Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

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...

Bone Gap Laura Ruby Genre: YA  Fantasy ,  Magical Realism Hardback: 368 Pages Publication: March 3, 2015 by Balzer + Bray Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame? Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go. As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and t...

How to Say I Love You Out Loud Karole Cozzo Genre: YA  Contemporary Paperback: 240 Pages Publication: August 4, 2015 by Swoon Reads When Jordyn Michaelson’s autistic brother joins her at her elite school, she’s determined not to let anyone know they're related. Even if that means closing herself off to all her closest friends, including charming football stud Alex Colby. But despite her best intentions, she just can't shake the memory of kissing Alex last summer, and the desire to do it again. Can Jordyn find the courage to tell Alex how she really feels—and the truth about her family—before he slips away forever? Review How to Say I Love You Out Loud  is a powerful coming-of-age story about a teen girl trying to make a place for herself in the world. I normally don't read novels about teenage girls trying to fit into school and who are a little boy crazy. I'm that girl whose first bike was Power Ranger s themed and, given a choice, would rather watch Antman  than  I...