To Look a Nazi in the Eye by Kathy Kacer, Jordana Lebowitz

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

To Look at Nazi in the Eye - Could you imagine doing just that?

Jordana Lebowitz was nineteen when she traveled to Germany and witnessed the trial of Oskar Groening, known as the bookkeeper of Auschwitz. At the time of his trial, Oskar was 94. Proving his guilt when he didn't directly cause death with his own two hands would not be an easy feat. This trial would set a precedent - you can be found guilty of murder if you contributed to the "death machine" without actually killing anyone.

Kathy is an established author of books that bring the history of The Holocaust to readers of all ages.  Jordana Lebowitz was a teenager who found her mission in life at a young age during a visit to The Holocaust memorial. On said visit, she connected with living survivors, made lasting friendships with them, and thus began her journey to become a voice of history to future generations. Kathy Kacer, includes actual blogs written by Jordana during the time of the trial in 2015. Throughout this story we can click on any number of footnotes to see the true articles and facts.

"As I prepare to leave I am left to wonder: How can we help patch the world back together stitch by stitch into a patchwork of peace, and truly ensure Never Again?"

The witness testimonies are not word for word accurate to the trial, but they are written from true accounts of the survivors. Each of them was a child living an ordinary life. Each of them slowly saw their lives impacted by increased regulations and control over Jewish people. Their stories were heart wrenching and yet they're only three of the millions of stories of this time period. Their courage to continuously retell their stories is admirable. Even the word admirable is an understatement. They take it as their duty to keep reliving their pain as a tribute to all of the others who are not here to do the same.

This story was near perfect for me. I don't want to admit my reason for dropping it to a 4.5 star rating but I will. I didn't connect with the main character, Jordana. It's terrible to say because she is a real person, she has a relationship with the author and worked closely with her to develop this book. How could I not connect with her? She just didn't seem real. I didn't feel like the character's actions were realistic. Her interactions with the judge and with Oskar during the trial didn't feel real. I found myself thinking, "that would never really happen". From what I read in the acknowledgements, it very likely did happen as it was told. Kathy Kacer and Jordana Lebowitz talked for years, Kacer interviewed the survivors who testified, so it must be very close to accurate. So, I feel terrible that I doubted her personality throughout the story. Maybe I'm a little bit blinded by the young people I know personally?

Kudos to Jordana!

A young person who is so passionate about the survival of history, and is so altruistic, it just doesn't seem like she could be real. The beautiful truth is that she is a real woman who is truly on a mission to better the world. History should not be allowed to repeat itself. We should not become so disconnected from the harsh reality of history that we can pretend it never happened. Millions of people died of all ages and I am certain they never would have believed that their coming fate would be possible. Today, I can't fathom being separated from my children and forced to work under torturous conditions. That is the reality that far too many people endured. I applaud Jordana Lebowitz for enduring such emotional turmoil and stress so that she can shoulder the story of her ancestors. She is a person of action who wants to ensure that this never happens again.

Find the Good by Heather Lende

Find the Good was a sweet and easy read that inspired to do as the title says, find the good. I found the book while scrolling through my local eLibrary’s selection of self-help books. I was feeling a little down and knew that I needed a mental boost. I was searching for something that wasn’t written by a doctor (no offense to them) and that would just brighten up my gloomy feeling days. The cover was fun with a bright lemon, and I realized the premise was perfect immediately.

Heather Lende writes obituaries in a small town in Alaska. This offers a unique look into the accomplishments and regrets of people she is sometimes close to, or otherwise is at least acquainted. Lende’s process of writing an obituary includes a formal outfit and extreme kindness for the family she must interview after the passing of their loved one. In one of the stories she shares, she begins to write for a woman who hasn’t yet passed away. Faced with terminal illness, the woman could speak to her own obituary. This may seem like a downright depressing read, but it is the opposite. The people that Lende chose to share in this story led both interesting and meaningful lives, and yet they were “ordinary”. None of them were famous, their names won’t be written into history books, but they made an impact on the world through the lives of others in this small Alaskan town.

