Thunder over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay

I am currently getting prepared for a literature study focusing on Children around the World. I want to expose my students to life outside of our small town in Ontario. To that end, I am reading several books for our up-coming literature circles.

Thunder over Kandahar is an amazing, powerful book about life in Afghanistan. The story centers around two girls of very different backgrounds. Yasmine, who spent most of her life in England and has returned to Afghanistan with her parents to help restore the country. Tamanna is a girl who has been raised in Afghanistan. At first Tamanna has a hard time being comfortable with Yasmine because their childhood was so different. For Yasmine, she was raised by highly educated parents who instilled in her the passion for learning and education. Tamanna, however grew up under Taliban law and was treated as a second class citizen and was not allowed to go to school. Slowly the girls overcome their differences and become best friends. They find their friendship put to the test when they must flee their village or face certain death.

I was absolutely fascinated with this book. McKay has created characters that are so real and believable that I was racing to finish the book to find out what happens. Life in Afghanistan is so hard to grasp. It is my hope that children who read this book realize how lucky they are to live in Canada and to have some compassion and understanding for what is happening in another part of the world.

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

Words in the Dust is the story of Zulaikha, a young girl from post Taliban Afghanistan. Things in Afghanistan are difficult for her. Her father's wife is pregnant and very mean to Zulaikha and her sister. The two of them need to do chores all day long. There is nothing for them to do but cook, clean and look after their little brothers. There is no school because girls are not allowed to go to school. For Zeynab her sister, this is fine because all she dreams of is the day she will get married and have children. To make things even more difficult, Zulaikha has a cleft palate which leaves her disfigured and causes the local children to be quite cruel to her. Zulaikha takes small comfort in learning to read in secret with a friend of her mothers. However the cost of lying to her family is something she constantly worries about.

Things start to look up for the family when her father's welding business is offered the opportunity to build a new school and a U.S. army base. This means more money, more word and more contacts with richer Afghanistan people. This contact with the army also opens up the possibility of Zulaikha's having a simple operation to fix her face. With all of these changes, Zulaikha and her family must learn to adapt and hope for a better future for the children of Afghanistan.

This book was written by a solider on active duty in Afghanistan which I found quite unique. I found the descriptions of the country and what it is like to live in a place filled with war to be incredibly sad and depressing. The thought of no education for girls is so hard to come to terms with and I loved how the story that was told through a female character growing up in a world where men control so much. Zulaikha's courage to face a life that offered such little hope was quite remarkable considering how she was raised. I'm not sure how many of the kids in my class would push through this book. I found the many different names and customs hard to keep up with, and I'm not sure kids would work through it. It would be a great book to use as a literature circle so that you could discuss the events as they were taking place in the book.

Beastly by Alex Finn

Beastly has been getting a lot of buzz in my classroom this year. It might have something to do with the movie coming out, but either way, several girls in the class are excited to read this one.
It was a quick read for sure- but a good one and I understand why the girls are liking it. Beastly puts a modern twist on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. The main character Kyle is a shallow, mean yet very handsome young man. He comes from money and is so egocentric that you can't help but dislike him right from the start of the book. Kyle gets a lot of satisfaction from hurting others and when one of his tricks goes too far, a witch seeks revenge on him. Handsome, popular Kyle is turned into a beast over night. In my mind, I see him just like the character in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, although in the movie he isn't quite so scary. The witch who cast the spell on him has told him that he has two years to make a girl fall in love with him or he will need to stay this way forever.
The next two years are very challenging for Kyle. He has been stripped of everything that he once thought was important, yet he still hopes someone might see past his ugly exterior and find what is in his heart.
The story is a little over the top with romance, but I really enjoyed reading as Kyle transformed his life and his attitude. I think this will make a wonderful movie,(trailer) some of the scenes that Finn describes are visually beautiful.

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

This is the third and final book in Kelley Armstrong's Summoning series. You can find my reviews on the other two books here and here I would strongly suggest that you read the first two books before reading this review, because I will be giving away some important parts that will ruin the first two books for you.

