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I really liked this book enough to give it a 4.5. I loved the characters and their relationship development. It was real without being sappy. Going to read it with my student book club and see what they think after pulling it apart.
Perhaps this makes me sound like a total hipster, but I enjoy reading books that aren’t very commercial. I love books that have some literary merit as well as entertainment value. When Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gewirtz popped up on my radar, I knew I had to read this middle grade debut. First of all, it’s published by Candlewick, from whom I have come to expect intelligent books. Second of all, that cover y’all. That cover. Third, I love books about siblings and troubled kids. Fourth, it seemed like it would be a quiet and not very in your face sort of read — which is another thing that I very much appreciate. Thankfully, for me, Zebra Forest delivered on all fronts.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
I feel like one star is really harsh, especially since this is the first time I’m rating a book with one star. This book was so hard for me to finish, even though it was relatively short. It moved along very slowly, with very basic dialogue and writing. I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters and I feel like there were things left unanswered. All in all, I just don’t think it was really my cup of tea.
With both parents out of the picture and a grandmother who can barely keep it together as her depression manifests itself in paranoia and hoarding, eleven-year old Annie B. is raising her younger brother Rew the best that she can. Then, as the Iranian hostage crisis rages in the background, Annie, Rew and Gran suddenly find themselves held hostage by the most ironic of captors. There are elements of this book that remind me of so many books I've read before (Dicey's Song, that one book about the girl with the hoarder for a mom, Dead End in Norvelt, any book where parents are missing and kids fend for themselves, Room), but it is refreshingly new.
Oh! I so enjoyed this novel. Let me recount the ways:
* The beautiful writing. As the story progresses, the descriptions of the weather and the forest made me long for home, building a setting that reminds me of some kind of Walden-esque escape, if it weren't for the secret that looms beyond the black and white striped forest our likable main character Annie B calls the Zebra. When Gewritz talks about the branches of the late summer birches criss-crossing against the sky, I was immediately transported to a place more beautiful and peaceful.
* A deep, inextricable connection to the power of stories and reading. It made me want to pick up Treasure Island and reminded me that young children are so capable of rich, complex texts. It also shows how reading is the pathway to everything: empathy, life, education, compassion, understanding, travel. And how about the librarian shout-out? Me too, friend. Me too.
* Gewritz forcing you (and therefore also the young reader, albeit more hypothetical, less meta) to reflect on the parts of you that are your parents, nurture be damned. Who we are, how why are, why we are. And forgiveness for all of those things.
* Allowing people to be real: Annie B.'s parents are complex, screwed up people. So is her grandma. Life has gotten to them, stripped them down and left them to be ravaged. But as the social worker says, even though Annie's situation isn't the best, nobody's taking her away from there. It's a matter of making the life you want to lead. This story forces the reader to recognize the enormous gray area that exists within us all. No one is completely good or completely evil. We're all just trying to get along the best we can with the bodies and minds we've been given.
This book comes highly recommended. It's scary and heart warming and the language is fantastic. It doesn't offer any easy answers to the complicated things that befall us in our lifetime. It toys with the existential moments we all have about family and loyalty, about right and wrong. And it does all this is a manner which is accessible to middle grades students.
This book was courtesy of Candlewick Press (another favorite publisher of mine!) through NetGalley. It is scheduled for publication on April 9, 2013.
Oh! I so enjoyed this novel. Let me recount the ways:
* The beautiful writing. As the story progresses, the descriptions of the weather and the forest made me long for home, building a setting that reminds me of some kind of Walden-esque escape, if it weren't for the secret that looms beyond the black and white striped forest our likable main character Annie B calls the Zebra. When Gewritz talks about the branches of the late summer birches criss-crossing against the sky, I was immediately transported to a place more beautiful and peaceful.
* A deep, inextricable connection to the power of stories and reading. It made me want to pick up Treasure Island and reminded me that young children are so capable of rich, complex texts. It also shows how reading is the pathway to everything: empathy, life, education, compassion, understanding, travel. And how about the librarian shout-out? Me too, friend. Me too.
* Gewritz forcing you (and therefore also the young reader, albeit more hypothetical, less meta) to reflect on the parts of you that are your parents, nurture be damned. Who we are, how why are, why we are. And forgiveness for all of those things.
