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.