Half The Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.  This book was given to Blake last year by his student teacher.  It was not until recenty that the student teacher asked if Blake had read it yet, which he has not, and so I felt like I needed to give it a try.  Looking at the cover I just assummed it was a very feminist book about women being repressed in America.  I have mixed feelings about that but that is another subject.  Instead, this book focuses mostly on third world countries in Africa and covers a bit in China, India, and other Asian countries.

The book is sort of divided into different sections.  It starts out by talking about sex trafficking, then leads into rape as a weapon, honor killings, AIDS, and then medical shortages/discrimination towards mostly lower class women with no money.  Of course it ends with a few chapters of what you can do to make a change.  I will admit that is was not a book I particulary enjoyed reading since the subject is very touchy and you get a lot of personal stories of women going through trials in their life and hearing about their injustices.  I also did not like how it was written since it was written by journalists it has the newspaper feel to it.  A lot of extra descriptions that are not really needed but take up space to try to make you feel more sympathetic to the cause.

Aside from that, it was a decent book and teaches you a lot about what women go through in other parts of the world.  I knew most of the things they talked about, but I was surprised how little of it Blake had heard about such as genital cuttings.  It is not a book to be taken lightly and let younger children read unless you are prepared to discuss these sensitive subjects with them.  Otherwise I think it is good for everyone at some point to be educated about those around the world and if anything to appreciate the life they have and realize not everyone has a decent life or even the ability to leave their own home without worrying about getting raped or killed.  They are able to get an education while others who wish to have one never get the opportunity.

The Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy by Brandon Mull

Chasing the Prophecy is the final installment in The Beyonders trilogy.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this trilogy and would refer it to others who enjoyed books such as Fablehaven and The Iron Elves.  It is rare that I am mostly happy with how a book ends, but I think Brandon Mull did a great job.

Jason and Rachel were told in the previous book by the oracle that they each had to separate and do different jobs.  Jason finds himself fighting impossible enemies that have killed anyone that has ever gone up against them.  Of course, Jason and his crew defy all odds and complete their tasks.  What I enjoyed seeing Brandon Mull do is kill most of the people involved.  Very few make it alive which makes the story almost more realistic.

Rachel and Galoron take a different route and put together an army to fight Maldor at his castle.  THey find themselves at the castle going off of a belief that the oracle told them the truth.  Rachel has many doubts about the reliability of the oracle, but must find the ability to trust what is said.  She ends up taking Maldor's offer to become his apprentice in order to hopefully kill him.  She fails at first, but in the end is able to defeat him.  For once the fight against the badguy is ok.  Most books, including Eragon, had a pretty wimpy fight at the end.  Now there is not an incredible fight, but it ends pretty well.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

I have hit a literature kick again and have been enjoying reading again.  I have to admit 4 kids really limits my reading time right now and even when I do read I seem to have a couple kids on my lap watching a movie so I have a moment to myself.

Ethan Frome is another book that my husband is reading with his 10th grade students at the moment.  I enjoyed this book even though once again it ends sadly.  I can't understand why so many literature books are sad.  What is wrong with writing a good book that ends happily.  Anyway, this book is about Ethan Frome and how he ended up as a quiet cripple with a poor life.  His parents died and he was left with a failing farm/mill and he married a sickly lady named Zeena.  She is constantly seeing new doctor's and trying new remedies that never seem to help.

In order to help Zeena they take in her cousin Mattie.  Mattie's parents died and she was left with nothing and no other relations would take her in.  Mattie brings life back to Ethan's life and the two of them get along great.  A year after staying, Ethan realizes how strong his feelings are for Mattie and it seems that Zeena has also noticed the attraction as well.  Zeena finally takes a trip to see a new doctor and Ethan and Mattie are left alone for a night.  Nothing happens, but the two of them are happy and relaxed with one another.  When Zeena returns she informs Ethan that she has a hired a maid and Mattie must leave that next day.

