Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club. com
344863
Alexandria Lee has had a rather unconventional upbringing. Raised on a commune in northern California by her mother, she has learned to work hard, live simply, and use herbs to cure her ailments. But when her mother dies in an automobile accident, Alex leaves her refuge to live with her grandmother in Savannah, Georgia.

As head of the Magnolia League, Mrs. Lee is a powerful figure in her southern town, and she wants Alex to learn proper manners and take her place as a member of the league. She's even appointed to other debutantes to coach Alex along. But Alex notices that something isn't quite right about her new friends. They're too pretty, very wealthy and seem to hold an unusual power over everyone who knows them.

Soon Alex finds herself rejecting the simple life she lived before in favor of the glamour of being in the Magnolia League. But there's a dark secret behind the league's power, and once Alex discovers it, she's not sure whether she should fulfill her grandmother's wishes or reject everything she's come to know since her mother's death.

The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch paints a picture of a steamy southern town draped in mystery the way its oak trees are draped in Spanish moss. The secrets go back to the days of slavery and involve Hoodoo rituals and old alliances between diverse groups. While I felt the ending was a bit rushed and changes in Alex didn't always fit her character, I also believe The Magnolia League is a promising start to a new series that should be fun to follow.
2149940
A very good insight into mother and daughter relationships plus being a really enjoyable book to read.
A wonderful writer.
2931796
My daughter loved this book! She said to me, "Mom, I don't want it to end!"
It's a wonderful mystery filled with fun twists and turns.
3259653
i loved the book and also loaned it out to my mother and she is half finished withit.  i will then pass it along to my daughter for her to read,  interesting book.
2807997
This was on my daughter's summer reading list.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to read this, but I talked her into it.  She ended up loving it and I've read it to her several times since we bought it.  It's about a couple who have a pet pig named Mercy that they consider their 'child'.  Mercy is obsessed with food and when she can't find it, inadvertently causes trouble for her next door neighbor and saves her 'parents'.

It's a little long for my daughter to read, so I usually read it to her.  Truth to tell, it's not my cup of tea.  I found some of characters clueless and annoying, and since I'm reading it too, yeah my opinion counts.  But my daughter found the whole plot very amusing and funny, so I think a lot of kids and maybe some parents, would like it.  There's nothing inappropriate in it, so I think it would be good for even younger kids.  It has very nicely drawn illustrations, so it would hold their interest.
4435380
Until I was twelve, my mother was a single parent, and even after she got married, we were still very much a team. I'm 41 now, and my mother still influences my life. When I'm introduced to mother-daughter relationships in books, then, I'm always pretty picky. Melissa Foster's depiction of the mother-daughter bond between Megan and her daughter Olivia in MEGAN'S WAY did not disappoint. Had that core relationship not worked, the entire book would have failed.

I'm not recapping the plot because Amazon does that already. I will say that this book made me want to spend an afternoon with my own mother, sitting in Megan's New England house with her and her daughter, and their friends. I loved the way Foster combined magical realism with spirituality that felt organic and believable and not saccharine-sweet, and I really enjoyed the vivid characters that made up Megan and Olivia's "family-by-choice."

I confess, I initially downloaded MEGAN'S WAY because of the Beach Reading award (I'm a sucker for a good beach-read, especially when it's 107 outside my door), and because the Kindle version was free, but I liked it so much that I'm planning to check out more of Foster's work.

I'm a fast reader. I read this book in a long afternoon, while I was avoiding the heat and nursing a migraine. It made me laugh, and brought me to cathartic tears. In short, MEGAN'S WAY made my day.
3493043
Joyce Maynard's books are usually about love, loss, life, and resolution.  This book is no exception.  It is a lovely book that I'd like to have read while resting against a tree in a forest or while lounging in a canoe in a crystal still lake.  It's that kind of book.

