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The Wedding Planner's Daughter (Wedding Planner's Daughter #1)
Twelve-year-old Willa Havisham is a classics reader, a cherry-cordial eater, and quite possibly the world's worst wisher. But when she and her glamorous single mother, Stella, move to Bramble, Cape Cod, Willa's wishes begin to come true: She makes her first-ever best friend, Tina. She bonds with her hip, candy-making Nana. And best of all, steely Stella is falling for...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
May 23rd 2006
by Aladdin
(first published January 25th 2005)
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Reviewed by Harmony for TeensReadToo.com
Willa Havisham may be the only twelve-year-old who reads classics, eats cherry cordials, and just so happens to be the worst wisher in the world.
Her glamorous single mother, Stella, plans the most beautiful weddings and is constantly moving the two of them around. When they finally move back to Stella's childhood hometown of Bramble, Cape Cod, Willa begins to think her wishes are coming true. She's made her first-ever best friend, ...more
Willa Havisham may be the only twelve-year-old who reads classics, eats cherry cordials, and just so happens to be the worst wisher in the world.
Her glamorous single mother, Stella, plans the most beautiful weddings and is constantly moving the two of them around. When they finally move back to Stella's childhood hometown of Bramble, Cape Cod, Willa begins to think her wishes are coming true. She's made her first-ever best friend, ...more
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From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6–This book is as sweet a confection as the cherry cordials its 12-year-old protagonist is so fond of eating. Willafred Havisham is starting to put down roots in Bramble, Cape Cod, where her grandmother runs a candy shop and where she's made a friend. She is hoping that her mother will stay here longer than the two years they usually live anywhere, and that she will remarry. Stella is a successful wedding planner who is unaware that her daughter has been ...more
Grade 4-6–This book is as sweet a confection as the cherry cordials its 12-year-old protagonist is so fond of eating. Willafred Havisham is starting to put down roots in Bramble, Cape Cod, where her grandmother runs a candy shop and where she's made a friend. She is hoping that her mother will stay here longer than the two years they usually live anywhere, and that she will remarry. Stella is a successful wedding planner who is unaware that her daughter has been ...more
The Wedding Planner's Daughter, is a typical embarassing, stumbling, bumbling, teenage love story. The whole book is about this girl's summer and trying balance meeting the perfect guy, doing household chores, helping her mom, and babysitting! I learned that (and this is kind of an odd lesson), that the best guy for you will always come in time, you just have to wait. I just found mine a little more that a 4 days ago!!!! Love takes time! Read the book you'll understand what I mean.
"Sometimes we aren't even wishing for the thing we really need."
Coleen Murtagh Paratore, The Wedding Planner
Coleen Murtagh Paratore's The Wedding Planner's Daughter is a delightful easy read that strikingly parallels Dickens's Great Expectations. It is the story of a mother, Stella Havisham, and her daughter Willa. On the first day of her honeymoon, Stella's husband is killed and from then on she hardens herself off from love. Selfishly, Stella drags Willa across the ...more
Coleen Murtagh Paratore, The Wedding Planner
Coleen Murtagh Paratore's The Wedding Planner's Daughter is a delightful easy read that strikingly parallels Dickens's Great Expectations. It is the story of a mother, Stella Havisham, and her daughter Willa. On the first day of her honeymoon, Stella's husband is killed and from then on she hardens herself off from love. Selfishly, Stella drags Willa across the ...more
The ending was just a smidge too pat, but overall I liked it. Willa is a cute, spunky twelve-year-old who has big dreams, but her mother is an overly practical no-nonsense widow who refuses to entertain the thought of romance. This book definitely appeals to the girl in me who used to read Beverly Cleary's Fifteen. This has a sense of humor that's a little younger, but the overall premise is light and fluffy, while still addressing girlish problems. Willa's too-slowly developing body, her lac...more
This is the second book I have read by this author in this series of stories. I like her habit of starting each chapter with a quote and I like the way her characters think throughout the book.
The characters she has created are real and likable. You can relate to them easily and feel as if you are part of the town of Bramble where they live.
I have enjoyed both stories in this series so far but actually liked this first story best of all. I feel like the writer puts...more
The characters she has created are real and likable. You can relate to them easily and feel as if you are part of the town of Bramble where they live.
