Hazel grew up one of many children in a rural southern town, but she was determined to get more out of life and found a job in a pharmacy.  One customer, Floyd, swept Hazel off her feet with his ideas for business and outlook on life.  Soon, Hazel and Floyd are married and settled in Delphi, Mississippi where Floyd sells vehicles. Hazel is expected to be a society lady, but doesn't quite fit in.  She does, however find contentment in driving. Hazel begins a family with Floyd and has two healthy boys, but still has trouble seeing herself as a good mother.  When her youngest son dies in a tragic accident, Hazel is devastated and slips into drinking and depression. Floyd hires Vida as a maid and to take care of Hazel.  Vida takes the position to try to enact revenge on Hazel's neighbor, the sheriff who is responsible for Vida having to give up her son.  Hazel and Vida don't exactly see eye to eye, but they are able to come together over the loss of their sons and the racial discrimination that Vida and the other maids face. Together, Hazel and Vida will prove an unstoppable force in campaigned for civil rights in the Deep South.

I completely fell in love with this story and the characters.  More than anything, it took me back to Mississippi in the 1950’s.  From the manner of speech, Hazel’s many “I swan’s” and Floyds motivational quotes to Hazel’s interior decorating choices and Vida and her father’s experiences made everything very realistic.  Hazel and Vida also brought this book alive.  Even more than their quest for Civil Rights, the book is about Hazel and Vida’s own growth.  Both women are broken over the loss of their sons.  Hazel turns to drinking and Vida turns to revenge.  Their struggle with what it means to be a mother and their growth as characters during this time in history is what is really highlighted for me.  The Civil Rights movement is what allows the women to move on.  I really appreciated the author’s authenticity with women being the driving force behind many of the protests and movement of information at the time.  I felt like this gave me a great look into another piece of the Civil Rights movement that I never would have known. 

This  book was received for free in return for an honest review.

 


 

Emil is growing up in Passau, Germany under Hitler’s rule.  He attends his Deutsches Jungvolk meetings with fervor and wants to be a pilot.  Emil begins to see the faults in Hitler’s plans as tensions arise and the hatred of the Jewish people grows.  Emil’s friends Moritz and Johann discover the truth behind the German propaganda with the BBC news broadcast over a shortwave radio, not everything is going so well for the German’s during the war and fatalities are much worse than reported.  The three friends decide to distribute the news with the help of Johann’s sister, Katharina.  As the years pass, the boys grow older and are eventually trained to fight and sent to the front for a war they no longer want to fight; even Katharina finds herself in training as the German losses mount.

Playing With Matches proved to be a moving coming of age story told from the point of view of a German teen.   The history in the story really grabbed me and I learned about the German Youth meeting, the effects of World War II on the average German Home and the efforts of The White Rose resistance.  It was interesting to watch Emil’s character grow as he began to emulate his Deutshes Jungvolk leader and argue with his parents as a youth, to seeing his Jewish friends business destroyed, to taking huge risks by distributing treasonous pamphlet and eventually fighting.  Emil’s character struggles through many emotions: fear, hope, survival and love to create a realistic story of a German youth growing up during World War II.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

In the 14th century, England and Scotland clamor over land. The Scottish clans struggle to fill an empty throne while Edward ‘Longshanks’ Plantagenet seeks to take their land from under their noses.  Amid the chaos, one Scotsman stands out as a leader.  Named ‘The Black Douglas,’ James Douglas emerges as the hero to his people over the English. However, his story is not that simple.  As a young man, James fell in love with Isabelle MacDuff, the MacDuff clan crowns monarchs as the Stone of Destiny sings.  James also befriends Robert the Bruce, an enemy of the MacDuff clan.  Fated to fight for the friend who will be King and the woman he loves, James’ decisions will determine Scotland’s independence.

An epic story filled with war, love, magic and history, The Spider and the Stone tells the incredible tale of Scotland’s War of Independence.  I didn’t really know much about this time in history going into the story, so everything was very informative and interesting to me.  I was immediately intrigued and felt the most pull towards Isabelle MacDuff’s story.  I especially liked that a recurring theme was that the women of Scotland would have to prove stronger than the men in order for Scotland to succeed.  Isabelle’s story surely portrayed this.  Much of the story was political, which can get a little tedious for me, but never boring.  The action scenes were well done, very exciting and realistic.  I was intrigued by James’ ingenuity on the field and the tactics he used.  I also enjoyed the incorporation of the legends and magic into history.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.