This is a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. It was pretty good. It starts from the beginning and tells of the families life in the city and loosing it all and moving to the country. She puts details about each of the sisters, they are nice sisters not mean sisters like some of the versions of this story. The father is nice and the Beast isn't as mean as Disney makes him. Beauty has a horse and she spends lots of time riding it and talking to it. She is kind of a tom boy.
I think it was very well written even if you have read and seen the story a hundred times. Whole Book
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Dyslexia by Paula Wiltshire
This was a great book, finally I have found out why I do things a bit different then others. I am slightly dyslexic. I suspect my mom and two brothers and possibly my daughter all are.
If you tell me to turn right I will turn left unless I think really hard about it. If you ask me what time it is I also have to think really hard. If you were to give me a list of 10 words to memorize I would probably say forget it unless you had a really good reason to do it. Then I would have to think really hard.
Thinking really hard is how I cope with dyslexia. First I either remember something using colors or visually where it is located on the page or spot, or I remember a sound or a motion associated with whatever it is I am trying to remember. Instead of one step to remember something I usually have to put it through a series of things to get it to stick in the side of my brain that will remember it. If I am feeling lazy then it is hopeless but when I am on top of things I can be really smart.
This explains why I usually failed all tests that were just names and dates in college or not enough time to take it all through the process it takes to remember it with so many steps. Also explains why I like sports/physical things verses science/math.
When I was learning to read in kindergarten it took a little bit longer then most of the class but when I got it I had it for life. I am really bad at spelling because I look at the whole word as a picture not as individual letters. It was really a blessing that I learned German finally, dyslexic people really suck at foreign language. When I was little I loved music but could never get very far playing the piano because the teacher only wanted me to memorize each piece and play it without the sheet music in front of me, well visual learners don't do it that way, if only I had known...oh well it isn't too late to try again at the piano. (forget passing them off for the cute butterfly sticker).
I feel for others that have really serious Dyslexia, life can be confusing. Luckily there were great people to inspire us that were also Dyslexic, Leonardo da Vinci,
Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill,
Hans Christian Andersen, Agatha Christie,
Albert Einstein,
Woodrow Wilson, W.B. Yeats.
Dyslexic people process things a bit different in their brain. The left hemisphere specializes in Writing ,Symbols, Language, Reading , Sequences, Directions, Logic and structured thinking. The Right side is creativity, singing, music, spatial relationships, artistic expression, visualization, feelings and emotions, touch, intuition, fantasy and imagination. Many dyslexics find that they excel in what's known as "lateral thinking." That means the ability to look at situations from an unusual angle. This has been to my advantage many times but if I was asked to explain the process to someone else that is where it gets hard.
The book has some great ideas on Structured Multi sensory learning. Not just using one method of learning but may like seeing, hearing, saying and feeling. Kinesthetic methods are really important and fun. So instead of just doing a worksheet, a better way is playing a game or touching, saying, going somewhere or even jumping up and down while studying. This helps to remember what is being taught. Interesting...
And the biggest mystery of all has been solved...I love Spidergrams!!!! I learned them in 8th grade and have used this way of taking notes forever after, I thought it was just a weird thing and wondered why no one else did it with a passion like me...well it is because I am slightly dyslexic and this is how I keep track of life. Spidergrams are a series of small pictures and symbols with colors and all linked to the middle. Wow now I don't feel so very weird.
I don't think nondyslexic people will have much sympathy for my method of learning and life but for all the other side of the brain thinkers out there I have crossed into the zone of understanding diffrent but effective, just like them. I hope I can now find out more information on this subject and help my daughter find ways to cope with her brilliant mind so she can share it with others.
If you tell me to turn right I will turn left unless I think really hard about it. If you ask me what time it is I also have to think really hard. If you were to give me a list of 10 words to memorize I would probably say forget it unless you had a really good reason to do it. Then I would have to think really hard.
Thinking really hard is how I cope with dyslexia. First I either remember something using colors or visually where it is located on the page or spot, or I remember a sound or a motion associated with whatever it is I am trying to remember. Instead of one step to remember something I usually have to put it through a series of things to get it to stick in the side of my brain that will remember it. If I am feeling lazy then it is hopeless but when I am on top of things I can be really smart.
This explains why I usually failed all tests that were just names and dates in college or not enough time to take it all through the process it takes to remember it with so many steps. Also explains why I like sports/physical things verses science/math.