Ethan is not happy and tries to prevent this from happening.  He even tries to find a way to leave his life and run off with Mattie but can not get the money to do so.  As he takes Mattie to the train station the two of them finally admit to eachother their love for one another.  To help with the pain they decide to sled down a dangerous hill right into a tree.  Unfortunately for them neither dies but are left disabled.  Zeena is forced to care for Mattie and Ethan the rest of their lives.  They live together in a run down house that is barely warm enough to live in and can barely get enough to ea and live off of.  It is a sad life that they live with broken futures and a wasted life.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

This was such a strange book.  If I remember correctly it is listed as a Common Core book.  Blake had it sitting on his desk so I grabbed it since I knew I was going to be at the hospital for a while waiting for my youngest son.  I had no idea what this book would be about so I was not prepared at all when it starts out with our main character, Gregor, waking up and realizing he had turned into a beatle.  Yep, a beatle.  At first I thought of Rhinoceros in a way this book follows the same reasoning for why people turned into rhinoceros's.

Gregor was worn out from working so hard for so many years to pay off his father's debt and to provide for his family.  His parents and sister did not work and lived a pretty lavish and comfortable lifestyle.  Of course this all changed once Gregor became a beatle and could no longer provide for them let alone even communicate with them.  Gregor stays in his room and his family is forced to find jobs in order to provide for themselves.  His 17 year old sister at first takes care of Gregor by giving him food everyday and even cleaning his room.  She eventually convinces her mom to help take out the furniture so that Gregor has room to crawl in the walls and ceiling.

It was frustrating to see how his family complained about having to work so hard and take jobs below their level and serving others.  His father is the worst.  He comes home every night and falls asleep in his chair.  He wife and daughter must spend the evening trying to convince him to move to the bed and change out of his work cloths.  He complains about being so tired.  His sister even stops taking care of Gregor and the maid is the only one that interacts a little with him, but even then she calls him an ugly dung beatle.  No one believes he understands them.

At the end of the book, Gregor's sister finally loses control and breaks down.  She cries and yells at her parents that they must get rid of the monster living in their house before it kills them all since they work too hard at their jobs and come home unable to relax.  Gregor hears all of this.  He had become depressed beforehand with the lack of help and sympathy from his family that he has refused to eat.  This night he finally gives up and dies.  I was disappointed with the reaction from his family.  They are all content and quite their jobs and move to a smaller apartment.  They become happy and start to talk about finding a husband for their daughter.  They no longer remember their son/brother and go on without him.

This was a short book and very easy to read and understand.  I can see why it is on the Common Core since there is so much discussion that arises with this book.  How should his family reacted?  Do you agree with their treatment of Gregor?  Do you agree with Gregor's views?  Was it fair for the family to expect Gregor to provide for them while they do nothing?  Was it good for Gregor to die and let his family live a 'normal' life?

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

I must admit that it took me a moment to realize this was not a fantasy book, but actually based on historical events that took place in Chicago.  I was very impressed with this book and really enjoyed reading it.  I am interested in reading more of Erik Larson's books since they are educational, but not a bore to read.

Devil in the White City takes place in the early 1890's in Chicago and is about the Chicago World Columbian Exposition that was put together.  We follow two main men, Daniel Burnham and Dr. H. H. Holmes.  Burnham was the main architect and director that put together the impossible task of arranging and building the World Exposition in 21 months.  With his story we see the difficult decisions  he had to make in order to get the Exposition ready and all the trials during a time of economic depression and union strikes.

Dr. Henry Holmes (his main alias) is one of the first real psychopath killers that set up his hotel/practice next to the Exposition.  During this time many young women were leaving their small hometowns in search of a more lucritive life.  They were alone and naive, an excellent target for criminals and who Homes targeted as well.  There are only nine definate kills that have been proven, but Holmes admitted to at least 27 deaths and there are others who estimate that the number was closer to 200.  No one will ever know since he was a very charming man who set up his own reality.  Iin his building he built gas chambers and a kiln.  He would get his victims to become completely dependent on him and then would suffocate them in these gas chambers with either gas or acid chemicals.  He would them either burn the bodies in the kiln he had designed or send them off to become skeletons.  During this time the medical profession was in desperate need of skeletons and were known to be grave diggers and buy bodies from people.

The Exposition was a first for many things and set a trend for the future.  There was many novelties like light bulbs, wheaties, the Ferris Wheel, and other things that were introduced and become a main part of life.  The White City become a model of what an ideal city should look like and many places used this example to design their city.  Clean sewage systems and imported water from natural springs was introduced as well.  It also set a trend for labor unions and eight hour work days, paid overtime, health coverage, ect.  This was a time when insurance companies were beginning to discover and prosecute for insurance fraud and creditors came into contact with people who would not pay they credit back.  Holmes funded his projects using credit and insurance fraud.  He was able to get away with it for many years since many people did not know how to handle that kind of situation.  So many people disappeared during this time that it took many years for people to realize what Holmes had been doing. I think this book is definately worth reading.

