I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron

This is a book about the author, Nora Ephron, and her life. She remembers her best memories and recalls many interesting questions.This is kind of like a journal. Nora Ephron wrote many different books about her life and important parts of it. I didn't think this book was very interesting, because I thought that some of it didn't have a point. It was sad, funny, and joyful. It is really hard to explain this book, but I would recommend it to anyone who it interested in non-fiction, almost reflection type books.

Songs Without Words by Ann Packer

This book is about a woman named Liz and her very close friend Sarabeth, and the challenges they face. When Sarabeth was 16, her mother committed suicide which led to Liz and Sarabeth becoming basically sisters. While Sarabeth is trying not to follow her mother's footsteps, Liz is dealing with a daughter that is very adolescent and who's life is in danger. This was a good but confusing book. Some important events seemed to occur very quickly and not in very much detail, which was a little confusing but overall I liked the book. It has many mature topics and language, but I would recommend it to anyone.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

This book is about a seventh grader, Holling Hoodhood. He is pretty sure his teacher hates him, and makes him read Shakespeare every day after school. He also has to participate in a Shakespeare play with a role he wished he didn't have, and the whole school decides to go see him play that role. But there is a bigger problem in the world, the war in Vietnam, which causes the teachers to be stressed out. This book is a bit hard to explain, but it was pretty good. This is a realistic-fiction book, and it has no mature topics or language.

Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

This book takes place in Africa. It is about a boy named Luc, who's mom died a few years ago from the worm, owing a ton of money because of the hospital bill. His father left after his mom died, leaving Luc all alone as an orphan with Monsieur Tatagani and the other orphans who's parents owe a ton of money to the city. One day, a man comes by the orphan house and calls himself Prof offering Luc a mission that is to study chimpanzees in the dangerous jungle. Prof will give Monsieur Tatagani all the money Luc's mother owes, just so Luc joins him. Soon they head out to the jungle where Luc finds himself a new family, until that family gets under attack. This was a really good book that is a realistic fiction, survival type. It doesn't have any language, but a lot of violence, but that makes the book more realistic, dealing with all the problems that might come up living in the African jungle. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

This book is about a girl named Astrid Jones who's parents don't really care about her. I don't really know her age, but I think she's in high school or college. She likes to spend her time sitting on the picnic table in the backyard watching airplanes. Astrid also thinks about her personal life as well, and that leads to her being in love with a girl. This is pretty much what this book is about, so there are mature topics. I liked this book, but it was a little confusing as well, but I would recommend this book to anyone who is okay with mature topics.

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Caden Bosch is a high school student that likes to think a lot. He spends hours and hours thinking about anything, and even pretends to join the track team in school like his parents told him to; but instead he just walks around and thinks. He also is on a ship that's going to the deepest point on Earth, Challenger Deep. Apparently Caden also has schizophrenia, which is a mental illness that is talked about a lot in this book. I don't really know how to summarize this book because I was really confused. This is a realistic fiction book, and it written in first and second person. I liked this book, but as I said I didn't understand anything that was happening, because it switched from Caden's life with his parents and him on a ship. This book makes you think a lot. I would recommend this book to people who like books with action going on, and it doesn't really have mature topics.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Yellow Fever has ruined many lives, especially Mattie's. She's 14 and has to learn to take care of herself and others. Polly, Mattie's close friend has passed due to this disease but Mattie isn't even able to think about that. The closer the Yellow Fever gets to her family the harder it is for Mattie. It is very hard to describe this book without giving the plot away, but it is a realistic fiction (I believe) story about a girl dealing with many people around her dying. Although I've read this book as a read aloud in 3rd grade, I didn't really remember anything. When we read this book as a read aloud, I just really didn't like it because it was really sad, but I didn't really know about everything going on in the book, that's why I wanted to give it another shot. I still think this is a really sad and terrifying book, and has a lot of description. This book wasn't my favorite, because of how intense it was, but I would still recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it. It has a lot of mature topics.

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

This book is about a boy named Palmer who is turning 10. Turning that age is a very big deal in the small town of Waymer, because that is when you become a wringer at the annual Family Fest, but Palmer really doesn't want to become one. The problem is, he can't break the tradition, or tell anyone that he doesn't want to become one. I didn't really like this book because I felt that it didn't really have a plot, and it was pretty boring. It didn't really have any mature topics or language, and it was a pretty quick read even though the story went on forever. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, even though only some parts were interesting.