When I was learning to read in kindergarten it took a little bit longer then most of the class but when I got it I had it for life. I am really bad at spelling because I look at the whole word as a picture not as individual letters. It was really a blessing that I learned German finally, dyslexic people really suck at foreign language. When I was little I loved music but could never get very far playing the piano because the teacher only wanted me to memorize each piece and play it without the sheet music in front of me, well visual learners don't do it that way, if only I had known...oh well it isn't too late to try again at the piano. (forget passing them off for the cute butterfly sticker).
I feel for others that have really serious Dyslexia, life can be confusing. Luckily there were great people to inspire us that were also Dyslexic, Leonardo da Vinci,
Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill,
Hans Christian Andersen, Agatha Christie,
Albert Einstein,
Woodrow Wilson, W.B. Yeats.
Dyslexic people process things a bit different in their brain. The left hemisphere specializes in Writing ,Symbols, Language, Reading , Sequences, Directions, Logic and structured thinking. The Right side is creativity, singing, music, spatial relationships, artistic expression, visualization, feelings and emotions, touch, intuition, fantasy and imagination. Many dyslexics find that they excel in what's known as "lateral thinking." That means the ability to look at situations from an unusual angle. This has been to my advantage many times but if I was asked to explain the process to someone else that is where it gets hard.
The book has some great ideas on Structured Multi sensory learning. Not just using one method of learning but may like seeing, hearing, saying and feeling. Kinesthetic methods are really important and fun. So instead of just doing a worksheet, a better way is playing a game or touching, saying, going somewhere or even jumping up and down while studying. This helps to remember what is being taught. Interesting...
And the biggest mystery of all has been solved...I love Spidergrams!!!! I learned them in 8th grade and have used this way of taking notes forever after, I thought it was just a weird thing and wondered why no one else did it with a passion like me...well it is because I am slightly dyslexic and this is how I keep track of life. Spidergrams are a series of small pictures and symbols with colors and all linked to the middle. Wow now I don't feel so very weird.
I don't think nondyslexic people will have much sympathy for my method of learning and life but for all the other side of the brain thinkers out there I have crossed into the zone of understanding diffrent but effective, just like them. I hope I can now find out more information on this subject and help my daughter find ways to cope with her brilliant mind so she can share it with others.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Incident at Hawk's Hill - A Novel by Allan W. Eckert
This book was based on factual events but dialog was added to help it move along and make it long enough to be a novel. It was very interesting. My sister Kim was excited about it and let me borrow it.
It is a book takes place around 1870. It is about a little boy around 6 or 7 years old. He likes animals and has a way of communicating with them better then people. He likes to imitate animals and he isn't afraid to get right down in the mud and dirt with them.
One day he gets lost and finds a Badger hole. He becomes friends with the poor lonely Badger that just lost her whole family. (I think that was the saddest part of the book and I cried). Well after a while he becomes a badger boy and then finally his family finds him. I think he was living and surviving with the Badger for 2 months. Pretty amazing. Great book and fun to read if you like nature/adventure.
Whole Book
It is a book takes place around 1870. It is about a little boy around 6 or 7 years old. He likes animals and has a way of communicating with them better then people. He likes to imitate animals and he isn't afraid to get right down in the mud and dirt with them.
One day he gets lost and finds a Badger hole. He becomes friends with the poor lonely Badger that just lost her whole family. (I think that was the saddest part of the book and I cried). Well after a while he becomes a badger boy and then finally his family finds him. I think he was living and surviving with the Badger for 2 months. Pretty amazing. Great book and fun to read if you like nature/adventure.
Whole Book
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Interesting book about a girl that was home-schooled and she moved to Arizona. She starts going to high school (public school) for the first time. Her life "beats to a different drum". She doesn't care about being popular or fitting in. She just wants to help others and do her own thing. She doesn't care what people think about her.
Well eventually this boy named Leo becomes her friend. He tries to change her but realizes it isn't a good thing. She holds her own and is just happy being herself.
Interesting book. I guess it is WHOLE.
Well eventually this boy named Leo becomes her friend. He tries to change her but realizes it isn't a good thing. She holds her own and is just happy being herself.
Interesting book. I guess it is WHOLE.
Home Ranch by Ralph Moody
This was of course a great book. I love the way this guy tells stories about his life when he was a little boy working on a Ranch. He has adventures and falls in love with a girl, innocent puppy love, and he learns about life the hard way when he was stuck in a sand storm and one time lost. I enjoyed his stories of taming a horse and teaching a girl how to do some trick riding.
