A World Away

I read A World Away, a realistic fiction novel by Nancy Grossman, several months ago, while on vacation, but  never got around to writing about it. The story is written from the perspective of sixteen year-old Eliza Miller. As an Amish girl, Eliza has never experienced life outside her community. When she gets an opportunity to baby-sit for a family living in the Chicago suburbs for the summer, she can't wait to try out new things. She meets Josh, a boy who shares his love of music with her. As the summer winds on though, Eliza finds that she misses her life within her simple and pious community, but she also is in love with Josh. She must choose between the new world she's discovered and Josh or the life she has back home. Either choice, she knows, will mean making a sacrifice.
I recommend this book for teens 14 and up, because there are a few scenes in the book that might not be appropriate for younger teens.

Anne Frank

Everyone, I am certain, has heard of Anne Frank, if not read her diary. I found out that you can see her other writings, too. In  Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex, numerous short stories by her have been compiled. Some of these are her diary entries, rewritten as short stories. Yet others are reminiscences from before she went into hiding. There are also several essays, fables, and short stories. This culminates with the beginnings of a novel that she was writing. I found that she wrote fiction incredibly. Her fables and essays represent many lessons and morals that people need to have.  She expresses her thoughts and feelings very well on paper, as skill I doubt I will ever master. As a young aspiring writer and a book lover, I wish I could write even half as well as Anne Frank.I couldn't stop reading.