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: Betrayal (The Secret Diaries, #2) by Janice Harrell

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young adult ya suspense book review betrayal the secret diaries 2 by janice harrell

Betrayal (The Secret Diaries, #2) by Janice Harrell picks up where the first book in the series leaves off.  When Casey starts drinking and blackmailing Johanna's group of friends, they start to worry about his well being and whether he will spill the beans about what happened to Laurie Jenkins.

This is one of my favorite series from when I was a teenager, and I have to reread it every so often . . . it's that good and in my opinion, has stood the test of time despite none of the kids having cell phones.  Although cell phones were a thing in the early 1990's, they were still expensive to make phone calls on, so not everyone had one, and that is the reason they aren't featured in this story.
 
Part suspense, part horror, this is a great young adult novel for kids thirteen and up.  It even has some romance in it.  One of the characters does have sex in the book, but it doesn't go into any detail at all about it other than the characters were kissing.  It was all very chaste, so parents needn't worry about their kids reading about it, but if you're worried about it, then I would read the book before letting your kid read it.

The group of friends do have a lot of free time to hang out.  Unfortunately, there isn't a lot to do in Barton, North Carolina.  The thing that still surprises me is how uninvolved the parents are and have no idea where their kids are going or what they are doing.

Five out of five stars is what I give Betrayal (The Secret Diaries, #2) by Janice Harrell.  I would love to see this series turned into a movie or a mini-series.  I can still hope, right?  After all, The Secret Circle by L.J. Smith was turned into a television series a few years ago.

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