Ghostly Secrets

The prolific Betty Ren Wright (The Dollhouse Murders) has crafted another intriguing story that deftly mixes the supernatural realm with an engaging and sensitive coming-of-age story in which a young person, Christina Cooper, must rely on her own ingenuity and strength to find her own place in a situation where she feels uncomfortable, and forge a relationship with an uncle who prefers to remain solitary.

Independent and resourceful ten year-old Christina Cooper is not thrilled at the prospect of spending the summer with her Uncle Ralph in a foreboding house in the woods, while her parents are at a conference in Alaska. Clearly, Uncle Ralph prefers his own company, and Christina is left to her own devices. As she tries to find activities to fill her time, she discovers an unexpected, yet welcome visitor - a small boy who seems to appear and vanish before she can determine who he is. Convinced that the child is a ghost, she conducts some research into the background of the house, and discovers that two murders occurred there thirty years ago. Could this be the connection she seeks? When a malevolent presence manifests itself in the attic, Christina joins forces with her skeptical uncle to solve the mystery behind these events and set the past to rest.

This award-winning book will keep readers turning the pages until the very end. If you like ghost stories, I can also suggest Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn or Down A Dark Hall by Lois Duncan.




 

 

A Portrait Of Courage

 

                                              

"He who saves a life saves the world entire."

                                                                  -The Talmud, the book of Jewish law

 

Alot of people mistakenly think that when terrible events occur, there isn't anything one person can do to change the situation. However, during the Holocaust, one of the darkest times of human history that resulted in the destruction of six million Jews, there were heroic individuals who remembered their humanity, came forward to save others, and made a difference that the world wouldn't forget.

 

Oskar Schindler is one such hero. Schindler was a German businessman who sheltered over 1200 Jewish workers in his munitions factory and saved them from the Nazis who were determined to kill them. He constructed deals with the Nazis, used the fortune that he made in business (war profits), and took enormous risks to help his workers. Even though many of the laborers had no useful skills, Schindler fooled the Nazis into believing they were essential. The list of Jews in this factory was known as "Schindler's List." He was later honored by the government of Israel for his actions. 

 

This heartfelt and moving memoir, The Boy On The Wooden Box, honors Schindler's courage, compassion, and heroism, and was written by Leon Layson, one of the youngest people on "Schindler's List." Layson, whose given name was Leib Lejzon, describes his family's life in pre-World War II Poland, the commencement of the war, and the oppression and persecution that began after the Nazi invasion. He describes his eviction form his home, transport to the Podgorze ghetto in Krakow, and concentration camps, and the circumstances that led to his job in Schindler's factory which required him to stand on a wooden box to reach the controls on the machine he had to operate.

 

This is an unforgettable portrait of Oskar Schindler, an extraordinary, yet contradictory man - member of the Nazi party, war profiteer, rescuer, hero - who put his own life in danger to help others, and of Holocaust survivor Leon Layson, who was saved because Schindler valued human life at all costs.