Keep Her Safe

By Sophie Hannah

I use this blog usually to recommend books for middle school and young adult aged people because there are so many kids that don't know what to read and parents don't know what to recommend. However, this adult book was so good that I just had to share.

If you are into mystery and suspense, then this book is for you. It was one that I just picked at random to listen to (as an audio book) and I was thrilled! I couldn't stop listening.

It starts with Cara Burrows running away from her family for a little break. She is happily married with two young teenage children and she's found out she's pregnant again. The rest of her family is not too happy with this new development, and, feeling upset and confused, she heads to Arizona to a 5-star spa to figure out her own feelings. She arrives late her first night and checks into an already-occupied room. A man and 14 year old girl wake up and find Cara. Cara excuses herself after trying to explain why she ended up in their room. When she gets down to reception, the receptionist is so upset, she upgrades Cara to her own casita. Cara just wants to sleep so she accepts and tries to forget what happened.

The next day, Cara hears an old woman explaining to the receptionist that she saw Melody. Cara, having no idea why this is weird, tries to dismiss it, but something sticks. When she looks up information about Melody, she finds that Melody was a 7 year old girl who was killed by her parents 7 years ago. However, a body was never found even though everyone believes she's dead. When Cara sees a picture of the 7 year old Melody, she realizes it looks just like the girl she saw in the hotel room. There are other, non-disputable things that connect Melody with the girl in the hotel room. Could it really be her? Could her parents be in prison for life for a murder that never happened? Or is it all a ruse? A fake? A look-alike?

Cara teams up with other guests from the resort to investigate more, and she gathers more information about the long ago case. When Cara gets kidnapped, she knows she getting too close to something. The other guests get the police the involved, basically reopening the case of Melody and trying to find Cara. Cara escapes after a few days and the case if figured out after some good detective work. Many people were involved in a few deceptions, sending the story into different paths of thought. But just when you think you know everything, a major plot twist shakes everything up that left me with my jaw on the floor for a while afterwards. I also couldn't get it out of my head so I ended up thinking about it for a long time after I finished listening.

I know the summary may not make this book as exciting as I want it to be, but it is really good. I don't want to give too much away because I want you also to be surprised. The surprises are great!

Some of the characters in this book are fun and engaging. Cara, the main protagonist, is complex but not always constant. Sometimes she's weak and cautious about her words, but at other times, she comes right out and says her mind even though she usually doesn't like to. I guess characters can change, but sometimes it was too much change. The action was just enough to keep you wanting to know more, the suspense dragging you along until you just want to know the answer!  There is some language in the book, some F-bombs and "God-damns" but it wasn't overwhelming.  You need to be good at keeping track of a bunch of characters because there are quite a few, and most of them are necessary. Some a not really needed. 

Overall, this was an exciting book, and the ending was phenomenal! I still am slightly in shock at the way it ended. It leaves me wondering two different ideas of what the author might mean by it, but isn't that what a good book should do? Stay with you? Leave you with something to think about?

I would recommend this book for adults who like mystery, suspense, and thrills. It wasn't scary suspenseful, but kept you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what happens next. I highly recommend it!

Echo

By Pam Munoz Ryan

Echo is a beautiful story that really consists of 4 different stories. But these 4 stories are connected in an incredible way. Each little story is filled with doubt and fear and a complex, strong spirit, and each story is filled with music. But in the end, they culminate into a gorgeous composition that will echo on after you've finished reading. 

We start with Otto, a boy playing hide and seek with his friends. To impress a girl he likes, he decides to hide in the woods so he'll be the last one found. As he waits, he pulls out a book he recently bought from gypsies, but he's amazed to find his name on the title. The story is about 3 princesses who were given to a witch and were cursed. Otto, who gets lost in the woods, happens across these 3 princesses, and they ask for his help. They fill a simple harmonica with their song and tell Otto to give it to others. Once the harmonica, and the song it produces, helps 3 people, the princesses will break their curse and be free. Otto leaves and finds his way home. When he tells everyone what happened, they don't believe him and think him crazy. He grows up to marry the girl he fancied and live a happy life.

The story then jumps to a new character in a new time. We are now 50 years into the future during World War II and we meet Friedrich from Germany. Friedrich has a birth defect, and at a young age, started working in the harmonica factory in town with his father and uncle. He finds a beautiful harmonica that sounds more amazing than any harmonica he's every played before so he takes it. Friedrich is obsessed with music and is often found conducting imaginary orchestras. Most people find him strange. Life continues to get harder as the War encroaches into their town, and Friedrich's father is not on the right side. Friedrich's father is taken away, and Friedrich races to save him. Just when things are at the worst, this story pauses.

