February 8th, 2007
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| Author: | Terry Pratchett |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
Sometimes a precocious person uses her gifts in a way that have dire consequences. Whether or not the harm was intentional, that person should take responsibility for the problems she creates and try to resolve them.
Early in this tale, Tiffany Aching, a very mature and gifted if reluctant witch, makes the awful mistake of arousing the romantic attention of the Wintersmith (God of Winter), and nearly simultaneously but through no fault of her own, loses her teacher and home. Wintersmith is the story of how Tiffany:- Rectifies (with the "help" of her silly blue friends the Nac Mac Feegle and her not-quite-as-silly boy?friend, Roland) the wrong she's done,
- Learns to fit back into her home, and
- Comes to appreciate, understand, and learn from other mentors.
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Wintersmith is the third installment in the story of Tiffany Aching.
My daughter and I also enjoyed reading the previous books in the series:
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Wintersmith |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
February 5th, 2007
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| Author: | H. M. Hoover |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1988 |
De-mythologization (probably not a word, huh?) of the story of Medea, including the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece, from Medea's point of view.
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As in The King Must Die (the story of Theseus and the Minotaur), , in this story too, the ways of the patriarchal Greeks mostly triumph over the matriarchal societies that share their waters.
Another theme is the unfortunate tendency of those who lack knowledge in science and healing to assume that those, especially women, who master those arts, are witches (evil).
Despite its sympathetic portrayal of Media, in this account, as in the original, Medea's overwhelming love of Jason very badly clouds her judgment and causes her to act murderously.
Recommended. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Dawn Palace,The |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 12 and up | Comments Closed
February 2nd, 2007
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| Author: | Mary Renault |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1958 |
De-mythologization (probably not a word, huh) of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.
In this version, Theseus expresses his wonder at the radically different ways of life in the patriarchal Greek world in which he grew up and the matriarchal Minoan lands he comes to rule. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: King Must Die,The |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Fiction, Reading level: age 12 and up | Comments Closed
January 23rd, 2007
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| Author: | Jane Urquhart |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
Three plot arcs in which: - An autistic-spectrum woman carries on a lengthy affair with a geologist afflicted with Alzheimer's disease intersects with
- a 19th century capitalist assault on a bog and
- a 21st century romance
lead us to muse on the faultiness of memory and the ways in which artists, artisans, and denizens of the planet change the world by loving and hating and working and evoking and exploring it.
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Or, can it be that by living in the world, we change it so radically that we can't accurately remember it? |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Map of Glass, A |
Posted in Conceptual: highly sophisticated, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: Sophisticated reader | Comments Closed
January 23rd, 2007
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
In this, the latest episode in the life of Cat Chant, Cat has truly settled in to preparing for his future. The story reveals that he has come far in his apprenticeship to Christopher Chant, (the current Chrestomanci -- Chief Enchanter) and his family.
Cat has learned how to learn from a very gifted nine-lived enchanter who is (obviously) very talented, but possibly not as talented as Cat is. Throughout the book, Cat works on identifying skills Chrestomanci has that Cat still needs to learn, on when to solve problems on his own and when to call for help, and on how and when to intervene in the lives of the less gifted inhabitants of the universes he is destined to govern.
Like the plots of many other stories in the Chrestomanci series, the plot of this novel explores the problems of a gifted child (in this case a girl) who is made to feel inferior because she is special. |
There are many thrilling touches in this tale, which started out "less slowly" (as my 12 year old says) than other Chrestomanci books and then -- got better and better.
Two of our favorite were when:
- Cat just comes out and tells Marianne (the talented girl enchantress with low self-esteem who is being utterly abused by her family) that she has great power, but needs to be brave and stick up for herself.
- The entire sub-plot that concerns Klarch, the griffin. SO cute! Will definitely make you want a puppy.
Highly recommended, but you probably want to read at least Charmed Life first. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Pinhoe Egg, The: A Chrestomanci Book |
Posted in Animals, Child-raising, Conceptual: 8 and up, Dealing with bullies, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Homeschool, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
January 12th, 2007
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| Author: | Carole Matthews |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2005 |
"There are pink tents and pink high-heels on the cover of that book, Mom. Are you reduced to reading chic-lit?," my most opinionated daughter demanded. Don't know how exactly I ended up reading With Or Without You, but there I was. And, once you start reading a book like this, it's easier to just finish it than it is to put it down.
