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ClareR (5879 KP) rated Q: The Novel in Books

Jul 11, 2021  
Q: The Novel
Q: The Novel
Christina Dalcher | 2020 | Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Q is set in the near future - or even an alternative ‘Now’. To say that this made me feel supremely uncomfortable would be an understatement. I kept picking it up, reading a bit, and then putting it down - until I got to the last half of the book where I basically inhaled it.

As a parent and a teacher, I found this novel really disturbing. The author has taken where we are now in our education system, and ramped it up to its most exaggerated end point. And it still didn’t seem completely over the top.

In Q’s reality, children are divided up in to their academic ability and put into one of three tiered schools - Silver, Green or Yellow. It’s a relatively new system, and for teacher Elena Fairchild, it’s a dream to teach in a top tier school, where the children are all motivated and high achieving. But when Elena’s youngest daughter is demoted from a Green to a Yellow school, Elena’s loyalty to the education system starts to disintegrate. And when her husband, who works in a senior position in the education department, refuses to save his daughter from being sent hundreds of miles away to a Yellow State boarding school, Elena decides to act.

Ooh, how I loved this. Yes, it’s uncomfortable reading. Yes, it has Eugenics written large all over it (And Elena’s grandmother even warns her and tells her about her youth under the Nazi regime). And yes, it’s uncomfortably close to reality.
But it was a gripping read with a satisfying end. I would recommend it!
  
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Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated The Orphanage of Miracles (The Orphanage of Miracles, #1) in Books

Jan 12, 2018  
TO
The Orphanage of Miracles (The Orphanage of Miracles, #1)
Amy Neftzger | 2013
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What an incredible journey [Amy Neftzger] takes us on in [The Orphanage of Miracles]! As a public school teacher as a got to the end it seemed to me an allegory for what is happening to our education system. That even though they have good intentions, the people in charge are stifling "miracles". You can not have success without failure, it is how we learn.

Of course I may be reading too much into this as I have a tendency to do when I am passionate about something. The "quest" of Kelsey helped her to grow. At the same time the "questioning" of Maggie, Nicholas, and Jovan helped them free themselves.

I definitely recommend this book! Never stop growing miracles
  
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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Nightmares! (Nightmares!, #1) in Books

Jan 15, 2018  
N(
Nightmares! (Nightmares!, #1)
Jason Segel | 2014
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book. Being a teacher i saw it splashed throughout our book fair & I. The Scholastic book orders so I decided to give it a try. It is definitely aimed at a late elementary early middle school set. It started off a bit slow in my opinion, but the last half hooked me & I flew through it. It tells the story of Charlie & his "stepmonster" who of course, turns out to be not nearly as witchy as he thought. It has great themes for a preteen audience & the story flows nicely. It's supposed to be the first in a series but it ended satisfyingly so we will see. I'd keep reading the, though.
  
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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated A Hundred Veils in Books

Sep 6, 2017  
A Hundred Veils
A Hundred Veils
Rea Keech | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good pacing, wonderful descriptions (0 more)
Pretty good book
So the book is set at the very beginning of the Iranian Revolution – Marco is an American English teacher who’s come to Iran for a year. While there, he falls in love with his roommate’s cousin. The book is really their love story, while surrounded by political and religious unrest.

The writing is excellent. I’m sure I would get more out of the book if I could read Farsi, as each chapter is begun by a few lines of poetry in Farsi, written in both Arabic script and English letters. But the pacing is perfect, the descriptions apt – I really enjoyed this book.

Read my full review at https://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/book-review-a-hundred-veils/
  
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ALilLacey (2 KP) rated Trapped in Books

Mar 4, 2019  
T
Trapped
Michael Northrop | 2011
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
How do a group of students survive after being trapped in their high school after a huge blizzard that never seems to let up? The story line and characters of the book seemed to react appropriately to the situation at hand with different cliques and personalities. I only had a few issues with how they would react like having your teacher go out in the snow storm and he never returns but nobody seems to be very concerned that he's probably dead? I think the girl's especially would be freaking out about this. Other than that and what seemed to be a slightly rushed ending this is a great book for young adults giving them a mix of suspense and survival.