"Eleanor and Park" by Rainbow Rowell

nuggetninja.deviantart.com

Ratings

Violence: 2/5

Drug Abuse: 0/5

Language: 1/5

Nudity: 0/5

Sexual Content: 3/5

*Language: There are some swear words but minor and they take the Lord's name in vain once.

*Violence: Eleanor's step father is violent towards her mother and her but it isn't bloody.

*Sexual Content: She alludes to her mother and step father having sex and has some make out time with Park. Park also kind of goes into detail of what he thinks makes Eleanor down right gorgeous. 

Summary

Eleanor is new to the school half way through the year and every seat on the bus is claimed. She isn't the tiny pretty new girl everyone likes but the awkward big red headed beauty that is tolerated by an asian kid named Park on the bus. Park enjoys reading comic books then realizes that Eleanor is reading along with him discreetly and over time the silence and space evaporates between them in a relationship that is something they both need to grow.

Review

I should have known reading the slip of paper the previous reader inserted on the first page of the first chapter, "You have been warned. You can stop now." I loved it. I loved it so much I was pissed off at Rainbow Rowell for making me care so much and hurting so horribly bad at the same time. I know they will be making a movie soon but I won't see it. Because the story of these two teenagers is so intoxicating I don't want it anywhere else but my imagination. I loved the writing style and how you can tell the difference in voices because a lot of people struggle with that when doing multiple perspectives. I highly recommend this book and I give it a 5/5 because I feel like I am still recovering back into reality.

                  By: J Feistner

P.S. Buy it. Or just buy it for me! :D Eleanor&Park

Wish You Well -David Baldacci

Ratings

Violence: 2/5
Language: 2/5
Drug Usage: 0/5
Sexual Content: 0/5
Nudity: 0/5

Violence: People die and there are physical threats. Lou and Oz get in fist fights with other kids.
Language: Old terms here such as the N word and Yankee. Not everyone is offended by yankee but it is supposed to be derogative so I added it to our list. I think I only saw two swear words.

Summary

Precocious twelve-year-old Louisa Mae Cardinal lives in the hectic New York City of 1940 with her family. Then tragedy strikes – and Lou and her younger brother, Oz, must go with their invalid mother to live on their great-grandmother’s farm in the Virginia mountains.

Suddenly Lou finds herself coming of age in a new landscape, making her first true friend, and experiencing adventures tragic, comic, and audacious. When a dark, destructive force encroaches on her new home, her struggle will play out in a crowded Virginia courtroom…and determine the future of two children, an entire town, and the mountains they love. -David Baldacci  (Click on his name to purchase it on Amazon).

Review

I haven't picked up my new book from the library yet because this one stuck to me. It was very refreshing to read a story that had mountains in it. I grew up close to the mountains next to me and there is something majestic about them that I miss now here in North Dakota.

Lou was spunky and her brother Oz is very observant and cautious. Their mixture is the perfect make up for siblings that love each other and help when needed even when nothing is said. You learn a lot about country life and all the trials it can hold for a small family and the community.

It began slowly but over time it picked up as you oriented yourself with the characters and changing landscape. I really love this book. I would share this with anyone who misses the mountains or is looking for some country life.

Buy it because I know I will at some point! :D

By: J Feistner

"Go Ask Alice" by Anonymous

Ratings

Violence: 0/5

Drug Abuse: 5/5

Language: 3/5

Nudity: 1/5

Sexual Content: 4/5

*Nudity: There are a few parts where she wakes up naked but doesn't go into detail about what she looks like or anything.

*Language: There are regular swear words then some slang that you might not want your kids to know if that is your concern but it is necessary to the story.

*Sexual Content: People she realizes were having sex but doesn't watch. She talks about sex and other people having sex because it is usually tied to drugs. But doesn't turn it into a porno or anything thank heavens rather it's just a short explanation as to why things ended the way they did.

*Drug Abuse: That is what the book is about if you are unaware of it. She tries many drugs and explains the experience of being on drugs.

Summary

Everyone wants to fit in with the cool kids. Well what happens when they trick you into joining their party drug and abuse you without your permission? Well Alice is a victim of bullies, teenage angst, drugs, and the pressures of high school social life. She gets hooked on uppers, LSD, pot, and has basically been open to anything. But as she enters the drug scene she finds that everyone wants her more miserable than themselves and the stories are gruesome, hard, and real.

Review

I actually did not care about this book very much. Could it be educational? Sure, but you would have to go about it correctly. It is listed as fiction due to no solid evidence that this is a true account. Even if not I believe the things that are inflicted on Alice in her journey.

Alice seemed to be kind of naive and an air head because of the way she talked to her diary and it kind of ate at me. But I read it because it was recommended to me by a close friends. I wouldn't recommend this unless someone I cared about was interested in trying drugs. It did though help me to understand the logic or non-logic of a drug addict in a way I am grateful for that. I give it a 2/5 star rating.

                  By: J Feistner