When Stars Are Scattered

Title:  When Stars Are Scattered

Author:  Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Publisher:  Dial Books

Date Published:  April 14, 2020

Genre:  Middle Grade, Memoir, Graphic Novel

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts:

-    Omar and his brother were forced to leave their home in Somalia and travel to a refugee camp in Kenya. They were separated from their mother, so they were assigned a mother figure at the camp. Life isn't easy for the two brothers, and they are unsure of their future. Omar makes the hard decision to leave his brother each day and go to school. It is the first step of many that leads Omar to the life he has today. 

-    I loved this story about refugees and their trials. It made me so grateful for what I have, and gave me a desire to help those who need it. It also helped me better understand what refugees go through. The book does a wonderful job at portraying the struggle to create a better future, and the struggle of day to day life in the camps.

-    The author's note was vital to fully understand Omar's story. I loved how Jamieson collaborated with Omar to help tell his story. 

-    The illustrations do a wonderful job at portraying the story. They add so much to the dialogue. 

-    My daughter (6th grader) also read the book, and she loved it. She is recommending it to her friends at school. 

-    This beautiful story is one that should be required reading in schools. It is informational, eye-opening, and a joy to read.

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

Title:  Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

Author:  Julie Andrews (Emma Walton Hamilton)

Date Published:  October 15, 2019

Genre:  Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir

Rating:  ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:

-    The introduction of the book is a recap on Julie Andrew's first memoir, Home. I appreciated the recap. The information was vital to fully understand Julie's Hollywood years. 

-    I was expecting the book to be more about stories from her various films, and while there are a few stories, the book mainly focuses on Julie's personal life. She led a very busy and fulfilling home life with children, husbands, constantly moving, constantly traveling, work, etc. I'm impressed she was able to balance it all. 

-    I learned a lot about Julie Andrews through this book. My favorite thing that I learned is that Julie has a wicked sense of humor. Despite her very clean image, she can be a bit naughty. It made her even more endearing than she already was. 

-    I fully enjoyed the first half of the book, then it dragged a little for me. I felt like her life kept repeating itself for a while. It picked up again towards the end. 

-    Overall, I really enjoyed getting to know this lovely lady. Now I want to go watch a bunch of movies she is in that I haven't seen yet. 

My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business

From Goodreads:    Dick Van Dyke, indisputably one of the greats of the golden age of television, is admired and beloved by audiences the world over for his beaming smile, his physical dexterity, his impeccable comic timing, his ridiculous stunts, and his unforgettable screen roles. 
            
His trailblazing television program, The Dick Van Dyke Show (produced by Carl Reiner, who has written the foreword to this memoir), was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960s and introduced another major television star, Mary Tyler Moore. But Dick Van Dyke was also an enormously engaging movie star whose films, including Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, have been discovered by a new generation of fans and are as beloved today as they were when they first appeared. Who doesn’t know the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? 
            
A colorful, loving, richly detailed look at the decades of a multilayered life, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business, will enthrall every generation of reader, from baby-boomers who recall when Rob Petrie became a household name, to all those still enchanted by Bert’s “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” This is a lively, heartwarming memoir of a performer who still thinks of himself as a “simple song-and-dance man,” but who is, in every sense of the word, a classic entertainer.

My Thoughts:

-    Dick Van Dyke is one of my favorite entertainers. He is a joy to watch, and I appreciate that he is a kind and family oriented guy on and off the screen. 

-    It was fun to read about his career. I loved when he talked about The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was fun to get back story to some of the episodes. I never knew the show's theme song had lyrics. I also enjoyed learning more about his role in Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 

-    I really loved his honesty about his smoking and drinking problems. They never got bad enough that it was debilitating, but he knew it was a problem and sought help.

-    I really adore Dick Van Dyke for sticking to a higher standard of entertainment. He said he never wanted to do anything he would be uncomfortable for his family to watch. I love that!

-    This book went by too quickly. It was packed full of stuff, but it was easy and pleasant to read. I enjoyed learning more about Mr. Van Dyke, and I'm SO excited to see him next month! 

The Princess Diarist

From Goodreads:    The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first Star Wars movie. 

When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager. 

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience.

My Thoughts:

-    This was a fun book that I just couldn't put down. It was made even more poignant from Carrie Fisher's passing. She will be missed very much! 

-    I love how open and honest Carrie is. Her writing was full of charm, humor, and personality. I smiled and laughed at stories, paragraphs, and small simple sentences.

-    Carrie perfectly describes how any fan girl would act and feel when meeting Harrison Ford. I'd also be intimidated and shy while trying to come up with something clever to say. 

-    I wish the diary entries were copies or photos of the originals so we could see Carrie's handwriting.

-    There is a lot of profanity.