And, yes, the standard required elements of chic-lit are provided:
- Insecure heroine
- So-so job
- Unfulfilling romantic life
- Moralistic philosophizing
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The thing that struck me about the plot was that the author must have been able to pay for at least one, possibly several, trips to the Himalayas, perhaps from the profits on her previous pink best-seller and she did clearly learn from those trips. And, no doubt, she with clear conscience deducted the full costs of all those trips once the book was published.
So, not the best book I ever read, but might prove inspirational for aspiring young women authors.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: With Or Without You |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
January 8th, 2007
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| Author: | Rohinton Mistry |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2002 |
Poverty and religious fanaticism nearly destroy a Parsi family trying to care for a grandfather dying of Parkinson's disease in Bombay.
Wrenching, but the characters are so endearing that I found myself alternately clutching the book, putting it down in horror and sadness, then grabbing it up again to find out how everyone was doing.
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Highly recommended for very sophisticated young readers (teens, perhaps), especially those with an interest in the history and culture of modern India. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Family Matters |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: highly sophisticated, Culture, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: Sophisticated reader | Comments Closed
January 2nd, 2007
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| Author: | Diane Duane |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
Fourteen year-old wizard Nita's parents are worried about her "relationship" with her wizarding partner (a boy), so they ship her off to Ireland, where she gets into much more harrowing situations (and a romantic one as well) than those she might have experienced if she'd just stayed put in the USA.
My daughter and I loved the way the tiny Bard Cat interacts with her less gifted human allies. The seeming contradiction between the way wizards look -- ordinary -- and what they have to do -- extraordinary -- might be heartening to a child who feels that his or her specialness is not reflected in appearance or circumstances. And, the cameo appearances by Celtic mythological beings are fun.
The discussions of Nita's romantic thoughts (nothing graphic, but probably not of great interest to younger children) and the responsibilities that go along with great power, and the excitement, mayhem, and death that inextricably mix with battle might make this book appealing to adolescent readers, rather than to younger readers. |
My 12 year-old and I enjoyed reading this not very challenging, but plot-intensive story. We did feel that we might have liked it even more if we'd at least read the first book in this series first.
One of my cynical thoughts on reading this book was that Duane almost certainly was able to deduct a summer's vacation or maybe even a home in Ireland and use this book to prove that it was business-related. Must be nice to be a successful author.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Wizard Abroad, A |
Posted in Animals, Child-raising, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, History, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
December 30th, 2006
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| Author: | Anne Tyler |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction, historical |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
Thing is, most marriages in the USA are "amateur", aren't they? In fact, most decisions made by anyone, especially in his or her personal life, are going to be made amateurly, and some better than others. And just because a decision is sudden, that does not always mean that it was wrong.
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After reading one of Anne Tyler's novels, we know so much about the characters that we feel that, if the character walked past us in a shopping mall, we might recognize him or her. And Tyler doesn't have to tell us much about each character to work her magic. This one wears a red coat; that one has a limp. In this way are decisions made and in this way are people known, both in Tyler's novels and in real life.
A heartbreaking occurrence in many Tyler novels is the sudden disappearance of a child or teenager, through death or other circumstance, and the repercussions of that disappearance on the parents. The disappearance described in this novel is cruel, believable, and utterly wrenching.
-- Emily Berk
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Amateur Marriage, The |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Fiction, History, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
December 30th, 2006
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
A cheerful, easy to read, but very complicated, backwards fairy tale, in which the protagonist is the oldest of three stepsisters. Nearly every character in this story, major and minor, wears at least one or two disguises. In some cases, the disguise is of his or her own choosing, but not always. |
For example, our young heroine Sophie has fooled herself into believing that she'll never accomplish anything, since, in the world in which she grows up, eldest sisters never do. This belief keeps Sophie from realizing that she does magic nearly every time she does anything. Meanwhile, Sophie struggles through the story in the body of an old woman because of the misdirected curse of a witch.
Although the words of the story are not too challenging, and the ideas are gentle, the complications of the plot may keep even the most sophisticated minds engaged throughout.
-- Emily
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Howl's Moving Castle |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
