The Book Haters' Book Club

The Book Haters’ Book Club by Gretchen Anthony 352 pages

Love the title of this book! I had to read it just to find out who would attend a book haters’ book club if the person hates books. That had to be an interesting group of people. Perplexing at the least.

Elliott, co-owner of Minneapolis’ Over the Rainbow Bridge, has recently passed away, leaving the other co-owner, Irma, in a pickle. Business is not good, and bills are piling up. Irma is also grieving the death of her longtime boyfriend, Nestor, from cancer.

Irma calls a meeting with her two daughters, Bree and Laney, and Elliott’s life partner, Thom, at the lawyer’s office. She has decided to sell to a developer who plans to raze it and replace it with high-rise condominiums.

As shocking as this decision is to the three, Bree has the most to lose. She works in the store and has assumed that she would take it over when Irma retired. Laney just wants to get back to her home in Oakland, California, and running a tire-repair shop with her husband. Thom is angry at Irma, but no one seems to know why, including Irma. The most infuriating part is that Irma won’t say why she so desperately wants to sell. This part of the plot dominates the first book’s first half.

The second half is about Irma coming clean with her secrets and what the three can do to save their relationships…and the bookstore.

The book’s title comes not from a fictional book club, but that is the name of the newsletter that Elliott sent out with reading recommendation to his customers. That title comes from Elliott’s belief that “all it takes is the right book to turn a book hater into a book lover.” He wasn’t actively trying to turn non-readers into readers, and, truthfully, I don’t get it. Readers are treated to a few of the newsletters. Cute and interesting, but they do not push the plot forward. And neither does periodic visits from Elliott in the form of the Forward, Commercial Breaks, Intermission, Curtain Call and One Last Thing…They’re creepy.

“The Book Haters’ Book Club” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Playing Dead

Playing Dead: A Journey through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood, 244 pages

Many people, it seems, have pondered faking their own death.  Some enjoy the fantasy of the ultimate escape from the traps they have fallen into.  Others long to pit their own cleverness against 21st century technology and investigative techniques.  Every year, a small number of people actually try it.  Why they do it is mostly predictable - usually to escape money or legal problems.  How they try it is the more interesting matter.

Unfortunately, Playing Dead keeps the discussion of how people fake their own deaths largely in the background.  Instead, it profiles a half dozen people involved in death fraud, some as fraudsters, others as investigators, and a couple who are somewhere in between.  The book has the chatty tone of a true crime podcast, so that the reader's enjoyment is likely to be largely a matter of how much they like the author.

A Sparrow Alone

A Sparrow Alone by Mim Eichmann  311 pages

When the story opens, thirteen-year-old Hannah Owens sits quietly staring at her mother’s face with her two younger siblings. Their dead mother’s face. I was never sure exactly what killed Mother, but it seemed a sort of wasting disease; I’m thinking cancer of some type. Their father is a psalm-singer (very strict Puritan), constantly spewing psalms and working on occasion. He also seemed insane to me.

Author Eichmann sets readers down in 1890s Colorado, where the Owens family lives in horrible, horrible poverty. The family hasn’t eaten much in several days. The doctor’s wife, Mrs. Hughes, arrives, demanding to know what has happened. She rolls up her sleeves and takes charge, making sure Mother is promptly buried.

Mrs. Hughes convinces Pa that he cannot take care of the three children. She takes Hannah with the intention of training her as a house maid. While that seems like a generous thing to do, Mrs. Hughes isn’t the person she appears to be. Soon, she is whipping Hannah, leaving scars that resemble slaves’ backs after beatings.

When Dr. Hughes decides to abandon his wife, Mrs. Hughes throws Hannah and Zuma, the cook, out. The women follow Dr. Hughes to Cripple Creek, Colorado. The doctor is investing heavily in his mistress’s new venture, one that becomes the most famous brothel in Cripple Creek.

Hannah’s life is one of such hardship that it seems that the young woman would not be able to overcome. But Hannah is a fighter, always picking herself up and going on. That is until multi-millionaire Winfield Scott takes a shine to her.

The story is well-researched and gives a truly extraordinary look into just how difficult life was in those days. Much of the story is written in dialect, which always threw me out of the story. One or two times are all a story needs of dialect, and most readers associate that with the character through the rest of the book.

The biggest issue for me, however, is the last chapter. It seemed to come out of left field. It seemed, to me, that Eichmann was tired of writing and wrapped it up neatly. But that can’t be the case because there is a sequel that I want to read. Surely poor Hannah’s life has to get better.

