Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

This week I read Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is one of the best pieces of historical fiction that I've ever read. The book follows three main characters. Bella is a recent Italian Immigrant who comes to New York in hopes of earning money to keep her family in Italy from starvation. Yetta is less recent Russian Jew who, after moving to New York, is caught up in the garment workers' union and the workers' rights movement. And Jane who, although was born a wealthy American, abandons her father and his money believing it to be blood money, earned at the expensive of the immigrant workers. These three fictional characters are caught up in two main events of history - the Uprising of the 20,000 and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

To learn more about the Uprising of the 20,000, click HERE.

Two of the 20,000 Garment Workers striking for workers' rights.

More shirtwaist workers participating in the strike.

To learn more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, click HERE.

Remains of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory after the infamous fire.

Remains of those who perished in the fire.

The Hunger Games

This weekend I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I loved it so much, I also read the second book in the series, Catching Fire. Needless to say, I didn't get much done this weekend.

The Hunger Games takes place in a post-apocalyptic country called Panem. This country was formed after the countries of North America were destroyed. Panem consists of a rich Capitol, and 12 surrounding, poor districts. Each year the Capitol holds a lottery in which a random teenage boy and girl are chosen from each district to be sent to the Capitol to compete in The Hunger Games. These Games are a large televised event in which all 24 tributes are dropped in a large outdoor arena to fight to the death. Not only do they provide entertainment for the rich residents of the Capitol, but they serve as a punishment to the 12 districts for a rebellion that occurred 75 years earlier. The message is clear - Don't mess with the Capitol. Each year we kill your children, put we could do much, much worse.

The Hunger Games follows Katniss Evergreen, the girl tribute from District 12, as she fights for her life in the arena. Not only does she fight for her life, but in her own way, she fights against the Capitol by refusing to play the game their way. By doing so, the games become even more deadly.

I highly, highly recommend this book. It is one of the most riveting books I've read in a long time.

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

I haven't written a book review for awhile so I thought I'd write one about the book I read today. Today I read Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs. I bought this book about a year ago, but for one reason or another it kept getting pushed to the bottom of my pile. Well, I couldn't put it off any longer - I had to read it. This week I started teaching Greek Mythology. I have some books about Greek Mythology that I recommend to my students, but I need more. Because of this, it was time to read Oh. My. Gods. I'm glad I did because I liked it a lot.

Phoebe Castro is the main character in the novel, Oh. My. Gods. Phoebe is a 17-year old girl who loves to run and is banking on an athletic scholarship for college. She has it all mapped out - all she has to do is maintain good grades during her senior year and continue doing well in cross country. All that is put into jeopardy when her mother announces she's remarrying and both her and Phoebe are moving to Greece. Things get even worse when Phoebe learns her new step-father is the headmaster of an exclusive private school with only has one admissions requirement - students must be a direct descendant from one of the Greek Gods. Reluctantly, the school makes an exception for Phoebe. Needless to say, in a school in which the entire student body has the blood of the Gods coursing through their veins, Phoebe has a difficult time fitting in. She has run-ins with the popular descendants of Zeus, the Goth-like descendants of Hades, and cheerleader descendants of Aphrodite.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to read about Greek Mythology with a little twist.