http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/133022 en-US Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:45:30 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 30311552 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:45:30 -0700
author: Avi
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/16/08
shelves:
review:
While I have a thing against people who go by one name, I initally enjoyed this book. Until the end. I won't spoil it, but sheesh. One minute there's violence, and the next everything's hunky-dory? Whatever happened to the denouement???
]]> 30311515 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:44:42 -0700
author: Sarah Ellis
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/16/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 30311461 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:43:52 -0700
author: Carolyn Coman
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.45
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/16/08
shelves:
review:
Bleak.
]]> 28980161 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:51:01 -0700
author: Janet Taylor Lisle
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 08/01/08
shelves:
review:
When Sara-Kate invites Hillary to see the elf village in her backyard, an uneasy friendship develops between the two very different girls. Sara-Kate is older, tougher, and refuses to answer questions about her family or home. HIllary, younger, softer, more innocent, comes to believe Sara-Kate is an elf until the truth about Sara-Kate and her family comes out.
]]> 28921616 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:37:00 -0700
author: Joan Bauer
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/31/08
shelves:
review:
It might not be coincidental that I liked this book more than many others that I've read in a long time--a book that has a lot to do with food. But more than that, it's about hope--hope in goodness, hope in politics, hope in small-town America, hope for families. It's about Hope, the protagonist.
]]> 28633166 Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:41:56 -0700
author: Lynne Rae Perkins
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/29/08
shelves:
review:
A plotless novel chronicling the live of several teenage friends as they try to figure out things like "life" and especially "love." Form meets function here, as the lack of specifics in terms of time and place and other Aristotelian values adds to the feeling of being out of control.
]]> 28563085 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:47:04 -0700
author: Linda Sue Park
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/28/08
shelves:
review:
An intriguing story, set in 12th century Korea about a boy who apprentices himself to a master potter. Highly recommended.
]]> 28562564 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:41:59 -0700
author: Jennifer L. Holm
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/28/08
shelves:
review:
This story is episodic in nature, a series of biographical family stories strung together in the guise of fiction. True, the main gist of the story lies in Penny's coming to terms with her father's death, and reconciling to her mother's marrying the milk man. Still, it didn't feel like it held together.
]]> 28204131 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:24:32 -0700
author: Susan Patron
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/24/08
shelves:
review:
A little girl who eavesdrops on 12-step recovery programs, who's looking for control, who lives with Brigitte--her French guardian and her absentee father's first wife, who is afraid Brigitte will go back to France and leave her, Lucky, at an orphanage in L.A. What is it about award-winning books these days full of quirky characters who are all orphans or foster children? Blaugh. Originality has become mundane.
]]> 28202960 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:12:55 -0700
author: Polly Horvath
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/24/08
shelves:
review:
Primrose Quarp's parents are supposed drowned in a storm and she becomes the ward of her Uncle Jack. She seeks refuge from the stares of the other townspeople with Miss Bowzer in the kitchen of the town restaurant (The Girl on the Red Swing) where everything is served on a waffle. Episodically structured. Typical Horvath quirkiness.
]]> 28094320 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:32:48 -0700
author: Christopher Paul Curtis
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/23/08
shelves:
review:
Bud's journey to find his father. After leaving an abusive foster-family, Bud decides to ride the rails out west, but doesn't make the train. Instead, he goes on a search for his father based on the clues he had from his deceased mother. The clues lead him to Grand Rapids, MI where he meets the meanest coot ever and finds perhaps something than his father.
]]> 28087987 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:39:42 -0700
The novel is structured with alternating forward-looking chapters (The Time with Josie) and backstory (descriptions of numbered pictures and their context). The structure adds to the disunity of the plot. Throughline of wanting a home, a family, a place to belong.]]>
author: Patricia Reilly Giff
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/23/08
shelves:
review:
Hollis Woods, a foster girl, is placed with Josie, an older woman who is beginning to forget things. Knowing that she is going to receive a new placement, Hollis takes Josie and runs away.

The novel is structured with alternating forward-looking chapters (The Time with Josie) and backstory (descriptions of numbered pictures and their context). The structure adds to the disunity of the plot. Throughline of wanting a home, a family, a place to belong.
