Ali, Nujood with Delphine Minoui. I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Ali, Nujood with Delphine Minoui I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
Three Rivers Press see Random House 2010 188p 12.00
12-0007-58967-5 ms/hs E-BN
Nujood Ali has no birth certificate but she has been told she is 10 years old. She loves dolls, chocolate cake and learning how to read. Then one day Nujood was married to a man twice her age. It was then that she learned the true meaning of the word cruelty. Although from a very poor family, Nujood, 5th daughter in an ever increasing family, is very happy playing with her sisters and other playmates. Poverty is very hard for her family but they all help in many different ways. Nujood helps by taking care of the younger children and she is learning how to cook flatbreads and other things. Then her father looses his poorly paid job and they need to resort to begging.
In Yemen women have no voice. Men are in charge of everything including marrying off their daughters. Nujood’s two sisters were barely in their teens before they were married off. Nujood dreamed of her turn but she always imagine that it would be something to celebrate and there would be sweet cakes. Then the day came and it happened so fast, Nujood was dressed in an old brown dress two sizes too big and surrounded by very unfriendly people, she was given in marriage to a nasty looking individual who promised not to touch her for at least two years. No sooner was she taken away to his house was she violated and later beaten.
Nujood decided she wanted a divorce and she also decided she was going to get it as quickly as possible. And so began her trek to the courthouse where she declared her desired to get a divorce and the authorities could not believe that a ten year old was already a married woman.
This story made news and was brought to the attention of the world by Nujood’s lawyer Shada, who worked for women’s rights in Yemen and this story made it possible to start working towards the crime of marrying girls as young as 9 year old to old men. Diaz, Magna

Sullivan, J. Courtney. Commencement

Sullivan, J. Courtney Commencement
Vintage see Random 2009 419p 14.95
978-0-307-45496-6 college E
Four young women continue their friendship after graduating from college. Each has a destiny to follow and as their new life unfolds they try to support each other whether they agree or not. Four young women from different part of the states come together as freshman and forge a friendship that will continue even after they graduate from college. Celia the writer in the group introduces us to her best friends, April, always on the path searching for the truth and ready to document it, Sally wealthy and eager to face life as a professional but ultimate choosing to marry and have a child, and then there is Bree, beautiful, gorgeous Bree, confused as to her sexuality and choosing doomed love affairs.
Together they continue their friendship and support each other whether they agree with the choices their friends make or not.
Each character gets a chance to tell her story and they are interweaved so that the reader gets to know all the characters and how each life affects the other characters and although there are strange moments of tension, fear and danger but ultimately friendship wins out.
An excellent story but not for high school. Diaz, Magna
Young college women - Female friendship - United States - Social conditions

Rinaldi, Ann. Leigh Ann’s Civil War.

Rinaldi, Ann. Leigh Ann’s Civil War.
Houghton Mifflin/Clarion/Graphia/Kingfisher 2009 308p 17.00
978-0-15-206513-3 ms/hs
Leigh Ann’s estranged mother provides drama and intrigue for the family’s business during the time the dreaded Yankees invade Roswell, Georgia. Leigh Ann herself is branded as a traitor and sent North as a punishment after she tries to help her family by placing a French flag on their mill. This is a well written and researched novel that shows the readers the politics of war and the price of freedom. Leigh Ann is a young girl who lives on a Southern plantation with her father and two older brothers. When the Yankees come to Roswell, Georgia Leigh Ann tries to help her family by placing a French flag atop of their mill. The estranged mother, squired by a Yankee officer, returns to confiscate the plantation and arrest Leigh Ann. She is branded as a traitor for making cloth for Confederate soldiers and shipped North. This engaging historical fiction and an exciting adventure. It offers both realistic and suspenseful action in a well-paced plot and with engaging characters. The story is engaging and full of interesting details, the locations are beautifully described, and the characters are very three-dimensional. The author once again mixes adventure, political intrigues, realistic surroundings, and a little stress into this very well done historical novel. McNeil, Linda