Highwire Moon by Susan Straight

This book had me from the moment I opened it. It is the story of a young Mexican-Indian girl, Serafina who in California illegally. Due to her inability to speak Spanish or English, (she speaks an Indian dialect) she is violently separated from her beloved three year old daughter, Elvia. The story picks up, 15 years later with Elvia, pregnant, and desperate to find her mother. She thinks her mother left her because she didn't want her anymore. At the same time Serafina is trying to find the daughter she has never stopped thinking about.

Susan Straight writes so compellingly that we are willing to look at things we would normally never want to see. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, although I know it is a bit bleak for some readers. I would encourage even them to read it because of the hope and love that permeates this book.

The descriptions of migrant camps and border crossings make you feel as though you are there. I have no idea how the author got some of the details she put into the book.

The book is set in South Riverside County. Readers from this area will recognize many landscape markers, and the Indian tribes names.

I knew instinctively how this book would end. I was right and wrong at the same time. You will be to, no matter how you think it will end.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Aaaahh...Book Club. What a wonderful evening! We had, for the first time in a long time, every member present...oops, except our newest member Meredith but we have only met her once. You all know what I mean! The theme for Something Wicked... was Carnival. We had warm pretzels with mustard, spicy-candied pecans, apples with caramel dip, hot dogs and french fries, pinwheel pasta salad, green salad with fruit, roasted corn on the cob, Lynchburg Lemonades and Peanut Butter/Chocolate Fudge. Everything was delicious, of course!
The Book? It was well-liked by everyone, some more than others. There were a few of us who found it hard to get into but enjoyed it anyway. I personally loved this story. I thought it was creepy and scary but poetic and beatifully written at the same time. We all agreed that it would have been a better choice for October but...cest la vie. As always, we all had a wonderful time! As Bethany put it,"this is home."

Ophelia by Lisa Klein

As a college professor, Lisa Klein the author of Ophelia had taught Shakespeare's Hamlet countless times. She always thought that one of the minor characters, Ophelia, was shortchanged by Shakespeare on her character development. With her novel Ophelia she has told a new version of Hamlet with a smart, eloquent, brave heroine at its center. She gives the story a new twist and new insight into a possible turn of events.
I loved this story! It was very well-written, in an old, poetic style but more understandable than the original Shakespeare. It wasn't a suprise twist, I could tell where the author was going with the story but I still enjoyed every page. This is no child's story, I would recommend this book for 9th grade through adult.

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

Many of us know and love Kevin Henkes as the hilarious author/illustrator of Childrens Picture Books likeLilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Owen, Julius: the Baby of the World, etc. With Olive's Ocean Henkes ventures into tween fiction and does a good job. The main character in this book is Martha, a girl whose life and perspective changes after Olive, a classmate of Marthas, dies in a tragic accident. Although Martha and Olive were never really friends, Martha can't seem to stop thinking about her over summer vacation. While Martha spends time with her grandmother and her friends at the ocean she learns a great deal about life, love and friendship. With Olive's Ocean,Henkes has managed to capture the essence of a tweens girl's mind. I liked this book. It wasn't earth shattering or life changing but it was a good read. I think any 6th through 8th grade girl might enjoy this story.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Re-read this one because the movie is coming out the 15th of this month and I wanted to remember what happened to compare. So far the Harry Potter movies have closely matched the books. Rowling's writing just got better and better with each book. It was just as entertaining and fast paced the second time around. If you haven't read the series, I recommend it. It gets especially good at Book #4.

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

I heard about this book years ago when it was first published. I read "A Handmaids Tale" and "Alias Grace" by the same author and enjoyed them. The Blind Assassin won many awards including the Booker Prize. I made a point to get it from the library a while ago. Between my own writing, and reading I was doing for research, or book club I had to renew it twice. I am so happy I finally got around to reading it. It was so thick and lush. It is described as novel within a novel, but it is even more complex than that. It spans three distinct time periods, and the novel within the novel has various sci-fi stories told within it. Atwood has a sort of vagueness to her writing. She does not spell anything out, and yet everything is quite clear. I was very caught up in the stories, all of them. I always have the feeling of wanting more, whenever I read Atwood, and yet I always feel satisfied. Like a meal that is so unusual and delicious you wish it would never end, but you are not unpleasantly full when you are finished. If I had a complaint, it would be the two-dimensionality of the villains, a brother and sister. They are completely without redemption, and a little like stock characters. Some of the other characters are so well-developed that these two really stand out. It is a small complaint. The book was mesmerizing.