]]> 27728601 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:14:23 -0700
author: E. Lockhart
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/19/08
shelves:
review:
One more boarding school book full of pranks, though these pranks are committed by the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, an all-boy secret society, under command of Frankie Landau-Bankes, a girl. The trick is that the Hounds don't know Frankie is behind their pranks. A book full of the angst and unfairness of exclusion told by an unreliable narrator who occasionally strays from Frankie's close third POV.
]]> 26532084 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:19:10 -0700
author: Kate DiCamillo
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/07/08
shelves:
review:
A nice book, a sweet book for the younger middle-grade crowd. Opal claims a stray dog for her own, names him Winn-Dixie (after the grocery store in which he was found), and allows him to create his doggie magic on those around him who are in need of some love.
]]> 26531689 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:16:00 -0700
author: Geraldine McCaughrean
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/07/08
shelves:
review:
I have to say this is probably the weirdest book I have ever read. At times I felt like it read like an encyclopedic work of folklore with a bit of story superimposed on it, but McCaughrean has a brilliant way of describing physical responses.
]]> 26329092 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:18:55 -0700
author: Susan Cooper
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/04/08
shelves:
review:
Emily and Jessup's father inherits a castle in Scotland, and when they return home to Toronto after visiting it, they accidentally bring the castle's boggart with them. Chaos ensues, and the two use computer technology to aid the boggart's return to Castle Keep.
]]> 26328964 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:15:13 -0700
author: Eloise Jarvis McGraw
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/04/08
shelves:
review:
The story of Saaski, a changeling, and her eventual remembrance of life in "The Mound." A nice read full of traditional fairy elements.
]]> 26312753 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:39:44 -0700
author: Sylvia Waugh
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/04/08
shelves:
review:
A letter arrives one day at Brocklehurst Grove from Albert Pond--a letter that unintentionally threatens the Mennyms, for the Mennyms are not human. A nice story about an extended family, with well-developed characters. Even though there is a large cast of characters, I didn't find it as difficult to distinguish among them as I originally thought (consider the names: Wimpey, Poopie, Soobie, Appleby, Googles! Yikes!)
]]> 25957867 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:28:24 -0700
author: Sherman Alexie
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/30/08
shelves:
review:
The widely-acclaimed and heavily-awarded ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY fell short for me. The lack of a traditional narrative arc or overarching plot line made this feel like not just a plotless novel, but a meandering one, which is worse. Additionally, while this is titled a "diary," it's not written as a diary. Most of the story is told from a far distant past tense, not a current past tense. The few references to actions that are happening currently pulled me out of the narrative. However, with that said, Alexie creates a window into the contemporary Native American world and contrasts it brilliantly with the white town, Reardan. He creates a memorable and likeable character in his protagonist Arnold Spirit.
]]> 25394548 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:45:39 -0700
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/25/08
shelves:
review:
After six hours in Phippsburg, Maine, Turner Buckminster, the son of the new minister, wants to light out for the territories. He is met on every hand by disdain, dislike, and discord. That changes when he meets Lizzie Bright, a girl from the poor community living on Malaga Island. He finds friendship and acceptance with her as she teaches him to hit a baseball Maine-style, takes him rowing, and digs for clams. But the path of friendship is not easy, for the community on Malaga Island is not just poor, but the descendants of slaves. The town elders want to force them to leave in order to establish a tourist industry. Turner stands alone in his fight against this, and tragedy results.
]]> 25162689 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:47:21 -0700
author: William Mayne
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.22
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/22/08
shelves:
review:
Weird. Told from the perspective of Hob, a friendly house spirit. It felt like half the story was missing because of Hob's limited perspective. Weird.
]]> 25162183 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:41:43 -0700
author: Franny Billingsley
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/22/08
shelves:
review:
Some nice writing, though I had trouble staying focused. The story of an orphan girl, Corinna, who pretends she's a boy in order to be a Folk Keeper. The folk keepers tend to the Faery Folk, assauging them with food and drink so they don't sour the milk, or kill the chickens, or wreak havoc in other ways. Corinna is sent for by old Lord Merton, who knows she is no boy. Corinna goes to Lord Merton's estate, Cliffsend, after he dies in order to be their Folk Keeper, but discovers that there is more to her past and to her than she knows.