Whole Book sequel to Little Britches and Man of the Family
Whole Book sequel to Little Britches and Man of the Family
Friday, June 22, 2007
A Cricket in Time Square by George Selden
Whole Book - We listened to this in the car. It was exciting and magical...a little cricket accidental ends up in New York. He makes friends with a boy and a mouse and a cat. He can chirp the most beautiful melodies. He gives concerts. He becomes famous. He gets homesick...
Anyway it is a great children's tale of friendship and loyalty. Read it!
Anyway it is a great children's tale of friendship and loyalty. Read it!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Special Men A LRP's Recollections by Dennis Foley
I thought I would read something different for a change. This was a Vietnam/nonfiction book. Mike recommended it.
The author, Dennis Foley, served in three armies between 1962 and 1982: a post World War II, atomic-age army; a Vietnam War Army; and a post Vietnam army.
The book was fascinating as he took us through all the training and schools he had to go through. He also analysed the way things were and how they could be better and how they prepared him for things to come. He was very optimistic and a bit too humble. He always thought he was doing horrible and would get kicked out of each class but then he ends up being the top of the class.
He describes heroes and brave men throughout the book. Usually, sadly, it was too late for him to go back and thank them because they died either while serving in the war or were just gone from old age by the time he realized how much they had done for him and taught him.
He almost lost his leg once and it was awesome how he never gave up or got discouraged in the hospital, regained almost full use of it and served another tour in Vietnam. He mentions that he was married and then divorced and remarried then she died in a car crash but that was it for his personal life. Sad.
He made friends and allies where ever he served and improved the system anyway he could to help save lives and train others so they could effectively serve our country. His whole person was devoted to the army, he gave 100% all the time, despite the conditions or hardships along the way. He made a difference.
He is truly an American Hero.
Whole Book
The author, Dennis Foley, served in three armies between 1962 and 1982: a post World War II, atomic-age army; a Vietnam War Army; and a post Vietnam army.
The book was fascinating as he took us through all the training and schools he had to go through. He also analysed the way things were and how they could be better and how they prepared him for things to come. He was very optimistic and a bit too humble. He always thought he was doing horrible and would get kicked out of each class but then he ends up being the top of the class.
He describes heroes and brave men throughout the book. Usually, sadly, it was too late for him to go back and thank them because they died either while serving in the war or were just gone from old age by the time he realized how much they had done for him and taught him.
He almost lost his leg once and it was awesome how he never gave up or got discouraged in the hospital, regained almost full use of it and served another tour in Vietnam. He mentions that he was married and then divorced and remarried then she died in a car crash but that was it for his personal life. Sad.
He made friends and allies where ever he served and improved the system anyway he could to help save lives and train others so they could effectively serve our country. His whole person was devoted to the army, he gave 100% all the time, despite the conditions or hardships along the way. He made a difference.
He is truly an American Hero.
Whole Book
The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice
This was a suspenseful historical fiction book about Tuberculosis or TB in the year 1849. Back then they called it Consumption and usually you died from it and your whole family.
An orphaned boy of about 12 years old starts working for a doctor. He learns all kinds of weird things like taking baths more then one time a year. He also learns the hard way what superstitions can do to the hearts and minds of the people that just want something to give them hope as they helplessly watch their loved ones slowly die of illnesses they can't explain.
People thought that if you dug up the remains of the first person that died in your family from consumption and "put them to rest" by cutting out their heart and burning it and breathing in the smoke, the rest of the family would be cured. Of course it doesn't work. Sometimes someone would get better after having consumption but it wouldn't be because of burning a heart, yet the people thought it was. As they spread word about the cure the details changed and the facts were distorted and pretty soon it wasn't even true to what actually happened. The boy is challenged to find out the beginning and the ending of the story before he passes the "cure" onto others. He does this and discovers how important it is to collect data over a long period of time, like a scientist. You have to prove the theory with facts and time.
This book was well written and had many interesting history points true to the area it was written in. In the end the doctor gets a microscope. It is a whole new idea to start learning about germs. They weren't even called germs just tiny animals.
Great book...WHOLE BOOK.
An orphaned boy of about 12 years old starts working for a doctor. He learns all kinds of weird things like taking baths more then one time a year. He also learns the hard way what superstitions can do to the hearts and minds of the people that just want something to give them hope as they helplessly watch their loved ones slowly die of illnesses they can't explain.
