SSOJ Blogs

WARNING: AS THIS IS THE 4th BOOK IN THIS SERIES, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST 3 BOOKS. The Penderwicks in Spring by Jane Birdsall is the fourth in a series of charming tales about a delightful family of 8. This number has grown since the first book of the series. The family originally introduced to us being made up of Mr. Penderwick, an amazing single father who loves his daughters with all his heart along with his love of Latin which he puts to use from time to time. His lovely wife died soon after the youngest Penderwick was born, due to Cancer. Rosalind is the oldest sister, and as such she took on a sort of motherly role for Batty, the youngest, always putting her to bed and walking her to school. Rosalind was always Batty's favorite sister very much and it still shows in this book. Rosalind is a freshman in College and Batty is literally counting down the days until Rosalind will return home. Skye is the next oldest, now a senior in high school, there is no less...

          The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse is an extremely captivating book that mixes historical fiction with a hint of mystery. The book begins in January of 1943 in Amsterdam, after the Nazis invaded. The main character, Hanneke Bakker, is a tall eighteen year old girl with blonde hair and green, angry eyes. Hanneke hates the Nazis, especially because the boy she loved, Bas, died fighting against them two years before. Hanneke is a black market worker who illegally finds extra rations of food or rare things like cigarettes or real coffee for wealthy people who are willing to pay. Hanneke does this work on top of a secretary job because both her parents are unable to work. One day, a widow named Mrs. Janssen asks Hanneke to find something much more difficult than stroopwafels or bacon, she asks her to find a person. For a few days Mrs. Janssen had been helping hide a young Jewish girl named Mirjam who ran away after her family was shot and killed. ...

Heartless by Marissa Meyer is a book that follows Catherine Pinkerton, an aspiring baker, and the predicaments she finds herself in. Catherine, who goes by Cath, is the daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove, a distinguished family. After attending a party, she meets the King of Hearts, a rather dim man looking for a wife. His new court jester, Jest, is a clever boy who impresses the crowd at the King of Heart’s party (especially Cath). The King of Hearts takes a liking to Cath immediately and decides he wants to propose on the spot at his party. However, the last thing Cath wants to do it get married, all she wants to do is open a bakery with her best friend. So, she pleads her talking cat, Cheshire, to somehow stop him from announcing it. At the last minute, Cheshire causes a distraction, stopping the King and allowing Cath to escape. Later that night, a beast called the Jabberwock attacks the party, causing Cath’s parents to return home early, relieved to see t...

First published in 1929, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is set on the Italian front of World War I. It follows Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver serving with the Italian Army as a tenente, or lieutenant. The novel focuses on the romance between him and Catherine Barkley, who is an English nurse who lost her fiancé to the war. The book is divided into five different sections, the first of which depicts Frederic’s life on the battlefield and his first experiences with Catherine. Initially, he is uninterested in Catherine and only plans to use her as comfort during the hardships of the war. However, in the second section of the book he begins to fall in love with Catherine and genuinely care for her. I won’t spoil the specific details, but essentially Frederic gets wounded at one point in the novel and is hospitalized. He then ends up in the same hospital and is under Catherine’s care. In the following sections, their love for each other grows as the war develops. ...