I have enjoyed both stories in this series so far but actually liked this first story best of all. I feel like the writer puts...more
Bethany
rated it
Recommends it for:
everbody that loves a romance book
Recommended to Bethany by:
nobody, i found it in the library
I read The Wedding Planner's Daughter by Coleen Murtagh Paratore. It was a wonderful book!! It is about Stella, and her daughter, Willafred. Stella is the wedding planner and has several rules for willa(fred), she can't go near the weddings or even go in the studio! Willa doesn't know why, but she does know she doesn't have a father. Stella was heartbroken when her husband died while she was waiting for him in Poet's Park. When they move to Cape Cod Willa finally feels like she fits in. Nana, Mr...more
This was cute. It would be a good book to recommend to elementary aged girls. Willa's father died on the eve of his honeymoon. Since then, Willa's mother has walled herself off emotionally from everyone - even her daughter (who looks just like her father). They move every couple of years, just as Willa is settling in and making friends. This time, they've relocated to the Cape Cod town of Bramble, where Willa's grandmother lives. She's made friends, loves being able to see her Nana every d...more
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This is so pretty and sweetIf you think dreams are importat read this, it's sweet all she wants is a father when she relize that's not what she wanted. if you want to know more R.E.A.D IT. You'll think it's sweet it would be a great chick flic.
Oh Willa, my fantasy character. She feels so real, like she could be my best friend, and we could walk along the beach laughing, discussing books, and eating cherry cordials. This book is amazing and tasteful, Willa is telling you her story. She wants what any kid would want, a father. But Stella, her heartbroken mother, can't break out of her steel suit of armor. Amazing book for any girl ages 8-16, or really any age, who like a mix of realistic fiction, a tad bit of romance, and a sprinkle of ...more
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I loved this book because it links to a girls normal life in school and out. Willafred's mum is a wedding planner as exciting as that may sound Willa is not allowed any where near the wedding or the 12 secret ingredients. So you would of thought that Stella would be romantic but she isn't - how typical! Willa has too try and get Stella a husband before they move away. But luck is around the corner because Willa's English teacher has just moved in next door, he is the perfect match. But will The ...more
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I read this book in the sixth grade, and it was great. The author does a wonderful job of putting just enough boys, girl drama, and love in the story withouth overdoing it. In the sixth grade-8th grade, there are not alot of books that have enough intrigue without being too adult for young girls.
Not only that, but the author does an amazing job of painting a lovely picture of Cape Cod. Never before have I seen such a great portrayal of a town in a childrens book.
I definetly recommend...more
Not only that, but the author does an amazing job of painting a lovely picture of Cape Cod. Never before have I seen such a great portrayal of a town in a childrens book.
I definetly recommend...more
Read this book last year, I thought it was one of those books that are for little girls that are not going to be that great. But i was so suprised by this book words cannot explain. It does not fit in with To Kill A Mocking Bird and Little Women and of course Gone With The Wind, but its just as unique as those. Willa Havisham has traveled all over the world with her single, depressed mom and has experienced many things. Now living in Bramble Cape Cod with her mom who has been desperate for years...more
This book got me through so many hard times and sick days and tears that I couldn't give it anything less than five stars. Honestly, I found solace in Willa. She helped me get through the tough days. I understood what she meant about books being her friends. Although I couldn't relate to the specific situations that Willa went through, I could relate to her.
Willa has a father who died in a hot air balloon accident and a wedding planner mother. After moving around more times than I ca...more
Willa has a father who died in a hot air balloon accident and a wedding planner mother. After moving around more times than I ca...more
Willafred Havisham is a 12-year-old book-loving, cherry cordial–eating idealist living with her mother Stella, a wedding planner, in the beautiful seaside town of Cape Cod. She never knew her father Billy, because he died in a hot air balloon accident the day after he married her mother. Throughout her whole life, Willa's been wanting a dad. When a new neighbor moves into town, an English teacher named Sam Gracemore, Willa hopes she may have met her future father.
The Wedding Planner'...more
The Wedding Planner'...more
Animegirl
rated it
Shelves:
favorites,
tween,
teen-ya,
rainy-day-reads,
great-series,
contemporary,
lived-up-to-the-hype
The Deal:
Willa 1Twelve year old Willa Havisham loves Bramble, Cape Cod. It's the only place where she has ever felt home, and she has lived all over the Eastern Seaboard. Her mother, Stella, is a successful wedding planner, but she has sworn out of love and plans for Willa to be a successful, practical girl rather than a romantic like her father was.
But Willa loves books, she loves cherry cordials and she wants, more than anything, to have a father of her own. Which mea...more
Willa 1Twelve year old Willa Havisham loves Bramble, Cape Cod. It's the only place where she has ever felt home, and she has lived all over the Eastern Seaboard. Her mother, Stella, is a successful wedding planner, but she has sworn out of love and plans for Willa to be a successful, practical girl rather than a romantic like her father was.