For the two reasons above, “A Sparrow Alone” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The Immortalists

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin    346 pages

Good book.  When the four Gold children hear there is a Gypsy Fortune Teller in their building who can tell people the day they will die, naturally they are curious and must find out what she will tell them.  And she does.  The book follows the lives of the Gold family, very moving story as each individual deals with their own mortality, and all the things that life brings their way.   Lots of emotional situations and a very good storyline.  I would recommend this for mature teens on up as there are explicit sexual situations.

- Shirley J.

When Harry Met Minnie

When Harry Met Minnie: A true story of love and friendship by Martha Teichner 256 pages

Get ready to fall in love with this true, heartbreaking and heartwarming story of two women and their bull terriers. It won’t be a bad idea to have a box of tissues handy either.

 “CBS Sunday Morning” correspondent and multi-Emmy Award winner Martha Teichner tells the story of her enchantment with the bull terrier breed. In the past she has been best friends with Piggy, Goose, and now, Minnie. Martha and Minnie loved to walk around New York City, especially the Chelsea Piers and the Union Square Farmer’s Market. All the vendors at the market knew Minnie and had a treat waiting for her. Her favorite? Mangos!

It was at the market, on July 23, 2016, that Martha and Minnie ran into an old acquaintance, quite by chance. It had been a couple of years since she had seen him and his dog, but there they were. Weirdly, Martha didn’t know much about him, not even his name, but they bonded over their dogs. When Martha’s old friend learned that Goose had died six months earlier, he had an idea.

He had another friend, Carol, who was looking for a new home for her bull terrier, Harry. Carol had developed cancer from the 9/11 toxins as her apartment building was near Ground Zero. After thinking about, Martha agreed to let Harry and Minnie meet. This started a nearly two year adventure of slowly introducing the dogs as bull terriers can be quite territorial and aggressive.

Harry and Minnie immediately hit it off! There were multiple dates, overnights and walks around the city. Readers will get to know their individual idiosyncrasies and their breed’s stubbornness and watch them bond. Harry had several medical issues also; quite a few as Martha soon learned. But that wasn’t an issue---Minnie loved Harry, and Harry loved Minnie.

A deep friendship also formed between Martha, Carol, and Martha’s acquaintance, who was named Stephen. What fun it was to be a voyeuristic part of their group! Martha still had not committed to taking Harry as late as Fall 2017. However, as Carol deteriorated, it became a matter of fact that Martha would take Harry and love him all the rest of his days.

This story reminded me a bit of Elizabeth Berg’s novel, “Talk Before Sleep.” I was attracted to the cover---Harry and Minnie’s adorable faces staring at me. I feel now as if I knew them.  

When Harry Met Minnie: A true story of love and friendship receive 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

The Book of Two Ways

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult   432 pages   

Three storylines are wound together all with Dawn Edelstein in the center.  Dawn Edelstein Grad Student on a dig in Egypt with her competitor come paramour, Wyatt,  Dawn Edelstein, death dulah easing her clients into their final journey, and Dawn Edelstein wife to Brian and mother to their troubled daughter.    Good story,  I recommend it highly even though I was not entirely pleased with the ending.

 - Shirley J.

The Way We Die Now

The Way We Die Now by Dr.Seamus O'Mahony   292 pages

Dr. O'Mahony is the Consultant Gastroenterologist at Cork University Hospital and Associate Editor for Medical Hmanities of the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

His premise in this book is people have gotten so caught up in trying to live forever that they have forgotten how to die well.    He points out how between science trying to arrive at the genetic answer to stop aging, the cosmetic industry's trying to keep people looking young, medical practitioners trying to through every possible medical procedure at the aged and dying to keep them alive "for a little while longer - regardless of their quality of life," that humans need to take a lesson from animals who sensing their death has come simply turn toward the wall accept it and die with dignity.  He cites many well-known people throughout history and the ways in which they met their deaths either going out in denial, desperately clinging for more time, destructively agreeing to any and every procedure suggested by medical teams or deliberately denying treatment and meeting death head on and if not heroically, certainly on their own terms.    It is a good book after starting off a little slow.   The summation is few doctors opt for more treatments when they realise they have come to the end of their time here on earth.   More treatments at the end of life just add more cost and usually detract from what strength the person has and often ends in death anyway.   One doctor he knows has NO CPR tattooed on his chest in case he is unable to convey his wishes.   Thoughtfully written with spiritual leanings toward the end.  I would recommend it to adults, I think it a little deep for the young.  He brings up some really great points from an insider's perspective.  Good book.

