Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Book Review by Bobbi Cook from This Little Book Blog


I have to say that I chose to read this book both for its sentimental cover and clever title. I had a feeling that it would be softly romantic, perhaps tragic even. It definitely lived up to my expectations, and I was left quite satisfied for having read it.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is the story of Henry Lee. We meet him as he is rediscovering and remembering his past. He is searching for a long lost object that means as much to him as it did to the sweet girl that he had a crush on when he was in his childhood. His journey takes him back to a time and place that were both turbulent and formative on his young, innocent soul.

At age twelve, Henry lives in Seattle’s Chinatown during the beginning of World War II. His parents are traditional Chinese immigrants who want the best for their only son. They send him to an all white school where he is on a scholarship. There he meets Keiko who is in a similar position, also attending Rainier Elementary. The two become fast friends, sharing an interest in Jazz.

Although Keiko lives just blocks away from Henry, their worlds are very different. She is Japanese American and lives in Nihonmachi. Her family is friendly and open minded, whereas Henry’s family will have nothing to do with the Japanese (his father angrily followed the Japanese invasion of China). Henry and Keiko meet in secret, until their friendship is threatened by the government evacuating her family to an internment camp. He is left to sort out his feelings for Keiko, and to make difficult decisions about his future.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet has been dubbed as a “wartime-era Chinese-Japanese variation on Romeo and Juliet” by The Seattle Times. I can understand the comparison. It is a story of young love, thwarted by societal prejudices, but I thought it was more than that. It made me really think about our history as a country, and the war-time decisions that were made that affected the lives of many thousands of Japanese American citizens. It also renewed my faith in the importance of love and friendship.

Book Review: Comfort by Joyce Moyer Hostetter

Comfort by Joyce Moyer Hostetter

Review by Me.

I have come to a conclusion. Joyce Moyer Hostetter is an amazing writer. She brings history to life by developing intriguing characters and slapping them into poignant time periods. I admit that this book took me a while to pull off the shelf. I didn't realize it was a sequel to a book I already knew and loved. When I finally picked this book up, I was pleasantly surprised and hooked from chapter one.

I look forward to sharing Hostetter's historical fiction with my children as they grow a little older.

Comfort is the sequel to Blue. I thoroughly enjoyed Blue and its heroine, Ann Fay Honeycutt. In Comfort, WWII has ended. Her father has come from the war, but he is a changed man. Ann Fay is recovering from polio. She had thought that when the war was over and her father was home, everything would fit perfectly back together. But war changed her life for good.

This is a story of courage and healing, of forgiveness and friendship, and of growing up.

Blue and Comfort would be perfect for homeschoolers who are middle-school aged. I also enjoyed Healing Water by Joyce Moyer Hostetter. You can see that review here.

PS...Illnesses and a complete computer reboot (that has stolen all my pictures for the time being) are causing a bit of blog-slacking. See you soon.

Book Review: Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo, author of Jane Austen Ruined My Life.
Review by Me, Emily.

Claire Prescott is anything but thrilled when she gets roped into going to a Jane Austen seminar in place of her sister. Unlike her sister, she doesn't see the appeal of the iconic Mr. Darcy. Claire has been dating a 'nice guy' and is content with him. Mostly.

While at the seminar, she is swept away by a handsome Darcy-like character. She also comes into possession of the long-lost first draft of Pride and Prejudice in Jane Austen's own writing.

Will she be whisked away by the handsome man at her romantic getaway in Oxford? Or will the nice guy win her heart after all?

I thoroughly enjoyed this Austen spinoff. Although, I am not sure I agreed with the ending...you know...did she really end up with the right guy? I'm not sure.

Anyway, the book is 'good, clean fun'. It's quick and enjoyable.

(PS. A little shameless self-promotion...If you are ordering anything from Amazon this Christmas, I'd really appreciate it if you clicked through my site to get there. Thanks!)

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz

Review by Cindy Bohn of Digging Up Bohns

Slavomir Rawicz was a Polish cavalry officer in World War II. He came home on leave and found himself arrested by the Russians for the crime of, well, being Polish. He was kept in prison but refused to confess. After a few months, he was tricked into signing a confession and shipped off to Siberia for 25 years hard labor. After a horrible trek up into the northern wilderness, he finds himself in a Siberian work camp.

He decides he's not about to spend 25 years there, and makes plans to escape. He enlists six other men, a Latvian, an American, other Poles, and they sneak out in the night. Their escape plan will take them through Mongolia, across the Gobi Desert, up and down the Himalayas, and through India.

