Book Review “The Last Child” by John Hart

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . May 24, 2010 . 4:33AM

In my time, I’ve read a lot of books. Since I was around the age of 8, reading has been my main hobby and it’s not an exaggeration to say that I’ve averaged about 3 books a week since then. There have been many good books, some not so good books, lots and lots of bad books, fluff books, hard to read books, books that I read to learn that left my brain a mush pit and books that left my heart aching and my mind listless for more.

The Last Child, by John Hart, is one of those books that leaves your heart aching and your mind listless for more.

The premise of the book is that a family that was happy becomes broken by an unprecedented act: the abduction of a child and the resulting abandonment of the father of the family that leaves a 13 year old boy and his prescription addicted mother vulnerable to some of the harsher elements of life. Johnny has not been the same since his twin, Alyssa, was abducted a year earlier. His father has abandoned them, they have lost their home and his mother has been a fuzzy shadow of herself while she drinks and takes pills to dull the pain of having lost half of her family. However, Johnny is not willing to give up on finding Alyssa, even though the local police have long since stopped looking for her.

A local policeman is haunted by his inability to find Alyssa. The case has turned personal as he watched the disintegration of the Merrimon family and he has taken an interest in Johnny and his mother. He takes his role as Johnny’s guardian angel seriously and is now in the position of possibly losing his job due to his interest in the case. Johnny’s constant running away to search for Alyssa has put the policeman in the position of knowing that Johnny is in an unfit home, but being tormented by not finding Alyssa he finds himself unable to report Johnny’s home life. Also plaguing him are his feelings for Johnny’s mother that have overtaken him in the year since Alyssa’s disappearance.

Things take a dangerous turn when another girl goes missing and Johnny makes it his personal mission to find her, convinced that she is the key to finding Alyssa.

The Last Child is an amazing display of authorship in that every character has a dynamic feel. Even minor characters show a well-rounded nature and no character is without flaw. There were times that I felt like I needed to put the book down because the intensity of my reaction to the characters, their development and the plot were overwhelming in a way that made me think. Throughout the book, I’d convinced myself that I knew how the story was going to end, but I was wrong in every way. Hart’s ability to weave the story is flawless and the book kept my attention for weeks. He was able to build the characters in a way that I became attached to them and at the end of the book, I longed to know where they went from there.

This is a solid story with dynamic characters that is incredibly well done.

*Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in order to review it. Thanks for allowing me to read this book and share my thoughts on it with others!

Generosity in Children

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . May 22, 2010 . 8:55PM

Often, as adults, it is easy for us to forget how generous in spirit children are when left to their own devises and without the interference of us “well meaning adults.” Our influence upon them can suck the beauty and kindness straight out of those amazing little souls faster than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. Our disapproval, anger, anxiety and upset can shake them to their core and cause them to look upon the world with distrust and unease. It then becomes a place of distraction. A place where everyone is on their own and should take care of themselves instead of looking out for the interest of others. A place where their true goodness is hidden and they lose the innocence and humanity that they seem to have from such a very young age, instinctually.

However, it flickers. Oh, how it flickers. Like a flame just looking for a little encouragement to grow, it flickers and sparks and waits for the opportunity to shine. Unlike many adults, children don’t necessarily need to shine in front of others or with the purpose of recognition, or even allow their flame to grow at all. Sometimes, they just flame away without even thinking about it and move on. Such simple love and kindness.

I’ve seen this happen repeatedly in my life. Often during my time with my son and his friends and during my time in the school system. A few weeks ago, I saw it during a warm evening at the ballpark.

I was standing in line for one of the forty or so gatorades I buy every year at the concession stand when I saw him: the blonde little boy in front of me who was patiently waiting his turn. He couldn’t have been more than 8, at most, and was clutching three dollars. It was a school night and his eyes looked tired and sad. It was approaching 9 and he must have been at one of the early games and stayed for a sibling game.

I saw his eyes scan the menu. Hamburgers, Chicken (our stand serves Chik-fil-a!), hot dogs, french fries, sodas, energy drinks and many various candies. His little blonde head nodded slightly downward as he looked at the canisters in the front of the stand. Air heads, $0.25. Ring pops, $0.75. Tips for good service, please. Condiments. Napkins. Forks.

