Mallory McDonald Series by Laurie Friedman

For my series study, I chose to read the Mallory McDonald Series. The three books that I chose from this series are Red, White, and True Blue Mallory, Happy Birthday Mallory, and In Business with Mallory.

I found these books to be very entertaining and funny! Mallory and the other characters in these books were quirky and kept me interested the entire book. It was funny because the Mallory and her best friend in the book, Mary Ann, reminded me of me and my best friend from home. Even though these books were about nine year olds, I think a lot of people from all ages could relate and learn from the lessons portrayed in these stories.

In the book, Happy Birthday Mallory, she decides that she needs to celebrate her birthday for an entire month. However, when she brings up this idea to her parents, they are not so thrilled about it. The only part that her mom agrees to, is a weekly birthday cake. But when Mallory expects her birthday to be the best month of her life, she keeps getting let down and deals with a lot of issues. In order to try and salvage her birthday month, she decides to plan her own surprise party with her best friend, Mary Ann. In the end, she ends up with an even bigger surprise and learns an important lesson about trust and friendship.

In the book, In Business with Mallory, Mallory and her best friend, Mary Ann both want to get the Perfect Purse that they saw on TV. Since, they always get the same of everything, when Mary Ann's parents buy the purse for her right away and Mallory's parents do not get it for her, she is extra upset. When Mallory calls her Grandma to buy her the Perfect Purse, her Grandma refuses, but suggests that she could try and buy the purse herself by starting a business. After many failures, Mallory finally finds a business that works and she get to buy the Perfect Purse. But how "perfect" is the Perfect Purse? She ends up learning that thinking of others is more important than doing things for herself.

In the book, Red, White, and True Blue Mallory, Mallory's class goes on a field trip to Washington, D.C. This book is filled with fun facts about the nation's capital! Mallory and Mary Ann are supposed to stay partners through the whole trip, but instead her friend finds a new boy. Through the field trip Mallory gets upset and her and Mary Ann learn the importance of friendships.

I loved how the author wrote the book in Mallory's point of view and the drawings that "Mallory drew" added humor to the book as well. My favorite book out of the three that I read was Red, White, and True Blue Mallory. I liked how the entire book was a journal. I actually learned a lot about the capital of the United States from reading her journal. This would be a fun book to read in the classroom to teach about the capital because it was funny and quirky.

I would definitely reccommend these books to anyone of any age, but especially those in the primary grade level. If anyone likes Junie B. Jones, they will definitely love Mallory! When I was at my track meet passing time, I even read these books to my teammates (who are in college) and they thought Mallory was hilarious!

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

After reading the inside cover of this book, I knew that I was not going to be able to put it down until the book was finished. When reading this book, I felt so connected to Syvia and her family. I cannot imagine what it would be like to go through over 5 and a half years of starvation and fear every single day. I was scared for her and her family just reading about her experiences.
When she had to lay down in the graveyard many nights with her father to hide from the Jews, I was so worried for them. Just to think about the times when they were starving and cold. It makes me feel guilty for the times I have complained about being cold or hungry for just half an hour. However, after reading this story, I feel blessed for what I have now.

I think that Syvia’s father was very smart. I loved how he was so optimistic throughout the book and was able to devise plans that saved not only his family, but other Jews as well. If it weren’t for him, I think a lot of those Jewish people that were alive at the end of the story would have died.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because I think it gives a different perspective to what actually happened in Europe at this time. I think this would be interesting for students to read to learn about the Holocaust instead of reading out of a textbook. I know that I have learned more about the Holocaust from this book than any other history class I have read. Also, I think that it is important for all people to know what the Jews went through. This way children and adults will think twice before they discriminate against a certain race or religion.

Leon’s Story by Leon Walter Tillage Collage art by Susan L. Roth

Leon’s Story by Leon Walter Tillage Collage art by Susan L. Roth

This book is a narrative story of Leon Tillage's life and the hardships that he encounters being an African American in the South. When I was reading the story, I felt very connected to Leon and had no idea the type of things that African Americans had to deal with during this time. I was appauled by the way people acted and thought in these days. I found myself tearing up in many parts of the story.

The biggest shock that I had in this story was when Leon's father died. I cannot believe that people would just run over other people like African Americans had no feelings. Then, the next day when the father of the boy acted like it was not a big deal at all, I was even more surprised and disturbed. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be helpless and watch my father get run over by a car. I have so much respect for Leon and his family by staying calm in this situation and dealing with his father's death with such understanding. I know that if I was in that situation I would want revenge or be very angry with the white people.

Finally, I was impressed with how courageous he was when he grew up. Even through all of his hardships growing up, he still fought for his rights by marching in front of the mayor's house. It was absolutely awful to hear about the way the white people would throw things and hurt the African Americans. It was even worse to hear about the police watching it happen in front of their eyes. I was so happy to hear that all of their hard work and protesting paid off when the mayor brought in the National Guard at the end of the book.

Overall, this book was very moving and I loved every page of it. I have a new respect for African Americans and a better understanding of the history of our country. I am glad that times have changed and that people are able to respect different races in our country. It was also interesting to read the pages in the book after the story to learn that Leon still has no hard feelings and realizes that he can only learn from the experiences and that being angry about it will do no one any good. This book and Leon are very inspiring to me.

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life