Bloodroot by Amy Greene

This is a really neat book. It is set in the Appalachian Mountains. The book starts off with two people telling the story in th 1970's, then the next part of the book is two people in 1990 telling the story. So far I am only on the second part of the book. It is mostly about a couple of families who lived in the mountains and how they grew up. The central character of the book is a lady named Myra. Some parts of the book could be difficult to understand for someone who is not strong in reading, because it is written in the dialect of the mountains. I am on page 130 and have read an hour and 45 minutes.

Lucy by Laurence Gonzales

This is a really interesting book. I came upon it by chance and surprised myself by actually enjoying it! I would say this book is science fiction, which is not usually a genre I turn to. It is about a girl who is born in the jungle to a scientist who created her as a hybrid human. She was created with the genes of an ape. Anyhow, her father is killed and another scientist adopts her w/o knowing what she is. They return to the U.S. and the scientist, Jenny, falls in love with the girl like it is her own daughter and realizes her genetic abnormality. Therefore, they decide to keep it a secret in order to avoid crazy scientist and publicity. That obviously does not work out and the resulting mayhem occurs. There is actually a happy ending to the story, so don't be discouraged. It was a good book, not the best, but entertaining enough that I finished it in two days! I am not sure exactly how long it took to read, but I would guess 4 hours or so.  I would give it a 7 out of 10....

First Reading Post

Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key, by Jack Gantos
     This was an assigned reading, but I really enjoyed it (I actually read it all at once!). It is a juvenile fiction but the content is suitable for adults, in fact, I think it would be good for more adults to read it. It is a story about a little boy in elementary school who has ADHD. The book is told from his point of view and I feel that it gives wonderful insight into the mind of a child with this type of disability. The book is a little sad in parts because you realize the boy is not getting the kind of help he needs and everyone blames him for the problems he has in school.
     I honestly can't believed that I enjoyed this book so much. I think that I had the impression that since it was juvenile fiction I was not going to enjoy it, but I was completely wrong! I would recommend this book to anyone who plans to spend time around kids, whether they want to teach or not. I read this book all at once, before I could fall asleep I had to finish it, and it took 1hr 40 minutes.