The House of Dark Shadows

I just finished a VERY, (emphasis on the VERY)  creepy, spine tingling book!  You know how some books just don't pull you into the story?  Well, this book got an A on that standpoint!  This book is about a family of five. A fifteen year old brother named Xander, his littler twelve year old brother named David and their little sister named Toria and of course the mom and dad.  One day the dad decides they should all move to a new place in Pinedale, California.  When the family first gets to the house they were thinking about buying, strange things start to happen, their real estate agent says that the father of the house that lived there before, murdered his wife and kids, also strange sounds come from wrong directions, prints of giant bare feet appear in the dust, and Toria screams when she says she saw a man standing right outside of her room door!  Then the really, really weird stuff starts to kick in, David and Xander find a hidden hallway with portals leading to far off places in long ago times.  Xander is starting to wonder if this kind of travel is a teen's dream come true, or his worst nightmare!!!  This book so far has six books in the series, I can't wait to read the second book!  This book is really good and I would definitely recommend it!

Next Review: Just Listen

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Dear Julia

Today I finished a great book called Dear Julia.  Dear Julia is about a sixteen year old girl named Elaine Hamilton.  Elaine is very quiet, shy and timid.  She really doesn't have any friends, and her family, (her five crazy brothers, her dad that is committed to doing yoga every day, and her mom who is an important congresswoman) are most the time, always busy doing their own things.  The only thing Elaine really loves to do is cook.  She loves to be in the kitchen, somewhere away from the high school drama and just be with her beloved pots and pans.  Elaine is dedicated, and wants to master the arts of French cooking.  Her idol is Julia Child, she truly adores her, she even has memorized most of the recipes in Julia's books!  All the time since Elaine was six, she has been writing letters to Julia, asking how to cook this better, or what kind of knife to use to chop a certain kind of vegetable.  The thing is Elaine never sent these letters to Julia, she just kept them safely tucked away in a wooden chest.  Elaine, one day, meets a crazy upbeat friends named Lucida Sans, yes, the computer font.  Lucida has always wanted to be famous for something, but nothing seems to suit her.  Elaine and Lucida grow a friendly bond throughout the story, enjoying joyful times and tackling difficult problems together.  In this wonderful story, Elaine finds out what she really loves and who she really is.  And she realizes you can't do great things without hard work and of course a little spice sprinkled in.

Next review: House of Dark Shadows

Thanks
Alyssa :)

Weedflower

I just read a really good book called Weedflower.  Weedflower is about a twelve year old girl named Sumiko.  Sumiko's parents die when she is very young.  Sumiko lives with her aunt, uncle, her little brother named Tak-Tak, her two older cousins named Bull and Ichiro and Jiichan (her grandpa.)  This is right at the time when Japan bombed pearl harbor, which is in Hawaii.  Most Japanese were actually disturbed that their country had done such a terrible thing!  That was Sumiko's family.  But her thoughts start to change when her family, including herself are forced to go to Poston, Arizona living in an internment camp.  She and her family have to cope with their new surroundings and the uncertainty of the future.  Only her bright imagination and the friendship of a young Mohave boy carry her through tough times.  This is a great novel by Cynthia Kadohata.  I read another award winning book by her called Kira-Kira.  The only problem with this book is, I think it started off a little slow and it was kind of hard to get into.  But all in all this was a great book!  :)

Next Review: Dear Julia

Thanks,
Alyssa :)