The Library of Unruly Treasures (Jeanne Birdsall)

 

I loved the idea of this book. I sometimes had a hard time keeping all the fantasy characters straight, especially their language.  Because of that, I  don't think this would be a good read-aloud, unfortunately.

Goodreads says:

The Borrowers meets Matilida in this funny, winning story of a girl who finds herself an unlikely hero when she stumbles upon a big secret about little creatures. The latest book from the National Book Award winning author of the Penderwicks series.

Gwen MacKinnon's parents are dreadful. Truly, deeply, almost impressively dreadful. So Gwen's not upset at all when she's foisted onto her never-before-seen Uncle Matthew for two weeks. Especially when it turns out he has a very opinionated dog named Pumpkin.

Things take a turn for the weird when Gwen makes a discovery in the local library. A discovery that involves tiny creatures with wings.  And no, they're not birds. They're called Lanukan. But why can only Gwen and the youngest children, gathered for storytime, see them?

The Ladhukan insist that Gwen is destined to help them find a new home. But how can a girl as unwanted, uncourageous, and generally unheroic as Gwen possibly come to the rescue? Pumpkin has a few ideas...

Stop Walking on Eggshells (Paul T Mason)

 

This is a great book to help understand people inexplicable people. When I have interactions with narcissistic people or people who in general have really terrible interpersonal skills, I find myself wanting to figure out why they do some of the illogical things they do. This book really has helped me understand that there are just some things I cannot fix and that I just shouldn't worry about.  It is also a great resource for helping know when to step back and draw up sound boundary lines.

Goodreads says:Stop Walking on Eggshells: Coping When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder is a self-help guide that helps the family members and friends of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) understand this self-destructive disorder and learn what they can do to cope with it and take care of themselves. It is designed to help them understand how the disorder affects their loved ones and recognize what they can do to get off the emotional roller coasters and take care of themselves.

Breaking Free (Rachel Jeffs)

 

This was  disturbing...so much abuse and control, all in the name of religion. I couldn't stop though. It was like driving by a car accident and having to rubber neck...which seems kind of rude - but here I am. He picked the wrong daughter to abuse, that's for sure. Good for her for breaking away! 

Goodreads says:

In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it.

Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Rachel Jeffs was raised in a strict patriarchal culture defined by subordinate sister wives and men they must obey. No one in this radical splinter sect of the Mormon Church was more powerful or terrifying than its leader Warren Jeffs—Rachel’s father.

Living outside mainstream Mormonism and federal law, Jeffs arranged marriages between under-age girls and middle-aged and elderly members of his congregation. In 2006, he gained international notoriety when the FBI placed him on its Ten Most Wanted List. Though he is serving a life sentence for child sexual assault, Jeffs’ iron grip on the church remains firm, and his edicts to his followers increasingly restrictive and bizarre.

In Breaking Free, Rachel blows the lid off this taciturn community made famous by John Krakauer’s bestselling Under the Banner of Heaven to offer a harrowing look at her life with Warren Jeffs, and the years of physical and emotional abuse she suffered. Sexually assaulted, compelled into an arranged polygamous marriage, locked away in "houses of hiding" as punishment for perceived transgressions, and physically separated from her children, Rachel, Jeffs’ first plural daughter by his second of more than fifty wives, eventually found the courage to leave the church in 2015. But Breaking Free is not only her story—Rachel’s experiences illuminate those of her family and the countless others who remain trapped in the strange world she left behind.

A shocking and mesmerizing memoir of faith, abuse, courage, and freedom, Breaking Free is an expose of religious extremism and a beacon of hope for anyone trying to overcome personal obstacles.

Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus)

 

Most of the time I felt angry and slightly enraged while reading this book. It had laugh out loud moments, heart warming moments and shocking moments too that practically gave me whiplash. Most of the men in this book are gross. Just gross. I found it rather ironic that it ended happily about Calvin...which I suppose made Elizabeth happy? Irony. I do think that one of the tragedies of that time was how shame was so common and people were secretive rather than being open about everyone's mistakes. 

I loved how the dog, Six Thirty, had thoughts on many of the important moments. 

Goodreads says:

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein)

 

I don't know why I read this book to my class. It isn't because it's heart warming or a wonderful lesson. Mostly, I'm curious about what my students think about the dysfunction and I enjoy the discussions about what they notice. There are always a few kids who really get it but they're not always the ones who speak up first. Most kids have read it before and feel smart because they already know a book I'm reading for story but the great discussions come when someone says, "I think that story is kind of weird."

Goodreads says:

Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy."

So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave.

This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation. Shel Silverstein has created a moving parable for readers of all ages that offers an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return.