]]> 24820809 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:56:33 -0700
author: Sharon Creech
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/18/08
shelves:
review:
Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother has disappeared, so Sal goes with her grandparents to retrace her mother's footsteps across the country. While on this road trip, she tells the story of her best friend's mother's disappearance, complete with happy ending. Layers upon layers of variations of the same story lull the reader along until the end comes for Sal's story and the reader is slammed by it.
]]> 24632860 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:10:17 -0700
While the stories are simple, they are eloquently told, with a musicality of language, and a form that echoes the braid carried by each sister.]]>
author: Helen Frost
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/16/08
shelves:
review:
The story of two sisters who are forced from their land in Scotland. One sister, Jeannie, leaves Scotland with the rest of her family, while the other sister, Sarah, remains behind with their grandmother. Before the family leaves, the sisters braid their hair together and each carries a part of the braid with her.

While the stories are simple, they are eloquently told, with a musicality of language, and a form that echoes the braid carried by each sister.
]]> 24422152 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:32:06 -0700
author: Pete Hautman
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/13/08
shelves:
review:
This is a book I thought I really wouldn't like, but it was so well-written that I didn't care that it was so absurd. In fact, one of it's selling points is its absolute absurdity. A cross between M.T. Anderson's FEED and and Louis Sachar's HOLES. Bo Marsten is arrested for crimes against society (anger) and is sent to 3-8-7, a factory in northern Canada where he’s forced to make pizzas. He joins the highly illegal football team there and thrives. His artificial intelligence, Bork, a leprecaun, then a troll, then a Nelson Mandela look-alike, eventually frees him from his prison sentence, but Bo doesn’t adjust well to “real life.” Well-written, if a bit odd.
]]> 24421942 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:29:34 -0700
author: Ron Koertge
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/13/08
shelves:
review:
The hook-up and demise of the relationship between Ben Bancroft, a 16-year old with cerebral palsy, a quick wit, and a thing for cinematography, and Colleen Minou, a drug addict. Lots of drugs, a bit of language, and some good dialogue.
]]> 24306592 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:47:09 -0700
author: Mary Hoffman
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/12/08
shelves:
review:
What could have been a cool story was tedious, overwritten, and smacked of modernity when it was supposed to take place in the 14th century. Inauthentic and annoying.
]]> 23477067 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:05:53 -0700
author: Martine Leavitt
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/01/08
shelves:
review:
The story of Tom, an amnesiac boy who finds himself on the streets of Calgary. He’s dubbed Tom Finder by Samuel Wolflegs, a First Nations man who is looking for his son, Daniel. Tom believes that he will be able to find his home after he finds Daniel. Throughline of gravity—so beautifully done.
]]> 23381656 Sat, 31 May 2008 11:00:20 -0700
author: Martine Leavitt
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/31/08
shelves:
review:
This novel is told from the perspective of the Dollmage the woman who writes the story of her village through crafting "dolls" or totems of each person or thing. The Dollmage is old and must choose between two girls to be her successor. The entirety of the book is the Dollmage directly addressing the villagers of Seekvalley in defense of Annakey, for her broken promise. There is some disturbing content, making this for readers 14 yrs and up. No graphic descriptions. Highly recommended.
]]> 23381543 Sat, 31 May 2008 10:58:24 -0700
author: Jacqueline Woodson
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/31/08
shelves:
review:
A slice-of-life book showing Frannie, her deaf brother Sean, her pregnant mother, her religious friend Samantha, the class bully Trevor, and the new boy who is dubbed the Jesus Boy. Ultimately, the theme is hope. A nice book, but I couldn't get too excited over it.
]]> 22989004 Mon, 26 May 2008 12:29:42 -0700
author: Sundee T. Frazier
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/26/08
shelves:
review:
At the beginning of summer vacation, Brendan Buckley, a multiracial ten-year old, discovers the grandfather he's never met. Ed DeBose is not only white, but bigoted. In his quest for truth, Brendan discovers not just who he comes from, but who he is, too.
