Kids Books - United

I’d heard about this book for a long time, and I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. For instance, what’s this “club,” a book club or something? Also, more importantly: would this book turn out to follow the same hackneyed patterns of Chinese American literature? But I started reading, and the book certainly starts with a scintillating opening chapter introducing the eponymous Joy Luck Club. At its core, this is a group of four elderly Chinese women who share stories, laugh, eat, and play mahjong. The group’s founding member has passed away suddenly, leaving her daughter confused and grieving. Asked to fill in for her mother at the mahjong table, she learns more about her already inscrutable mother and is given a difficult task. Instantly, I could see the author setting up a tone of sadness tempered with pangs of bitter, undeniable hope, something that wouldn’t disappear even when the plot started to drag a little. I could see the mature and layered writing. I read on, hooked, as the book described in distinct yet readable prose first the mothers’ difficult upbringings in China before World War II, then the daughters’ childhoods, next the continuation of the mothers’ stories, and finally the lives of both mother and daughter during the main timeframe. The book is divided into these sections, each introduced by a pithy, allegorical story. It cycles through each of the characters before returning. Gluing the story together is Jing-Mei Woo, whose personal tragedy and journey of self-discovery begin and end the book, but there’s such a huge detour that in the end it leaves the reader with a deep understanding of all the daughters and mothers connected to the Joy Luck Club. Amy Tan’s debut novel may have lost some relevancy for the newest generation of Chinese American readers, given the fact that she’s now about the same age as the mothers she writes about, but it’s not as bad as it seems. Even though the book is centered on Chinese-American families during the 90s, the themes are universal. There are seven narrators in this story, each with their own personality and life story. This increases the book’s scope at the expense of being a little overwhelming. Some fuzziness is natural, but the structure is clear enough if you don’t mind flipping backward a little bit. It’s come to my attention that people have protested about the stereotypical-leaning descriptions of the parents. If Amy Tan gives them these backstories showing that they are not the plump, eccentric people they appear to be, why make them exclaim “Wah!” or speak broken English? It was a bit discouraging reading about the vague Chinese superstitions that pop out of nowhere, inexplicable as the unintuitive romanization system she seems to employ only for Mandarin. If you do decide to read this book, you’ll have to accept this confusing phenomenon, and for me it was by no means a book-ruining flaw. Also, be warned that any discussion about the father-daughter relationship is basically nonexistent. To a degree that makes sense, because the book is meant to focus on the complex mother-daughter bond. You can’t eat pie and cake in the same meal and not expect to fall into a food coma. Then there are the slight issues with the plot, specifically the huge focus on the daughters’ marriage troubles: whether the marriage is going to fall apart, why it’s falling apart, if parental approval is going to be acquired. Jing-Mei is the only one free from this. While it’s useful to make a quick case study, and to see what the mothers have to say (which are surprisingly insightful), it didn’t hold my attention for long. These are some of the main complaints, but there are many more positive traits that I wholeheartedly believe outshine these problems. For any reader much of the appeal, why the book is “deep,” comes from the immense pathos of the struggles of the mothers in China, as well as the universally-relatable difficulties of communication between parent and child. I teared up a bit while reading this book, and I usually have quite a tolerance for that kind of thing. As a bonus, the symbolism is so layered, the characters’ motivations so multifaceted, that you really can have a rewarding discussion about the Joy Luck Club at a book club. You can also ponder its themes on your own, like I did. Is this book worth reading? Definitely. Does it invite deep thought and reflection? Yes, if you choose to do so. Does it encapsulate the entire experience of being Chinese American? It’s about 70% of the way there. Generally, The Joy Luck Club is well above average—miles above forgettable novels you flip through when you have nothing better to do—and really deserves its spot as a modern classic.

SPOILER ALERT!!! THis book is about a girl named Deja who lives with her siblings Raymond and Leda and her parents, Pop who never seems to get better and is scary when he`s mad and Ma in Avalon Family Residence which seems nice, but it isn`t. Everyone at Deja`s new school seems to know about 9/11 except Deja, besides the fact that she`s lived in Brooklyn basically her whole life. At her old school nobody wanted to be friends with Deja because her family is homeless so she is suprised when Sabeen and Ben want to be her friends. When Deja goes over to Ben`s house he shows her a video of 9/11. Oh, how did Deja never know about it. After some investigating, (looking through an old suitcase) Deja finds that her father survived 9/11. She`s shocked, how did she never put the pieces together before?

This story opened up my eyes to other parts of our world, instead of just the United States. Caitlin Alifirenka is just a normal 7th grade girl. She has crushes on boys, wishes she could stay up later, and shops at the mall 24/7.  Martin Ganda is a boy from Zimbabwe, Africa. His life is hard- their family has no shoes, is going on the brink of poverty, and all sleep in the same room. Even with all of that going on, Martin is the best student in his whole school. He plans to finish school, unlike his mother and father. Unless some school fees will have to cut him off short. So when Caitlin has an assignment to write to a penpal in a different country, Caitlin picks Zimbabwe, for it sounds the most interesting. She asks in the letter what Zimbabwe is like, what they do there, what is their favorite so and so. Back in Zimbabwe, Martin is one of the smartest ones, so he is given one of the ten letters that received the classroom. His letter was from Caitlin, and asked him what life was like. Martin wrote back what they did and things like that.  But secretly, Martin was holding back. He was worried Caitlin wouldn't want to keep on writing if she found out that he was very poor. The letters are continuing, and both friends feel closer than they've ever been with anyone before. Caitlin goes through boy drama, and Martin is going through the drama of school fees and poverty. So Caitlin starts sending him money in their letters. This makes a tremendous impact on Martin's family and life. Realizing the impact, Caitlin and her family start sending Martin and his family care packages, gifts, and money. It seems like they've gotten over any obstacle. Except one. College. Trying to bring Martin to the US, Caitlin and her mother work frantically for colleges and money. Both pen pals have helped each other. Can they help each other one last time? A true story that is reread worthy, I Will Always Write Back, is definitely a fantastic book. Happy reading!