He looked carefully back to the menu and then to the canisters again and softly said, “French Fries, please.” The boy at the counter said, “Sure, kid. Anything else?” The little boy looked down at the canisters again, looking hard at the ring pops, and I saw him swallow. “No, no thank you.” He handed the concession stand worker his two dollars and waited for his french fries. They came promptly. He smiled, said thank you and deposited his $1 in the tip canister.

Generosity of spirit can be found in the most unexpected places. I am a lucky woman to find it in so many.

Freebies make me happy

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . May 19, 2010 . 6:23PM

Have I mentioned lately that I have the best sponsors in the world? The way to this girl’s heart is freebies. You buy me stuff or give me a freebie and I’m a happy camper. Restaurants that offer free toothpicks or mints to me get higher stars in my personal restaurant monitor than do those that don’t. It’s simple psychology in that people like to feel like they are getting a deal. My love language is presents and when someone hits that button, I’m a happy girl.

So, when my rep at SkincareRx.com, Mike, said “Hey, I’m sending you stuff, let me know if you like it,” I was over the moon. In the interest of full disclosure, my sponsor sent me the bag. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m giving you my completely honest review of the products contained within knowing my sponsor is probably going to read this, because I know, and they know, that not every product is right for every person or every skin type. You are going to hear me say that alot.

So, without further review, you wanna know about the stuff I got and what it was like. The beauty cache is a box filled with beauty stuff, some sample sized and some full sized. It is $29.95 and has a beautiful little case to put your new products in. Mine was blue. My products were not all the same as the pictured products, as some caches are different, and mine didn’t have the awesome little gift card because I’m a blogger and not a buyer. I used the products over the course of a month or so and used the skincare products on different weeks so I could tell if I had reactions to them.

Here is what mine contained based upon star review value:

Juara rice facial cleanser- 1.1 fl. oz. Holy wow. The best of the best. This stuff smelled amazing and cleansed my super sensitive skin without stripping it. I found myself looking online to see if they made a lotion in the scent. It only took a little and it was easy to use. It also made my hands soft after use. When I run out of the sample, which I haven’t yet, after a month, I’m going to be purchasing this. It is wonderful.

Jane Iredle Pure Lash Extender and Conditioner I have teeny tiny short, sparse lashes. Really? I have bald eyes. It’s true. The Telly Savalas of eyeballs. When I applied the extender/conditioner duo, I had lashes! It was amazing. A couple of things to note: It will feel like you have false lashes on. For some people, they can’t handle this and will fiddle with their lids. Don’t do it. You will just pull out your eyelashes or upset your eyelids. I was fine with it and I’m neurotic. Second, my eyelashes didn’t feel conditioned, but they didn’t feel brittle. For me, it was totally worth it. With this and my TooFaced Lash Injection, I had some serious peepers.

The Name is Product Pomade I’m a freak about my hair. When I was younger, I was ok with not caring about my hair, but now? Totally different story. My stylist always comments upon how healthy my hair is. I like that positive feedback. I crave it. My stylist is hot. It makes me feel special. My low self-esteem demands that attention. So….I was leery about trying something with a name like this. And I was wrong. WRONG. It looks non-descript. It’s in a jar and it looks like it might need to be heated in a microwave. Nope. I put the amount of a pencil eraser in my hand, rubbed it together and magically it made my wavy hair into “naturally curly hotness.” My hair goes all the way down my back. This little jar will last me ages. And it held for 2 days without feeling the slightest bit crunchy or greasy. I hid my jar. Nobody touches my jar.

Bond No. 9 So New York Eau de Parfum Where perfume is concerned, I don’t like hard scents. My everyday scent is a lemon scent. Yep. I’m a clean, light scented girl. But holy jeepers, this is hot. Just, HOT. I wore it and felt like every man in the room was looking at me. I know, that was slightly creepy, but it smelled good. And it lasted all day. And it’s expensive, but a little bit would last a long, long time. And I want more.