The Good Daughters is about two girls, Dana Dickerson and Ruth Plank.  They are called `birthday sisters' because they were born in the same hospital on the same day, almost nine months to the day after the great hurricane of 1949.  Because of this connection, their families stay in touch as the girls are growing up.  Usually they visit one another once or twice a year.  The Planks own a large farm in New Hampshire that has been in their family for generations.  The Dickersons are never in one place for very long.

Ruth grows up on the farm with four older sisters.  The four other sisters all look alike, just like their mother.  They are short, sturdy, strong girls who are close with one another and their mother.  Ruth is tall and lean, built unlike her sisters or mother. Her father calls her `beanpole'.  Ruth doesn't think that her mother loves her like she loves her other daughters.  Their relationship is stiff and difficult at the best of times.  Ruth feels very close to her father and loves to ride the tractor with him or spend any other alone time she can get with him.  Ruth is drawn to art and wants to be an artist when she grows up.  She has an active imagination and loves to create stories in her head.

Dana's parents are on the fringe of society and move around frequently.  Her mother is a narcissistic artist and her father is absent more than present.  He is full of get-rich-quick schemes that come to naught.  Dana's mother is almost six feet tall and blond. Dana has a brother, Ray, that is quirky and ephemeral.  Neither parent pays much attention to the children.  Ruth and Ray have a special relationship.  Dana's mother showers her with Barbie dolls and Barbie outfits which are about the last thing in the world that she wants. When Ruth comes to visit she likes to play with them.  Dana is short and stocky, not built at all like her tall, lanky mother.  Dana loves the smell of the earth and the Plank farm.  She doesn't like to dress up.  Her idea of dress-up is clean jeans and a clean shirt. She wouldn't be caught dead in a dress.

The book harbors a big secret that is obvious to the reader very early on.  This secret, however, is not obvious to Dana or Ruth.  As they grow up and become the women they were meant to be, pieces of the story fall into place more and more.

The story is told in the alternate voices of Ruth and Dana.  Each chapter is told by one of the girls and is about their lives from their births in 1950 until they are in their 50's.  The reader is privy to their childhoods, first loves and relationships.  We live with them through the Vietnam War, Woodstock, their love of the land, and their relationships with their families.  It is a tender book that has its share of sadness and torment.  Joyce Maynard knows how to write page-turners that are literate and strongly emotive.  This is a wonderful follow-up to Labor Day.
3918109
When Andi and Bruce Walker's father is reassigned to a new job out of state, the family has to leave New Mexico and temporarily move into their Aunt Alice's home in New Jersey. As if relocating across the country, starting at a new school and missing her friends weren't bad enough, Andi has to leave behind her beloved dachshund Bebe until the Walkers can buy their own house.

Andi has a hard time making friends at school, even though a girl named Debbie invites her to join in a playground game. After school, Andi spends time in Aunt Alice's sewing room, which has been converted into a bedroom for her. Whenever she is upset or lonely, she writes poems and sends them off for publication.

Bruce doesn't have it much easier in his middle school. He is small for his age, and some of his peers, especially Jerry Gordon, tease him and call him names. A boy named Tim befriends Bruce, but even Tim shies away when Jerry comes around.

Jerry is an only child and a bully. The Gordons are also Aunt Alice's next-door neighbors. Adults are disarmed by his charming ways and polite manners, but when they aren't looking, he is cruel and hateful. Jerry abuses his Irish Setter, Red Rover, who runs away one day after Jerry is especially mean to him.

One evening, when Mr. Walker comes home from work dripping wet because of the pouring rain, he pauses to dry off in the hallway. No one except Andi sees the scruffy dog scamper inside and dart upstairs. Andi says nothing, but after dinner she enlists Bruce's help to find her. They search upstairs for the stray and discover her in the closet of the sewing room, where she has given birth to three tiny brown puppies. Because of their aunt's allergies, Andi and Bruce must get the dogs out of the house right away and find a place for them to stay until they can get adopted.