Awesome book! 😄 an, "i never saw it coming, but i thought of it" ending, and i really like it. There's a girl named turtle whos mom has a jog as a cleaning lady, and they move around. Then there is this one woman who deosn't like kids, so she says,"miss, if this kid deosnt leave, you lose the job because i dont do kids. She goes to key west to get dropped off at her aunt minnie's house. There, she becomes a whole new person and has e new perspective on life! 😍 hope u enjoy guys. Totally read this book!

I thought this book was good but not usually the type of book I would read. It has good storytelling but doesn't have a lot of action scenes. When I was reading it I felt bored sometimes because nothing excited was happening in that part. I liked this book because it always had questions running wild in my head. It is a book about a girl named Opal that just moved to a new town with her father. She feels very alone because she has no friends and her father is spending to much time on his job and not enough on her. Then she encounters a dog named Winn-Dixie and he changes her life. One of the things I most disliked about this book is I felt it took too long to get the climax and that the climax was really the only part with a lot of action and was exciting. The book itself is more intriguing than excited. One of the things I liked most about the book was how it always made me guess if something were to happen next or what was happing with a character that made him/her the way they are. I also liked how they kept teasing the return of a certain character and the result of the tease. All things considered, I would say the good thing outweighs the bad and it wasn't perfect so I think a 4-star rating if fair.

Who Was Ben Franklin?, by Dennis Brindell Fradin, says that even if you have had sad times, you can still live an accomplished life. Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 at Boston, Massachusetts, died in 1790, and had a miserable childhood. When Benjamin was still a teenager, he was an apprentice at his brother’s printing shop. His brother, however, was cruel to him, and he didn’t like his work. However, he moved to Pennslyvania and started a new life. He became a founding father of the U.S.A, and one of the best American inventors of all time. I recommend this biography for boys and girls, grades third to fifth.

wow, i don't know what to say besides THIS BOOK WAS EXCELLENT!!! In every single chapter drama and even a little accidental comedy is introduced. There are constant twists, changes in characters ('wink wink kino') and I am always satisfied with the chapter. I would recommend this book to any kid over 10 and any adult or teenager. I am sure you will at least love it!

This is the kind of book that will make you cry. I really loved this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It shows you an example of what some people have to go through in other countries. You really need to read this book.

I read this book at least 5 times. It's that good. Before I continue, I should say that I really enjoy Historical-Fiction books, so this review might turn out to be highly opinionated on that. This book is written in verse, and it's probably my first book that I have read that is written in verse. I think that was a good move for Thanhha Lai, because she could use all of the descriptive words effectively (and amazingly) to describe how the main character, Ha, feels. It's very important to know what the main character feels like, especially because they must have a mixed range of feelings in this situation (Having to immigrate to a foreign country and having to learn a how to make a new living, a new language, and a new way to act). Ha is immigrating from Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. Ha's dad is also M.I.A. (missing in action; he was part of the Vietnamese army). Ha's dad used to bring home various things back from his visits to America, when he went on duty. But one time, Ha's dad never came back. Ha lives with her current family, herself, her mother, and her brothers (I must apologize in advance, I do not remember their names, except for brother Quang, or how many there were for that matter, their ages also,). Ha's family is somewhat poor, especially since market prices have been raised a lot since it was "Normal" in Vietnam (this is also emphasized and described in the book, by Ha's perspective). I love re-reading this, also because I always miss a few details, and I get to learn them the next time I read. Speaking of reading, I saw a fellow classmate reading this book earlier today. I was ecstatic that she was reading it- my other friends who have read it did not like it as much as I did, unfortunately- So I walked straight over and told her how amazing I thought the book was, and then I continued and just stood there for AGES blubbering on about how much I loved it, until -of course- my teacher came over and told me to get back to my seat and start working. Overall I would give this book a 5 out of 5 rating, and I would also recommend it to anyone who shares a love for historical fiction books (sorry that audience was a bit vague, I couldn't think of anything that fit). Please let me know if you have read - or are reading- this book. I would LOVE to know what other people would think of this book as well! -Kiwi ( Wow, this ended up being a LONG book review )

A classic by Mark Twain of "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" which is about a boy who goes by the well-known name of Tom Sawyer with at first mischievous and immature boy at the beginning of the story, often getting in trouble with his aunt Polly often scold her nephew. You would often see that Tom would be with his friend, Huck (Huckleberry Finn) whom Tom really close to, getting in trouble, too with him. Then Rebecca (known most of time as just Becky) Thatcher, a daughter of the town's new judge, as Tom got the romantic interest in Becky, got "engaged" due to the kiss until it's revealed by Tom that he actually "engaged" by another girl, Amy Lawrence, had the fight with Becky about it. Then, we have Injun Joe, a Native American who would defend himself most of time but got the racism from Tom and Huck. Later in the book, as Tom grew more considerate, kind, funny, and more mature than the beginning of the story. I had to read this for school and finally finished with this book today as I didn't really enjoy this due to the type of English which is Old English which can make me more harder to understand and also with the racism against the colored or even Native Americans. - Happy Reading...maybe!