I picked up The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from Indigo because my son will be reading it for his grade 9 English class.
Junior is a 14 year old boy that lives on the Spokane Reserve. Throughout the book he describes the life of living on a Reserve. One day he finds himself in class and notices that his mom's name is written in a text book. This makes him furious to think that they don't have new resources. As a result, Junior makes a major decision to attend white school off the reserve. Risking the hatred of his community, family and best friends Junior sets off each day off the reserve to find out how the other half live,
I was a bit surprised at a few of the pages. I think the author could have shared the truths and reality of life on reserve and still left out a few of the stories/words. My son believes that it will be a story that each student will read a chapter out loud in class and I think that will make a few students uncomfortable if they have to read certain chapters. However; I do think it is age appropriate and an important subject matter.
I have been following Neil Pasricha for many years. A friend introduced me to his 1000 Awesome Things blog years ago and I have been following him ever since. I've even had the chance to hear him speak.
Years ago Neil found himself recently divorced, struggling with a friends suicide and where his path in life was going. This began his 1000 Awesome Things blog which evolved into his first book The Book of Awesome. I really enjoyed reading his picture book Awesome is Everywhere with children at school as well.
I was really excited when I got an advanced copy of You are Awesome. This book was so easy to read because Neil doesn't come across as someone who has life all together. You are Awesome is lessons Neil has learned from his mistakes and life experiences. The message I took away is that you are awesome despite failure or poor choices. Learn from your mistakes, move forward and let it go. I found while I was reading it that there were chapters that I thought I my teenage son should read this and then others where I thought my busy husband should read. I think many people would find different things to take away from this book.
You are Awesome is out today - November 5th, 2019. Check out Neil Pasricha. He has some great books and blogs. Also, if you ever get a chance to hear him speak - go!
I have read a few of Lisa Jewell's books so I was excited when I got the chance to review The Family Upstairs.
The Family Upstairs is a story about Libby Jones. She's living a pretty simple life designing kitchens. Libby was adopted when she was a few months old. On her 25th birthday she inherits her birth parents estate. She has no idea what the inheritance might entail - she is just excited to know more about her birth parents. Libby is very surprised to find out that she is now the owner of a mansion. She's rich!
Many people have been waiting for Libby to turn 25. This mansion holds a whopper of a story and it's tale is not over yet. With the help of a newspaper reporter, Libby begins to unravel the history of the mansion and those who lived there.
The Family Upstairs is filled with tons of twists and turns that kept me intrigued right to the end. This novel comes out on November 5th, 2019. It is available for pre-order from Indigo.
