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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
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Ah, this one was a heart-breaker.
The author does a REALLY good job of keeping you in suspense about what Thing happened to make the Livelys want to leave Juniper. I figured it was something pretty bad, and... Boy, it was. I won't specify for the sake of spoilers, but let's just say I was surprised that such a mature topic made it's way into a middle-grade novel. Normally people shy away from this level of Dark in middle-grade works and I'm impressed the author decided to take it on.
The author does a REALLY good job of keeping you in suspense about what Thing happened to make the Livelys want to leave Juniper. I figured it was something pretty bad, and... Boy, it was. I won't specify for the sake of spoilers, but let's just say I was surprised that such a mature topic made it's way into a middle-grade novel. Normally people shy away from this level of Dark in middle-grade works and I'm impressed the author decided to take it on.
**I gave this book a 3 because of the potential for good book club discussion, were it not for that I would have given it a 2**
Elodee and Naomi are twins whose family has decided to move to a new place, Eventown. Something has happened to their family and they all want to forget and move on, Eventown seems like the perfect place to do this. Eventown is the perfect place, it has a sense of magic where most things seem to work out perfectly. Roses grow easily all over town, Naomi's gymnastics routines are flawless, and Elodee's cooking is perfection. But some things seem off. Some recipes don't work, the ice cream doesn't melt, and no one wants to try new things.
I had a hard time getting into this one. You know something bad has happened to Elodee and Naomi's family, you can almost guess what it is, but the author doesn't give many details. I understand this set the stage for the end of the book, but it was incredibly annoying as a reader. Maybe kids don't care as much and will not be bothered by it, but I felt like it was one of those vague posts people make to get your attention and tell you something is making them so sad but they can't tell you what.
Good for ages 10 and up.
Elodee and Naomi are twins whose family has decided to move to a new place, Eventown. Something has happened to their family and they all want to forget and move on, Eventown seems like the perfect place to do this. Eventown is the perfect place, it has a sense of magic where most things seem to work out perfectly. Roses grow easily all over town, Naomi's gymnastics routines are flawless, and Elodee's cooking is perfection. But some things seem off. Some recipes don't work, the ice cream doesn't melt, and no one wants to try new things.
I had a hard time getting into this one. You know something bad has happened to Elodee and Naomi's family, you can almost guess what it is, but the author doesn't give many details. I understand this set the stage for the end of the book, but it was incredibly annoying as a reader. Maybe kids don't care as much and will not be bothered by it, but I felt like it was one of those vague posts people make to get your attention and tell you something is making them so sad but they can't tell you what.
Good for ages 10 and up.
Love is messy, and chaotic, and sometimes it hurts. Read this book and let it remind you we are nothing but stories.
I found this a bit heavy-handed with the forgetting thing - alluded to too many times. But that was the point, so I guess it was necessary. I am not sure why I ended up reading two identical-twin books one after the other ([b:The Lost Girl|40221339|The Lost Girl|Anne Ursu|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1529030760s/40221339.jpg|60039096]), but I did. This one, I could actually tell the two girls apart, but the differences almost seemed exaggerated. OK, but I am not sure it would appeal to that many kids. I think the most interesting person in the book was actually the MC's friend's mother.
Elodee & her twin, Naomi, are 11 years old. Their family has been through a traumatic year and Elodee is lost in the torrent of strong emotions raging inside her. Mom gets a new job in Eventown and everyone hopes it will be the "fresh start" they need--individually and as a family.
Eventown was a 3.5/5 star read for me. I tried twice to read this book earlier this year because it kept showing up on Newbery buzz lists and I put it aside; I just could not get into the story--for whatever reason. Third time's the charm I guess, because this time I did feel engaged with Elodee's character. The way Elodee grapples with overwhelming emotions is beautifully written and makes it clear to me why so many people have been talking about this book. There are tangible, realistic examples of the complicated journey of grief and how it differs for everyone. It's a beautiful story that expounds the well-known theme from Alfred Lord Tennyson's work: 'It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.'
I had one issue throughout the story and that was the author's keeping the traumatic event that set everything into motion unexplained until page 295 of 326. Now, I realized what the event was before this point in the book, but it is not expressly related until this point in the book. This bothers me because I feel manipulated by the author: it feels to me like the author is saying 'something happened but I'm not going to tell you what it is because I want to do a big reveal later in the book.' The fact that this reveal didn't happen until the last 10% of the book annoyed me. Because it had been obliquely referred to so many times, by the time I reached it on page 295 I didn't care as much as I did earlier in the book. Related to this point, I felt that from the time the traumatic event is revealed until the end of the book Elodee's voice no longer sounds genuine; it begins to sound like the voice of an adult narrator who is trying to close her story by making sure you understand the thematic points she has been trying to make.
So, overall, I did enjoy Eventown. I did not like the structure or language of the ending and that last 10% lowered--for me--the pleasure of the reading experience I was having. Eventown is a wonderful example of a character-driven middle-grade novel. If you know a young reader who enjoys that type of structure and story, then Eventown is probably a good pick for him/her.
Eventown was a 3.5/5 star read for me. I tried twice to read this book earlier this year because it kept showing up on Newbery buzz lists and I put it aside; I just could not get into the story--for whatever reason. Third time's the charm I guess, because this time I did feel engaged with Elodee's character. The way Elodee grapples with overwhelming emotions is beautifully written and makes it clear to me why so many people have been talking about this book. There are tangible, realistic examples of the complicated journey of grief and how it differs for everyone. It's a beautiful story that expounds the well-known theme from Alfred Lord Tennyson's work: 'It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.'
I had one issue throughout the story and that was the author's keeping the traumatic event that set everything into motion unexplained until page 295 of 326. Now, I realized what the event was before this point in the book, but it is not expressly related until this point in the book. This bothers me because I feel manipulated by the author: it feels to me like the author is saying 'something happened but I'm not going to tell you what it is because I want to do a big reveal later in the book.' The fact that this reveal didn't happen until the last 10% of the book annoyed me. Because it had been obliquely referred to so many times, by the time I reached it on page 295 I didn't care as much as I did earlier in the book. Related to this point, I felt that from the time the traumatic event is revealed until the end of the book Elodee's voice no longer sounds genuine; it begins to sound like the voice of an adult narrator who is trying to close her story by making sure you understand the thematic points she has been trying to make.
So, overall, I did enjoy Eventown. I did not like the structure or language of the ending and that last 10% lowered--for me--the pleasure of the reading experience I was having. Eventown is a wonderful example of a character-driven middle-grade novel. If you know a young reader who enjoys that type of structure and story, then Eventown is probably a good pick for him/her.
It was a bit slow to start, but it came along for me. I love a main character for children who likes to be "weird" or has trouble with fitting in.
time to cry about this again!!!!! i started crying like 16 pages before i got to The Part it’s really a problem