Brown Girl Dreaming By: Jacqueline Woodson

Synopsis:

Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become. 

Rating: ★★★★

Review:

"But on paper, things can live forever. On paper, a butterfly never dies."

     I really enjoyed reading this autobiography in the format that this is written in. Being written in verse really made this book go by faster than what a normal biography or autobiography would. I loved the fact that I after reading this I feel like I know Jacqueline personally and like I've know her and her family all my life. I thought it was awesome to have the family photos at the end, which made it so much more personal than any other autobiography that I've read. 

     Jacqueline really opened the door and let all of her readers into her world, her histories, and her memories. I recommend this to everyone because it really shows you from a child's point of view, how the world worked and how the world affected a whole society during this huge time of change in America. 

Night Shift By: B. R. Meyers

Synopsis:

At Willard's department store, none of the night security guards survive for long, and eighteen-year-old Daniel Gale is about to discover why. 

Tired of living out of his backpack, he ignores the clerk's gossip about the old building being haunted and accepts the latest vacated position of night guard. On his first shift Daniel narrowly escapes a fatal fall down an elevator shaft and is rescued by Mary—a bossy and intriguing girl far too beautiful for after hours inventory. 

Anticipating every night shift as a chance to be with her, Daniel thinks his traveling days are over hoping that Manhattan is the place to call home. But as his life becomes more entwined with Willard's, Daniel senses unnatural changes and bizarre coincidences both with Mary and the store itself. Soon he begins to suspect Willard's is hiding something more sinister than gossip about ghosts—something that could make him the next casualty of the NIGHT SHIFT.

Publishing Co.: Backlit PR
Rating:★★★

Review:

**I received this e-ARC from Netgalley and Backlit PR in exchange for my honest review**

     Based on the synopsis I thought something really creepy and dangerous was going on. I really thought I was going to see someone die or at least get seriously injured, leading to the brink of death, but I was wrong. This book wasn't scary at all I was hit with more of the curious factor than actual fear, which kind of disappointed me. 

     Now don't get me wrong, what was actually going on at Willard's was a really good concept but I felt like it could have been executed better. I started to get bored in the middle of the story to the point where I just had the "lets just get it over with" attitude, and that's not the best feeling to have while reading a book that you want to enjoy.

     Going beyond the plot of the story I did feel connected with the characters. I felt bad for Mary and the crew being stuck in the situation that they were in, I really just wanted to see them get out and be free.

     This story had a weird concept which was different in a good way but it was sadly very predictable  in various spots throughout the book and the concept, in my opinion, could have been handled a lot better.

A Midsummer Night's Dream By: William Shakespeare

Synopsis:

Shakespeare's intertwined love polygons begin to get complicated from the start--Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of laborers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding (one of whom is given a donkey's head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny.

Rating:★★★★😊

Review:

I am shocked by how much I liked this book/play simply because this is my first work of Shakespeare that I have read on my own, without it being required reading for school. I went into this not know anything about it except that it's not a very popular piece of literature that you hear about like you would Hamlet, Macbeth, or Romeo and Juliet, which made this all the more exciting to read.

This is a comedy set in ancient Athens, Greece and it is a very magical, mythological time period seeing that there are faeries that wield magic and the Duke referring to be Hercules's cousin. I really enjoyed the drama in the retrospect of blood apparently not being thicker than water to some characters, who are willing to sacrifice those that won't jump when they say jump. 

I hated Helena because she was so soft and let anyone, let alone a man, make her feel lower than dirt. She was willing to do anything to and betray anyone to be accepted by Demetrius.

The six stooges who were given the task of putting on a play for the Duke's wedding were too much for me. At some times they were so dumb it was funny but at others I was left scratching my head wondering how some can be so dumb.  

But in general this was a very short and a simple romantic drama that I would widely recommend to anyone that is venturing out into Shakespeare or into classics in general.