The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Fiction - 4 stars

I loved this book! It is the story of the Price family, a Georgia family who moves to the African Congo on a mission trip in the early 1960s on the brink of modern Zaire's "independence" from Belgian control. Told from the perspectives of the female Prices, each chapter gives a different perspective on the same historical events, and this makes for a fantstic read. You truly get to know the characters as they remain consistent throughout the book. Kingsolver describes life in rural Africa with raw, vivid, and heartbreaking detail.  It spans two + decades, and is a truly satisfying tale. I am so glad Zachary is reading this for school as it gave me the chance to borrow it for a little while.

Yea, Megan!

Megan finished reading all of her books for the Borders Summer Reading Book Chart, and we went to Borders last night for her free book. She got The Witch of Blackbird Pond. It was a hard decision, as there were some good books to choose from. But, after reading the back of all of them, she made her choice, and I think she'll enjoy it. I am so proud of her!

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Historical Fiction - 3 stars
This could have been such a great book. The story was wonderful, the characterization was wonderful, and  the history was mostly accurate. I absolutely loved the transition within the book from pre-WWI England to late 20s England, and the vast cultural changes that happened in a span of 13 years. However, I could not get over the author's annoying over-use of blatant foreshadowing. I even said out loud, a few times, "Just tell the story already!" It is worth the read, but just be patient.

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

Youth fiction - 3 stars

Megan and I just read this for our Mother/Daughter book club, and Megan absolutely loved it. Because of her opinion of the book, I'll refrain from giving my true opinion and just say it was mildly entertaining. A very easy read, this is a conglomeration of many other classical fairy tales thrown into the frog prince story to give it a twist. It is a somewhat visual book, and I can see why Disnay made their most recent animated film based on this book. However, it was also filled with the silliness that so often ruins Disney movies for me (Lilo & Stitch is a perfect example). Susan hit it right on the nose when she said this the perfect summer beach read for the 10-13 year-old crowd.