The Necklace by Chery Jarvis

Book Description
The true story of thirteen women who took a risk on an expensive diamond necklace and, in the process, changed not only themselves but a community.

Four years ago, in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a diamond necklace in a local jewelry store display window. The necklace aroused desire first, then a provocative question: Why are personal luxuries so plentiful yet accessible to so few? What if we shared what we desired? Several weeks, dozens of phone calls, and a leap of faith later, Jonell bought the necklace with twelve other women, with the goal of sharing it.

Part charm, part metaphor, part mirror, the necklace weaves in and out of each woman’s life, reflecting her past, defining her present, making promises for her future. Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected ways, the necklace comes to mean something dramatically different to each of the thirteen women.
With vastly dissimilar histories and lives, the women show us how they transcended their individual personalities and politics to join together in an uncommon journey. What started as a quirky social experiment became something far richer and deeper, as the women transformed a symbol of exclusivity into a symbol of inclusiveness. They discovered that sharing the necklace among themselves was only the beginning; The more they shared with others, the more profound this experience–and experiment–became.

Original, resonant, and beautifully told, this book is an inspiring story about a necklace that became greater than the sum of its links, and about thirteen ordinary women who understood the power of possibility, who touched the lives of a community, and who together created one extraordinary experience.


MY THOUGHTS:

This is a story of 13 women who all put in an equal amount of money an buy an expensive necklace. The women share the necklace between them each having it for a month at a time.They learn how to get along with each other, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how much more they can do as a team versus individually.This was a fun and entertaining read which I read in one day.

Story Time- Down by the cool of the Pool by Tony Mitton

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Orchard (May 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0439309158
ISBN-13: 978-0439309158

FROM THE BACK COVER:

Down by the pool in the cool of the day, Frog cried, "Wheeeee! Can you dance like me?"

JARRAD'S THOUGHTS (age 6) I liked this book.

SOPHIE'S THOUGHTS (age 4) I liked the story and had fun finding the dragonfly,snail
and catipelliar on each page.

Fat Boy Swim by Catherine Forde

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd (7 Aug 2003)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1405202394
ISBN-13: 978-1405202398

MY THOUGHTS:
Jimmy is a teenage boy who is overweight has no friends and gets picked on all the time. The one thing Jimmy does to escape into his own world is to cook and dream of being a chef. Jimmy can't tell anyone about his secret world of cooking because he would get picked on even more.Jimmy also wants to learn how to swim so with all his determination he takes on the challange.
Author Cathrine Forde takes the reader through the thoughts and feelings of an overweight teenage boy. I really enjoyed this book and would recomend it for teenage boys and girls aged 13-16.

Here's The Story-Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True voice by Maureen McCormick

FROM THE BACK COVER:

Marcia Brady, eldest daughter on television's The Brady Bunch, had it all---style, looks, boys, brains, and talent. No wonder her younger sister Jan was jealous! For countless adolescents across America who came of age in the early 1970s, Marcia was the ideal American teenager. Girls wanted to be her. Boys wanted to date her. But what viewers didn't know about the always-sunny, perfect Marcia was that offscreen, her real-life counterpart, Maureen McCormick, the young actress who portrayed her, was living a very different--and not-so-wonderful--life. Now, for the very first time, Maureen tells the shocking and inspirational true story of the beloved teen generations have invited into their living rooms---and the woman she became.

In Here's the Story, Maureen takes us behind the scenes of America's favorite television family, the Bradys. With poignancy and candor, she reveals the lifelong friendships, the hurtful jealousies, the offscreen romance, the loving support her television family provided during a life-or-death moment, and the inconsolable loss of a man who had been a second father. But The Brady Bunch was only the beginning. Haunted by the perfection of her television alter ego, Maureen landed on the dark side, caught up in a fast-paced, drug-fueled, star-studded Hollywood existence that ultimately led to the biggest battle of her life.

Moving from drug dens on Wonderland Avenue to wild parties at the Playboy mansion and exotic escapades on the beaches of Hawaii, this candid, hard-hitting memoir exposes a side of a beloved pop-culture icon the paparazzi missed. Yet it is also a story of remarkable success. After kicking her drug habit, Maureen battled depression, reconnected with her mother, whom she nursed through the end of her life, and then found herself in a pitched battle for her family in which she ultimately triumphed.

There is no question: Maureen McCormick is a survivor. After fifty years, she has finally learned what it means to love the person you are, insight that has brought her peace in a happy marriage and as a mother. Here's the Story is the empowering, engaging, shocking, and emotional tale of Maureen McCormick's courageous struggle over adversity and her lifelong battle to come to terms with the idea of perfection---and herself.


MY THOUGHTS:
I grew up with the Brady Bunch and loved the show so i couldn't wait to read Maureen McCormicks book. Maureen really opened up in this book telling the reader all about growing up and the trouble she had facing and fighting her demons and on top of all that her own family dramas. I highly recomend reading this book especially if your a Marcia Brady fan.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X- by James Patterson

FROM THE BACK COVER:

Daniel X works alone. Having watched from the shadows as the brutal murder of his own parents unfolded before him, he has been forced to make his own way in a dark and unforgiving world with a heavy task handed to him.

Daniel's father was an alien hunter, working his way through a fearsome 'wanted' list of aliens intent on seeking control and wreaking devastation. But as he planned his next target, his own time was running out. Following his parents' sudden deaths, Daniel faced an uncertain future: he knew little about his family nor where he came from but a few things were clear, he had inherited the list from his father and a unique ability to create anything that he needs including some very devoted friends to help him along the way.

His life has become dedicated to the mission. Every day has been transformed into a terrifying hunt, watching each step he takes for danger awaits around every corner and lurks within the shadows. His ultimate aim is to exact revenge against number 1 on his list: his parents' murderer. But first he must target the others: each more sinister and gruesome than the last.


MY THOUGHTS:

This was my first go at reading a science fiction book and I really did enjoy this story of Daniel X. A quick read that could be read in one session this book is full of Alien action. Daniel the main character in the book sort of reminded my of the the cartoon boy Ben 10. This book is for readers 12 and up but at 37 I enjoy it and im looking forward to the next book in this new series.

Story Time- When Sophie Gets Angry-Really Really Angry... by Molly Bang

FROM THE BACK COVER:

When Sophie gets angry, she runs out and climbs her favourite tree. Different people handle anger in different ways.
What do you do when you get angry.


JARRADS THOUGHTS:(aged 6) Really excellent

SOPHIES THOUGHTS:(aged 4) I like it how Sophie got angry and ran off then came back.

Testimony - by Anita Shreve

FROM THE BACK COVER:

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voice -- those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal -- that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment. A gripping emotional drama with the pace of a thriller, Anita Shreve's Testimony explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.



MY THOUGHTS:
I really didn't think much to this book. I found it hard to follow in some places as the story is written in chapter form going from one character to another. I also didn't like many of the characters.
Hopefully someone else will enjoy this more than I did.