Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel by Megan Morrison

from goodreads

5 stars

This year we decided to give Miss G quite a few books for Christmas. Man, picking them out was so hard to do. My husband and I had a limited time to be out together getting gifts and by the time we got to the bookstore Mr. S was done. I mean for a kid who usually makes no noise and is chill, he was starting to fuss a bit and we knew we had about 10 minutes before total meltdown. There are so many cool looking books out right now that it was hard to choose. You need to pick a book that is not too easy but not so long or difficult otherwise they will get frustrated. You need to make sure it is about something they are interested in, but that you wouldn't mind reading aloud to them with out going insane.

In the end I went with some classic children's stories. You can't go wrong with books that have stood the test of time, right?

Synopsis

Rapunzel is living an idyllic life up in her tower. When a young man climbs her tower and steals a flower from her she decides to leave and get it back and protect Witch.

My Thoughts

I think the majority of the world would agree that Harry Potter is one of the best if not the best kids series of all time. Well, this new Tyme series by Megan Morrison is going to give Harry Potter a run for its money. Morrison has created a well thought through, rich world.

I love how this is not just a retelling of the same old story. Morrison puts her own twist on things as she tells the story of a girl who has lived in a tower, who has been loved by witch. You see from her perspective how witch wasn't the evil person everyone thinks she is. You see how Rapunzel truly loved her, she knew no different. You see how the world is so much bigger than Rapunzel's tower. The land of Tyme is truly interconnected.

Rapunzel and the character Jack were the perfect combination. Witty dialogue, they could be silly but also serious when necessary. The dimensions of these characters were amazing.

I like how Morrison takes care of possible plot holes. For example. Rapunzel had a ton of hair. Hair is heavy. How would she be able to walk around through the woods with all that hair and not get it all messed up and crazy. Well Morrison had a great answer that made sense. So smart. There were some other things like that were taken care of easily and believably. See, what I mean about a well thought out world. I also loved the acorns. Read the book and you will see what I mean.

This is a book of adventure, discovery, resourcefulness, trickery and ultimately love. This is a fantastic debut to what is sure to be a fantastic series. My words cannot do justice to how great these books are. Don't let the childish cover fool you. This is a book that any YA reader or adult would love. Pick it up. Read it. You will not be disappointed.

Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff

from goodreads

4 stars

Summer!!! The sun is out, the beach is calling my name and I have finally had the frozen lemonade I have been craving. Summer and its hot weather has finally arrived.

I have signed up the kids for the library reading club. The girls are actually excited and are really thinking about what kinds of books they want to get from the library. It always makes my heart happy when they are excited about going to the library and not grumpy or making it feel like a chore.

Yesterday we went to one of the kick off parties our library is holding to celebrate the summer reading club. Being there helped remind me that no matter where you go, or what branch of your library you go to (we went to a party that was held at a different branch than our regular one) there are always dedicated staff ready to help you. The staff created a warm environment that allowed the kids to explore, want to share what they made and discovered, have fun, and get excited about reading. It was such a nice morning and a lot of that had to do with the great staff. Here's to a magical summer of reading.

Synopsis

Red's granny is sick and Red goes on a quest to find a cure for her granny. A cure that Red hopes will make her granny live forever.

My Thoughts

This was great! This is a fun story that still teaches you, or at least allows you to think about, life, death, the ability to let go, accepting change and being happy and grateful for what you have.

One of the most prevalent, and I think best, themes is looking at what scares us and how these fears can limit us or hold us back. We need to work through these fears and be willing to try again. Yes, there may be risks involved, but, there are always risks in whatever you do so you might as well keep trying.

I love how Shurtliff blends different stories together. Yes, it deals with Red Riding Hood, but it also has elements of one of my favourite stories Snow White and Rose Red. There were also other fairy tales that were thrown into the mix such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Beauty and the Beast. All these different tales flow together seamlessly and helps create this fantastical world that makes sense and you think it is real.

I loved the dwarfs. Now I know why they are always mining for gems. Ingenious!

