Title of Book: Someone Else's Summer Author: Rachel Bateman # of Pages 520 Star Rating:  5 stars
Why This Book has Value: The book I choose for this unit is called Someone Else's Summer By Rachel Bateman. In the beginning of the book you are introduced to two little girls named Anna and storm. Along with the pair of sisters is their next door neighbor, cam, who also happens to be best friends with the girls. The author starts the book at Storms high school graduation. In the book Anna says that after the sun went down graduation night, it became a straight down pour. That very night storm gets into a major car crash and is instantly killed. This ripped apart Anna’s family. A few weeks after the tragic event, Anna walked into her sisters bedroom, which happened to be set up the very same, since before storm left for graduation. Underneath her sisters pillow she finds a small journal and when she reads it, she realizes that its her sisters bucket list. Seeing this alone makes Anna want to complete the list, just to keep her sisters spirt alive. Through out the rest of the story Anna and cameron go on an adventure across the world together, completing storms list. They do crazy things like parasail, get a tattoo, cliff diving and many more. I enjoyed reading this book and these are the reasons I think everyone should read it. First, while reading the book i noticed that the characters had many personality traits that many other people do, which made it super easy to relate to the characters. For example, right here on page 143, Anna says “ my eyes fill with tears and my hands begin to shake viscously. “ i don't want to live like this!” I think this proves my point because it shows one of the characters being in a vulnerable position, and i think most of us have been through that enough to relate. The second reason I believe that people should read this book is because of the life lessons it can teach the readers. One main life lesson i found when reading this book was to live life to its fullest, and i think this shown just by all the risks taken by cam and Anna to complete the list. Another life lesson that might have been shown through out the book could be creating your own happiness can only benefit you. The main character Anna shows this the best because after storm dies, Anna realizes that she is extremely depressed, anxious, and doesn't really have any friends. At first she mopes around, but then she finds the list and over time works harder and harder to finish it. During that time it is visible through her actions and words that she is much happier from doing so.  I don't know too much about the author other than that this is her true story, but i believe that that fact makes up her creditability.  You wouldn't go to a five year old for advice on taxes, you would go to a tax advisor, someone who has gone through it before. Rachel batemen went through loosing her sister, and i think that makes her life lessons more real. In conclusion, relativity, important life lessons, and the background story, all summarize why you should read this book.