A Shooting Star: A Novel about Annie Oakley by Sheila Solomon

A Shooting Star: A Novel about Annie Oakley by Sheila Solomon

This is a novel, as the title clearly states, however Sheila Solomon Klass includes a bibliography of her sources at the end, showing her extensive resources, and clarifying which facts and characters are real and which are composites or fictionalized. I found out many things about Annie, one of the first being that she changed her name (even before she was in the Wild West show). I also learned that she was the daughter of a practicing Quaker mother, and that due to poverty and other family circumstances, she had to be sent to the Infirmary, which was a repository for orphans and other children whose parents could not care for them. Annie's surprising talent of shooting, and the way she uses it, is covered throughout the book. As one might imagine, it was frowned upon as unladylike in the late 1800's when she lived:

Proper girls did not ever shoot. That was the rule. I thought it was a silly rule. I still think so. Silly because I can't see any reason to stop a person who has talent just because that person is a girl. Ma herself was the one who first named mine. A shooting talent.Who says that boys are the only ones allowed to have talents and use them?

Because big issues such as poverty and cruelness (which is contrasted with kindness) are covered and lend themselves to discussion, and because of the first-person narration, it is an excellent read-aloud book. When I read this scene, I looked over at my daughter and saw her wheels turning, and so we took a moment to discuss it:

I heard the two of them talking softly by the fireside long into the night. I heard that word mortgage, mortgage, mortgage whispered over and over, fearfully. Mortgage is the second worst word in the English language. The first worst word is death.

I would recommend this as a read-aloud for ages eight and up, and as a stand-alone book for ten and up. It's one children's novel that I think that adults would really enjoy on their own as well (which is another reason it's such a strong candidate for a read-aloud).There's one problem with this novel that was published in 1996--it's out of print. However, there are some used copies available at Amazon, and I found it in my public library, where they had several copies. It was such an enjoyable book that I didn't want to let this stop me from recommending it.

This review was written and submitted by Jennifer.

Regular Reviewer (see bio in the sidebar)

Snapshot

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

Jordan Sonnenblick is one my new favorite authors. This past week I read DRUMS, GIRLS & DANGEROUS PIE and I loved it.

Steven is a young teen--an eighth grader--who is about to face the toughest year of his life. In October, his younger brother (5 or 6???) is diagnosed with a serious life-threatening illness: leukemia. Suddenly, Steven's life is out of control. He's expected to behave much like before: go to school, do his homework, take his weekly drum lessons, practice for his All-Star Jazz Band...but he has even more responsibilities to shoulder. Now he has to tend for himself while his mom and brother are out of town a good percentage of the time. He has to deal with the fact that his father is emotionally shutting down and isolating himself from his family. He has to deal with the knowledge that his annoying little brother may not live very long. His brother's requests for games and attention can't be swept away and filed under "bothersome" any more. After facing days and weeks of horrible medical procedures, how can Steven be cruel and refuse to play a couple of games a night? And how can he beat his brother? Shouldn't his brother be allowed to win something at the end of the day. Yes, life is full of changes for Steven.

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie is the story of how he copes with those changes and becomes a stronger, more compassionate young man because of it.

Here's a taste of the writing:

"Inside the dance, I found a bunch of my friends standing around in a corner. It suddenly struck me that the two worst social situations in middle school--dances and dodgeball--had a lot in common for guys like me. You go to the gym, stand in a corner as far away from the action as possible, and try not to be seen. Your eyes scan the room for threats--either flying projectiles aimed at your head or girls aimed at mortifying you by getting you out on the floor--and you sweat profusely while standing still. Also,you're wearing clothing that embarrasses you, and you feel like everybody else is better at this game than you are. And in both situations, you desperately hope that some miracle will occur to bring you glory, but you're too scared to attempt to do anything that might actually achieve any recognition. Oh yeah, dances and dodgeball: the two Ds of my middle school nightmares."

From DRUMS, GIRLS & DANGEROUS PIE by Jordan Sonnenblick, p. 94-95

This review was written and submitted by Becky L.
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You can read Jordan Sonnenblick's blog here. It will also be added to the sidebar with the other Delicious Author Blogs.

Happy Weekending! And thanks for visiting Clean Reads.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

If you like clean books that are utterly un-put-down-able, the first book I recommend reading is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. If you haven't read it yet, get thee to the bookstore! If you have read it, make sure you check out the page about Twilight the Movie.


In Stephenie Meyer's first book, Bella moves to her dad's house in the gloomy little town of Forks where everyone knows everyone. The students at Bella's new high school are fascinated by her, but her fascination is centered on the Cullen family. In Bella's words, "I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrused pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful--maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy."

Thus begins the tale of Bella and Edward, dear perfect Edward. I don't want to give anything away about this book. (In fact, I'm totally jealous of you if you haven't read it yet. You get to experience this romance for the first time.) But I will say this, although this is a "vampire love story", it appeals to readers who have never read or cared about vampires before. In fact, Stephenie Meyer calls it "a vampire book for people who don't like vampire books", and she claims to have never read a vampire book or seen a vampire movie prior to writing Twilight. It all came to her one night in a dream.

In short, Twilight is a tremendous tale of unrequited love. But it is not only a love story. There are also intense vampire chases, threats to loved ones, and hilariously clever day-to-day life experiences.

Twilight is the first book in the series. New Moon comes next. Eclipse will be released late summer 2007. And more are in the works. Hurray for that!

Recommended Readers: 14 and up. This book will appeal to adults.