The Iron Elves Book 2-3 by Chris Evans

I finally got around to reading the last two books of the Iron Elves series, The Light of Burning Shadows and Ashes of a Black Frost.  I really enjoyed this series and would recommend it to others.  It is not your typical elves, witches, and dwarves book which I really enjoyed.  For those that like military books and mythological aspects this would be a good series.  It gives a good feel of military life and comradeship.  I liked how there were different species all working together, but not one was necessarily stronger or better than the other.

In the second book, The Light of Burning Shadows, we follow the Iron Elves to the desert in search of the second start that is to fall and also to find a lost library for the prince.  Another powerful force has shown up that burns shadows and kills the person, but the body is taken to become part of a living dead army.  The unit gets split up into multiple groups and has to fight their own battles.  Visyna and her group come in contact with the original Iron Elves which are being led by Kritton.  However, these elves seek revenge and do not follow Konowa anymore.  Private Renwar struggles with his connection with the dead and makes a deal with the Dark Monarch while also restoring the Red Star to the desert area.

In the third book, Ashes of a Black Frost, each group travels and ends up at the abadoned Iron Elves fort where they fight against a huge army of Rackes, both alive and their shadows, led by the previous Emissary that was supposedly killed by Private Renwar who now is the dead's Emissary.  The fighting and struggles in this book were good, however, it made for a disappointing ending.  You have so much fighting and battles that when Konowa and his group finally make it to Her mountain to destroy the Dark Monarch, it is anti-climatic.  You expect a great battle and struggles, but are greatly disappointed when it ends so quickly with little conflict.  Other than the poor ending, the series was great.

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

This was the other play I read.  It was slow at first and honestly not a lot happens.  It all takes place within three days.  It is an incredibly simple read and easy to understand.  I enjoyed the last couple pages the most when our main character, Nora, realizes what her life really is like and that she does not know who she is.

Nora starts out in this play as a very flighty, happy person that is very superficial.  She does not seem to know what life is really like and her husband treats her like a 'doll.'  He talks to her like she is a young little girl and expects her to be a trophy wife and act/dress in certain ways.  He works at a bank and has just been made the manager.  In order to keep up his appearance of having a strong, moral character, he dismisses his friend who has a reputation for doing questionable business.  Unfortunately, this man did business with Nora in the past and Nora is still paying off her debt.  She took out a loan in order to save her husband's life.  This man threatens Nora and writes a blackmail letter to her husband in order to get his job back and to get his reputation cleared.  Nora tries her hardest to prevent the letter from getting into her husband's hands, but in the end resigns herself to her husband finding out.  She believes he will rescue her.  Unfortunately her husband does not accept what she has done and says she will never be allowes out of the house and will never be able to raise their three children.

After saying all of these hurtful things he reads another letter from the same man that decided to return Nora's bill and releasing her from all responsibility.  Nora's husband is relieved and decides they will go on with life like nothing happened and tries to take back everything he said.  Unfortunately for him, Nora realizes that she does not know herself or her husband and must leave to find out who she is.  Her husband tries to convince her to stay, but she leaves.

While it is a sad ending that does not necessarily end happily-ever-after, it has a very good lesson.  Nora had spent her whole life living and doing what others expected her to do.  She never found out who she was.  It is a great short play that has great insight at the end about life.

Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco

My posts have definately spaced out a bit with our hectic life.  Blake asked me to help him read a few plays the last couple of days to make sure the content/language was acceptable for his English class.  I have not had much experience reading plays and honestly was not in the mood to read them.  My brain has been fried with pregnancy and I have not wanted to really concentrate or read lately.  I am glad that I was able to enjoy both the plays I read and even more grateful that they were short plays and easy to read.