Lende also shares important moments in her own life with her own husband, children, grandchildren, and quirky pets. Including a cat that she should have been allergic too and didn’t plan to acquire. The result of this book is a smile and personal reflection. This author is a grandmother that has lived through the seasons and has her own wisdom to share. She also has the lessons she’s learned from many other people’s life accomplishments that she's had the honor of documenting.

The reason this book spoke to me is because of where these messages came from. Whenever I get upset about the mess in my house, or that I don’t own my house, I remind myself that I don’t want to be known as the woman who kept life clean and orderly. No one will care if my house was always clean and whether I owned or rented the house. I want people to remember me as kind and compassionate. I want to have a meaningful impact on people so that they can have a little more sunshine in their own journeys on earth. Find the Good, teaches us to look for the good in ordinary life. Little normal actions can have big positive ripples.

"Find the good, praise the good, and do good, because you are still able to and because what moves your heart will remain long after you are gone..."
- Heather Lende

It Started With Goodbye by Christine June

It Started With Goodbye tells the “Cinderella” story of a girl named Tatum who is grounded all summer for an unfortunate situation that happened between her best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend. She played an unknowing part in a crime and had to pay a hefty fine and community service for her trouble. Like a Cinderella story, she has a step-mother whom she calls her “step-monster”. Her step-sister is quiet and cold to Tatum. So naturally she feels isolated regularly except her new punishment has heightened that feeling. The role of “fairy godmother” is played by Tatum’s step-grandma who is staying for the summer to help monitor Tatum’s daily actions while her dad is out of the country.

She sends a lot of emails with people over the summer, including her mystery “prince” named SK, and each time this happens we aren’t alerted to the switch between email and story line. This might seem minor but it really interrupted the flow of reading the story. A different font, or italics would have been nice here. I was a little surprised that we didn’t see more text message dialogue in this story of teenage juniors in high school.

The story is fairly predictable. 

Once you tell someone it will be a Cinderella story you pick up on who is who in the story very fast. It isn’t hard to determine who in her family also has a secret. Also too easy to guess what the secret would be. The mystery boy “SK” was an obvious one. I know that was a little unavoidable in a book. It was also obvious as soon as she lost her key chain (the glass slipper in this case) that she would be getting it back in the end of the story, as well as how it would be returned to her.

I enjoyed following Tatum around through her troubled summer. I related to her days of manual labor because I spent one day at a wildlife reserve pulling plants for a college project requirement. The one day was enough, so I sympathized with her story of a whole summer in this labor. The moment she meets SK is sweet and just the right level of teen summer romance. I could remember being a teen and that innocent fun when getting to know your crush. That is about where I started to lose interest though. Being a mother myself, I didn’t believe the makeup moment between Tatum and her dad. Without revealing the story, I’ll say that it didn’t feel realistic in the way it happened. Also unrealistic (in my opinion) was the turnaround of the step-monster. It was too much and too quickly for a real person. Overall, the adults and their methods of parenting just weren’t quite realistic to me. Perhaps I need to broaden my parenting horizons. :)

All in all, a good read for the teenage audience. I think they could relate to Tatum and her angst. I’m sure several teens will identify with her. Hopefully they’ll appreciate her growth and maturity toward the end of the story.

Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine

Ash & Quill is the third book in what has recently been revealed by author Rachel Caine to be a five-book series. If you haven’t read the first book “Ink and Bone,” I suggest two things: #1 – read my review, and #2 – definitely read the book.

In Ash & Quill, we are immediately thrown into dire circumstances with our favorite characters. They’ve landed in Philadelphia within the walls of the longest-surviving Burner community. Jess and his friends share a common enemy with the Burners, but that doesn’t make them welcome guests in Philadelphia. In what seems to be a common occurrence for them, Jess and his friends are instantly evaluated for how they can be used. The leader of the burners recognizes them as tools for his resistance against The Library. I worried over each character from the very first page of this story. Caine has you constantly questioning if all of them could possibly survive another day.