People thought that if you dug up the remains of the first person that died in your family from consumption and "put them to rest" by cutting out their heart and burning it and breathing in the smoke, the rest of the family would be cured. Of course it doesn't work. Sometimes someone would get better after having consumption but it wouldn't be because of burning a heart, yet the people thought it was. As they spread word about the cure the details changed and the facts were distorted and pretty soon it wasn't even true to what actually happened. The boy is challenged to find out the beginning and the ending of the story before he passes the "cure" onto others. He does this and discovers how important it is to collect data over a long period of time, like a scientist. You have to prove the theory with facts and time.
This book was well written and had many interesting history points true to the area it was written in. In the end the doctor gets a microscope. It is a whole new idea to start learning about germs. They weren't even called germs just tiny animals.
Great book...WHOLE BOOK.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
A Final Farewell by Patricia Wiles
The last book in the Keven Kirk Chronicles! It was great to read. Funny, and also had me crying in parts too...just like the other books in this series. I love them!
If you don't remember it is about a boy who moves to Armadillo Arkansas and his parents are Morticians. He joins the church, has some interesting adventures...and this books takes off in his Senior year of High School. He has to decide to go on a mission or go to college with a full ride. He also likes fishing and is good with children. He wants to be a biologist. This book he has a run in with anti-Mormons. His best falls away from the church and his sister has another baby....okay don't want to give it all away...
It was a great short fun read. I recommend the Chronicles to every young adult reader out there. My 9 yr. old son enjoyed them too. Whole Book.
If you don't remember it is about a boy who moves to Armadillo Arkansas and his parents are Morticians. He joins the church, has some interesting adventures...and this books takes off in his Senior year of High School. He has to decide to go on a mission or go to college with a full ride. He also likes fishing and is good with children. He wants to be a biologist. This book he has a run in with anti-Mormons. His best falls away from the church and his sister has another baby....okay don't want to give it all away...
It was a great short fun read. I recommend the Chronicles to every young adult reader out there. My 9 yr. old son enjoyed them too. Whole Book.
Austenland: A Novel by Shannon Hale
Loved it!
I think you have to read all of Jane Austen's books to really appreciate this book. You might even have to be obsessed with her books to really get it. I couldn't put it down, even though the ending was a bit forced, it still was worth reading and laughing at.
The book took all of Jane's works and smashed them into one person's experience at a fantasy resort in the modern day. So if you think that a character, say in Pride and Prejudice wouldn't act a certain way, well what if that character was also part of Emma? So you have to take all of the books into consideration to make any sense out of the different chapters in this book.
Who wants to borrow it? I think my sisters will get a kick out of this one so they have first dibs.
Broken almost Whole Book...very funny so I guess it can be a Healing Book also...especially for those of us obsessed with Darcy!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
What a sad past our nation has. This book was a Historical account of what happened in the Great American Dust Bowl. It is the stories of those that stayed.
I didn't even know about the dust storms before reading this book. I always imagined Little House On The Prairie, sweet innocent and always turning out nice and happy. This was not a happy time right after the depression. It actually started before that. Wheat and cows were the culprit. Human error. Check out some of these pictures of the Dust Bowl.
Not only did the topsoil become airborne but there were droughts, starvation, and a total imbalance in the ecosystem. Grasshoppers, rabbits and centipedes in abundance, but no more native grass in the grazing lands were left. Buffalo were killed and cows came to take their place but eventually didn't have enough water to survive. All the Indians were kicked off (first big mistake). People were greedy for land and farming a land that never should have been farmed.
People and children were dying of dust related illnesses. Livestock also drowned in the dust. Cities were turned into ghost towns. After a big dust storm everything would get coated and the dust went everywhere.
I don't' know if it was stupidity that some stayed, there wasn't much work and there wasn't any land anywhere else. It all seems so long ago but it wasn't. 1933 was just a lifetime away from me. Pres. Roosevelt tried to help but it was kind of too late.
I am grateful I didn't have to live during the depression or dust storms... I wonder what we will see in the future that is hard, maybe as hard as what these people went through....
Friday, June 01, 2007
The Virginian A Horesman of the Plains by Owen Wister
What a Classic! This was the first and most sensational western ever written! 1902 to be exact. A lone cowboy working on a ranch, falls in love, wins the heart of his love, has adventure and shoot outs!
The setting was in the Wyoming territory. This book has had many movies made from it and inspired by its classic frontier fiction. Better then Louis L'Amour! Ha Ha.
The book was narrated by a 3rd person most of the time and that took a while to get used too. It was still good. The last two chapters were the best. But I can't tell you about them without giving the whole thing away! Sorry.
