This is a quick read, but no less powerful for the ease in which I read it. I had read the book previously, but when it was an option for our group read I will admit that I voted for it. I think it’s one of the more important books to come out in recent years. This book hits me pretty hard and is kind of difficult to talk about, but this is my attempt to do so. The first time I read this novel, I […]
There is no Cure for Being Who You Are
The Mermaid’s sister is about, well a mermaid’s sister. Clara lives with her adopted aunt, a medicine woman and her adopted sister, Maren, high in a mountain living a simple life. As Maren ages, she develops a tail and a need for water. It becomes fairly obvious that Maren’s only means of survival is to travel to the ocean and re-join her people. Clara teams up with childhood friend, O’Neill, a peddler’s adopted son (sensing a theme here?) and makes the long journey. The trip […]
Homage to Madeleine L’Engle
The new school year has just bgun for my two middle schoolers, and this novel by Rebecca Stead is just the sort of thing you would want to put into the hands of kids that age. Stead’s 2010 Newberry winner is an homage to Madeleine L’Engle and her classic novel A Wrinkle in Time. As in that novel, our heroine, 12-year-old Miranda, finds herself grappling with the concept of time travel, but unlike Meg Murry, she will not be the traveller. Earthbound Miranda has to […]
“Death is never added to death, it multiplies.”
I’m not going to review the book too deeply, in anticipation of our discussion. These are just some thoughts I had. I had no idea that Sherman Alexie wrote the screenplay for Smoke Signals. if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do. If you enjoyed this book, I couldn’t recommend that movie enough. It has a similar tone, and touches on some of the same themes. Stylistically, this book could’ve been written by Stephen King. Maybe that’s a weird comparison to make, but […]
The Movie Looks Better
I usually reserve two stars for really bad books (the coveted 1 star remains, I believe, only awarded to that Cinderella mess from a couple years back). But this year when I look back on the books I’ve rated as three stars, they are all better than this one. So keep that in mind. I picked this up because the Pajiba review of the film that came out earlier this year was pretty good. I’ve just gone back and re-read the review and it looks […]
“Life is a gift. Don’t forget to live it.”
“Sometimes I reread my favorite books from back to front. I start with the last chapter and read backward until I get to the beginning. When you read this way, characters go from hope to despair, from self-knowledge to doubt. In love stories, couples start out as lovers and end as strangers. Coming-of-age books become stories of losing your way. Your favorite characters come back to life.” Madeline Whittier has grown up in a bubble; she just turned eighteen and has spent the last seventeen […]
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