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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
A beautiful book on the current Battle of the Books list for primary and secondary students. Alternatively brave, bold, raw, and saddening - it certainly hits at home as to how mental health can be misunderstood and how it just takes one soul to stand out and stand up, no matter what.
It’s been awhile since I have stayed up until midnight to finish a book I started the day before...hello Wolf Hollow. Really well done. This is one I’m keeping on my shelf.
OBOB #4 book. Absolutely amazing. Middle grade books do not usually break my heart, but this one did. I hope it becomes a canonical classroom book!
A beautifully written middle grades read. I enjoyed the characters and was fully invested in all of them.
Wow. Gorgeous prose. Wolf Hollow reads like a long, lyrical poem. A quick glance at the book jacket tells me I'm right, Lauren Wolk IS a poet. Wolf Hollow reminded me of our beloved TKAM, with Scout turned plucky Annabelle and Boo Radley replaced by a war-torn Toby. How I wished to be a member of this close-knit farming family, even judgmental Aunt Lily couldn't deter me. This is a story of human frailties, of scars both seen and unseen, and man's inhumanity towards man. It's also the tale of how love can triumph over evil and growing older and wiser no matter how old you are. Wolf Hollow unravels like an iridescent spool of thread-slowly, deliberately, showing its radiance bit by bit. Beautiful. Highly recommended.
"If my life was to be just a single note in an endless symphony, how could I not sound it out for as long and as loudly as I could?"
"If my life was to be just a single note in an endless symphony, how could I not sound it out for as long and as loudly as I could?"
A good book. The use of foreshadowing at the beginning annoyed me. I think the author mentioned how bad things be were about to get like six times. A very realistic and not fluffy ending might take a middle grade reader by surprise.
This is a hard book to review..... I won't bore you with a summary because you can read that above from Goodreads. I will start off first by saying, if this book were written for an older audience, I would have given it more stars. Unfortunately, it is being promoted as a children's book. Publishers are rating as an interest level grades 3rd - 6th. As an elementary librarian, I will not be promoting this to the majority of my students under 5th grade. Have publishers lost connection with children? What happened to the fun, lose yourself in the moment, happy ending books?
IF this book were being promoted as a young adult book (the two main young characters in the story are 12 and 14) then I would rate it higher. It is beautifully written, with lots of figurative language throughout. The dark, cruel aspect of the book does make it a difficult read. Some of the concepts in this book are just too deep for elementary age students. While a large part of the book discusses bullying, it isn't ever resolved in the story.
Problems with the Story
1. We never really get the back story to many of the characters, such as Betty or Toby. We are not able to understand why they act the way they do. Betty, the bully in the story, is unbelievably cruel.
2. So much was left unanswered. Was anyone else bothered by this??
3. The heavy topics in the book are overdone, and in my opinion, children will not be able to relate to them.
4. The ending. Nothing more to say.
I hate giving less than 4 stars, especially since this book is really beautiully written, but can we please stop wanting children to grow up so fast!! Let's keep these issues and topics in the young adult books and let children continue to be just that, children.
IF this book were being promoted as a young adult book (the two main young characters in the story are 12 and 14) then I would rate it higher. It is beautifully written, with lots of figurative language throughout. The dark, cruel aspect of the book does make it a difficult read. Some of the concepts in this book are just too deep for elementary age students. While a large part of the book discusses bullying, it isn't ever resolved in the story.
Problems with the Story
1. We never really get the back story to many of the characters, such as Betty or Toby. We are not able to understand why they act the way they do. Betty, the bully in the story, is unbelievably cruel.
Spoiler
Even at the end when she is rescued from the well, she still lies!! You would think that when someone comes near death, as she did, the truth would come out. I was very disapointed that the author decided to not resolve this issue.2. So much was left unanswered. Was anyone else bothered by this??
Spoiler
Where was Betty's father? Did Toby have a family? Why did Toby carry around the guns that weren't working? Why was Betty so heartless and cruel? Why didn't anyone just tell the truth and spare Toby his life? What the heck??3. The heavy topics in the book are overdone, and in my opinion, children will not be able to relate to them.
4. The ending. Nothing more to say.
I hate giving less than 4 stars, especially since this book is really beautiully written, but can we please stop wanting children to grow up so fast!! Let's keep these issues and topics in the young adult books and let children continue to be just that, children.
In addition to the rich language and small moments of magic in the pages, I marveled at the complexity of each of the characters the author presents to us. She shows us that we can never fully know another person’s history — even those whom we dislike — though it never hurts to try. See my full review at: https://eward511books.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/for-everyone-you-meet-is-fighting-a-hard-battle/