The Last Child by John Hart

This was a lucky pick. I saw it at Barnes and Noble and bought it based on the cover and the title. That works out sometimes and at other times it doesn't. This was a great summer read. I read it in about 2-3 days. It was a great page turner and mystery, but also some good literature. It is about a 13 year old boy named Johnny. His twin sister disappeared a year ago and Johnny has been searching for clues as to what happened on the day she disappeared. There is also a detective Hunt who has been working on this case for the last year himself. So much so he loses his family because of his addiction to this case. When Johnny and Detective Hunt team up to finally put an to this mystery, they discover things that will shock them both. This book had me from the first page until the last page. I look forward to reading other books by this author.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

This was the summer book my book club read. We decided to read a classic. I can't remember if I read this book during high school or not, but there were parts that were familiar. Overall, I thought the book was OK, but not great. I can see why it was such a big deal for its time because of the language and some of the content. It is a kind of coming of age story about a young man that can't quite find his way in the world and doesn't quite know what to do with his life. There are a lot of pressures put on him both at home and at school and for a couple of days he escapes it all and spends time in New York City. I'm glad I read it, but was somewhat disappointed in it as a whole.

Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos

I have had this book for quite awhile and finally got to it this summer. It is a pretty long book with a little over 500 pages. I enjoyed it and thought it was a pretty good story. It does move a little slow at times, but for the most part it held my interest which can be hard sometimes, so I don't think you would have a problem. It is the story about a family whose mother disappeared during a 1978 tornado in Nebraska. The youngest daughter in the family was with her, but survived. Years later the father dies which re-unites the three grown children. The book goes back and forth between the present time and their life growing up in Nebraska with their mother who has MS and their father who is a doctor. During different parts of the book you get to know all three children and how they are coping with both the loss (and unknown) of their mother and now their father. It isn't a page turner, but is very well written and a good story overall.