I had the chance to hear Stephenie Meyer speak at BYU recently. You can see my notes here at my other blog. And here is a top ten list I created after reading Twilight.

How to be a Contributor for Clean Reads

HOW DO I SUBMIT TO CLEAN READS?

Anyone can submit a review to me by email at emykate03(AT)yahoo(DOT)com (Please change the AT and DOT to symbols). Just copy the review into the body of the email with the title and author in the subject line.

Reviews should describe what the book is basically about and share the reviewer's feelings about the book. You may cross-post any reviews you write at your own site, if you would like. At Clean Reads, your review will appear with your byline and a link to your personal blog/website if you have one and would like a link.

If you contribute reviews regularly, your reviewer status will be noted. Along with your name, I will write that you are a regular contributor. I will also include short bios about frequent contributors in the sidebar. Please fill out the questionnaire at the end of this post if you will be contributing at least one review per month.


WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR CLEAN READS?

All reviewed books at Clean Reads must be free of swearing and sex (including thinking or talking about sex in an explicit manner.) I know that profanity is a bit subjective. A book may qualify as a Clean Read if it has five or less "strong words found in the Bible" (i.e. da**, he**, and a**). Any curse words besides these "strong words found in the Bible" automatically disqualify the book for Clean Read status. If you are not sure if a word is considered profanity, please email me. I do not consider names of body parts profanity. Just make sure they are NOT used in an explicit sexual manner.

Clean Reads may contain magic, fantasy, romance, kissing, adventure, mystery, suspense, science fiction, religion, serious issues, etc.

Please use wise judgement with topics such as drug use, alcohol, racism, violence or dark subject matter. If you'd feel uncomfortable recommending a book to a very prudish grandma, it probably doesn't belong on Clean Reads!

Essentially, if books were rated as movies, we'd only accept reviews of G and PG books (and yes, even some PGs have more swearing/innuendos than we allow here at Clean Reads). If you aren't sure if a book is Clean Read material, you can email me at any time and note any passages in question that may render the book inappropriate for our site.

Clean Reads may be from any genre of novel-length fiction. Please include a recommended age group after your review. (i.e. Recommended Readers: 12 and up)

Clean Reads will accept reviews of Christian books as well as books about other religions. However, I do not want Clean Reads to become exclusive to any particular religion, so I will try to space these books out among other genres.

I understand that some people are opposed to fantasy. We respect that. Please feel free to find recommendations by clicking Realistic Fiction in the sidebar.

For the most part, reviews will be posted in the order in which I receive them. I may on occasion move a review forward if I feel there is a reason to do so.

AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

We would love interviews with writers who tend to write clean books. Anyone can do these interviews as well. Email them to me. Again, they can be cross-posted.


If you have any other ideas for the site, please let me know.

THE QUESTIONNAIRE

If you would like to be a regular contributor, please fill out the following questionnaire and email it to me:

1. How often will you contribute reviews?

2. How many novels do you read in an average month?

3. What genres do you usually read?

4. Will you contribute author interviews?

5. Do you have a blog/website that you would like us to link to with your reviews/interviews?

6. If you will email me a minimum of one review each month, please write a short bio for me to include in the sidebar.

Thank you!

Clean Reads list on Amazon

I started a list on Amazon, made up of my favorite Clean Reads that came to me off the top of my head. This list will be updated every time I find a delicious book that qualifies for Clean Read status.

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
A clean, engaging love story with a dreamy vampire. I was completely obsessed with this book.

2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
sequel to Twilight. Equally wonderful and engaging.

3. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
An enchanting fantasy including: kidnap, love, betrayal, and royalty. This one has all the good stuff.

4. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The first of the Bayern books. A fractured fairy tale. Hale's fantasy world is absolutely delicious.

5. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
Second Bayern book. In my opinion, even better than the first.

6. River Secrets by Shannon Hale
Third Bayern book. Told from Razo's perspective. A funny, unique viewpoint character.

7. Letters for Emily by Camron Wright
A tale of a married couple finding love again. Death, trust, divorce, marriage, and gold-digging all play a part in this wonderfully written novel.

8. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
A masterpiece by Scott Westerfeld. Clean and compelling. Science fiction for those who don't like science fiction. Delicious.

9. Hope was Here by Joan Bauer
Full of hope, love, and politics. This book is inspiring and engaging.

10. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Just like the title offers, this book is enchanting. Fabulous fantasy world. Quite a bit different from the movie.

11. Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans
I love Christmas books and this is one of the best I've read. Excellent cleanread!

12. The Chronicles of Narnia
Truly, if you haven't read this yet, I don't know what to tell you. It is wonderful. Fantasy at its best.

13. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This is a book I'll never tire of.

14. Emma by Jane Austen
Just fun.

15. The Giver by Lois Lowry
An interesting book that is sure to spark interesting discussions.

Why I'm Here

Welcome to my brand-new blog. Here's the gist of why I'm here...

The last few books I have started, I have not been able to finish due to pages full of swearing/sex scenes. It is extremely frustrating to get halfway through a page-turner and find that your conscience will not let you continue. I wish there was a rating system for books similar to movies. Then, I would know not to pick up R-rated books. Few Pg-13s would make my to-be-read list, to be honest.

In other words, I hope this blog will be a valuable resource for people who, like me, want to read clean books. I am a huge advocate for reading. And I hope that this will become a place where many people will feel free to comment, discuss and make recommendations for future clean reads in the novel-length fiction category.

Thanks again for visiting. It may take a few weeks to get started. I will be rounding up some like-minded readers to join in this endeavor.

See you soon!