The Ostrich and Other Lost Things by Beth Hautala

Olivia is exceptional at finding things, she gets a lead in Peter Pan, her new friend is blind, and she keeps finding the zoo’s runaway ostrich!

Age Range: 10 and up 
Grade Level: 5 - 6
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Philomel Books (February 20, 2018)

Olivia is an eleven year old who has a special knack for finding things, but when her autistic older brother loses his toy ostrich, she can't find it and fears that his condition will get worse.  The family revolves around taking care of her brother Jacob and Olivia dreams of more for her summer. Her favorite story, Peter Pan has open auditions for a summer theater and Olivia is offered the lead. However, she is concerned when her parents insist that Jacob also participate in the play. A temporary zoo moves into town for the summer and Olivia ends up befriending the zookeeper's son, who is blind, as well as helping a runaway ostrich who ends up in her yard in the middle of the night throughout the summer. All events tie together to help Olivia and her family learn and grow as they navigate having a child who has autism that they love but are not sure what is best for him. 

KIds who have an interest in theater will enjoy this story as well as those who deal with a family member or classmate with autism. This book is a coming of age story of a girl who is learning more about herself and her family challenges in the course of a summer.  Olivia has an interesting summer and it was fun to go along with her on her adventures. I think both boys and girls would enjoy this book.  It is a book about family love and dealing with personal challenges. I think there is much to learn from this story. I give it a 4 out of 4. 

I want to give a shout out to the fact that this author is from my state of Minnesota. I read her previous middle grade book called Waiting for Unicorns and loved it and looked forward reading this one! 

Greetings From Witness Protection by Jake Burt

"You will also maintain regular friendships: do not withdraw or become a loner, deadhead, goth, vamp, emo, punk, or skater." page 61

• Age Range: 10 - 14 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 9
• Reading Level:  5.1
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (October 3, 2017)
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Summary:
Thirteen-year-old Nikki Demere is an orphan and a kleptomaniac, making her the perfect girl to portray the Trevors' daughter in witness protection, but she soon learns that the biggest threat to her new family's security comes from her own past.

This is a fun read. I like reading about witness protection situations. They always involve some suspense and the unbelievable and almost impossible situation of starting over as someone else.  It is never easy. Nikki has never had an normal life and despite her less than desirable upbringing, she is a decent person who has good intentions. Her foster families don't "stick" for various reasons and so when the U.S. Marshals come looking for a potential candidate for their new "family" program, she is selected.  Her job is to become part of a family in order to make it more difficult to find them because of an extra child in the mix. Nikki takes responsibility for this new role and adds her own "skills" of crime she learned at her grandmother's knee to help her family unit. However, things go awry and Nikki ends up becoming noteworthy instead of blending in. 

I recommend this book to grades fourth grade and up. I think it is a great adventure and growing up story that will appeal to both boys and girls. I rate it a 4 out of 4.  

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

“We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us; and it is in the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence.” 

― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Summary: 
Jane, a plain and penniless orphan in nineteenth-century England, accepts employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall and soon finds herself in love with her melancholy employer, Mr. Edward Rochester, a man with a terrible secret.

My book club read Jane Eyre last month and it was a great stretch for me! It was my first time reading this classic. One of our members read the above quote as one she liked. The words comes from a dark time in Jane's life when she has run away and is sleeping out in the wilderness under the stars. Yet she finds comfort because she feels God's presence in her life. 

The book is a Gothic, romantic, mysterious and moral story. It is lengthy and my audio version took about 17 hours. I read the book on my Kindle and synced it up with my audio version from Audible. The words were highlighted as the narrator read to me. The narrator had a great British accent with a smooth and well paced dramatic delivery.  I enjoyed it a great deal.  My vocabulary couldn't match the vocabulary in the book and I had to look up at least one if not more words per page. Our language has certainly changed since this book was written in 1847. I highly recommend using a Kindle and Audible sync if you are reading a book that is difficult. It helped a great deal.  

The book was a bit wordy and I think a modern editor would have had the author shorten up parts of the book. However, there is no doubt that Bronte was a very good writer. Our club also imagined that books were probably longer at that time because people were glad to have a long book to read for their evening entertainment instead of watching something on television!

Yes, I would recommend reading this book but I would advise an audio recording if you are having trouble with the reading process. It helps so much and was quite fun too.  I give this book a 3 out of 4 stars.  I would only recommend this book to those willing to take on a challenge but, if you want to read a classic, this is a great start.  The next adult fiction book I read, coincidentally had a blurb calling it a modern day retelling of Jane Eyre. It was fun to have read the book and determine if that was really a true statement in my eyes.  I will be reviewing that book next! Come back and find out the title!

I watched a British movie from Amazon called Jane Eyre. There were several to choose from and this one was the newest.  I liked it a lot and thought they created a good film version. I highly recommend it. There is another one that I have queued up to watch next.