New books!

I'm so excited! I just went to a used book sale and picked up 10ish books for less about 4 dollars! Look for Ben Hur, Heart of Darkness, In His Steps, Christy, children's books- The Midwifes Apprentice, and The Giver. I didn't mention that my sisters and I have a race at the moment to see who can read all of the Newbery Award winning books first- these two books happen to both be such winners. I was excited to find them. I think also they both happen to be winners that have been banned in the past- I think just from school libraries. We'll see why. I know I got other books, I just can't remember what they are right now. I was excited though. It may be a couple of weeks, but I'll be back with some (I hope) fun stories.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Hmm... It's been a while since I've been on here, so I'll have to get back to Fahrenheit 451 later. In the mean time I have just finished the new children's book 'The Invention
of Hugo Cabret'- an imaginative book about, as the author puts it, "Paris in the 1930's, a thief, a broken machine, a strange girl, a mean old man, and the secrets that tie them all together." It is unique in that half of the story is told with pictures- not illustrated, but actually told with pictures (really great pictures). It has a rather cinematic feel to it which goes right along with the story... I loved the characters, and felt their joys and pains, which to me makes a pretty good book. The take-away points I got from the book were to do with second chances, and seeing beyond a person's past, or exterior. I don't know that this message was explicit, and perhaps I just made it up because I've been thinking a lot about it outside of reading this book. I did see in Hugo, a thief, the wish to be good and his rising to the occasion when he was given a chance. He made the effort for others who showed an interest in him, and showed they believed in him in some way or another. This message can be applied to more characters than Hugo too (you'll have to read it). I think young people will really like this book- and in fact I borrowed it from my young friend Morgan, who recommended it. Interesting story, good writing style- even a bit of history.