It's an incredible story. I couldn't put it down once I got started. Sometimes there were gaps in the story, but it was absolutely gripping. Really worth reading.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Review by Cindy Bohn of Diggin Up Bohns

I *LOVED* this book.

Writer Juliet Ashton has come through World War II more or less intact, although her flat was destroyed by bombs. But she's doing all right and ready to start a new project. Around then, she starts a correspondence with Dawsey Adams, an inhabitant of the tiny island of Guernsey. They've been cut off from all communication with England for 5 years and are desperate to catch back up to what they've missed.

Soon Juliet (and through her, the reader) finds herself completely drawn into the wartime history of this small community. Through letters, she makes friends with people she's never met, and must reexamine what she wants out of life.

It sounds just too heartwarming and sappy for words, but I thought it was great. I actually remembered a little of the history of Guernsey before I read the book, but I found myself horrified at some of the things I read. I kept telling my husband - "Guess what!" and then telling him something I had read.

The characters are wonderful, funny and tragic and pathetic. The setting is so well done. I have to add the isle of Guernsey to another of the places I would love to visit.

I really recommend this book! It's one of those books that as soon as I finished it, I wanted to go back and read it again.

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf

Review by Katy from What KT Reads

Just a few weeks after Milada's 11th birthday, the Nazi's snatch her family from their home. The women and (young) children are separated from the men and taken to a school where they are held for several days. Because of her Aryan features, at the end of the time in the school Milada and one other girl are taken from their families and put on a bus to Poland, where their Germanization will begin. At Milada's new school, she is treated well: plenty of food, clean clothes, her own bed, etc; but at the same time, she is forced to take on a new name (Eva), learn and speak exclusively German and accept the views of her new teachers. Eventually, Eva is adopted into a German family where she deals with trying to remember the Milada from Czechoslovakia and guilt regarding the fact that she has genuinely come to love her new German/Nazi family.

I really liked this book. It's a fictionalized account of actual events, and I had a hard time putting it down. It focuses on an aspect of WWII that I knew nothing about, and I just ate it up. I actually spent several hours yesterday looking up more information about Germinazation, Lidice (the town Milada was born in), and various other things I learned about in the book. I love books that spark (or renew) an interest in something to the degree that I actually seek out more information about the subject.

Milada is a likable character and her struggles throughout the book felt real. Especially the the times when she is trying to figure out how she can hate the Nazis and everything about them while loving her new found family, who consisted of Nazis. The conflicts seemed real, and I spent the whole book longing along with Milada to know what had happened to her family and friends.

Be sure to read the author's note in the back to learn in more detail what happened in the town of Lidice, Czechoslovakia on June 10, 1942 and survivors the author interviewed while writing this book. It's both horrifying and fascinating at the same time.

Recommended for ages 11 and up

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

I really need to stop being judgemental about books, I'm always wrong! The plot description of this book just didn't really interest me, but after seeing positive reviews on several blogs I decided to give it a try. What a surprise it was when I was sucked in from the first page and absolutely fell in love with this book. I cannot wait for the sequel! Not only was the book awesome, but it took place only 10 minutes from my house, which was also very cool.

The Green Glass Sea, written by Ellen Klages, is a book of intrigue and companionship. Dewey is used to being left alone. Her mother has been gone since before she can remember and since the war started her father has been all over the country working on "secret Army stuff." Dewey has stayed with her grandmother during that time, however when her grandmother has a stroke, she must go and live on the Army base in New Mexico with her father. When she arrives, she learns that the Army is working on a secret gadget that is supposed to help them win the war, a gadget which older kids and adults will realize is the atomic bomb. Dewey is left alone a lot of the time while her father is working and though she tries to make friends, most of the girls on the base find her and her obsession with mechanics strange.

When Dewey's father gets called away to Washington, Dewey must move in with the Gordon's. Unfortunately, one of the Gordon's is a girl Dewey's age, Suze, one of Dewey's most notorious tormentors. As the war rages on and their parents are busy trying to fight it, Dewey and Suze work on their friendship and learn that despite their differences, they may just be meant to be friends and their common strengths can help them get through.

Though many tragedies are spoken of in the chapters of this book, all of them are incredibly realistic and many are true. Though the story is fiction, the history is all fact and these events really took place. I live only 10 minutes from the Trinity site in Alamogordo, where the atomic bomb testing was done. I loved reading a book that described my home and surroundings so well and it was very interesting to read it from a child's perspective. This book was amazing and because of the cliff-hanger at the end, I can't wait for Klages to put out the companion novel.

This book is recommended for ages 12 and up.

Review by Amanda Snow, our newest regular contributor!

A Patchwork of Books