Soar by Joan Bauer

This book is about a boy named Jeremiah who survived a heart transplant. He doesn't really know how old he is, because a few months after he was born his mother left him in the kitchen of where she worked, knowing a man named Walk would find him; but he thinks he is 12. Jeremiah really likes baseball, but because of the heart transplant he can't play, so he decides he wants to be a coach. When he and Walt move to Hillcrest, Ohio, they realize one of the best baseball teams is from there. It is a high school team- the Hornets. A sad thing occurs and baseball in that city is almost forgotten. This was a pretty good book, and I think that it was really interesting. It was a pretty quick read, and funny too. It doesn't really have any mature topics or language, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Rules by Cynthia Lord

This book is about a 12 year old girl named Catherine and her brother, David, who has autism. Catherine's life pretty much revolves around David. She has to babysit him a lot, and that isn't easy. She has to make rules for him, like "No toys in the fish tank" and "Sometimes people walk away from you because they can't hear you, sometimes they walk away because they don't want to talk to you." David tries to follow these rules, but sometimes forgets. Every Tuesday and Thursday Catherine and her mom have to take David to therapy, where Catherine meets a boy named Jason who can't talk and has to be in a wheelchair, and talks through his communication book, and they become friends. Summer just started and a new neighbor moves in next to Catherine. There is a girl who is the same age as her named Kristi, and Catherine tries to become friends with her. I can't say very much without giving the book away, but it was a pretty interesting book. This was a really quick read, and it was also really easy. It was realistic fiction, and dealing with real life problems, even if they don't happen to everyone. I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone. It has no mature topics of language.

The View From Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg

This book is about a teacher named Mrs. Olinski who teaches 6th grade, and she was paralyzed 10 years ago, but is fine now. She has to pick 4 students to go to a state championship, and she decides on Nadia, Ethan, Noah, and Julian. They each have their own life stories, which are explained in the book because each chapter is from a different perspective. They all become friends, and figure out their similarities and differences. I didn't really like this book. It was really confusing and not very well written. This is sort of a realistic fiction book, and it was a really quick read, but I didn't think this was a really good book for me. A book I would really like to read is Speak.

Death of a Dog Whisperer by Laurien Berenson

This book is about a woman named Melanie who has two kids, and she is really busy with them and her 5 Poodles. One day, she introduces her Aunt Peg who loves dogs as well to a dog whisperer by the name of Nick Walden. They become really good friends, until, one evening Nick is found dead in his house. His sister, Claire, tells Melanie and together they try to track down the killer. Throughout the book it explains how they try to figure out who murdered Nick, which makes Melanie even busier. It's hard to explain very much without giving the book away, but I really liked this book. I don't usually read mystery books but I really enjoyed this one. It doesn't have any mature topics, and but it is a fairly long book. I would recommend this book for anyone, especially people who like mysteries. I think it was well written, although confusing at some points.

Heaven Looks a lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass

This book is about a girl who falls into a coma because she gets severely hurt, and basically she goes in and out of a dream, or heaven. But she doesn't end up in a stereotypical heaven with a gate and angels and meeting people who died already, but she ends up at the mall. Her mom works at the mall, so she knows every part of it. She meets a boy, and they become friends, he was also in a coma. So the girl falls in and out of the coma, and the book has a happy ending. This was a pretty good book, and it was a pretty quick read. It is written in poetry format, which wasn't my favorite, but I still recommend this book. It doesn't really have any mature topics.

We are all Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

This book is from the perspectives of 2 people, a 14 year old girl named Ashley and a 13 year old boy named Stewart. Ashley was pretty much the most popular girl in school, and out of school she didn't really like her life. Her mom and dad were divorced, and even though Ashley lives with her mom, her dad visits sometimes because her mom and dad are friends. Ashley has a big secret she is hiding from all her friends, knowing it will effect how popular she is. Her life is 'ok' until Stewart and his dad move in. Ashley's mom and Stewarts dad were planning on getting married, so they decided to live together. Stewart is considered a genius and is so smart he starts to go to Ashley's high school, which Ashley doesn't like. Because Ashley is so popular, she is pretty mean too, which effects Stewart a lot. Many different events occur throughout the book, but I don't want to give them away. This was a really good book, so I highly recommend it. It covers some mature topics though, and a little bit of language, but I think that it wasn't too bad. This was a really quick read even though it is around 256 pages. This is a realistic fiction book.

I think for genres for book groups it would be cool to have realistic fiction books.

Poem about Candy

There once was a piece of candy,
Eating it would be very dandy.
But since we were a group of four,
And candy there was no more,
Having one piece of candy wasn't handy.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

This book is about a boy named Will Grayson, who is going through a lot of stuff in life. His best friend, Tiny, is making a musical of his life, forcing Will to be in it. One weird evening, Will Grayson meets another Will Grayson, and they become good friends. At 16, Will goes through a lot of changes. This was a really confusing book, because there are two Will Graysons and other people, but I was confused about who was who. This book talks a lot about being gay, and a lot of cussing, but I think it was a pretty good book, besides it being confusing. I think that this book could be for anyone who is okay with the mature topics in this book, and not making sense at some parts.
My reading goals for 2016 are to read more genres of books, like more non-fiction, sic-fi, and others.