I like the part about the chicken and how she sat on a pile of potatoes too!
Whole Book
The setting was in the Wyoming territory. This book has had many movies made from it and inspired by its classic frontier fiction. Better then Louis L'Amour! Ha Ha.
The book was narrated by a 3rd person most of the time and that took a while to get used too. It was still good. The last two chapters were the best. But I can't tell you about them without giving the whole thing away! Sorry.
I like the part about the chicken and how she sat on a pile of potatoes too!
Whole Book
The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Hearts and Homes by James L. Ferrell
This was a great parable woven with the old testament and the modern day examples of a typical husband and wife relationship gone stale. It is all about Christ and the atonement being used in our daily life, how to cope and repent and love again. I like how the author through the main characters grandfather shows each of us how to love again with a Christ like love in our homes. Great examples and interesting examples and his personal journey feels like it could be my journey. I think this book it worth reading again for even more discovery and truths.
Whole Book
Whole Book
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Onion Tears by Diana Kidd
A little Vietnamese girl called Nam-Huaong tries to adjust to her new home in Australia but she misses her parents and grandfather so much. She tries ignore the other children at school but that just backfires and they start teasing her and being really mean. She refused to talk at first but finally she can't hold it in anymore after making friends with her sick teacher. They become really good friends.
The book is really good because it shows the perspective of the little girl in a new country with so many new things around her and not very many people understanding her. She writes pretend letters to a little yellow canary and we get to see what she is really thinking and feeling. Eventually the story turns around and the little girl learns to make friends, trust and love again.
Whole Book
The book is really good because it shows the perspective of the little girl in a new country with so many new things around her and not very many people understanding her. She writes pretend letters to a little yellow canary and we get to see what she is really thinking and feeling. Eventually the story turns around and the little girl learns to make friends, trust and love again.
Whole Book
Monday, May 21, 2007
Silent to the Bone by e.l.konigsburg
This was a very suspenseful book and I couldn't hardly put it down because I just had to know what was going to happen next. The book starts out with a 911 call. A baby is in a coma and a 13 yr. old boy is blamed. He is put in a juvenile behavioral center. He can't speak, can't defend himself, and doesn't know what to do. Luckily he has a best friend that is able to communicate with him. He helps solve the crime and finds out what really happened.
The book is a New York Times Bestseller and written by a Newbery award winning author. It has a bunch of psychology to justify and figure out the boy and why things ended up as they did. I wouldn't recommend this book for kids under the age of 12 because there were some adult themes in it. It has a lot of feeling in the story and a wonderful duplication of what friends are really like. They stick with you through thick and thin.
Whole Book/Healing Book
The book is a New York Times Bestseller and written by a Newbery award winning author. It has a bunch of psychology to justify and figure out the boy and why things ended up as they did. I wouldn't recommend this book for kids under the age of 12 because there were some adult themes in it. It has a lot of feeling in the story and a wonderful duplication of what friends are really like. They stick with you through thick and thin.
Whole Book/Healing Book
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Memoirs of a Girlhood Amoung Ghosts.
This book was recommended by a sister in law that had read it for a book group. It talks about what it was like to grow up as a female in Chinese-American culture. It is in the nonfiction/literature section. The book is a bit choppy or maybe that is how it is supposed to me. It doesn't really read like a novel because it isn't, I think it is almost like a poem but nothing rhymns.
I am so glad I am not Chinese. There is a good reason why not too, I would never be able to survive the past like they have too. I wouldn't be strong enough to endure what their ansestors have been through. I couldn't process the complex language or the traditions. It is amazing to me to be Chinese.
This book is a bit strange in parts and very disturbing. I feel sorry for the girl telling it. She was so confussed by her mom and culture. She had a hard time fitting in with the new culture of America yet still hang on to the old traditions that were still part of her family. Her mother was really confussed but did the best she knew how to do in a new land. They owned a laundry mat and worked hard. She usually scared the girl with stories to teach things to her. Girls were garbage and worthless in China but now they could be and do anything, they were intellegent and able to go to school. This was hard for some parents stuck in the old ways to understand and except. Yet life goes on and new generations were born and raised in America, the old was being forgotton and swept under the rug.
Broken Book
This book was recommended by a sister in law that had read it for a book group. It talks about what it was like to grow up as a female in Chinese-American culture. It is in the nonfiction/literature section. The book is a bit choppy or maybe that is how it is supposed to me. It doesn't really read like a novel because it isn't, I think it is almost like a poem but nothing rhymns.
