sareidle's Reviews (180)

This is a fantastic and well-researched story about survival during Hurricane Katrina and the breaking of the levees. Messner demonstrated compassion for the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward by visiting the Living Museum there and interviewing survivors to make sure this story reflected the reality of the disaster and poor government response. I recently watched Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke and found Ranger's tale to follow the timeline of events faithfully. Ranger also thinks and acts like a dog, which adds to the book's realism. Overall, I was positively surprised by the quality of this middle-grade book and highly prefer it to the sensational I Survived series.

A great cozy mystery set in Western Montana. The plot has layers, with interesting characters and a realistic setting. I enjoyed the descriptions of food and could easily imagine The Merc and other key locations in Jewel Bay. I may pick up another book from this series when I need something mysterious and heartwarming.

My only critique is Budewitz's comments about Eastern Montana via the MC Erin Murphy. In the beginning when she and her mother are discussing huckleberry chocolates, she realizes that they can't be a fully local product because chocolate and sugar are not produced in state. However, sugar beets are grown in Montana and there is a processing facility near Billings. The other comment was that western Montanans don't visit the eastern side of the state and vice versa. While the first statement is true, eastern Montanans need to go west to the larger cities (Bozeman, Missoula, Helena, etc.) for university, medical treatment, and sports events. Western Montana is the "heart" of the state and eastern Montana is the backwater that is largely ignored in state politics and media representation.

Traveling the border of Russia was quite the feat, and I felt like I was on this journey with Erika. When I told my friends and family about what I was reading, I would often say: "We're in [insert country] today," to describe my progress in the book. I learned a lot about Russia's influence and history through the changing borders and conversations with locals. Historical anecdotes could be dense at times, and I was thankful that I took a course on Imperial Russia in college. I also recommend reading her book Sovietistan first as she references those experiences in this book.

I first read Gatsby ten years ago, and it's interesting what I remember from that read versus what I noticed this time. As a teenager, I was enamored by the glitz of the Roaring Twenties and found a role model in Jordan Baker. I enjoyed Nick as a stand-in character for the reader, as he is a keen observer and does not take initiative. The story is very tragic, but I appreciated how information was gradually revealed.

I recognize now how Fitzgerald designed the characters to illicit different reactions from the reader. For instance, Tom's awful personality and affair make him unsympathetic, so we don't care about his feelings

when Gatsby and Daisy get together.

Jordan and Daisy are foils, representing two distinct paths for women in the 1920s. However, their similarities in social class and carelessness for others matter more than their life choices.

Overall, I think part of what has made The Great Gatsby a classic is that you can learn something new about the characters and about yourself each time you read it.

A fantastic sports novel with an excellent voice cast. I especially enjoyed the music for the tennis announcers before their commentary. Basic knowledge of tennis is helpful in understanding the descriptions of the matches and strategy for different players. Carrie is tough to love, but I think it's great to have a ruthless female athlete when male athletes are praised for the same traits.

I liked the essays at the beginning of the book about being the only Black friend someone has and the microaggressions that well-meaning white people still make. Ben's perspective as a Haitian-Canadian who moved to the United States was enlightening and made me re-examine America's structural racism and how unnatural it is. The narrative dragged in the middle, and I wish Ben unpacked some of his loaded experiences with friends and acquaintances who used him as a pawn to act out their racial fantasies. Overall, this is a fine book but I prefer All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. 

It took me some time to get invested in this story, partially because it was over-hyped as essential reading for girls and young women. I did enjoy Anne's wonder of the world and Marilla's internal dialogue when she thought Anne was justified in her response but still showed poor manners. I was surprised at the time span of the story; it is truly a coming-of-age tale. I am more familiar with The Little House on the Prairie which spends more time on the Ingalls girls' youth and I thought this series would have similar pacing.

I will start Anne of Avonlea soon and look forward to reading more of Anne's adventures!