 - Shirley J.

From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World To Find The Good Death

From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World To Find The Good Death by Caitlin Doughty  248 pages

An interesting book with lots of information as the customs and rituals held in five other countries as well as information on the customs, rituals, history etc. of death handling in the U.S.    Told by author Caitlin Doughty the information is laid out (pun intended) in an entertaining way.   She  knows how to keep the reader's interest and while there are some cringe worthy sections for the most part the reader will come away with deeper insight on how different cultures view their dead.  I feel like giving away snippets here, but, I also feel like if you really want to know reading this book would be best.   I do recommend it.    The material is fascinating if macabre.   I think mature highschoolers could handle it, though, it might go a little too deep with the younger set. 

 - Shirley J.

Three Purgatory Poems

Three Purgatory Poems: The Gast of Gy, Sir Owain, The Vision of Tundale, edited by Edward E Foster, 254 pages

This book collects three fourteenth century poems involving Purgatory and the bonds of love which connect the living and the dead.  In "The Gast of Gy" the titular gast (ghost) haunts his wife until she seeks help from the local Dominicans, who interrogate the spirit about his place in the afterlife and provide him with their prayers of assistance.  "Sir Owain" is a romance about a 12th century English knight who travels through a mystical Irish cave to Purgatory.  "The Vision of Tundale" tells the story of a crooked merchant who has what moderns would call a near-death experience in which his guardian angel gives him a tour of the afterlife, a tale the Latin original of which may have helped inspire Dante.

The texts are presented in Middle English (although some are themselves translations of older poems), with marginal notes when the language is sufficiently different from Modern English that such help is likely to be necessary and longer notes at the end of each work to more fully explain difficult passages.  The result is a text which maximizes both readability and clarity, making the original works accessible without burying them in commentary or rewriting them entirely.

Dying for Ideas

Dying for Ideas: The Dangerous Lives of the Philosophers by Costica Bradatan, 238 pages


Summary from Goodreads: What do Socrates, Hypatia, Giordano Bruno, Thomas More, and Jan Patocka have in common? First, they were all faced one day with the most difficult of choices: stay faithful to your ideas and die or renounce them and stay alive. Second, they all chose to die. Their spectacular deaths have become not only an integral part of their biographies, but are also inseparable from their work. A "death for ideas" is a piece of philosophical work in its own right; Socrates may have never written a line, but his death is one of the greatest philosophical best-sellers of all time.

Dying for Ideas explores the limit-situation in which philosophers find themselves when the only means of persuasion they can use is their own dying bodies and the public spectacle of their death. The book tells the story of the philosopher's encounter with death as seen from several angles: the tradition of philosophy as an art of living; the body as the site of self-transcending; death as a classical philosophical topic; taming death and self-fashioning; finally, the philosophers' scapegoating and their live performance of a martyr's death, followed by apotheosis and disappearance into myth.

While rooted in the history of philosophy, Dying for Ideas is an exercise in breaking disciplinary boundaries. This is a book about Socrates and Heidegger, but also about Gandhi's "fasting unto death" and self-immolation; about Girard and Passolini, and self-fashioning and the art of the essay.

Bottom line: I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I learned some things I didn't know before but the book falls short for what it is supposed to be. It seems as if Bradatan is trying to provide an argument about philosophers who end up dying for ideas. It is more of a chronicle of instances where they have. While Bradatan does use sources from other disciplines I am not sure how much he is breaking boundaries.

My Father’s Words

My Father’s Words by Patricia MacLachlan, 135 pages

Fiona’s world is turned upside down when her father is killed in a car accident.  She, her little brother Finn, and her mother have to learn how to cope without their father.  While Fiona struggles, she thinks that Finn has a harder time than she does.  She wants to help Finn but isn’t sure how.  Their neighbor, Luke, finds an opportunity volunteering at a dog shelter.  Fiona hopes that Finn will respond to the dogs’ need and be able to find a way to deal with his feelings.  This was a sweet book for younger chapter book readers.

Ghost Boys

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes, 214 pages

"After seventh-grader Jerome is shot by a white police officer, he observes the aftermath of his death and meets the ghosts of other fallen black boys including historical figure Emmett Till."  This was a difficult books to read.  Although the story is sad, there is hope.  It’s well written and I think that a lot of kids would enjoy reading it, even if it is upsetting to them. 

Pantheon

Pantheon by Hamish Steele     179 pages

From Goodreads:

The most important myth in Ancient Egypt is faithfully retold in glorious black and white! Horus, son of Isis, vows bloody revenge on his Uncle Set.

