08.16.08
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 12:14 am by Rosepixie
I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I like that they’re pointing out the hypocrisy in the body-image message from the fashion industry, but all of the name dropping is weirding me out and everything seems designed to show how awesome Violet’s life is, despite her protests that it isn’t. I think that it’s just a bit too wish-fulfillment-ish for me. I’d have more appreciation for the attempt at a positive body-image message if Violet wasn’t constantly judging the women around her by how they look!
Permalink
08.13.08
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 4:01 am by Rosepixie
So far I’m not sure crazy about this book, but since Readergirlz hasn’t steered me wrong yet, I’ll have faith. I like Violet in many ways, but the model thing kind of weirds me out. I’m also kind of having issues with all of the brand name dropping. For some reason I just find books filled with detailed descriptions of designer clothes kind of creepy.
Permalink
12.26.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 4:26 am by Rosepixie
Yay! Helen figured it out! She’s so smart and Annie is such a good teacher! The thing is, this book makes me really want to read Teacher, Helen Keller’s biography of Annie Sullivan. What did Helen’s family think of her life? They certainly didn’t expect much from her. Boy did she prove them wrong!
I really want to go back now and read Helen’s “This I Believe” essay now.
Permalink
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 2:48 am by Rosepixie
Helen seems to be trying really hard to learn, but she hasn’t figured out that the spelled symbols are labels for things. But why should she figure it out so soon? Such a thing as words - labels - has never occurred to her. Communicating that idea isn’t easy. Annie obviously didn’t give up, but she sure seems to have expected a lot if Miller’s portrayal is at all accurate! It’s a good thing that she turned out to be such a good teacher and Helen turned out to be such a great student!
Permalink
12.23.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 12:08 am by Rosepixie
Helen is really good at mimicking, but how much is she actually learning? Her confusion with mug and milk suggests that she still doesn’t fundamentally understand what’s going on. But she is clearly really smart. Her homemade language and her frustration at not being able to really communicate makes that clear enough. I wonder what she thought about all these lessons? What did she think was going on?
Permalink
12.21.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 1:26 am by Rosepixie
That was so cute! I am now really looking forward to the next book in the series! I’m also certain now that Jenny’s first costume was intended to look like Dorothy, since her second outfit is totally an Alice costume. She even makes an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland reference! And I love that she calls her cape a riding hood! It seems so in her character! I really am looking forward to the next one and I think that this one was awesome! I’m going to look for Eric Wight’s other stuff now too!
Permalink
12.20.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 12:16 am by Rosepixie
Things seem to be going much better now that Annie and Helen have moved out of the main house and away from the protective eyes of the Kellers. Helen seems so smart, but how is she possibly going to make the necessary mental leap to being able to understand the meaning of things? All she has are spelled out words, and only nouns and very basic verbs at that, so how is she to develop real language? It’s so curious!
Permalink
12.19.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 1:56 am by Rosepixie
So much random hilarious death! I loved the carnival ride manned by Finney’s dead relatives, that was awesome! The story so far is cute and lots of fun. I like the characterizations. The art reminds me a lot of the animated DCU style, although it has a bit of a squished anime twist on it. I like how the speech bubbles change depending on who’s speaking (there’s a ghost style, a vampire style, a monster style, etc.). It’s a nice effect.
Permalink
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 12:45 am by Rosepixie
The horrible carnival stories were very funny (and really gross). Jenny is cute, although I kept wondering why she was dressed in a little Dorothy pinafore and wearing pigtails. The art in this book is cute and quirky. I really like it and I think that it fits the story wonderfully well! It’s great!
Permalink
12.18.07
Posted in Fiction, Teen at 4:37 am by Rosepixie
It seems that discipline is quite a challenge in the Keller household. I really wonder what Mr. and Mrs Keller were imagining a teacher could accomplish if she wasn’t allowed to upset Helen’s life at all or impose any discipline at all! And not making Helen wash, especially when she was constantly reaching into everyone’s food, is really just gross. But seriously, their six-year-old knocked out one of her teacher’s teeth and suffered absolutely not repercussions from that. They seriously thought that was alright? Why?
Permalink
« Previous entries