Book Review - All the Children Are Home by Patry Francis

 

Dahlia and Louie Moscatelli are foster parents who provide long-term foster care for children Jimmy, Zaidie, and Jon. Their lives turn upside down when Agnes, a six year old native girl, comes to live with them.

When they decided to become foster parents, they had a few ground rules. They didn't want no newborns, no delinquents, and no girls. When Dahlia was younger, she suffered through a horrid incident that has left her a victim in her own home. She is afraid of the burden of being a girl.

Louie and Dahlia consider their family to be complete but, when a social worker turns up at their door, they have a hard time saying no. Agnes is a young girl who has been abused and neglected and suffers from emotional damage. 

Agnes Juniper is a rambunctious six year old that has no memory of her Native American roots. Agnes knows nothing about herself other than the box of trinkets she received from her mother. She knows she has a sister as she recalls some dreams of her sister. As the years pass, the Moscatelli family find themselves at odds with outside forces.

The book was an endearing read with a lot of heartfelt moments. I enjoyed seeing the children grow up and try to find their own paths. I felt like the book was a bit incomplete in the end and I am hoping that the author plans to continue the story with happens to them in the later years. I am excited to read other books by the author.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.**

Book Review - The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann + Giveaway

Photo Credit - Amazon

People who attend the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded knows it is a place where no one wants to be.  The young women who live there certainly don't want to be there. Maxine has to protect her younger sister Rose from mean attendants and older girls who like to bully the weak. Alice has to fend for herself after her brother couldn't support her because of her club foot. London was dragged to the school after one unexpected moment in her life. Each of the four girls is determined to change their fate, no matter what happens to them.

The novel was an interesting and unexpected read. Sometimes, it's hard to imagine that we make progress when we are now having "The first woman to do/win" or even a person of color to be the first. After reading this novel, I am truly glad I was born in this era, otherwise, I would surely have been deemed a moron, imbecile or idiot. It's hard to imagine what these people suffered through just because they were labeled as "different".  However, there were a few things I didn't like about the book. I wasn't fond of those endings where the reader gets to decide what happens to the characters. I wanted to know what happened to them. I wish there were more details on London's foster guardian and I wanted to know what happened to her.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

 

The Degenerates

by J. Albert Mann
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 17th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

In the tradition of Girl, Interrupted, this fiery historical novel follows four young women in the early 20th century whose lives intersect when they are locked up by a world that took the poor, the disabled, the marginalized—and institutionalized them for life.

The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded is not a happy place. The young women who are already there certainly don’t think so. Not Maxine, who is doing everything she can to protect her younger sister Rose in an institution where vicious attendants and bullying older girls treat them as the morons, imbeciles, and idiots the doctors have deemed them to be. Not Alice, either, who was left there when her brother couldn’t bring himself to support a sister with a club foot. And not London, who has just been dragged there from the best foster situation she’s ever had, thanks to one unexpected, life altering moment. Each girl is determined to change her fate, no matter what it takes.

BOOK LINKS

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46404362-the-degenerates

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2TKQGD7

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-degenerates-j-albert-mann/1132189225#/

iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-degenerates/id1470017404

Bookdepository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Degenerates-J-Albert-Mann/9781534419353?ref=grid-view&qid=1580238159491&sr=1-3

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-degenerates-4

Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/J_Albert_Mann_The_Degenerates?id=r6OeDwAAQBAJ

BOOK AUTHOR

J. Albert Mann is the author of six novels for children, with S&S Atheneum Books for Young Readers set to publish her next work of historical fiction about the Eugenics Movement and the rise of institutionalism in the United States. She is also the author of short stories and poems for children featured in Highlights for Children, where she won the Highlights Fiction Award, as well as the Highlights Editors’ Choice Award. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and is the Director of the WNDB Internship Grant Committee. 

Jennifer is represented by Kerry Sparks at Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://jalbertmann.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14161864.J_Albert_Mann

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.mann.9?__tn__=K-R&eid=ARA7Ey2pAqWLJpcEJwvixZXeZGM5VmpmEJj-pJDdXTjB8Ch65E4Im38CGVpiZ4fIMFDW3-5R2mNhwNey&fref=mentions

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.albertmann/

TOUR SCHEDULE

http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2020/02/tour-schedule-degenerates-by-j-albert.html

We’ll be updating it daily.

GIVEAWAY

Prize: Win (1) copy of THE DEGENRATES by J. Albert Mann (US Only)

Starts: March 11^th 2020

Ends: March 25^th 2020

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d9681b86473/?