“It is a terrible arrogance to think that there are any of humankind who are better or worse, or worth or not.” – The Black Archives

The Great Library holds onto the belief that they need to control what knowledge and information can be shared with the rest of the world. The “black archives” are gone, except for a few books that they managed to save. Within the black archives were many versions of a printing press, as engineered by people who were immediately silenced by The Library. Thomas and Jess are the first team to successfully see such a machine built. The printing press, and the plans for producing more, will be the key to keeping their friends alive and give them a chance to escape America. Unfortunately, their escape from the Burners comes at the cost of lives, and while none of them can accept that, they are forced to quickly move forward regardless.

It is on the journey back to London from America that Jess Brightwell begins plotting, secretly from his friends. Everyone in their group expects to build another press and use it/the design plans to take on The Library, but Jess has anticipated the moves of others. Not just the moves of his enemies, but of his family and friends. Because of that, Jess sacrifices love and trust by betraying his friends whom he holds closer than his own family. I was practically chanting “Tell them, tell them, stop lying, tell them!” through the last few chapters. As readers, we don’t know the details of Jess’ plan (betrayal) until it unravels in the final chapter. Let me tell you, I was very shocked at how it played out.

We won’t know if Jess’ sacrifice was worth it until the next book. We don’t even know if everyone survived the night! The book ends with only a few of the characters in place. Seriously, the “not knowing” is driving me crazy!

Rachel Caine is a brilliant author, so it is no surprise that she has created such brilliant characters. Each of them are well developed and deeply connected to each other which leaves the reader deeply connected to their whole troupe. Kudos to Caine for her care and attention to the diversity of the people in this series. From the beautiful grace of Khalila Seif, to the arrogant aristocrat Dario Santiago, to the gentle giant Thomas Schreiber; These kids are of all colors, sizes, preference, and none of it is forced in the writing. It is just a normal part of who they are and I love that.

If you love books, which you must because you’re reading book reviews, you MUST read this series. It’s a book about books! Ash & Quill comes out July 11, 2017. You have enough time to start or re-read the series – get going!

The Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Etta remembered being pushed through a barrier of loud buzzing noise at a New York museum, but she woke on a rocking ship in the middle of the ocean.

Henrietta (Etta) Spencer is a 17-year-old girl from New York in present time. She is forced into traveling back in time to 1776, a talent/trait she was unaware she possessed. Etta wakes up to find herself a Passenger on a ship. She soon after is forced to travel to varying times and places in search of an important artifact that has been lost for many years. The artifact was hidden so well that important factions of time travelers are all battling each other to find it first. Etta, unskilled and untrained, has to find in order to save the life of her mother and be able to return to her own time.

She finds an ally in Nicholas Carter, the captain of the ship she first lands on. While Nicholas is liked and respected by his crew, he is widely disrespected by all of society in 1776 because of his mixed race. This adds an interesting layer to the story. Etta is not bothered by his skin color, but Nicholas is naturally conscious of it throughout their travels in time. She comes from a time period that isn’t perfect but is far more accepting of interracial couples. Nicholas can’t quite fathom that such a thing is possible in any time or place.

Nicholas and Etta naturally grow close and develop feelings for each other. Together they face several instances where other time travelers and time guardians are trying to capture and/or kill them. At one point they find themselves stuck in Paris during WWII. Needless to say there is plenty of adventure in this story. What’s the catch then? Etta wants to destroy the artifact, but Nicholas doesn’t. He has a secret of his own. He has an alternative reason for helping Etta track it down through time and places. Their relationship will be tested when they both are forced to reveal their secrets. Even if they could move forward past betrayal on both sides, which one of them will sacrifice their whole existence for the other?

Kudos to Alexandra Bracken!

It was refreshing to see the complexities of an interracial couple. It is not often enough that I see these relationships portrayed in books, movies, commercials, etc. This isn’t important to everyone, but being half of an interracial couple, it is important to me.

Side note: Her amazing “Darkest Minds” series is currently filming a movie adaption.