I am so glad I am not Chinese. There is a good reason why not too, I would never be able to survive the past like they have too. I wouldn't be strong enough to endure what their ansestors have been through. I couldn't process the complex language or the traditions. It is amazing to me to be Chinese.
This book is a bit strange in parts and very disturbing. I feel sorry for the girl telling it. She was so confussed by her mom and culture. She had a hard time fitting in with the new culture of America yet still hang on to the old traditions that were still part of her family. Her mother was really confussed but did the best she knew how to do in a new land. They owned a laundry mat and worked hard. She usually scared the girl with stories to teach things to her. Girls were garbage and worthless in China but now they could be and do anything, they were intellegent and able to go to school. This was hard for some parents stuck in the old ways to understand and except. Yet life goes on and new generations were born and raised in America, the old was being forgotton and swept under the rug.
Broken Book
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Penguins are pretty in pink!
My daughter is 5. She had a Birthday Party today. She thinks she is the most important person in the world. She is.
Of course she got everything she could remember ever wanting but sadly the horse for our backyard didn't happen.
She loves penguins and pink so the party was mostly pink and the cake was a penguin.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Freedom Walkers The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman
In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus and give up her seat to a white man. This event prompted the Montgomery bus boycott that eventually helped end segregation on buses...this wasn't the end of the story...
I loved this book, it took the history of that era and brought it to life...connecting it together with quotes from key people who were brave and smart and didn't become weary of the task at hand. I loved this quote from an older lady, Mother Pollard, she said, "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested." She walked to work every day during the boycott.
We only ever hear about Martin Luther King Jr., he did remarkable things in keeping the protests non-violent and rallying everyone to the same cause united together but there were also so many people that helped make it all happen. There were lawyers, there were citizens there were church going baptist, preachers and people to loan their cars to others so they wouldn't have to ride the bus to get to work. It took a whole city and more to come together for the long haul. AND they did it! Bus segregation laws were unconstitutional and this had to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court...kind of mind boggling for me.
I loved the pictures in this book, they brought the history that happened before I was born to life for me.
History Classic, Whole book.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
(yeah that is the authors real name)
"Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony but also require its social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die."
-The Queen Must Die And Other Affairs Of The Bees And Men
This was a great book! This is a book about a girl that finds a new family or sisterhood somewhere unexpected and goes on a journey of healing. The book also introduces a new thing to me...a Black Madonna. hmmm!
A young girl accidentally kills her mother when she was 4 yrs. old and then has to live with her really mean father. Of course she runs away and finds a new "mom". The story unravels so nicely and throughout the book life is compared to a beehive. The girl is so lonely but she finds love from so many people, all are black which she doesn't seem to mind although all around her people think that is strange. She also starts to understand about the world around her and sees it in a new way. The story takes place right around the time the Civil Rights Act is passed and Black and White families are mixed in society, going to the same theaters and sitting next to each other, registering to vote and attending the same schools, no more segregation. South Carolina is a hard place to be during this time. Many people are still living in the past and can't get over prejudices. Even the police are sometimes bad.
The Story mainly focused on mothers and the women who become our true mothers. Love is so remarkable. The girl finds herself and learns to live again. This was such a great Healing book. I would read it again someday and probably get a bunch more out of it that I missed this time. I think Bees are really amazing creatures and we could learn a lot from them.
"Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony but also require its social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die."
-The Queen Must Die And Other Affairs Of The Bees And Men
This was a great book! This is a book about a girl that finds a new family or sisterhood somewhere unexpected and goes on a journey of healing. The book also introduces a new thing to me...a Black Madonna. hmmm!
A young girl accidentally kills her mother when she was 4 yrs. old and then has to live with her really mean father. Of course she runs away and finds a new "mom". The story unravels so nicely and throughout the book life is compared to a beehive. The girl is so lonely but she finds love from so many people, all are black which she doesn't seem to mind although all around her people think that is strange. She also starts to understand about the world around her and sees it in a new way. The story takes place right around the time the Civil Rights Act is passed and Black and White families are mixed in society, going to the same theaters and sitting next to each other, registering to vote and attending the same schools, no more segregation. South Carolina is a hard place to be during this time. Many people are still living in the past and can't get over prejudices. Even the police are sometimes bad.
The Story mainly focused on mothers and the women who become our true mothers. Love is so remarkable. The girl finds herself and learns to live again. This was such a great Healing book. I would read it again someday and probably get a bunch more out of it that I missed this time. I think Bees are really amazing creatures and we could learn a lot from them.
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