Rhinoceros is definately on a higher literary level than the other play I read, " A Doll's House."  I must admit the first act was a little hard to get through and really keep up with all the conversations because there are so many people talking at once that it is chaotic.  The rest of the book is fairly easy to read and even the language usage is much more simple.  Pretty much you follow this one guy that is borderline a drunk.  He is trying to find meaning in his life and starts out by arguing with his friend pretty much about whether the rhinoceros that they had seen twice run through town was the same one or different.  People, including his friend, start turning into Rhinoceros'  and I thought it was funny that the only person upset and freaking out about this phenomenon was the main character.  Everyone else just goes with the flow and follows the crowd.  Eventually everyone turns in a Rhinoceros except our main character.  He struggles at the end being the only one left and at first fights against it, and then in turn wants to become a Rhinoceros as well but cannot.  He then accepts that he is the last human and is determined to fight against the majority.

I found it interesting that there is a lot of logic and what is real discussed throughout the book.  So many people start by fighting against everyone, but in the end follow what everyone else does even if it does not necessarily make sense.  Really, how many people want to turn into a Rhinoceros.  Many are mad about it, but then decide that everyone else is having more fun and enjoying life better.  They are escaping from their hectic life and having fun and relaxing.  It is interesting to see how in such a short period an entire society can change their opinions and focus in life.

The Starcatchers Series by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

I had fun reading the four books in this series and can't wait to see what the other book The Bridge to Neverland has to offer.  This series is a fun take on the story Peter Pan and how he came to be  and where he is from.  I think this is a fun series and very easy to read for anyone.

In book one we are introduced to Peter and the Starcatchers.  Starcatchers are a secret organization that finds and prevents the Others from finding Starstuff, magical and deadly dust.  Peter and some other orphans find themselves on the same boat at a shipment of stolen starstuff and find themselves helping a young Starcatcher Molly, keep the starstuff away from pirate Captian Stache (later to become Captain Hook).  During this adventure Peter comes in contact with a significant amount of starstuff and finds that he can fly and will never age.

In book two Peter and the orphans along with the Indian tribe, Mullusk, and Captain Hook are on their island and find out that a very dark, evil person is on the island trying to find the hidden starstuff.  When they realize this starstuff is not on the island they head to London to find Molly and her father.  Peter along with Tink head to London to save Molly and her family.  Their main goal is to help Molly's father, with the help of a friend, George, to return the starstuff before this horrible creature can steal it.

Book three finds Molly and her father heading back to Neverland to warn Peter that Lord Ohmbra, the evil monster, is coming to take him because his father was a Watcher.  A Watcher is the special person on earth who can determine where starstuff falls.  Peter has this ability too and is taken from the island with the orphan boys and sent to Rundoon.  Here Peter is forced to find the starstuff than has fallen to earth in order to help Lord Ohmbra use the starstuff to destroy the universe.  While preventing this from happening the starstuff falls on a ship that George and the orphan boys have taken and find the ship flying through the air back to Neverland.  The original four orphans head back to London with Molly and her father while a new set of orphans that came with them from Rundoon stay on Neverland.

23 years later we find ourselves on Neverland.  The starstuff fell into the water and therefore has allowed everyone on the island to never grow old.  Molly and George are married and have three chidren.  Can you guess what their names are?  Strange men have arrived at the island searching for the hidden starstuff and in London Lord Ohmbra has returned and taken some of the previous orphan boys and Molly and George in order to find a secret stach of starstuff.  Wendy heads to Neverland to ask Peter to help her save her family.  Peter and Tink find themselves once again in London confronting old enemies as well as new ones.

Cut by Patricia McCormick

Callie is a young teenager who cuts herself to escape her loneliness and pain.  She finds herself at Sea Pines, a treatment facility.  She refuses to talk to anyone feeling even more out of place among the drug addicts, anemics, and obese patients in her group.  She finds herself even more upset when another girl arrives who cuts herself as well but is very open about it.  No one in Callie's group even know that she cuts herself.  We follow her as she goes from her individual therapy session to group sessions and sits there thinking about things around her and watching how the other girls cope with their disorders as well as watching one young woman who continues to throw up and throw away her food.  It is written with her thoughts and what she assumes others are thinking.

This is an incredibly easy read and I finished it in one evening.  Blake got this for one of his students that likes to read stories about people with problems that seem worse than her own.  In my opinion this young lady can relate to these other teens in the books and hopefully she finds some solace and inspiration to continue with life and eventually become a better person.  She definately is one of Blake's harder students to cope with, but Blake is one of the few adults that can get her to do her work and try hard.  I think this is a good book for people to read especially teens since many, even if they do not have a disorder, can relate to feelings of hopelessness and loneliness at times.  This can even give kids who are struggling with something a little hope and push to overcome what they are struggling with.

