December Stillness by Mary Downing Hahn

I finished this book last night. The last book I read of Mary Downing Hahn's I didn't recommend but this one I would recommend.

This is a story about a girl named Kelly McAllister.  She is given an assignment in her class to write about something controversial.  She decides to write about homeless people.  She tries to talk to Mr. Weems.  Mr. Weems is a homeless man who comes to the library each day.  Mr. Weems doesn't want help or friends.  This is a story of how she struggles to help this man and the reactions of the people around him.   It is a good read and I was able to really think about some of the issues.

I think this book could really help a youth to see this issue in a different perspective and discover along with Kelly more about Vietnam and about Homelessness and what a problem it can be.  A good handle on a controversial topic.

Peasant Queen by Cheri Chesley

This was a fun little tale that I enjoyed.

Krystal is a girl that her brother's take care of since her mom is blind and her father has died.  Her brothers set up an arranged marriage for her.  She is not happy about it and runs away.  As she runs away though she is surrounded by some guards and kidnapped.  Magic is used and she is very far from home and taken to a castle and to King Gregory.  This is a different life and there is lots of adventure in this distant land.

One thing about the book I would have liked to have different is I kept wanting to make the main character eat. It seemed she never ate. She was always too involved in what was going on around her to bother eating.  Her stomache was often upset.

This book has magic, romance, kissing, adventure, beauty and is just a fun read.  I enjoyed it.

The Wind Blows Backward by Mary Downing Hahn

This book is about a girl who starts to hang out with an old best friend from her younger years.  Though she resists she finds she still likes him even though he wouldn't talk to her for many years.  Now he seems to want to share something with her.  She has to wait for him to share it when he is ready.  They become quite close and he does share his secret with her.

I probably wouldn't recommend this book. While this book gives me an idea of another way of thinking different from mine, I think I would have like to have spent my time on a different book.  I picked this one up because she was an author at the BYU Symposium on Books for young Readers.  I think she handled things well, but I would have rather had a book take a stand to not have sex before marriage.  I think she is a great author.  She weaves a great story and she writes with interest BUT it just wasn't my kind of book.