Category: Reviews by Sarah#Softball

Refugee

By Alan Gratz

Recommended Audience: Upper Middle School

Opinion: STRONGLY recommend- I LOVED this book it’s a page turner

Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: This book talks about three kids in different years: Josef in Berlin, Germany, Isabel in Havana, Cuba ,and Mahmoud in Aleppo, Syria. They all lived through tragic stories with mind-blowing journeys and experiences. The book ends with the all of the characters finding a connection with each other.

Lessons Learned: both sides in a war, struggle and suffer

Advisories: Some of the characters dance, they also mention some Jewish traditions, there is also a lot of gunfire and bloodshed, and one of the characters has a girlfriend but they don’t do anything inappropriate together.

The In-Between

by Rebecca K.S. Ansari

Recommended Audience: Middle School+

Opinion: Recommended w/ Advisories

Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: Cooper’s sister Jess finds an unsolved mystery online about a deadly train crash that happened a hundred years ago. But one passenger was never identified and the only clue about him was a logo on his jacket. Then they find out that the girl that just moved next door has the same logo on her jacket! Cooper and his sister team up to find the truth about the girl.

Lessons learned: The feeling of a boy whose dad died

Advisories: In this book they mention a place called “The In-Between” which is supposed to be between life and the afterlife

ADMIN NOTE: A major setting of this is a time/space known as the “in-between” that is between life and the afterlife. Parents are encouraged to have a discussion with their child about the Islamic concept of the barzakh (the stage between life and the afterlife) to clarify and reinforce Islamic theological concepts in juxtaposition to this book.

My Side Of The Mountain

Recommended Audience: Middle Grades +

Opinion: Recommended

Rating: 8.5/10 — I enjoyed this book, it was entertaining and fun to read.

Synopsis: Sam runs away to the mountains from his family’s crowded apartment, with just five small items. There he must rely upon himself and the great outdoors to survive.

Lessons Learned: Skills used in nature and the bond made between nature and a boy.

Advisories: In this book there is nothing of concern except for guns mentioned to shoot deer

Note: This list of advisories is not exhaustive and may not capture every instance of questionable content, but rather is intended to give an overall sense of the content of the book.