over her life. As Edie slowly gets better, she begins to see what Heather is doing and she wants her to leave. Heather says that she has nowhere to go because her parents have kicked her out but Edie insists that she must leave.  When Edie's apartment is ransacked and she sees Heather following her, she is terrified for the safety of her baby.

What really happened all those years ago that caused Edie to flee from Heather and Frenton? Is Heather as mentally unstable as her mother tells Edie she is?  Did Heather harm her little sister? The author pulled me into the story with its twists and turns and I didn't expect the ending. If you like psychological thrillers,  you will enjoy Watching Edie.

Thanks to NetGalley and  the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to review.

Watching Edie

   Watching Edie

              by Camilla Way        


Edie is  pregnant and alone when suddenly Heather is back in her life. And for Edie, this is not a good thing. Sixteen years earlier,  Edie escaped from the small town of Frenton to get away from Heather and the memory of one terrible night.

Heather meets Edie in high school when she moves to Frenton, the town where Heather lives with her parents.  Edie, the wild child, is nice to overweight, studious, socially awkward Heather and soon Heather is obsessed with her. In the beginning, the reader learns that Heather's parents moved to Frenton to escape gossip in their former town.. Something happened to Heather's little sister and somehow Heather was involved. Edie lives with her mother who doesn't seem to care what Edie does. Heather is thrilled to have beautiful Edie as her only friend and fantasizes that they will always be together.  But as Edie starts making new friends and becomes involved with Connor, she begins to ignore Heather.  Connor is bad news. He is abusive to Edie and soon Edie is involved with sex, drinking and drugs. Heather  will do anything to save Edie from Connor and soon the story takes a dark turn.

The story alternates viewpoints from "Before", when they were teenagers, to "After", the present time. As it slowly unfolds, we begin to see how obsessed Heather really is with Edie.  When she suddenly contacts Edie after sixteen years, Edie is distraught and ignores her phone calls and letters. However, Heather seems to have the knack of showing up when Edie needs help. After the birth of her baby, Edie is sick and Heather is only too happy to help. It is easier for Edie to let her help because she is too sick to cope. Suddenly Heather is taking care of her baby and taking over her life. As Edie slowly gets better, she begins to see what Heather is doing and she wants her to leave. Heather says that she has nowhere to go because her parents have kicked her out but Edie insists that she must leave.  When Edie's apartment is ransacked and she sees Heather following her, she is terrified for the safety of her baby.

What really happened all those years ago that caused Edie to flee from Heather and Frenton? Is Heather as mentally unstable as her mother tells Edie she is?  Did Heather harm her little sister? The author pulled me into the story with its twists and turns and I didn't expect the ending. If you like psychological thrillers,  you will enjoy Watching Edie.

Thanks to NetGalley and  the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to review.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016




        The Girl Is Murder

                          by Kathryn Miller Haines

Fifteen-year-old Iris Anderson is dealing with a lot of life changing events. It is 1942 in New York City  and her father, “Pops”, has returned from Pearl Harbor with only one leg,  Her mother has committed suicide and she and Pops have moved from the Upper East Side to the Lower East Side because of their finances.  Iris had to give up her private school and enroll in the public high school, with boys! She has lost touch with her old friends and has no one to talk to about her grief.  Pops was in the Navy and usually gone, so Iris and her mother were very close, and he has no idea how to parent a teenage daughter.  Pops has a private detective agency but he can no longer do the strenuous physical work that it requires due to his war injury. When Iris overhears a client cancelling his business unless Pops can show him that he is making progress on his case, and she realizes that Pops can’t pay the rent, she decides to take action.   She snoops through his files and follows a suspect to gets pictures with her Brownie camera that will help her dad keep his client.  Iris expects her dad to be pleased with her but that is not the case. Pops is less than thrilled to find out that his daughter has put herself in danger and he forbids her to continue. When one of her classmates goes missing and Pops is investigating, Iris knows that, no matter what, she must help her dad.

The Girl Is Murder has an atmospheric setting and the author draws the reader into 1942 with the war raging, food rationing, zoot suits and period slang. The ending is unexpected. This teenage noir is reminiscent of Nancy Drew but Iris, unlike Nancy, sneaks around to do her detecting.  Iris is a typical teen who is a fish out of water in her new environment. She thinks about boys, worries about fitting in and making friends but she is smart and resourceful.  This book will appeal to teens as well as adults and anyone who likes mysteries and historical fiction.  In the back of the book there is a glossary explaining the slang and also a question and answer section with the author.
Iris continues her adventures in The Girl Is Trouble.

Teen Historical Mystery
Grade 10-Adult

Recommended Read-a-Likes:

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
Ten Cents A Dance by Christine Fletcher



        The Girl Is Murder

                          by Kathryn Miller Haines

Fifteen-year-old Iris Anderson is dealing with a lot of life changing events. It is 1942 in New York City  and her father, “Pops”, has returned from Pearl Harbor with only one leg,  Her mother has committed suicide and she and Pops have moved from the Upper East Side to the Lower East Side because of their finances.  Iris had to give up her private school and enroll in the public high school, with boys! She has lost touch with her old friends and has no one to talk to about her grief.  Pops was in the Navy and usually gone, so Iris and her mother were very close, and he has no idea how to parent a teenage daughter.  Pops has a private detective agency but he can no longer do the strenuous physical work that it requires due to his war injury. When Iris overhears a client cancelling his business unless Pops can show him that he is making progress on his case, and she realizes that Pops can’t pay the rent, she decides to take action.   She snoops through his files and follows a suspect to gets pictures with her Brownie camera that will help her dad keep his client.  Iris expects her dad to be pleased with her but that is not the case. Pops is less than thrilled to find out that his daughter has put herself in danger and he forbids her to continue. When one of her classmates goes missing and Pops is investigating, Iris knows that, no matter what, she must help her dad.

The Girl Is Murder has an atmospheric setting and the author draws the reader into 1942 with the war raging, food rationing, zoot suits and period slang. The ending is unexpected. This teenage noir is reminiscent of Nancy Drew but Iris, unlike Nancy, sneaks around to do her detecting.  Iris is a typical teen who is a fish out of water in her new environment. She thinks about boys, worries about fitting in and making friends but she is smart and resourceful.  This book will appeal to teens as well as adults and anyone who likes mysteries and historical fiction.  In the back of the book there is a glossary explaining the slang and also a question and answer section with the author.
Iris continues her adventures in The Girl Is Trouble.

Teen Historical Mystery
Grade 10-Adult

Recommended Read-a-Likes:

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
Ten Cents A Dance by Christine Fletcher

  https://llibrarygirlsguidetobooks.com/