This is a fun fairy tale retelling that you definitely have to add to your summer reading list. This would be good for ages 9 and up.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

from goodreads

5 stars

Do you ever feel like time flies by yet stands still. That is how I am feeling right now. I can't believe it is the end of March already, yet, I feel like I am not getting any closer to the end date of June 4 (my due date). I will never get there.

Not that I can complain. I am not large. I can still easily put on tie up shoes. I don't have horrendous heartburn. And, in general, my energy level is pretty good. I guess it is just the sense of impatience, of wanting to get on with life instead of being in holding mode.

Oh well, I guess I should take this time to be grateful I can still use both hands to hold a book instead of juggling a book and a feeding baby or not having to remember to download an audio book and fiddle with electronics. Now if I can only make a dent in my to read list before June I will be a happy camper.

Synopsis

The bards of the land tell tales of Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty, but the princes of the story are only known as Prince Charming.

This is a book where we get to know the princes behind the tales. And, how happily ever afters aren't really what we expect. This is a tale of vengeful witches, bandits, dragons, giants and trolls. It is so much fun!

My Thoughts

This was such a fun book. It was a delight from beginning to end. Really, what's not to love? It had adventure and love and action and learning about yourself. Everything that belongs in a great tale. It was action packed and silly but not in corny or obvious ways.

I loved the personalities of each prince and princess. They were all unique and had qualities that they learned to appreciate in each other. Each character was well thought out and added so much to the stories. Even the secondary characters had a place and would have been missed if they were not in the story.

I loved the whole bard aspect of the book. What a novel approach. I also loved the illustrations by Todd Harris. They added so much to the book.

This is a tale you can just get lost in and love. I am excited to read the rest of the series. I think this would be a great book for ages 10 and up. It is just great, clean, good fun.

Fairest of All by Sarah Mylnowski

from goodreads

4 stars

I have come to the conclusion that children are very inconsiderate. How was this conclusion decided upon? The stuffiness of and congestion of my head nose and sinuses. On the weekend Miss P was sick. She had a slight fever and was slightly congested. I was the person she decided she had to cuddle with all day. She was back to normal the next day. Monday rolls around and I am congested, can barely think and supremely irritable. And my thought was "doesn't she know this is the week that I need to organize some bins and tidy the mudroom?"

Now I know, you can always put off chores, but not these ones this week. I have already put off the mudroom since October and the bins are from last week. And my sister and her family are coming on Friday meaning 6 extra people in the house. So... these chores really can't be put off. No way, no how. Hopefully I will be less fuzzy tomorrow and can get to tackling these things before the masses descend. But, all I can think of is the inconsiderateness of Miss P, the germs she transferred to me (next time her dad can be her snuggle buddy) and the person that gave the germs to Miss P. Thanks for this cold which makes thinking hurt... how kind of you. NOT!

Synopsis

Abby and Jonah have just moved to a new town where things are different. Abby is having a hard time adjusting. Then one night Jonah and Abby get sucked through a mirror into the story of Snow White, which they manage to mess up and have to put right.

My Thoughts

This is the first of a series of books in the "Whatever After" series.

This was such a delight. I read this book out load to my older two and they loved it.

I thought that it was quite clever and showed the weirdness and timelessness of fairy tales perfectly. Mylnowski allowed Snow White to be someone who had ambitions and ideas. Snow White was definitely not going to be a girl who simply went a long with things just because it was her story. She wanted to write her own destiny which was quite cool.

We are all looking forward to continue the series. This is a perfect book for girl bonding moments.

Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff

from goodreads

2.75 stars

Have you ever had a week where you look at the planner and there is nothing penciled in and you think, great! What a relaxing week this will be! Then within a day it seems to get all full? That is what my week has turned into. Sunday I looked at the calendar and nothing was written in. Then by Monday morning I had some pretty jammed packed days!

Now, I like having things to do and things to get done. It is good to have a purpose for your day. It is just crazy how quickly you can fill your days when you have "nothing" to do. Appointments that spring up, service to do, meetings to attend. No rest for the wicked I guess. And that is okay by me.

