Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...
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Book Review: Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #2) by Ransom Riggs

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Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #2) by Ransom Riggs picks up immediately where Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1) left off. Jacob and his peculiar friends escape the island they've lived and make the trek to London, England to find help for Miss Peregrine.

When I first picked up Hollow City, I had a bit of trouble getting into the story line because I was too worried that it wouldn't live up to the first book in the series. However, once I got into the book a little, I was pleasantly surprised and couldn't wait to find out what happened. There were a couple of nights that I read it right before falling asleep and ended up having such strange dreams because of it, that I woke up in the middle of the night more than once with my heart pounding. Don't get me wrong, the book isn't scary, but Hollow City is definitely suspenseful and a little on the dark side. Isn't it strange how the mind incorporates things you've read into dreams?

I love the fact that the author, Ransom Riggs, uses photos that he found and incorporated them into the story line and used them for character creation and development. This truly makes this book series one of a kind in my opinion. Riggs also includes the real life events of World War II such as the bombings and children being evacuated from London that gave the story a realness that I didn't expect in this genre. This young adult fantasy book is definitely worth the read for both teens and adults alike. I gave it four out of five stars.



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