By Arvella Whitmore
A beautiful story about a girl who moves from her farm to a town during the depression. Times are hard - really hard - and she has to deal with many changes in her life. Thankfully, she can bake prize-winning bread. [YA/138pp.]
Link to book
Monday, March 14, 2016
The Itch
By Benilde Little
Though the story was somewhat interesting, especially the focus group of the book (successful African Americans), and the premise of growth and development for the protagonist was satisfying, I found the writing quite lacking. First, there's a lot of point of views - almost every paragraph has a different person's perspective. Even though it mostly works and the transitions are fairly clear, it was something that kept bickering in the back of my mind as I read it. In addition, there was an abundance of cliches. Perhaps these issues would have gone unnoticed had I not taken writing classes. [286 pp.]
Link to book
Though the story was somewhat interesting, especially the focus group of the book (successful African Americans), and the premise of growth and development for the protagonist was satisfying, I found the writing quite lacking. First, there's a lot of point of views - almost every paragraph has a different person's perspective. Even though it mostly works and the transitions are fairly clear, it was something that kept bickering in the back of my mind as I read it. In addition, there was an abundance of cliches. Perhaps these issues would have gone unnoticed had I not taken writing classes. [286 pp.]
Link to book
The Fat Girl
By Marilyn Sachs
This is a very interesting and well-written story about a boy who is at first disgusted by a fat girl in his ceramics class, but then he ends up gaining certain control over her, and discovers that he really likes his newly-found power, especially since in his own family he does not feel like he has much control over anything. [YA/226 pp.]
Link to book
This is a very interesting and well-written story about a boy who is at first disgusted by a fat girl in his ceramics class, but then he ends up gaining certain control over her, and discovers that he really likes his newly-found power, especially since in his own family he does not feel like he has much control over anything. [YA/226 pp.]
Link to book
The Wednesday Wars
By Gary D. Schmidt
The author of this book gave a really inspiring talk at the NYC SCBWI meeting, and so I was looking forward to read his books. This one did not disappoint. Although there were a couple of issues in the beginning where I did not buy certain claims (something to do with cream puffs [yum!]), these issues were gone by the time I got about half way through. It is about a boy whose Wednesday afternoons comprise of his staying alone in the classroom with a teacher who is forced to stay with him. He is convinced that she hates him for this reason, but throughout the book he discovers a few things about himself. [YA/264 pp.]
Link to book
The author of this book gave a really inspiring talk at the NYC SCBWI meeting, and so I was looking forward to read his books. This one did not disappoint. Although there were a couple of issues in the beginning where I did not buy certain claims (something to do with cream puffs [yum!]), these issues were gone by the time I got about half way through. It is about a boy whose Wednesday afternoons comprise of his staying alone in the classroom with a teacher who is forced to stay with him. He is convinced that she hates him for this reason, but throughout the book he discovers a few things about himself. [YA/264 pp.]
Link to book
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Animal Dreams
By Barbara Kingsolver
A story about a young woman who can't seem to feel at home anywhere, despite a strong desire to belong. Her sister went to Nicaragua's war zone, and her father has Altzheimers. But in her hometown she finds out she has a bigger family than she had thought. [342 pp.]
Link to book
A story about a young woman who can't seem to feel at home anywhere, despite a strong desire to belong. Her sister went to Nicaragua's war zone, and her father has Altzheimers. But in her hometown she finds out she has a bigger family than she had thought. [342 pp.]
Link to book
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Winner of the National Book Award
By Jincy Willet
A twist on the love-triangle story. More like a hate-triangle story between twins who couldn't be more different and a horrible man. The couple responsible for the unfortunate encounter are also involved in one way or another in this tragi-comic story. [336 pp.]
Link to book.
A twist on the love-triangle story. More like a hate-triangle story between twins who couldn't be more different and a horrible man. The couple responsible for the unfortunate encounter are also involved in one way or another in this tragi-comic story. [336 pp.]
Link to book.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Prodigal Summer
By Barbara Kingsolver
Another good read from a great author. This is actually 3-4 stories about one summer, told from the perspectives of three people. They all live in close proximity to each other, in a rural mountainous community, still they don't know each other or are even aware of each other's existence. At least in the first half (or even more) of the book. [464 pp.]
Link to book.
Another good read from a great author. This is actually 3-4 stories about one summer, told from the perspectives of three people. They all live in close proximity to each other, in a rural mountainous community, still they don't know each other or are even aware of each other's existence. At least in the first half (or even more) of the book. [464 pp.]
Link to book.
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