Hazel Grace is a teenage girl living with Cancer. She wakes up every day knowing that she is slowly dying. On a seemingly ordinary day, Hazel meets a boy names Augustus. He makes her question the seeming monotony of her life and helps her see the beauty within herself. Hazel is a true heroine with whom we learn to love ourselves a bit more. She also shows how hard it is to love yourself. But after learning to love yourself, she can truly learn what it means to love someone else. Her story is about learning to be loved, even though life sometimes can end with tragedy.
The Fault in Our Stars has an extensive array of literary references that range from Shakespeare and on-wards. This novel can really bring home the issues of facing mortality, living with a chronic and catastrophic illness like Cancer, fate, life, and death.
Honestly, this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I would still not let my children (if I had any) read this book until they were MUCH older that 6th grade (maybe even older than middle school!) There is mature language and romantic scenes that are not appropriate for children.
Please don't get me wrong; John Green is amazingly talented writer. I would just be a little cautions if I were giving his novels to any student not yet in high school (or older, maybe college would be best!)
Grade Level: 5.5
Like modern twists on classic fairy tales? Then this one is for you! Cinder has an uncanny gift at mechanics. Pretty handy if you are a cyborg working as a servant for her nasty old step-mother. But when a dashing young Prince arrives on scene, things between the sisters gets a bit dodgy.
Unfortunately having a crush on a prince doesn't bode well if you are having an intergalactic struggle between warring planets, right? Nope, it never does.
I personally LOVED this book. This book really brings home the idea of peace and what might be sacrificed in order to achieve it. It helps us question the reasons for making the choices that we do, and suggests that choices made for selfish reasons ALWAYS end badly for everyone.
There is a bit of romance that every parent should be aware of. There is quite a bit of not-so-subtle innuendos that I might be a bit leery of with a younger age group. There is also quite a bit of violence (Intergalactic Warfare and such) but nothing too overly graphic. It is Book I of the Lunar Chronicles Series. I look forward to reviewing Book to for you :)
Grave Level: 5.8
As Dr. Seuss month comes to a close, I would like to share three of the Seuss books we have read in class. Not everyone is a big Seuss fan, but you cannot deny how talented this man is at rhyming!!
If I Ran the Circus is about a young circus keeper that has high aspirations for his future occupation!!
My Personal favorite!! The Lorax !! Who couldn't love this little, fluffy, orange er.... thing? Beware the Lorax!!! He speaks for the trees. Since they cannot speak for themselves.
Cat in the Hat is about two young children stuck in the house on a rainy day. Nothing fun to.... KNOCK KNOCK!! Oh dear! The Cat in the Hat is here!!