Synopsis

Jack is a trouble maker. He always seems to be getting into mischief. When he sees a pair of giants destroying fields and stealing people, including his father, his neighbours don't believe him. He realizes it is up to him to to save them.

My Thoughts

Well, to be honest, I was kind of disappointed. I loved Shurtliff's first book Rump. It was so inventive and clever. Jack on the other hand seemed to be just another retelling of the story without anything really new or inventive. Because of this... well I found it kind of boring.

I did like how she was able to join the story of Rump and the story of Jack together. You do not need to read Rump. But if you do, you get a sort of insiders view to a few things.

All in all it was a nice retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk. Just don't expect great ingenuity. Hopefully her rendition of Red Riding Hood, which comes out this year, will be back to the same awesomeness level as Rump.

Winter by Marissa Meyer

from goodreads

4 stars

So, this post was supposed to be done on Christmas Eve and totally wasn't. It seemed to be a pretty crammed day and I didn't even touch a computer until today. Our weekend didn't go as planned to do an unforeseen family circumstance, so it changed our Christmas plans slightly.

While I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked I had a great Christmas and I am looking forward to a great New Year of reading and other fun things. The next big project is renovating part of our basement to become our new office and then our old office will become a bedroom for Miss G. We'll see how that goes.

I will do my best to do my regular Thursday post tomorrow. It might be a bit tight as we are going to watch Star Wars tomorrow morning! Very excited. But, if for some reason I don't get around to it, have a very Happy New Year!

Synopsis

This is the conclusion of the Lunar Chronicles Cinder and her friends infiltrate Luna in the hopes of bringing down the evil Queen Levana. This chapter of the Lunar Chronicles is loosely based off of Snow White.

My Thoughts

When it comes to an end of a series, especially one as fun and awesome as the Lunar Chronicles, either you will feel satisfied or you won't. There have been many endings where you are left feeling a bit jipped really and you feel a bit disappointed, or a lot disappointed. This was not the case at all with Winter. While it was not my favourite book of the series, I felt satisfied with how it ended. Everything got wrapped up in a way that made sense and stayed true to the series. It had romance, adventure, battles, deception, humour, the perfect blend of sci-fi and fairy tales. It was great!

The book is long. It is double the length of previous installments. The length came in part because of multiple/simultaneous story lines that caused some repetitiveness. It was helpful to help keep everything straight, but it did add to the length of the book. And we get it. Princess Winter is beautiful...you don't need to beat us over the head with it!

I found the last battle a bit drawn out and melodramatic. And, the fight was really intense and then just seemed to end which felt a bit anti-climatic.

I appreciated how well thought out the society of Luna was. It was interesting to learn of the different sectors and how things are labeled and what people do. This helped the characters become memorable and real.

My one other beef has nothing to do with the story it is more of the construction of the book. I get that 800+ pages is a lot of pages and that using normal paper would cause it to be super thick, but, the pages were almost too flimsy and I found it quite difficult sometimes to turn the pages as the paper would sometimes stick/turn together. I am not sure what they could do differently, but it was bit frustrating.

All in all, if you liked the rest of the series you will like Winter. While it is a bit more serious in tone there is still a playfulness that sets this series apart from all other dystopians. While it won't leave you in breathless awe it will not leave you disappointed. Now I think I will have to find the time and reread the series... I think I have my summer planned out!

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

from goodreads

3.5 stars

I have mentioned before how I grew up in a house filled with books. While there were many bookshelves everywhere we did have a dedicated room we called the library which had floor to ceiling book shelves. The books were even divided into sections.

I loved going in there and looking at all the books and thinking about what it would be like to read certain books or not.

One book that always caught my eye but I never picked up was The Princess and the Goblin. It was one of my mom's favourites, but I never got around to reading it. When I made my list of books for the year I put it on. It had been on my to read list for so long it was ridiculous. The time was now. Well, I finally read it and I am so happy that I did. Now on to the next!

