Kindle booklove: Dani: 10 Wonderful, Amazing, Fantastic Stars This story will stay with me forever. It spoke to my soul because I know what it's like to be bullied relentlessly by kids at school and then go home and have to deal with an abusive stepfather and feel like you have nobody to turn to, nobody to trust, and nowhere to go. I know as it said at the end of the book that not all people being bullied have the same home situations but mine almost resembled Izzy's experience with some differences of course. My heart broke while reading about JD's and Izzy's story. I cried for them and their situation. I fell in love with Emma's character because she was one of those rare people with an untarnished soul who doesn't look at people and judge them by what they look like. She was an amazing person in the story and she tried to help those around her and she was an inspiration. The book begins with the story of Max who's the star athlete and popular hot guy in school who's dating the head cheerleader/hottest girl in school, Emma. They've been dating for a couple of years and had planned out a future together. They were completely in love. One day after practice while Max and Emma are planning on hanging out together, two people walk by that always get made fun of, known as the 10, JD and Izzy. Max's friends toss out some insults as JD and Izzy walk by, and Max joins in with them. Emma gets angry with Max and shows him that JD and Izzy are people too with feelings and gets him to agree to apologize. Max apologizes to JD and offers to help him lose weight and get him in shape. This small apology from Max gives JD some hope that his situation might change at school at least. He has hope that maybe people won't pick on him anymore if they see him hanging out with Max or talking to him. His current situation at home and at school has left him feeling hopeless and depressed. Later that night Emma has dinner at Max's house and then plays basketball with him and his Father and little brother. Emma turns down the chance to go out with his family for frozen yogurt and heads home. While on the way back with his family, Max is thinking about how great his life is, when all of a sudden he hears tires screeching. Max wakes up but he's not at home. He's in a holding station between life and death where he's given the chance to go into JD's body and help JD turn his life around and give him hope. He's given the opportunity because it wasn't his time to pass on so the opportunity to help was given to him and he readily accepts the opening. He wakes up in JD's body with his own thoughts and JD's together. He gets to live in JD's shoes for a few months and on the first day gets to see what JD really has to go through and is bullied for the first time in his life. He soon regrets the way he treated JD and felt terrible for being so mean to anybody. Max attempts to inspire him to keep living when he finds out how depressed he is and about the pact that he made with Izzy. I don't want to give anymore away. This book is amazingly written and so awesome. I will never forget this book. It got me deep. This book should be read by children young and most definitely should be mandatory reading. This book should be on reading lists for schools all around the world. It would do a lot of good and definitely help with the bullying problem in schools. It'll help kids think about their actions and teach them to stop judging others when you don't know what they go through. This book could help change things for those being bullied and who think about killing themselves. This book will teach those also to reach out for help and stop holding it inside and keeping it a secret. I recommend it to everybody with children, children, and adults alike. Everybody should read this amazing book. Enjoy!
Momma's Books. Brandy:
MY THOUGHTS: If I could rate this book a 10 I would but Goodreads as well as amazon will only allow a 5. So it is 5+++++++ I won this book as part of a giveaway and I have to say that if you have a teenager this should be a must read for them. I told my 14-year-old son he WILL be reading this book. It was such an emotional read for me. It took me less than 24 hours to read this book once I started I could not put it down. I am honestly at a loss for words to explain how I feel about this book. But I will try so here I go… You will be taken on an emotional ride and your heart will hurt more times than not. You will wish you could just jump into the book and just rescue JD. I know I absolutely fell in love with Em she is the sweetest and kindest kid. I can only hope that my children turn out to be like her. I don’t want to scare people and have them think that it is just a “downer” kind of book because yes it has its moments of complete heartache but there are also moments that will make you smile. As sad as it is, as a fiction book bullying is happening on a daily basis all around us. I think this may help some children see how hurtful and harmful it can be. I am sure some may find it offensive because of some of the actions in the book but I have to say that personally I believe it is very accurate as to how some children react to being bullied (all you need to do is watch the news) as well as how some children act when watching others being bullied. I cannot speak highly enough of this book I will be telling ALL of my friends and family who have children that they need to purchase this book and have their children read it after they have. When reading this book I immediately disappeared into their world and when reading, that is all I can hope for. To have a book pull me so far in it is no longer a book but like I am standing there watching everything play out before me. So when reading it is hard to not be effected by the words that are printed such as: Will no one befriend me, will no one dare? Not being is an option that can’t be so wrong. Yelled at and mocked; Defaced and Ignored. Your heart goes out to the character; you want to save them, love them, hold them. I will have to say that this is the second book I have read by Mrs. Gammon and it has absolutely affected me so deep down and emotionally that I cannot just leave it as I have read this book and marked it on my Goodreads list as well as on amazon. I have to spread the word of this book. I have emailed my sons freshman English teacher the title of the book as well asking her whom I need to email at the school district office to have them read the book to possibly add it to their required reading list. I cannot see how anyone who reads this book would not be affected by it. It is absolutely AMAZING!
