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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
This made me cry. As a foster momma, it brought me to tears, putting myself in their shoes. A tough, but necessary read.
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely loved the story...hated the ending. I just felt like there was no real solution for Carley, I wanted more.
Review to come
Review to come
Oh, I loved this book!! While the writing lacked some development at times, Lynda Mullaly Hunt gets a thousand gold stars for creating characters I loved. I will be thinking about Carly and the Murphys for a long time.
Readalikes: People of my generation will remember Katherine Paterson's THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS with fondness and this may appeal to kids who like the complicated relationships that Carly has with her own mother and her foster family. There are no easy answers in either of these books, no matter how much the reader might want them.
I might also suggest ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER by Ann Leal and WAITING FOR NORMAL by Leslie Connor, as both stories feature strong girl narrators who are dealing with unfortunate home situations beyond their control (homelessness in HARPER and absentee parents in NORMAL).
Readalikes: People of my generation will remember Katherine Paterson's THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS with fondness and this may appeal to kids who like the complicated relationships that Carly has with her own mother and her foster family. There are no easy answers in either of these books, no matter how much the reader might want them.
I might also suggest ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER by Ann Leal and WAITING FOR NORMAL by Leslie Connor, as both stories feature strong girl narrators who are dealing with unfortunate home situations beyond their control (homelessness in HARPER and absentee parents in NORMAL).
Sadly, this is by far the only Rebecca Caudill book that I have not loved.
The idea was good, about a girl who used to be mistreated goes into a loving family. However, there were a lot of grammar things that I hated.
One of them was that about half the sentences started with 'I'. This is also a problem for Twilight and I hate when it's like that.
Another thing that bothered me was that I couldn't figure out how Carley felt to her new family. Such as the mother of the new family, one page she's saying on how she sort of liked the attention, but then in the next page Carley's thinking about how annoying the mother is. In order for there to be change, there has to be some sort of base.
Also, for a girl who's been living it tough at home, she was pretty immature at her first day of school. It felt very fake on how she just happened to meet people that she automatically loathed. It seemed very cliche and fake.
The idea was good, about a girl who used to be mistreated goes into a loving family. However, there were a lot of grammar things that I hated.
One of them was that about half the sentences started with 'I'. This is also a problem for Twilight and I hate when it's like that.
Another thing that bothered me was that I couldn't figure out how Carley felt to her new family. Such as the mother of the new family, one page she's saying on how she sort of liked the attention, but then in the next page Carley's thinking about how annoying the mother is. In order for there to be change, there has to be some sort of base.
Also, for a girl who's been living it tough at home, she was pretty immature at her first day of school. It felt very fake on how she just happened to meet people that she automatically loathed. It seemed very cliche and fake.
I loved this book! It made me cry. I loved that the story was not overly dramatic. Carly's situation was not a good one at the beginning of the book, but the author did not feel the need to dwell on this point or describe it graphically. As the reader, we got the point. I appreciated this, since the audience for this book is elementary students. It is a good introduction to a world they may not have encountered without being frightening. I also liked the characters and how they realized that first impressions are not always accurate. Carly judged Daniel and Rainer. Toni, Rainer and Daniel judged Carly. Through the course of the story they each learned that the others are more than their first impressions. We also see through Carly's eyes, that adults can make mistakes but still love you. Life is messy, but if you look for it you can find happiness. This is the kind of story that stays with you even after you have read the last page.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was really good. I read it a while ago and I read it again (mainly because I forgot that I read it already). :)