The Great Green Heist by Varian Johnson

The Great Greene Heist

Varian Johnson

Published May 27, 2014

Quick Summary:  Jackson Greene has said he was finished with schemes and capers.  After all, his last one cost him the girl he cares about plus he now has to have weekly meetings with the principal to make sure he’s staying out of trouble.  But now that very girl needs him.  Gaby is running for Student Council president and Jackson realizes that the boy running against her will stoop to anything in order to win, even getting his father to bribe the principal, Dr. Kelsey.  In order to ensure that Gaby wins, Jackson has to run the biggest caper of his life, and he has to do it without letting Gaby know what’s going on.

 My Thoughts:  This is the first book I've read by Varian Johnson and I really liked it.  The author's notes states The Westing Game was one of Mr. Johnson's inspirations and that was one of the reasons I wanted to read it.  It is a book that will be perfect for my more sophisticated readers.  Much has been written about its diversity, and I was thrilled with both the diverse cast and that no big deal was made of it. This is definitely one I'll be adding to my school collection.

Copy source:  ARC received at nErDcampMI.

Sunday Evening Finish Post -- 45 Hour Book Challenge

          So I'm declaring an end to my challenge.  Even though I didn't read as much as I did the two other years I've participated, I'm pretty pleased with what I've done, especially since I didn't think I'd be able to participate at all this year.
          In all I read 2 books, finished another book that I'd already started, and am more than half-way through The Savage Fortress.  I read for 12 hours and 31 minutes and I blogged and visited other sites for 3 hours and 35 minutes.  I spent more time visiting and commenting other sites this year than I have in the past and I really enjoyed that aspect of the challenge.  I did notice that I'm reading more slowly than I did in the past -- I'm not sure if that's due to age or just general tiredness.
         I look forward to next year's challenge  -- it's a great way to start a summer.

Sunday Afternoon Update and Review for Lovetorn

I squeezed in one more hour of reading last night and then another 1 1/2 hours this morning before church.  I finished Lovetorn (review below).  I have to go to a funeral this afternoon but I have to get in 1 1/2 more hours to have 12 hours of reading.

Lovetorn

Kavita Daswani

2012

Shalini has been raised in India with her entire extended family – thirty-seven family members living in the house and she is not the least bit excited when her father announces that he has taken a job in the United States and their family of four will be moving there for two years.  Not only will she have to leave her extended family, she’ll also have to leave her fiancé, a boy she has been engaged to since she was three.  Going from her small private school to being a junior at a large public school is also a challenge.  Some people make fun of her and she doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.  To make matters worse, her mother falls into a deep depression and spends days at time in her bedroom.

            But then Shalini joins a group called Food4Life and she becomes involved in raising money for the charity.  She meets a boy named Toby and is instantly attracted to him.  Now she is torn – how can she fall for an American boy when she’s engaged to someone else?

           I liked Lovetorn but I felt it was a mess in places.  I grant you that I am a middle school librarian and have never been in a high school, but I thought the girls who were mean to Shalini acted more like middle school students than high school students.  I also had a hard time believing that a girl who has been engaged and devoted to a boy since she was little would so quickly fall for someone else. 

          One thing I liked about the story was closeness of her family, and yet their inability at first to help the mom.  I felt that this was perhaps the most authentic part of the book.

Saturday Evening Update and Review for 90 Miles to Havana

    I read for about 8 hours and I've spent 2 hours with blogging and social media.  I've only completed 2 books so this isn't my fastest work but I'm just glad to be able to spend some time reading this weekend.  Here's my review for the book I finished this afternoon:

90 Miles to Havana

Enrique Flores-Gallis

2010

Pura Belpre Honor Book

Julian is the youngest of three brothers in Cuba in 1961.  His biggest problem seems to be learning to stand up for himself until the Revolution happens and life is turned upside down.  Julian comes from a fairly well-to-do family (his father builds buildings) and things become difficult for them.  Afraid that her children will be taken away from her, Julian's mother decides to send her boys to America where she promises that they will go to a lovely camp until their parents can join them.  The camp, however, is not lovely -- and the boys are in danger of being separated and sent to different orphanages across the country.  Julian has a lot of growing up to do and in a world that is very foreign to him.

     I liked this book fairly well.  I really felt for Julian and his family.  I did feel that several events were implausible, but this didn't destroy to story for me.  I must admit to knowing very little about the Cuban Revolution, so it was nice to read a book set during this time period.

48 Hour Update

   So I finally finished Command Authority  by Tom Clancy.  Not his worst book, but certainly not his best.  I'm now going to start 90 Miles to Havana, which is on our state's Battle of the Books list for next year.
   Here's my breakdown so far.  I'm really trying to spend time on the social media portion of the challenge, something I've not done before:

Friday, June 6
     7:30 - 9:30     Read Command Authority.

Saturday, June 7
     9:08 - 9:19     Blogging/ Social Media
     9:19 - 12:39   Finished Command Authority
    1:03 - 1:42      Blogging/Social Media

Saturday Morning Update

I read for a couple of hours last night before I collapsed in the bed.  I'm going to keep on reading Command Authority and as soon as I finish it I'm going to start 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Folores-Galbis.  Since this is a children's/young adult book blog, I won't be posting a review of the Clancy book.

MotherReader's 48 Hour Book Challenge

     When I heard the weekend for this year's Challenge, I didn't think I'd be able to do it.  I've had a big event cancelled so even though it's a still crazy weekend, but I think I can carve out at least twelve hours to read during it.
     Because I hadn't planned to do the challenge, I am in the middle of Tom Clancy's book, Command Authority.  It certainly wouldn't be my first choice to read this weekend, but I stink at reading more than one book at a time so I'll finish it before I start on the diverse titles I have on my to-read stack (reading diverse books for children and young adults is this year's theme).
     It's been a rotten week, so I'm looking forward to a weekend of reading and relaxing!