Karrie's June Picks

Graceling

By Kristin Cashore

This is an incredible adventure. Katsa is born a Graceling. That means that she has an incredible talent that others don't. There's only one problem - that talent is the talent of killing. Used as a weapon by her uncle, the King, Katsa is disgusted with herself. So she does the sensible thing - she runs away, beginning a quest using her Grace to save the life of another rather than destroy it. Being free, Katsa is now able to begin learning about herself, to us her own mind and control her Grace in new ways. As a faithful companion, Po helps her to see that she is not just a deadly weapon and they begin to realize that her Grace may not be killing. Adventure, love, and sacrifice combine perfectly to make this book an amazing read.

Though this is a Young Adult book I would recommend it to anyone! Cashore is a beautiful writer and has created a wonderfully colorful world of her own! Though I do recommend this to anyone I would be careful letting young kids read it due to a scene that does get into adult content. I would say it's a great read for anyone over 15!

From Baghdad With Love

By Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman

Talk about the love of man and dog. This book made me believe in the spirit of humanity and appreciate the men and women fighting over seas even more than I did before I read it. And I did. A lot. And then I read this book. And in this book a found group of people who were not just soldiers. They were people. Just people. Trying to get a little puppy out of a war zone. Talk about adopting a rescue. When these Marines first went into Iraq they were told: Take no mascots. That means no animals, leave them to starve, get run over, or shot. Well these men just couldn't do that when they found Lava. They took him in, nurtured him with their own food and found something worth loving in a war that was astoundingly gruesome.