Senior Book Break
Subject: Children
Suggestions for our next Book Break meeting is at the end.
Wild Poppies by Haya Saleh
Two brothers fight to reunite amidst the turmoil of the Syrian War. This is a story of kids in a war zone. The book details the difficulties of how to react to what is happening around them, to their families, death, destruction, illness, how to eat and somehow make sense of it all.
What The Dinosaur Saw: Life on Earth Before Humans by Fatti Burke
Our whole universe began as a tiny dot, filled with so much hot, dense energy that it burst. This event was the Big Bang, and from the remnants of that explosion, our whole universe was born.
The Last Year of The War by Susan Meissner
In 1943, Elise is an Iowa teen whose father, who has lived In the US for two decades, is arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer, and the family is sent to an internment camp in Texas. There she meets Mariko, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, and they become fast friends. The book follows them from past through present and how they are and were affected by the war.
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Book one of an action-packed adventure series of an orphaned 15-year-old protagonist who sets out to find who killed his uncle, a British Spy. One of 13 so far. You may not want to stop at one.
Across the Lines by Carolyn Reeder
A book about the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, in the Civil War, which lasted nine months and found General Grant almost surrounding General Lee. It was trench warfare, with the trench being 30 miles long. It is also the story of two 12-year-olds, a young master, and a slave. The slave escapes and finds ‘freedom’ isn’t what he expected, while the master learns to be responsible. Based on a true story, with the final page explaining what was changed in the book. You don’t have to be young to appreciate this one. For history buffs.
The Orphans of Davenport: Eugenics, the Great Depression, and the War over Children’s Intelligence by Marilyn Brookwood
In 1939 two psychologist working for the Soldiers and Orphans Home in Davenport, Iowa, began a study of the IQs of the children in the home. Was it Nature or Nuture? Their study found stimulation helped IQ levels. It did not matter who your parents were, if a child was nurtured, their IQ went up. The study was met with derision at first, but, eventually, it was accepted. This study led to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Head Start Program. Incidentally, the children in the study were followed up for 40 years. Very interesting book in the eyes of our reader’s eyes.
Our Next Meeting is Tuesday May 14, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. at the Grover Beach Community Library, 240 North 9th Street, Grover Beach.
Our Subject will be: The Upper Crust, aka High Society, aka The Rich and Famous, aka The In Crowd, from Royalty, the Windsors, to those who brought their way in. think the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Pearl Mesta, Jennie Jerome Churchill, Carnegie, who gave us great Libraries. The Roosevelts, Authors F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ralph G. Martin.
– Fran Strauser