The next afternoon Bruce passes an abandoned house with a FOR SALE sign on it. It is the house Tim has told him that Jerry vandalized by breaking out the back windows. After Bruce walks around the back for a better look, he comes up with a plan to save the strays and help rescue Red Rover.

With Andi's help, and the assistance of a few dog-loving friends, they convert the abandoned house into a hotel for dogs. Soon they have more canines --- and responsibilities --- than they can handle. And when all the guests start to get noisy, their secret hotel is threatened.

Based on Lois Duncan's 1971 classic novel, this new edition coincides with the release of the movie by the same name. This updated version is a lot like a favorite dog --- warm and friendly and sure to put a smile on your face. I wholeheartedly recommend it to middle-grade readers, especially those who love animals or have ever wanted a pet.

  --- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt
1526348
This book contains beautifully written description touching on bitter-sweet moments of a daughter speaking of her connection to  her mother who has the experience of mental illness.  Sometimes the connection is direct and other times quite distant.  It is a life journey many daughters have taken. It may be of special interest to daughters who have decided to break the direct mother-daughter connection so that they may have a space of their own in which to develop,  while holding and developing and searching for an understanding of their mothers.
2465334
LOVE IT.... LOVE IT!!!! MY DAUGHTER LOVED IT MORE THAN I DID :D

LOVE IT.... GREAT WORK.... I LOVE THE MOTHER AND FATHER IN THIS BOOK!!!
1774600
Purchased for a friends daughter in hopes that her mother would read it. I hope it gets read.
422458
This is a wonderful book by karah quinney , and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future. the love for her mother is something that won't go away.
1154381
Fun Fun book - saw it at a friend's.  I really like the "behind the scenes" descriptions.  This would be perfect for a mother to bond with her children and keep them thinking about noticing everything and opening up their imagination.
3832245
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley.)
8-year-old Anna lives with her mother. She's never known her father, but it doesn't matter, because her mother tells her a story that makes her feel loved - `I had no mother, I had no father, all I wanted was a little girl, and then I had you, and I had everything.'

But then Anna's mother starts going out on dates and leaving Anna alone, feeling like she's no longer enough for her mother, no longer her everything. Then come a succession of step-fathers and step-brothers, but eventually they all leave, and Anna is alone with her mother once more.

By the time she's 14, Anna barely sees her mother who breezes in and out of the house for clean clothes, and she begins to look for love and affection elsewhere. Thus Anna's story about boys begins - how they make her feel when their hands are on her, how sex makes her feel wanted again.
But are boys and sex any substitute for a loving mother? Where will Anna's life go from here?

I have to say that I enjoyed this book, I even wanted to give it a higher rating, but the ending meant that I couldn't

This book wasn't really what I was expecting at all. Reading the blurb for this book and seeing the cover had me anticipating a girly YA romance story, which wasn't really what this book was about. Yes there were boys, and yes there was mention of love and sex, but this wasn't really a romance, this is more about Anna's life, and life choices, and how her absentee mother affects her thoughts and decisions.

Anna really feels abandoned when her mother begins dating. Her mother has always told her that she is everything to her, and when her mother then tells her that she's tired of being alone, she breaks Anna's heart. Anna and her mother have always been everything to each other, and when her mother goes out looking for someone else, she doesn't realise that not only is she leaving Anna alone, she's also making Anna feel as if she's not good enough.

Anna's mother sees quite a lot of different men, and Anna has several step-fathers in a relatively short space of time. She doesn't get why she's not enough for her mother anymore, and longs to be back wrapped in her mother's arms, in her mother's bed, being told that she is her everything. That isn't going to happen though, so when boys start showing an interest in her, and she feels what it's like to feel wanted again, Anna takes what comfort she can.

Anna loses her virginity at a young age, she's later the victim of a sexual assault, and as boys let her down she moves on to another. Anna seems to always be let down in some way though, and her lack of a mother really shows at times.
This book really shows how Anna's mother's lack of love and support for her daughter affect her both emotionally and physically, and how different Anna's life might have been had she had a mother who was there for her.

