Beheld by Alex Flinn

 Young Adult fantasy fiction. Fulfills Title Begins With a "B" category in the Pioneer Book Challenge.

I really enjoy Alex Flinn's fairy tale retelling, she puts a nice spin on those traditional tales. This story is told from the point of view of what we sometimes think of as the wicked fairy or wicked witch in those tales. What if she wasn't wicked at all, but had humankind's best interest at heart? I love thinking of these stories from another point of view and thoroughly enjoyed reading this book yesterday as we had a day off because of the snow storm. 

Recommend: Yes. 

The Game by Diana Wynne Jones

 Junior fantasy fiction. Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favorite fantasy authors and I've read most of her books. Her imaginative plots never seem to go in the direction I'm assuming and I love how she mixes real life with magic. 

This book mixes real life with Greek and Roman mythology in an interesting way. The plot is fantastical and other worldly. It's a very short read being only 176 pages. If I could recommend my favorite books of hers it would be the Chrestomanci Series and Howl's Moving Castle. 

Recommend: yes

Night by Elie Wiesel

 Non-Fiction. Fulfills Oprah Winfrey Book Club List category in the Pioneer Book Challenge. 

This is a must read, but not an easy read by any means. It's a brief, barely over 100 pages, but very powerful first person account of several concentration camps during World War II. Wiesel was a Jewish Hungarian and was just 16 years old when the Allies liberated the concentration camps. The things he and the million others endured is unimaginable. My hope is to learn from their experience and to not repeat it. 

Recommend: Yes.

Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

 Teen fantasy. Fulfills First in a Trilogy category in the Pioneer Book Challenge. 

Kerstin Gier is a German author whose books have been translated into English. I read her first trilogy, Ruby Red, and absolutely enjoyed it. When I saw this book at the library I immediately picked it out. I'm not sure what it is about this book that didn't draw me in like her previous ones. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it enough to read the second and third book. 

It's based on a group of kids that can travel in their dreams and visit other people's dreams. There is a demon involved that is very non-descript and vague. There is a fair amount of teenage angst and popularity posturing. Perhaps that is what put me off. I wouldn't turn people away from it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it either. 

Recommend: maybe

Skink No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen

 Junior Fiction. Carl Hiaasen writes books for young readers that involve some sort of wildlife and the preservation of said wildlife. Sometimes that is the main focus of the book, sometimes its a small sub-plot. In Skink No Surrender there are a number of wildlife species that need protection, but it is not the main plot. Hiaasen's characters are witty and resourceful and brave. 

In this book, Richard, is concerned when his cousin, Malley, goes missing. She contacts him and assures him she just ran away, but Richard starts to assume the worst when she stops contacting him and doesn't come home. Enter Skink, a protector of sea turtles and other sorts of animal life, and an altogether mysterious figure. Richard teams up with the unlikely Skink and embarks on an adventure to find Malley and rescue her. Skink seems to possess superhero qualities and it seems many times that it will be impossible for Richard and Skink to find and rescue his cousin. However, Richard finds out that when Skink is involved he needs to expect the impossible. 

I read this book aloud to my children and the subject matter, girl being kidnapped, was disconcerting to one of them. I have enjoyed reading his others books a bit better. It's because of those things that I don't think I would recommend it to others. 

Recommend: No

Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

 Junior historical fiction. Fulfills Author from Asia category in the Pioneer Book challenge. 

Linda Sue Park is one of my favorite authors. She wrote the Newbery medal winning novel, A Single Shard and A Long Walk to Water, both amazing books with great stories and lessons to be learned. Prairie Lotus is about a young half Chinese girl on the American frontier in South Dakota. Her mother has passed away and her father is looking for a new place to put down roots. She is faced with people who are leery of her heritage and question her ability to learn and work in their small town. She deals with all of this with a determination to make her mother proud and prove others wrong. 

Linda Sue Park grew up reading the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and even wished she could have been Laura's friend. This book is in tribute to those books and also deals with the difficult issues of different races during the late 1800s in growing America. It is a great insight into the difficulties of educating people about differences and making those differences a good thing. 

Recommend: Yes

Lake of the Ozarks: My Surreal Summers in a Vanishing America, by Bill Geist

 Biography. Fulfills Biography in the Pioneer Book Challenge

As part of the reading challenge I'm participating in I had to choose a biography. I checked out a few from the library and looked at a few I haven't read that I own and just couldn't get into them. Non-fiction is not my favorite genre to read and I was feeling forced to read something I didn't want to read. I went back to the library and just browsed the biography section. 

I found this book and immediately thought this would be more interesting and compelling. Brian and I had just got back from the Lake of the Ozarks for our anniversary and I was excited to learn more about the area. This is actually an autobiography or probably more a memoir than anything else. It chronicles the author's time working at a lodge during the summers in the 1960s at the Lake. At first I was glad that I recognized the names of the towns and I liked his writing style. That being said, I really didn't love the book. Most of his adventures involves a lot of alcohol and college students doing really stupid things. Hearing about people's inebriated adventures doesn't strike my funny bone as it probably does with others. 

Recommend: not really