Here's what I read this morning:
A Nest for Celeste, by Henry Cole, is one I fell in love with the first day it arrived at my house, when my nine year old son picked it up and began to read it....and read it...and read it till the end. I love any book that can achieve that magic. Here are his thoughts about it, at his own blog, Pickled Bananas. I found this story of a mouse looking for a home an enjoyable read myself--it's a charmingly illustrated meditation on friendship, and, with a wildlife conservation under-message that I liked very much. Great for a child; not quite enough to the text, I think, to be quite successful as a cross-over book to grown-ups, but why should it be, after all. (342 pages, but lots of them were illustrations...so I think I'll only give myself 150 pages for this one)A Time To Dance, by Robina Beckles Willson (1962). A pleasant enough story about girls at a ballet school...interesting not just ballet-wise, but as historical fiction. If you're a ballet school story fan, definitely well worth reading, if not, don't bother! (192 pages)
The Heart is Not a Size, by Beth Kephart. Two girls, friends since they were small children, journey together to Mexico, to work at a humanitarian building project. Very Beth Kephartian, in its lyrical introspection. It's not my favorite of her books though (that would be House of Dance--a lovely book). In this one, the story never moved as powerfully as I felt it was going to a grand finale. (243 pages)
You're doing great!
ReplyDeleteI loved Nest for Celeste too! I reviewed it recently on my blog for historical fiction (it might be a stretch for historical fiction but I decided it fits since it does have actual historical characters in it!) I loved the way the illustrations and text worked together (although I had to look up osprey on the Internet--I had never heard of that kind of bird!)
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