Synopsis

Princess Irene lives in the mountains, but can not be out at night. That is when the goblins come out. Curdie is a miner, he has learned of a plan the goblins have. Curdie's and Princess Irene's story lines weave together for a magical fairy tale.

My Thoughts

This was a cute story. It was a story that allowed magic to happen without it feeling weird. It had adventure, magic and love.

While it was a bit slow at some parts it was still a fun story. I love the character of Curdie. He seemed so brave and sure of himself. He was cool. I also liked Princess Irene. She was strong willed but also cared for those around her, and she had this naive kind of trust that was lovely.

As with anything written over 100 years ago the cadence of words, the choice of words and pacing of the story was odd and could make this story hard for some readers to enjoy. With classics, either you like it or you don't, it is really a style preference, or more, a style "I can put up with it".

This is and was a children's book. Do not expect a deep Tolkein type novel. It is just a fun story. A story for story sake. If you read it to your kids, I'm not sure what their reaction would be, if they would like it or not. I think my kids would listen to being read aloud but not absorb it. This might be better for 12 and over. But, it is delightful, definitely worth the read.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

from goodreads

4 stars

I have come to realize that I really have no life. Well, okay I do have one, but it is amazing how much of it revolves around books. If I am on the computer I have to check the status of my holds at the library or see updates on my goodreads feed. It is weird I know but that's the way it is. And you should see me if I know a book I really want to read is about to come out. I am checking at the library weeks before the release date to see if I can reserve it. Usually my perseverance pays off and I am able to be the first one to check it out! That's right, those bent pages and broken spines are all me (well I would actually never do that, but you know what I mean). But seriously, in the grand scheme of things it won't matter if I was the first person to check a book out at my library. No one else will now of that prestigious honour but me. But, when you are a book lover... that sensation just can't be beat.

*** Just a notice that I will not be doing my picture book review on Tuesday, instead I will be doing another chapter book. I have been reading so quickly lately I am like 6 books behind of where I actually am. The picture book reviews will resume the following Tuesday April 14th. ***



Synopsis

This is a prequel to Cinder, the first book in the Lunar Chronicles. This book looks at Queen Levana's life before she became queen. We see how she was moulded into what she would ultimately become.

My Thoughts

While I am impatiently waiting for Winter to be published, and sad of the delay this book has caused in that, I did really enjoy it.

I enjoyed learning about Levana's life and how her history really shaped the character we see in the rest of the series. You feel sorry for her. She had parents who didn't care for her. She had a sister who was rude and abusive and disfigured her. (Now we know about the need to cover her face all the time.) She was in love, and yet, did not understand what love really was. She wanted things so much but didn't know how to really give of herself and be trusting, though you can't really blame her.

Through this book Levana definitely becomes humanized. It gives her character new depth. It is also interesting to see how long some of these lunar plans have been in the works, such as the plague and the army of super soldiers.

Fans of the series are going to enjoy this book immensely. Even though it is a prequel I would not read this before Cinder or even Scarlet. I think it is important to see Levana first in those books and know the society through Cinder and Scarlet first and then go back to see the lunar perspective. This was definitely published at the right time. Now it is just a waiting game for Winter, which is supposed to be published in November.

Rump: The true story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

from goodreads

4 stars

This morning I went to the dentist. I don't know about you but I love going to the dentist. My one friend on Facebook calls the dentist the tooth spa. I find it relaxing and sometimes I almost fall asleep (I did that when I was getting a cavity filled a few years ago). Now why am I so relaxed at the dentist? There are no kids touching me or talking to me.

I love my kids. I really do. They exasperate me, yet, they also make me laugh. But sometimes it is just nice to know that you aren't going to be asked to pick them up, or get them food, or change their diaper. At the dentist I can just sit back relax, and let the hygienist do their work. Best time ever!

And the best news, they found a few little cavities, though I am a religious flosser, so I get to go back in a couple weeks to get that work done. YAY!!! Relaxing at the tooth spa, here I come!

Synopsis

Rump hates his name. He knows that it is incomplete but his Mother died before she could let anyone know the rest of it. Where Rump lives your name and your destiny are intertwined. Rump decides to find out what the rest of his name is and thereby find his destiny.

