Monday, June 30, 2014

Review: Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill


Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill
Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is one of Alexander McCall Smith's books about Precious Ramatswe - only for younger children. It has much of the charm of the books for adults, with the readability for kids. I enjoyed it.



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Sunday, June 29, 2014

Review: The Secret Hum of a Daisy


The Secret Hum of a Daisy
The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is a well-written book and the characters, even the minor ones, seemed like real people. Why didn't I rate it higher? Probably the same reason some people will rate it much higher than I did: the language is lush and gorgeous. Why is that a negative? For me, it is because the language becomes part of the focus of the story and I wanted the focus to be on the people.

For a long time, I have wondered why I like books with less "good writing". I was afraid that I couldn't even tell what good writing was. I am sure, to some extent, that is still true. But then it occurred to be that I really didn't especially like all of the examples of "good writing" that people would use to get their point across. I am more interested in good characters and a good story. Yes, to some extent, both of those depend on "good writing". But "good writing" that draws focus to itself is distracting to me.

That said, if you are a fan of "good writing" and good story and characters, this book will please you.

One of the best things about the books is how the inner conflict that Grace has is handled. I think it is actually a bit too mature for 12 years old to be able to define it all for herself, but for young teens who are going through emotional turmoil, it may help them articulate some of their own feelings. And maybe I underestimate young teens and tweens.



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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Review: The Lunar Antics Presents: Boy I'd Hate to be Made Out of That Stuff!


The Lunar Antics Presents: Boy I'd Hate to be Made Out of That Stuff!
The Lunar Antics Presents: Boy I'd Hate to be Made Out of That Stuff! by Robert Walters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I should have liked this book better than I did. I like science fiction and I REALLY enjoy cartoons and comic strips. In fact, I have a quite large collection of the latter and I used to have a large collection of the former. I am not sure why this one was just enjoyable and not great.

Perhaps one of the reasons is that the humor is often in the form of put-downs. They are, in many cases, well deserved, but it feels like as assault, rather than a commiseration.

I was hopeful that the embodiment of life's little ironies would provide something I really could enjoy, and these were some of my favorite strips, but they didn't appear for long.



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Sunday, June 15, 2014

Review: The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood


The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood
The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The idea behind this book - the need for a new coat, but the need to make sure others who need things more get what they need - is not new, but the story is told and illustrated well. And, it can really contribute to much needed diversity.



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Review: Rooftoppers


Rooftoppers
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Although this book doesn't seem very realistic to me in its premise and the search for Sophie's mother has too many co-incidences to be realistic, somehow this book is still interesting and exciting.



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Thursday, June 5, 2014