Walls writes about a childhood that was affected by her father's drinking and her mother's odd behavior. She missed more than a few meals, did not always have a place to lay her head, and felt like she was the most responsible adult in the family. Still, her love for her parents is obvious. Even though they had many faults, they also showed her the beauty of a starry sky and an appreciation for art and the artistic soul.

This autobiography shows how the author fought the Germans. As she states, it began with small steps, she began by feeding the Jews under the eyes & employment of German officers. Later, she joins the resistance movement. She was an extremely brave person. A young Corrie Ten Boom.

Russell Banks is a very gifted writer. I fell in love with many of the characters!

The author already has several children, but when they begin leaving for college; instead of facing an empty nest, she adopts children from other countries. The author's portraits of the children are terrific!

Myron talks about how having 2 deaf parents may have made his life harder, but he still shows how remarkable his parents were. His father held a steady job as a newspaper printer and loved his wife and sons fiercely. Myron may have been somewhat embarrassed by having to translate for his father, but he was proud of him too. The hardest thing for Myron was dealing with his brother's epilepsy. Because his parents couldn"t hear if his brother had a seizure in the middle of the night, Myron was left to deal with the brother's seizures. However, this book shows that people with handicaps can still make wonderful parents.

This was a very enlightening book. The author writes about his experience going from seeing to blind as a teenager. He describes driving (something he shouldn't have been doing -- but he was still unaware of how serious his problem was) & ending up in several accidents, his first job (driving a forklift) & nearly running over one of his coworkers) & various other experiences. Because he saw except had several blind spots, becoming aware of his problem took longer. He also talks about dating as a blind man, learning to use a cane (reluctantly, though when he began to use it he discovered it actually gave him more freedom of movement), going overseas to be with his girlfriend as a volunteer teacher (while not letting anyone else know he was blind). His hardest struggle was admitting his limitations, but the truth is besides his eyesight, he is not at all limited.

This was one of the best YA books I read! The depiction of the abuses of slavery was very realistic. The main character was a slave boy who was sent to work in the fields after he finally reached a certain age. Before he had been in the main house, where he had a close relationship with his mother. When he went to the field though, he hardly saw his mother. The other slaves in the field hand's cabins were very discouraged and more than a little rough. Luckily, his mother had some of the main field hands helping him adjust. He worked harder than he ever worked, with little food. The book is saved from being totally depressing when another black boy shows up. He teaches the field hands to believe they are worth more than their masters think, that they should believe in themselves, & have hope (for he predicts it won't always be like it is). A science fiction element is added when we find the boy is not from that time.

I love these type of books, sci fi, end of the world themes. However, this book was so poorly written. There was almost no dialogue. The characterizations were relatively poor, father/son type. Father will do anything for son, blah blah blah. Nothing made these characters that unique. They were stereotypes. Mostly, the book was just description, Endless scenery. And the reason for the apocalypse. What caused the end of the world clearly specified. Trees fell, uprooted from the ground. What would cause such a thing? I guess you can use your imagination. I wish the author had used a little more imagination coming up with dialogue for the characters and reasons for the 'end of the world'. When I thought the novel might have a unique twist given when the wife/mother character was talking to the dad, she said something about hating to be alone, how she would nurture the relationship of a person even if the person were not real, I was totally wrong. There is no unique twist or theme. Again, father willing to do anything for son: It would be so much more unique if the author had made the characters more than silent stereotypes.