Reviews: The Sierra Jensen Series #1 & #2

#1: Only You, Sierra

Written by Robin Jones Gunn

Sierra was on her way to return to the United States after a mission trip to Europe. Her mind was filled with thoughts of how her home had changed: Her family had moved from California to Oregon in her absence, smack-dab in the middle of her junior year. Everyone already had his or her friends already and the pecking order had been established already; she had no idea where she will fit in, if she will fit in.

But while on the trip, she made friends with Christy and Katie, who had known each other for years. (Apparently there was a series before Sierra Jensen called “The Christy Miller Series”, and Christy and Katie’s story starts there.) As Sierra watches Doug and Tracy growing closer, and then Christy reuniting with her love, Todd, she wonders if she will have to go through the rest of her high school year dateless.

Will she find new friends? Will she like her new home? Will God provide her with someone to love her?

#2: In Your Dreams

Written by Robin Jones Gunn

This book starts right where the other one leaves off. Sierra is now settled into her grandma’s house, yet she is still working through her problems that include getting used to her new home, her social life– or lack of one – and dealing with her grandma’s mind still slowly slipping.

After Sierra’s aunt is in a car accident and breaks both of her arms, Sierra’s mom leaves to go stay with her aunt to help out. After a discussion, her dad is not canceling the camping trip that was planned for her brothers and her dad – which leaves Sierra to grandma-sit.

Sierra is glad for the responsibility to prove to everyone that she is mature beyond her sixteen years and that she can handle whatever comes her way. But instead, she may find out that her friend Katie is right, that she should savor her teenage years while she has them and not wish to grow up so fast…

Trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but I really wanted to comment on this. X) There is a part in the book where Grandma Mae was in the hospital, and my oh my do I relate to that — she reminded me of my own grandma when she was in the hospital. XP The author did a great job with that.

Overall:

Sixteen-year-old Sierra Jensen is hilariously brazen. “…you are running away from God. Jonah tried that, remember? Unless you have an affection for whale barf, I’d encourage you to get your act together.” XD She made me laugh so much.
I really loved her character. Sometimes she does things without thinking them through, she says whatever comes to her mind most of the time, and her fashion sense is unique.

In the first book, it talked a bit about her grandmother who was having memory issues. I really connected with that, because my grandma did as well. In the second book, they expanded upon this, a lot.

It looks like since one book flows into the next one, once you start this 12 book series, you’ll be compelled to finish the whole series. X) These two books end without resolving all of the problems Sierra faced within them. Therefore, if you get this book hoping that each is a stand-alone, then you’ll be mistaken… they are written so that you can pick up the series at any point it seems like, but they are meant to be read from the beginning of the series to end.

I really love it so far. The author’s writing style really drew me in. I’m looking forward to the next one!

Reviews: Two Books with a Survival Theme

Island of the Blue Dolphins

By Scott O’Dell

Everything was peaceful in the village of Ghalas-at until the day that the ship landed on the shores of The Island of the Blue Dolphins. The Aleuts and the Russian captain came to hunt otter. When the hunters and the village men quarrel over the deal they had made concerning the otter pelts, many die, which leads to the new chief deciding that they should move from The Island of the Blue Dolphins to a new place.

When Karana, the main character, and her brother, Ramo, are left behind on the island, they have to survive until the big ship returns for them – if the big ship plans to return for them.

I really liked Karana. She knows her island well, and I really enjoyed reading of her adventure on the island.

The author did a really wonderful job with keeping true to Karana’s character. For instance, when the Aleut ship came at the beginning, Karana describes it as, “At first, it seemed like a small shell afloat on the sea. Then it grew larger and was a gull with folded wings.” This seems like what a native on the island would think, since she had not seen a ship before.

The Voyage of the Frog

By Gary Paulsen

When Owen, David Alspeth’s uncle, entrusted David to complete his dying wish, the broken-hearted David agreed. What he didn’t expect was the difficulties he would face on the open seas, while manning the sailboat, the Frog: Storms, sharks, limited food and water supply – will David survive to see his parents again?

One complaint: I didn’t care for the mild curse words the author used. I realize this is a Young Adult book, but I don’t like to hear // read a lot of stronger language. It wasn’t rampant in this book, and it was a milder word, but still I didn’t like that aspect.