]]> 22766737 Thu, 22 May 2008 13:30:27 -0700
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/22/08
shelves:
review:
While the idea behind this book (getting an operation at 16 to turn you from an 'ugly' into a 'pretty,' renegade uglies, rebellion, etc.) is interesting, the execution of it is quite poor. The protagonist is flat (maybe a male author not being true to a female teen?), and the dialogue is mundane. It's long; it's overwritten; it's poorly edited. I also abhor being beaten over the head with a political agenda. With that said, I'm still going to skip over to the library to get the next in the series.
]]> 22625261 Tue, 20 May 2008 11:24:47 -0700
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/20/08
shelves:
review:
Holling Hoodhood, the lone Presbyterian of his seventh grade class, is left with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, on Wednesday afternoons while half of his class attends Hebrew School, and the other half goes to catechism at the Catholic church. Thus begins his relationship with his teacher and his adventures over the school year in suburban Long Island, 1967. Rarely have I read a book that ends on such a positive note. Highly recommended.
]]> 22582135 Mon, 19 May 2008 17:40:06 -0700
author: Markus Zusak
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/19/08
shelves:
review:
A sophisticated coming-of-age story narrated, appropriately, by Death. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living in a poor neighborhood in Nazi Germany during World War II. On her way to her new foster home, Liesel witnesses the death of her brother, which gives her nightmares. Her foster father teaches her to read during the aftermath of those nightmares, which feeds a desire to read more. She steals books, aids her foster family is sheltering a young Jewish man, reads to calm her neighbors during bomb raids. This is a beautifully-written book with such original metaphors, if a bit long.
]]> 22363987 Fri, 16 May 2008 07:57:24 -0700
author: Sara Pennypacker
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/16/08
shelves:
review:
A modern Ramona. Or perhaps I should say the story of an ADHD kid. The book follows a week in the life of Clementine, who has an artist mother and a building superintendent father and a younger brother that she calls vegetable names (Spinach and Broccoli, for example) since she's named after a fruit. Clementine is constantly in trouble from what she sees as misunderstandings.
]]> 22363458 Fri, 16 May 2008 07:48:09 -0700
author: Kathi Appelt
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/16/08
shelves:
review:
I finished this book over 24 hours ago and I'm still feeling somewhat speechless. This novel is written in a storyteller tradition, weaving together intricate plot lines like the weavings of ancient Native Americans. The tale concerns an abandoned calico cat who joins a bloodhound in the "underneath"--the area under the porch--the only safe area from the house's inhabitant, a cruel man called Gar Face. The cat gives birth to two kittens in the underneath and the animals become a family. While I won't give any more away, the beauty of this novel is with its narrative voice and its inherent poetry. It's a strange story, for certain, and there is death involved, but there is also love and redemption and friendship.
]]> 21206027 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:17:54 -0700
author: Sharon Creech
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/28/08
shelves:
review:
A fairy-tale complete with king, queen, two princes (one a poet, one a swash-buckler), a princess, two peasant children, as well as a king's hermit and a queen's hermit. And we can't forget the Wordsmith, who is the king's story-teller. But the King is bored and longs for a nap and clothing that doesn't itch. The queen is beautiful but longs for solitude. All, it seems, desire something that they haven't got. A lovely story, beautifully illustrated, beautifully written, but leaves too many questions in the reader's mind that are not answered until the end.
]]> 20729114 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:17:00 -0700
author: Kelly Bingham
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:
This beautifully written novel-in-verse tells the story of Jane, a fifteen year old girl who is attacked by a shark and has her right arm amputated above the elbow. While that is heart-wrenching enough, Jane is also an award-winning artist who now needs to redefine herself on many different levels.
