The Sacrifice

In the year 1692, life changes forever for ten-year-old Abigail Faulkner and her family. In Salem, Massachusetts, witches have been found, and widespread fear and panic reign mere miles from Abigail's home of Andover. When two girls are brought from Salem to identify witches in Andover, suspicion sweeps the town as well-respected members of the community are accused of witchcraft. It isn't long before chaos consumes Andover, and the Faulkners find themselves in the center of it all when friend turns themselves in the center of it all when friend turns against friend, neighbor against neighbor, in a desperate fight for the truth. At the heart of this gripping story are Abigail and her sister, Dorothy, who together must find a way to persevere during a period marked by terror, adversity, and ignorance.Told from Abigail's point of view and based on actual events in the author's own family history, "The Sacrifice" offers a unique perspective of the Salem witch trials by delving into the devastating effects the trials had not just in Salem but throughout Massachusetts.

This is another good book set in a historical place, also another one that is based on a story in the authors family life. I really enjoyed reading this, I flew through it in less then 2 hours and loved it, the only thing I really disliked was the fact that  the ending was kind of shady, it didn't really say what happened, it just kind of ended? Which is kind of annoying for me, I like a more complete story. the story overall is very good and shows a different side of the story, the one not set in Salem. 

Between Shades of Gray

It's 1941 and fifteen-year-old artist Lina Vilkas is on Stalin's extermination list. Deported to a prison camp in Siberia, Lina fights for her life, fearless, risking everything to save her family. It's a long and harrowing journey and it is only their incredible strength, love, and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?

Wow first off, this is not a book I would normally read.  I am not a big fan of reading books based on world war 2, I find it a depressing time to read about. So this isn't a book I would normally pick up and decide to read. But it was calling to me, telling me  to pick it to read. I went into this one pretty much blind,  I didn't read any reviews like I normally would. I am glad I did, this is one of those books you would hate to be spoiled. I loved the story, the characters and the personal side the Author was able to weave into the story. Its an amazing journey through the world that many thousands of people were made to suffer through and many died because of. This is a SPOILER *but it has a happier ending that I thought it was going to*. I would defiantly recommend this to anyone looking for a deep read set in a historical setting. 

Witness

The Barnes & Noble Review

Karen Hesse's Newbery Award-winning skills are put to great use inWitness, a poetic tale about friendship, fanaticism, and the deadly undercurrents of racial prejudice. The story takes place in a small Vermont town in the year 1924, revealing the devastating impact of the Ku Klux Klan on this pastoral, insular community. At the heart of the tale are two motherless girls who come to the attention of the newly formed Klan: 12-year-old Leanora Sutter, who is black, and 6-year-old Esther Hirsch, who is Jewish. 

Hesse tells her story, which is based on real events, through the eyes of 11 different characters. Each point of view is expressed in poetic form, but with a stark clarity of difference that makes the voices unique and identifiable. There is a fire-and-brimstone preacher whose sermons reveal him as a zealot and whose actions brand him as a hypocrite. There is a middle-aged farm woman named Sara who takes Esther under her wing despite the warnings of her neighbors, trying to help the child understand why the Klan has marked her and her widowed father as targets for their hatred. Esther's only other friend is Leanora, who is about to learn some harsh lessons on tolerance and hatred herself at the hands of the Klan. And linking them all together is 18-year-old Merlin Van Tornhout, a young man struggling to fit in with the adult world and determine for himself the difference between right and wrong. The remaining characters who circle the periphery of this core group reflect the various mind-sets and biases that were common during this era of fear and persecution, even in a setting as bucolic as the Vermont countryside.Hesse weaves real historic events into her tale, such as the murder trial of the infamous kidnappers Leopold and Loeb, giving the work a definite period flavor. Using prose that is both sparse and powerful, she builds the tension with a slow crescendo of inevitability that ends in violence, but also offers up an unforgettable lesson on the true power of friendship and acceptance. (Beth Amos)

I posted this because I feel like it sums it all up better then I could  have. I overall really enjoyed the book , I did have a few problems with it though. Like the fact that it had several different POV's that made it kind of confusing for me to really be able to read it easily. I am a huge fan or her other book, out of the dust, it one of my top favorite books. I thought this might live up to my expectations, it sadly didn't but over all still a good historical fiction written in verse. 

