Book Review: Stella By Starlight

"Stella by Starlight", by Sharon Draper, is set in Bumblebee, North Carolina in 1932. The nation is in the Depression and deeply segregated. Sometimes disturbing events are seen through the eyes of 11-year-old Stella, starting with a burning cross she and her little brother observe in the night.

Stella's story is poignant and unnerving, but has a sense of hope in the human spirit and a community coming together to help those in need. Stella's father and others show bravery when standing up for their rights, and a tenacity that Stella shares in trying to improve her writing skills. One can't help but root for Stella and the families of Bumblebee.

What About Love?

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought I would share some book recommendations that are love stories. All of these are YA novels, because it is my favorite genre. Whether you are in love, wish to fall in love, have loved and lost, believe in love, or maybe don't yet know what love is all about, you can find a little bit of it in the pages of these books.

Sloppy Firsts, by Jessica Darling
First love can be sloppy. Jessica Darling, a sassy New Jersey high school student, finds that out when she meets bad boy Marcus. This book pokes at the hilarious side of love.

Beautiful Creatures, by Margaret Stohl, Kami Garcia
Love isn't always easy, and sometimes overcoming the hardships reveals the beauty of a relationship. Ethan and Lena's relationship shows the joy, the fun and the pain of being in love.

Wherever You Go, by Heather Davis
If you like a little paranormal romance, this may be the book for you. Seventeen year old Holly is devastated when she loses her boyfriend Rob in a tragic accident. She doesn't know that Rob's ghost looks over her, and gets jealous when his best friend Jason makes a move.

This Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen
Dessen has authored dozens of books for YA readers to consume with gusto. She doesn't fail with her YA romance, in which Remy meets Dexter, who defies all she ever knew about love and relationships, yet she can't resist him.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, by Jennifer E. Smith
Love happens in the most unexpected places, and for Hadley and Oliver, it happens in an airport.



Forget the chocolates this year, and curl up with a good book and feel all the feels in the world of make believe.

Book Review: When the Sea Turned to Silver

"When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin is a magical read of a journey that begins when soldiers invade and kidnap Pinmei's grandmother (Amah) and burn down her home. Pinmei and Yishan go out to rescue Amah, using a variety of magical tools and making friends along their way.

What I like about this story is that it is about the value of storytelling. Amah is kidnapped because she is a storyteller, and her granddaughter, Pinmei, is called upon to tell the stories she knows by heart. Through the stories, they discover clues to finding their beloved Amah and learn to trust each other.

Author Grace Lin is an award winning and best selling author of several books, including the 2010 Newbery Honor winner, "Where The Mountain Meets the Moon."

Taking a Leap of Faith - Are You Making a Good Decision?

Every once in a while, you make a leap, not sure of where you are going to land. How do you know if you are making the right decision?

You don't. Nobody knows what is going to happen, and if 2016 didn't teach us that, I don't know what can. I don't know about you, but I read all the analyses, the polls, listened to the experts, yet the results of November 2016 left me gobsmacked. You don't know what will happen. You do the best with the information you have now.

Follow your heart, or your gut, whatever speaks to you. Nobody can tell you if you are doing the right thing, unless they will live the consequences. Even then, they might have their own agenda in mind, or not fully think through how it affects you. This is where you have to rely on what feels right in your heart, or your gut, or your conscience. One of these should give you an indication if the choice is right for you.

Consider your long range plans. When assessing a decision, I often look at how it affects me now. How my daily routines will be disrupted. What changes now. My view can lack long range goals, like how I want my life to took 10 years from now, or 15, or 20. It is important to look at the long range effects when making a big decision. When deciding between two jobs, this was helpful. While one was inconvenient now, making it a poor immediate choice, I could see myself being there for the long haul, even retiring there. While the other job, while convenient now, did not offer long range opportunities.

Remove fear from the equation. When making a decision, fear is the what often holds us back. Take it out of the equation. If you weren't afraid, what would you do?

Know your core. Dig deep to find what makes you tick, what motivates you, what you love and what drains you. If this opportunity feeds that, it is right. They say if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life. If the opportunity you are debating qualifies as something you love, something that feeds your soul, that matters.

This month, I am taking a leap and changing my life. It will be an adjustment for me and my family, but I hope it will lead to better things. I have some worries, as I am going into unknown territory for me, but I am trusting my gut, my long range plans, my unknowing of what will happen and trusting the universe is bringing me what I need. Bless you all on your paths.

Book Review: Go Ask Alice

When I checked this book out in the library, several library employees commented on reading it as a teen and it being very influential on them. I picked it off the shelf and started reading it without knowing its history, and I was drawn into the story.

"Go Ask Alice," by Anonymous was first published in 1971. The era is sometimes evident in the clothing choices made, but that is such a small part of the story. It is the horrific story of a teenage girl from a good family getting caught up in drug abuse that eventually leads to her demise. It is written in diary form, from beginning until her last entry.

According to Snopes, this book was the product of Beatrice Sparks, who produced several novels depicting teens in situations that ruined their lives, including AIDS, pregnancy, satan worship and eating disorders. It is clearly not an authentic diary of a teenage girl, but it is convincing enough to keep a reader interested, and clearly made an impact on some young readers (or so I heard at the library).

It is a short, quick read, and the main character is easy to relate to. Whether it is authentic or not, it does speak of the trials of finding friends, keeping friends, doing stupid stuff and all that comes with being a teen.

Today Is the Day

Gangbanger is released today!

Ze Vang could count on his friends to have his back....until things get deadly.

Now available in ebook or paperback form on Amazon or in ebook form at Solstice Publishing.
 

On Friendship

The world has a way of slapping you in the face, kind of like that song by Sheryl Crow, "Isn't It Ironic."

Less than a week after I posted about my upcoming book on friendship, my very best friend from middle school to about 10th grade had a cataclysmic event and has been in ICU fighting for her life ever since. I pray for her daily, hoping she hangs in there, thinking about the people in her life who love her, hoping she can come back from this.

We haven't been friends for a long time, but you don't forget the bonds of best friends. We did everything together, and most of it was stupid, like eating cake mix out of the box, or braiding each other's hair so we'd have kinks, getting sunburned and peeling each other's back. Those were some good times and I never laughed as much as I did when I was with Shelly.

I had to dig deep through the archives in the basement, searching through boxes of photos of my life since Shelly and I were friends. Wedding photos, vacations, multiple albums for our children. My own childhood nearly forgotten at the bottom of a box tucked deep into the storeroom, with photos from a time before digital.

I have one photo of me with the girl who inhabited my everyday for four years, and it is nothing but a Polaroid from 1985. This is Shelly and I sitting on Santa's lap. My eyes are closed and I look characteristically awkward in my jean jacket with buttons that say whatever I had to say at the time, while she looks as cool as a cucumber. She was always the cool one, while I was awkward and weird.

And, because I found a lot in that box, I have to give a shout out to Pennie, who I accompanied to prom night for a school that wasn't ours. This was probably 1986, and feathered hair, puffy sleeves and satin dresses were cool.

And finally, I have to give a toast to the best friend who got me through the rest of high school, my rock, my friend, my Taco Time partner, Linda. We haven't been in each other's world enough lately.

Best friends mean a lot. I'm sure there is a saying out there that you only need one good friend, and that friend is precious. Celebrate yours, the friends then and now. And please, pray for Shelly. She has some tough odds, and she is a special light in this world. Best friends need to live forever.