Orphan Island by: Laurel Snyder

Laurel Snyder's book Orphan Island is one you will never forget.  It is a story of nine orphans on an island their life is happy and perfect can it stay that way?

There are nine Orphans living on this Island.  Life is very routine and completely safe for all nine.  Change comes once a year when a young child arrives in a small green boat.  When this new child (care) is taken by their Elder (the oldest child on the island) the previous Elder leaves the island on the green boat.  This book follows the year with Jinny as the Elder and Ess as her care.  Jinny can teach Ess some things quite easily and others she needs help.  Such as swimming, an important lesson for anyone living on a island.  Ess doesn't want to swim and Jinny just cannot seem to change Ess's mind about learning to swim.  When Joon steps in to help Jinny is relieved that the lessons go well.  Jinny comes to love Ess and doesn't want to leave the island when the boat returns.  Jinny decides to stay on the island nobody has ever stayed before what will happen to the island with 10 orphans living there?  Things begin to change on the island and Jinny no longer feels safe.  Will she decide to leave?  And if she leaves where will the boat take her?

This is a very unique story but one I think older readers will enjoy.  The daily adventures and beauty on the island will have some readers wanting to visit the island.  Readers will see the ups and downs of taking care of someone.  Learning your own strengths and seeing the strengths in others.  Seeing that working together is usually the best...a few life lessons will be taught to the reader.   A treasure that the children have on the island is a shed of books.  I love that they all read together and alone throughout the story.

After reading this story I would spend sometime re-reading one of your old favorites.

Happy Daily Reading!
Deanna

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

Do you like to be just a little frightened while reading?   If so, The Night Gardner by Jonathan Auxier is the book you should read next.

Molly and Kip are orphans and they do not want to live at the orphanage.  Molly takes Kip to the Windsor estate where they can work.  As they seek directions to the estate, they are told by many to turn around.  People tell them that nobody lives at the Windsor estate and nobody returns from the sour woods that you must pass through in order to find the Windsor estate.  Molly still believes that working there is better than the orphanage.  They continue on the path, finally arriving at the estate.  They find a run down house with a big tree growing right in the middle of the house.  It is a strange place with some strange people living there.

Molly and Kip start to work doing everything for the family.  When they begin to notice some strange noises and changes in the family they begin to investigate.  What could be behind the green door?  They are told to stay away.  But it is irresistible. Who belongs to the footsteps Molly hears each night?  The family living there doesn't believe there is anything to be afraid of, but Kit and Molly disagree.

Readers will be turning pages as fast as they can read to find out all the secrets of Windsor Estate.  I am not usually a fan of "scary" stories (and this isn't very scary) but I really enjoyed this book.

After reading this story go outside and play by a scary-looking tree!

Happy Daily Reading
Deanna