Palace of Mirrors (Schouten)


A girl named Cecelia has grown up always being told she is the true princess of the country she lives in. She has been told by Sir Stephan, a retired knight who comes to teach her about being royal, that she is kept hidden so the evil people who murdered her parents cannot find her. In her place on the throne is a decoy princess to distract the evil people from finding her, but then she realizes that the evil people have found her. Together with her best friend Harper, Cecelia decides to journey to the country's capital where the decoy princess lives in the Palace of Mirrors and take the throne so she can come out of hiding.

An Innocent Man - John Grisham

A book that will make you think, An Innocent Man demonstrates the fallibility of justice and the consequences of  living a life outside the bounds of morality. While the book demonstrates the overwhelming burden people face when someone in their family is a mentally disabled, the true message the book sends is the lack of integrity and honesty we have in our society. There is a big moral debate over the use of the death penalty and its effectiveness in deterring violent crime. The question this story did not answer was how we achieve pure justice, security, and safety when those who are suppose to be the role models of integrity are willing to break all the rules to close a case. There are not enough jails and tax dollars in the world to house all the evil we face everyday; and a lot of the evil in the world cannot be stopped regardless of the deterrents we use to stop it!

Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

It is amazing how insightful an author can be over 150 years in the past. That is what makes a classic piece of literature so amazing. If young readers can get past the heavy dialect and connect with the characters, the story comes to life. It is not long before you realize that freedom is more than just having a roof over ones head and your belly full of food. Freedom is about being able to decide you own destiny and being able to live your life according to the dictates of your own heart.