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this book. What an interesting back story of a character that we don't know too much about. It was neat to gain an understanding of why Rumpelstiltskin showed up in time to spin the straw, how the whole baby thing happened, and why he had the gift to spin in the first place. The author does a great job of staying true to the original story and yet offering these tidbits of information.

I also liked how the author explores the importance of names and how we are truly the makers of our own destiny. When you are naming a child a lot of thought goes into it. When you think of a name you are picturing a personality and a set of a achievements. A name is more than something used to differentiate one person from another. It could have long reaching consequences, or sometimes not. A name is a powerful thing. I appreciated how Rump goes through a time of not liking his name, but then in the end loves it. Growing up I did not really like my name. It was long, and people didn't always spell it correctly and it was not cute. When I was 5 I wanted to be called Diana. Now, I really like my name. It still annoys me slightly when people don't spell it correctly, but that's okay. I am used to spelling out for people now as par for course. I am really glad my name is not Diana. (No offense to those of you named Diana, it is still a lovely name. I just feel I am a better Meredith than Diana.)

There were some connections I wanted to know more about. Red and her granny, the trolls, and the whole yonder thing. I am wondering if any connections will be made in subsequent books. There is one about Jack and the Beanstalk set to be published in 2015. Some of the characters like the trolls and the wool witches, while somewhat essential to Rump's revelation of who he is, seemed just to be placed there and then that was it. There was no real depth or reason why they were in the story. Not much was done with them and it would have been nice if they were fleshed out a bit more.  I guess I wanted more depth and connection with other parts of the story.

I am looking forward to reading more in this fairy tale series by this author. I am looking forward to reading these out loud to my kids. I think this might be a great one for the summer. I think this would be a great book for ages 9 and up to read by themselves. There is enough adventure, slime and magic to hold their attention and keep them in awe. It was a fun book for this adult too.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

from goodreads

4 stars

So I can probably already hear what you are saying. "Hey where the heck are the picture books?" I promise next week I will be back with the picture books. But this book did have pictures throughout and it is a great one to read out loud, so to be fair, this is kind of like a picture book.

At the tail end of summer it was reading crazy here. I got through so many books. I want to post about the books I read before they get too far away from my memory. I do write down some of my thoughts but when I go to write my posts the book I write my thoughts in always seems to be missing. Seriously, I have elves in my house.

So next Tuesday I promise I will get back to the picture books.

Synopsis

Since his birth there has been something odd about Despereaux. When he falls in love with a human princess named Pea, the rest of the mice feel they must deal with him. It is truly a tale of love, kindness and being accepting of others.

My Thoughts

This has been on my list for quite awhile and I am so glad that I picked it up. It was on the feature wall in our library and I thought, why not. I will be reading this to my girls when they get a little older.

I loved the fantastical world that DiCamillo created. It's like it could be real life but there were some silly parts that made it seem other worldly. Such as, humans not thinking it strange that mice and rats could talk and that they knew the animals could understand them when they talked to them.

I loved the whole conflict of trying to be the same as everyone else, but then staying true to who you are. Despereaux, loves to read the books instead of nibble them. He loves staring at the light through the window instead of quickly running into the mouse hole. He finds love in unlikely places. All this causes conflict with the other mice, as they don't know how to deal with his oddities. This is a great story to introduce the concept of acceptance of those who do and see things differently.

The same for the rat Roscuro. He lives in the dungeon. As a rat he is not supposed to like light, and is always supposed to be mean to those who are thrown into the dungeon. Well one day he sees light, and it changes him.

It was interesting to see how being different affected Despereaux and Roscuro differently.

This book also demonstrates human cruelty in away that doesn't hide it but presents it in a kid friendly way. The character Miggery Sow makes me want to scoop her in my arms and love her.

I love how the author uses big words, stops the story and then either asks you to go look it up in the dictionary or explains it herself. Very cool. It's learning but in a fun and inviting way.

