Book Review: The Super Life of Ben Braver

Title: The Super Life of Ben Braver
Author: Marcus Emerson
ATOS BL: 4.1
Interest Level: Middle Grade, Grades 4 to 8

This is my son's new favorite.

I like how it's written. If you put yourself in the shoes of an 11-year-old (as is the lead character), the settings, the habits, the choice of words and sentence structure is relatable.

It can be a bit dark...

Quote 1:
"Dear Diary,
Today I died.
Sincerely,
Ben "

...but it's also very funny...

Quote 2: "BTW, peanut butter cups are my fave. I love them, but... would I marry one? Probably not, but only because my second love, the PB&J sammie, would get jelly. Get it? Jelly?"

Call me shallow but I laughed out loud on that one 🤣

...with lessons to be learned...

Quote 3: "Being a superhero is more than having powers -- it's about the struggles and the choices heroes have to make. It's about deciding to do the right thing even when the right thing is the hardest thing to do."

The Silent Patient - Book Review

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is, by far, the best mystery/thriller book I have ever read (so far that my sometimes-forgetful-38-year-old-brain can remember 😅 )

I didn't see the hype prior to reading this book so my review is not influenced by the media hype. This book was totally new to me when I walked inside Barnes and Noble. I was in there to browse for whatever new books they have and I just happened to see this book in one of their shelves marked Mystery/Thriller. I read the synopsis and I thought it was interesting. So I grabbed it ☺

Alicia is an artist who was convicted for the murder of her own husband. Because she had not, literally, spoken nor uttered a single word since after the murder, authorities deemed her mentally ill. So they put her in a mental facility instead of putting her in prison with other murderers. She was being treated by her psychotherapist, Dr. Theo Faber. The story rolled from there. I don't want to give out anymore details but to give an idea of what it's about, look up ALCESTIS.

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Ada Twist, Scientist - Book Review

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a good book for kids and parents alike.
I would say that parents will learn more from this book than their kids will.
Kids are already curious by nature. This book is reiterating that parents need to have tons of patience and understanding when the house gets messy because their curious kids like to experiment on things.

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Waiting for the Magic - Book Review

Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am 38 years old and I LOVE this book because the conflict and the main setting is a scenario that is very real. The father left the family and the children struggled, emotionally. Smart mom adopted 4 dogs and a cat to help them through these tough emotional times. However, there's also the fantasy aspect where the pets can communicate to any humans who believe in magic. Who doesn't like talking animals? Maybe I'm just really a kid at heart. :)

This book uses strong negative words like hate and stupid but the author makes sure that this gets addressed and resolved.

Lessons that kids will learn after reading this book:
1. Forgiveness - not just forgiving the person who had done them wrong but also acknowledging their own mistakes and apologizing for them
2. Importance of family and looking out for each other
3. Emotional maturity



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The Woman in the Window - Book Review

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was very slow. The building of the character and her daily routine is repeated on the first (maybe) 144 pages. I found myself flipping and skipping through pages to get to the exciting part. I was like "ok.. I got it already!". I almost gave up. What kept me going was the tag line "soon to be a major motion picture".

Anyway, once the exciting part came, it was fast-paced from then on.
I still was disappointed about the ending. I kind of predicted it. I was also disappointed about the lack of explanation as to how the two officers eventually believed the woman in the window.

(view spoiler)[
Remember, the two officers, in the beginning, had a hard time believing her because of her condition. I think that the author should have spent time or pages writing how the investigation went after the teenager fell from the rooftop and how his father admitted to the crime.
(hide spoiler)]

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Stellaluna - Book Review

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My kids and I love this book.
Lessons learned from the story is what we need to apply in this era of diversity:
Understanding and accepting each other's differences
- What's right for you does not necessarily mean it's also right for others and vice versa
- We can be friends despite our differences

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Henry's Freedom Box - Book Review

Wonderfully written and well illustrated. This is a true story about Henry Brown, a slave who mailed himself in a wooden crate to a "place where there are no slaves" (Pennsylvania).
This is a good book to teach kids about black history. It opened up discussions with the kids about compassion and bravery.

My 6 year-old son said: I was scared for him. It almost made me cry when his children were sold as slaves but I am still happy because he found his freedom in the end.