sometimes_samantha_reads's Reviews (283)

I read this to my 5th graders for our historical fiction unit. They liked it well enough. It was a harder book to read aloud sometimes due to the book being written in verse and some incredibly long sentences. But I read it myself as a 5th graders and was happy to pass on some of those first experiences with a sad book (lol). My class had really great and animated discussions while reading this together.

I'll give a similar review to book one of this trilogy. It was no my cup of tea but I wanted to read it anyway since I got it on a holiday sale and I wanted to try and give it the benefit of the doubt. Holly, the main character is oblivious to major details of the crime often. It's my understanding is that the timeline is just a week or so. I'm curious as to why she forgets important characters so frequently in such a short span of time. The townsfolk are not relatable but I'm lso annoyed with Holly's judgemental view on them too. She's no better in that regard. Holly's sisters are both not my favorite. Victoria is cold and ridiculous for giving Holly crap about beakng up with her ex even though he CHEATED on her! And Jamie is just a seemingly mindless character. These books are very short so there is not a whole lot of time for solid character expression or development. It was overall not clicking with any of the characters. I also think the "love interest", Harry (Detective Stokes) is two dimensional and it the energy seems weird and forced. I'd rather Holly just find happiness on her own than end up with her old high school bully turned police officer. 

Regardless, I will be reading book threw just to see how the trilogy winds up. Though it's not shaping up to be MY cup of tea, it may be yours. You'd have to read and see.

Cute! I bought the box set as a deal for black Friday and decided to read it. I'm not super familiar with the cozy mysteries genre but I felt it was an ok introduction. I'm not a bug fan of animal-centered books but wanted to give it a try. Not really my cup of tea but it may be yours. I am still going to read the other two books in the digital box set.

Not a fan of the writing style.

Easy to follow pictures for beginners! I have been struggling with crochet books because the pictures aren't clear but this one was super helpful. My only wish is that there were more patterns in this book!

I was reading this as a new teacher (it's my 2nd year!)and I wanted a refresher on picking read alouds, because I'll admit, I've had some flops! This book had a decent chunk dedicated to parents and families, and while I don't have children of my own, I found these sections great as a reference to use when parents ask me what they can do at home (and it's all research backed). 

The teacher and librarian parts were helpful refreshers. I didn't necessarily learn anything new but it has now reminded me what I've let slip between college classes and now teaching. I was able to set three goals for myself to try as this year continues. 

The read aloud treasury at the end of the book is extremely helpful as a new teacher trying to build a library in the classroom. I'm grateful for it. 

We read this for our realistic fiction unit in my 5th grade class and it was very good! My students were begging to read it every day and were so involved in Kek's story. They were such diligent note takers with this story because they didn't want to miss a thing!

I bought this for Thanksgiving in my 5th grade class but to also add to my "own voices" collection of representstive literature in the room. It was a good choice! I like the connection between cultural traditions and moderns times. I think a lot of the time when we talk about the lives of Indigenous people or Black people in schools we put distance to the stories. With the injustices, things like traditions are stories aren't passed down and aren't valued (or known about) by others in the modern day. I think this will be a great model to my students and some of my students might make connections to their own lives as some of my girls do traditional dance in their cultures.

I bought this for Thanksgiving in my 5th grade class but to also add to my "own voices" collection of representstive literature in the room. It was a good choice! Sensitive but to the point and educational.

I bought this for Thanksgiving in my 5th grade class but to also add to my "own voices" collection of representstive literature in the room. It was a good choice! It's very informative in a matter of fact way but also in a way that's developmentally appropriate for upper elementary kids to understand.