The Center of Everything

I recently finished reading The Center of Everything by Linda Urban. Prior to reading, I had never heard of the author or the book, but I found the title as I was browsing through booklists and I decided to check it out.

This story is about Ruby Pepperdine, a twelve-year-old girl who is struggling to cope with the loss of her grandma, Gigi. In Gigi's last hours, Ruby thought her grandmother was trying to communicate with her, but she wouldn't listen. Everything begins spiraling for Ruby and, for once, she is uncertain of what she is supposed to do. Ruby makes a new friend in her quest to understand what Gigi was telling her, while at the same time, her best friend gets mad at her. Ruby feels that her only hope remains in reading her Bunning Day Essay.

I think this book is a really fun story for young readers as it takes the reader on the journey with Ruby. When I was reading, I found myself making connections to my own life, and with young readers, they could make those connections too. Looking back on the type of books that I enjoyed reading in Elementary school, this would have definitely been one of my favorites.

The book also has a really great lesson that sometimes we should just stop and listen, live in the moment. Another aspect that I really enjoyed is when Ruby finally communicates with her family, and she finds out that she isn't the only one who misses Gigi. This is a great lesson for young children because it's true that when they look at adults, they see them continuing their lives like nothing happened, and they try to mimic that behavior; however, in reality, they should know that it is okay to be sad, and when they are sad, they can talk to someone about it. The Center of Everything truly is a fantastic book for young readers.

"If you stopped watching her, you might see it yourself. You might hear it, too. Hear it all coming together.

Listen."

Who Is Stan Lee?

I recently read the book Who is Stan Lee? I read this book with my cousin, who didn't know much about the famous comic book creator. A few weeks after finishing this book, I saw the news of Lee's passing. So, I have decided to blog about this book that details the life of the creator of Marvel Comics. 

As I read this book, I appreciated that it started at the beginning of Stan's life. It not only mentioned the successes he experienced, but also the hard times. I also enjoyed that the author included relevant information to Stan's life, rather than only the basics. For example, the author introduced the life of Stan Lee by stating his birth name and date of birth, but then went further by discussing his start at Timely Comics, and how he worked his way up to Editor. 

From this book, my cousin and I learned a lot that we didn't know about Stan Lee. For example, I didn't know that when he was in the army, Stan's title was "Playwright". My cousin and I found this interesting because it is a fitting title for the comic writer. 

I truly enjoyed reading this book because it was like a mini-biography, but it was also an easy read. It was simple to follow, but it also contained plenty of information about Lee. I think each of the books in this series has the potential to be very informative for anyone who is interested in getting to know about famous people, both past and present. 

The Thing About Jellyfish

Wow! I just finished reading The Thing About Jellyfish, and I am speechless. This book is such a well-written and beautiful work.

As I finished reading the novel, I couldn't help but relate to all of the emotions that Suzy feels. This young girl is desperately searching for answers to how her friend died. Her feelings of anger and sadness are so strong that they resonate with me.

Suzy furthers her research on Jellyfish and eventually has to present her report on the topic. As she presents, this is the most she has spoken in over a year. I felt proud of how much progress she has made. But then the emotions changed and I felt the anger and embarrassment caused by her classmates.

I also learned what happened between Suzy and her friend Franny and what caused the bad blood between them prior to her death. Benjamin does such a great job of drawing a sense of empathy for Suzy as I read through the flashbacks.

As I progressed to the end of the novel, I couldn't stop reading. I felt like I was there with Suzy as she searches for her own peace. She opens up, letting herself be vulnerable, and I got chills when she finally came to accept that she couldn't go through all of this alone. The ending of the novel wasn't what I came to expect, but nevertheless, it was a brilliant conclusion to this beautiful story.

This book really is one of the best books I have read in a while. The story that Ali Benjamin crafts is absolutely stunning. This is such a spectacular novel that I would recommend to anyone.