Bonnie Ferrante's Blog, page 67

Jeffers, Oliver. Lost and Found. Book Review.

This picture book is about a boy who finds a penguin at his door and decides he will help the little penguin get home. After he returns the penguin to the South Pole, he realizes the lonely penguin was looking for a friend. Eventually, they are happily reunited. The illustrations are a combination of light […]

Bran, Dionne. Love Enough. Book Review.

This is a literary novel. Brand’s writing is pure poetry. “He let out a scream that the Highway ate, the whimper at the end slid up under the wheels.” “Already cars heading north on the 400 are tight like a huddle of penguins, the 401 highway running east and west is buckling with steel and […]

Katz, Karen. Princess Baby Night-Night. Book Review.

This picture book is for the very young. Little girls who are obsessed with princesses will love it. Parents ask a question such as, “Princess Baby, did you wash your face?” The little girl generally does as her parents’ request, but spends much of her time including her stuffed toys in her bedtime ritual. The […]

Woo hoo! The Amida Tree is Number Three!

The Amida Tree is number three in the Gittle List 2015. The Gittle List is Aviva Gittle’s top 10 picks for self-published children’s picture books for the current year. http://gotogittle.com/the-gittle-list... Available here and other places online. http://amzn.com/1928064221 In Canada http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00FFSNX2E

Kagawa, Julie. The Iron King. Book Review.

This young adult fantasy/romance features a socially awkward girl whose family has a big secret. When her little brother is stolen, Meghan Chase must enter the Never Never with a mischievous friend and a quirky cat in order to track him down. The story draws heavily on traditional fairy lore and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night […]

Dee, B. C. The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Book Review.

The first page of this book is lyrical and enchanting. “Curious Callie/ Courageous and kind,/ Was hunting for pixies/ And fairies benign,/When out of her window,/ Way up in the sky,/ She spied the full moon/ Drifting lazily by.” The rhyming scheme holds fairly well throughout the book. Dee introduces some rich vocabulary: gamboled, twilight, […]

Reddy, Gita V. Cinderella’s Escape. Book Review.

The story is based on Cinderella, obviously. The difference between this one and the original is that Cinderella is modern and needs to escape from being abused and held against her will. Cinderella is an interesting character because she is so isolated from the modern world, she doesn’t know what is true and what is […]

Rowell, Rainbow. Fangirl. Book Review.

If you don’t understand fanfiction, you will by the end of this novel. Twin sisters have co-written an entire Simon Snow series and garnered a huge following of their own. The girls, Cath and Wren, have been inseparable until their first year of college. Wren, the more outgoing and confident of the two, insists on […]

Janovitz, Marilyn. Can I Help? Book Review.

The two characters featured in this picture book are realistic looking dogs except for the fact that they behave like people. A parent is followed from task to task by his or her eager child. One of the nice things about this book is that it doesn’t disclose whether it is a father or mother […]

Taub, Melinda. Still Star-Crossed. Book Review.

I must admit I am a sucker for any story that takes its basis from Shakespeare. However, the book must be well written to earn my respect. This one was. After the death of Romeo and Juliet, Verona has reached a shaky peace between the houses of the Montagues and the Capulets. The Prince, desperate […]