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444th out of 799 books
—
4,582 voters
Tess, Terrorists and the Tiara
by
Terry Baldwin (Goodreads Author)
Thirteen-year old Tess has never been able to compete with her “perfect” older sister, but now she must—if she wants to inherit her grandmother’s priceless tiara. The two girls have been invited to their grandparent’s lake house for the summer to help take care of Grandma who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The sister who earns the most “helpful points” wins the...more
Kindle Edition, Kindle and Print, 212 pages
Published
April 1st 2012
by MIddleton Books
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Tess, Terrorists and the Tiara is a great middle grade book from debut author Terry Baldwin. It surrounds thirteen year old Tess, a spunky, scatterbrained girl who has a wild imaganation. Tess and her older sister Brianna go and stay with their grandparents at the lake to compete for their grandmothers beautiful and expensive tiara. (Their grandmother won the tiara when she was Miss Land of the Free)
Brianna and Tess are very different. Tess would desribe her sister as smart, beautiful and popul...more
Brianna and Tess are very different. Tess would desribe her sister as smart, beautiful and popul...more
Tess, Terrorists, and the Tiara is about thirteen-year old Tess. Tess and her perfect older sister are invited to spend the summer with their grandparents at their lake house to help take care of their Grandmother who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Tess and her sister have been given a contest, the sister who wins the most helpful points will win their Grandmother's beauty queen crown.
Although Tess always has the best intentions, everything seems to go wrong for her. Especially when she be...more
Although Tess always has the best intentions, everything seems to go wrong for her. Especially when she be...more
When I saw the cover of this book , it sounded like something I would read and then I read the blurb and I was intrigued. Though, it wasn't until I started to get into the novel that I realised in a personal way how much the book related to aspects of my life. The first thing that attracted me to the story was in fact the Tiara and the fact that this novel touched a little bit on beauty contests as I find reading about these type of reality contests fun and enjoyable, though I'm not really one t...more
Fifty years ago, Tess’s grandmother became the last winner of the Miss Land of the Free pageant. Today, Grandma’s health is declining due to Alzheimer’s. Deciding to make the most of her remaining years of cognizance, Grandma decides to give her diamond tiara - the one she was crowned with - to her granddaughter. The problem is, she has two: Tess, 13, and Brianna, 16. In order to make the decision fair, she and Grandpa invite the sisters to participate in a contest during their summer visit. Who...more
This is a middle grade novel about relationships, stereotypes, family and doing the right thing. Tess and Brianna are sisters, eighth grade and sophomore respectively and they remind me a lot of Ramona and Beezus in their relationship. They love each other, but they are so opposite and have a hard time getting along. Tess, much like Ramona, seems to get things wrong a lot, but she really only has the best of intentions. Like when she rides her bike to Wilkins store to get information under the p...more
Tess is my kind of girl. A little clumsy, a little forgetful, very well-meaning, full of heart. With all the good intentions in the world, things around her always fall apart.
Unfortunately for Tess, when she catches sight of someone at a neighboring cabin who keeps their face covered she's curious - and a little scared. Things get stranger when she asks her grandpa about the new neighbors: he tells her they want to be left alone, and she should stay away from them.
Who could these strangers be?
Wh...more
Unfortunately for Tess, when she catches sight of someone at a neighboring cabin who keeps their face covered she's curious - and a little scared. Things get stranger when she asks her grandpa about the new neighbors: he tells her they want to be left alone, and she should stay away from them.
Who could these strangers be?
Wh...more
Tess, Terrorists and the Tiara is not a YA book. I wasn't expecting that so I had to adjust my expectations a little bit before reading. I'd say it's a younger MG book.
I think it's a very charming read. I haven't read children's books for a long time so I enjoyed putting myself back there. I could relate with Tess a lot. She reminded me of myself when I was a kid- full of hopes and dreams, imaginative and uh, absent minded. My mom would tell you not a lot has changed. Tess made mistakes but she...more
I think it's a very charming read. I haven't read children's books for a long time so I enjoyed putting myself back there. I could relate with Tess a lot. She reminded me of myself when I was a kid- full of hopes and dreams, imaginative and uh, absent minded. My mom would tell you not a lot has changed. Tess made mistakes but she...more
Aug 26, 2012
Crys (The Hodgenator)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
youth,
youth-children
While the novel’s heroine, Tess, is thirteen, the core audience for this book seems to be a bit younger, maybe ten or eleven.
