Super Fun Travel Activities to Baffle Your Brain

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

My kids are pretty well traveled and are used to travelling in cars and planes and love seeing new place- but like any young kids- I have two 8 year old boys and a 10 year old girl- the get bored after sitting still for too long. I absolutely LOVE Super Fun Travel Activities to Baffle Your Brain. I am going to buy each kid a copy for our flight to Las Vegas this summer. This book is full of all of the standard busy book favorites- crosswords, word searches, Sudoku, and travel related games galore. I am pretty sure that my kids would love working in this activity book at home when they need something to do as well. I absolutely recommend this book for elementary aged kids for those long road trips or flights!

No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

Challenging perceptions of discrimination and prejudice, this emotionally resonant drama for readers of Lisa Wingate and Jodi Picoult explores three different women navigating challenges in a changing school district--and in their lives.

When an impoverished school district loses its accreditation and the affluent community of Crystal Ridge has no choice but to open their school doors, the lives of three very different women converge: Camille Gray--the wife of an executive, mother of three, long-standing PTA chairwoman and champion fundraiser--faced with a shocking discovery that threatens to tear her picture-perfect world apart at the seams. Jen Covington, the career nurse whose long, painful journey to motherhood finally resulted in adoption but she is struggling with a happily-ever-after so much harder than she anticipated. Twenty-two-year-old Anaya Jones--the first woman in her family to graduate college and a brand new teacher at Crystal Ridge's top elementary school, unprepared for the powder-keg situation she's stepped into. Tensions rise within and without, culminating in an unforeseen event that impacts them all. This story explores the implicit biases impacting American society, and asks the ultimate question: What does it mean to be human? Why are we so quick to put labels on each other and categorize people as "this" or "that", when such complexity exists in each person?

My thoughts-

I really think books like No One Ever Asked are so important. There are some things we can never understand unless we we are able to see the point of view of others. I think this book did a great job of conveying that point. There were several different characters who cross paths but who all have different walks of life and different struggles and I thought Ganshert did a great job with their character development. I have read every book Katie Ganshert has written, and I have loved them all, but this one I think may be the most important. This is book club material. This is a book that needs to be discussed and open further dialogue about racism. I love that there are discussions questions conveniently included. I recommended No One Ever Asked to fans of Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give or to fans of Katie Ganshert.  

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book-

Small, perfect towns often hold the deepest secrets.

From the outside, Essie’s life looks idyllic: a loving husband, a beautiful house in a good neighborhood, and a nearby mother who dotes on her grandchildren. But few of Essie’s friends know her secret shame: that in a moment of maternal despair, she once walked away from her newborn, asleep in her carriage in a park. Disaster was avoided and Essie got better, but she still fears what lurks inside her, even as her daughter gets older and she has a second baby.

When a new woman named Isabelle moves in next door to Essie, she is an immediate object of curiosity in the neighborhood. Why single, when everyone else is married with children? Why renting, when everyone else owns? What mysterious job does she have? And why is she so fascinated with Essie? As the two women grow closer and Essie’s friends voice their disapproval, it starts to become clear that Isabelle’s choice of neighborhood was no accident. And that her presence threatens to bring shocking secrets to light. 

The Family Next Door is Sally Hepworth at her very best: at once a deeply moving portrait of family drama and a compelling suburban mystery that will keep you hooked until the very last page.

 

My thoughts-

 

The Family Next Door is not at all what I thought it was going to be. I definitely knew there would be secrets exposed about the women in the town, but I didn't see the twist coming that inevitably came- and that is the way I like it. If a book can keep me guessing or be good enough to shock me, I count that as a great book. I thought Sally Hepworth did a great job developing these characters. Even though there were several different storylines going on, I felt as if I knew each of them fairly well and sympathized with the drama each woman was dealing with in her life. I recommend this book to fans of literary fiction, and fans of books by authors like Liane Moriarity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous-6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He has nobody at school, and life in his trailer-park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide. 
There's no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there's only one person who can help: Neanderthal. 
To his own surprise, Cliff says he's in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS, Cliff feels like he's part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn't as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they've completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined. 
Razor sharp, moving, and outrageously funny, Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe is an unforgettable story of finding your place in an imperfect world. 

My thoughts-

I find myself reaching for YA more often than not when I want a book to read that I know I will truly enjoy. I think it is important to read what you enjoy, not just what everyone else says you should like. So I found myself reaching again for YA adult novel when I picked up Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect because of the subject matter dealing with God and death, but I will say that in the end I thought the message was good. I thought that Neanderthal was a breath of fresh air in the YA genre. I liked that the main character was someone who isn't the traditional swoon worthy protagonist that you might expect in the novel, and I loved seeing the new relationship's Cliff makes throughout the book unfold. Many relevant subjects of today's high school culture are touched upon here. This is an important book about diversity, acceptance, and hope. And a great debut novel from Preston Norton. I hope to see more great work from him in the future.