]]> 20663224 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:30:27 -0700
author: Patricia C. Wrede
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/21/08
shelves:
review:
What began as a “Letter Game” between the two authors assuming characters (Wrede as Cecelia and Stevermer as Kate) turned into a full-fledged delightful little novel. Kate and her sister Georgina go to London for the Season, while their cousin Cecelia remains at home. Adventures involving spells, wizards, and an enchanted chocolate pot keep the plot moving along. The level of detail exchanged made the structure of exchanged letters somewhat unbelievable, but it was such a delightful, fluffy, little novel that I didn’t mind.
]]> 20489106 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:02:40 -0700
author: Philip Pullman
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1995
rating: 2
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/18/08
shelves:
review:
I disliked this book because I thought it was poorly written. The plot devices of the alethiometer and the daemons seem all too convenient, but on the other hand, underutilized as well. There were too many times when I thought, "Why isn't Lyra checking the alethiometer?" It seemed like the only time she checked it was when it was necessary for the next stage of the book to occur. Then, of course, I thought it was extremely unlikely that she would simply figure out such a complicated piece of machinery on her own. The characterization of Lyra was sketchy, and on top of that, I found the novel to be over-written, tallying more than 300 pages.
]]> 19485093 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:43:54 -0700
author: Richard Peck
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 03/08
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:
A novel in stories. Each summer during the Depression, Joey and Mary Alice Dowdel visit their grandmother, who is larger than life. Recommended.
]]> 18892551 Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:55:21 -0700
author: Marcus Sedgwick
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 03/28/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 18705102 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:41:49 -0700
author: M.T. Anderson
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/26/08
shelves:
review:
A disturbing book. Futuristic society in which people's brains are implanted with a "feed" that continually sends transmissions of consumerism and pop culture; a time in which mysterious lesions become fashionable, and teens go "mal" (or malfunction) instead of getting high at parties. Language is really bad. 1st person POV. The protagonist is written in clear character.
]]> 18347899 Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:53:20 -0700
author: Paul Fleischman
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/21/08
shelves:
review:
A very typical teenage boy, Brent Bishop, goes to a party, gets drunk, is mocked, and decides on the way home to kill himself. Instead, he kills someone else as he frees his hands from the steering wheel of the car he’s driving. As part of his restitution, the mother of the woman he killed requests that he make four whirligigs, placing them in the four corners of the United States: Washington, California, Florida, and Maine. The beginning of the novel was a bit flat, but the ending was brilliant, as Brent finishes his task and on impulse, attends a contradance where he becomes part of a human whirligig, set in motion by music instead of wind. Told in alternating chapters of close third person POV (Brent Bishop) and first person POV of random characters who are positively affected by the whirligigs.
]]> 14771089 Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:37:00 -0700
author: Geraldine McCaughrean
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/20/08
shelves:
review:
My initial impression ("this is one odd book") was changed by the time I turned the final page. This is an example of absolutely stunning prose. Symone, a fourteen-year old nerd, is obsessed with Antarctica and in love with Capt. Lawrence Oates (an explorer who died 90 years ago). She is taken by her "uncle" (actually her deceased father's business partner) to the South Pole with a tourist group and while there, discovers that all is not as she thinks it is. She is a character with many contradictions, which makes her an almost-believable fourteen-year old. Amazing descriptions of the geography of the South Pole. Absolute poetry.
]]> 17798439 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 08:28:18 -0700
author: Paul Fleischman
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/15/08
shelves:
review:
I loved this book. Essentially, it's the story of a vacant lot that becomes a community garden in downtown Cleveland, told from the perspective of thirteen different people. A very quick and uplifting read (it's only 69 pages). The stories are beautifully woven together and come full circle, leaving the reader with a sense of hope at the end.
]]> 17505976 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:54:53 -0700
author: Laura Amy Schlitz
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/11/08
shelves:
review:
A collection of mostly monologues of people in a medieval village: the lord’s nephew, blacksmith’s daughter, plowboy, pilgrim, half-wit, etc. These monologues are written in both prose and poetry interspersed with “teaching moments” or background information pertinent to the previous monologue (i.e., about the three-field system, going on pilgrimage, the crusades, falconry, Jews, and gaining freedom in towns). Schlitz brings the history to life in these character sketches. Newbery winner.
]]> 16558908 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:46:16 -0800