This was a fun book, a light book, a book that will make kids and adults think. This would be a great book to read out loud together. I think if you read it out loud it would be good for ages eight and up. If you were going to have your child read it by themselves I would suggest ages ten and up.

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

from goodreads

5 stars

How do you choose what book to read? Does the cover influence you in your choice? I don't necessarily consider myself to be a real visual person but, I must admit that, covers do play an important role in my books of choice. Or they do when, on those rare moments of mommy freedom, I am able to go up and down the stacks at the library and browse, hoping to find a new favourite.  Sometimes an intriguing cover does produce an intriguing story. Other times, well let's just say the old adage, you can't judge a book by it's cover applies, but in the opposite sense. Cover good, book bad.

Some of the books that I have chose purely by their cover and loved are The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz and this one that I am currently reviewing. I am not quite sure what it was about those covers that intrigued me, but I am glad they did. What books do you love because of the cover?

Synopsis

This is the story of Hansel and Gretel like you have never read before. Gidwitz weaves their characters through eight tales by the Brothers Grimm.

My Thoughts

I loved this book! I am so glad the cover caught my eye. I happened to be walking through the juniors section on the way out of and bam, I saw it and I was like, hey, that looks interesting. (I also got the second one out, not as good as this one though, but I think I will read the third one eventually.)

I love how the author seamlessly bridges the different tales together using the characters of Hansel and Gretel. If you didn't know you would think they really were the central characters in the real tales. The jump from tale to tale do not feel awkward at all and actually pushes the story along.

I like how he doesn't hide or sugarcoat the goriness of the original fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. If someone's head gets chopped off, that's just what happens. Gretel at one point cuts off one of her fingers. That's what happens in a Grimm fair tale.

While some might find the author's interjections throughout a bit annoying, I loved it and thought it really engaged the reader and made the gruesome parts a little less gruesome and shocking. Some people, and possibly children, get disturbed by vomiting and body mutilation. With the author warning about it, it helps prepare the reader, and with that preparation they are able to handle it a bit better.

This was just such a fun book. I read it in a day. I can't wait until my kids are a bit older so we can read it together. I think this book would appeal to a mature nine year-old and up. This would also be a great book for boys (if you are looking for something for your son to get into) as it has some pretty gross, yet cool things in it. I just loved this book!!!! I may even read the original Grimm stories. If the tales in here are any indication of their work their tales are pretty interesting.

Les Petits Fairytales by Trixie Belle and Melissa Caruso-Scott Illustrated by Oliver Lake

from goodreads

4 stars

Summer reading is in full swing. We have signed up the kids for the summer reading program. They are always excited to tell the library worker about the books they read and see what cool prize they get. We went to story time today and the kids were quite tickled when one of the books that was read was one we had read recently. To see which book it was click here.

I have been trying to get books that will encourage and help develop the reading skills in my five year old. At school they send home books, so it is easy to do. I have been hunting the shelves to find books that have good picture hints and are not too wordy. For my seven year old I have been looking for french books to help continue her french vocabulary from the school year. So far it has been a fun reading summer adventure.

Synopsis

This is a board book series. Each book is a famous fairytale. There is only one word on each page which describes the main item for the story.

My Thoughts

This is a really cute series. I picked them out for my five year old. They were great to help her read. The drawings were really cute and she loved describing what the picture was showing. So far we have read Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and Little Red Riding Hood and she wants to read more.

These are good for emerging readers and for toddlers. As it is simple and straightforward. My seven year old did like the pictures, but it wasn't as exciting for her.

If you are looking for cute books to introduce fairytales to your youngsters or want to encourage reading and vocabulary learning these are great books.

Cress by Marissa Meyer

from goodreads

4 stars

I love the hold system at the library. No longer do you have to hope and pray you get to the library before someone else to get the book you are dying to read. Instead you can simply put it on hold. Then in an orderly and systematic way you know you will get your book.

At my library you can also freeze your holds. That means if you are going away on holiday, and you know you are about due to get your book, you can freeze it. That means you keep your place in the hold line up and progress until you are number one and then you will remain in the number one spot until you unfreeze your hold. No more missing the pick up day and having to go back to the end of the line. Genius.

