Umm where’s my heart?? Can I have it back please, Salt to the Sea? I had to let a few days pass between when I finished the book and when I wrote a review to gather my bearings. I was speechless by the last page.

“Just when you think this war has taken everything you loved, you meet someone and realize that somehow you still have more to give.”

After finishing this book, I have read all three of Ruta Sepetys’ works and may I just say: flawless. She is my favorite historical fiction writer. In Salt to the Sea, Ruta tells the story of four European teenagers during WWII. The switching perspectives of each young adult was fascinating because each one views the war through their own cultural lens. It was definitely a unique experience in a historical fiction book.

“She has beaten this war… life has spit in the eye of death.”

Ruta Sepetys also shed light on a little-known casualty of WWII: the Wilhelm Gustloff was a luxury cruise ship that was used in the war to help refugees escape. Soviet U-Boats sunk the ship. The amount of people that died was more than the Titanic and Lusitania combined, yet not near enough people know about it. I felt largely enlightened to get to know about this lesser-known tragedy. I’m grateful that Ruta Sepetys chose this story in particular to tell. (Which, by the way, was inspired by her own Lithuanian family’s history – her aunt was meant to board the Wilhem Gustloff but was spared by getting on another ship!)

“A girl who lost her mother was suddenly a tiny boat on an angry ocean.”

Fans of Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity would enjoy this. I cannot recommend Salt to the Sea enough. It’s certainly my favorite Ruta Sepetys book and I hope more people have the pleasure read it.

five stars. ★★★★★

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_accordion][x_accordion_item title=”Book Info” open=”false”]Title: Last In A Long Line of Rebels
Author: Lisa Lewis Tyre
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Publishing Date: September 29, 2015
Length: 288 pages
Source: Christmas gift
Synopsis: Debut novelist Lisa Lewis Tyre vibrantly brings a small town and its outspoken characters to life, as she explores race and other community issues from both the Civil War and the present day.

Lou might be only twelve, but she’s never been one to take things sitting down. So when her Civil War-era house is about to be condemned, she’s determined to save it—either by getting it deemed a historic landmark or by finding the stash of gold rumored to be hidden nearby during the war. As Lou digs into the past, her eyes are opened when she finds that her ancestors ran the gamut of slave owners, renegades, thieves and abolitionists. Meanwhile, some incidents in her town show her that many Civil War era prejudices still survive and that the past can keep repeating itself if we let it. Digging into her past shows Lou that it’s never too late to fight injustice, and she starts to see the real value of understanding and exploring her roots. [/x_accordion_item][/x_accordion][cs_text]I loved Lisa Lewis Tyre’s debut novel, Last in a Long Line of Rebels. It’s such a funny summertime read, perfect for this time of year. My aunt gave me a copy of the book as a Christmas gift since she knew the author. (I know, I’m so late reading this! But hey, my procrastination paid off, because the start of my summer vacation was a great time to read the setting of this story.)

This is a middle grade story about twelve-year-old Lou who is praying for an exciting summer vacation. When she and her friends begin to uncover the mysteries of her 175-year-old house, they end up on a thrilling goose chase for Civil War gold! (Umm can my summer please be that fun?!)

Right away I was swept up in the setting: a hilarious small Tennessee town based upon the author’s own experiences as a child. Its history and people were so fun (and reminded me of my own crazy Southern family – ha!) Lou’s family was well-meaning and lovable, and I fell right into place with them; it was so easy to be drawn into the story.

Lou’s home plays a major role in the story, and was so fascinating. It had been in her family since the 1860s and when it is condemned, she decides to do everything she can to save it. (Understandably so!) All the descriptions – the secret hiding places used for loot, gold, diaries, slaves – had me craving for a house with rich history such as that myself!

What I most loved were the history tie-ins. When Lou finds her namesake’s Civil War-era diary, she discovers more than she bargained for. I absolutely loved the moral lessons in the story: though Lou’s ancestry held both abolitionists and slave owners, she learned that it was important to remember her history so as not to repeat it.

Mrs. Tyre combined a fun summertime children’s novel with history, race, and prejudice and I was impressed! 🙂

four stars! ★★★★✩

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[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_accordion][x_accordion_item title=”Book Info” open=”false”]Title: Mother-Daughter Book Camp
Author: Heather Vogel Frederick
Series: Mother-Daughter Book Club #7
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: May 3, 2016
Length: 336 pages
Source: Advanced Reader’s Copy (for review) via Edelweiss
Synopsis: Spend one last summer with the Mother-Daughter Book Club at camp in this bittersweet conclusion to Heather Vogel Frederick’s beloved and bestselling series.