Sleeping Love by Sara Curran-Ross

I downloaded this book a long time ago when it was a free kindle book thinking it might me a Cinderella type book.  Well, definately is not a Cinderella fairy tale type book, but it was still a decent book.  I can't say that I will ever read it again, but it was a different romance book than most that I have read.

Sabrina Michaels is a historian that lost her memory 7 years ago and finds herself at the wealthy Raoul Valoire's mansion under the pretense that she is doing research on one of his famous relatives.  She soon finds out that Raoul claims that he is her husband and will not let her leave until she regains her memory.  Sabrina fights against this not knowing whether to trust him or not since she was beaten badly and raped when she lost her memory.  Raoul invites all the suspects for a weekend in order to determine who was responsible for Sabrina's dissappearance.  She must find the courage to confront her memories and decide whether to trust Raoul as her husband or go back to her life in London. 

While the overall story was decent, I was a little disappointed with the ending and how many people Sara decided to have involved in the conspiracy.  I think there were just a few too many people and a slightly unrealistic ending.  I would not suggest spending money to buy this kindle book, but if it is free again go for it.

Watched Series by Cindy Hogan

Christy is a 15 year old with incredible intellect and a photographic memory.  She wins a contest to go to New York with a youth political group in hopes of changing her life since she is bullied at her school.  She had no clue that this trip will definately change her life as she and her group witness a murder from a terrorist group.  She and her friends are followed and one girl is even kidnapped.  They get in contact with the FBI and with their help the first book "Watched" ends with all of the kids returning home believing they are safe.

In the second book "Protected" Christy and a friend are kidnapped and are luckily rescued by the FBI and put into witness protection.  Christy has a chance to become a popular cheerleader as she begins her new life as Melissa.  She is trained and continues training in self-defense in order to protect herself if any of the terrorist groups find her.  She has become the main target of power and whichever group kills her becomes the leading terrorist group.  When Melissa is found she must once again change her idendity and become a gothic, biker girl.

The third book takes Christy or Ari at this time and all of her political field trip group to Europe to a spy school as the the terrorists are finally captured.  Christy and many of her friends find themselves being trained for various spy positions.  Ari finds that she has the ability to become a great spy and even ends up on an important FBI mission to prove her abilities.  She has a choice to continue with spy training or to finally go back home.  You will have to read to see what her future is.

It may sound like a dumb series to read, but I really enjoyed reading them.  The first book is free on Kindle right now and the second two are only $3.99.  The only thing that bugged me with the series is that it is painfully obvious the author has LDS ties and she doesn't outright say that Christy is LDS but she isn't Catholic or Protestant.  She mentions Christy's strict parents with no dating until 16, no drinking, smoking, tatoos, piercings, and she mentions multiple times things her youth leaders taught her.  Yes, it is good that Christy must try to keep her values while also going through the witness protection and missions, but it detracted from the story by inserting these paragraphs of inner turmoil and religious conflicts.  You don't need to put such a strong religious perspective in it to make it a good book.  Otherwise, it was fun and I enjoyed reading something other than classic literature or fantasy.

A Darkness Forged in Fire by Chris Evans

Blake found this book in a shed when his brother moved into his new place a couple years ago.  I didn't notice it on the shelf until a couple weeks ago and decided to try it out since I was having a hard time getting though A Casual Vacancy.  I really enjoyed this book and want to get the rest for Christmas now.  I know there are at least three books in the series.  I will have to look up more information to see if there are more books to come.

This is not a young adult fantasy, but a nice adult fantasy without the language or sex that seems to accompany so many adult books.  Blake gives me a hard time for reading young adult literature and not adult or classic literature more.  Honestly, most adult literature I have a hard time reading now because I find myself focusing on the language and sexual content and not being able to just read and enjoy the book.  Classic literature is often hard and slow to read.  I read for enjoyment,  not to increase my vocabulary and intelect.  I apologize if this does not seem like a good enough reason to read, but for me it is good enough and does not need to make me think or increase my intelect.

