Svetlana's Reads and Views

Summary:  Orphaned after losing his parents in a rafting accident, Jedediah Barstow must find the courage to follow his family's dream westward along the Oregon Trail. Having lost his parents and younger sister when they tried to ford a river along the Oregon Trail, Jedediah Barstow decides to make his way to the Oregon Territory on his own. He is "adopted" by the Henshaw family, who allow him to travel in their wagon in exchange for his help with the daily maintenance work along the way. Jedediah's adventures, along with the friends he makes and the lessons he learns, make for an unforgettable story of a brave young boy who sets off to discover a wild, new world. As  a child, I never read the My Name is America series due to them being marketed towards boys instead of girls. I was simply happy to stick with the Dear America series and learn bits and pieces about American history through them. Since then, however, I have grown up, and I began to wonder what I m...

In the 1600s, the Mughal emperors of India were among the greatest rulers of the East. Jahanara is the daughter of one of these ultra-rich and powerful figures, Shah Jahan The Magnificent. The oldest and favorite of his children, she is showered with emeralds, diamonds, and rubies, and is attended by numerous servants and learned tutors. Yet, her world is not one of pure contentment. It is rife with intrigue and turmoil as her father fights for his rights to rule - and she struggles against the confinement her Muslim religion dictates. Jahanara's diary allows readers to witness the exotic splendor and unforgettable drama of this past great dynasty. For my take on the book, click here COMING UP 3 out of 5 (0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)

As the fight for women's suffrage heats up, Kathleen"Kat" Bowen gets to participate as her mother and her sister, and many others close to her organize and act to win the right to vote. January 19, 1917 The picket line has been going on for over a week And people said they would not last a day and the weather still has not broken. What's more is news of the picket is spreading and more and more women are coming from other parts of the district and some from as far away as Maryland and Virginia. President Wilson felt so sorry for them in the cold that he invited them in for coffee but they refused. They said they would only come in to talk about a federal amendment for the women's right to vote. No coffee This made me think of Sojourner Truth's words about men who help lift women into carriages and over mud puddles--that of course is the easy part, just like giving them coffee. Giving them the vote is the hard part. For my take on the book, click here...

Name of Book: The Lovely Bones Author: Alice Sebold ISBN: 978-0-7595-2773-7 Publisher: Hachete Book Group Type of book: murder, 1973-1980s, murder, family, brief white female/South Asian male relationship, friendship, sisterhood, father/ daughter relationship, afterlife, heaven, moving on. Year it was published: 2002 Summary: Shockingly original and completely unforgettable, The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure. The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed....

Name of book: When my name was Keoko Author Name: Linda Sue Park ISBN: 0-618-13335-6 Publisher: Clarion Books New York Type of book: Young adult to Adult, Japanese occupation of Korea, World War 2, Korea 1940-1946 Year it was published: 2002 Summary: For Kim Sun-hee's whole life, Korea has belonged to Japan. Sun-hee and her older brother, Tae-yul, have grown up studying Japanese and speaking it at school. THeir own language, Korean, can be spoken only at home, and some Korean things-like the flag-are not to be spoken of at all. When teh Emperor of Japan decrees that all Koreans must take Japanese names, Sun-hee and Tae-yul become Keoko and Nobuo. It is just one more step in a familiar process, but somehow it changes everything. THen World War II comes to Korea. No battles are fought on Korean soil, yet soldiers are everywhere. At school, teh students have war preparation duties instead of classes. But makng Koreans take Japanese names has not turned them into lo...

Name of book: The Secret Life of Bees Author Name: Sue Monk Kidd ISBN: 0-14-200174-0 Publisher: Penguin Type of book: young adult-adult, 1960s, racism, South, white female/black male relationship, interracial relationship, coming of age, bees Year it was published: 2002 Summary: Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's firece-hearted black "stand-in mother", Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolin-a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an  eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and apss on to their daughters for...

Claustrophobic Room Name of Book: Breathing Room Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips ISBN: 0-06-103209-3  or 978-0-06-103209-7 Publisher: Avon Books Type of book: Adult, contemporary, romance Year it was published: 2002 Quick Note: I will not focus on love scenes in there to be honest. This is something private and my blog is not made for that. I will focus on plot and characters in there however. For a college graduation present, a friend gave me Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Natural Born Charmer. I read the novel a number of times and loved it for its unpredictability and characters. The first few pages for me were award winning and hilarious. I enjoyed the storyline and even the ending. (Normally I'm not the type that likes happy endings,). So when I saw this novel, I thought I could expect the same thing; likable characters and an ending that really touches one's heart. What I didn't expect is to feel alienated by the book and disliking...

A different Japan Name of book:  Cloud of Sparrows Author name:  Takashi Matsuoka ISBN: 0-440-24085-9 Publisher:  Bantam Dell Type of book:  Adult, Japan, 19th century, beginnings of white female/asian male relationship? Year it was published in: 2002   Summary: Debut novelist Takashi Matsuoka burst onto the secen with CLOUD OF SPARROWS, a magnificent historical novel that takes us beyond the epic tradition of James Clavell’s Shogun. Set in 1861 Japan, CLOUD OF SPARROWS weaves a tale of passion and adventure, as a small group of American missionaries arrives on the shores of Edo Bay-and enters the strange, exotic world of Genji, Lord of Akaoka. What happens next, between the handsome young nobleman and the two Americans, sets the stage for a remarkable adventure. For as this unlikely band embarks on a journey through a landscape bristling with danger, East and West, flesh and spirit, past and future, collide in an ovel of astoun...