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withlovejea's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
sunbearers's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
vcoover33's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
keitacolada's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
trishl's review
5.0
Wow, what a story. Nora is a 12yr old girl squatting in a cemetery in Manila with her Mum. Whilst this is a novel, people actually do like like this in the Philippines, I had no idea! Absolutely heartbreaking at times but shows the resilience of the human spirit and hiw important friendships are.
anya_reading's review
4.0
Prompt 20 - Read a middle grade book that doesn’t take place in the US or the UK
This book took place in the Philippines! I've never read a book set in that country before.
I chose Everlasting Nora because I knew that it took place mostly in a cemetery, where the main character lives, and I had hoped I'd feel some similar emotions as I did reading Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book (a favorite!). While Nora doesn't befriend the dead, she does make graveyard friends all the same: when life takes a turn for the worse, several times, her squatter neighbors help her out and some become like family to her.
Things I liked about the book - the feelings of gratefulness, connectedness and community-as-family: Everybody knows that life is unpredictable on the streets, so every day you're alive, you're already doing pretty well, right? And people have to stick together to survive - so if you have a little extra and you see your neighbor struggling, you give to your neighbor, because that's what community is, and your neighbor would do the same for you.
As far as things I disliked about the book - it took me a little bit to get into the narration of this book - I was trying to figure out why. Was it the first-person narrative? I felt that, at times, a child that age would not be as mature as the author wrote her, especially talking about her father's death and her mom's gambling addiction. In any case, the appearance of the Chinese cemetery gang was the point in the book where I started wanting to read more, and let that momentum take me through until the end of the book. By the time Nora and JoJo are fighting the gang in the grocery store, my heart was pounding!
All in all, I enjoyed this middle-grade book, and the opportunity it gave me to peer into a country (and a life) so unlike the one I grew up in.
This book took place in the Philippines! I've never read a book set in that country before.
I chose Everlasting Nora because I knew that it took place mostly in a cemetery, where the main character lives, and I had hoped I'd feel some similar emotions as I did reading Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book (a favorite!). While Nora doesn't befriend the dead, she does make graveyard friends all the same: when life takes a turn for the worse, several times, her squatter neighbors help her out and some become like family to her.
Things I liked about the book - the feelings of gratefulness, connectedness and community-as-family: Everybody knows that life is unpredictable on the streets, so every day you're alive, you're already doing pretty well, right? And people have to stick together to survive - so if you have a little extra and you see your neighbor struggling, you give to your neighbor, because that's what community is, and your neighbor would do the same for you.
As far as things I disliked about the book - it took me a little bit to get into the narration of this book - I was trying to figure out why. Was it the first-person narrative? I felt that, at times, a child that age would not be as mature as the author wrote her, especially talking about her father's death and her mom's gambling addiction. In any case, the appearance of the Chinese cemetery gang was the point in the book where I started wanting to read more, and let that momentum take me through until the end of the book. By the time Nora and JoJo are fighting the gang in the grocery store, my heart was pounding!
All in all, I enjoyed this middle-grade book, and the opportunity it gave me to peer into a country (and a life) so unlike the one I grew up in.
thebookishlibrarian's review
Twelve-year-old Nora lives in a shanty town in the Philippines with her mother, after she lost her father and her home in a tragedy. The one day, her mother disappears and she’s left alone, with just her friend Jojo and Jojo’s loving grandmother to help her out. Together, they embark on a dangerous journey to find Nora’s mother and bring her back to safety. Can they do it or will they be too late?
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
gabieowleyess's review
3.0
Not my favorite book but still entertaining. I, happy to have this perspective in my library !
ljrinaldi's review
3.0
Charles Dickens wrote many of his novels to show what life was like for the downtrodden, for those kids that had slipped through the cracks, through no fault of their own. And like Olive Twist, Nora, in this story, has had bad luck, on top of bad luck, in her early life.
Written about the real life existence of shanty towns in the North Manila Cemetray of the Philippines, Nora has to live in a mosoleum of her father, who died in the fire that destroyed their home. Although school itself is free, in the Philippines, the books and uniforms are not, and so, she can’t even go to school now. She sells everlasting wreaths for the people that come to the cemetray to pay their respects.
The author says that when she, a Philapina, came to Manila, after living in the United States, she was not aware that all the people selling things in the cemetary were actually living there. She realized that she wanted a story that told about the children who lived there, all their lives.
Nora goes through a lot, but has good friends, that help her. So, while all seems lost, she does push through, despite the evil that is around her.
This is a good introduction to children of first world countries, to see how others live.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Written about the real life existence of shanty towns in the North Manila Cemetray of the Philippines, Nora has to live in a mosoleum of her father, who died in the fire that destroyed their home. Although school itself is free, in the Philippines, the books and uniforms are not, and so, she can’t even go to school now. She sells everlasting wreaths for the people that come to the cemetray to pay their respects.
The author says that when she, a Philapina, came to Manila, after living in the United States, she was not aware that all the people selling things in the cemetary were actually living there. She realized that she wanted a story that told about the children who lived there, all their lives.
Nora goes through a lot, but has good friends, that help her. So, while all seems lost, she does push through, despite the evil that is around her.
This is a good introduction to children of first world countries, to see how others live.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.