2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

I chose Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor as one of my 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge books. This book is also #66 on the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009.

I chose this book because of its controversy. It is one of the books I've wanted to read for awhile and just never got around to.

Book Info:

ISBN #: 07678300295

Page Count: 210

Copyright: March 1978

Publisher: Bantam Books

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

This is a story of physical survival, but more important, it is a story of the survival of the human spirit. This is Cassie's story - Cassie Logan, a girl raised by a family determined not to surrender their independence or their humanity simply because they are black. Cassie has grown up protected, strong, and so far, unaware that any white person could consider her inferior - or force her to be untrue to herself. It takes the events of one turbulent year to turn her safe world upside down.

Mandy's Review:

I must say that Mildred D. Taylor knows how to make a story come to life. I felt like I got to know the Logan family ... and I liked them.

The story is set in pre-Civil Rights Mississippi so there's still hangings, race separations, white people thinking they're the better and superior race, etc. When I first began to read the book, I wondered where the story was going; wondered what the point of the book was going to be.

What I understood it to be was a brief glimpse in the difficult lives of a "colored" family living in Mississippi. The book was designed to allow the reader to see the other side of the story. Yes, the book is fiction, but it could easily have been a real family set in any part of the South during that time period. My heart went out to them.

Cassie got on my nerves. The girl was 12 and was still naive about how "things" were. Then she'd pop off at the mouth to white folks because she couldn't control her anger. Now, I'm not saying she wasn't right, because she was. She got on my nerves because she didn't realize the danger she was putting herself and her family in. I wanted to snatch her up myself and tell her to sit her ass down somewhere and hush!

Stacy was the oldest of the four Logan children. I liked him because he wasn't old enough to be a man physically, but mentally he was mature enough to try and act like one when his mama needed him. Their father worked in Louisiana most of the year with the railroad, so Stacy was the man of the house a lot of the time.

Christoper-John was the third child. He was almost forgettable as a character. I think Mildred could've almost left him out.

Little Man was the youngest of the four Logan children and could not stand to get dirty ... makes me wonder a little about him. Again, another character that wasn't necessarily needed to get the story told, but having him and Christopher-John in the story did help some of the dialogue along.

I am a huge advocate for Civil Rights and racial equality, so this book resonated within me very strongly. It was well-written, relatable, believable and, based upon the time it was first published, a novel that angered many people with its words. I loved it.

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: Life is Funny by E. R. Frank

I chose E. R. Frank's Life is Funny as one of my 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge selections. If you're curious as to the rules of this little soiree, then click here...

Fortunately, this book is #40 on the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009, so that's another one I'm able to cross off that list. Yay!!!

Book Info:

ISBN #: 051488007999

Page Count: 263

Copyright: 2000

Publisher: DK Inc

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

"Because life is funny," Gingerbread tells Keisha when she asks why he laughs so much. The thing is, until she falls in love with him, Keisha doesn't see what's so funny - in her life or anyone else's in Brooklyn, New York.

There is Eric, fiercely protective of his little brother, Mickey. To the rest of the world, he is simply fierce. To Linnette, whose parents have taken him in as a foster child, he's an intruder in her life - until a look through a keyhole reveals both Eric's past and his future.

Then there are Grace and Sam, whose dreams come true because they were lucky enough to be born beautiful. Sonia, who struggles to live the life of a good Muslim girl in a foreign America. And Gingerbread and Keisha, who fall in love despite themselves.

Life is Funny strips away the everyday defenses of one group of teenagers living today, right now - and show their unbearably real lives.

Mandy's Review:

This makes the second novel I've read that was written by E. R. Frank and I must say that I have yet to be disappointed.

She has a way of writing about the lives of teenagers that make them seem as real as the people you see every day on the streets. Her books have invoked emotions of anger, sympathy, sadness and laughter ...

Life is Funny isn't like most novels. It doesn't really have a beginning. It doesn't prepare you for a climactic event that slowly fades into an ending. This novel plops you right in the middle of several teenagers' lives. You get to see who they really are. Where they've been. What they have to deal with every day ... and no matter how perfect their life seems from the outside, they have to deal with extreme issues at home.

I was engaged in their story from the beginning. I did not stop reading until the book was finished ... and I still wanted more. It makes you realize that everybody is dealing with something and the way they act may be them acting out because they cannot act out at home.

I would recommend this novel to young adults on up. Yes, there is some language, but I think the language helps to make it realistic ... Some young adults need an awakening into what others have to go through!!!

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: Animal Farm by George Orwell

I chose Animal Farm by George Orwell as one of my 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge books. If you're curious as to the official rules and guidelines for this challenge, simply click here.

Fortunately, this book is also #564 on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list, so that's another book on that particular list I can cross off!

Book Info:

ISBN #: 0-451-52466-7

Page Count: 128

Copyright: 1946

Publisher: Signet Classic

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

This remarkable book has been described in many ways - as a masterpiece ... a fairy story ... a brilliant satire ... a frightening view of the future. A devastating attack on the pig-headed, gluttonous and avaricious rulers in an imaginary totalitarian state, it illuminates the range of human experience from love to hate, from comedy to tragedy.

Mandy's Review:

I vaguely remember reading this book while in the 7th or 8th grade, but I wanted to re-read it because I had forgotten the details of the story.

Essentially, there is a farm ran by humans. The animals are tired of the treatment by the humans and form a rebellion. They run the humans off the farm and take it over themselves, determined to have a better life on their own. They change the name of the farm from Manor Farm to Animal Farm as a representation of their new freedom.

Natural leaders form, commandments are made (then later modified), conspiracies, manipulations and bullying becomes a natural part of the animal's way of living. It's easy to see how Mr. Orwell's book could be compared to governmental rulers, in any country.

I rather enjoyed this book, but for the fantasy aspect of it instead of the political. It's easy to see how some animals would feel as those on Animal Farm did ... if animals could think, reason and act like humans can, that is. If you haven't read this classic in a while, I recommend giving it another go.

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Seeing as how I have NUMEROUS books in my TBR pile, I thought I'd join this little soiree.  If you have a TBR pile, and you're a book blogger, why not join up?  You can read the official rules and guidelines by clicking here.

I am hoping to reach the highest level by reading 50 books, but I'm going to start off realistically by committing to the 2nd level (A Friendly Hug) with 12 books.  I have listed them below.  If I'm able to read more than 12 books for this challenge, I will expand my list in the 2012 Reading Challenges link to the right.

1.) Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
2.) Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
3.) Emma by Jane Austen
4.) The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
5.) Animal Farm by George Orwell
6.) The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
7.) Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
8.) Life is Funny by E. R. Franks
9.) Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
10.) Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
11.) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
12.) Hard Times by Charles Dickens