Dazzling Desserts

Dazzling Desserts by American Girl is a really cute book.  It had lots of ideas for fun and easy desserts to make with little or no assistance from the 'rents!  Same as everything else though, it did have a ton of clean up- so keep that in mind when you start something.  I made two cakes, one with penguins and a pumpkin patch.  The candy clay recipe was very nice, I loved it and was able to do some really cool stuff!  I would definitely pick up this book. 

Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games and has returned back home to district 12 with Peeta. The Capitol has been very angry with her because of stunts causing rebellion in many districts. They went on a tour through all of the districts to celebrate their victory, and learned that the Capitol was very harsh to all of the other districts. With the next Hunger Games coming soon, the Capitol decided to have the competitors be winners from other years. Katniss and Peeta go through many challenges throughout Catching Fire. This book was a very fun to read on account of its numerous fast-moving adventures that took twists and turns that I never saw coming.

The Misadventures of Maud March By Audrey Couloumbis

Sallie has read about the western frontier for as long as she can remember. Maud, her older, ladylike sister has nothing to do with that. When orphaned for the second time, Maud surprises Sallie with the idea to go and battle the western frontier looking for their long lost uncle. On the way they become outlaws, known for horse thievery, bank robbing, and being cold blooded murderers.

Sky Memories by Pat Brisson

Ten-year-old Emily's mother has been diagnosed with cancer. Emily is mad, sad, and hopeful all at once. She wants her mother to get well but the treatment isn't making things better. In the last few months of her mothers life she and Emily take mental pictures of the sky. They take pictures everywhere and each photo is very different. All of beautiful pictures of the sky seem to reflect her mothers illness and how Emily is effected by it. This book made me cry but, it also made me see that I don't need to dwell on the past. You can look on to the future and eagerly expect what is there.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

I truly enjoyed Johnny Tremain which was a 1944 Newbery Award winning book. This book is historical fiction, set during the beginning of the American Revolution. The weaving in of historical figures such as Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock was quite interesting and lended a great deal of authenticity to the book. The build-up of tension in the colonies to the point of the first battle of the American Revolution was quite intense.

Johnny Tremain is also a wonderful story about the transition of an arrogant, self-centered boy into a sensitive teenager. Johnny Tremain is the apprentice to a silversmith and he is far and away one of the best silversmith apprentices in the area. He is also attractive, strong, and intelligent. The combination of gifts in his life make him overly proud and often unkind to those around him.

Due to a practical joke that goes horribly wrong, Johnny loses the use of his right hand for any kind of detail work. Therefore, all of his dreams of becoming a silversmith are destroyed. The challenges he encounters as he deals with his new limitations and the kind and evil people he meets combine to slowly change Johnny's personality for the better.

I highly recommend the book to anybody who enjoys excellent historical fiction.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

When this book starts off Matt is just a baby.  He lives in a place called Opium, a strip of land from part of the US and what used to be Mexico.  Matt is the clone to El Patron, the lord and ruler of Opium.  Clones are something to look down on in Opium.  They are seen as less than animals; livestock.  By law clone's brains must be destroyed at birth, but the old vampire El Patron didn't want that- and he is so powerful he got away with it.

Opium is frozen in time because of the multi-hundred year old El Patron.  Old shows, ways of transportation, old fashioned stoves, and eejits are all the norm.  With exciting, brave, heart-warming people like Tam Lin, Maria and Celia, and an exciting plot with lots of twists and turns, you are in for a ride!

Told from the perspective of Matt, this is exciting, moving, and a great book about human rights and what it means to be a person.

Nancy Farmer is a three-time Newbery Honor Author.  The House of the Scorpion has won a Newbery Honor Book award, American Library Association Honor Book, and is a National Book Award Winner.

This is one of my favorite books!  I would highly reccomend it to fans of the Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Maximum Ride.