Now, the ending! I enjoyed this book, but I have a problem with books that don't have endings. This book had an ending of a sort - Anna had matured, she'd learned some things, she'd grown as a person, but there was still so much left, so many unanswered questions, that as much as I liked this book, I can't bring myself to like the ending. Anna still has issues with her mother, she still has issues with her best friend, and she still has issues with boys. Although she has learned some things about herself, she still has so much more to learn, and so much further to go.

Anyway, apart from the slightly lacking ending this was a good book, and it was beautifully written. I found it really engaging, and didn't want to put it down. It was also just the right length - not too long or too short, and I really felt like I connected with Anna.
Overall; an enjoyable book about a young girls life growing up, and her search for love and affection.
8 out of 10.
538531
In Oklahoma, kids become accustomed to storm drills. Having lived there all his life, Shea MacNamara should be used to them. Still, the strange anxiety he has during the drill remains after its over, despite the blue skies overhead. He and his best friend, John, talk about seeing a baseball game in St. Louis. Two girls fawn over the richest kid in school. From the outside, everything seems normal, even as something potent within him insists that something is very wrong. That intuition is proven correct, unfortunately, when he is pulled out of class. It wasn't a storm drill that afternoon. A tornado did touch down nearby, and it obliterated his farm. His father was unaccounted for and presumed dead. Abandoned by his mother as a baby, fifteen-year-old Shea is now an orphan, which is how he ends up in Massachusetts with a grandmother he's never before met.

The title of the book, Son of a Mermaid, is clue enough that Shea is no ordinary kid. He is blessed with a photographic memory, which he hides by intentionally under-scoring on tests, and he has an empathy for animals. While not exactly popular in Oklahoma, he is charming and makes friends easily. He demonstrates talent for leadership, but at the same time, he portrays natural self-consciousness. He cannot swim, but he feels drawn to the ocean. He is concerned with the authority of his elders, with rules and laws, while at the same time pushing at those same boundaries.  Shae is a teenage boy...curious, impetuous, with a big heart that he gives of graciously.

Kae (pronounced Kay-ee) is very much a mirror of Shea. She is an only child of a couple who serves a mer royal family, and herself a handmaid of Princess Brynneliana. Her people have been at war for years with the Adluos, the clan from of the Southern Atlantic. The two sides have agreed to settle their differences with a good old-fashioned arranged marriage, between Princess Bryneliana, and her six-year old cousin, King Theo. Of course, where there is a political marriage, there's bound to be plain old dirty politics, and there are shenanigans aplenty. Kae, for reasons she doesn't understand, is told to leave Shea alone. Don't talk to him. Don't look at him. Forget she ever saw him. But, like Shae, she's fifteen and prone to push at the boundaries her elders set.

Son of a Mermaid is a solid YA paranormal fantasy, with a little bit of romance, a little bit of political intrigue, and a whole lot of teenagers being teenagers. Older teens may find parts of the book predictable, but I think it will appeal greatly to middle school grades.

Content: Ocean-slang cursing. Mild kissing. Mild violence.
3945245
Polly Greene is different from other seventh graders at Laramie Junior High. In fact, she comes from a long line of women who are different. She can see auras --- colors and shapes around people --- which Baba, her grandmother, says is a powerful gift. The night Polly's sister Bree disappears, Polly sees a "red glow swirling around her middle."

Baba also has a special gift: she can see secrets and pain. She is a healer, who uses plants and nature to mend bodies and souls, and believes that people are a lot like plants ("both do better with a little tending, both turn toward the sun, both grow together over time, and both die.").

Being different doesn't make for happy times at school, and Polly's life becomes even less pleasant after her sister disappears. In the hallways, classmates stare and whisper. At home, neighbors and strangers bring casseroles and fruit baskets and offer help, but their food and words of comfort don't bring back Bree. At first, the community is consumed with looking for the missing teen, but after it appears that Bree has run away, the search and the sympathy dry up quickly.