We then move to 1935 and Philadelphia, PA, to a 14 year old named Mike. Mike and his younger brother Frankie are orphans waiting to be adopted. Mike is a gifted musician at the piano. When he finds a harmonica (the same harmonica that Friedrich had in Germany), he puts together a plan to save his brother and he from having nothing and no one. However, they are taken as foster kids to a rich young woman's house, a woman who is dealing with demons of her own. Slowly, music and kindness help, but Mike is afraid they will be separated. He plans to escape with Frankie, but things don't go as planned. Just when things are at their worst, the story pauses.

In the last story, we meet Ivy in 1942 in Southern California. She is a Mexican immigrant who has moved to a new place for her father's work. There are definitely divisions of race, and there are even discussions about the Japanese people in the area who have been taken to camps. In a neighboring house that belonged to a Japanese couple, Ivy finds a room hidden away that officials are looking for. Does she tell? And what's wrong with a room filled with musical instruments? In the meantime, she starts her new school and gets to use a harmonica (guess who else had this harmonica). She is beyond talented and also starts to play the flute. Life gets tense, and again, just when things are at their worst, the story pauses.

In the fourth section of this book, we move to 1951 in New York, NY.  Each chapter in this section belongs to one of the characters: Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy. Their continued stories are revealed as their lives have converged. Because of the harmonica they each shared, their lives have gone in directions they couldn't possibly have imagined. It is a beautiful culmination of their lives.

And in a forest long ago, three beautiful princesses are freed from their curse and are reunited with their family.

This story was incredible! In the beginning you have no idea how everything fits together.  Each story is endearing, and it's hard to leave each one at its cliffhanger. But the end is magnificent.  The way the stories fit together is perfect and creative and brilliant, just like a musical composition that haunts you after it's finished. This story will do the same. It is a MUST READ!!!

I recommend this novel for everyone, but especially for middle school boys and girls. 

A Wrinkle in Time

By Madeleine L'Engle

"It was a dark and stormy night."

Best beginning of any novel ever! I remember thinking this the first time I picked up this book as a tween. And it was a book that I read multiple times within those few early teenage years. I remember enjoying the book immensely.

When I watched the movie a few months ago, I remembered pieces of it, but not enough to contrast between the book and movie.  I had heard complaints about how different the movie was compared to the book and how much was changed, but until I read the book, I was not aware just how much the movie deviated from the original story.

A Wrinkle in Time is a fantastic tale that is not set in a certain time. In fact, unless you checked the copyright date, you'd never know that it was written in 1962. It feels like present day.

Meg Murry is the main protagonist, and she, along with her brother Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin, are whisked away by Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. As a child, I thought these names were fantastic! Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which act as guardians, showing the children the terrible danger that lurks nearby and bringing them on an adventure into danger where they have a chance to save their father. The danger is The Black Thing, the Shadow, the Darkness that threatens peoples hearts and souls. But there are those who are fighting it, bringing light to the Darkness and sending the Darkness away.

The children are taken and left on the planet Camazotz where the people are controlled by IT. Everything is the same and like, and no one needs to think. IT offers freedom from thought and freedom of rest.  But it's not real freedom. Charles Wallace is taken in by IT and Meg is the only one who can free him, free him with the one thing that IT does not have: love.  In the end, Meg saves the day, and the family is all reunited.

What I was most surprised about and what I had forgotten about this book was that it has Christian view. The Black Thing is the evil devil, trying to manipulate and possess the people of the world. He fills them with hate, jealousy, greed, and the need for an easy, thought-free life. But there are fighters of good, bringing love and hope to a world of darkness. A few times throughout the book, scripture is quoted, and the Lord is referenced. Of course, those parts were deleted from the movie, but it brings the idea of spiritual warfare to the fore-front.  We, as Christians, are surrounded by the powers of darkness. But we have peace knowing that Jesus has defeated the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Though we are still plagued by these, we have the ultimate hope of salvation and true freedom from them.

This book is a fast paced story. The author does not dwell on flowery descriptions of places or people so that makes the story feel faster. There is always something happening.

I would recommend this story for middle school and young adult boys and girls. It is a classic, but it is still a great story. It is a little unusual and strange, but it would be a wonderful book to discuss with kids to find out what they notice about it.