At the end of the first two books, Chloe finds herself in a safe place. She has food, a bed and someone to look after her. But, like the last few books, this is short lived and Chloe once again finds herself having to look after herself with the help of her friends. Chloe is starting to come to terms with her new normal- the fact that she can see ghosts and her friends include a witch, a wizard and a werewolf no longer seems strange to her. Chloe and her friends find themselves once again fighting to stay alive. They recognize that there are people who see them as a danger to the world, yet they know they just want to be left in peace. Throughout this book, Chloe searches for the strength to not only survive, but also to live a happy life. As she continues to support her friends, she finds herself drawn to Derek. Even when he does everything he can to push her away. She soon discovers that she will do anything to protect those that she loves.

This was by far my favourite book in the series. I read this one in a day (and I worked too!) because I could not stop reading it. I thought some of the scenes where Chloe was raising the dead to be a little long and confusing and didn't always add to the story. However, I loved how Armstrong wove the romance aspect through the book without being over the top. Chloe is definitely a strong female character who doesn't sit by while her boyfriend does the all the hard work and fights all the battles. Chloe isn't afraid to use her skills to her advantage and I love that about her. Yes, she is in love- but she is going to fight just as hard. I admire that in her! It took me a bit to get into this series, but by halfway through the second book- I was hooked! They really are great reads!

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

The is the second book in the Summoning Trilogy. If you haven't read The Summoning, I would stop reading this review, because there will be spoilers.

In The Summoning, Chloe discovered that she is a necromancer- a person who can not only see ghosts, but also raise the dead. At the end of The Summoning, Chloe and Tori- a nasty, spoiled sorcerer are locked up in a laboratory where people are trying to 'help' them. Chloe and Tori don't really believe they are really going to be helped, they feel as though their lives are at risk. All Chloe and Tori want to do is to escape and meet up with Simon and Derek. To do this, they need to trick their guards, fool Chloe's aunt and find their way to the arranged meeting spot.

Once they are together again, the four supernatural friends decide to find an old family friend of the boys. Chloe wants nothing more than to resume her normal life and she tries to find some sense of normalcy with Simon, who she has romantic feelings towards. At the same time, her friendship with Derek- a rather rude, sullen angry boy seems to be growing. The friends fight for their freedom and try to learn about the powers they possess all while trying to find safe place to live.

I liked this book even more than the Summoning. There is lots of excitement, adventure and challenges that the kids face. The fact that these kids all have different supernatural powers is very interesting. The powers they have aren't ones that are written about very often- so it is quite interesting to learn about what could happen. When I finally finished this book, I couldn't wait to start the next one.

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

This book is currently on the Ontario Library Association Red Maple nominees. Jessica is in my Red Maple group and she was raving about this book (and series). She read all three books in one weekend and said that I HAD to read this series. I've ordered all three books in the series and started with book number one "The Summoning"
The Summoning starts out innocently enough by introducing us to Chloe Saunders, she is in high school and has some good friends, an absent father, a dead mother and a very committed aunt. One day at school Chloe has an episode that causes her to break down and be carried out of school in an ambulance. Now Chloe has been sent to Lyle House, a home for teens with mental illness.
As Chloe gets to know the other kids staying at Lyle House she learns a great deal about herself and that maybe she isn't mentally ill after all. Mysterious things happen to Chloe at Lyle House which causes her to explore episodes from her childhood. Chloe grows closer to some of the other kids and realizes that the kids at Lyle House aren't quite what they seem to be.
I did enjoy reading this book. It is obviously setting up for the next two in the series. I finished it late last night and didn't have the immediate desire to start the next one, but now I am looking forward to starting the next book: The Awakening.

Words That Start with B by Vikki VanSickle

Clarissa is just starting grade 7- she expects it to be her best year ever. Her and her best friend Benji can't wait to start school. She has long awaited the year when she will have Miss. Ross- the best teacher ever. But grade 7 doesn't turn out quite the way Clarissa expects. There are feelings for boys, new friends, new teachers and Benji who doesn't want to stand up for himself. Clarissa needs to deal with all of that at school and then things take a turn at home. Life gets very confusing for Clarissa.

I enjoyed reading this book, it reminded me of Egghead for many reasons. It also deals with growing up from a girls perspective. I always like reading books set in Ontario, and I liked how VanSickle dealt with issues of bullying, friendship, school and illness.