Luca Randazzo Randazzo من عند Baradia, Gujarat 361335، الهند من عند Baradia, Gujarat 361335، الهند

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3.5 stars. This was a sweet book that shows you can do anything with perseverance and determination. It's summertime, and 15 year old DJ is keeping her parents' dairy farm afloat due to her dad's injury and mom's work schedule. I liked that she never complained about the work, hard as it was. She just did it because she knew it was the right thing. Every morning and evening, she milked the cows. She also baled hay, fed the animals, cleaned the barn, and mowed the fields. What hard labor for a young girl! But then, her dad's best friend and coach of the opposing high school's football team asked if she would be willing to train his quarterback for the next season. DJ, having watched two older brothers train and succeed in football, willingly accepted the challenge. It didn't hurt that she also loved football. Thus begins a sweet journey of enlightenment for DJ and Brian (said quarterback). Neither likes the other person, but they come to both respect and eventually like each other through this partnership. My reasons for 3.5 stars were twofold: 1) While I understand the book was written from DJ's perspective, the poor grammar should have been given the boot. Kids will never learn proper grammar if they continue to read it incorrectly. (I'm speaking of "me and Curtis" instead of "Curtis and I," and "real good" instead of "really good.") 2) DJ's silence frustrated me a bit. When she wasn't sure of what to say or how to say it, she remained quiet. Like Brian, it drove me crazy. I'll likely read the next one in the series because I enjoyed DJ's voice so much and would love to find out what happens to her next.

A science-fiction satire on advertising and consumerism run amok written in the early '50s (so, yes, parts of it play a little like Mad Men...of the future!). Second half is not quite as good as the first half, some of it is dated, but nonetheless a fun read, with a lot still dead-on, relevant and funny. Part of what helps is that the protagonist Mitch, whose values you are to deplore, is nonetheless very smart and amusing. A couple of quotes - Mitch's boss talking to him about Mitch's official status as a 'star class copywriter' (this rank puts him far above the consumer and even tourist classes): "That's power, Mitch, absolute power. And you know the old saying. Power ennobles. Absolute power ennobles absolutely." Mitch, after talking to a member of the movement resisting the current society's overdrive: "I hated the twisted minds who had done such a thing to a fine consumer like Gus. It was something like murder. He could have played his part in the world, buying and using and making profits for his brothers all around the globe, ever increasing his wants and needs, ever increasing everyone's work and profits in the circle of consumption, raising children to be consumers in turn. It hurt to see him converted into a sterile zealot."