Laramie, Idaho, the setting for GIRLWOOD, is "a city of newcomers, a city of strangers." With the growing population, real estate developers see the potential to turn a quick profit. They bulldoze the forests to build homes and "hack up the mountains so a few people can enjoy the view." The developers' desire for money comes in conflict with residents who cherish the natural beauty of the woods.

Polly believes that Bree is hiding out in the woods, but with winter approaching, she fears for her safety and well being. One evening, Baba shows Polly a hidden path in the middle of the woods that leads to a beautiful place Polly names Girlwood. She is convinced that Bree has taken refuge there and she can rescue her. With winter approaching and the pending development threatening to destroy the safe haven where she believes Bree is hiding, Polly desperately tries to protect the woods she treasures while saving her wayward sister.

Each chapter begins with an illustration of a plant bordering a paragraph about the plant's origin, habitat and healing properties, which is a nice touch. The book's message, and the legacy of Baba, is to speak out for one's beliefs and take risks to protect those you love. The image of the heartless, greedy developer with no redeeming qualities is overdone, and Carly, the developer's daughter, is portrayed a bit harshly for my tastes. Overall, however, GIRLWOOD is a moving story about the fragile nature of family and the environment --- and how a lot of love and a little attention can save them both.

  --- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt
218370
Although Rebecca Gillespie and her daughter survived a fatal car accident that took her husband's life, Rebecca had remained in a long-term coma with little hope of recovery.  Her estranged mother-in-law, who was suffering from cancer, had power of attorney.  Since she was unable to care for the little girl, she put her up for adoption in Mills Land, where Rebecca lived.  Once recovered, Rebecca searched for years to find her daughter, to no avail.

Cole and Leah Seibert adopted an infant girl after she miscarried twice. However, a genetic heart condition took Leah's life at an early age, leaving Cole to raise their daughter, Kimmy, alone.

Kimmy missed the kindergarten cut-off date by just days, so Cole needed to register her at a preschool.  The one he chose was Precious Miracles, run by none other than Rebecca Gillespie. Prior to the registration, Cole was clueless that Rebecca had been looking for her adopted daughter.

Mary's take on Rebecca's initial conversation with Cole through the intercom was hilarious, mainly because he was late and she was hungry. The author then takes us into the wild world of flirtatious bantering between Rebecca and Cole, though they'd never admit it at the time.  Instead of registering, their bantering and reminiscing about their old skating pasts lasted almost the whole time; he was in hockey, and she skated at Mills Land's arena.  Though they both secretly had colossal crushes on each other in high school, neither had spoken up.  They later dated and married different people.

Since they spent too much time reminiscing, Cole took the registration papers home to bring back in the morning when he brought Kimmy to preschool, because he needed to order a birthday cake for Kimmy's birthday before 7:00 p.m.

The next morning, Cole arrived so early with Kimmy that only Rebecca was there.  Again she listened to them talking over the intercom. Only this time, she was taken aback by Kimmy's resemblance to herself and their father/daughter talk.  She finally let them in.

This is where the hard stuff starts.  Mary nailed it with the conversations that followed as to whether Kimmy was Rebecca's daughter.  The pain and agony were sweltering off the pages of the book, causing me to empathize with how each parent felt along with their not knowing what to do next.  It was hard enough to know Rebecca had been looking for her daughter, but to think she found her and her old crush had her was painfully and tensely depicted. Neither wanted to hurt the other or cause stress for Kimmy, but they both wanted her.

What a wonderfully written novel of the grief, pain, and agony of a non-consented adoption coupled with the loss of their spouses. Yet you can feel the author revel with us in their love and faith that epitomizes the rest of the story's unwinding.  Mary's book really touched my heart deeply because of the subject matter and how well she handled it.

This PDF book copy was provided free by the author in exchange for my honest review.  No monetary compensation was received.