Hitch by Jeanette Ingold

Pages: 267

Publisher: Harcourt

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall: 4 stars

Source: Library

ISBN: 0-15-204747-6
Awards: 2006 Christopher Award, Society of School Librarians Best Book, 2006 New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, 2006-2007 Texas Tayshas Book

The 1930s, the Great Depression, staking it all on the CCC

It's 1935, and thousands of teens roam a country where everything seems to have gone wrong . . .

For a while, it seems seventeen-year-old Moss Trawnley is handling the hard times. Then his luck turns, and he's left jobless, homeless, and unsure of where he fits in this harsh new world.

Adrift in Montana, he signs on for a six-month hitch with President Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps--at least he'll have food a roof over his head. But during a long winter and spring of new challenges, Moss gets quite an education--about the value of work, about leading others, and about taking responsibility for his own future.

Hitch was a pretty interesting YA fiction. It follows teenager Moss Trawley through his time in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) during the Great Depression.

I Loved:
Moss learns how to: deal with bullies, work hard, deal with an irresponsible father, be a leader, take care of the earth, treat girls with respect, be a good friend, be responsible, & respect those in authority.
Alcohol is shown as it is: a destroyer of people and their families.
I liked learning about the Civilian Conservation Corps and what they did to preserve the land.
I had heard (via other reviews) that this book was way too much history and that all characters besides Moss were underdeveloped. I did not feel this way at all. I walked away from Hitch feeling like I had learned a lot history-wise and morals-wise through a really cool story without being preached to. Very enjoyable.

I didn't like:
Moss hops trains a few times. Eventually he is caught and punished (that's how he gets in the CCC), but he never gets a personal conviction that hopping trains is wrong and that he shouldn't do it again.
Moss and his friends break camp rules several times. Like the train hopping, he is caught most of the time and punished, but rarely feels guilty about it.
One bad word near the end.

In conclusion:
 I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to all ages. My 12 & 9 year old brothers are reading it with my Mom and love it, too. There are a few minor things I didn't like, but the rest I loved. Tagging along as Moss grows into a man is really neat. He supports his mother and siblings without complaining. I loved the things I learned about the Great Depression & the CCC. It taught good morals as we watched Moss become a real man. I wish it came with a discussion guide - it would be great to read and discuss in a group.
I would especially recommend it to homeschoolers when they're studying the Great Depression

Update

The reasons I haven't posted as planned this week are numerous:

• I received Change Your Church for Good by Brad Powell in the mail through BookSneeze, and I had to replace The 5000 Year Leap with it. Had to. But I couldn't read it that fast, so that delayed me.
• Hitch by Jeanette Ingold took longer than expected to read, too. But it's finally done and the review is coming today on it!
• My laptop's hard drive crashed so I've been a little out of commission online.

Anyway, sorry for these delays. We're getting the kinks worked out right now...the calendar might need modification to accommodate all the books I will soon be receiving through reviewing programs. Expect Hitch today and The Scarlet Letter tomorrow and Change Your Church for Good somewhere in there before the weekend. 

Thanks!

Steph

Tenative May Schedule

Sorry I haven't fulfilled my promise yet about the whole tagging and redoing the reviews thing. I am working on redoing the reviews and tagging is coming. Here's 1/2 the calendar promise. :)


Right now I'm thinking a 2-week cycle of:
Week 1:

• Monday - Non-Fiction
• Tuesday - YA Fiction
• Thursday - Classic (i.e. Dickens)

Week 2:

• Monday - YA Non-Fiction
• Wednesday - Fiction
• Friday - Wild Card (Short Story, Music, random stuff)

And I can throw anything in between these scheduled book reviews that I want - sometimes I read more than 3 books a week, ya'll!

Starting on Monday is Week 1 (for simplicity). I'm hoping to have:

• Monday - Non-Fiction - The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen
• Tuesday - YA Fiction - Hitch by Jeanette Ingold
• Thursday - The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Cleaning up my reviews

I was just reading my past reviews and they are not impressive, even to me! I'm reading all sorts of tips all over the internet and in blogging communities. I'm going to try to rewrite the most recent 2 and "edit" the post to fix it. Also, I need to add tags to EVERYTHING so I don't have to come back and do it later.
Pages and a calendar of what to expect the next two weeks should be up by tomorrow!
Sorry...I'm still getting the hang of this. :)
Thanks for the patience!
Luv,
Steph

Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado

I picked this book up at my library a week or so ago (along with The 10 Commandments of Dating, review coming soon!) and really enjoyed the time I spent in it's pages.

It's a typical teenage girl encouragement type book with chapters about fashion, friends, boys, life, God, and...dads. Dads? Yes sirree bob, Dads. Her "Dad" focus was what made it stand out from other books I have read, such as A Young Woman After God's Own Heart by Elisabeth George, Make it Real by Point of Grace, and Let's Talk by Danae Dobson. Jenna really stresses that God is our Dad. No matter what our earthly fathers have been like, our heavenly Father thinks we are beautiful and he defines who we are. Jenna Lucado is real with you, talking about her struggles in a humorous way. The humor helps soften a message that can sometimes be painful.

