Ryan's Review- Phantoms in the Snow

Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble

In this gripping journey, a fifteen-year-old pacifist must decide what he believes as he faces the reality of World War II.

The year is 1944, and fifteen-year-old Noah Garrett's parents have died from smallpox. Without any other family nearby, Noah is sent to live with his uncle, whom he has never met, in Camp Hale, Colorado. There is one small problem with this decision: Noah has been raised a pacifist, and Camp Hale is a U.S. military base for a little-known division of winter warfare soldiers called Phantoms. Can a boy who's never seen snow and doesn't believe in war survive among these soldiers?

Phantoms were soldiers that would wear white as camouflage and to also help them evade the enemy as they ski. Yes, soldiers that ski!! They were called Phantoms because they looked like ghosts.

In this book, fifteen-year-old Noah, a pacifist, lives a normal life until his mother dies of smallpox and a week later his father is also claimed by death. Noah is then left with no one because he has no other family or anyplace to live. So instead of being sent to an orphanage he is sent from a small town in Texas to Camp Hale, Colorado where he lives with his Uncle Shelley, a man he never knew existed. That's when his life went upside down and he became a phantom.

The year is 1944 and WWII is going on ferociously and the phantoms are needed on the front lines. Noah is scared and is just trying to survive. This is a great book about a boy that doesn't want to fight and can't legally fight, but finds himself at home in his new cold, dangerous, and completely foreign place.

Recommend? Ya, definitely! This book isn't really about WWII , but rather centered around the people and their feelings. Noah's gonna make it through to the next day, but it's not going to be easy to get there. It's a great book....believe me.

Rating: 8/10


Source: Middle School Library

Read and reviewed by Ryan B. Ryan is currently in the eighth grade and loves to read just about anything I throw at him! He stops into the library almost on a daily basis always  eager to find the next great book to read! Look for more reviews from Ryan in April, May and June!

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@Barrie Summy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros

Every Tuesday, Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea

 posts the opening paragraph (maybe two) of a book

 she decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s).

 Feel free to grab the banner and play along!

My selection this week comes from Sandra Dallas' newest release, True Sisters. I have loved pretty much everything that she has written. I think it will be a great read.

July 28, 1856

The two sisters leaned forward, their hands flat against the rear of the handcart, waiting, fidgeting, impatient. It was late in the day, and they had been ready for hours, had stood there behind the spindly cart that was piled with all their worldly goods, listening for the command or maybe the sound of the cornet that would send them on their way. Already, the horn ordered their lives, waking them at five in the morning, calling them to prayers twice a day, sounding again at ten at night for the fires and lights to be extinguished. For three weeks, their lives had been ordered by that clarion call, and the sisters thought it had grown a little tiresome. But now the young women strained their ears for the sound, hoping the notes would begin the procession.

Would you continue reading this one

 based on the opening paragraph?

Mailbox Monday and It's Monday..What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday 

is a gathering place for readers to share the books that

came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. 

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

April Host is :

Cindy's Love of Books

Keepsake by Kristina Riggle- courtesy of Edelweiss and Publisher. I chose this one because she's a Michigan author and I love to read her books!

----------------------------------------------------

Hosted by

 Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books

We discuss the books that we've read 

and what we're planning to read for the week.

Last Week's Bookish Thoughts:

Mariana- stellar read...couldn't put it down!

When All That's Left of Me is Love- beautiful memoir!

Books I will be talking about this week:

Deep Down True- library book

Deep Dish- audio

In My Book Box:

currently reading-True Sisters by Sandra Dallas

up next- Life Boat

When All That's Left of Me is Love by Linda Campanella

What this book is about:
In her poignant memoir, Linda Campanella offers readers an intimate look inside her family and her heart as she relives and reconstructs her last year with her terminally ill mother and, in the process, comes to terms with the pain and permanence of her loss. At the heart of this story is the important realization that a terminal diagnosis does not terminate life.

Have you ever read a book that just seemed to be the "right book at the right time" sort of read? Well, this was one for me. I haven't experienced the excruciating pain of watching a parent suffer from a terminal illness or live with the knowledge that at some point in time my parent was going to die. But my mother had to go through all of that with her own mother and father. I have friends who just recently lost a parent to a terminal illness, one just diagnosed with cancer, and I have friends who are still learning how to live with their grief from the sudden death of a loved one. So, the reason this book came into my life at the "perfect" time is because I was supposed to read this one and then buy a copy for my mom. I was supposed to read this book and share a poignant poem about loss with a co-worker who lost her husband two years ago this month. I was supposed to read this book and pass it on to a friend whose father passed a few months ago. This is how Linda's story touched me. I connected with her immediately and her love for her parents just jumped off the pages. I liked how she told her story with the help of emails that she saved. Some of the emails were from her to her mother, father, siblings, and various other people. Other emails were from her mother, siblings, and people she met during her mother's year-long battle. Many will think that this story is too sad to read, but I tell you that it is NOT! Linda's mother loved life. This book is a testament to her big heart, her ability to smile and laugh her way through the pain, and to leave a legacy of love so big that you can only admire her determination to live each day of her life. This book may make you cry, but it's all good....really it is.

