Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is about a eccentric young girl named Stargirl Caraway who comes to Mica High School after being homeschooled all her life.  She is carefree, funny, and free spirited and immediately loved and liked by all. That is until the student body figures out how "different" she is and as we all know, different in high school is not always a good thing.  In Stargirl's case, it becomes a very bad thing as she is soon shunned and anyone who associates with her becomes shunned as well such as  a young man named Leo who finds himself in love with her.  Leo is torn between loving her the way she is and wanting her to be normal so that the two of them can fit in with everyone else.  He convinces her to act normal, which she does try to do, but it doesn't work.  The other students continue to treat her as invisible until .....

Well, you'll have to read the book to find out what happens in the end but I have to say, not being a huge fan of young adult or juvenile fiction, which I did not know this was until I was deep into the first chapter, this book is captivating and very well written.  I found myself unable to put it down and finished it within a day or so.  Fantastic for adults and children alike.  Read it then give it to your child to read.  I think we will all learn a thing or two from this novel.

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is interesting to me in that it falls into so many different book genres such as historical fiction, suspense, romance, and even perhaps a little on the dark side.

Jacob Jankowski is a veterinarian major in college when his parents are killed in an accident.  Left penniless, with only a few weeks left to finish school, he runs off and joins the circus, The Benzini Brothers Greatest Show on Earth.   He is hired on as head veterinarian (despite his failure to obtain his degree) and soon falls in love with Marlena, the beautiful equestrienne star who happens to be married to the boss.  When the show, which is set in the 1930's Depression era, begins to falter financially the boss buys an elephant named Rosie who brings the characters together in an unexpected way.

The characters are believable, whimsical, sometimes dark and you either love them or hate them.  I think my favorite character was Rosie the elephant who at first refuses to do anything the trainers tell her to do until Jacob discovers her secret.  The case of the animals as a whole is not unlike the feeling of how circus animals are portrayed today and I feel like that is a major influence in the book.

The book as a whole, toggles between the present and the past, not unlike Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook where the main character, in this case Jacob Jankowski who is either 90 or 93, is a nursing home resident remembering his past in one chapter then revealing the hardships of his present state in the next.

I found the book to be a fast paced, suspenseful novel that was well researched and written.  I enjoyed it very much and now I must see the movie.  The Redbox didn't have it though and it's no wonder since the movie came out in 2011.  I'm way behind in the times on this one.

Published in 2006 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Water for Elephants remained on the New York Times Bestseller list for six weeks, and was nominated for numerous awards including the illustrious Quill Award, the Entertainment Weekly Best Novel award, and won the BookBrowse award in 2007 for most popular book.