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.