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Đang hiển thị bài đăng từ Tháng 7, 2015

Review: All Fall Down by Ally Carter

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All Fall Down Ally Carter Series: Embassy Row #1 Genre: YA Mystery   Thriller Hardback: 320 Pages Publication: January 20, 2015 by Scholastic Press Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things: 1. She is not crazy. 2. Her mother was murdered. 3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay. As certain as Grace is about these facts, nobody else believes her -- so there's no one she can completely trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door, who is keeping his eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understands. Everybody wants Grace to put on a pretty dress and a pretty smile, blocking out all her unpretty thoughts. But they can't control Grace -- no more than Grace can control what she knows or what she needs to do. Her past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn't stop it, Grace isn't the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, ...
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Movie Monday: Fury

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Fury Directed by: David Ayer Genre: War Running time: 134 minutes Released: 2014 Produced by Le Grisbi Productions In April 1945, the Allies are making their final push in the European theater. A battle-hardened Army sergeant named Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt), leading a Sherman tank and a five-man crew, undertakes a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Hopelessly outnumbered, outgunned and saddled with an inexperienced soldier (Logan Lerman) in their midst, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds as they move to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany. Review Fury is an interesting war movie the likes of which I haven’t seen in a while. It does a great job at distinguishing itself from the plethora of World War II films. Fury focuses on a tank crew and plays on the evils of war. While this is an overdone concept in war films, the gritty undertone of the film really played on its action and themes and, combined with some exceptional acting, made for a great film. The cr...
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Giveaway: Don't Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom

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It's been a while since I hosted a follower giveaway. As thanks to y'all, I'm hosting another giveaway of Don't Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom (because this author is that awesome)! This one is US only, but I'll be hosting an international giveaway sometime in the near future. Keep your eyes open for that one because there'll be some great prizes! Book Synopsis Eva has always wanted to write a modern classic—one that actually appeals to her generation. The only problem is that she has realized she can't "write what she knows" because she hasn't yet begun to live. So before heading off to college, Eva is determined to get a life worth writing about. Soon Eva's life encounters a few unexpected plot twists. She becomes a counselor at a nearby summer camp—a job she is completely unqualified for. She starts growing apart from her best friends before they've even left for school. And most surprising of all, she begins to fall for the last guy s...
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Raising Books For High School Students in Oakcliff

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Hey everyone! It's been a while since I last posted something more than a promo post - for good reason. The past seven weeks, I have been at teacher camp. This past January, I received and accepted an offer to join Teach For America. Teach For America is an organization that builds leaders out of teachers and places them in low-income neighborhoods to create transformational change in students' lives. As my teacher coach eloquently puts it, we are an army united in the fight against educational inequity. This fall, I will be starting my fight in Oakcliff as a Dallas ISD teacher. A picture of me and my HS ELAR team The reason that I am here is because I've had great teachers that encouraged me to follow my passions, and I want to do the same for the next generation. (That's the short of it; the rest is for another post.) My vision as a teacher is to create a classroom culture in which my students feel empowered to speak up and share their stories . I want them to know th...
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Giveaway: Don't Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom

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Don't Ever Change by  M. Beth Bloom Publisher: HarperTeen Release Date: July 7th 2015 Synopsis: Eva has always wanted to write a modern classic—one that actually appeals to her generation. The only problem is that she has realized she can't "write what she knows" because she hasn't yet begun to live. So before heading off to college, Eva is determined to get a life worth writing about. Soon Eva's life encounters a few unexpected plot twists. She becomes a counselor at a nearby summer camp—a job she is completely unqualified for. She starts growing apart from her best friends before they've even left for school. And most surprising of all, she begins to fall for the last guy she would have ever imagined. But no matter the roadblocks, or writer's blocks, it is all up to Eva to figure out how she wants this chapter in her story to end. Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell,Don't Ever Change is a witty, snarky, and thought...
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Review: For Your Love by Beverly Jenkins

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For Your Love Beverly Jenkins Series: Blessings #6 Genre: Historical Romance ,  Women's Fiction Hardback: 304 Pages Publication: April 28 2015 by William Morrow & Company Return to Henry Adams, Kansas--an unforgettable place anyone would want to call home. . . . Mayor Trent July and his wife, Lily, are enjoying life as newlyweds and embracing the challenges and joys that come with being adoptive parents to two wonderful boys. But fatherhood has inevitably forced Trent to think about his own birth mother. Raised by his grandmother Tamar--and, in many ways, the good people of Henry Adams--Trent was blessed with a childhood full of love. But he can't help wondering what happened to the scared teenage girl who gave birth to him. And questions that he's never voiced are now begging to be answered: Who was she? Is she still alive? Why didn't she want him? Trent has always believed that no good comes from dwelling on the past, especially when you have a loving family, a st...
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Movie Monday: Room

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Room Directed by: Lenny Abrahamson Genre: Drama, Thriller Running time: 117 minutes Released: 2015 Distributed by A24 Films Held captive for years in an enclosed space, a woman (Brie Larson) and her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time. Room seems like a small-scale film, but it does so much with so little. Most of the film centers on just two characters, a mother and her son, and takes place inside of a small room. However, even with the seemingly small focus of the film, there are heavy internal struggles as they adjust to a completely different world and their new lives in it. Half of the film centers around 5-year old Jack and his mother who is simply referred to as Ma and their lives as they are contained to a single 10-square foot room that they call ‘Room.’ Ma was kidnapped and held captive 7 years ago by a man they call Old Nick and has since had a son five years ago. There is a daring e...
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Movie Monday: Jurassic World

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Jurassic World Directed by: Colin Trevorrow Genre: Science Fiction Adventure Running time: 124 minutes Released: 2015 Produced by Amblin Entertainment Located off the coast of Costa Rica, the Jurassic World luxury resort provides a habitat for an array of genetically engineered dinosaurs, including the vicious and intelligent Indominus rex. When the massive creature escapes, it sets off a chain reaction that causes the other dinos to run amok. Now, it's up to a former military man and animal expert (Chris Pratt) to use his special skills to save two young brothers and the rest of the tourists from an all-out, prehistoric assault. Review The dinosaur amusement park that John Hammond dreamed of setting up has finally been created, and Jurassic World is a real spectacle. While the characters feel flat and the writing is nothing special, the film brings incredible scenery, great camerawork and visuals, and thrilling action. It does a great job of breathing life back into the Jurassic P...
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Review: Change Places With Me by Lois Metzger

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Change Places with Me Lois Metzger Genre: YA  mystery ,  science fiction Hardback: 224 Pages Publication: June 14, 2016 by Balzer + Bray Rose has changed. She still lives in the same neighborhood and goes to the same high school with the same group of kids, but when she woke up today, something was a little different. Her clothes and hair don’t suit her anymore. The dogs who live upstairs are no longer a terror. She wants to throw a party—this from a girl who hardly ever spoke to her classmates before. There’s no more sadness in her life; she’s bursting with happiness. But something still feels wrong to Rose. Because until very recently, she was an entirely different person—a person who’s still there inside her, just beneath the thinnest layer of skin. Review Lois Metzger has a talent for writing dark, unsettling novels. Novels that, despite their dark mysterious nature, draw you deeper and deeper into the story. That, plus the complex nature of humanity that Metzger showcases...
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