There are a few books that are like old and dear friends… we cant wait to spend time with them again.  This book – as well as the 6 that followed… are such a friend to me.  ~  Sheila

You dont need me to tell you the story… I would think if you have not read it (oh!  Banish the thought!) or have not seen the movie (horrors at the level of a bad Ear Wax flavored Bertie Bott’s Jelly Bean!) then you have at least heard about Harry Potter.

Yes, my name is Sheila.  I am 42 years old and I am a Harry Potter fan.

This book… is book one.  The begining.  And even reading it now, like I did all those years ago it truly was like hanging out with an old friend.  I had forgotten how richly detailed, and dare I say brilliant J K Rowling was from the very first!  It was interesting to read those first pages and know now where these seeds that were innocently planted in the first book… would come to fruit books later – into a story that became way more amazing then even she could have realized.

I chuckled knowingly through moments like the first mail trying to get through to Harry while he was living ay the Dursley’s.  Remember the address?

“To Harry Potter, In the cupboard under the stairs”  and soon after…. “To Harry Potter, in the smallest bedroom”

The Hogwart’s characters all come to life and spring off the pages…. you can feel Dumbledore’s power through the pages… and sense that Snape is someone not to be forgotten…. even now…. so early on…

I marvel at how lucky we as readers are – those of us who were there as the books came out, as we waited in lines at

midnight to get our copies, or anxiously at doors to have them delivered…. some of us (no names mentioned) planning our day around the books release…. think about it.  How lucky we were to be there to experience first hand as the story came to life.  The next generations will read as the classics they will become…  and as that generation reads these books – those of us – in the know – will have a distant twinkle in our eye…. a memory, of our first steps into the world created by J K Rowling.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by several religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote witchcraft. However, some Christian commentators have written that the book exemplifies important Christian viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people’s decisions shape their personalities. Educators regard Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and its sequels as an important aid in improving literacy because of the books’ popularity.

What did I learn by reading this book? That Quidich would be a wonderful sport to watch!   Of course, this book deals with great friendships too and I think it teaches kids to really embrace differences in others.

(I started reading this book a couple weeks ago in a mood that nothing I read was filling me…. this book did the trick and I intentionally stopped reading it so I could finish it today and make it my first completed read of 2010)

My Amazon review

This book fits into the following challenges:

The Gilmore Girls reading Challenge

2010 YA Reading Challenge

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

Harry Potter Reading Challenge

This book is from my own personal collection – my original copy that I read in 1998.

Brian Leaf’s book is smartly done!  ~ Sheila

Can you resist the allure of Edward’s myriad charms—his ochre eyes and tousled hair, the cadence of his speech, his chiseled alabaster skin, and his gratuitous charm? Will you hunt surreptitiously and tolerate the ceaseless deluge in Forks to evade the sun and uphold the facade? Join Edward and Bella as you learn more than 600 vocabulary words to improve your score on the *SAT, ACT®, GED®, and SSAT® exams!

Use this workbook side-by-side with your own copy of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight!
• Each chapter of the workbook gives you eight words taken from Twilight, with page references for you to read the words in the context of your favorite novel
• Define the words on your own before turning back to the workbook for their actual definitions
• At the end of each section you’ll take SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT drills and quizzes to review and integrate what you’ve learned
• Plus, you’ll learn synonyms, Latin word parts, and memorization tools throughout the workbook

Honestly?  I think this is brilliant!  What a clever way Brain Leaf has put together here to learn great vocabulary words and actually make learning fun.  Right from page 1 you have the words from the book Twilight with the page number provided to look it up.  AT this stage of the book you are to write down what the word might mean.  Flip to the next page and the definitions are there so you can see how you did.  From there you move on to synonyms for each word, choosing analogies, and sentence completion.  I had a wonderful time going through this workbook page by page and seeing what I did and did not know.

“Did I learn from this book?“ I would think would be a question you may be asking.  The answer is yes.  Even words that I thought I had a good grasp on, I discovered in a few cases I did not quite hold their correct meaning.  When I read Twilight I did not notice the words that were put into use but now as I see how they are used in Defining Twilight, I am even more impressed with Stephanie Meyer’s work.

For a person who is a lover of words… this was a great exercise for me and I would think if you have a YA in your life who is a fan of Twilight, this is a great companion read that could be very beneficial.

About Brian Leaf

Brian Leaf, M.A., is the author of  six books, including Defining Twilight and the four-book SAT and ACT test-prep series McGraw-Hill’s Top 50 Skills. He is Director of the New Leaf Learning Center in Massachusetts, and has provided SAT, ACT, GED, SSAT, and GRE preparation to thousands of students from throughout the United States.

My Amazon Review

I received my copy of this book for review from Author Brian Leaf

It is people like Austin Gutwein who inspire me to be a better person.  ~  Sheila

Only God could weave a story that would captivate people all over the world, bring thousands of people from seventeen countries to a free-throw line, raise over a million dollars in international AIDS relief, and build a school and medical clinic in Zambia.

And only God do it through the hands of a nine-year-old boy.

What an amazing story of what a difference one person can make!  Austin’ story is one that made my heart sore.  I love true stories of young people doing things that those two, three, or four times their age have not attempted.  There is something pure int hat kind of thinking and that is what I found within this book – within Austin himself.

This past September I had the opportunity to take part in a bike ride that raised money for children with AIDS.  It was one of those experiences that caused me to step away from my own life and really take a look at what is going on around me.  It was life changing and I am so ready and willing to do it again.  This book, Austin’s story, brings me back to that moment – a moment of seeing things that often are overlooked.

At the end of each chapter are questions to ponder, scripture to think on… and a task to do.  The task could be send a card to someone you know who is ill, connecting with an old friend – all the way to putting together your own Hoops of Hope event.

I found this book to be a wonderful reminder of the power that each of us has within us.  When we think there is nothing possibly that we could do – we need to remember we dont know the power of a smile to someone who is desperately hurting, we dont know the power of a kind word to a stranger, and we do not know what picking up the phone and calling that person who has been on our heart lately will not only do for that person – but for you as well.

Click here for Austin’s Blog

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy from Thomas Nelson