the tutu ballet story and illustrations by sally o. lee

This is a cute story about forest animals coming together in a ballet class. Each animal/student in the class has a preferred move and talent within the class. Their teacher, Ms. Berry, finds each students unique quality and incorporates them into a recital. This story is simple with a deeper meaning hidden within if you choose as the reader to dig deeper into the story presented. The words themselves are a bit difficult to read on certain pages due to the fact that they blend in with the illustrations. The strength of this book lies in the beautiful illustrations which are created according to the copyright page description, as being "rendered in watercolor and pen and ink on paper." I think that any beginning ballerina would enjoy this story as they can imagine themselves practicing the moves and being in a recital themselves.

When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall

I really enjoy this authors style of writing. "When the Soul Mends," is the 3rd (and I believe the final) book in this series. The main character, Hannah, struggles with many fall-outs due to a tragic, life-changing event that happened in her life. She has to struggle to discover who she really is, what God is calling her to be, and what will ultimately serve her purpose. She faces many ups and downs along the way and learns about forgiveness and trueness to self. This is a wonderful story about self-discovery and love.

One Perfect Day by Lauraine Snelling

This book was a very good read- I read it in 2 days (took that long only due to other responsibilities that demanded my time). This is a very emotional topic that touches upon many different emotionally charged topics. The story begins with the character Nora's desperate attempts at creating the perfect Christmas for her family. The focus on perfection quickly looses its importance when tragedy strikes the family.
The author uses the back-and-forth writing style that I enjoy very much. We next meet Jenna who is a single mother of a 20 year old daughter awaiting a heart transplant while quickly loosing her strength in life.
This story takes very emotional, tough subjects and presents them in a way that allows the reader to both grieve and rejoice with the families.
I enjoyed reading this book and plan to recommend it to friends for use in a book group. I also plan to investigate more books by this author.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

I enjoyed this book. The topic presented is a very emotional one- that of the french occupation of Jews during the 1940's. This story traces the path basically surrounding one certain apartment and its occupants. The story tells of the different responses of each person and how they were affected.
It was one of those stories that you wish for a different outcome than the one you know is coming- but still as a reader I was hopeful for the good in people. This book would make an excellent book group read. There are many aspects/emotions that could be explored in a group discussion. I also enjoyed the writing style of the author- she presented the story in a back-and-forth manner telling a little bit about the past and present families.

Find the magic (Rip Squeak) by Lee Cohoen

Beautiful illustrations, breathtaking pictures- the pictures really enhance the quality of this book- the paintings are very detailed yet not overwhelming. The story is a simple story encouraging children to "find the magic" through discovering different adventures in books. ( )

Forsaken

A very thought-provoking topic which leads the reader to question what would they do in this situation. This book touches on a lot of subjects which include terrorism and faith in God. If someone were to pose the question to you in a non-urgent, hypothetical way you may be able to answer but in the real heat of the moment the choice may not be as clear.

Schooled

Schooled by Anisha Lakhani is a cleverly written book with an interesting topic. This story is about an idealistic first year teacher, Anna, who has plans to change the lives of her students through a love of learning and literature. Her dreams are quickly squashed when she begins teaching in a private school on Manhattans Upper East Side. Anna's ideas of education are vastly different than the ideas of this school environment, she is praised and encouraged when she doesn't teach and gives no assignments and reprimanded by administration and parents when she expects anything productive from her students. She is also having little success financially as a teacher and as a way out she is swept into the world of tutoring students from other private schools. Through this tutoring experience she is shown the other side of her students lives.
I highly recommend this book- I think the author used a great balance of humor, sarcasm and drama to keep the reader interested.