Recommend? Absolutely. If you have lost a loved one from a terminal illness, accident, natural causes, or whatever the circumstances, you may find some comfort and solace with this book. I'm sure her experience will resonate with you. Linda's mother loved poetry and there are many pieces shared in this book. I've made copies of the ones that touched me and have made a point to purchase Good Poems by Garrison Keillor because it calls to me. This is the type of book that you will read in a day, highlight those aha moments, write down the poems in a journal, make notes all over the pages, and more than likely buy another copy for a family member, friend, or someone you know who may need some help dealing with their pain from the death of a loved one.

Linda Campanella is a management consultant and the mother of three sons. Before she launched a private consulting practice serving nonprofit organizations, her professional career included stints as an international trade negotiator in the executive branch of the U.S. government, a corporate executive in the aerospace industry, and a senior administrator at a private college. She is a graduate of the first co-ed class of Amherst College and earned a master’s from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Raised in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, she currently resides in West Hartford, Connecticut, with her husband and high school sweetheart, Joe, and the mini-goldendoodle who joined the family nine months after the author became a motherless daughter. This book, her first, was written as a tribute to her mother and a gift to her father.

Website | Facebook.

Source: TLC Book Tours and Linda Campanella
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 232
Published:  August, 2011

Disclaimer:Thank you to Linda Campanella for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.


Review Book #14
© 2011, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission. 

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

What Mariana is about:
The first time Julia Beckett saw Greywethers she was only five, but she knew that it was her house. And now that she's at last become its owner, she suspects that she was drawn there for a reason. As if Greywethers were a portal between worlds, she finds herself transported into seventeenth-century England, becoming Mariana, a young woman struggling against danger and treachery, and battling a forbidden love. Each time Julia travels back, she becomes more enthralled with the past..until she realizes Mariana's life is threatening to eclipse her own, and she must find a way to lay the past to rest or lose the chance for happiness in her own time.

I can't begin to adequately put into words how much I loved this book! Kearsley rivals Gabaldon's skills when it comes to time travel written so eloquently. I started this book early on a Tuesday morning and couldn't stop reading it until I had finished the final sentence later that evening. Every part of me was rebelling against finishing it because frankly, I did not want it to end...EVER! I loved all of the characters in this story and the setting was something that just screamed ENGLAND and history! I was captivated by the plot and how effortlessly the two stories were intertwined to make such a cohesive and compelling read. I found myself sighing more than once when it came to the romantic parts of the story. The author gives you just enough to savor and left me totally satisfied with the ending. There wasn't one part of this book that I didn't enjoy.


Recommend? Absolutely..YES times one hundred gazillion! Okay...I'm a bit crazy, but how else can I convey how wonderful this book is to my fellow book lovers? Kearsley is easily a favorite author of mine and she just can't write fast enough for me. Each book she has written has been outstanding and she amazes me again and again with her imagination and uncanny ability to ink characters and places that I instantly fall in love with! Treat yourself to this book...you will not be disappointed!


Author: Susanna Kearsley
Source: review copy from Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Historical fiction/Romance
Pages: e-book
Published:  April 2012
*Uncorrected eARC via NetGalley


Disclaimer:Thank you toSourcebooks Casablanca/NetGalley for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MYexperience while reading this novel.

Review Book #13
© 2011, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros

Every Tuesday, Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea

 posts the opening paragraph (maybe two) of a book

 she decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s).

 Feel free to grab the banner and play along!

My selection this week comes from After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop. I read Kathleen's debut novel last year and I really liked it, so when offered the chance to read her next book I had to say YES !! 

Tuesday, October 26th, 1948
     Donota, Pennsylvania
Inside the Greshecky home, Rose pressed the light switch but knew it wouldn't work. Ian appeared, his form outlined by the paltry light slipping through a gap in the wood siding. Even in darkness his complexion--white as the smoky plumes billowing from the zinc mill--told Rose things were not well with his Aunt. He opened his mouth, but Rose grasped his shoulders and shoved the twelve-year-old toward the kitchen before Ian could form a single word.

Would you continue reading this one

 based on the opening paragraph?

Mailbox Monday and It's Monday....What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday 

is a gathering place for readers to share the books that

came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. 

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

April Host is :

Cindy's Love of Books

Picture This- courtesy of Edelweiss and William Morrow. I love this author..can't wait to read it!

--------------------------------------------

Hosted by

 Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books

We discuss the books that we've read 

and what we're planning to read for the week.

Last Week's Bookish Thoughts:

The World of Downton Abbey- absolutely loved this one it's a beautiful book!!!

The King's Agent- historical fiction that weighed me down with too much detail.

Books I will be talking about this week:

Mariana- Wednesday

When All That's Left of Me is Love- Thursday (TLC Book)

In My Book Box:

currently reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

After the Fog

The Wolf Who Loved Me