However, I really liked the book. There were a few part that made my stomach churn, but this was because of the author’s ability to describe things in such detail. XD

Also, I wished the sketch of the boat had been in the front of the book instead of the back. It would have helped me understand how the boat worked a little better to have seen it first rather than last. (Though maybe it is in other printings of the book. Mine is an AfterWords edition.)  Because I’m not familiar with sailing, when the book describes David’s actions to make the boat sail, I had to imagine it because I was so lost on the nautical terms. XD It would have been helpful to have a little glossary in the back or front, to explain the different parts of a boat so that I could go back and reference it while I read.

 

Overall:

I love stories like these with a theme of survival. Also, because of the fact that David and Karana are without human contact for a great deal of time, there is a lack of dialogue, which makes these two books a really interesting read for me. I admire the authors’ ability to write without lots of dialogue; as an aspiring writer myself, I really appreciated that, because many times, we depend on dialogue to move the story forward. Or at least, I do, probably more than I should. X)

Titanic Talk + Two Short Reviews

These two books seemed like appropriate books to review for today.

(The Titanic sank on April 15th, 1912… so I am a day late with this. Oh well. XD)

Review: Travelers Through Time #1: Back To The Titanic!

Written by Beatrice Gormley

Matt is a twelve year old who has the opportunity to travel back to the Titanic with his spunky sister, Emily, and best friend, Jonathan, who is a bit of a science geek. They use their great-grandfather’s homemade time machine to go back to the Titanic (which their great-grandfather was on when he was a kid), to try to save the ship. Can they do it? And can they figure out how to get back to their time before its too late?

The beginning hit home a bit for me. Their great-grandfather has dementia; I had two grandparents who dealt with this. It’s hard to watch, so I felt for the kids. But then they were so fascinated by the TASC (Time and Space Connector) by chapter two that this was soon forgotten in the adventure. X)

They covered many of the “what ifs” when it comes to ways the ship may have been saved. (No spoilers as to if any worked!) It was really fun to read. It was only 132 pages, so I read through it pretty fast. Also, I read it once when I was a kid – so this was partially me seeing if I was still as fond of it now as I was then. Apparently I was. XD

 

Voyage on the Great Titanic – The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady (From the Dear America series)

Written by Ellen Emerson White

Like the other books in this series, this book is in one person’s point of view (in this case, Margaret’s) and is told in flashbacks in diary format. I loved this so much. (I fell in love with this series when I read So Far From Home – The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill girl. This series is great for anyone who loves history and // or likes books written like a diary.)

Margaret lives in an orphanage called St. Abernathy’s Orphanage for Girls in Whitechapel. When Sister Catherine takes Margaret to the City, Margaret finds out that she has the opportunity to go on the Titanic to America where her brother is, which is what she has wanted since he left her at the orphanage after their parents died. She is replacing Mrs. Carstairs’ husband as a passenger, since he can’t go because of business, which leaves the rich lady an extra ticket. Florence, Mrs. Carstairs’ dog, also accompanies them.

Margaret also has quite a bit of backstory, which I loved reading about. It made her character feel more real like we really get to know her.

She also describes everything in depth, so picturing the Titanic was much more vivid in this book than in Back To The Titanic. If I had to pick between Voyage on the Great Titanic, and the Back to the Titanic, I’d pick Voyage on the Great Titanic. Both were great, but I just felt like I connected with this one more. I had a hard time putting it down.

 

Afterthoughts:

I realize not everyone shares my interest in this historic disaster, but there is one aspect of it I’d like to touch upon. I saw a church sign years ago: “Men built the Titanic. God built the ark. Which one sank?” God had Noah build the ark, and did it sink? No. It stayed afloat for 40 days and 40 nights (and many months after the rains stopped). Noah had faith in God, not in himself.

In the back of Voyage on the Great Titanic, it has a timeline of events, and it amazes me how many things could have been prevented. People thought that the Titanic was unsinkable – they had such faith in their own works and were quite boastful and overconfident in themselves and the ship’s abilities – that they ignored the many warnings that could have possibly saved the great ship. (The book also says that the overworked telegraph operator even responded to one of the ships sending ice warnings, telling them to “shut up”.) In addition, they were so confident that the ship would not sink, that they didn’t install nearly enough lifeboats to even attempt to save all of the passengers who were on board. Proverbs 13:10: Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. The story of the R. M. S. Titanic is so sad. If only the people had not been so arrogant, maybe the Titanic could have been saved. But I guess we will never know.