Our main character is Konowa Swift Dragon, a former commander of the Iron Elves who were disbanded when Konowa murdered an evil Viceroy without permission from the Queen.  He was then exiled in the forest, which he hates since he is a tainted elf touched by the Dark Shadow Monarch and can not bond with an Oak like other regular elves.  He finds himself called back to command the Iron Elves under the command of the Prince however, the Iron Elves no longer include elves, but regular men and one dwarf.  They are in search of "The Star" so that the Shadow Monarch does not get it for Her power.  Unfortunately, they also learn that the Prince wants the Star and all other magical relics for a museum of education.  They fight extinct monsters and find that the Iron Elves are now cursed and when they die they become Shades forced to continue fighting with the Iron Elves.  Book 1 ends with a terrific battle and the Star is kept safe from the Shadow Monarch, however, they find that the Shadow Monarch did not necessarily want the Star but wanted the Iron Elves for herself.  Konowa must now fight his dark power along with the entire batallion in order to keep themselves from falling into Her hands.

The Beyonders by Brandon Mull

Who hasn't heard of Brandon Mull, author of the great series Fablehaven?  He has another book called The Candy Shop War which is a fun little book, but nothing compared to Fablehaven.  He even has a children's book .  All of which we have.  The Beyonders series is a fun series.  I have really enjoyed reading the first two books and now can't wait to get the third to see how the story is completed.

Jason Walker is like any normal eigth grader and focused on becoming a great baseball player until one day he hears music coming from a hippo at the zoo he works at and finds himself falling into the hippo's pool and being swallowed by this hippo and transported to another world.  In hopes to find his way home, he finds himself in a tower searching their books to find a portal back home.  Unfortunately for him, he reads a book that leads him on an unexpected journey to find "the word" to destroy the evil wizard ruling Lyrian.  The first book takes him on his journey to find all the syllables to this magical word and along the way he meets up with another girl from his world and together they search.

In the second book, Jason must find his way back to Lyrian after being sent back to his time at the end of the first book.  He has to find a way to let his friends know the word does not work.  He and his entourage find themselves making a journey to the oracle in order to find out what the future holds for them and whether they have a chance to destroy Maldor.  They encounter living dead creatures, torivors, and many other crazy things along their journey just to find out they must split into two groups and go on another adventure to a greater oracle.

I have enjoyed these two books and left out a lot of fun little details so as not to give away too many things.  For a young adult book I think they are worth reading and introducing to your library.  The characters and monsters are all believable and not too out there.  Some stories just have too many crazy creatures that are hard to imagine since they author spent too much time trying to make them original.  Brandon Mull used creatures we are all familiar with if you read a lot of young adult fantasy, yet they still have believable little twists that others have not used before which I like.  Book 3 comes out March 13, 1013 so we will have to be patient for a little while to finish the series.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I actually read this book when it first came out and really liked it.  I did't do a review on it since I started this blog a while after reading it.  I got a third of the way through A Tale of Two Cities and just couldn' concentrate on it enough with all the distractions around the house.  So I will pick it up here and there on nights that I'm not grading/filing papers or taking care of kids/dogs.  I have been wanting to reread The Host for a while and finally decided to to pick it up.  It is an incredibly quick read and I actually skimmed through a lot of it since I've read it before.  I really like this book.  It was creative and makes you sympathize with Wanda, the Host race, and humans.

Wanda is part of the Host race, or aliens for Earth, that are worm-like creatures that take control of the host body and become that person.  On other planets they take over plants or other creatures as well.  They tend to take over things that seem to not be able to control themselves and cause more harm than good.  They take over in order to better utilize the host's abilities and have a more positive affect on the environment.  Humans are seen as too harmful and wasteful so these aliens start to take over.  We are introduced to the story when almost all humans have been occupied and there are just a few rogue humans left.  Wanda is put into one of the rogue humans that were captured in hopes that she can find the rest of the human group.  Unfortunately for Wanda, her human soul does not disappear and talks to her in her mind.  She finds herself in love with Melanie's boyfriend and her younger brother that she follows Melanie's instructions to find Melanie's uncle's hideout.

You can imagine the reception Wanda gets when they arrive at the hidden human camp.  It takes a lot of convincing to get them to believe the Melanie is still alive inside her.  Wanda has to get used to being around humans and vice a versa.  There are a lot of hard feelings to overcome and hurt feelings since everyone has had someone taken from them.  I'll let you read the book to see how it ends and what kind of agreement it made to make everyone happy.