After so many summers together, Emma, Jess, Megan, Becca, and Cassidy are reunited for one final hurrah before they go their separate ways. The plan is to spend their summer as counselors at Camp Lovejoy in a scenic, remote corner of New Hampshire, but things get off to a rocky start when their young charges are stricken with a severe case of homesickness. Hopefully, a little bit of bibliotherapy will do the trick, as the girls bring their longstanding book club to camp. [/x_accordion_item][/x_accordion][cs_text class=”cs-ta-left”]I’M GOING TO CRY. It’s over. Really and truly this time, the girls are headed off to college and I’m a mess!

For those of you who don’t know, this series has been a favorite of mine for over four years now (I want to say four and a half; somewhere in that time frame. I hate that I don’t know exactly when I picked them up!) and it’s definitely a childhood favorite of mine. Each book begins a new year in the mother/daughter book club girls’ lives – from sixth grade to the summer before setting off for college. I feel like I’ve grown up with them! I relate to every girl on a different level and in a different way, and they’ve become some of my best friends.

(I even making many friends through Heather’s blog to these books – by commenting and getting the pleasure to interview her a year ago, many new blog readers have also become my closest friends!)

As my 11-year-old self said three years ago when the “last” book was written (awesome enough – it was published ON my birthday – September 11, 2012) in a review I had written: “Yes, I’ll probably get bored with my addiction to Nancy Drew mysteries pretty soon, and start reading the books all over again, but like the last sentence in the last book – Megan says, ‘There’s no place like home.’ – Especially when home is where the heart is. And my heart is with the mother-daughter book club.” As cheesy as that *may* sound, it’s so true and I’m all sappy because I feel like my real life best friends are all grown up now! I’m just so happy Heather Vogel Frederick decided to put in this last installment to give us a better idea – and one last peek – into the Mother/Daughter Book Club world, and where the girls are going from there.

This last one was a tad different than the rest of the series. The gang is signed up to be camp counselors at Camp Lovejoy, in cozy, lovable Pumpkin Falls – Heather’s other setting that ALSO makes you fall in love in her book Absolutely Truly. (On that note, I love how she merges her worlds together! Several characters from Absolutely Truly even made an appearance!) I loved the setting; Camp Lovejoy and the little girls Emma, Jess, Megan, Cassidy and Becca watch out for are cheeky and charming! Buuuut I did miss Concord and the crazy mothers and all. The book also didn’t take place in a span of a year as the others do; instead it’s a mere seven weeks. That said: this was the perfect setting and opportunity to bring the MDBC series to a close. In one final farewell, even the girls get emotional. I liked it a lot because the ending gave me a lot more closure than the (originally planned!) ending in Wish You Were Eyre.

The antics the girls find themselves in at camp are just as funny and interesting as the rest of the books! As I said before, the little girls in the cabins the crew is in charge of are so adorable! I loved the fact that the book club gets their girls together for a mini book club, because it was sweet that now THEY’RE leading the group. It made me wonder if perhaps they’ll start a book club of their own when they have daughters. (Hey Heather, make a spin off series would you??) (How AWESOME would that be?! My daughter would be reading that, for sure.)

And the girls! Same personalities, same friendly girls we’ve known through all 7 books. We meet Mirror Megan again, and Cassidy’s final score at the end of every chapter. They’re all still very much the same, yet they’ve grown so much in a subtle but clear way. (After all, you can’t expect them to be the same from 12-18 years old.) It makes the books very realistic and Heather does such a good job at that, while also making the books relatable and fun for readers of all ages. I know I’d have loved this as much as I do now several years ago and I doubt I’ll like this book any less four years from now when I’m the girls’ age in the book.’

The ending was as perfect as it can get. It was final, and I was SO happy to see the girls with a future I could be happy with – it wasn’t quite so unknown as in Wish You Were Eyre, yet also left just enough up to my imagination. Camp Lovejoy even inspired one of the girls into a career I can definitely see her in. It was such a sweet and satisfying ending; I know all of you will love it as much as I did and I can’t for you to read it as well!

five stars. ★★★★★

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