The Help

The Help is an amazing book that takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the mid 1900s and contains characters that come to life. Here are the ones that really stood out to me:
Aibileen: The African-American maid who struggles with the death of her son and the discrimination she gets at work everyday from the Leefolts, but is still able to love the Leefolt's toddler Mae Mobley, and her best friend Minny.
Minny: A spunky maid who can't be controlled by anyone, other than her drunken husband who routinely beats her. After living with a drunk father and now having to take care of her drunk husband, Minny has developed a shield around her heart that, at first, seems impenetrable. However, the more you read, the more you see that her stubbornness and pride can only be matched in intensity with her love for her friends and children.
Eugenia Phelan, AKA Skeeter: a lost, white woman who can't seem to get away from her mother badgering her about men and is one of the only white women who is sympathetic to the maids. She ends up risking her life to write a book about the maids' trying lives.
Miss Hilly: the kind of haughty, self-centered person you just want to strangle. The daughter of Miss Walters, Hilly takes it into her own hands to fire Minny and tell the whole town that Minny stole from her, ruining Minny's chances of ever finding a job again. She ruins practically everybody's lives by the end of he book.
Miss Leefolt: Aibileen's mistress who can't seem to love her daughter and completely follows Miss Hilly's footsteps.
Miss Celia: The Air-brained woman that secretly becomes Minny's mistress. The set up is perfect for both of them: Minny doesn't want Miss Hilly fiding out about her new job, and Miss Celia doesn't want her husband to know she has a maid. Having grown up in Sugar Ditch, Mississippi, sometimes Miss Celia cannot put her white-trash past behind her, but she is a caring woman who just wants to be excepted by Miss Hilly and have kids.
The plot is just as powerful as the characters. The narrators change every few chapters from Aibileen to Minny to Skeeter. Because of this, you get a true feeling of what life would have been like for both the African-Americans and the whites of that time. Skeeter is the only woman in her town who is sympathetic towards the maids, and she ends up writing a book on Aibileen, Minny and many other maids' lives. This brings her life, and the lives of all the maids' in danger, especially when the book ends up on the bed side table of every mistress in the state. All the maids' soon see their lives spiraling out of control. 
I would have given this book five stars if it wasn't for Skeeter. She is an irritating woman who can only think of the negative pars of her life, and doesn't appreciate how much her mother loves her until she needs her. She spends most of the book hole up in her bedroom, and then she complains of not having any friends. I understand that Skeeter was an essential character in The Help, but the book would have been much better if she wasn't one of the narrators.
Read The Help. I assure, you you will love it!

Mockingbird

Caitlin is a ten-year-old motherless girl with Aspergers and Devon, her supportive and understanding brother. Devon has taught Caitlin everything she needs to know about how to be normal, but when tragedy strikes, Caitlin must fend for herself. With the help of her father and guidance counselor, Caitlin must try to find closure and make friends.

This book was very good. I was very impressed with how Erskine really got into the head of a girl with Aspergers. Unfortunately, I felt there were many scenes where Erskine wanted the reader to cry along with Caitlin and her father, but it didn't come to me. Although this book was touching, it wasn't sob-worthy until the very end.

I recommend reading Mockingbird if you like touching, heart-warming stories. I enjoyed it, and I think you will, too!

Runaway

Holly has been moved around to more foster homes than she can count, and has runaway multiple times. But this is the first time she's gotten away with it, and she spends the first month or two reveling in her new found freedom, jumping trains and stowing away in buses in order to get as west as possible. But as time goes on, Holly has to face the fact that there is a thin line between being a gypsy and being homeless, and that over the past few months she has indeed crossed over that line. With only her journal for company, Holly endures the pains of living on her own and looks back on the hard days when her mother was alive.
Runaway was an amazing book. It was capable of being both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and forces you to think about your life. You'll find yourself considering everyday occurences, a warm meal, a happy family, a roof over your head, as true blessings. Holly is an inspirational character, who never asks "why me?" even in the worst of times. Runaway, written in journal-form, is a wonderful book, and I strongly suggest it to all teenagers.

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters

Cornelia Englehart is a lonely girl who drives people away with her knowledge of uncommon words. Who could blame her, when the only peers she socializes with are daughters of women who are just dying to spend time with her mother, a world famous pianist. Cornelia would love to spend some time with her mother as well, since Lucille Englehart is always touring the world or holed up in her piano room practicing for her next world tour. Cornelia feels like her life has no meaning, until Virginia Somerset moves next-door with her crazy dog Mister Kinyatta. Virginia also has a love for words, and tells great stories of her adventures around the world with her sisters, Alexandra, Beatrice and Gladys. Cornelia finds herself lost in the world of Virginia's past. Can Virginia help Cornelia come out of her shell, or will she hide behind words forever?
Cornelia isn't the only one who gets completely wrapped into Virginia's stories. I was completely enraptured with the tales, too. I could totally picture the souk in India, the hidden palace in Morroco and the Haughty club in England.Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters is a heart-warming read, one that I've poured through multiple times. I strongly suggest this book to anyone and everyone.

