Hooked On Bookz

Title: Flight: A Novel  Author: Sherman Alexie ASIN: B00FEZ25IQ  My verdict: 5 stars Highly recommended! Ever wondered what's it like to really walk in the shoes of others? In this book, Zits (an angry, lonely, 15 year-old half Native American, half Irish orphan), did. Influenced by his new-found friend, whose name is, coincidentally, JusTice, Zits set out to rob a bank, with the intention to hurt and kill, to pay back for all the pain and disappointment the society put him through. This incident literally changed his life.  As soon as he pulled the trigger at the bank, he went on an unexpected time-traveling journey. He walked in the shoes of an FBI agent during the civil rights movement, a mute Indian boy during the Battle of Little Bighorn, an Indian tracker, an airplane pilot.  This journey, while baffled him at times, also allowed him to find himself; to see  and experience the love and kindness, hate and anger, and the choices mad...

Title: The Phantom Tollbooth Author/Illustrator: Norton Juster/Jules Feiffer ISBN: 978-0-375-86903-7 In a nutshell The Phantom Tollbooth is about a boy who was bored with life. 'When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going.' Everything, to 10-year-old Milo was dull and 'a waste of time' as he 'can't see the point in learning to solve useless problems, or subtracting turnips from turnips, or knowing where Ethiopia is or how to spell February,' until one day he noticed something peculiar in his room - an enormous package, the biggest he had ever seen, and on it a bright-blue envelope that said "FOR MILO, WHO HAS PLENTY OF TIME." It was a purple turnpike tollbooth - the start to Milo's amusing, eye-opening, life-changing adventures. With a destination he picked from the map he was given and the electric automobile from hi...

Title/Author:    The Complete Persepolis/Marjane Satrapi Publisher:  Pantheon   Pages: 341 ISBN: 978-0-375-71483-2   My verdict: 4/5 In a nutshell Persepolis (Persia in Greek) is about the author's life growing up as a child in Iran in the 1970s. Her memoir started from the time when she was 10, living and surviving a troubling time in her country. The Islamic Revolution took place and all females were required to wear veils, a far cry from what she was used to, being educated at a French non-religious school, which was later divided into schools for boys and girls. Jewelry weren't allowed, women must be covered from head to toe, no Western music and so forth.  Being the only child of outspoken revolutionaries, strict rules like these don't sit well with Marjane. Her rebellious and outspoken nature always put her in danger. She was then sent to live in Austria, hoping there, she could live freely. As it turned out, living there had its humps and bumps...

Yep! I am back after a lengthy hiatus! Haha! So here's my first 2014 review :) My verdict: 4/5 In a nutshell: This story revolves around the lives of two friends, Lily and Snow Flower, brought together by a matchmaker with a selfish intention. Their friendship, a very unique one in fact, is called Lao tong (same olds), was bound by a contract, which then bloomed into love. Their matchmaker believed that they're perfect for each other because all their BaZi (8 characters) matched. Thus begun a friendship strengthened by messages written in paper fans, in a secret language called nu shu, a unique writing that Chinese women created to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men.  What I enjoyed: Lisa See had all the elements of a good read in this book. Its main characters were true to themselves, materials were well researched and its plot was a page-turner. I didn't have a favorite character but Lily, the narrator, stood out to me. She was a believ...

I've reviewed this book before about 2 years ago. Click here for it. This time round, I'm adding an activity to complete the entire reading/literacy session which I did with a new group of children age 4 - 6 years old. Read-aloud: Identify the rhyming words with the children, while going back and forth to help them remember what Freddie wished for and what Bessie Belle conjured up for him instead. It is also to get them into the flow of rhyming. Activity: Create your own post-reading activity. I just did a simple one by asking them again what Freddie wished for; why the fairy kept getting it wrong; what were the 3 rules for Freddie - is it important for us to do that too? and so forth. Art & literacy: Think of something you'd like to wish for when you see Bessie Belle and what she might conjure up if you didn't say it properly. Draw. Some interesting ones my kids came up with: 1) School - Tool 2) Baby shark - Mark on his face 3) Toy - toys...

Title/Author:    Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons / Eric Litwin (writer), James Dean (illustrator) Publisher: Harper Pages: 40 pages ISBN: 978-0-06-211058-9 Ages: 4 - 7 In a nutshell Pete the Cat wore his bright yellow new shirt which had four totally colorful, groovy buttons. But it fell off one by one! However, that didn't bother Pete at all. He said, buttons come buttons go, and kept on singing his song, until he was left with one last button - his belly button! :) What I liked EVERYTHING! It's such a simple, straight-forward story, yet my kids (4-5 year olds) in school enjoyed it immensely! They not only loved the story but also the bright, beautiful illustrations. I was quite surprised they loved the book. I guess that's how all children's books should be written - clear storyline, straight-forward & simple; basically KISS - (my definition: Keep It Simple & Straight-Forward) How I read/presented it 1) Get the children interested in ...

Title/Author:  The Devil in The White City Publisher:  Vintage Books Pages:  447 ISBN:  0-375-72560-1 In a nutshell Firstly, this is non-fiction. I bought thinking it was fiction! Silly me. Anyway, Larson combined tales of two very passionate men, who toiled (one of them, very surreptitiously) to achieve their ambitions, but both have one objective - to create history. Burnham was the architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, while Holmes was the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. In the opening pages, you'll be introduced to them through their words. "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." - Daniel Burnham, Director of Works World's Columbian Exposition, 1893 "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing." - Dr. H. H. Holmes, Confession, 1896 Thus began the story...