Blackwords-Whitepages Jenny:
10 Stars. WOW......What an emotional roller coaster this book is. I was totally sucked into this story from the very first page. Sherry hit it right on writing the feelings of teenagers, peer pressure, and bullying all in one fabulous book!! I could feel what the characters felt and could very easily relate to the situations in this story. It had me smiling one minute, to crying, to being down right mad. This is a MUST read story that is very well written and fast paced and will make it very hard to put down. It is not just for teens, but any age would enjoy reading this book. Since October is National Bullying Month, this book fits right into that catagory!! Thank you, Sherry Gammon for another brilliant read!!
Goodreads Jessica:
Sherry took this book in a direction that I was not expecting, but it was perfect! It definitely got the message out there. One thing I noticed when I read her first book, was that Sherry is really good at making you feel exactly what the characters are feeling. And if it's at all possible she does an even better job at it in this book. There were so many times that I had to put this book down and walk away cuz I could feel the characters' pain. I felt Em's pain like as if it was me that had just lost someone. Or JD's and Izzy's pain that I was the biggest scum that was ever on the face of this earth. If I were a high school teacher I would definitely make my students read this. No I WOULD read it to them to make sure that I knew they were actually get the message from this book! I loved the ending as weird as that sounds. I think it was the perfect ending. It was such a slap in the face to all those bullies out there, because we know that stuff like that really happens. People can only take so much before they just give up on everything. And the ending does just that. There's no happy ending with that part of the book. But it needed to happen so that people could actually see that things aren't always happy and cheerful like Hollywood likes to portray it as. This book shows how just smiling or giving a helping hand to someone in need can change someone's life in such a drastic way. You see it with JD and almost with Izzy. We just don't realize how much we affect others by our actions and words. Whether it's something good or bad, big or small. And I think this book really hits down on that hard! I just wish I could make everyone read this. Like those bully's out there that mean to cause harm to others, or those that don't even realize that they are bullying. And especially to those who do get bullied so that they can realize that keeping quiet isn't always best. That there is always someone somewhere who will help them, if they won’t give up there hope and reach out to someone. I wish I could express better how much I feel like this book needs to be put into the hands of those young and old! I just hope this review has done enough to convince you to read it. Go learn about JD's story so that you can see better what you can do to start putting an end to this huge problem we have going on in every parts of the world! Give these characters a chance to tell you their story! Go find out if your a Max, or JD, a Nick, or an Emma. If you don't like who your more like then change it!