I am a bit fanatical with my library account. I like to log in and see how my holds are doing. Am I any further ahead in the line up? When are the due dates for the other patrons? Yes, I know this means that I really need to get a life, but I just find it so fascinating and exciting. Nothing is more exciting to me than see the words IN TRANSIT beside my hold, knowing I will be the next person to read that book!

Synopsis

This is the third installment in the Lunar Chronicles. We are introduced more to the character Cress, similar to fairy tale Rapunzel, a girl who has been living in a satellite for 7 years. She is a hacker extrodinaire and while technically a servant for the Lunar court, she loves all things earth and has been secretly helping Cinder and her motley crew. She also has a crush on Thorne. Cinder is also coming up with a plan to stop the wedding of Kai and Queen Levana. It is all very exciting, and you never know what plot twist will be thrown at us next.

My Thoughts

My goodness this was a fun read and I am sad that I have to wait until next year to read the next book. While there were parts of the book that were kind of draggy, I'm thinking about the desert part, this was action packed and thrilling. I didn't know what was going to happen next and was glad to be along for the ride.

Meyer did a fabulous job once again of staying true to the original fairy tale while giving it a futuristic slant. I love how she makes her female characters real people, not just love sick girls, and how she throws realistic wrenches into their lives that they need to overcome and think about.

There was something about this book that made me like it slightly less than the first two. I can't quite put my finger on what that would be. It was still really good, just not my favourite of the series so far.

I'm so glad I put my hold on it. It was super. Teens will love it, even parents of teens might too.

The Apple-pip Princess by Jane Ray

from goodreads

3.5 stars

I am coming to realize, now that my kids are getting older, that what they think is cool and what I think is cool is, quite often, completely different. It's shocking, I know. I was cool and hip back in the day. But it seems, each year they get older I seem to lose a bit more of my coolness factor. I still feel cool, sometimes. I think I have a lot of hipness still happening (although that last sentence has probably proved otherwise). Perhaps that's the dilemma. Coolness changes with each generation. Once we have discovered for ourselves what is cool it is hard to change from that model. It is also hard when wearing your stretchy mommy uniform black yoga pants and blahzay t-shirt to really be feeling the cool vibe. Oh well, times and seasons. Hopefully by the time my oldest is a teenager I will be back on the cool bandwagon. Teenagers think their parents are cool, right?

Synopsis

An aging king has decided it is time to figure out which of his three daughters will sit on the throne after he is gone. He says that they have a week to do something that will make their mark on the kingdom and make their father proud. He says at the end of the seventh day he will make his decision.

My Thoughts

This is one of those books where I, as the adult, loved it, my daughter, as the child, could have taken it or left it. I got it from the library solely on the title. We sometimes call our youngest Pips, so when I say pip in the title I knew I had to check it out.

I love the fairy tale quality of this book. It has everything a fairy tale ought to. A widowed king, a kingdom that doesn't bloom now that the queen is gone, a vain sister, a proud sister, and the humble sister. The moral that kindness and trying to something to help everybody is better than doing something for your own glory. A hint of magic. It was great.

I think where it lost my daughter was with the wordiness. She is four almost five, and it just didn't hold her interest as much. She was ready for me to turn the page before the page had run out of words. It could have also been where we were reading the book. We were at the pool waiting for the older sister's swimming lessons to be over and it was loud and the baby kept on trying to eat the book and so it was hard to hear and see.

Both my daughter and I agreed that the pictures were fantastic. My daughter loved seeing the transition of the kingdom and would comment on the pictures. You know they are good when a child actually comments about them. I also loved the way the illustrations were done. The textures and collage-like quality added to the feeling of the story and were beautiful.

This is definitely one of the kids books that is more artsy. (I am not sure if that is the right term, but I hope you know the type of book I mean). I think kids six and up would like it more than younger ones. But also, if you are going to read it, try to do it in a non-distracting setting. Even if your kids don't like it,  read it for yourself. It is lovely.