The Armchair Book Review

I have a few books here that I have been meaning to recommend to you. The first two are similar as they contain a lost red-haired young girl as the protagonist. The third book is totally opposite these books - it is about the devil!

The first book is:

This is a fiction novel based on true events of the "orphan trains" that came out of the East Coast, filled with orphaned children, and headed to the Midwest, often stopping at small towns. The children were met by families who either were looking for babies, or strong boys to work as farm hands. Young girls were harder to place, unless the woman needed help around the house. Some children were treated poorly or abused. Some were placed in good homes. The trains ran from around 1854-1929. This is the story of Vivian, who is now in her 90's. She is thrown together with Molly, a teen-aged girl who has to work off some community hours. Molly helps Vivian organize and clear out her attic. Together this odd pair develop a friendship and find out that their are more alike than they first believed.

I thought this was a great story, AND I learned about a piece of history that I had never heard of before.

Second:

This is a story of a bright, spitfire 9-year-old Starla who lives with her strict Grandmother in Mississippi. Her father works on the oil rigs and only comes home once in awhile. Starla's mother left her when she was only 3 years old. Starla is constantly butting heads with her Grandmother. She thinks she is too mean. Starla decides to run away and go to her Momma "Lula" who lives in Nashville and is supposedly a star. Starla gets picked up by a black woman named Eula, who is traveling alone with a white baby. The three of them get into a lot of mixes and you wonder if they will ever survive.

This is a great book and I highly recommend it!

Thirdly:

This is written by fellow blogger Otin. I think he said that he's finished writing his FIFTH book now! I've always enjoyed his short stories that he posted on his blog. This guy is a fantastic writer, and you will love him especially if you are into Stephen King-like stories!

This is about a couple, Violet and Johnny Dotson, who move to North Carolina to start anew. Violet had suffered from many miscarriages and both thought that maybe a change of scenery might do the trick. Little did they know that they really had been summoned to the area by a greater power.....

Some man by the name of J.C., currently in a mental institution (of course!), who only mutters the words, "I am the son of God!", was the only survivor at a murder/suicide scene. He seems to always be in the middle of many bad events. Is he to blame?

This is well-written and scary!

Happy Reading!