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.