Author: Laura R.

Journaling to sanity

OpheliaOphelia by Gingras
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Back when I was a teenager, I read a book called The Fog Comes on Little Pig Feet. It was about a miserable girl, keeping a journal, and the usual angst that comes from being a misunderstood teenager. Not sure if it is still relevant in this day and age, but this book, Ophelia, reminds me of it, with her keeping a secret journal of her life, and how she is misunderstood.

This is a hurt child, and this journal helps her get over her hurt, along with making a friend with another outcast. One reviewer said she figured out what was going to happen from the beginning, but I have to say I wasn’t sure where the author was going to go with it. I was surprised at somethings, to be sure. A good addition to the “journal keeping teenager who can only speak to the paper about her pain” series of books.

The only issue I have with this book is the illustrations that Ophelia has done, have not been translated, and usually I would say that is ok, but the little French I still have, from learning it 40 years ago, or so, I think that we should be able to read what she has written on her drawings. Perhaps the final book will have them in English.

The other issues I have with the book are minor. I’m not stupid, I understand when she says she is in French class that it is the equivalent of being in English class in that you are writing essays and reading literature, rather than learning the lanaguage. But, I wonder if most readers would get that.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Things you never knew about cats

Super Cats: True Stories of Felines That Made HistorySuper Cats: True Stories of Felines That Made History by Elizabeth MacLeod
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hey, my mother bread siamese when she was a girl. There were always cats in our house. At one point we had five of them. So, having said all that, I thought I knew everything there was to k now about cats, and though I would be reading the same old stuff that all cat books have.

I was quite wrong.

This is a fantastic, middle-grade reference books, which tells the story of cats, through antidotes, for each stage in their history. And it isn’t the stories you have heard before. One very sad story was of a cat that was accused of hunting the Stephen’s Wren into extinction.

And thrown in are a lot of cat facts, or cat observations.

Another story is of cats that have helped at sea, such as Simon, the only cat to be awarded the Dickin Medal, which is given to animals who have helped out in wartime.

I think this would be a great addition to any school, public or home library.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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The next in the Breadwinner Series

Parvana's Journey (Breadwinner Series)Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Journey

As a whole I hate journey stories because that is usually the whole story. In this case it is a journey that has a purpose, but there is no long term goal. Except to be in Pairs in 20 years.

Good, well researched book. Now on to the next book in the series.

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The Breadwinner series

The Breadwinner (Breadwinner Series)The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disguised

Well written, middle-school story of a girl that is forced to dress as a boy in order to earn money for her family in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban.

Although the author is not from Afghanistan, she apparently interviewed many refugees, heard their stories, and wrote this, based on all those interviews. This is the first book in the series. Now, I will move on to the second, as I am curious to see what happens next.

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A Dark time in Poland

You can't just kiss anyone you want (N'embrassez pas qui vous voulez)You can’t just kiss anyone you want by Marzena Sowa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although it isn’t named, this story is taking place after World War II in what, in the west, was known as the Eastern Block, the Eastern European countries that the Soviets took over. The children are being taught to love Russia and especially Stalin. It is at one such screening of a propaganda film that the little boy, in the title of the story, tries to kiss a little girl, and she screams. The film is stopped, and he is questioned, more than one would imagine for such a minor incident. His father is a writer, and the authorities think he is writing something that he shouldn’t.

This is all being told from the view of a child. The child knows his father writes, but doesn’t quite understand, in the beginning, why this is bad. As the child says in class “We can think whatever we want, but we can’t say it.”

It is a gripping, sad, thoughtful story of the little things you can do to not have the “state” take over your very thoughts.

Good, quick story. Recommend it highly. Very well translated.

Here are some examples of the artwork, which says so much with just a few pictures and words:


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Calamity Jane in a Graphic Novel

Calamity Jane: The Calamitous Life of Martha Jane CannaryCalamity Jane: The Calamitous Life of Martha Jane Cannary by Christian Perrissin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How much do you know about Calmity Jane? Do you confuse her with Annie Oakley? Was she at the Battle of Little Big Horn? Did she really merry Wild Bill Hickok?

This graphic novel tries to answer the questions about her life, but she was apparently a good story teller, and much of what we know of her comes from letters she wrote to her daughter, but never sent. The authors used documents that were as close to the sources as they could, since Calimity Jane had many things written about her while she was alive, dime store novels, her own tall tales, that were simply not true. The authors admit that it is hard to figure out what truly happened, but that they are trying to come close, and still tell a good story.

One thing that I didn’t realize is that she only dressed and acted as a man in the beginning, and after that, she dressed in pants, but was known to be a woman.

Interesting read, interesting story of an unusual woman.

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Women without a voice in the American West

The Woman Without a VoiceThe Woman Without a Voice by Louise Farmer Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I was younger, then I am now, I loved reading the Little House on the Prarie books. I loved watching the show based on the series, and never thought about what Ma must have thought about what was going on, what she really thought about leaving her family behind to follow her husband, and live out in a sod house, and make do. Laura Ingles Wilder tells the stories looking back at her childhood.

This book is very small, and short, but it is the author’s view of what her greatgrandmother must have gone through, and the other women that were in the family, as they pushed westward. There is not a lot of source material, but Louise grabs what she can. This is almost an exercise in showing what can be gained by source material. She visits the asylum her great-grandmother was housed in for 16 years until her husband died, as well as reading the reports of her.

It is an interesting look back at a time when women had no choice but to do as their husbands said to do.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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How to fit in too

Where Oliver FitsWhere Oliver Fits by Cale Atkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even if you never take a course in children’s literature, which I have, you can start to recognize certain themes in picture books, and middle school books. For picture books the most often theme is making friends, and knowing your a loved. A variation on that theme is fitting in.

The main theme of fitting in is that you should be yourself, because, of course, that is what we want everyone to realize. You don’t have to pretend to like sports if you would rather play with dolls. You don’t want to pretend to hat veggies, if you secretly love them. You don’t want to pretend to go along with the crowd.

So, this is the story of Oliver, a puzzle piece, who wants to fit in, in both ways. He wants to be part of a puzzle, but he can’t find one where he fits in. So he paints himself to fit in, and the paint wears off. He puts on angles, but that doesn’t help. Finally, he disguises himself, and no one knows who he really is, and he finally fits in. But he is miserable. He has finally fit in a group, but they don’t want him for what he is.

And then he decides he would rather just fit in as himself, and he finds others who have also been trying to fit in, and haven’t been happy. And he finds a puzzle where he finally belongs.

I love how he goes through the thinking, just a as a little kid would do. I love that he figures out that this is not the life he wants to lead. Big, big theme for a little picture book, but it tells a good message, and the colors are beautiful and little Oliver is cute as well.

Good addition to any library or home. Probably close to a 4.5 star book. Not quite 5 stars, but dang close.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Trying to fit in

Rosie the RavenRosie the Raven by Helga Bansch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is such a sweet little book. I love that the moral is not that if you are different you should find who you fit in with, but that you learn to be part of your family. What a wonderful message to give.

Rosie is born into the family of ravens, but despite not having wings that fly, she finds that she has wings that grab and carry, and she is able to help her parents gather food. And she doesnt’ need to fly, because she can cling to her parent’s back.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Lovely pictures and story.

Wonderful story of inclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this book for an honest review.

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