Thursday, May 10, 2018

Clara Voyant by Rachelle Delaney

Clara Voyant
This is a cute middle grade story in which 6th grader, Clara has moved with her mother to a new town and her grandmother, who they had lived with, has moved to Florida.  Clara misses her old neighborhood and friends, but is part of the school newspaper crew ( although most schools don't have newspapers anymore - they have broadcast journalism instead).  The student leader of the newspaper, Wesley, assigns Clara to write a horoscope column although Clara would rather write about the school's missing mascott.  In the book, Clara makes new friends while searching for clues and begins fitting in with her new neighborhood and her mom's new friends. 

Monday, May 7, 2018

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

The Women in the Castle
This is a story of  three women in post World War II Germany who live together for a few years in a castle.   Marianne von Lingenfels is the widow of a resistor and she rescues two women whose husbands were friends of his in the resistance against Hitler.  The story spans years and tells how each woman fared in Hitler's Germany and afterwards. Each woman hides secrets that we later learn. I found the story fascinating especially since one of the women at one point ran youth camps with her husband.  We get to see the story of the ordinary Germans who were drawn in by his promises and who thought that what they were doing was good and right, until they realized what was really going on.  The story is quite interesting and I highly recommend it.