05.20.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 12:01 am by Rosepixie
One of the most interesting aspects of this book is that you are never quite sure how much the heroine realizes or what she is thinking, despite the fact that the story is told in first person. It adds a fascinating dimension to the story. The plot itself is pretty basic, but since most of the focus is on the prophecy and its meaning and the mother-daughter relationship, actual things moving the plot forward are free to happen at a more leisurely pace. I’m really enjoying this book so far. I hate the mother, but I think that’s a natural reaction to her. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
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05.16.07
Posted in Reference at 12:58 am by Rosepixie
Cassedy’s overview of various types of imagery was ok, but very far from comprehensive. It was a good introduction for kids who might never have encountered similes and metaphors before, though. Her suggestion about creating images around a leaf was a bit strange, in my opinion. I just would rather images came more organically than that, the leaf in its natural habitat would have been a much better subject! Or maybe not a leaf at all.
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05.15.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 1:21 am by Rosepixie
So far I’m enjoying this book. I feel bad for the princess. Always having to wear gloves and worry about a demon mark must suck, not to mention the pressure of that prophecy! I did find myself wondering how her mother kept her hands covered when she was a baby or, worse, when she was a toddler! Small children don’t just happily wear gloves! In fact, they aren’t likely to remember not to take them off, so how did she manage? It’s quite a miracle!
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Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 12:17 am by Rosepixie
I like the interactions between Samantha and Nellie, especially when Samantha gives up her doll at the end and has a large basket of food sent with Nellie for her family. I find the plot with Jessie rather unsatisfying, though. It’s incredibly unclear how much time passed between Jessie leaving and Samantha and Nellie sneaking out to see her, but it couldn’t possibly have been long. So when was Nathaniel born, exactly? And why, when Samantha blurted out that she knew about the baby in front of her uncle did her grandmother give in so fast? That scene seemed very un-Victorian!
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05.14.07
Posted in Reference at 3:43 am by Rosepixie
I get what Cassedy was trying to say about writing about feelings, but I didn’t feel like she wrote it terribly well. She used a couple of good examples and a couple that didn’t feel like they quite fit right. A couple of times she said things that really bugged me (and this is just one of my pet peeves, sorry) like “feelings make you think you’re something else - a lonely gull, an angry wind…”. I hate that! Don’t encourage that! Yes, you are lonely and you want to use the image of the gull. Don’t say the gull is lonely! That’s just wasting the image! You’re lonely like a solitary gull on the ocean, far from any other living thing and flying over a vista of water as far as the eye can see. Evoke lonely, don’t say it! Otherwise you may as well say “I was lonely” and leave it at that. Ok, pet peeve rant over now. Sorry about that. 
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Posted in Magazines at 2:34 am by Rosepixie
This was an amusing issue of New Moon. It was all about food! There was a great piece about chocolate that absolutely set my mouth watering and a funny piece where several girls shared their favorite strange food combinations (baked potato covered in melted cheese and strawberry ice cream was probably the strangest, in my opinion). One article examined five food myths and discussed why each was or wasn’t true. I really enjoyed that one (although the myth that eating bread crusts will make your hair curly was new to me). I was less pleased with the piece looking at special diets (vegetarian, organic and vegan, which hardly count as “special” diets, just picky ones) because it was a little preachy and not altogether accurate. The pieces on Switzerland and the turtle expedition were both quite interesting. Likewise, the “Women’s Work” and “History” features were both excellent. The piece on the suffragettes’ hunger strikes was fascinating (and surprisingly graphic). The fiction piece was good, but certainly not the best they’ve ever published. The science piece was interesting. I’m glad they included the health piece on eating disorders, but it was very predictable for this issue to have that as its health topic. I enjoyed this issue, but it isn’t the best I’ve read.
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Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 1:45 am by Rosepixie
Samantha could be an interesting character, but somehow she falls a little short. The Victorian world she lives in is not as well painted as I might like, but the book is very short and, if I remember right, that improves over the course of the series. I do find it interesting that the Victorian prudishness about not telling girls anything, or really discussing things at all, is at play here. Unfortunately, I think it gets rather unrealistically resolved later. We’ll see f I’m remembering that correctly. I always disliked Samantha’s books for some reason, and this one isn’t doing a whole lot so far to change that impression.
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Posted in Beginning Readers, Fiction at 12:37 am by Rosepixie
This was a really cute book! Zelda and Ivy are really cute characters and each very much has her own personality. I like that the three chapters are each relatively self-contained stories, but are also connected by common threads and carry-over elements. The art is cute and I love that Zelda and Ivy change clothing each day like real kids do. That is a great touch (and all too rare). I enjoyed this book very much.
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05.11.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 2:05 am by Rosepixie
This was an amazing book. Calhoun was clearly passionate about the story she was telling and she really had a wonderful interpretation of the classic fairy tale of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”. There are so many aspects of this book that I would love to write about, but right now I just can’t focus on any one of them, so it’s going to have to wait until later. Maybe I’ll do a few posts on Pixiepalace about this book, once my thoughts are more in order!
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Posted in Reference at 1:27 am by Rosepixie
Cassedy’s definition of poetry is very simple. I’m not sure that I like it. I like that she explained that poems don’t have to rhyme or have really any format at all to be poems, but I’m not sold on her “a poem is a feeling” definition. What about story poems? What are they? They aren’t really feelings, so her definition doesn’t work for them. There are many other poems it doesn’t work for either.
I know. I’m being picky. I don’t care.
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