Review: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon#1)
Cressida Cowell
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published May 1, 2004

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About How to Train Your Dragon

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a dragon. Can Hiccup do it without being torn limb from limb?

Join his adventures and misadventures as he finds a new way to train dragons–and becomes a hero. This action-packed, hilarious, and perfectly illustrated novel is a modern … Continue reading

Review: Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
Gregory Boyle
Free Press
Published March 9, 2009

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About Tattoos on the Heart

How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone needs boundless, restorative love. Gorgeous and uplifting, TATTOOS ON THE HEART amply demonstrates the impact unconditional love can have on your life.

As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle … Continue reading

Review: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)
Lemony Snicket
HarperCollins
Published September 30, 1999

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About The Bad Beginning

Dear Reader,

I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets … Continue reading

Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me
Emily Murdoch
St. Martin’s Griffin
Published March 26, 2013

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About If You Find Me

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and … Continue reading

Review: Quiet by Susan Cain

Quiet by Susan Cain

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking
Susan Cain
Crown Publishing Group
Published January 24, 2012

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About Quiet

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. 

In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal … Continue reading

Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies by William Goldman

Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Penguin Books
Published December 16, 2003 (Originally Published 1954)

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About Lord of the Flies

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure … Continue reading