The Penguin Post

How far will you go to save a soul? How can you be a hero if you do not know whom you are trying to fight? Even if you know the monster before you, how can you beat Goliath if you are minus a sling shot? This image provided by  Barnaby Walker .  Tory Hayden somehow found it possible to tackle all of these questions over the course of half a school year in a classroom of nine students with special needs. Among those nine children stood one stubborn, silent, violent mess of a little girl who would start a nuclear war if it meant that she could keep herself hidden from the world beneath a very thick, rock-solid shell in which she covered herself.  The novel, One Child , from the perspective of Tory Hayden is a book covering so many topics from corporal punishment to obedience to child abuse to morals to a love for teaching that is too strong for anyone to fully understand. Based on a very true story of a little girl who was born into a family with an alcohol...

Have you locked your doors? Are your windows secure? Is your reading light on because one chapter will turn your happy-go-lucky Hallmark experience into an uncontrollably unnerving thrill?  This photo provided by  rjp .  The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks is a novel that brings every emotion to the page: painful sorrow and lighthearted joy, tender love and searing hatred, and… of course, a bone-chilling eeriness that will leave you stranded in the dark, both figuratively and literally, until you turn the very last page. As a reader, your third person omniscient point of view allows you to see every character in their shining moments or evil demise, making your job as a reader that much harder since the characters cannot hear you screaming at them through the pages. The Guardian is a romantic thriller, one of the few by Sparks, involving the young widow, Julie, and her Great Dane, Singer. Throughout the plot, Julie must figure out what her heart desires most...