Elephant Run

Elephant Run is one of the best books I've ever read. In this novel, the year is 1941 and Nick Freestone has just moved from his mother's apartment in London to his father's teak plantation in Burma. Relieved to have escaped the German bombings, Nick can't wait to rebuild his relationship with his father, Jackson Freeston, with whom he's has little contact over the past ten years. Their reunion is disrupted, however, when the Japanese take over the plantation and send Jackson to a POW camp. Now a slave to the Japanese, Nick must work with his new friends, Hilltop and Maya to try to escape and rescue both Jackson and Maya's brother Indaw from the camp.
While reading this incredible book, I often found my knuckles white from gripping the pages at intense parts, or a wave of relief wash over me when the protagonists got out of a sticky situation. I have never seen a picture of Burma, I don't even know where it is on the map, but Roland Smith's articulate writing made me feel the humidity in the air as well as the rocking of the elephant's people rode on, and I could easily picture the scenery. I enjoyed the writing immensely, and this book is a must read.

Freak the mighty

Max is an insecure, stupid giant of a boy with a murdered mother and a father in prison. He lives with his grandparents in the room in the basement. Thinking his too stupid to do anything, he spends most of his time down there, until he meets Kevin. Kevin is a four foot tall twelve year old genius, who spends most of his time memorizing dictionaries and building robots. Kevin is too small and Max is too stupid, but together they become Freak the Mighty, the unstoppable force.

I was a little hesitant about starting this book. I think it was the title that threw me off. Freak the Mighty? What does that even mean? Also, the back of the book doesn't do it justice. But, on one of those many times I have skimmed over my bookshelf looking for something to read, I chose Freak the Mighty. I went into it very negatively, but I was instantly absorbed by the tone. I could easily picture a bumbling teenager writing it. The tone was very realistic, but that's not to say that the writing was bad. The grammar wasn't bad, and the sentence structure was good. I think it was the vocabulary. It was very simple and to the point, making it obvious that this boy either didn't know or couldn't spell more sophisticated words than good, cool, numb.

This book was a great example of why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Although I had very low expectations going into Freak the Mighty, I strongly suggest you read it.

Mrs. Packard

Elizabeth Packard is a outspoken mother and wife of a Methodist preacher in the mid-1800s. Due to her obstinate views and the sexism of her time, Elizabeth's husband sends her away to an insane asylum, although there is nothing mentally wrong with her. During her time in the insane asylum, Elizabeth tries hard to fight back at the domineering men of her society, help improve the asylum, and stay as sane as possible in the most trying of circumstances. As Mrs. Packard is a play, the scene will change between and interlap with Mrs Packard in the asylum and the trial on her sanity three years later.

Mrs. Packard was a very interesting play to read. It is a very fast read, but included great detail and description, something that is hard to come by in a dialogue. This play brings out all your emotions; you'll find yourself yelling at Dr. McFarland and cheering on Mrs. Tenney. I suggest reading this book for a fast yet informative read.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz

Vera Dietz is a distressed high school senior and pizza delivery technician. Her best friend Charlie, the one Vera secretly loves and who betrayed her completely, has just died under very dark and mysterious circumstances. Vera is the only one who knows the true story, which, along with the hope of finishing high school unnoticed, the stress of her seven hour job at the pizza place, and trying to avoid the terrible destiny her parents' pasts have formed for her, has been constantly hanging over her shoulder.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a heart-wrenching, laugh-out-loud, page-turning book, that combines ordinary emotions with extraordinary circumstances.Vera Dietz has this sarcastic, witty tone to her that is hard to come by and rarely done well, and in this book it is both realistic and hilarious. Throughout the novel, the reader is granted with five different viewpoints, and chapters from the past and present, which is quite interesting and makes the story original. All the characters in Please Ignore Vera Dietz are original and sympathetic, bringing the story to life. Although this book focuses on themes and events that most people in reality wouldn't be affected by, there are the secondary and minor plot lines that everybody battles with: high school drama, friendship troubles, parent-child relationships, and much more. I strongly suggest Please Ignore Vera Dietz for anyone looking for a wonderfully emotional read.

First They Killed My Father

Loung Ung was a opinionated five year old living a luxurious and sheltered life in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge took over. Now, the life she once had could kill her, if anyone found out about it. Moving from village to village, Loung Ung and her family try to hide their former life of prosperity, becoming the villagers the Khmer Rouge want everyone to be. But the past has a way of catching up to you, and Loung Ung finds herself walking on eggshells, trying to forget the easiness she had once upon a time.