Tess is a delightful character that a lot of young girls can find a piece of themselves. She is on the cusp of being a teenager, she has an older sister everyone seems to prefer, and she is quite forgetful. But the one thing that causes her to stand out from her sister is that she is not motivated by anything other than being herself. She is who she is, and she will not co...more
Tess is a delightful character that a lot of young girls can find a piece of themselves. She is on the cusp of being a teenager, she has an older sister everyone seems to prefer, and she is quite forgetful. But the one thing that causes her to stand out from her sister is that she is not motivated by anything other than being herself. She is who she is, and she will not co...more
When I accepted the book for review I did that only because I was really interested in how a story could contain terrorists, a tiara, prejudice, and Alzheimer's syndrome - and not turn a massive amount of lecturing.
I was surprised, though, how the author was able to not only write a very cute story with an adorable main character but also bind the message into the story. Tess was such a nice girl, standing in the shadow of her older sister and not having a very high opinion of herself. Then aga...more
I was surprised, though, how the author was able to not only write a very cute story with an adorable main character but also bind the message into the story. Tess was such a nice girl, standing in the shadow of her older sister and not having a very high opinion of herself. Then aga...more
This was a sweet story! It is very much a middle grade book, appropriate for ages 10 and up. I found it to be a little too young for my personal taste, but it was still a great read.
Tess and her sister are staying with her grandparents at their lake house. They are competing to win her grandmother's tiara, won at a beauty pageant. The tiara has real diamonds and is valued at over $100,000. The girls do chores around the house to earn "helpful points." Whoever has the most helpful points at the e...more
Tess and her sister are staying with her grandparents at their lake house. They are competing to win her grandmother's tiara, won at a beauty pageant. The tiara has real diamonds and is valued at over $100,000. The girls do chores around the house to earn "helpful points." Whoever has the most helpful points at the e...more
This book, to my perspective, seems to help us realize that it is not the physical objects of this world we live in, but the lesson we all should take to heart...never take for granted the time you have with the ones you love fighting for a mere object, fight to make memories with the ones you love, because in the end, they are what last forever, and those memories are PRICELESS, and can never be tarnished or lost.
Jul 11, 2012
Cynthia E Sherman
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
first-reads
This was a Good Reads first reads book giveway. Thank you!!!!I actually liked this book. It was faced paced and interesting. Tess learned a lot about people in this book including herself. It was fun to watch how she bumbled her way through her investigation and then how she saved the day by not giving up.
Tess, Terrorist and the Tiara is a book with an exciting adventure but with a great message about prejudice that everyone should to learn. The main character is easily relatable in that she feels that she is not as good at things as her sister. The book also intertwines many issues that kids in this age face every day such as Alzheimer’s, racism, and autism. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to any kid in grades 4-8. I’m always looking for a book with adventure and this book i...more
Unfortunately I couldn't read the middle grade setting of this book and I couldn't get engaged with the writing of it. So I had to mark this one as a DNF as well. This is DEFINITELY a book that has potential though, IF I still read and reviewed middle grade books for my blog.
I like this story, but there are several things that don't quite work for me. But that being said, I'm not much of a MG reader, and I think that leads me to be a terrible MG critic. This might be perfect for 4th grade girls. It might not be. I'm not sure. Full review to come, though.
Everyone here at Middleton Books feels that Tess is an important book.
See my review exclusively on www.tinasbookreviews.com --
It was a so so book but i have read better but still i did enjoy it
May 09, 2013
Kimberly
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2013
Maisha
marked it as to-read
May 03, 2013
Blue Eyed Vixen
marked it as to-read
Apr 04, 2013
Stephanie
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2013
Christina Browne
marked it as to-read
Feb 27, 2013
Meggie
marked it as to-read
Feb 01, 2013
Kathryn Sherman
marked it as to-read
Jan 22, 2013
Jessica
marked it as to-read
Dec 25, 2012
Jessica - The Midnight Bookworm Woodward
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reviewrequests
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Away The ...: Tess, Terrorists and the tiara blog tour-6th-12th August (HELP NEEDED FOR PROMO POSTS) | 3 | 7 | Jul 24, 2012 03:55pm |
