Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Author:  Maria Semple

Genre: Fiction, humorous

Summary: (Goodreads) When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces--which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where'd You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter's love for her mother.

Rating: Very good!

Why I Like It: Funny, engaging & entertaining!

Other: audio: very good, also liked by Patsy

Reviewer: Patsy

Becoming

Title: Becoming

Author: Michelle Obama

Genre:   autobiography                  

Summary:  Michelle Obama tells her story from growing up on the South Side of Chicago, through college, various careers, meeting Barak Obama, and her experience as First Lady. 

Rating: Very good

Why I Like It:  Very interesting to see things from her point of view.  Not dry at all.  She is very introspective and interested in the world around her and in other people.  Very little politics. 

Reviewer: Kathy 

Craig & Fred

Title: Craig & Fred
Author: Craig Grossi
Genre: autobiography
Summary: (Goodreads) The uplifting and unforgettable true story of a US Marine, the stray dog he met on an Afghan battlefield, and how they saved each other and now travel America together, "spreading the message of stubborn positivity."

In 2010, Sergeant Craig Grossi was doing intelligence work for Marine RECON—the most elite fighters in the Corps—in a remote part of Afghanistan. While on patrol, he spotted a young dog "with a big goofy head and little legs" who didn’t seem vicious or run in a pack like most strays they’d encountered. After eating a piece of beef jerky Craig offered—against military regulations—the dog began to follow him. "Looks like you made a friend," another Marine yelled. Grossi heard, "Looks like a 'Fred.'" The name stuck, and a beautiful, life-changing friendship was forged.

Fred not only stole Craig’s heart; he won over the RECON fighters, who helped Craig smuggle the dog into heavily fortified Camp Leatherneck in a duffel bag—risking jail and Fred’s life. With the help of a crew of DHL workers, a sympathetic vet, and a military dog handler, Fred eventually made it to Craig’s family in Virginia.

Months later, when Craig returned to the U.S., it was Fred’s turn to save the wounded Marine from Post-Traumatic Stress. Today, Craig and Fred are touching lives nationwide, from a swampy campground in a Louisiana State Park to the streets of Portland, Oregon, and everywhere in between.

A poignant and inspiring tale of hope, resilience, and optimism, with a timeless message at its heart—"it is not what happens to us that matters, but how we respond to it"—Craig & Fred is a shining example of the power of love to transform our hearts and our lives.

Rating: Excellent!

Why I Like It: Audio, read by the author who did a fantastic job! Well written, interesting and easy to follow. Many good lessons in it!

Other: Avery recommended this book on Goodreads. Thank you Avery!

Reviewer: Patsy

The Orphan's Tale

Title: The Orphan's Tale

Author: Pam Jenoff
Genre: historical fiction, Jewish fiction, WWII
Summary: (From Goodreads) A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan's Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
Rating: Very good.
Why I Like It: Another interesting aspect of WWII, concerning the circus
Other: listened to it on audio
Reviewer: Patsy

The Warmth of Other Suns

Title: The Warmth of Other Suns
Author: Isabel Wilkerson
Genre: Non-fiction
Summary: (From Goodreads)  In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.

From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.

With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration” within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.

Rating: Excellent!!

Why I Like It: This epic migration took place from 1915 to 1970. It was interesting to think about & compare it to what was going on in our grandparents, parents & my own life at the time. Learned a lot!

Other: listened to it on audio, long book - 622 pages

Reviewer: Patsy

Brown Girl Dreaming

Title: Brown Girl Dreaming

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Genre: memoir

Summary: Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

Rating: Very good

Why I Like It: I enjoyed the style of her writing. It is all in poem but with her style of poem writing, it was very easy to listen to and so well done. Loved the history I learned from it!

Other: Audio, read by author who did an excellent job!  Award won: 
John Newbery Medal, National Book Award for Young People's Literature and
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Youth / Teens.

Reviewer: Patsy

Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City

Title: Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City
Author: Phillip Hoose
Genre: nonfiction
Summary: The true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana, masterfully told by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose.
By winning the state high school basketball championship in 1955, ten teens from an Indianapolis school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in the state shattered the myth of their inferiority. Their brilliant coach had fashioned an unbeatable team from a group of boys born in the South and raised in poverty. Anchored by the astonishing Oscar Robertson, a future college and NBA star, the Crispus Attucks Tigers went down in history as the first state champions from Indianapolis and the first all-black team in U.S. history to win a racially open championship tournament—an integration they had forced with their on-court prowess.
From native Hoosier and award-winning author Phillip Hoose comes this true story of a team up against impossible odds, making a difference when it mattered most.

Rating: Very good!!

Why I Like It: Interesting history, easy to read, & great pictures.

Other: At this 1-11-19, Warren Central, a big school in Indpls. extended their basketball winning streak to 45 games and tie Crispus Attucks for third on the all-time state list. 

Reviewer: Patsy