This book is not only a page-turner, but also an honest recount of what really happened to Loung Ung. The author easily could have written herself down as an agreeable, kindhearted young girl, but instead she truthfully wrote about the stubbornness, obstinance and hate she had build up inside of her. Loung Ung did an amazing job of writing everything in detail. I was very impressed at how descriptive a thirty year old woman could write about her early childhood. Granted, she was writing about the most eventful and horrible time of her life, but still, she remembers the specific items the Khmer Rouge found in her mother's bag, she remembers how she felt when the Khmer Rouge first came to Phnom Penh, she remembers that she was playing hopscotch when she first sees the Khmer Rouge. I loved Loung Ung writing and honesty, and I plan to read other books of hers.

Get Well Soon

Get Well Soon is the semi-autobiographical book about Anna Bloom, an overweight, over-depressed newly-admitted mental patient. Through her hilariously entertaining letters to her friend Tracy, Anna talks of her time at the mental hospital and her fellow patients, including the cutie Justin. Anna is confused- depression is supposed to be depressing, so why is she making so many friends and possibly a boyfriend? Will Anna and Justin be able to share their mutual feelings? Will Anna ever go back into the real world, or will she spend the rest of her life in the hospital with Matt O.? I guess you'll have to read to find out!
This book was amazingly, fantastically, hilariously good. The writing isn't the best because the whole book is letters from a teenager. However, I think the grammar mistakes, strange expressions and occasional cursing makes the book that much more realistic. Julia Halpern does a great job of writing from a adolescent's perspective and I was able to easily picture Justin, Colby, Anna, Matt O., Eugene and Big 'Do. The detail was fantastic! I found myself laughing out loud at multiple times while reading Get Well Soon. I have read it three times, and I plan to read it again and again. I strongly recommend that you do the same!

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

Miss Jane Pittman was 110 when "interviewed" by Ernest Gaines. She was 10 or 11 years old when slavery was finally abolished, and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman follows her through her life from the end of the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement. It follows her to 4 different plantations, as a slave, housemaid, field hand and wife of a horse-breaker. It follows her through every heartbreak, every death, every injustice, and every joy she ever experienced in her life.

As good as I thought this book was, I don't think I would have appreciated it enough if I hadn't read it for English class. Keep in mind that I am only 14 years old, and therefore do not know everything about American History, but I think this book would have been a difficult read if I did not have my teacher explaining the different historical event that take place. I recommend this book to any English or History teacher teaching about the Civil Rights Movement, but I do not recommend it to a person just looking for something to read. It was very informative, but not a spectacular read by any means.

Pretty little Liars

Hanna, Spencer, Emily and Aria are four estranged friends who slowly drifted apart after the leader of their posse, Alison, suddenly and mysteriously disappeared at the end of seventh grade. Three years later, Aria has returned from Iceland, Hanna has given up her unmentionable habit, Spencer is interested in yet another boy she can't have, and Emily is going through some life-changing emotions. Oh yeah, and they are all receiving mysterious texts from someone who calls herself A. A knows all their secrets. And A plans to reveal them all. Does she reveal them? Will the girls ever have a normal life? Does Alison ever show up again?

I was very hesitant about reading this book. My friends all raved about it, but I had watched the show, and I thought the books would be just as ridiculous. But after an emergency where I didn't have a book to read (which, if you've never experienced this, is the worst feeling in the world) I finally consented to borrowing the first three books from my friend. I am SO happy I did. I finished the first one in 5 hours, the second one in 2 days, and the third one in a day. I am not exaggerating when I say I couldn't put it down. I fell asleep at night while reading, woke up in the morning, started reading again and only took breaks for meals. I strongly, strongly suggest this book to any girl from ages 12 to 18. READ IT!

Still Alice

Alice is a phsycology teacher at Harvard when she starts experiencing memory loss and disorientation. Alice first writes it off as menopause, but after visiting a neuroscientist, she is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Being only 51, she feels alone in her situation. Her husband is too scared to spend much time with her, afraid of seeing the disease at work. There are no therapy sessions for the patient, only for their loved ones, and all her colleagues keep as far away from her as possible, uncomfortable with her situation.
As Lisa Genova writes about the rapid decent from top professor at Harvard to the mother who doesn't know her kids, she gets as far into the mind of Alice as possible. Many times while reading this touching novel, I would completely forget it was written in third person. I would be reading or two hours straight, leave the book for a few minutes and come back shocked to find she's and her's where I thought I had been reading I's and Me's. I also liked how at the end of the book, near the end of Alice's painful trials, there is peace. Yes, Alice does not know who her daughters are, but there is no panic. Just an acceptance that, although she does not recognize these people, they are nice, and she likes them.

Hello Readers!

My name is Charlotte Sippel, and I read about 5 books a week. Not only do I enjoy reading books, I love writing reviews for them. From now on, I am going to write a review for every single book I read. And all those reviews will be available to you! Just search me up, find a review where the book sounds appealing, and fall into the novel. Unfortunately, I can't read every single book in existence, so you may not find the review you're looking for, but I challenge you to explore books you haven't read before and trust my reviews.