Review:

A comic of Egyptian mythology told with dirty humor and violent imagery. This is a fun, quick read and you don't have to know anything about Egyptian mythology to enjoy it.

Scythe

Scythe by Neal Shusterman, 435 pages

“A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life--and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe--a role that neither wants. These teens must master the "art" of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.”  This was amazing.  I think this may be my favorite book by Shusterman.  Teens who like science fiction dystopian type novels will enjoy this.

UBIK

Ubik  By Philip K. Dick 202 pages

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/307887116

Until recently the only Dick book I’d read was “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?” back in the early 80s when the “Blade Runner” movie came out.  I was a big Blade Runner fan and the book was disappointing to me at the time, because it was so different from the movie.  (I re-read it again recently, and loved it, and the movie no longer holds the same interest for me.)

A few months ago “Flow My Tears The Policeman Said” came across my hands, and I started reading it.  Now I want to read everything Dick has written.  However, his stories are so unique, and his writing is so sharp and intelligent, so personal, that I have to take long breaks between stories in order to digest his numerous, alternate worlds. 

“Flow…” was written after Ubik, but there are some similar themes.  Here is the description from SLPL’s Bibliocommons:
Ubik (1969), with its future world of psychic espionage agents and cryonically frozen patients inhabiting an illusory "half-life," pursues Dick's theme of simulated realities and false perceptions to ever more disturbing conclusions, as time collapses on itself and characters stranded in past eras search desperately for the elusive, constantly shape-shifting panacea Ubik. As with most of Dick's novels, no plot summary can suggest the mesmerizing and constantly surprising texture of these astonishing books.

This book would’ve been better in one sitting, but I had to read it in three sittings.  Each time I had to go back and re-trace a few pages, because the story is so layered, and this world is so complex.  (Warning: there may be some spoilers.)

 An agent of the Runciter Corporation is called to action against the psychics.  One of the psychic agents can alter time and appears to be working for Runciter- but is she?  They go to Mars and an accident occurs, and for the rest of the story you are left wondering who is dead?  The boss Runciter, who seems to be communicating with them as an “inertial”- someone who is dead but can still be communicated with in the after life?  Or are they dead, and is Runciter communicating with them?

And what is this Ubik?  It is everything and everywhere.  I love each chapter’s Ubik advertisement. I loved the many twists in the already twisted plotline.  The end was satisfying but I had to read the last chapter twice, and I am still not sure who lived, and who was only alive in an artificial, inertial, Ubik afterlife. 

I recommend this to anyone who likes mind-benders and alternate realities, with a paranormal, futuristic setting.

Five Feet Apart

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott     288 pages

"Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?"

This was such a beautiful love story, told from the perspective of two teenagers with Cystic Fibrosis. Will and Stella couldn't be more different in their outlook on life, him wanting to stop treatment and life life to the fullest while he still can, she trying to hold everything together to get better so she won't hurt the people she loves. But when they meet, slowly they change each other for the better and they find love where they didn't expect it.

I found both Stella and Will to be well rounded characters and I liked them both. They both seemed believable and earnest in their feelings and the why of their feelings was explained well. I also felt that the relationships with side characters was strong, mostly between Stella and Poe. There was a feeling of real time spent together, their routines and inside jokes helped show just how much the knew and loved each other. Not much time was spent with other friend characters, like Stella's school friends or Will's friends, but the story was not long, so there wasn't much time to include these.

I think the parents were believable as well, though I do think it was a bit too good to be true for Stella's parents to <spoiler> have gotten back together so easily and quickly after Stella's long transplant</spoiler>. I do like that the parents were there and involved, rather than just being props to make the story move along.

I kept wondering how the story would end, since the prospect of CF being terminal suggests that one or both characters could die at any time. I am glad that the author didn't create a magical/unbelievable recovery for Will or made it so that both characters actually could be together in the way they wanted, as this would have taken away from the reality that this book is trying to convey. The ending is bittersweet, but also ambiguous in a hopeful way. Stella's and Will's stories are not quite over and you, the reader, are left to imagine what you think might happen to them.

Lastly, I very much enjoyed the author's decision to provide a very real portrayal of the lives of people with CF. I think many stories don't handle illnesses well, or attempt to use illness as a quirk to create a compelling or unique romance and end up using the illness as a tool or don't present it in an accurate way, thus showing that the inclusion of illness in the story is just to make it novel or provide a tragic reason that the two leads cant be together - I’m looking at you, Everything, Everything! From the way this book was written, really lovingly, I could tell that the author wanted to provide a positive story for those who have CF, that accurately represented their lives, and that would make them seen by the rest of the world. At no point in the book did I feel like CF was just a story tool or was used to add heightened drama. It was very real, eye opening, and moving.

