December Books

Based on the results from my Future of the Blog questionnaire (which you can still answer, by the way), you all would rather read my book reviews in one month per post. So, I'm going to oblige, starting now!

Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones
This is another book from my classroom shelf that I needed to read. The book is in free-verse format. It's based on the memories of the author, with some creative liberties. It's about when her older sister "went crazy" with schizophrenia and had to be checked into a mental health clinic. It goes through how Sones deals with the stigma of having a "crazy" family member and how she eventually overcomes it as a young teen and regains her relationship with her sister. It was a very quick read--it took me about an hour. Poetry-wise, I didn't think it was very well written, but it's full of memory and emotion. I'd like to share with troubled students.
3/5 stars

More Than The Tattooed Mormon by Al Carroway Read the full review here. 5/5 stars

The Final Farewell by Patricia Wiles
This is another book from my classroom shelf. Because of that, I didn't realize that this was the 4th and last book of the series! This is definitely a Mormon young adult book. It's about Kevin Kirk's senior year of high school and how he and his very few Mormon friends in his small town deal with changing beliefs, the prospect of going on a mission vs going to college, and surviving a tornado. I'd definitely have my Mormon students read it, but I don't think it would really interest any non-Mormon kids... 3/5 stars
Mary Jane by Judith O'Brien Yet another book from my classroom shelf. What really caught my eye about this was it is a Marvel comic book, but from a girl's point of view! This is the first in a series that goes through the Spiderman adventures, but from Mary Jane's perspective. I think it was great to have a way to really include geeky girls (like myself and many of my students) in the Marvel universe by having books like this. Even a lot of my male students would open this and read a few chapters. However, upon reading it myself, I didn't really enjoy it. I thought it was very cheesy and predictable. True, I already know the different variations of Spiderman, but this just wasn't good quality writing. 2/5 stars
Secret History: Conspiracies from Ancient Aliens to the New World Order by Nick Redfern I saw this book on display at the library and had to check it out. I love reading conspiracy and esoteric theories even though I don't believe a shred of it. To me, as a historian and a Mormon Christian, it's hilarious and fun to read. Justin and I laughed at some of these theories Redfern compiled. Redfern didn't create any of these theories. Basically, he just gathered a bunch of theories and put it together in almost a chronological encyclopedia of sorts. Some of it was honestly boring--I mean, how can you make conspiracy theories boring? 2.5/5 stars
Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris I absolutely love NPH and was excited to read this book, especially because he decided to be true to form and make it a unique autobiography in the form of a choose your own adventure book. This autobiography can either be read as such, or chronologically. He talks about his early life, theater, movie/TV, magic, family, and love lives, including some magic tricks for you to learn, as well as recipes. He even got some of his friends to write little letters in it. I absolutely love how he talks about his parents, kids, and husband, David. He is such a sweet person and strongly believes in family. However, sometimes it did get a bit lewd in his openness and honestly about drugs and his sex life. I cringed a bit with that. 4/5 stars **I received a free copy of Choose Your Own Autobiography from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Have you read any of these books? Which were your favorite? Why?

The Long Walk

How many of you have read/seen The Diary of Anne Frank or any of the variations of it? How many of read/seen accounts of countless Jews taken by Nazis and forced into concentration camps, forced from their families for no real crime other than being a Jew, forced to work, forced to march until the last drop of life leaves them?

It's a terrible period in our world's history. But, what we don't typically focus on is that the Allies had a terrible secret as well. The Soviets. 

Now, I'm not saying the Soviets had the same plan and philosophy like the Nazi's, I'm just saying there were many similarities! Between World War I and World War II, Eastern Europe was having a make-over, being fought between the Germans and the Soviets. Poland ended up in Soviet land. And that is where the memoir, The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz begins.

Slav was a member of the Polish Army. He had just barely come home after a quick service, to his newly wed wife when he was arrested by the Soviet police and taken to Russia for torturous questioning. Although he kept saying he was fighting the German Nazis, the fact that he had grown up near the Russian border and was a member of the Polish Army acted against him, allowing the Soviet police to claim he was a spy.

After months of torture and destitute living, he was sent via train to the middle of Russia and put on a chain gang to walk to a random camp in the middle of nowhere, Siberia in the middle of winter. There, he was installed in a labor camp and met a few other men who wanted to leave. One of note was an American engineer who had been hired to work on a project in Moscow, then was arrested after the job was finished. Slav, and 6 other men planned an escape. 

They ran, and they ran, dressed in furs they had slowly accumulated. By the time they reached Lake Baikal, they met a young, petite, 17 year old girl who had escaped a near-rape experience at another labor camp. Together, the 8 continued to run. In Mongolia, they met with nice Mongols, exchanging service for food. But, they never had enough. Crossing the Gobi Desert, the girl and a man died. As they continued through China, Tibet, and the Himalayas, two more of them died. They finally reached a British post in India 18 months after they escaped Siberia.

This is a gritty account. Slav mentions in the beginning that not only had the language barrier between the English (after this ordeal, he lived in England for the rest of his life and married an English woman) and his Polish/Russian a problem in discussing his adventure, but also just all the trials he went through. It took him years to actually open up and divulge all he experienced. He describes the degradation he experienced, the torture and inhumane treatment. He wonders at himself how long he and his friends were able to last--the thought of freedom, the innocent feeling of determination--that was all they had to go on as they were starving and thirsting to death. It is a book of true commodity, trust, resolve, and courage.

Slav doesn't hold back in his descriptions. He mentions, again, at the beginning, it was suggested by many people, including his doctor, to write this out, as sort of a therapy. Thus, details are given as he remembers them. There is only one swear word as he remembers his Soviet captors trying to squeeze a false confirmation out of him. But, there are descriptions of torture and mention of an almost-rape. The subject matter is harsh--men being forced to work, like the Jews in Nazi camps, and the disease, hardships, and hunger/thirst experienced. I am truly amazed that I will be teaching this to 9th graders (as they will be learning about the Cold War in their history class).

But, I strongly recommend reading it. It was hard to put down.

4 out of 5 stars.