Grave Mercy

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
     Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

So continuing with my current mysterious reading mood, I plucked this one out of my  stack. I had won this from my library during their reading program this past summer and have been wanting to pick it up ever since. But i have just never been in the perfect mood. Until now. I loved the story and all of the growth the character goes through and how she learns to handle what she has been handed  in life. I feel like she just got stronger through the book but still had weaknesses and still had problems. But everything didn't go  according to her plan or what she wanted. With plenty of twists and turns to keep anyone guessing, this is an awesome read that not only has mystery, but history aspects as well. I would highly recommend it. 

Sisters of Cain

In Washington City in 1862, President Lincoln rallies the Union troops for the largest single campaign of the Civil War. And two sisters from Seneca Falls take their places among the players of history, sparked by the fires of conviction...

As part of the new special intelligence force of the Treasury, Bronwyn Llyr finds herself undercover and behind the lines. Her sister Kathryn volunteers as a nurse for the Union Army. In the heart of enemy territory and in the thick of battle, the two sisters must solve a baffling mystery, and thwart a Rebel conspiracy that threatens both their lives-and the entire outcome of the war...

I was in the mood for a mysterious historical fiction, and this one fit that rather strange bill. It had a good mix of history and espionage to keep the story going, Yet I can't call this book amazing, it lacked that  ability to drag you into the story and to keep you sucked in to it. If  it had that, this would have been an amazing book, not just a good one. This  was a good Civil war novel with a mysterious side to it. I would recommend it to those who want a good mystery set in the time of the civil war. 

Audacious

Sixteen year old Raphaelle is that girl who says the wrong thing, who crosses the wrong person, who has the wrong hair, the wrong body, the wrong attitude, the totally wrong clothes. She can’t do anything right, except draw, but she draws the wrong pictures. When her father moves the family to a small prairie city, Raphaelle wants to leave behind the misfit rebel, the outcast, the vengeful trouble-maker she was. Reborn as “Ella,” she plans fit in at her new school, while her perfect younger sister goes to the Catholic girls’ school and her emotionally fragile mother looks for a job. 

But Ella might just be a different kind of misfit. She’s drawn to a brooding boy in her art class, Samir, and expresses her confused feelings in an explicit artwork. When a classmate texts a photo of Ella’s art to a younger friend, the horrendous fallout spreads though Ella’s life like an uncontrollable disease. Ella is expelled from school and faces pornography charges, her mother is hospitalized, her sister fails all her classes, and her distant father finally notices something is wrong. 
Wow, with a huge thank you to my awesome teen librarian at my Library this is another amazing book in the written in the verse style. This one is also going to have a sequel which most books written in verse do not normally have.  This one was amazing,  I loved the style of verse  writing and the character as she struggled to find her own way and find out who she really was. I do disagree on some of the things that she did, I also didn't really agree  with the ending. I guess it was her showing off who she was one last time. I am dying to read the next book and am really excited to continue with her story into the future. I would recommend it but not to younger readers. 

The Sound of Letting Go

For sixteen years, Daisy has been good. A good daughter, helping out with her autistic younger brother uncomplainingly. A good friend, even when her best friend makes her feel like a third wheel. When her parents announce they’re sending her brother to an institution—without consulting her—Daisy’s furious, and decides the best way to be a good sister is to start being bad. She quits jazz band and orchestra, slacks in school, and falls for bad-boy Dave. 

But one person won’t let Daisy forget who she used to be: Irish exchange student and brilliant musician Cal. Does she want the bad boy or the prodigy? Should she side with her parents or protect her brother? How can she know when to hold on and when—and how—to let go?

This book had a lot of emotions for me, growing up with two special needs brothers i had so many of the same feelings that she went through in this book. I feel like she went through a lot of emotional times during the book and I went through a lot of similar feelings through the years. Anyone who has a special needs sibling will have these feelings and will always have the feeling of resentment toward them. This book was amazing, it was written in verse and is an emotional ride, at least for me.It was also the perfect book to bring me out of my reading slump. I would highly recommend it.