So:


I loved:
Her humorous, lighthearted, yet serious way of talking about issues
Fun chapter names, cute cover help draw you in and make it fun to read
Max Lucado (Jenna's dad) inserts numerous little notes and stories to help get the message across
(Loved their relationship that was obvious in this book)
Journaling space after heart-searching questions for those who like to journal
Final chapter that helps bring it all together very well


I didn't like:
That it was (almost) like all the other christian teen encouragement books
(the "importance of Dad" chapter helped it to be a bit different)

You or your teenage daughter will be greatly encouraged by Jenna's message and the gentle way she communicates it. Definitely worth the $6+ for a copy. I would encourage you to buy yourself a copy because it's better if you can journal in the book. :)


4 out 5 stars


Enjoy!
Love,
Stephanie

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Sense and Sensibility

Lately I've been listening to Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. That's right, listening.

You see, book that are old are in the public domain now and through this amazing project called Librivox these public domain books have been turned into audiobooks. Read by normal people like you and me. For free you can download these audiobooks in almost any format (iTunes podcasts, mp3, etc.) and enjoy them at your own pace. I really love this with old books, because sometimes old books are hard to get through. It takes forever to slough through the descriptions. Audiobooks work so much better (at least for me) and I can say that I've read many of the classics, without straining my brain (or my eyes!).

Anyway, so Librivox is awesome and that's how I've been reading Sense and Sensibility. If you like listening to your books, Librivox is the BEST!

Now to the review. Sense and Sensibility is just like the rest of Jane Austen's books. Sweet, lovable characters. Girls giddy over boys who may or may not have their best interests at heart. I particularly enjoyed this book because it portrayed two sisters who loved each other and tried to help each other in their afflictions. I LOVE this relationship between siblings! (Similar to Jane and Elisabeth's relationship in Pride and Prejudice.) Marianne and Eleanor are both interested in finding husbands, but it's not as easy as it looks! Marianne falls for an attractive guy named Willoughby. Eleanor is confident in her Edward and his affection. Both of them are disappointed with their respective men, and comfort each other. Will they resolve their problems with Edward and Willoughby, or find better men to spend their lives with? 

I cannot think of a single thing in this book that I disapproved of. Eleanor is more discerning and wisely advises her sister many times. Their mother is not very wise, and the girls have to deal with gossips and general society that is focused on catching a rich man - who cares about his character! Even if he's a boring, old dolt, the society they live in urges marrying because of the money. I really enjoyed Sense and Sensibility, and I know that you will too if you like clean romances that have happy endings.

If you have any questions about something I did not cover in the book, please comment with it, and I will get back to you with the answer. :)

You can get this through Librivox for FREE and listen to it on your iPod or however you like to listen. (Which in my opinion is the best and easiest way to enjoy this jewel and classic!)

OR if you really like to READ it and hold the book in your hands (& if you TRUST me that this is a wonderful book and want to own it), you can easily get it through Amazon here: Sense And Sensibility for as cheap as $2.30.

 

OR (option 3!) you can read a hard copy by borrowing it from the LIBRARY for FREE. And then if you really enjoy it, you can come back here and buy it from Amazon.

:)

Concerning buying books off of Amazon, I really recommend getting a Swagbucks membership, saving those swagbucks, purchasing 2 $5 Amazon gift cards with your swagbucks, and getting this book (or really anything!) for FREE from Amazon. Swagbucks is really AMAZING and I am building my book collection for free with it. You can get a membership here: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/LightLifeLove  and you will get a great start on Swagbucks and it will benefit me, too! Thanks so much. :)

Love.

Steph

Take One by Karen Kingsbury

This week I read "Take One" by Karen Kingsbury. I really enjoyed it, and had to write a review...

From the back cover:

Could they change the world before the world changes them? Filmmakers Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison left the mission field of Indonesia for the mission field of Hollywood with a dream bigger than both of them. Now they have done the impossible: raised enough money to produce a feature film with a message that could change the world. But as Chase and Keith begin shooting, their well-laid plans begin to unravel. With millions of dollars on the line, they make a desperate attempt to keep the film from falling apart, even as a temperamental actress, a botched production schedule, and their own insecurities leave little room for the creative and spiritual passion that once motivated them. Was God really behind this movie after all? A chance meeting and friendship with John Baxter could bring the encouragement they need to stay on mission and produce a movie that will actually change people's lives. In the midst of the questions and the cameras, is it possible to keep things above the line and make a movie unlike anything done before, or is the risk too great for everyone?

Sound interesting? It is. I have enjoyed almost all of Karen Kingsbury's books, and this one was even better than it's predecessors! She dealt with temptation to be unfaithful to your spouse in a very real way, and I really liked how the characters came through the situation. The Baxters are such a dear family, and Karen links the past series revolving around them to this new series. Two girls deal with starting college, boyfriends, friendships, and handling death. While it touches on some deep issues (i.e. date rape), I would still recommend it for teens, college-bound, and adult women. There are good examples of what a boyfriend should be like, which hit home for me as I am starting to get interested in that kind of relationship.

  The only thing that bothered me was Mrs. Kingsbury's using actors and actresses that are popular now. In a few years, readers might not recognize those names, to their annoyance.

  It was very interesting to see how trying making a Christian movie independently can be. This book related to me in some way through each character. Many lessons are skillfully communicated without sounding preachy. "Take One" is a carefully fabricated story that deals with real-life issues in a Christian manner, and balances intensity well, so the reader is not stressed with the characters!

I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars, it's definitely worth: (including S&H) (Price may have changed, check link.)

AS LOW AS:

$7 NEW, HARDCOVER; $4.50 NEW, PAPERBACK

$5 USED, HARDCOVER; $4 USED, PAPERBACK

Like I said, it's worth it. Especially if you use Swagbucks and earn 2 $5 Amazon gift cards and get the book completely free, using the gift cards to cover the price and shipping.


Stephanie