-    I was surprised at how much of the book was focused on Harrison Ford. I'd heard about the affair on social media and the news, but I didn't realize most of the book was about Fisher's thoughts and feelings about the whole ordeal and about Harrison in general. I have a lot of mixed feelings about their affair. I don't want to share them publicly, but I will say that I love Carrie's attitude and feelings about it 40 years later. 

-    I really liked when Carrie talked about her parents and her relationship with Hollywood. 

-    This was such a great book, and I'm sad Carrie wasn't able to write about her experiences with Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. 

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir

Goodreads Says:    In this gorgeously illustrated, full-color graphic memoir, Stan Lee—comic book legend and cocreator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other Marvel superheroes—shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be.

Stan Lee is a man who needs no introduction. The most legendary name in the history of comic books, he has been the leading creative force behind Marvel Comics, and has brought to life—and into the mainstream—some of the world’s best-known heroes and most infamous villains throughout his career. His stories—filled with superheroes struggling with personal hang-ups and bad guys who possessed previously unseen psychological complexity—added wit and subtlety to a field previously locked into flat portrayals of good vs. evil. Lee put the human in superhuman and in doing so, created a new mythology for the twentieth century.

In this beautifully illustrated graphic memoir—illustrated by celebrated artist Colleen Doran—Lee tells the story of his life with the same inimitable wit, energy, and offbeat spirit that he brought to the world of comics. Moving from his impoverished childhood in Manhattan to his early days writing comics, through his military training films during World War II and the rise of the Marvel empire in the 1960s to the current resurgence in movies, Amazing Fantastic Incredible documents the life of a man and the legacy of an industry and career.

This funny, moving, and incredibly honest memoir is a must-have for collectors and fans of comic books and graphic novels of every age.

My Thoughts:

-    I LOVE the cover so much! I also love what was under the dust jacket!

-    The double spread of Stan's favorite books in the beginning was so awesome! I loved it! It was fun to see a collage of so many great characters.

-    This was a brilliant graphic novel, and it seriously is the only way for Stan Lee to do his memoir. 

-    I love the artwork and page layouts so much! It was like reading an old 60s comic. I loved it!

-    There was SO much to ooh and aah and geek out over! There were so many great people named and talked about, like Jack Kirby and Roy Thomas. I was sad to learn that Jack and Stan had a sort of falling out. 

-    The book had a lot of history on what happened with the Marvel company. It was interesting, and I learned a lot.

-    I love what Stan had to say about his marriage in the end. Not all marriages last, and I'm glad his is. 

-    This was a very Stan Lee book. It was full of his charisma and humor. I like he broke the 4th wall and talked to the reader. I also like when he spoke to his younger self.

-    A must read for all Marvel/Stan Lee fans!

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

Goodreads Says:    From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in The Princess Bride, comes a first-person account and behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories, exclusive photographs, and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner.

The Princess Bride has been a family favorite for close to three decades. Ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 Greatest Love Stories and by the Writers Guild of America as one of the top 100 screenplays of all time, The Princess Bride will continue to resonate with audiences for years to come.

Cary Elwes was inspired to share his memories and give fans an unprecedented look into the creation of the film while participating in the twenty-fifth anniversary cast reunion. In As You Wish he has created an enchanting experience; in addition to never-before seen photos and interviews with his fellow cast mates, there are plenty of set secrets, backstage stories, and answers to lingering questions about off-screen romances that have plagued fans for years!

With a foreword by Rob Reiner and a limited edition original poster by acclaimed artist Shepard Fairey, As You Wish is a must-have for all fans of this beloved film.

My Thoughts:

-    I grew up with great movies like The Princess Bride. I remember watching this countless times with my family, and of course we like to quote it A LOT! It was such a treat to read this book! It was like strolling down memory lane with an old friend while learning amazing new things.

-    There were plenty of great and hilarious stories about different cast members.

-    Reading this made me love and appreciate the movie even more than I already did.

-    I wish more actors would write books like this. I would love Warwick Davies to write about Willow or Michael J. Fox write about Back to the Future. How awesome would it be if Harrison Ford wrote about making the Indiana Jones movies!?

-    A lot of the cast members were spotlighted in the book, but I felt like there was an overall homage to Andre the Giant. I would love to meet this gentle giant. He seemed like an amazing and fun person. Anytime Cary spoke about Andre in the book, it was with deep respect and reverence. The book, in a way, is almost a memoriam to Andre. At least that is how I felt.

-    The entire book is very tender and heart-felt. I could almost feel the love Cary and the rest of the cast had for this movie, for each other, and for fans.

-    I cried a little towards the end. I felt so privileged to read this and learn all these behind the scenes stories. The way Cary talked about fans of the movie, I felt like he was talking directly to me. 

-    Wonderful wonderful book! Every Princess Bride fan needs to read this!