Lions of Little Rock (***** stars)

I finished reading this book a few days ago and it has won the title as one of my favorite historical fiction books. HISTORICAL FICTION PEOPLE!! Usually when I see this genre I run to the realistic fiction section becasue most historical fiction stories are boring becasue its just endless facts without a strong story. Lions of Little Rock blew my mind with the bizarre plot and character relationships and because the story was crafted so skillfully it was not frustrating to read the facts blately stated throughout. The facts, instead of boring me to death, were actually welcomed and cleared up the questions I had building up in the past chapters. Don't go scouring bookstore shelves for this book yet because I read the unpublished copy, but by the time the published version is sold, everyone who reads this posts should be reading it or at least considering to read it.
One thing I admire about this book is the imagery and symbolism. When the magic squares are brought into the picture and the main character listens to the lions outside her window at night in the zoo you start to develop a connection with her and want the things she wants. In everybook, you, the reader, should care aboutthe characters becasue without an interest in the character you don't get much from reading the book.

...Evin's Post... ;)

I read Evin's blog post, Love and a Bad Hair Day, and I could actually hear her voice throughout it even before she made a text to self connection about the time(s) when she focused more on making others happy and leaving no time to think about her. As soon I she started talking about taking time to think about yourself, I thought about Madea in I Can Do Bad All By Myself (movie) when she argued with her daughter Cora about never having "me time" when she was trying to provide money for her and her family.
I actually started thinking about the hundreds of times I've thought about making other people happy, regardless if it was a close friend or an aquiantance. Sometime earlier in history, I thought to myself, "is my life MINE or am I making it revolve around other people?" I never got to think about ME and what I WANTED. I enjoyed reading Evin's post becasue she brought memories to me that I didn't want to think about because I knew they were true.
The worst memories are the ones that have the most emotions and a lot more than usual, you come out of the situation with scars and with wrapped up emotions. You feel like you can't deal with your emotions because you don't wan to. Evin's post spoke deeper than words for me and I know that when people read her post and read my reaction to it, they might think I'm missing the point or going over board with my feelngs, but sometimes it takes the littlest things to make you feel those issues you pushed back. This was more of a personal call to me and there were a lot of things (there still are) that have been affecting me, but Evin reminded me to think about ME when things go unexpectedly. Sometimes you just need to close the door on the world to think about yourself and where you want to go in life even as you struggle. For this situation, I think WORDS spoke louder than ACTIONS for me because I was reminded to take myself out of the wings of life's stage and put me back as the leading star.
I also got attached to Evin's post because her voice was real, not like she was writing for a newspaper, but like she was talking to me. I felt like we were on the same level and I knew she was writing for 13-14 year olds, not scholars at Harvard.
Evin's post is a promontory amoungst posts for others to look at for help in writing in your own voice and triggering old or new memories.