This was a beautiful, atmospheric audiobook and I would call the text more all-ages than middle grade, as the story covers Rachel Carson’s entire life and appeals as much to adults as children. It captures Carson’s poetic writing as well as her passionate environmentalism. I think there is a lot to love here for anyone, but the percentage of middle school students who would be drawn to it is low. I hope those who would love it are able to find it. 

Slot this under “books for kids that adults might like.” This just didn’t work for me on so many levels, especially not for my middle school students, but I struggle to imagine elementary schoolers enjoying it either. The dialogue and story were clunky, and it was filled with cliches and references that today’s kids just won’t appreciate.

“It is an heretic that makes the fire, / Not she which burns in’t.”

I was unfamiliar with this play so it genuinely took me on a JOURNEY but also Act 4 was a slog and Act 5 wrapped up too quickly. Still, some very strong characters. Paulina is the friend we all need. The true queen. 

I read this in my Shakespeare class in undergrad and just reread it for a reading challenge. What struck me most this time is how many turns of phrase in this work are well known and used in songs, book titles, etc. I know this is true for a lot of Shakespeare but I think it is especially true for this one. Witches, murder, ambition, not a weak female character in the whole thing. All around iconic. 

4.5 So gothic, so romantic, so Kentucky. I don’t know why this stuck with me, but I kind of loved how it was made repeatedly clear that the protagonists were not conventionally attractive.

Us not hot people deserve devastatingly epic love stories too! Also I see you sneaking in that bi rep, Ms. Harrow. 😻

This book was very marketed and hyped and based on the copy I was thinking it would be a twisty and fun upper middle grade book for my middle school readers who are almost transitioning to darker YA mysteries. But alas, as with SO MUCH middle grade, this one has the sweet spot of 5th-6th grade, while so many YA mystery books are 9th plus, leaving my 7th to 8th graders out. This is a crucial time where kids often give up on recreational reading and as a middle school librarian it KILLS me that there is so little written JUST FOR this age. 

Anyway this was pretty good for what it was, but I resent the fact that it attempted to market slightly older when it was written for the same old target audience.