Francie Nolan grows up in the tenements of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York in the early years of the 20th Century. The granddaughter of German and Irish immigrants, Francie and her younger brother Neeley (real name Cornelius) grow up dirt poor, but thankfully don’t really realise it until they get older. Their mother, Katie, works hard as a janitress to make sure they have a place to stay and food on the table. Their father, Johnny, is handsome and charming, a gifted singer, and a […]
Forget the stupid rat-creatures. Stupid and annoying Phoney Bone, more like it
The three Bone cousins Fone Bone (renamed Hero Bone in my head), Smiley Bone (Comic Relief Bone) and Phoney Bone (Greedy, or frequently Insufferable, Bone) have been driven out of their home town of Boneville because Phoney Bone had some sort of get rich quick scheme and scammed the entire town, and now an angry mob has driven them off. They are wandering in the wilderness when they are attacked by a huge swarm of locusts and end up in a mysterious forest in a […]
Where I aim for objectivity toward a book that didn’t inspire a great swelling of emotion
I don’t have a lot of well-formed thoughts about Persepolis. I understand, every bit, why it’s a valuable (graphic) novel, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as part of the standard reading curriculum for American teens, who can use all the diverse perspectives they can get. In fact, I think the classroom — under the tutelage of a sympathetic instructor — could be the ideal place for a book like this, because it allows for the integration of historical background in which independent readers […]
Get It, Girls
I don’t know about you, but when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a princess when I grew up. There was the influence of Disney, but there was also the influence of Prince William (this was obviously before he grew up and started to look a lot more like his dad). From what you see on the outside, as a young girl, being a princess looks wonderful. You’re rich, famous, and you get to wear a tiara. As a 13 year-old, I […]
In Russia, dragon flies you
(note before I start this review: HALF CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!) At this point, Blood of Tyrants being the eighth book in the Temeraire series, I am still very much on board the Temeraire train, but reading all of them in a row without the benefit of waiting between books (other than brief stints when the library is out of copies of whatever’s next) has meant that a certain fatigue has set in. I think I said in an earlier review that Novik has an incredible way of […]
“After all, in this life we do not know what lies before us.”
I picked this one up after reading a mediocre review here on CBR, so I don’t know why I was surprised that it took me two weeks to slough my way to the finish line. First of all, the title is misleading because the daughters’ stories receive no more attention than their parent’s courtship, Alexandra’s medical drama, Alexey’s hemophilia and the dependence Alexandra began to have for Rasputin. The daughters, their personalities, romantic interests and other facts about them are presented, it just doesn’t feel […]
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