* Allowing people to be real: Annie B.'s parents are complex, screwed up people. So is her grandma. Life has gotten to them, stripped them down and left them to be ravaged. But as the social worker says, even though Annie's situation isn't the best, nobody's taking her away from there. It's a matter of making the life you want to lead. This story forces the reader to recognize the enormous gray area that exists within us all. No one is completely good or completely evil. We're all just trying to get along the best we can with the bodies and minds we've been given.
This book comes highly recommended. It's scary and heart warming and the language is fantastic. It doesn't offer any easy answers to the complicated things that befall us in our lifetime. It toys with the existential moments we all have about family and loyalty, about right and wrong. And it does all this is a manner which is accessible to middle grades students.
This book was courtesy of Candlewick Press (another favorite publisher of mine!) through NetGalley. It is scheduled for publication on April 9, 2013.
This has "Newbery Contender" written all over it.
When a prison break sends an escaped convict straight into Annie and Rew's back door, they discover that he is their supposedly deceased father.
I really enjoyed this book, though I would have liked to hear more about the family issues addressed within, and less about "Treasure Island" and Annie's repetitive inner turmoil concerning whether or not she wants her father around, when she's already decided multiple times that she doesn't hate him.
Also, let's keep it real for a sec--Who am I going to give this to? This is one of those books that I think is going to be a hard sell in the summer, but could possibly work pretty well with some of the new common core standards.
Recommended for: Kids in grades 5-8
When a prison break sends an escaped convict straight into Annie and Rew's back door, they discover that he is their supposedly deceased father.
I really enjoyed this book, though I would have liked to hear more about the family issues addressed within, and less about "Treasure Island" and Annie's repetitive inner turmoil concerning whether or not she wants her father around, when she's already decided multiple times that she doesn't hate him.
Also, let's keep it real for a sec--Who am I going to give this to? This is one of those books that I think is going to be a hard sell in the summer, but could possibly work pretty well with some of the new common core standards.
Recommended for: Kids in grades 5-8
During the summer of 1980 and the height of the Iran Hostage Crisis, an escaped convict holds Annie, her brother Rew and their Grandmother hostage in their small house at the edge of the Zebra Forest. It is a summer of lies and family secrets revealed where Annie learns not everything is black and white. MS
Annie and Andrew are being raised by their Gran...since their father is dead and their mother has abandoned them...Annie just wants some adventure in her summer by the deep, mysterious Zebra Forest next to their isolated home.
You can tell immediately that the dynamics of their little family are skewed...but not until a prison break on the other side of the Zebra Forest, does the truth come out. Gran has lied to the kids for years...and now they must build another family without the lies.
I enjoyed the way Annie tied the experience in her own home to the book TREASURE ISLAND, and she tied the characterization of Long John Silver to their visitor.
Interesting piece.
You can tell immediately that the dynamics of their little family are skewed...but not until a prison break on the other side of the Zebra Forest, does the truth come out. Gran has lied to the kids for years...and now they must build another family without the lies.
I enjoyed the way Annie tied the experience in her own home to the book TREASURE ISLAND, and she tied the characterization of Long John Silver to their visitor.
Interesting piece.
I really enjoyed this book! I got into the characters and I really liked the way the story went too! I have no idea how this got into my list of books to read but I'm glad it did!
This wasn't much of a fun read.
All Annie ever wanted for the summer was to grow taller, have an adventure and meet her father. But in a sleepy town like Sunshine, Annie knows those are least likely to happen. But when prisoners escaped from a nearby prison, a surprising fugitive holds Annie and her family hostage in their own home.
When I first saw the title Zebra Forest, I thought the title was so quirky I just had to read it, so I did. But it was quite disappointing. The story was just dragging and there wasn't much going on. There were quite a few sad and shocking revelations about Annie's family, but that was it. With all the high ratings and good reviews, this might be the first negative review. Not that it was bad, the writing was good, actually, there just wasn't much to the story so I kind of got bored.
All Annie ever wanted for the summer was to grow taller, have an adventure and meet her father. But in a sleepy town like Sunshine, Annie knows those are least likely to happen. But when prisoners escaped from a nearby prison, a surprising fugitive holds Annie and her family hostage in their own home.
When I first saw the title Zebra Forest, I thought the title was so quirky I just had to read it, so I did. But it was quite disappointing. The story was just dragging and there wasn't much going on. There were quite a few sad and shocking revelations about Annie's family, but that was it. With all the high ratings and good reviews, this might be the first negative review. Not that it was bad, the writing was good, actually, there just wasn't much to the story so I kind of got bored.