But Willa loves books, she loves cherry cordials and she wants, more than anything, to have a father of her own. Which mea...more
Willafred ‘Willa ’Havisham is a 12 year old, cherry –cordial eating, book-reading, idealistic youngster. Her widowed mum, the beautiful Stella Havisham is a reputed wedding planner. But despite the romanticism of her chosen profession, Stella is stern and unbending. Losing her husband straight after the wedding night has left her embittered and brutally practical. Her life and Willa’s (unfortunately) are run by a set of strict rules. Stella has great expectations for Willa which do not involve w...more
Read this for VSC discussion, but was unable to attend the meeting. I liked the Cape Cod setting, but none of the characters were fully fleshed out. I resented the characters' cutesy names. Do we really have to call the elderly bookstore owner Mr. Tweed? Or what about the wedding couple, Alabaster Granite and Bart Vador? And did our heroine really have to stuff her bikini top with Kleenex? She's supposed to be a bookworm; hasn't she already read dozens of books with identical disastrous conseque...more
Willa is such a wonderful charming girl-I think she earns a spot up there with Anne Shirley for big dreamers and hopeless romantics. This book is a good old fashioned story in a modern setting. Willa is spunky and creative and you can't help but root for her to succeed. The setting of Cape Cod adds to the magic of the story, and I wanted to take a vacation to Bramble to hang out with Willa there. With lots of romance and lots of heart, this is the perfect read for a lazy rainy afternoon.
I read this book at the end of 2005, and read it again this time to read it with a student. I enjoyed it so much more this time as the student made me notice so many more things.
Willa is such a smart girl with so much going for, but how much she was lacking by having a mother who had really closed herself off to love and only cared about "greatness."
My student read this book with her mother, too. I'd definitely recommend this for a mother/daughter book.
Willa is such a smart girl with so much going for, but how much she was lacking by having a mother who had really closed herself off to love and only cared about "greatness."
My student read this book with her mother, too. I'd definitely recommend this for a mother/daughter book.
This book is about a girl (Willa) whose father died before she was born, and who wants nothing more than for her mother (Stella, the wedding planner) to fall desperately in love with a new man and to get married so she will finally have a father... and so that her mother will be happy again.
It was a lovely book... Willa was a little mini-Emma-matchmaker... and she REALLY screws things up... but.... well, I can't tell you the ending now, can I? ;)
It was a lovely book... Willa was a little mini-Emma-matchmaker... and she REALLY screws things up... but.... well, I can't tell you the ending now, can I? ;)
Great book! Love the whole plot. Willa and her sea seem as real to me as my own home, and now I want to live in Cape Cod!:) The entire humanity of it is wonderful. Willa is a great kid. The only thing I find wrong morally with this book is that the Preacher, Nellie, says that we can all get to heaven by being "good" and says that all religions are correct. All in all, great. I hate Nellie. She's selfish.
This is the book that made me pick my profession. After this, I knew I wanted to be a wedding planner. Willa is a young girl with a big imagination, something she inherited from her father but it scares her mother. Her mother Stella squashes Willa's creativity. With the help of her first ever BFF Tina and her grandma, she starts to be her own person. She also helps her mom break through her tough exterior.
This is a cute, young adult read. I have been listening to easy reads while I feed my baby and grabbed this off the library shelf w/o ever hearing of it. Twelve year old Willa's greatest wish is to have a father (hers died before she was born) and to have her mother be happy again (she tuned out of life and love after her husband died). She decides to try and make this happen before her 13th birthday.
This was a very fun, romantic, hilarious book. Willafred (aka "Willa") is the spunky, head-in-the-clouds daughter of stiff, no-nonsense-young-lady Stella. Cape Cod is a beautiful place to live, full of possible-new-best-friends, sandy beaches, bookstores, candy shops, cherry cordials, and romance. Maybe, just maybe, Willa can get a boyfriend - for herself and her mother.
12 year old Willafred(some people call her Willa) is the wedding planner's daughter. She's used to moving around a lot. Ever since her father died, Willa's Mother,Stella, has been afraid of falling in love. Stella's weddings had never been a success,until Willa added the 13th secret ingredient.
I gave this book 4 stars because there is a little awkward girl talk in it. So I don't know if people wanted to read about it or not.
I would recommend this book to people who love a cu...more
I gave this book 4 stars because there is a little awkward girl talk in it. So I don't know if people wanted to read about it or not.
I would recommend this book to people who love a cu...more
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I majored in English at The College of Saint Rose, in Albany, and after two internships in advertising and public relations, decided to enter the communications field, which is a place where writers can write and make a living too. I got married three months after graduation (my husband Tony and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary next August ), and we moved to Connecticut. I worked...more
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“Until then, have great expectations. Keep believing you dreams will come true. And remember, when life throws you a pit... plant a cherry tree.”
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