Goodreads Tea: I am not even sure where to start, writing about this wonderful book. At first I wasn't too sure that I would get into it, however the way that Sherry introduced the characters made me love them automatically. Then the first BIG thing happened and I literally had my mouth open for a long time, in shock of the event but also not knowing where this book is going to go. This book touches down on some serious issues that everyone deals with in Life and I feel that Sherry has done it justice. She was truthful and raw about it and in some chapters I didn't know if I could continue the book but I could not put it down, It was sooooo good. The characters are amazing in this book. Max I fell in love with because he is a highschool boy but has a Heart of a grown Lovable man, and Emma is a true sweetheart.... JD omgosh I felt for him so much... and it made be think about real life and how this happens everyday. Once I got into the book I couldn't put it down, I wanted to know what will happen next, and how Max and JD will work together, I cried several times in the book, I laughed and smiled, however as I was reading the last chapter I was bawling...... HUGE uncontrollable tears and hyperventilating.... I have not done that with a book I don't think EVER. I have cried yes and bawled but this was uncontrolling, and as I read the last sentence I smiled. So thank you Sherry Gammon you are truly a fantastic writer and I can not wait to read more of your books. I recommend this book for everyone, Mothers, Sisters, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers and Fathers and young adults as everyone needs to read it and maybe it will teach us something...
Thanks Again Sherry I adore you, you are one talented Woman!!
Touching Souls in Peril review. Thank you so much your your amazing words, Beckie!! (Caution: Spoiler alert!) Here is an unspoiler section of the 5 star review if you don't like spoilers;}}
To feel and experience what JD/Max had to deal with and fight up against. The story is so deep and there are so much more that happens than what I wrote above. Souls in Peril touched my heart more than any book ever has. I love a book that once done reading it you feel like you can walk away lighter and uplifted. Sherry writes this story for both a bully and those who are bullied can find find hope or see the errors of their wrong ways. The story truly spoke to me and touched my soul. In The beginning of the book I was hooked, and left breathless. In the end I was blown away and left in tears. One of the many wonderful things I loved about Souls in Peril is Sherry's ability to have such an expressive writing style. The reader can sense and feel every raw emotion good or bad during the book. She made me feel like I was right there in the book living through JD.
I cannot recommend this book enough to everyone. Trust me, read it and tell me you did not shed a tear or learn something about yourself. Being bullied myself most of my life during school was so very hard for me, some days I just wanted to give up. I just wish I would have had THIS book for me to read when I too was a Soul in Peril. Yes, I know this is one of my longest reviews, and if you have read it up to now then give yourself a gold star. All kidding aside please, please, please read this beautiful book. I guarantee you'll not regret it.
Click here for full review!!
http://www.bittersweet-enchantment.com/2012/11/book-review-souls-in-peril-by-sherry.html
I received a beautiful review for Not So Easy (originally published as Souls in Peril) I wanted to share part of it with you!
As I try to compose all my emotions to write this review I feel an overwhelming responsibility to do justice to this book through my review. I laughed, I cried, I felt such bewildering sadness and in the end I laughed again. Sherry Gammon takes us on an astonishing journey through the eyes of Max Sanchez. Handsome and athletic with a wonderful and supportive family, Max lives a charmed life. Even as a seventeen year old Max knows that his girlfriend Emma will be the woman he grows old with. Em's beauty and brains are only out shone by her inner compassion and kindness. Max already recognizes that he can learn from her sweetness and tolerance.
We are introduced to Max and Emma at school as they interact with an abundance of friends during lunch. Emma, a cheerleader is planning a big surprise for the championship game. The same baseball game that Max, the schools honored pitcher, will eagerly help his team to win. This is also when we are introduced to Lumpy Larry and Icky Izzy. These two kids aren't part of the "in" crowd. They don't have an abundance of friends. The vicious bullying and abuse that these kids take from their school mates as well as the very people that are presumed to cherish and take care of them has driven them to....
.....The struggles and insight of the children in this book will haunt me. I can't remember the last time a book had such a profound affect on me. As a mother of four boys, my heart broke as I imagined the horror of the life that JD and Isabelle struggled through every day. And I cried big crocodile tears as Max and Emma were forced to say their good-byes. And finally, in the end, I was grateful that after all the sadness and tears Sherry Gammon still had the ability to make me laugh out loud. What a phenomenal ending.
Thank you so much Carrie! What a beautiful review!!
To read Carrie's phenomenal review Click here to read the review in it's entirety
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