I would highly recommend this story and I am very glad I read it. Anyone who loves teen romance stories or who want to read a book with compelling, well written characters should read this book.

The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken     488 pages

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for

kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.

If there was any book I would recommend for those who have read and liked The Hunger Games series, this is IT (aside from telling them they have to read Battle Royale first). It's got kids fighting for their lives (against other kids and adults, really), it's got an over-arching governmental bad-guy, it's got betrayal/suspicion vibes all over it. It really fits right in there, so I'm surprised I'd never heard of this book until I started seeing movie trailers popping up for it.

Honestly, this book is probably even better written than The Hunger Games - Bracken has a strong writing style that grabs you and doesn't let go. This book made me so anxious the entire time I was reading it. It's a very on-the-edge-of-your-seat type read. The plot is hard hitting, a bit slow on take-off, but once it takes off, BAM! You're in the thick of it and it doesn't slow down, not even at the end. It really rolls you right into the next book, you feel you have to keep reading to get to the bottom of this story.

Ruby is certainly a more likable figure than Katniss will ever be (but for those who are fans of Katniss, I say this not to diss her). Ruby is softer than Katniss, but she has that hard-hitting, fueled-by-anger-fighter in her that, when unleashed, could definitely rival Katniss. Ruby fights for the ones she loves, she is not going to roll over and take it lying down. But she is also fragile in this book, probably the most fragile she will be in the entire series, but Bracken doesn't make that seem like a bad thing. In fact, by the end of it, Ruby recognizes that her gentle side, her loving side, is a real, valuable part of her, one that she has to put away for the time being to get things done. But when it's all said and done, that rougher, monstrous side of her is not something to be proud of, only a necessary evil. Like Katniss, Ruby takes up the gauntlet for her friends, her family, and she will fight to protect those she loves. She is willing to play the game.

This is a great, action-paced YA dystopian book, full of amazing characters and well-written dialog and character development (and it's diverse, which is nice!). Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and Zu feel like a family and it's such a great thing to see develop. I can't recommend this book more, it's so good.

The Way We Die Now

The Way We Die Now: The View from Medicine's Front Line by Seamus O'Mahony, 292 pages

O'Mahony is a gastroenterologist who has worked in several hospitals in England and Ireland. He has seen hundreds of patients and family members die.

In the modern world, death has become hidden and medicalized. Those that are dying go to hospitals or, in some cases, hospices.

In attempt to fight death, patients are often subjected to treatments and surgeries that are not necessary. They will not improve the condition of patients or extend their lives. We think that we can defeat death when we can't.

Alternately, we try to control it by determining when we will die. This has led to the idea of assisted suicide and living wills. O'Mahony argues against assisted suicide because he feels that it is a slippery slope. Living wills aren't very effective either because they may not be accessible when needed and families aren't always willing to follow them.

O'Mahony points out that philosophers and people who write about death have not been good at accepting death when the time comes.

O'Mahony believes that we need to return to common decency when it comes to the treatment of those who are dying. One of his modest proposals is that, "We must teach the public, the politicians, the media and the judiciary that we can't offer every conceivable option to every patient."

I thought this book was an excellent read. O'Mahony's perspective as a doctor was insightful.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton     521 pages

At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed--again. She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden's only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle's murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend--but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

This book was amazing. I was immediately hooked, the writing was so brilliant. I didn't want the book to end, and at the same time I wanted to get to the end so I could solve the mystery. It was everything I wanted it to be and I am so, so glad this book exists. I'll definitely be reading it, recommending it to all my friends and anyone I meet because IT. IS. A-MAZING.

If you love mystery/thrillers - this is for you. If you love Agatha Christie - this book is for you. If you love puzzles, twists, or being kept on your toes - this book is for you. If you like time travel or "Groundhog Day"-esq tropes - THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!

The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis     171 pages

Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food.

As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner.

This book was hard to read - the atrocities happening in Afghanistan seem unbelievable in our modern time: women's freedoms being limited to just their homes, unless accompanied by a man, having to cover up in full while out, not being able to go to school or hold jobs, not allowed to make noise or have a voice, etc.

But this book does important work shedding some light on the experiences of Afghans at the hands of extremists. It's an important work that children and adults should be exposed to and I'm glad I was able to read it.