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 * This page is for review of books by AUTHORS whose last names begin with the letters V - Z. **

**//My Name is Anne, she said, Anne Frank //**** by Jacqueline van Maarsen ** Contributor: Mel M.  As a young child, it’s easy to go to school and instantly make friends. Sometimes, a very special bond is established, a best friend bond. When Jacqueline van Maarsen walked into school on her first day at the Jewish Lyceum in 1941, Anne Frank was quick to adopt Jacqueline as her best friend. Jacqueline and Anne developed a friendship that became intimate and meaningful immediately. Anne constantly wrote about her and Jacqueline’s adventures, as well as Anne’s personal emotions incorporated with their friendship, in her now world famous diary. Around the world, everyone knows the name Anne Frank, and knows of her diary. //My Name is Anne, she said, Anne Frank// is obviously about Anne Frank, but from a different point of view. Anne’s childhood best friend, Jacqueline van Maarsen, tells her side of Anne Frank; the before-hiding side, the before-the-concentration-camps side, the intimate side, the best friend side. This biography covers from the meeting of Anne and Jacqueline all the way to when Otto Frank, Anne’s father and sole concentration camp survivor of the Frank family, comes back to Amsterdam to see the van Maarsens and break the heart-wrenching news of their journey through hiding and the camps. Jacqueline’s story is an in-depth telling of Anne Frank’s childhood and her personal interactions with her. It’s a very interesting and eye-opening read. It is definitely a book to read for those fascinated with history, as it covers over 50 years of war, violence, food-shortages, injustices, and liberation. The somewhat mysterious figure of the young German girl is revealed, with details only a best friend can give.

Contributor: Melanie R.
 * //Mary Tudor// by Anna Whitelock **

Throughout the succession of Kings and Queens, propaganda and lies have defiled royal history. Sixteenth century England was no exception, as the ruling class twisted the truth for their own benefit. In the midst of the resulting turmoil, Mary Tudor suffered religious upheaval and found herself cast aside. Anna Whitelock's //Mary Tudor// explores the life of this bastardized princess as she struggled to reclaim her religion and royal status. Mary's story is one of courage, strength, and perseverance. She stood against her father's tyranny as he sought to make her obsolete; King Henry VIII stole away her allies, but Mary refused to accept her illegitimacy and disinheritance. Though her brother, Edward, berated her throughout his reign, she still held on to her religious beliefs and status. Mary carried herself through with her determination, though it was both a blessing and a curse. As it endangered her life by angering her compulsive father, it also made her queen after Edward. Still, Mary faced terrible challenges. Prejudice in Parliament against her gender forced her to take a husband. Philip of Spain, her husband, also sought to influence her rule. The people remained suspicious of Spanish interests for the duration of her rule, though Mary, in fact, held the power over Philip. Through the Protestant revolutions, Mary worked only for the purity of her people and "true faith," Catholicism. Only after her death, propagandists censored Mary's successes from history. True to Mary Tudor, Whitelock's biography throws aside all misconceptions about "the horrible and bloody time of Queen Mary" and reveals the young woman who triumphed against all odds.

**//Sliding into Home //by Kendra Wilkinson and Jon Warech ** Contributor: Josie N.

Everyone faces a time of struggle at some point in life. Kendra Wilkinson and Jon Warech worked collaboratively to write //Sliding into Home//, a biography portraying the life of Kendra Wilkinson. Her story involves struggles and hardships laced with both opportunity and lessons. Although the situations that Kendra faces, such as a father who abandons her and her struggles with drugs and alcohol, seem unimaginable, the book does a fabulous job of finding the light in these situations and showing how these things have shaped Kendra into who she is today. By overcoming her troubles, she is able to find “the man of her dreams and her best friend” with whom she starts a wonderful life when they welcome their baby, Hank Basket Junior. Kendra embraces the struggles she faces as life lessons and the reader feels compelled to learn alongside Wilkinson. The book does a great job of capturing the audience and one really feel for Kendra when she is confronted by problems. Both interesting and simple, the book provides a great blend of laughs and times of compassion.

Contributor: Bethany B.  Everyone has a dream that fills their hearts and captivates their spirit. The only factor that sets apart those who have lived their dreams and those who have let them die is the courage to pursue them. Jessica Watson, author of //True Spirit//, had the courage and determination to go after her dream: sailing around the world. Watson grew up with her mother, father, and two siblings aboard their family boat, //Home Abroad//, and in their family RV, allowing her to develop a firm feel for all things nautical and an avid enthusiasm for travel. At the age of twelve, Jessica’s mother read Jesse Martin’s //Lionheart// to her, a story of a young man who carried out his dream of sailing around the world by himself. //Lionheart,// among other similar novels, became Watson’s inspiration, and produced her infatuation with the idea of solo-sailing around the world. Told in her own words, //True Spirit// is the story of Jessica’s voyage, starting as a young girl, once afraid of everything, to the sixteen-year-old that decided to challenger herself on an astonishing adventure of circumnavigating the globe solo, nonstop, and unassisted on her 33-foot boat, //Ella’s Pink Lady.// Inspiring in its own light, Watson’s tale is one of risk, guts, determination, and achievement that illustrates that “you don’t need a shooting star;” the power to live out a dream is in everyone.
 * //True Spirit //**** by Jessica Watson **

**//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">They Call Me Coach //****<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">by John Wooden ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Contributor: Jess B.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Personal commitment, determination, and team play are all important aspects of basketball and life. The combination of basketball with life lessons is a theory John Wooden explores in his book //They Call Me Coach//, which documents his own playing days at Purdue up to his time coaching the University of Los Angeles Bruins. The majority of the book focuses on Wooden’s successful coaching career at UCLA. Starting with the victorious 1964 team, Wooden describes the effect the team had on both his personal and professional life. He then delves into the other teams he had coached in the past, discussing pivotal players and purposeful philosophies he had learned on the road to his ten NCAA titles. Personal thoughts on players and aspects of basketball are all disclosed, conveying the hardships of being “the coach who never lost a season.” Wooden touches on his well known morals used to shape his players to “become the best” they are “possible of becoming,” through the development of his Pyramid of Success. Although the subject of this book is basketball, Wooden partners his array of playing strategies with life lessons that can be applied on and off the court.