The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

 

Book Title: The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
Author: Kate Moore
Audiobook Performer: Kate Moore
My Rating: 4.25/5 stars
Content Rating: PG-13
Quote: "From within the darkness of the Jacksonville insane asylum, a new moon rose, and her name was Elizabeth Packard." 

So I don't consider myself a feminist by any stretch of the imagination. But this book made me mad! It also made me really, really grateful I live now instead of in the mid-1850s. And I also felt a great deal of gratitude for those women, like Elizabeth Packard, who fought for women's rights at a time when so doing could land you in an insane asylum. 

This is the story of Elizabeth Packard. After 21 years of marriage to Theopholus Packard, a preacher 17 years her senior, he had her committed to an insane asylum; because she has disagreed with his doctrine and left his church, AND had the audacity to share her opinions on the matter freely. She had become, in a word, inconvenient. 

While locked away, Elizabeth (who is totally sane) witnesses the cruel treatments of the inmates of the asylum at the hand of its employees, including by the superintendent Dr. McFarland. She also sees that many other women are much like herself: sane, but committed for being a nuisance to their husbands. At a time when women were their husbands' property and certainly couldn't think for themselves (insert angry emoji here), this was more commonplace than we can now imagine. 

But Elizabeth was a woman of great fortitude. She would not be kept down, and she found ways to stand up and, eventually, to be heard. And, in time, she would help her sisters, too. 

Elizabeth Packard was an amazingly strong woman. I was in awe listening to this book. She was determined, a loving mother, and a compassionate friend. There is much I can say, but I will run out of room. This was a very good book (even if it made me mad). And I loved listening to Kate Moore's reading of it. I think anytime I read the name Packard in the future, I will always hear it pronounced just as Kate Moore does it here!

Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon by Paula Danziger

Book Title: Amber Brown is Not a Crayon
Author: Paula Danziger
Audiobook Narrator: Alica Witt
Book Series: Amber Brown series
Reading Level: early middle-grade (3rd through 4th grade)
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Content Rating: G

I've seen the Amber Brown books around since my days of working in the Children's Department of my local library (that was 1999, by the way). I never thought to pick them up. At 18, they were not high on my interest-level list. 

But I'm a mom now, and I have a 3rd grader. So I read a lot of middle-grade and YA. A friend gave me 3 bins of old books a year or so ago, and two Amber Brown books were inside! So I gave them a try (actually I did audio for time purposes). Well I loved the books! The first 3, at least (that's all I've listened to).

Amber Brown is in 3rd grade with her best friend Justin Daniels. Aside from her parents' recent separation (and her dad's job moving him to Paris for a year), life is pretty good. Amber and Justin help each other with school, hang out at recess, and save chewed gum to their joint chewed gumball. But Justin's dad has taken a new job in Alabama, and now their house has sold. Nothing will ever be the same again. 

So I'm actually grateful I never picked this up before now. Because I'd have probably forgotten all about it if I'd read it years ago. But this is perfect for my daughter right now. We currently live in Alabama, but we're moving to a new state soon. My husband, in fact, has gone ahead to start his new job, much like Justin's dad in the story. I'm hoping this book might help my daughter not feel quite so alone in this big move. 

Anyway, cute and fun and quick early middle-grade about growing up and learning that life changes. And the audio was well done too! Also recommend You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown and Amber Brown Goes Fourth.

Something Like Happy by Eva Woods

 

Book Title: Something Like Happy
Author:  Eva Woods
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Content Rating: R (mostly for a significant strong language in the second half of the book)

What would you do if your were given 100 days to live?

Polly Leonard has recently received such a dire prognosis, and she's decided to do one thing every day for the next 100 days that makes her happy. And she's determined to take Annie Hebden, her new friend (after all, day 1 is make a new friend) along for the ride, whether Annie wants to or not. 

Because Annie isn't currently living her best life. She's at rock bottom, and it doesn't appear that anything will ever get better. Despairing and jaded, Annie tries to refuse the attempts of her new "friend" Polly. But Polly doesn't give up easily, and maybe, for both of them, that's a wonderful and happy blessing indeed. 

This book was just something I needed. It gave me a lot of things to think about. It's so easy to just get in a rut with the day-in and day-out of daily life, and I know I often miss the beautiful moments. And I haven't been the best at creating those moments either.  So at the beginning of this year, our family started the tradition of sharing one happy thing that happened to each of us that day. I know there are so many beautiful blessings in every day I don't even recognize, but I want to! This book just kind of reminded me that I can choose to do and look for those little happy things. 

Content Warning: There are heavy topics in this book, such as death, dementia/alzheimers, infant loss, death of a child, marital infidelity, depression. Also the second half of the book has a lot of strong language. That list sounds depressing, but the book honestly doesn't feel depressing!

The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman

Book: The Dark Hills Divide
Author: Patrick Carman
Series: The Land of Elyon
Reading Level: Middle-grade (I'd recommend for 5th to 7th)
My Rating: 3/5 stars
Content Rating: PG

Alexa is 12 years old when she travels with her father to Bridewell. She's lived her whole life behind the walls that protect the major cities from the mysterious and dangerous things in the Dark Hills. She's curious, though, about what lies beyond those walls. So when a chance presents itself to find out, she takes it. She learns about some sinister plots and a traitor in the city.  Soon she isn't sure who to trust. 

Well. I'm torn. I had really high hopes for this one. And while it doesn't have bad language or any obviously inappropriate content, there were things that really bug me about it. And I'm hesitant to give the go-ahead to my 8 year old at this point. For one thing, Alexa, the main character, does a lot of lying. She's very sneaky, and while this is practically required to further the story, it bugs me. I also found one of the characters very creepy. And yeah, he's supposed to be her nemesis, so he's written to be that way, but I felt uncomfortable with an adult character whose interactions with a child were what they are in the book, at least initially. The character's name doesn't do him any favors either. 

For me as a reader, the book also felt really unbelievable. I can let that go, though, as I'm obviously not the target audience. That said, I think there are many middle-grade reads that are well-developed and believable (even in the fantasy genre) even for adult readers. 

I did like the author's message about the walls we build and whether or not we should. 

In the end, I have decided we'll keep the book on our shelves and give it a couple years. This is strictly my feelings for my kids, and others may feel differently.