Friday Finds: June 26

It is once again time for me to update my TBR pile with the help of Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading.

This week I decided to go with a theme of sorts. All the books that I am going to include in this Friday Find are from Becky's Book Review. Becky does a great job of reviewing books and reads a lot of young a

dult fiction. I don't read that much Y

oung Adult stuff, so this a great way for me to place some on

my TBR pile.

"They Called Me Red" by Christina Kilbourne did not recieve a glowing recommendation from Becky. But I think that is what caught my attention. The young adult books that I have read so far (in my adult years) have been really like reads without heavy subject matter and I am interested in seeing how heavier stuff is handled in young adult fiction.

Summary (from Google Books):

They didn't have the perfect life, but it was their life: Devon's and his dad's. Then Lily came along, enchanting his father with her shy glances, spicy cooking, and exotic teas. Devon has a bad feeling about this new woman who seems endearing one minute, ice cold the next. It isn't until Devon finds himself in an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar country that he starts to realize just what type of person Lily is and what she is capable of. Clinging to thoughts of his father and of home, he fights to find hope while living a nightmare.

"Beneath My Mother's Feet" by Amjed Oamar caught my attention because it is set in Pakistan. I don't think that I have ever read a story set in Pakistan before and I am trying to broaden my reading borders to countries outside of the US and England. Becky's summary of this story really caught my attention.

Summary (from Google Books):

Nazia doesn't mind when her friends tease and call her a good beti, a dutiful daughter. Growing up in a working-class family in Karachi,

Pakistan, Nazia knows that obedience is the least she can give to her mother, who has spent years saving and preparing for her dowry. But every daughter must grow up, and for fourteen-year-old Nazia that day arrives suddenly when her father gets into an accident at work, and her family finds themselves without money for rent or food.

Being the beti that she is, Nazia drops out of school to help her mother clean houses, all the while wondering when she managed to lose control of her life that had been full of friends and school. Working as a maid is a shameful obligation that could be detrimental to her future -- after all, no one wants a housekeeper for a daughter-in-law. As Nazia finds herself growing up much too quickly, the lessons of hardship that seem unbearable turn out to be a lot more liberating than she ever imagined.

"Winnie's War" by Jenne Moss is a great combination for a book subject. It is historical fiction (which I enjoy) and it is about disease (which I also enjoy). The other thing that caught me about this book was the questions that Becky asked in regards to it. Her questions made me want to find out what Winnie went through and how she dealt.

Summary (from Google Books):

A debut novel set against the backdrop of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.

Life in Winnie’s sleepy town of Coward Creek, Texas, is just fine for her. Although her troubled mother’s distant behavior has always worried Winnie, she’s plenty busy caring for her younger sisters, going to school, playing chess with Mr. Levy, and avoiding her testy grandmother. Plus, her sweetheart Nolan is always there to make her smile when she’s feeling low. But when the Spanish Influenza claims its first victim, lives are suddenly at stake, and Winnie has never felt so helpless. She must find a way to save the people she loves most, even if doing so means putting her own life at risk.

Winnie’s take-charge attitude will empower and inspire readers, as Jenny Moss’s lyrical writing beautifully captures the big-time worries of a small-town girl.