Summer Reading Celebration

Wonderful, if not sad book about family and the deep history behind the women in the story.

It was a great book and one of the first to actually surprise me!

Pretty good. Sweet. Very Wattpad ngl. She's "smart" but not like smart. Idk you can tell she started this book at a younger time and then had to try and finish it. The family was frustrating at the beginning. The end turned them around but they still bothered me. And also the fact that there is no trigger warning for harassment, assault, and stalking is CRAZY!!! especially cause its on page. That really yucked me out.

This gem from the late 1950s tells the adventurous tale of William Prendergast, father of James who founded Jamestown, who led other Hudson Valley area colonists in revolt against the manorial system in place there. William was the leader of the “levelers” who believed that they had claim to the land they leased and about 1,700 farmers followed him. William was arrested for treason, and sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered. His wife, Mehitabel Wing Prendergast, appealed to the governor for a reprieve and pardon. The family moved to Tennessee, didn’t care for it, and came to Chautauqua Lake. This book was written for middle grades, and contains lots of swashbuckling adventure from the point of view of a boy of about 13 who is a nephew. It uses very dated descriptions of Native Americans and of women. But it is a rollicking piece of historical fiction that relates the family back story of Jamestown’s First Family.

That was so fun! I loved that. Very gripping and entertaining!! I dont think it needed to be a devil wears Prada sequel but I did really enjoy those moments

This book echoes a prominent theme in current parenting: get kids outside interacting with nature. I appreciate the practical suggestions on gardening, but the chapters on hunting and fishing were unrelatable.

I liked it in general but Olivia wasn't my favorite protagonist so I was just a bit more out of the book than normal

I was obsessed! Theo, Winter, and Viv have my heart!!! This is by far my favorite of the series. Can’t wait to read Bailey and Beau’s story.

This was a somewhat disturbing book. Disturbing in that if you don't happen to be a person if color, you learn what it is like to live in their world. That it would be so bad you would want to "cross over" is telling of the world I do not know. The fictitious story is set in a small town of very light skinned blacks. They pride themselves on their lightness. Some even have red hair and could be mistaken as being white. But as the author notes, even the boy who looks white is not allowed the same privileges that an actual white person would have. The story follows 2twin sisters born in this town. Their daddy dies young and their mothers struggles to support the family. The girls have to chip in and life is very hard for all of them. One of the twins "crosses over" in order to get a job that pays better so she and her sister can afford to live in the city they have run away to. Eventually her white boss falls in love with her. Will she tell him? What happens to the other sister? There are some rough parts in this book, but I appreciated the over all message it told.

Never, ever trust that you know who the “good guy” and/or “bad guy” is in a Freida book. This one stunned me in the epilogue.