Pharmacopia Lavender body lotion 1.8 fl oz For most of my life, I despised the smell of lavender, but lately, I’ve been craving it. I’m not sure why other than it soothes me. Most aromatherapists agree that the scent of lavender is meant to be soothing and calming and relaxing. Life has been hectic lately and all I want is some peace, so lavender it is! Now, I have to be honest in that I have a quirk. I HATE the way lotion feels on the palm of my hand. I’ll wait while you process that and give me a look like this: o.O However, I soldiered on and found that I liked the way this felt on my body. It was luscious, for lack of a better term. Silky and thick and I found myself enjoying the scent of it all day. The only reason it was down a star is because it took a while to sink into my skin and I did not like the way my jammie pants felt when up against it.

Kinerase Advanced Radiance Face Peel-3 day supply Peels scare me. Seriously. When I said I have sensitive skin, that was no joke. When I saw a face peel I seriously considered not trying it and just throwing it into the “neutral not gonna do it” category. But, I’m a strong, amazing woman who takes one for the team. Well, that and I was curious. It kills cats, but in this case, it made my skin look great! After 3 days, I was glowing. I’m pretty certain there is nothing radioactive in my diet, so it had to be the peels. And, best of all, my skin wasn’t itchy or irritated. The price is a downfall here, and I might be reluctant to commit to a peel. One of my peel sticks was dried up, as well, but I have no doubt that the company would send me a new one if I’d asked. Not a bad peel if you are looking to peel.

Marina Cosmetics Sea Perfected Lipstick in Beach Breeze The major problem I found with this lipstick is that it was a frost. I’m too young to do a frost well and pull it off and the coloring was a little off for me as a person. This is going to be where personal preference comes in. I still gave it 3 stars because it was a GREAT moisturizing lipstick and hours later, when the frost wore off, my lips looked good.

MD Skincare All-In-One Tinted Moisturizer Sunscreen SPF 15 – Light Houston, we have a problem. While this tinted moisturizer moisturized my skin, it had the same fatal flaw that I’ve found all other tinted moisturizers have: Light doesn’t really mean light. My pretty porcelain princess sisters will agree that light doesn’t mean tan. I’m very light skinned with yellowish undertones and often have to go with products made for Asian skin because light means light, not medium. For some people, this would be a great tinted moisturizer, but for me, it was only a three.

Colorescience Sunforgettable SPF 30 – All Clear Well, I’m fair skinned and I burned baby burned. I was red like a lobster after this on the half of my body facing the sun. It did not last a 3 hour little league game. But it did keep me from sweating, strangely enough?

Heliocare Dietary Supplement For The Skin- 10 day supply I didn’t notice any skin changes for the better, but my skin didn’t get worse, either. I couldn’t say that this helped or hurt. Maybe I needed a longer go with or it’s possible it didn’t work for me.

MD Skincare Hydra-Pure Vitamin C Serum full size product Out of all the products I received, this is the one I most wanted to try. I’ve had excellent luck in the past with products that contain Vitamin C making my skin just glow. The minute I applied this one, my skin burned so badly that my eyes teared up and I immediately started looking for a washrag to remove it. This is not for a sensitive skin person.

SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF I had a similar experience with the Phloretin CF that I had to the C-serum. When I put it on, it was fine, however, the next morning, my forehead broke out and I itched like crazy. For a week. Sometimes products just are not chemically perfect for your skin. This wasn’t for me.

VitaMedica Arnica Montana 30X 5-Day Blister Pack – 40 Tablets This is a really specialized product for people who are undergoing plastic surgery procedures and therefore I couldn’t review it. It helps decrease swelling and the discomfort from surgery. It gets a neutral star because I don’t have anything, good or bad, to say about it, but it was in my pack and I wanted to acknowledge it was there.

So, overall, the beauty cache was well worth it’s price to try the products alone. There were several full sized/close to full sized products in there and if you did the cost analysis, it was silly not to try them if there were several you might use. I was happy to find several things I didn’t know about and I’m pretty well versed in skincare and make-up. Thanks again, to Mike and SkincareRx.com for the opportunity to try this stuff and let you guys know about it.