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librarybonanza
Although the illustrations are lovely, the story reads like a manual and it feels like it tried to fit in too many plot points.
Detail-oriented kids will fawn over the intricate illustrations but the story feels too didactic for my taste. It feels like a fairy tale that looses its luster when captured in text.
Age: Preschool-2nd grade
Beautiful in its simplicity, powerful in its subject matter. A reunion unravels as we find out a boy is at the airport to greet his mom as she comes back from deployment.
Beautiful in its simplicity, powerful in its subject matter. A reunion unravels as we find out a boy is at the airport to greet his mom as she comes back from deployment.
Age: 5th-middle school
Award: Newbery Honor 2013, Caudill nominee 2016
Truth is every time I saw this book on my makeshift bedside table I couldn't help singing, "Once, twice, three times a lady."
Mo LoBeau considers herself not just lucky but three times lucky. Once when her Upstream Mother tied her to a raft in the middle of a hurricane and sent her swirling down a river. Twice when the Colonel snatched her up from the flood after crashing his car into a tree. And thrice when Miss Lana took her in as her own. When the crankiest man in town ends up dead, Mo is on the case with her best friend Dale Earnhardt Johnson III.
A perfect mystery with solid characters and tid bits of humor throughout (why is Dale always wearing black?). Even more perfect when read with a Southern accent. I also appreciated that the friendship between Dale and Mo didn't blossom into love, or even mention love potentially existing. I can't begin to tell you how refreshing this is.
Award: Newbery Honor 2013, Caudill nominee 2016
Truth is every time I saw this book on my makeshift bedside table I couldn't help singing, "Once, twice, three times a lady."
Mo LoBeau considers herself not just lucky but three times lucky. Once when her Upstream Mother tied her to a raft in the middle of a hurricane and sent her swirling down a river. Twice when the Colonel snatched her up from the flood after crashing his car into a tree. And thrice when Miss Lana took her in as her own. When the crankiest man in town ends up dead, Mo is on the case with her best friend Dale Earnhardt Johnson III.
A perfect mystery with solid characters and tid bits of humor throughout (why is Dale always wearing black?). Even more perfect when read with a Southern accent. I also appreciated that the friendship between Dale and Mo didn't blossom into love, or even mention love potentially existing. I can't begin to tell you how refreshing this is.
First line: "I remember being born."
Age: High School
Let me start by saying Seraphina is an awesome protagonist name but the beauty of this story certainly doesn't stop there. Hartman presents an intricate world, rich with its own detailed culture that adds incredible dimension to the plot without bogging it down. The originality of the story kept me hooked and I can't wait to read the sequel to find answers for the meaning behind St. Yrtrudis and why the dragon-human hybrids have unique powers. Seraphina proves a strong, consistent female protagonist whose actions are clearly connected to her personality although I was not convinced by the romance, even though I loved the characters. The internal battle that Seraphina wages, disgusted by her dragon half, provides insight into a very real issue that people face as they are convinced by society to alienate certain aspects of their identity.
I was also confused by the lack of formality that royalty was given at court, interfering with the believability of this medieval era world. It appeared that Seraphina was incredibly candid with her opinions and had strong relationships with the highest royalty, yet she was a composer's assistant? While the plot kept me fully engaged, these details kept gnawing at me throughout the read. But as details, the fantastic story and characters far outweighed them.
Age: High School
Let me start by saying Seraphina is an awesome protagonist name but the beauty of this story certainly doesn't stop there. Hartman presents an intricate world, rich with its own detailed culture that adds incredible dimension to the plot without bogging it down. The originality of the story kept me hooked and I can't wait to read the sequel to find answers for the meaning behind St. Yrtrudis and why the dragon-human hybrids have unique powers. Seraphina proves a strong, consistent female protagonist whose actions are clearly connected to her personality although I was not convinced by the romance, even though I loved the characters. The internal battle that Seraphina wages, disgusted by her dragon half, provides insight into a very real issue that people face as they are convinced by society to alienate certain aspects of their identity.
I was also confused by the lack of formality that royalty was given at court, interfering with the believability of this medieval era world. It appeared that Seraphina was incredibly candid with her opinions and had strong relationships with the highest royalty, yet she was a composer's assistant? While the plot kept me fully engaged, these details kept gnawing at me throughout the read. But as details, the fantastic story and characters far outweighed them.
What an amazing play. The play is set in the 80s during the AIDS epidemic and unravels incredibly complex and real characters and their interactions with their surroundings. In no way is this play dated as Kushner tackles timeless questions of sexuality, religion, politics, moral dilemmas, addiction, and mortality. I would LOVE to see this on the stage, with a more confined and challenging space, but the HBO miniseries is pretty amazing.
Age: High School-College
Deep Theme: Growing up, entering the unknown
First line: "The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle."
"Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew" (Goodreads review).
Quite a mind-bending mystery, Green presents a cast of flaws and reveals that our flaws (and the recognition of them) allow us to see the humanity in each other. I love that Green tears down the trope of the manic pixie dream girl, transforming Margo from a plot device to a real character full of unlovable yet realistic qualities. Although I can see people demonizing Margo for her selfishness, at least she recognizes this in herself and is honest to her qualities.
Deep Theme: Growing up, entering the unknown
First line: "The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle."
"Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew" (Goodreads review).
Quite a mind-bending mystery, Green presents a cast of flaws and reveals that our flaws (and the recognition of them) allow us to see the humanity in each other. I love that Green tears down the trope of the manic pixie dream girl, transforming Margo from a plot device to a real character full of unlovable yet realistic qualities. Although I can see people demonizing Margo for her selfishness, at least she recognizes this in herself and is honest to her qualities.