Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

*****
JK Rowling

Also called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, this book is the first in the famous Harry Potter series. Rowling opens her tale with a young orphaned boy left on the doorstep of his unremarkable (and often cruel) aunt and uncle. As Harry grows up, he notices that he's a little different from his extended family, and not just because he sleeps in a broom cupboard and wears only hand-me-down clothes.

Then, on his 11th birthday, a giant named Hagrid shows up and changes Harry's entire world. Now studying at a magic school and saving the wizarding race are commonplace for the dark-haired orphan.


I probably don't even have to tell you that I love the Harry Potter series. Yes, the books are very long, but they go by so quickly you won't even realize that you've read hundreds of pages before you're suddenly at the end. If you like fantasy, or books about students, or a little romance, or adventure, or mystery... these books are for you. Even if you don't, it would be worth a try!

If you like this, look for:
Harry Potter Series
Septimus Heap Series
Twilight Series
Charlie Bone Series
Percy Jackson Series

three little words

*****
Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Ashley is a toddler when 'they' take her from her mother. Throughout the next decade of her life, she is shuffled from foster home to foster home. Sometimes the parents are godsends. Sometimes they are so abusive, she can't see her way out. Separated and reunited with Luke, her younger brother, and a mother who just can't seem to get it together, Ashley can only rely on herself.

I debated posting this book at all. But I have some very mature readers and I think you can handle it, if not just yet. I'm definitely rating it R or maybe higher because it's very mature. But as I read all 320-some pages in one day, I thought I better share it with you. It's a memoire (autobiography) of a girl who has lived through it all. You won't be able to put it down and you just may cry!