Book: The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
Age-range: 10 and up
A young adult historical Christian fairy tale re-telling. No kidding. That is what this book is! And it's really good. The end sort of lost momentum, but I love the way she used the outline of Sleeping Beauty to inform this book. Definitely one I would recommend.
Happy reading!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
December Book #10
Book: Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
Age-range: 10 and up
A great re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Short and sweet, but amazingly done, as all of Ms. George's books are. I think it's interesting how often the princesses are named after flowers in re-tellings. Why is that, I wonder.
Happy reading!
Age-range: 10 and up
A great re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Short and sweet, but amazingly done, as all of Ms. George's books are. I think it's interesting how often the princesses are named after flowers in re-tellings. Why is that, I wonder.
Happy reading!
December Book #9
Book: Entwined by Heather Dixon
Age-range: 10 and up
This is hands-down the absolute best re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses I have ever read. That's saying a lot. The Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my favorite fairy tales and I read every book I can inspired by it. This is the very first one, of dozens, that has given each and every sister a distinct personality. It was amazing. I highly recommend it.
Happy reading!
Age-range: 10 and up
This is hands-down the absolute best re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses I have ever read. That's saying a lot. The Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my favorite fairy tales and I read every book I can inspired by it. This is the very first one, of dozens, that has given each and every sister a distinct personality. It was amazing. I highly recommend it.
Happy reading!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
December Book #6
Book: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Age-range: 8 and up
I had a lot of issues with this book that I won't get into. It was interesting, but I won't buy it or read it again.
Age-range: 8 and up
I had a lot of issues with this book that I won't get into. It was interesting, but I won't buy it or read it again.
Friday, December 16, 2011
December Book #5
Book: Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
Age-range: 10 and up
This is a "light" science fiction book that would be a great read for a boy or a girl. I adore this story and I really can't explain why. In fact, I liked it so much it inspired me to start working on my own science fiction novel.
Happy reading!
Age-range: 10 and up
This is a "light" science fiction book that would be a great read for a boy or a girl. I adore this story and I really can't explain why. In fact, I liked it so much it inspired me to start working on my own science fiction novel.
Happy reading!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
December Book #4
Book: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Age-range: 10 and up
You would think that a book entitled Breadcrumbs would be a re-telling of Hansel and Gretel. You would be wrong. This book is, in fact, a re-telling of Hans Christian Anderson's Snow Queen. It's a story about Hazel and Jack and they're best friends. And they're both in 5th grade and they're both dealing with having to grow up and face the real world and stop being so fanciful.
This book deals with some pretty serious issues: Hazel's father left and is getting remarried, Jack's mom has depression (implied, but never expressed), Hazel is bullied at school and feels like she doesn't fit in anywhere, and Jack is her only friend. As I was reading this book I was thinking how sad it was and yet how hopeful. Because, as someone once said, (Chesterton, I think), fairy tales don't tell you that dragons exist, they tell you that dragons can be defeated. So this book, while Hazel has to travel to the Snow Queen's castle and rescue Jack, is, at it's core, a great big book of hope.
Happy reading!
P.S. Carlye should read this, Carianne (after you do, of course).
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
December Book #3
Book: Exile by Anne Osterlund
Age-range: 12 and up
This is the sequel to Aurelia, a book I read a couple of years ago. That book was really slow-going, but picked up speed at the end. This book was just the opposite. The first half was really exciting, but then nothing really happened. Apparently this is the second book in a trilogy, but there was really nothing to this book. She was running from death threats the entire time and... that was it. The story ended with her running away to another country. Couldn't she have done that 100 pages earlier?
My favorite book by Ms. Osterlund, by far, is Academy 7. And now I want to re-read it!
Happy reading!
Age-range: 12 and up
This is the sequel to Aurelia, a book I read a couple of years ago. That book was really slow-going, but picked up speed at the end. This book was just the opposite. The first half was really exciting, but then nothing really happened. Apparently this is the second book in a trilogy, but there was really nothing to this book. She was running from death threats the entire time and... that was it. The story ended with her running away to another country. Couldn't she have done that 100 pages earlier?
My favorite book by Ms. Osterlund, by far, is Academy 7. And now I want to re-read it!
Happy reading!
Friday, December 9, 2011
December Book #2
Book: Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry
Age-range: 13 and up
I don't think this is necessarily a good title for this book. It sounds so simple, so trite. This book is an amazing feat of storytelling and, though the author gives you all the information the protagonist has, you're always surprised at what happens next. There are great characters and (for me at least) you want the world to be a more magical place where things like this really happen. All I can say, without giving anything away, is that I wish I had some of my own charms!
I definitely liked it a lot. I find Ms. Berry's books to be quite good and I wait with anticipation for her next one.
Happy reading!
Age-range: 13 and up
I don't think this is necessarily a good title for this book. It sounds so simple, so trite. This book is an amazing feat of storytelling and, though the author gives you all the information the protagonist has, you're always surprised at what happens next. There are great characters and (for me at least) you want the world to be a more magical place where things like this really happen. All I can say, without giving anything away, is that I wish I had some of my own charms!
I definitely liked it a lot. I find Ms. Berry's books to be quite good and I wait with anticipation for her next one.
Happy reading!
Friday, December 2, 2011
December Book #1
Book: Chime by Franny Billingsley
Age-range: 16 and up
The first few chapters are a little hard to get into, but once you get used to the narrator's self-loathing and fall into the cadence of the language it's quite beautiful. There were a few metaphors that were gorgeous, but pulled me out of the story as I tried to work out the relevance they had to the story.
This was a good book with lots of surprises, but lots of hints along the way to discover those surprises. I also love the "assignment" of animals for a few of the characters. It made me think of my sister Heidi.
Happy reading!
Age-range: 16 and up
The first few chapters are a little hard to get into, but once you get used to the narrator's self-loathing and fall into the cadence of the language it's quite beautiful. There were a few metaphors that were gorgeous, but pulled me out of the story as I tried to work out the relevance they had to the story.
This was a good book with lots of surprises, but lots of hints along the way to discover those surprises. I also love the "assignment" of animals for a few of the characters. It made me think of my sister Heidi.
Happy reading!
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